BOOK: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Here is a fascinating book about art and language. This is the first Joyce novel I've read - well, I've dipped into Ulysses and Dubliners - and I will definitely be testing his other works in the future! (I'd like to try Finnegan's Wake).
The book's narration develops alongside the age and education of our protagonist, Stephen Dedalus. The book isn't about the story of Stephen, it's about the development of the character as a person - his religions, philosophical ideologies, his intellect, and the ways in which Stephen views the passing of every day life.
The novel begins like it is being told from the eyes of a toddler and quickly zooms through basic memories to Stephen's teenage years. As a teenager, Stephen revels in life, breaking all manner of Catholic moral rules. His sins grow and grow and eventually Stephen cowers under the might of his God and turns to repentance. The last chapter develops his ideals and turns him away from religion.
The novel is an experiment in the development of character, his good and bad sides painted onto the way the novel is written. Written in five acts, it really is like a portrait, only in novel form.

Book: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Short and simple (much like this post), but brilliantly written. I read this cover to cover on a 3 hour train journey.
I think if I hadn't known the oh-so-famous twist it would have been more interesting - I suppose the phenomenon of double personality disorder was less known when this was written, hence the fictional, fantastical exploration of insanity in this book.
I loved the sinister description of Mr Hyde, and the magic elements of chemistry experiments. It's very much about the magic-like qualities of the basic elements of nature; scientific elements mirroring the basic elements of human nature.
When I say 'magic', I don't refer to the magic we see in Harry Potter or Narnia; it's more a darker, sinister, unnatural phenomena.
It's brilliant for a 'classic literature' fix, especially when you have got the strength/time/energy to make your way through the significantly heavier books of this sort, eg Dickens, Hardy etc.

I hadn't read anything by Robert Louis Stevenson before, but I'll be adding some of his to my mile long reading list...

This is another tick on my reading challenge!

Post Numero Uno

Hello Blogasphere!

This is my very first blog post here!

For this blog, I will be writing book reviews of the books I have read, and film reviews of the films I have watched.

Participating in reading challenges helps me to keep reading, so I'll be logging that on here, too. 

I also have a playlist of music at the bottom of the page.

The aim is to discuss books, music, and films with people who wish to discuss them,  and last but not least, discover new music, books, and films!
Please do recommend me books to read/films to watch! I'll write reviews on them as soon as I can.

1) Book Reviews

I will be publishing book reviews of the books I read when I was young, when I was a teenager, in university, just for fun, only a few days/weeks ago...etc

Do feel free to recommend books for me to read!

2) Film Reviews

I'll be doing the same with film reviews. Not all of the reviews will be nice and sweet - there will be some I'll warn you about, and some I'll rave about.

3) Reading Challenge
I'll be updating this as I go along (to be posted on my 'Book Reviews' page.)
Here is the list so far: