Jack Reads The Stranger

Hi! I'm Jack and I like to read books. I will be posting about my thoughts on the books I am currently reading. Thanks for coming on this journey with me! 24

[jackreadssomething]

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I will be posting much shorter reviews here and mostly using these to personally keep track of what I've read but feel free to follow me there.

I also like to take photos and am going to try and do that more too!

[jackreadssomething]

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

To The End

A very good experience overall. I really enjoyed this book. Kurt Vonnegut has such a unique writing style that I am drawn to. His way of conveying themes and ideas through his characters and the world around them is pretty damn good. The last portion of this book wrapped up nicely and I will miss reading it. So it goes. 

You should read this book if you haven’t and if you have you should reread it.

[jackreadssomething]

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

To page 172 

VONNEGUT has gone WOKE, SAD! There are many themes that are explored in this book quite well by subtly putting them in between rather overt anti war messaging. It is still very entertaining and I’m loving every minute of it. Vonnegut’s ability to write a compelling story about just some guy doing various mundane things without having much overt agency is remarkable, truly one of the greats. Great dry humor,  which seems to work best in literature. As the book goes on you start to wonder how much you’ve missed and how much you will continue to miss while reading.

[jackreadssomething]

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

Start to page 90

So far along Slaughterhouse Five is a fantastic novel. A great blend of dark humor and some light philosophy. I have laughed and also taken certain passages to heart. Vonnegut has a very interesting writing style that can convey deep meaning while posing as light reading. Chapter 1 is an intro to the book and seeing as he was a veteran of WW2 the anti war themes are very obvious and welcomed, but it is a product of its time. It’s a real page turner and I am looking forward to the rest of the story.

[jackreadssomething]

Update

Sorry for the lack of posts! I have been very busy lately, but I have finished Slaughterhouse Five and have the posts queued. The wait for my carefully and masterfully crafted reviews is over at long last lol.

[jackreadssomething]

Orwell - Homage to Catalonia

Chapter 9 to End

Orwell has a way of making even the most mundane seem interesting. I was savoring every word the whole way through. He had a fantastic quote that I think deserves to be highlighted. “I have no particular love for the idealized ‘worker’ as he appears in the bourgeois Communist’s mind, but when I see an actual flesh-and-blood worker in conflict with his natural enemy, the policeman, I do not have to ask myself which side I am on.” That is a feeling I believe should resonate with every member of the proletariat. The intricacies of the political struggle within the Spanish government while actively fighting in a war against a fascist coup is very interesting and is worth looking into, personally this is a blind spot for me that I will be looking into and I am excited to learn more about this period of Spanish history.

There is a moment while reading this book that you can tell Orwell decided to write Animal Farm, it is a bit of a lightbulb moment. After what he and many of his comrades went through at the hands of Stalinists it makes sense he would write a book warning of authoritarianism. There is also a moment where he describes the feeling of being shot and the thoughts that follow that experience. It is a very powerful moment, especially seeing the lack of malice with which he regards his shooter and the rational way he thinks about having been injured. 

I think this book is excellently written and definitely worth reading. It is about a serious subject but isn’t terribly dense and has a good bit of (dry) humor to carry you through. Having been published in 1938 some of the language is a little outdated so I found myself googling some words throughout the book lol. The addition of appendix i and ii to add context was great but I think the editor who decided to turn them into appendices instead of leaving them chapters did us a disservice. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed Homage to Catalonia and have a new found respect for George Orwell. 

[jackreadssomething]

Orwell- Homage to Catalonia

Chapter 8

A very interesting chapter recounting Orwell’s time on leave from the militia front. Traveling through a number of cities that were affected differently by the war and associated social changes. He speaks of returning to Barcelona, the “Revolutionary City” and the shock of it being considerably less so upon his arrival. The city had started to return to its regular class society, with the rich enjoying life while the poor struggle. A black market had emerged and the shops stopped catering towards the militia fighters. Orwell being a well paid militia man indulged in all the pleasures he had the money to buy (not quite the model revolutionary) but I can’t blame him. In his shoes I’m sure I’d do the same. Having spent months on the front lines eating whatever they had on hand and rationing water I’d go buy a big ass steak, fine wine, and black market American cigarettes too! There was a political struggle between the various leading ideological parties that had come to blows in his time away. The C.N.T. (Anarchists) and the U.G.T. (Socialists) were finding themselves at odds, street fights cropped up and at times their scuffles ended in killings. Orwell does note that it was possible agent provocateurs were behind the unrest seeing as the media and western powers were not particularly happy about such left wing parties holding power. (My conspiratorial mind likes to think that this is probably some plot cooked up by a cabal of various capitalists looking to maintain the status quo but idk man I wasn't there) They had planned a joint May Day parade to show solidarity but it was called off at the last minute, no display of unity there. Just goes to show that infighting is a leftist tradition and not just some new fangled way to pass time invented by bored commies on Twitter. 

This is what a chapter by chapter style looks like, it has more retelling and I am unsure if it sounds more like a book report than I'd like it to lol. Let me know what you think and vote in the poll about what style you'd like to see.

[jackreadssomething]

Orwell- Homage to Catalonia

I have just reached chapter 8 and so far am enjoying the book. It feels to be an honest recounting of Orwell’s time in the Spanish Civil War. A much less propagandized retelling of a war than anything I’m used to as an American at least. His desire to fight fascism is very admirable and his recollection of this time and the way he paints the anarchistic/socialistic “way of life” that was emerging makes it very difficult to understand how anyone could believe he was a conservative. The next time some conservative asshole starts yelling about “Big Brother” or “Double Speak” in regards to pronouns or other benign culture war B.S. tell them to read Homage To Catalonia, although I'm not sure they would be able to.

This is what my first journal entry looks like, I had been reading at work and not journaling per chapter. It's a bit rough around the edges and I hope to get better over time! I began going chapter by chapter after this and have a bit more in depth summaries and analysis when I do. Not sure if this style is appealing or what so let me know :)

[jackreadssomething]

GENERAL BLOG QUESTION

How often should I post about the book I'm currently reading?

Chapter by chapter

Every few chapters

Start, Middle, End, Overall Summary

Whatever man, just tell me about it you foolish opinionated boy!

Voting ended onMar 30