Summer Project : Report #1

My summer project this year is to read 50 books, quite a bald statement if we consider the fact that almost half the summer vacations are gone and I didn't get even close to half that number, even half of a half of half that number :v

Anyway, there is always hope. That's why I'll do my best to catch up with the plan.
Unlike the usual reviews, this project will go reported : I won't review books as much as I will be marking the progress made so far. There will be a report in every 10 books landmark, and if you do the maths then hopefully by the end of summer there will be 5 of them. To do that I'll have to attain the "One book everyday ratio", which is quite hard (but doable !).

Let's start !


1. Mort sur le Nil : 

Author : Agatha Christie
Themes: Detective Work, Mystery.

Rating : 5.5/10

Mini-review : 
After reading "And there there were none", I'm afraid my expectations were high. Add to that the fact that I read this book throughout the duration of 3 months (because I was reading it in the bus when I can sit to read), you can get how it compiled up in my brain. There was no aspect of novelty in the Crime/Mystery cooking formula. Expect the very expected twist in the end, too.


2. The World as I see it :

The review.

3. Wuthering Heights :

The review.

4. Lord of the Flies : 

Author : William Golding
Themes: Human nature, Good and Evil & Primal instinct, Social Satire, Hierarchy, Religion, Fear, Power-lust ...

Rating : 10/10

Mini-review : 
The best book I've had in a long time (clear in the Perfect Score, the first given since I started this blog).
When I started reading this book, I had no idea that in the end, I'd be changed by it. It's that kind of books that makes a difference in you as a human when you least expect it.
The books depicts the "adventures" of a swarm of kids who ended up in a deserted island in the complete absence of adults. It really grows from your average thriller story to a full-blown allegory of society, existentialism and even Life itself.
An inhibiting psychological portrayal of the human society painted with a brush of pessimism. Dark, spooky and somewhat disturbing (if you can really get into books), and a true work of wonder.
Definitely a reread is planned and a full review.


5. Fight Club :

Author : Agatha Christie
Themes: Anarchy, Unaccomplishment, Male portrayal, Violence, History, Psychology ..

Rating : 7/10

Mini-review : 
After watching the movie (that I rated 9/10 for the record), the novel didn't seem to exceed its pictured version. Although brilliant at times, the book leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth and a lot of uncertainties. The ending was disappointing to some extent (unlike the movie) and supporting characters weren't given any depth. It's the kind of book that could have done better.


6. قنديل أم هاشم : 

Author : Yahya Haqqi
Themes: Various : Belief, Destiny, Freedom, Choice, Love ..

Rating : 9/10

Mini-review : 
I think I fell in love with short stories thanks to this work right here. Every story is a retake on an idea, a thought that the writer had at some point of his life, either by meeting a person or internalizing the possible scenarios in his head. I'm glad he got them on paper because they're brilliant.
The lack of ending and development is more redeemed by the pleasure of standing on a cliff, you guess an ending or imagine it or deduce it or even leave it behind .. It's entirely up to you.
Great use of symbols too (the stories themselves are symbols to draw a bigger image).


7. The Old Man and the Sea :

Author : Earnest Hemingway
Themes: Remembrance, Loneliness, Patience ..

Rating : 6.5/10

Mini-review : 
I give 6.5 to the experience of reading the work, not the work itself. It's always mentioned as one of the best novels of the English Language which, although relative, it usually means that the work have some literal value. Unlike most of the classics, I failed to see this value in this work, maybe because I was tired, maybe because the air was hot, or maybe because I just don't like this kind of books.
Reading this work felt exactly like the process of fishing (haha, Fisher .. Sea .. get it ? Okay), boring and not necessarily rewarding at the end.
Was that intended by the author ? If it was, then this novel deserves more credit.

8. خواطر شاب :

Author : Ahmad Al Shugairi
Themes: Thoughts. (translation of the title, very clever of me)

Rating : 8.5/10

Mini-review :
The book is a collection of mini-articles written by Ahmad Al Shugairi in diverse matters such as spirituality, mentality, politics, religion ..
I liked the book because at times it just put words to my thoughts! Maybe more precisely and with a studied intention but I felt myself mentally saying "I agree! .. Exaactly !".. which is cool.
Another thing I liked since the book is a promotion of the Islamic "lifestyle", the writer didn't pick up the "religious" tone anywhere throughout the book. It all laid in that sweet spot of "moderated Islam" and all it sought was a better understanding of the religion. It's a call for a change of paradigm, a gradual revolution of the mind and the soul first, that will eventually lead to the birth of the Islamic society as it should be, not as it unfortunately is.
I only wished the book was longer and had a stronger thematic orientation, but it's fine, really.


9. Of Mice and Men :

Author : John Steinbeck
Themes: Human Bonds, Travel, Loneliness, Morality and Mental Ability, Need ..

Rating : 9.5/10

Mini-review : 
The feels train hit me, and it hit hard.
Prepare yourself to the Roller-coaster of feelings that it "Of Mice and Men".
I loved the book since the very first pages, the brilliant writing style makes you feel acquainted to the two protagonist and takes off the need to dozens of pages of introduction and background. Lennie is straight-out adorable, with all the dorky air around him and the big-boy thing going on, very innocent and likeable (watch out). George is the contrast of Lennie. The two set on a journey that is bigger-than-life and inspiring.
I won't give out anything about the book, but sincerely, if you were awake enough while reading it, it will lead you silently to the ending you don't want to believe it's the ending.
BIG thumbs-up to the use of foreshadowing, it was a very bitter-sweet sensation of guessing and discovering that earned this novella a spot in my current top 5.
I actually felt something in the end, can you believe that ?

10. Les Fourberies de Scapin

Author : Molière
Themes: Greed, Destiny, Social Satire.

Rating : 8/10

Mini-review : 
For my first Molière, it's definitely a good one. I know now what "Comedy" as a genre stands for (I didn't finish any of the plays that were suggested in our Frnech program, so this one is a learning experience for me :p).
Well, what to say ? It's a funny play, a social satire sugarcoated in an amusing piece of literature. All the characters were caricaturized to exaggerated versions of their archetype, and the story wraps up hopefully making some points across.
One thing to confess : I'm still not ready to "literary" and "classic" works in french. Although this piece is a relatively simple and unsophisticated script, I really had bad time understanding it all, I deliberately left some pieces out because there were too many weird words for me to guess. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't try later. One baby step at a time.
I admit laughing like a dumb at some hilarious parts of the dialogue for some reason (well they're hilarious that's the reason) and that's something I'd like to have from time to time.


Well, those are my first 10 reads this Summer. I had a late start but screw it, it's a start.
I hope I can finish my second 10 before the end of this month because if not, well I'll fail myself.

I need to know why although I enjoy reading much more than lurking on Facebook and I still manage to switch the switches in my mind darn it.

8. Wuthering Heights

Name : Wuthering Heights
Writer : Emily Brontë
Publishing year :  1845
Language : English
Type : Recommended, Novel
Recommended by : Soukaina Mkhairi
Estimated time : Around 15 hours.
Main themes : Love, basically. Social Justice, Revenge, Karma, Family, Social classes, Human bonds, Human condition ..
Recommended for : Anyone who'd appreciate a love story with many subplots and many characters and great development.
The book in a few words : The story of two houses bound by space and time, and two families bound by love and hatred.
The synopsis : Mr. Lockwood occupies a new house, lone and isolated from human interaction. The little contact he had with the household of Wuthering Heights made him only curious of the story and history of the family and the place. Through the eyes and words of Nelly, the story unfolds ..


The Rating : Excellent 9/10  


The Review :

I'd start with a general complaint, maybe the only one I have in regard of this book : It is long, for a novel (said the guy who wanted to read The Brothers Karamazov). This fact coupled with my short attention span (that I'm not to be blamed for) and my relatively slow reading speed made me read the book in intervals, sometimes too long to keep the momentum of the action (if there were one) going. I had to regret that while seating 8 hours reading the second half of it at one take, in the unholy tiredness of this summer. As a result to that I made a resolution that I won't read any longs novels, at least for the rest of this month.

That being my reproach, now comes the praise.
The name of the book gave me many false expectations concerning the content of the book, because I, knowing that the book is set in a 19 century context, somehow pictured the heights mentioned in the title as some moral heights, something to do with honor and social hierarchy. It wasn't too long til I discovered that it's the name of a place. A place where many curious things happened and promise to happen.

The first thing that I admired in the classical piece was the choice of narrators : One, Mr. Lockwood, is a complete stranger through whom you, the stranger reader, are presented to every and each character with every detail a curious stranger needs, the other, Nelly, is kind of the opposite in role and knowledge, serves as the timeless witness of no less than three generations of love and loss in the neighbor lands of Yorkshire. She is, in addition to be the actual narrator of the story (on and off quotation marks), is an active, sentient character of the story. She was even granted enough intelligence and clairvoyance by Mrs. Brontë that she almost served as a omniscient narrator, for she was able in many recurrences to read into other characters' thoughts without even being objective. I thought it was a clever change in the narration department that is really hard to achieve without veering into either a loss of credibility as a narrator or being a narration tool (smartly being made interactive throughout the whole story), and the writer made it possible with great mastery.

The text somehow lacked description as it was theoretically all narrated by Nelly orally, and such lavish descriptions would be absurd and out of place if they were frequently presented.
The expressions and countenances of the characters, their accents and their sentiments, however, were perfectly transcribed by the author through the keen eyes of Nelly, leaving too little room to desire.

The language that I expected to be very 19-century-ish (thanks to Persuasion), was thankfully very nimble. The vocabulary was very rich and at times made me stop to retake sentences, but it was by no mean intrusive. The emphasis on verbs and feelings instead of circumstances made the story feel more liquid and more smooth.

In the characters' department, many were presented at the same time because of their studied resemblance, made the novel feel crowded at first. And I felt that this effect was deliberate because once the plot kicks off, you start to reminisce at the early presentations and hints given about every character.
By the second quarter of it, things started to clear out and every branch of every family was proven to be necessary to the growth of the story. It should be credited, however, that throughout the 400 pages of the novel, every character grew (or spoiler alert : died), at least through the eyes of Nelly. The change of states of characters was a beautiful work of improvised psychology, giving a real, odd and sinister depth to every character. There was a unique aspect to most of the character, like Joseph being instantly detestable, Nelly all the way trustworthy and poised to make up for the recklessness of the youngsters, and Heathcliff unearthly evil, and tortured beyond recovery. The part of the story were he was at full frenzy was almost scary!
I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The structure of the tale, however, is what won me over to add this to my 5/5 list.
Instead of a traditional, blooming story line that start with a simple integral description of the status quo that is soon to be disturbed and through successive events lead to a denouement, the story kicks off of an awkward position. The unwelcome narrator was pushed into the midst of a rising chaos, and only through the guidance of Nelly that he could put the pieces together. The non-linear telling of events was brilliant and done brilliantly, and the foreshadowing in the first chapters (Lockwood seeing Catherine's ghost, that was something.), much adding to the puzzlement, was spot-on.

The other element of the narration style was the creation of a vicious timely/karmic circle : History repeated itself in spite of all efforts to steer it or avoid it, and characters reappeared in new skins and new spirits. Catherine was reincarnated in Cathy, Edgar in Linton, Hindley in Heathcliff, Heathcliff in Hareton... The design laid by Brontë was of perfect proportions, and every character has its path to follow, and his aspiration to rise to, under all different motivations that fell into a one dichotomy : Love and Hatred.

Wuthering Heights is a love story tortured by the tempest of Hatred, or a hatred story blessed by the wind of Love. Either ways, it's a story of human endeavor: Rising and falling from grace, lacking power and being corrupt by it, withering by the sheer emotion of love or shaking under the great weight of guilt, loving and seeking love.


Favorite Character : 
Miss Ellen Dean, or simply Nelly.
At first, it was introduced as a mere storyteller : watchful, prudent and just. She was given a motivation to do so by the presence of Mr. Lockwood, the new owner of the house who needs company and some lines of gossip. Once the story advanced sufficiently, she took on a new role: that of being a character of her own presence. But then, she evolved into this ageless companion that not only lived through three generations but also became a mentor, a person of trust and an authentic event-maker. She was, for pure plot reasons, an easily trusted woman, and by this gift she later on gained an ability to judge both people and their intentions, but did so in a matter that you'll believe.
She was this character that always knew better, she had the necessary wisdom to block all greater evils and soothe out everything else. She was present at every crucial moment in both houses, and yet she kept her loyalty to her job first and the people who she loved second her only priority. She didn't only watch the rumble grow, she was the one, secretly, that pushed them to grow, either by direct effect as it is the case with all the children she reared or indirectly by influencing those one upon entering the life of the rest. She later on became so invested in those characters that her ultimate happiness was to see them tranquil and untroubled.
She was, as I said, doted with a lot of intelligence and wit, allowing her to draw conclusions and make decisions, decisions that her inexperienced, short-tempered masters couldn't take.
She kinda flipped her role as a servant inside-out, and for that she earned the title of the best character in the novel.


Favorite passages : 
"He would stand Hindley’s blows without winking or shedding a tear, and my pinches moved him only to draw in a breath and open his eyes, as if he had hurt himself by accident, and nobody was to blame. "

".. but they were calmer, and did not need me to console them. The little souls were comforting each other with better thoughts than I could have hit on: no parson in the world ever pictured heaven so beautifully as they did, in their innocent talk; and, while I sobbed and listened, I could not help wishing we were all there safe together."

"He possessed the power to depart as much as a cat possesses the power to leave a mouse half killed, or a bird half eaten"

".. so he shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning."

"It was a marvellous effort of perspicacity to discover that I did not love her. I believed, at one time, no lessons could teach her that! And yet it is poorly learnt; for this morning she announced, as a piece of appalling intelligence, that I had actually succeeded in making her hate me! A positive labour of Hercules, I assure you! "

"his lips devoid of their ferocious sneer, and sealed in an expression of unspeakable sadness. Had it been another, I would have covered my face in the presence of such grief. In HIS case, I was gratified; and, ignoble as it seems to insult a fallen enemy, I couldn't miss this chance of sticking in a dart: his weakness was the only time when I could taste the delight of paying wrong for wrong.'"

"'Now, my bonny lad, you are mine! And we'll see if one tree won't grow as crooked as another, with the same wind to twist it!''"

"..And help your own naughty pet and mine. It is not poisoned, though I prepared it. "

"Miss Linton, I shall enjoy myself remarkably in thinking your father will be miserable: I shall not sleep for satisfaction. You could have hit on no surer way of fixing your residence under my roof for the next twenty-four hours than informing me that such an event would follow." -Awesome.

"It was the same room into which he had been ushered, as a guest, eighteen years before: the same moon shone through the window; and the same autumn landscape lay outside."

"I know he has a bad nature,’ said Catherine: ‘he’s your son. But I’m glad I’ve a better, to forgive it; and I know he loves me, and for that reason I love him. Mr. Heathcliff YOU have NOBODY to love you; and, however miserable you make us, we shall still have the revenge of thinking that your cruelty arises from your greater misery. You ARE miserable, are you not? Lonely, like the devil, and envious like him? NOBODY loves you NOBODY will cry for you when you die! I wouldn’t be you!’"

"He had been content with daily labour and rough animal enjoyments, till Catherine crossed his path. Shame at her scorn, and hope of her approval, were his first prompters to higher pursuits; and instead of guarding him from one and winning him to the other, his endeavours to raise himself had produced just the contrary result."

"‘It is a poor conclusion, is it not?’ he observed, having brooded awhile on the scene he had just witnessed: ‘an absurd termination to my violent exertions? I get levers and mattocks to demolish the two houses, and train myself to be capable of working like Hercules, and when everything is ready and in my power, I find the will to lift a slate off either roof has vanished! [..] I have lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction, and I am too idle to destroy for nothing."