Utopia - Sir Thomas More

 

 

".. I gave them all my books, among which were many of Plato's and Aristotle's works.

 I had also Theophrastus on plants, which, to my great regret, was imperfect; for having

laid it carelessly by, while we were at sea, a monkey had seized upon it, and in many places

torn out the leaves."

-Utopia, Sir Thomas More, Page 56

I think that's my favorite part of the entire book. I actually laughed out loud when I read it. The rest of the book, however, is very serious and written sort of in a professional business matter. Having read the unabridged version, at times the language was a little hard to follow. Other than that, it was wonderful!

The story revolved around Utopia, a fictional land, in which Sir Thomas More described the perfect society. The author uses real, as well as fictional characters. This doesn't mix you up at all, in fact, it makes the story seem real! More than once as I read, I found myself reminding myself that Utopia wasn't an actual place. He describes in great detail everything about the Utopians. Their towns, their magistrates, their manner of life, their travelling... everything! Not a detail was too unimportant. I loved being able to picture the Utopians in their day to day activities and seeing their world through their eyes.

The vocabulary was simply amazing! By reading the book, I improved my vocabulary. Words like superfluous, verdant, morose, and vehement, are scattered on the pages. The word choice in the book really made it that much better, and intrigued me to look up the words, and thus, I have a greater vocabulary!

Their were some high and low points of reading this. At times, it was really interesting and I hardly wanted to stop, and others, I kept glancing at the clock. Since the majority of the story is about Utopia, and nothing else, you get a little bored from time to time. There wasn't the typical outline that a story has. There wasn't any part more suspenseful than the next, it was mostly learning about the Utopians and their way of life.

Throughout the story you get an idea of what Sir Thomas More was like. How he thought, what his pastimes were, and what he was like. You see this because he is laying the foundation of what he thinks would be an ideal nation. Every rule that Utopia has, he created it, and therefore, supported it. For example, the Utopians have shorter work days and in their spare time most or all of them like to read. By that alone, we now know that Sir Thomas More definitely liked to read.

I entered this book thinking it was the basis for Communism. I read from another book that that's where the spark came from. I don't know if I entirely agree with that. There were some factors in Utopia that can be observed in Communism today, like everyone working for the commonwealth of the nation, and no personal possession of property. But, there was also a statement that completely contradicts what we commonly see in Communism; freedom of religion. "... for this is one of their ancient laws, that no man ought to be punished for his religion."  I think that if this book really was the basis of Communism, that Communism today would allow freedom of religion.

The ending was particularly unique. Raphael had finished his account of Utopia (Raphael was a character in the book) and Sir Thomas said in the book that he didn't entirely agree with everything that he was told... but in reality, of course he did! He was the author! I found the ending, and the entire story, very satisfying. 

The King's Fifth - Scott O'dell

  Hmm..... I probably would've liked this book better if I didn't have to read it for school. And read three chapters a day. (Okay, the chapters were usually very short..... it's the usually you have to be aware of.)

  Probably the first thing I noticed after reading a couple of pages was that I immediately knew why the book was called The King's Fifth. And that's a good thing; it always helps to know why a book is called what it is.

  This book has drama, really. At first I thought it'd be a total bore, however, there is usually always something that's going on and will keep you reading. The characters are never just standing there waiting for something to happen, and you're not falling asleep as you read about them waiting. You do want to know what happens at the end. It's one of those books that if you stopped reading in the middle of the book, it'd probably eat you up until you find out how things turned out.

  Of course, this genre of book isn't for everyone. Having my fill of books set in  the medieval/renaissance period, I had a general idea of how things would turn out, and having read lots of stories in the same time period, it does gets slightly boring after a while.

  The book was written in a way that made you feel as though you were reading a cartographer's  journal. Since journals are something no one ever lets me read, I really liked the way it was written. The story plays in your mind very well. You can see fear on the Indians faces, or the horses packed with bags of gold.

  Since the characters in the book were Spanish explorers, occasionally a Spanish word was written in italics. This usually didn't fog up the sentences, partially because I'm learning Spanish, but also because you can guess at the general meaning. But Spanish words were not on every page, so don't worry.   

  The ending was disappointing. Near the end, the book was great! It was my favorite part of the entire book. It was easy to read with lots of anticipation and anxious feelings... the actual ending, however, on the last page, was a bit of a let-down and didn't seem to truly follow what had happened beforehand. That was really frustrating! The ending is supposed to sum everything up, and although the book did seem finished in a sense, I'm still left wondering what will happen afterwards.   

My only complaint about this book is the upsetting ending... ... and that I had to read three chapters a day.

Every Secret Thing - Ann Tatlock

This would be a tattered, dog-eared book... if I didn't love it so much.

 

 

  There I was, at a yard sale browsing for nothing in particular.  I found this book, and being a book nerd, I couldn't pass up an opportunity for a new.. no  wait... used book.  I seriously just bought it because a book for 1$ is worth it, I don't care who you are.

 

  When I started reading it, it wasn't one of the books that immediately catches your attention from the first word.  Even now, the introduction isn't my favorite, it's still good, but not as good as the rest of the book.  But keep reading.  Then, you will be hooked.  And you will probably have no social life because you're reading this book.

 

  The story is one you'll fall in love with.  A teacher returning to her old school, a young girl who lost her father, a pinch of romance, and some hurt. There's a lot more than one thing going on, but it never seems chaotic or too hard to follow. It's an easy read.

   Reading this story can only be properly compared to listening to a friend tell her story after you've been re-united.  You hope everything is perfect and the heroine stays strong.  You feel everyone's feelings and soon you are  immersed into their world.  No exaggeration.  It's touching in an immaculate way, yet the story is so very relatable that it seems real! This isn't one of those stories where you wish you could be like them, because the characters aren't perfect. They face challenges that some of us know well.  

In short, I can't give one reason why I like   love  adore...  savor this story. Everything in it is beautiful, simply beautiful. It's one of those books that, when you finish it, you almost feel an emptiness inside. Partially because the story is over, but mostly because you know it will be a while until you find a book this delightful.