Book Review 5: Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

Title: Of Human Bondage
Author: W. Somerset Maugham
Published: New American Library, New York: 1991
Pages: 680
Total pages: 1111
Text number: 5
Read for: my own enjoyment
In brief: I view this book as James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man with less complex language and therefore more pages. The text follows the life of the principle character from childhood to marriage, recording his various epiphanies, views on politics and morality, love affairs, and the pervasive problem of his disability: a club foot. It is not a challenging read, remains interesting throughout, but appears to lack the depth of some other works.

( Longer review. )

Review posted here at Amazon.com.

Book Review 6: Reading Lolita in Tehran, A Memoir in Books, by Azar Nafisi

Title: Reading Lolita in Tehran, a Memoir in Books
Author: Azar Nafisi
Published: Random House, New York: 2004
Pages: 345
Total pages: 1456
Text number: 6
Read for: my own enjoyment
In brief: How, exactly, does one summarize a book like this? It is about a college professor in Tehran, Iran who begins a book club with a small group of her best students. Through the club, her girls, and the events leading up to and coming after the book club, Nafisi tells the story of the lives of women in Iran and how she perceived this life: through her precious illegal books by Nabokov, Austen, James, and numerous others.

( Longer review. )

Book Review 7: The Day of the Locust, by Nathanael West

Title: The Day of the Locust
Author: Nathanael West
Published: Signet Classic, New York: 1983
Pages: 182
Total pages: 1638
Text number: 7
Read for: Themes in Apocalyptic Literature course
In brief: Set in the City of Angels, this book is the ultimate irony: it is about humanity at its lowest lows. Written in a dry satirical style, containing exaggerated characters and events, it is a dark near-comedy about social interactions and the corruption of humanity.

( Longer review. )