Let's see....
I haven't been reading as much as I'd like to, mainly due to projects, work (I started an internship at an arts center), and life.... Anyway I managed to read 2 books I'd been wanting to read for some time:
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Ink Heart by german author Cornelia Fünke (in spanish)
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The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde (in english)
I MUST say I did not watch Ink Heart's movie nor did I see Dorian Grey's movie. One of the pleasures of reading is, in my opinion, making up in your mind what the characters look like, what their voice sound like, how they smile....taking raw words out of a book, and shaping them into an image...that's what reading's all about....
(That turned out poetic!)
Ink Heart tells the story of a bookbinder, (would love to meet one, btw) called Bo, and his daughter, Meggie. One day, a stranger who her father calls Dust finger, appears out of the blue at their doorstep. She then learns his father (called Silver tongue by Dust finger) has the ability to take things and people out of and into books while reading aloud. When Meggie was young, Bo read to her mother, Teresa, a book called Inkheart, when suddenly, she disappeared, and 4 characters came out of the book, one of them being Dust Finger, and the other 3, the most dreadful villains.
Dust Finger showed up after years of hiding and wandering, to warn Bo that the villains were looking for him. Bo has in his power the last Inkheart available and, of course, his voice.
The plot thickens and well....they get kidnapped, and see themselves among true book characters, characters that were meant for reading, not living.
Though this book is meant for children, or young teenagers, I must admit the idea of someone reading characters out of books (I know I’d love to), had me reading it as fast as I could.
I would categorize it as a summer book.
The picture of Dorian Grey tells the story of a young, naïve, handsome man, which is lead to the hedonism world by a London aristocrat.
I cannot begin to tell you how many words, phrases, and expressions i learned from this book (written in 1889). It is a good book, i honestly thought it was going to dazzle me away, but it didn't. I expected much more explicitness (does that word exist?). The character's actions (sins mainly), aren't described by Wilde as I would have liked them to be, he is actually really subtle at this. I expected to read about orgies, flesh sins, murders, rapes, temptations, homosexuality, etc... But I didn't. While defending the 1890 edition of the book in the press, Wilde said "Each man sees his own sin in Dorian Grey. What Dorian Grey's sins are no one knows. He who finds them has brought them". That is entirely true. Wilde NEVER describes Dorian's sin; one creates it, and sees it in one's mind -that is the beauty of this book.
I would categorize it as a classic literature worth reading book. Expect nothing, so that it can blow you away.
*2 weeks ago I bought The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. After finishing it, i'll give you my opinion about it.
Till then.
Cheers!
