Until earlier today I was reading my way through Donna Tartt's The Secret History, but at page 401 (of the existing 628), I stopped and moved on to another book. Now, as I obviously cannot write a full review on the book, as I had planned to do had I finished it, I have decided to instead write an entry on why I will not finish it.
In the beginning, or, rather, all trough the first half of it, it was very interesting; lovely group of main characters (some more difficult to sympathize with/understand, but interesting nonetheless); nice, adequate descriptions; fantastic use of language; etcetera. I particularly liked the way the ending was spoiled in the beginning of the book, namely the murder of a major character (I do not consider this a spoiler as it is mentioned on the very first page).
Or, rather, what I thought to be the ending. As it turned out, the believed "ending" occurred halfway through the book. Up to the point of the murdering, it was all very interesting; exciting at times, more puzzling at others, as books goes. Sadly, after the murder had occurred, the reading experience went downhill. For a couple of hundred pages it was interesting to be given an insight of the aftermath of a murder, but after a while it grew very dull, in spite of the entrance of FBI and all that; dull, in fact, to the point where I did not even care about how this all would end, and the book mainly bored me, and, in my opinion, when this is how you feel about a book, it is better to put it down and perhaps pick it up later, instead of staggering on slowly and without interest. (My mother wisely informed me that this is also a healthy approach to have to e.g. relationships.)
So, to wrap this up, that is basically why I stopped my reading of The Secret History on page 401. This might mean that I missed out on a fantastic ending or the breathtaking event on page 402, but that is something I am willing to sacrifice; especially as I am already on page 101 in Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay.
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
04/11/2013
Billy Elliot - the Feminist
What follows now is a review of the film Billy Elliot, which I wrote for an English test in class. It is not entirely spoiler-free, but for your leisure, I will mark the paragraphs/sentences which include spoilers with a "*", thereby ensuring your reading to be spoiler free, or at least giving you a choice between spoiler-free and the opposite. That said, allons-y!
Billy Elliot is directed by Stephen Daldry and takes place in the 1980's. The story is about the young boy Billy (Jamie Bell), who lives with his dysfunctional family in a small mining town in Northern England, where the gender roles are strong. We follow Billy through his fight against them as he fights for his right to dance, despite his father Jackie's (Gary Lewis) strong objections.
When it comes to films alike this one, I think the time and place in which it is set is a brilliant choice. Had it, for example, been set in London and present day, it would not at all have been the same kind of film, as the power of the gender roles are not as strong there in the present day.
In the film we follow Billy through a long period of time, so there are some big jumps in the story's time line, which sometimes works nicely but tends to be confusing, in my opinion.
Furthermore, I think that Jamie Bell, who, as previously mentioned, takes on the role of Billy, makes an outstanding performance for being such a young actor, as he is not only needed to act, but also to dance ballet. His amazing performance really enhances the greatness of the film; as does the other actors' brilliant performances.
As I mentioned briefly earlier, it is not merely a beautiful story about a boy who fights for his right to do what he wants, but also a story about the fight against the norm of what is typically male/female and, in Billy's (and his friend's Michael's) case, working against them. This is portrayed beautifully in a boy who really is not trying to fight them at all, but simply wants to do what he loves to do, and in that way he, more or less subconsciously, makes a stand about his and other people's rights and brakes the norm without even really intending to. *In the meantime, one can notice how his character changes and he becomes more and more confident as the story progresses; from hiding his ballet shoes from his father, to take a stand and simply dance in front of him.
*When it comes to character development, I think that the greatest one seen in the film comes from Billy's father Jackie, which makes a beautiful kind of side-story (which is strongly entwined with the main story), as he transforms from a grumpy, distant father who wants Billy to follow the male norm, to a warmer father who is even prepared to give up his moral and take up his mining job, just in order to support Billy. Characters like Jackie are often what makes great works of fiction as great as they are.
The film shows a beautiful story about the life of a devoted young boy, at the same time as it is a great representation of the society and the norms it is built around, and also displays a fairly large quantity of inspirational characters, which all in all makes it a film truly worth watching and reflecting about.
I feel as though there are a ton of other aspects I could bring into the review, lots of characters and their developments to write even longer paragraphs about, but I feel as though I have now bored you for long enough.
Billy Elliot is directed by Stephen Daldry and takes place in the 1980's. The story is about the young boy Billy (Jamie Bell), who lives with his dysfunctional family in a small mining town in Northern England, where the gender roles are strong. We follow Billy through his fight against them as he fights for his right to dance, despite his father Jackie's (Gary Lewis) strong objections.
When it comes to films alike this one, I think the time and place in which it is set is a brilliant choice. Had it, for example, been set in London and present day, it would not at all have been the same kind of film, as the power of the gender roles are not as strong there in the present day.
In the film we follow Billy through a long period of time, so there are some big jumps in the story's time line, which sometimes works nicely but tends to be confusing, in my opinion.
Furthermore, I think that Jamie Bell, who, as previously mentioned, takes on the role of Billy, makes an outstanding performance for being such a young actor, as he is not only needed to act, but also to dance ballet. His amazing performance really enhances the greatness of the film; as does the other actors' brilliant performances.
As I mentioned briefly earlier, it is not merely a beautiful story about a boy who fights for his right to do what he wants, but also a story about the fight against the norm of what is typically male/female and, in Billy's (and his friend's Michael's) case, working against them. This is portrayed beautifully in a boy who really is not trying to fight them at all, but simply wants to do what he loves to do, and in that way he, more or less subconsciously, makes a stand about his and other people's rights and brakes the norm without even really intending to. *In the meantime, one can notice how his character changes and he becomes more and more confident as the story progresses; from hiding his ballet shoes from his father, to take a stand and simply dance in front of him.
*When it comes to character development, I think that the greatest one seen in the film comes from Billy's father Jackie, which makes a beautiful kind of side-story (which is strongly entwined with the main story), as he transforms from a grumpy, distant father who wants Billy to follow the male norm, to a warmer father who is even prepared to give up his moral and take up his mining job, just in order to support Billy. Characters like Jackie are often what makes great works of fiction as great as they are.
The film shows a beautiful story about the life of a devoted young boy, at the same time as it is a great representation of the society and the norms it is built around, and also displays a fairly large quantity of inspirational characters, which all in all makes it a film truly worth watching and reflecting about.
I feel as though there are a ton of other aspects I could bring into the review, lots of characters and their developments to write even longer paragraphs about, but I feel as though I have now bored you for long enough.
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