Where Rainbows End- Cecelia Ahern

I read this book in two days. Totally gripping, wonderful and heart-warming. This book for me was the most real and true book that I have read in a long time, a story about love and how life gets in the way.

 

Recently made into a film (Love,Rosie), Where Rainbows End is different to any book I have ever read, split into 5 part with an epilogue, the novel is simply letters, notes passed in class and emails, between Rosie, Alex, family members and Ruby. When I first started the book I thought how on earth am I going to have any clue of what is going on, surely I won't connect with any of the characters because all I am reading is quick instant messages and emails?! I was quickly proven wrong.

 

The story made me feel really nostalgic, as it begins when Alex and Rosie are only 7 years old, passing notes to each other in class and getting sent out, having silly fights and laughing at the what they call their teacher "Big nose smelly breath Casey". It's pretty obvious from the beginning that although they are best friends, they are destined for each other, the love they have for one another is irreplaceable and totally unique. But when Alex moves to Boston when they are 18 and Rosie becomes pregnant with "Brian the Whines" baby, their worlds are turned upside down.

 

The story takes place over roughly 47 years and in the time there are 3 marriages, 3 children and 2 deaths, its a roller-coaster and really pulls on your heartstrings. You almost have to read it in one go because your brain is working so hard to keep up with everything that is happening, you just want to finish it- 2 years go past in the turn of a page.

 

The ending, the best part. For me the ending 100% lived up to all expectations. For one, it ended in 3rd person, you really get to take the back seat and just watch this beautiful moment. Alex and Rosie are 50 years old and for me that made it even more special, who would have thought it would take that long? The message it sends out to anyone reading is one of hope and actually says, you know what? some books make out that love happens young and that if you haven't found someone by the time your 30, you never will. But this book proves everyone wrong in this truly wonderful love story, about friends and loyalty.

 

If I say anymore I will give everything away.

 

 

Quotes:

 

 "Today I love you more than ever; tomorrow I will love you even more"

 

"You deserve someone who loves you with every single beat or his heart, someone who thinks about you constantly, someone who spends every minute of every day just wondering what you're doing, where you are, who you're with and if you're ok"

 

"Now Alex has that life and I'm so proud of him. I'm so happy that he's found his best women and his best friend in Sally"

 

"We've only been married ten days so we've had lets see...ten fights"



Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

 

I read Gone Girl in a week...for me that is a huge achievement. I am one of those people that can take weeks to read a book if I don't understand the characters or don't 'believe' the story. Gone Girl ticked all the boxes for me and really was an addictive read.

The book is split into 3 parts; Part one 'Boy loses Girl', Part two 'Boy meets Girl' and Part three 'Boy gets Girl back (or vice versa)'. What really interested me about the name or the book and the names of the three parts was that Nick Dunne and Amy Elliot Dunne are referred to as 'Boy' and 'Girl', I love how irony is used to really help draw the reader in, because these two characters are in their 30s but naming them boy and girl just shows how their immaturity throughout life has lead to this day...'The Day Of'.

From the opening lines of Gone Girl I was instantly drawn in, "When I think of my wife, I think of her head." I find it fascinating how an author can pull you into their book just from the first line of their book, from that moment on I really couldn't put it down.

Just from reading the blurb I had already made assumptions of what was going to happen.."Nick has killed Amy but makes it look like she killed herself"...a couple of chapters in it changed to "Amy killed herself and has framed Nick but really Nick didn't do it, it was her old friend from school". Both times I was wrong, that's what I loved about this book, I was always proven wrong, it made me keep reading it because every chapter something new was revealed and there was another change in direction. The book opens from Nicks point of view and then alternates between him speaking in the present time and Amy's diary entry's from when they first started dating 'till present day.

The book is amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who loves a gripping read. Something that I love but also hate, is the ending. The ending leaves you begging for an epilogue, asking for questions and leaves you with that feeling of "should I read it again?!".

Love is portrayed throughout Gone Girl and there are many types. The love of parents and children between Amy and her parents and Nick and his mother, sibling love between Margo and Nick "I will love you even if you..", sexual love between Amy and Nick and Desi and Amy and love between friends with Noelle and Amy. As you get to the end of this book you realise that most of this love is fake but never the less it exists throughout.

Quotes:

* “Love makes you want to be a better man. But maybe love, real love, also gives you permission to just be the man you are.”  

* “There's a difference between really loving someone and loving the idea of her.”  

* “Unconditional love is an undisciplined love and, as we all have seen, undisciplined love is disastrous.”  

* “Our kind of love can go into remission, but it's always waiting to return. Like the world sweetest cancer.”  

*“I was told love should be unconditional. That's the rule, everyone says so. But if love has no boundaries, no limits, no conditions, why should anyone try to do the right thing ever? If I know I am loved no matter what, where is the challenge? I am supposed to love Nick despite all his shortcomings. And Nick is supposed to love me despite my quirks. But clearly, neither of us does. It makes me think that everyone is very wrong, that love should have many conditions. Love should require both partners to be their very best at all times.”   


The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple is a novel written in 1982 by Alice Walker. The novel is set in rural Georgia in the early 20th century.

The novel is instantly different to anything I have ever read before. One, because it is made up of letters written to God, and two because it is written in the dialect of the narrator, Celie. For some readers this would be endearing and make the novel seem more real and possibly make them like it more, but for me, I found it a struggle from the very beginning and therefore never properly engaged in the book and the characters. Maybe one day I will pick it up and read it again and think its wonderful, but for the purpose of this blog post i am going to be honest and tell you what I really thought of The Color Purple.

Celie is poor, uneducated and treated terribly by her father and this is clear from the first page of the book when she is 14 and raped by him. She writes letters to God to get answers for why these things keep happening to her, Her mother dies, her sister Nettie is taken away from her and her children of which the main she calls her father made, and Celie can be seen as well and truly having a terrible life.

One of the main contrasts in the novel is that Celie is uneducated and her sister is so bright. This is seen when Celie finds the letters that Mr___ has been keeping from her, which were from Nettie.

Quotes:

“The more I wonder, the more I love.” 
“I'm pore, I'm black, I may be ugly and can't cook, a voice say to everything listening. But I'm here.” 
“I'm poor, black, I may even be ugly; but dear God, I'm here! I'm here!” 
“Oh, Celie, unbelief is a terrible thing. And so is the hurt we cause others unknowingly.” 
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.” 

King Lear at the National Theatre

I am currently studying King Lear as part of my year 13 A level coursework in English Lit, and i went with my class to watch a performance of it at the National Theatre on Monday 30th June 2014.

I want to start by saying how much i enjoyed it. The whole production, set and acting was amazing and i felt everyone played the roles very well and seemed to really involve themselves in the character and their story.

Seeing the play brought to life in this amazing production really helped me understand it and gave me a chance to see the emotions of the characters and begin to see a new side to them.

The play is circles around two fathers who have both made life changing decisions and errors. Gloucester, by believing Edmond, loses his sight and is made a traitor and Lear by being vain and over indulged disowns Cordelia and resigns from the thrown.

Overall, i thought the production of King Lear at the National Theatre was brilliant.

You're The One That I Wan't by Giovanna Fletcher

'You're The One That I Want' begins in present day from the perspective of Maddy, on her wedding day. At this point she is 26 years old and is saying how she loves the man she is about to marry, Rob, but also loves his best man and her best friend, Ben. At this point the reader might be quick to judge Maddy and label her, however, the book swiftly moves to the next chapter and takes the reader back to when these 3 characters were 9 years old and first met. It is now that we, as the readers, begin to get a clearer idea on how Maddy is in this situation whereby she loves more than 1 person and how this effects the way she lives her life. This story is therefore beginning from the age of 9 and ends at the age of 26, therefore we get to see how the characters change and mature as they experience "the real world".

The book is written from the perspective of Maddy and Ben. Its interesting that Robert is one of the main characters throughout the book, and in-fact helps to shape the true meanings of the story, yet doesn't get the chance to allow the reader to really understand how he is feeling. For instants, when he cheats on Maddy at University.

This novel portrays the different types of love in modern day life. Whether it be love of a friend, love of family or love of a partner, love is shown to be something special yet it can be apparent in many different forms.

There are a few quotes that really stuck out for me:

 "Without the love or the heartache i also wouldn't have had the unconditional friendships"

"And then i stole a glance to the right of Robert, to see my other love. Ben Gilbert"

"My heart ached as it understood the significance and a feeling of sadness swelled through me"

What strikes me about this book is that love isn't always black and white and even though you think you might have found "the one" its not always that simple.  I found it fascinating to read a book that didn't just focus on one love story and a few sub plots here and there, this book really took you along with the characters and really understand what the experience of love is really like.