Monday, August 1, 2016

Double Review: Chopsticks and Texts From Jane Eyre

Author: Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral
Genre: Graphic Novel/ Visual Art
Publication Date: 2012
Page Count: 272
Rating: 3/5

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This is the story of Glory, a young piano prodigy still mourning the loss of her mother, told in images and mementos. There is a minimal amount of words in this novel, as the photographs are what tells this story. 

I found this to be really unique and interesting. I found the story-line easy to follow despite the lack of words and loved the photographs. I also loved the way this novel seemed to be straight forward and then suddenly turned into more. The exact plot and happenings of the novel are really left up to the reader to decide and I thought that was really neat. I would love to give this book to students in my future classroom who do not think they like reading or are reluctant readers because it requires a lot of critical thinking with a minimal amount of text reading. 

This book is a testament to story-telling and was a quick and enjoyable read. It wasn't mind-blowing, but I enjoyed it and it did surprise me. I recommend picking this up if you are in the mood for something a little different.     


Author: Mallory Ortberg
Genre: Literary Humor
Publication Date: 2014
Page Count: 226
Rating: 3/5

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This book is a collection of text conversations had by famous literary characters. It includes everything from ancient Greek plays to The Great Gatsby, Harry Potter, and Nancy Drew

I thought this book was clever and entertaining. If you study literature or have read a lot of classics, this will be a fun read for you. The sections on Emily Dickinson and Wuthering Heights were my favorites and made me chuckle. I am always down for books that poke fun at great literature or literary figures. 

Even though I hadn't read every book mentioned in this novel, I was still able to get the jokes because they were novels I knew quite a bit about. I did skip a few that I had never heard of, or hadn't yet read and didn't wish to get spoiled on because I knew I planned to read them soon, but I would say that only added up to about ten pages of the book. I felt I was able to get the jokes on almost all the novels and figures and enjoyed all the conversations from the Romantic poets as I just spent weeks studying them last semester. 

This was a lot of fun, but I'm glad I borrowed it from the library as it took me about forty minutes to read through and the cost of the hardcover is $23. Next I want to get my hands on Kate Beaton's works, but leave me recommendations for similar works and authors in the comments please! 

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