It's Been a While...

I think the last time I posted I had started The Bell Jar, which i very much enjoyed. I only had a vague idea about the book when I started and there were times when I really related to the main character, Esther, particularly in the way she looks at the world and the people around her. It turns out the book is semi-autobiographical, following Sylvia Plath's own descent into mental illness. (Interesting side fact: It was Plath's first and I think only novel and she published it under a pseudonym because she didn't think it had any relevance, literary or otherwise.) Go figure. It was a very interesting read and did not end as tragically as I thought it would. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Sylvia Plath's own life, which she ended very shortly after this novel was published.

After that, I read The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, another book Paige lent me from her collection. It took a little while for me to get into it--it was very intellectual and deep and philosophical and I had a hard time relating to the characters for a while, but as is often the case, it picked up and I really enjoyed it. There was a lot of interesting points made about society in general and the behavior of people, particularly between the classes. It was a very good example of the bonds that can be made between unlikely people and how those bonds can affect the course of a person's life. It touches on how even the smallest of things can have the biggest effect on people. I definitely recommend it to anyone who can fit it in.

I didn't bring anything new with me to Colorado but I managed to find a small collection of books in the housing common area and picked out The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber. It's a very Dan Brown-esque novel that centers around a mysterious and presumably very valuable piece of literature. Already a scholar with important information has been tortured to death! It should keep me entertained at the very least until I get more books in my possession, which I know are coming!