#_bookshelf2018_

🌟🌟🌟⭐⭐(3/5) . Dante Alighieri's symbolic vision of a journey through Hell, or the Inferno, has influenced much modern day Christianity's aesthetic. Though this historically significant work of poetry was intended as a febrile dream sequence and exploration of the darker aspect of man's psyche, this work was taken by many as a literal interpretation of the afterlife. In a modern reading one discovers not so much plot as horror, not so much concept as vivid imagery. Many of the references to people and places contained in the text mean nothing without an historical reference guide (which the copy of the book pictured here did contain), but the true flavor of this work is in its ability to set an immersive stage rather than to communicate any straightforward message. . #bookstagram #booksireadin2018 #readinglist2018 #bookrecommendation #DanteAlighieri #Dante #poetry #TheInferno #Inferno #_bookshelf2018_ (at Portland, Oregon)

🌟🌟⭐⭐⭐(2/5) . For those who are seasoned in public speaking or have taken classes in communication, this volume is a helpful and concise reference for some of the most useful skills of communicating quickly and effectively; for those who are novices, it's a fantastic place to start. . #HowToGetYourPointAcrossIn30SecondsOrLess #MiloOFrank #communications #persuasion #nonfiction #bookstagram #bookrecommendation #readinglist2018 #booksireadin2018 #_bookshelf2018_ (at Portland, Oregon)

🌟🌟🌟⭐⭐(3/5) An atmosphere of imminent demise permeates every scene of this story, which is ironically saturated in mundanity. Through the eyes and subjective experiences of two small-town best friends, we are given an objective view of the day-to-day orbits of a close-knit community and all of the strangeness that can come out of such a place. The main characters are gritty, immature, dishonest and rarely polite, but these flaws only lend to the realism which is presented here. Overall, the title best sums the feel of this book: imagine you have died and returned to an eternal version of the life you once lived, to see its normality as something precious and unique. That is the effect of Ghost World. Thanks to @nahrlytho for lending me this book. #GhostWorld #DanielClowes #GraphicNovels #GraphicNovel #bookstagram #bookrecommendation #readinglist2018 #booksireadin2018 #_bookshelf2018_ (at Portland, Oregon)

🌟🌟🌟🌟⭐(4/5) " 'You ought to go to a boy's school sometime... It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddamn Cadillac some day, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddamn cliques...' 'Now, listen,' old Sally said. 'Lots of boys get more out of school than that.' 'I agree! I agree they do, some of them! But that's all I get out of it. See?' " I've tried to read A Catcher In The Rye many times and on each occasion I was too bored within the first several pages to go on reading. Ironic that, after having gone through my own journey of self-discovery, I am finally able to comprehend American literature's most notorious coming-of-age story. I give this book five stars for voice--the main character can nearly be heard speaking this book to you as a conversation, and he is so personable that within thirty pages I felt that I had perhaps met Holden Caulfield before(and been annoyed and enchanted with him in turns). Through the interactions Holden shares with the book's many side characters, each of which holds the spotlight only once before disappearing from the narrative, we become more familiar with Holden's psychology than he is. There are deeply insightful moments delivered to us by the reveries of the gifted mind of the youthful narrator; there are moments of such raw humanity which the narrator combats with a comic's tongue that leave the reader laughing out loud. Some may see the main character as a disturbed youth, alienated by his unwillingness to conform. I see his perspective as the perfect counterpoint to the hypocrisy one sees when one looks past the niceties of politeness and modern life, provided by a unique mind that is only partway on its path. Special thanks to @twas_brillig11 for the recommendation to read this book. It took me 6 years, but I finally did it. #bookstagram #booksireadin2018 #readinglist2018 #bookrecommendation #JDSalinger #theCatcherintheRye #americanliterature #comingofage #_bookshelf2018_ (at Portland, Oregon)

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟(5/5) "If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life..." This may well be my fifth time reading this masterpiece, though I've lost count by now. Never in any other book have I encountered such a wrangling of the english language. F. Scott Fitzgerals chronicled the world he was so obviously steeped in while touching on the universality of the hubris of human imagination. This book seems to tear down the road like an out-of-control automobile. I'll give an extra star for dialogue-the conversation in this book comes to life. You can almost hear the banter, small talk and confessions-I was told by a barista in the coffee shop near my place of work that she'd never seen someone so engaged in reading a book, but I couldn't stop laughing and gasping and making remarks. This is truly powerful storytelling at a breakneck pace. There's a reason this book is considered to be one of the classics. #TheGreatGatsby #FScottFitzgerald #americanliterature #bookstagram #bookrecommendation #readinglist2018 #booksireadin2018 #_bookshelf2018_ (at Portland, Oregon)