Classics – S.B. Howell

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Oct 1, 2023

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in 4 Star Books, Black Comedy, Classics, General Fiction, Humor, Literature, Philosophy, Post-Modern, Religious, Science Fiction

Rating: 4/5, good I first read this book when I was seventeen, as part of summer reading before senior year of high school. It’s a short book, but very dense and philosophical. It was a bit hard to read and I remember not quite getting it, but the idea that religion is human-constructed and shouldn’t…

The Stranger by Albert Camus

May 22, 2019

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by

sbhowell

in 4 Star Books, Black Comedy, Classics, General Fiction, Literature, Philosophy, Post-Modern

The Stranger by Albert Camus Rating: 4/5, good I read this in high school and all I remembered was that he didn’t cry at his mom’s funeral and he shot a guy because it was too sunny. I picked this up to reread on a trip because it’s small (a little over 100 pages) and…

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

May 17, 2019

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by

sbhowell

in 4 Star Books, Asian Authors, Classics, General Fiction, Japanese Authors, Literature, Memoir, Mental Health

Rating: 4/5, good I originally read this on a plane, quickly, without much thought. I tried to sit down and review it a few weeks ago, but I felt like I didn’t understand it well enough. I looked up Osamu Dazai’s biography and then reread No Longer Human, and it seemed to come into place.…

The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

Mar 16, 2019

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by

sbhowell

in 5 Star Books, Black Comedy, Classics, Literature, Mental Health, Race, Science Fiction

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells Rating: 5/5, excellent WARNING: This review contains spoilers! This book is a touchstone for me. I read it the first time in middle school, and it really resonated with me. The Invisible Man is a very irritable, impatient, smart person. He reminds me a lot of myself and my…

Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Ueda Akinari

Jan 19, 2019

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by

sbhowell

in Asian Authors, Classics, History, Horror, Japanese Authors, Literature, Philosophy, Short Stories, Surreal

Rating: 3/5, average (note: I’m rating my experience of reading this, not the quality, which is phenomenal because it’s a Japanese classic. It is beautifully written and painstakingly translated, but quite dry.) Tales of Moonlight and Rain in a nutshell: Ghosts of thwarted noblemen and mistreated women Decrepit thatched-roof houses Lovers undeterred by death Sages,…

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Jun 8, 2015

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sbhowell

in Black Comedy, Classics, Gender, General Fiction, Literature

“Madame Bovary”… recalls “bovine”, doesn’t it? That’s what I thought when I heard the head of the Literature department at UCSC, Vlad Godzich, giving a lecture on it. The connotation is not an accident – the theme of romance mixing with, and being overcome by reality is the main theme of the novel. This is the…

Japanese Language Review: 「魔女の侘急便」

Jan 26, 2015

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sbhowell

in Adventure, Children’s Lit, Classics, Fantasy, Japanese Authors

「魔女の侘急便」が1985年に角野栄子から書いた児童書です。若い魔女のキキの話で、色々面白い瞬間があります。キキは気の強く、おてんばぽい少女ですので、おかしいキャラクタです。でも、私はキキと心が通じる感じがあります。彼女は暖かい性格の少女ですから、彼女の冒険と日常生活について読むことが楽しいです。 1989年にスタジオジブリは「魔女の侘急便」をアニメかにしました。英語で「Kiki’s Delivery Service」と名づけました。アニメバージョンは本と少し違う点があります。諸説には、キキは割りと楽な生活をしている、でも映画でキキは魔法力を失う事である。宮﨑駿は角野栄子に脚本を見せた時、角野さんが断りました。原典と違うすぎるとおもいました。宮﨑駿は角野の家に訪問して、スタジオジブリ。結局、角野さんは賛成して「魔女の侘急便」はアニメにしました。

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

Oct 21, 2014

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by

sbhowell

in 4 Star Books, Classics, Fantasy, Horror, Literature, Science Fiction

H.G. Wells is my favorite author, but when I tried to read this in high school I had to put it down after a few chapters. The first bit of it is extremely slow and if you’re not reading it closely it comes off as very racist. I must have been really tired the first…

Washington Irving’s “Banquet” Approach to Criticism

Jun 25, 2014

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by

sbhowell

in Classics, Writing

Handling criticism, especially in this age when you can post something online and can be criticized by anyone in the world, is a challenge. A lot of people advocate listening to critic’s complaints to learn how to improve your work, but Washington Irving is humorously, false-apologetically opposed to that line of thought. His kiss-off to…

Category: Classics