Alice In Wonderland * Lewis Carroll [2014 Read]

Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

When Alice follows a white rabbit in a waistcoat down a hole, she finds herself in a mixed-up world where nothing is as she expects it to be and anything can happen. Alice meets a pipe-smoking caterpillar, a grinning cat, a Mad Hatter and the formidable Queen of Hearts.

Alice is fed up of the dinner party her family are throwing and is fed up of trying to be paired with someone to marry. So whilst on a walk through the garden, she notices a white rabbit, though not just any white rabbit, one that has a little waist coat, a pocket watch and most of all, can speak. 

Curious, Alice decides to follow the Rabbit, but when he jumps into the rabbit hole at the bottom of a far away tree, Alice doesn't know what to do. So when she looks further into the hole and falls down it, she is in a whole new world.

When she lands, Alice finds that she must go through the first door that she sees, though it is as small as a doormouse and there's no way that she will fit through the door. With various food and drink, such as a piece of cake that makes her tall and a drink that makes her small, Alice sets off on an adventure of a life time once she enters through the door. 

Soon Alice is in over her head with strange people and things, from a talking Cheshire Cat, a blue smoking and talking caterpillar, a Mad Hatter, hare and a doormouse plus more! 

It's soon to be an adventure of a life time for Alice.

Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, is an all time classic at it's best! Though I have only just read this book, I have watched the animated Disney adaptation many times and the real life Disney version with Johnny Depp in. Both which I love and find them amazing. Though if I'm honest, I found the actual book a bit hard to keep up with. 

There is so much happening within the pages, where Alice is heading, who she's talking too and what the other characters are doing it soon started to send my head into a bit of a twist! Plus sending it into a frenzy of getting lost  and a bit hard to carry on with. Though I must say that after reading the book, I found that both films we're pretty much exactly the same. 

There wasn't much change in either adaptations which I am quite pleased about, as usual they change the books completely to the films, which is a bit rubbish, seeing as the author has gone to so much trouble to write it in the first place, it's a bit...I don't know...not offensive but, insensitive I think? I don't know. 

Either way the book is extremely strange, weird and wonderful and it's just an amazing piece of Literature to read and to still be able to to read in this day and age. What a wonderful piece of work, such an inspiration into the world of literature, illustration and art! Fantastic! 

I will give this book 8 out of 10

Peter Pan * J.M. Barrie

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Come away! Come away! The darling children are all tucked up in there beds when Peter Pan bursts into their nursery. Peter and his mischievous fairy Tinkerbell entice Wendy and her brothers to fly away to a magical world called Neverland. There you can do all mystical and magical things, that no one would of every thought you could do.  

The Darling children we're not like most children, they had one bedtime story like any other, and what made it different was that they believed. Wendy was the eldest of all three children, there we're her brothers John and Micheal too. 

After Nana, the big St. Bernard dog had given them their medicine and tucked them all into bed, the children would dream of flying away to one place in the world that all children wish they could go. Neverland. Filled with sparkling fairies, beautiful mermaids in their colourful lagoons and we can't forgot about the dangerous and vicious pirates ever to have walked the earth. 

So when a young boy creeps in through the window one night in a quest to find his lost shadow, Wendy is awoken by the sounds of a distressed boy, crying. Soon she realises that this is Peter Pan from the bedtime stories and she immediately wakes her brothers to show them. 

After sewing Peter's shadow back on seeing as the soap he tried to use didn't work, all three children are swiftly taken to Neverland where there flying through the air by fairy dust, with the help of a stubborn little fairy known as Tinkerbell. Towards the second star on the right and straight on till morning. 

With living in a house underground, a little hutch made out of twigs, leaves, mud and wood. With mermaids swimming all over the blue lagoon, fierce native redskins and the pirates lurking about. Things aren't what they seem to the Darling children and they start to forget who they are, the longer they stay in Neverland. 

Getting rid of the dreaded captain Hook is one thing, his crew another. But when the Darling children, soon start to forget where there real home is, where they actually live and who there real mother and father are, things start to seem weird.  Though they battle on to help beloved Peter towards his great achievement of getting rid of Hook once and for all. 

Peter Pan by J.M Barrie, is a childhood memory for a lot of children and adults alike. Though to compare the book to the actual Walt Disney adaptation and the films to follow, are nothing of the sort. 

I remember watching the film when I was younger and thinking what a magical place it would be to live! To see the mermaids and the pirates and most of all the fairies. I thought the same for the real life adaptation also, but after reading the book. Peter Pan in my mind has become a lot darker than what it appears to be with Disney. 

The films for me don't really fit to the book, though there is a Peter Pan in a TV show called Once Upon a Time. Peter Pan in that is what he is really like in the book, dark. Which after watching the programme I thought "God, they've made that awfully dark to what it really is" But alas! I was mistaken. 

A lot of people don't know that J.M Barrie based this book on someone in his family losing a child. Thus Peter is the lost child to Mrs.Darling who she longs to see again but never will, which is who the Kiss on the corner of her mouth is saved for. 

I think this is such a sad part towards the story as it is just about a mother longing to see her lost child again, and in some ways Peter Pan trying to see his siblings again, yet he doesn't really know it. He is forever trapped being a child who will never grow up, because that is how Mrs. Darling saw peter last, and how she will always see her little boy.

Same as Mr. Darling is actually Captain Hook, who in a way tries to get rid of Peter so they can move on with their lives as they should. Or so how I see it, they have quite a big resemblance. On the other hand, Hook despises Peter because he also in a way doesn't want to grow up himself, and is jealous that Peter doesn't have to and he can remain a boy for eternity. Though with Mr. Darling he See's his other children, and secretly doesn't want them to grow up because he wants them to stay his babies forever, just like Peter will.  

I do like the darker meaning behind Peter Pan, rather than just that he is the boy that will never grow up. Yet at the same time, find it really saddening and heartbreaking.  I liked that it was portrayed in a darker light, though I must admit it did sometimes bore me and I didn't get the same feeling reading it as I did watching the cartoon adaption years ago when I was younger. 

Still, it remains a big part of my life and childhood and some of the sayings in the book are just too beautiful to forget. 

"To die, would be an awfully big adventure" - Peter Pan. 

I will give this book 6 out of 10 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower * Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

'I walk around the school hallways and look at the teachers and wonder why they're here.  Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day...or wondering who did the breaking and wondering why.'

Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. 

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way uncharted territory: The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But Charlie can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perceptive. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. 

Being new is one thing, but starting school with no friends is another. So when Charlie goes for a walk and ends up at the school bleachers, he walks up to two people. One of whom is in his shop class and the other he has no clue. He soon becomes close friends with sophomores Patrick and Sam, who take him under their wings and shows him the ropes of school and teenage life. 

Then there's his English teacher Bill, who gives Charlie a new book to read every month or so. Bill sees that Charlie is different from all the other students and  special. Not in a mean kind of way, but just the way his mind works from others. He sees that he has a real spark in his learning and he makes Charlie do various essays on the books that he reads and Charlie enjoys doing them. 

As his friendship grows with Sam and Patrick, he ends up in all sorts of places all over town. He goes to parties and drinks, smokes drugs and sometimes takes some too, though only when he is drunk. He is always safe and feels secure when he is around Sam or Patrick and they carry on to look after him until they leave school. 

Family life at home for Charlie is different, his dad is pretty strict, his mum is in her own world sometimes, his sister never really has time for him and his brother is off at college playing football. Although he knows they all love him very much, he still feels lost without that family connection. So he turns to his Aunt Helen, who he misses ever so much. He misses the times where they would watch TV, but that was never going to happen again.

Then there's The Rocky Horror Picture Show, where they all either dress up and act out the play altogether or they sit and watch on the side lines. Patrick is always Frank N' Furter and Sam is always Janet. Which Charlie likes the most.  

Finding new friends along the way, different paths in life and The Rocky Horror Picture Show what could go wrong for Charlie. He lives for an adventure and is always in high spirits, well, most of the time. Join Charlie as he takes you out on a ride through his life. It's a trip you won't forget. 

I LOVED IT!
This book was brilliant and I could read it again and again. The way Charlie's character is written is wonderful and I honestly think that Charlie is now one of my favourite characters ever. I love the way the book is wrote in like diary entries to someone that you never find out who it is. It's just a mystery you will never get. 

I feel that this book had a really deep meaning with everything that went off in it, especially the ending as it all tied together on why Charlie is a bit messed up in places. I felt that as the story progressed, each character started to play out the roles of The Rocky Horror Picture Show characters, to their own characters in the book. With Patrick playing Frank N' Furter and the sexuality thing, and Sam who portrayed Janet, who couldn't make her mind up who she was. 

I think you need to at least know or have seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show to understand the book a bit, plus it will make it more interesting to read. There are many times throughout the book that I wanted to join then in the plays. 

Charlie is portrayed as what I think a 15 going on 16 year old boy who is a bit confused in where he is and where he should be. Where he should fit in and who is friends are, and I think everyone feels that as they grow up, and come to terms with who their real friends are and who aren't. 

Charlie is a wonderful character that you will grow to love if you read it, his choice in words and how he sees things in life is wonderful and truly beautiful. It's all about friends and family and finding yourself along the way. 

I will give this book a 10 out of 10. I am placing this as a classic book that everyone should read. 

P.s: I am so glad I didn't watch the film first, and read the book instead. 

The Illustrated Man * Ray Bradbury

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

If El Greco had painted miniatures in his prime, no bigger than your hand, infinitely detailed, with his sulphurous colour and exquisite human anatomy, perhaps he might have used this man's body for his art...

Yet the Illustrated Man had tried to burn the illustrations  off. He's tried sandpaper, acid, and a knife. Because, as the sun sets, the pictures glow like charcoals, like scattered gems. They quiver and come to life. Tiny pink hands gesture, tiny mouths flicker as the figures enact there stories - voices rise, small and muted, predicting the future.

Blending magic, imagination and truth with Bradbury's rich storytelling skills and beautifully crafted imagery, these startling and thought provoking visions of humankind's destiny. 

Imagine being in the future, what would you think 2021 would be like? Will there be flying saucers? Aliens? Robots?

Sit back and let Ray Bradbury be your guide, and take your into a world of mayhem, strangeness, wild stories and a bit of horror. 

Imagine your whole house fully electronic. Food being cooked and served from the table itself, air chutes to take you around your home. Self bathing baths, cleaning you with robotic arms and hands. 

Even a room that has life like walls that come to life, by reading any book. You could read a book on Africa and watch your walls change into a new scenery  then have lions walk out into your very room, close enough to touch!

Or how about rocket rides to Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn? 

Living on a different planet entirely, miles and miles away from earth. 

How about walking through the trenches, having constant water, rain upon your head? Like Chinese water torture, never getting any sleep. whilst trying to find the sun dome, the only places that have sunlight left. 

Maybe you'd like to invest in your own identical robot? For those times you want to leave the house, but can't? Well now you can! just turn your robot self on, go out and have fun! Know one will know, it will be like leaving yourself at home, literally!

What about walking into a haunted house, and a robotic one at that. with bats flying around your face on arrival and rats scurrying about your feet, constant ticking of the butlers and maids. Dressing up in fancy dress and having Ghouls, ghosts and monsters lurking around every room and corner. 

But the house isn't so friendly, with screaming, shouting, blood guts and gore. You won't know if it's yourself losing your life, or a clone. 

Welcome to the House of Usher.

If you could travel back in time to anywhere in the world, where would you go? Perhaps three years ago into your own past, See family members as they we're younger? 

What about back to the 1900's? Or maybe 1800 A.D? To be able to see the burning of Rome, or the Colosseum being built all those years ago? Experience WW1 & WW2? It's all up to you, just don't change the past!

And after all this, the final question is, would you trade places with your own child? If they we're being bullied, would you give them your life in exchange for theirs? Or would you tell them to grow up and take it? To defend for them self? The only problem is, would be that you would have to suffer in the playground, for years and years to come of torture. 

And all this, painted upon one mans skin. Against his own will, branded by ink and illustrations, that always come to life whenever he sleeps, and when the sun sets. They light up like lamps, scaring him to death. 

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury is a wonderful book, with a collection of stories all full of imagination and fun. 

This is the first book that I have read by Bradbury and loved every minute of it, and could never put it down. I loved the way he captured the readers imagination and made me feel like i was in the actually book. The stories are wonderful and bursting with magic. 

The way he makes the stories come to life, breath in and out through the pages, sigh on every turn and make your head spin with all the different types of stories. From future to past, living and non living, real life and robots, space and time. Everything will make you think wonders, and even possibly causing yourself, to want to live in these worlds. 

I know I thought that. 

To say that I have never read a Sci-fi book before, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more books by Bradbury. I honestly haven't read anything like this, with so much imaginary that literally oozes out of the book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who, as always, fancies a change in their reading style. 

Or someone who wants to read something full of different stories and bursting with imagination. I would also recommend this to people who are fond tattoos, have tattoo's or simply a tattoo artist. I think you would enjoy this book. 

This book is a  classic and I am rating it at 10 out of 10!