Summer Reading Vent

My favorite book would have to be The Screwtape Letters. I enjoyed this book the most because I found every short chapter of the novel to be interesting. Every time that I ended a chapter, I was wanting to start the next one in order to find out about Wormwood’s success. Also, I loved that the book was written from the demon’s point of view and telling the reader the opposite of what one would normally hear. When I first started reading the book I remember being a little confused because Screwtape referred to God as the “Enemy”, which you usually don’t here. I loved how he called the devil “Our Father Below.” At times I found the book to be ironic because it was based on such an oddity being written from one of the demon’s stand point. I also found this book interesting because I knew that C.S. Lewis generally writes Christian novels, so this book took a different approach to that. While Screwtape was telling Wormwood what to do in order to get his victim away from Christianity, C.S. Lewis was simultaneously telling the reader what is “moral” in the Christian views. 

I also really enjoyed The Picture of Dorian Gray very much. What I enjoyed the most about it would probably be the dramatic personality change that is most apparent in Dorian Gray. The corruption of Dorian Gray into the man that Lord Henry ultimately dictates was very entertaining. Although his character changes very dramatically, this influence that Lord Henry had over Dorian is sometimes apparent in real life. Lord Henry had a way with words, which made him so appealing to Dorian. It is also interesting how Basil knows and sees the original, perfect Dorian Gray and is murdered trying to tell Dorian that he should repent for all of the horrific sins he has committed.   However, the ending would have to be the most interesting part. The irony of the ugly painting showing Dorian’s ugly soul is now portrayed on his dead body, which is now ugly and decrepit. 

Grendel was also an interesting novel because it showed the point of view of the monster that we all know and have read about in Beowulf. Throughout the whole novel, I have some sympathy for Grendel, which probably comes from seeing his mother and their relationship. Also, Grendel seems to have some pretty solid thoughts when he sees the corruption and disorder of man kind. From the beginning of the novel, we see how Grendel is constantly being mistreated my other animals as well as humans, which forces the reader to pity him. The ending of the book, although kind of expected, is still sad because Grendel’s convincing story has, after all, persuaded the reader to side with him against the humans.