The Morning Watch

 

A Death in the Family has been one of those books I've been meaning to read since I was a kid. I read this short novel by Agee although people say it's like the sequel to A Death in the Family. It's about a boy grieving over his father's death but it's mostly about his thoughts on religion. There were some pretty powerful passages on Jesus' sacrifice. I didn't think this way as a kid. My thoughts on religion weren't so deep so I related to the book more on this time of my life. It is also a rewarding coming of age book. 

The Castle of Llyr

 

This was another cool entry into legendary The Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander. It was a series that I kept putting to the back burner when I was a kid. I'm 39 now and finally getting around to it. The characters are pretty likable, and you can really tell that the author was really inspired by mythology and used it well to enrich his series. In this book Eilonwy is set out to become a lady. A prince takes to her which bothers Taran, the assistant-pig keeper who realizes his love for her but doesn't reveal his feelings due to his station. Eilonwy gets kidnapped by Magg, and they are in danger once again by Achren. Taran goes on a quest to find her with Prince Ruhn and others. I've already started book 4. 

The Black Cauldron

 

I think that Disney did a good job with this but theirs was more whimsical. The book is more of an adventure piece. I like them both, but the approach was different. I never read The Chronicles of Prydain series when I was a kid. I just kept putting it off. I missed off. I may be 39 now but it is never too late. The characters are more drawn out in the book. Taran, the assistant pig keeper and a couple of men are on a quest to destroy The Black Cauldron from Arawn. The scene with the witches though was pretty fun in the Disney movie. 

The Night in Question

 

I watched A Boy's Life when I was nineteen and immediately read the book which was an autobiography written by Wolff. I'm surprised it took me twenty years to read another book by the author. He's a good writer. I just kept putting it off. This is a pretty good short story collection. My favorite story here has to be The Chain. It's about a man who lets his best friend get revenge on the people who've done him wrong. The story shows that this man is far from a good man. His sense of justice is twisted and does more harm than what took in his own life. I also liked The Life of the Body which was about a man's obsession with a woman he meets at a bar. Wolff has got his stories published in places like The New Yorker which generally means he's a good writer. He's worth a read.

The Long Christmas Ride Home

 

I liked "How I learned to drive" even though it wasn't a comfortable read. This play about a dysfunctional family during the holidays is ok, but definitely I felt like this was more of a play to be seen than one to read. This is because the play used Asian puppetry. It would have been cool to see on stage. I admire the writer for trying something different, but it gets lost in print.

The Pillowman

 

This was an ok play by Martin McDonagh. It's my introduction to the playwright. It's about a writer whose stories of child murders bares a strong similarity to recent murders. At first, he thinks the police is making up stuff but finds out the murders were actually carried out by his handicapped brother. This was not an easy play to read. The stories that the writer has written aren't half bad. I'll read another play by McDonagh soon.

Anne Sexton Complete Poems

 

It took me more than a year to get through this. I read it here and there. Anne Sexton was definitely one talented poet. The poetry in the beginning mostly focused on mental illness. There it was the most powerful. She dabbled in other topics like fairy tales which was just an ok attempt. Her confessional topics were the ones that struck me the most. This uneducated housewife rocked the poetry world in the twentieth century. It's proof that you don't have to be stuffy to be a successful poet. She was one of a kind.