This is not a book review; this is a BOOKSPERIENCE. A booksperience is a snippet, describing the individual’s “experience” while reading a book. It is a highly unique take; a reader’s thoughts and feelings, rather than an essay telling the reader what to expect from reading any said book.
I should have posted this in March, but time kind of swooshed by and I somehow forgot. Better late than never, right? 🙂
Booksperience
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell is one of those books that you should read every few years just to remind yourself that, no matter what we (collectively) do, we’re all living in a broken society and we’re all pretty much screwed. Whether it is right-wing, left-wing, or run-of-the-mill politicians, they are all the same pigs that gaslight us (the rest of the animals on the farm) into believing there’s something better waiting for us if we work harder, play by their ever-changing rules, and make more money for them.
While this isn’t my first rodeo with Animal Farm, it is, perhaps, the first time I truly became depressed while reading it. Here we are, working ourselves to the bone for companies that are run by people who couldn’t give two shits whether we live or die, and in return we can barely afford buying the essentials. It broke my heart knowing we live in a never-ending cycle of corruption, greed, and propaganda.
Animal Farm may be a depressing novella, but it is essential to read in 2024, which is an election year for quite a few countries. Who knows, you may also be able to put some human faces to the animal characters in one of Orwell’s most iconic works … I sure did.
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
I can honestly say that I shouldn’t have read The Reader by Bernhard Schlink as a fresh-faced university student with no life-experience. The nuance, the depth of the story, the intricacies of the characters, all of that was completely wasted on me back then. Now, however, I can truly appreciate the book for what it is—a tale of shame and guilt between the older and younger generations.
While I still experienced a lot of disgust at the inappropriate relationship between Michael Berg and Hanna Schmidt, I also ended the book having more comprehension about what Bernhard Schlink tried to convey to me the first time I read it.
What’s more, I realized how utterly hypocritical society can be. Yes, this was unexpected and slightly jarring to feel while reading a book about an inappropriate relationship between a fifteen-year-old boy and a thirty-six-year-old woman, but it’s nonetheless true. We can point the finger and judge all we want, but at the end of the day, the majority of society is not doing much more than Hanna did … We take advantage of the youth, turn a blind eye to injustices in order to survive, and remain ignorant (or illiterate in The Reader‘s case) until we near the end of our lives. Then, and only then, do we try to educate ourselves and make amends for our trespasses.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
First off, this was my first time reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Secondly, I think I may have seen the film starring Oprah way back when I was a child, but I can’t really remember much from the movie. Going into this book semi-blind, I can honestly say the book angered me. The way poor Celie was used, abused, and made to feel small even though she was kind and hardworking and remained hopeful, regardless of all the terrible things she had endured, well, it enraged me … She didn’t deserve it, none of the women—Sophie, Shug, Nettie, Mary Agnes, etc.—deserved what happened to them.
Experiencing a book like The Color Purple for the first time—a book that shows how prevalent racism, gender-based violence, and injustice remains even in 2024—gives one pause. It makes you think deeply.
The sisterhood formed by the female characters also brought a different emotion with it … relief. I felt relief that none of the characters had to go through those horrid experiences completely alone. And by the end, I was both relieved and sad. The Color Purple is a fantastic diary-form type of book and I highly recommend everyone to read it if they haven’t already.
READ: 3/1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
