Just Some Critics For 'The Great Gatsby'

Critics of The Great Gatsby

Theme	Quote	Place
The book in general	“The Great Gatsby is somehow a commentary on that elusive phrase, the American dream”	Scott Fitzgerald’s critic of America, Marius Bewley, The Sewanee Review, p223
Gatsby	“the figure who control Gatsby’s mysterious wealth is a travesty of Rothstein”	New essays on the great Gatsby, Matthew J Bruccoli p8
Wealth, the American dream	“his fable of East and west is little concerned with twentieth century materialism and moral anarchy, for its theme is the unending quest for the romantic dream, which is forever betrayed in fact and yet redeemed in men’s minds”	Scott Fitzgerald’s fable of east and west, Robert Ornstein p139
Gatsby’s guests, drunkenness, status, wealth	“the Broadway people at Gatsby’s speak only one language. They are in a constant state of sincerity, running their mascara, falling over drunk, going hopelessly past the limits of style”	Great Gatsby and modern times, Ronald berman, p120
Owl eyes (appearing thrice)	“He is one of several repetitive devices with which Fitzgerald unifies the narrative; he relates immediately to the major symbol of the T.J. Eckleburg billboard with its huge yellow spectacles emblematizing eyes that do not see”	Owl eyes, Stoddard’s lectures and the great Gatsby, Patrick w. Shaw, p125
Corruption, Gatsby	“Gatsby’s criminal nature links him to the self –corruption of Tom, Jordan, and Daisy- representatives of the world he longs to conquer”	Equivocal Endings in classic American novels, Joyce A. Rowe, P113
Corruption, Gatsby, Tom, Daisy	“among the many parallels between Gatsby and the Buchanans, the most striking is that all three are killers. As Gatsby is said to have been responsible for killing someone, so , by the end of the story, are both daisy and tom”	Equivocal Endings in classic American novels, Joyce A. Rowe, P114
Gatsby, daisy, myrtle, cars, death,	“nothing so clearly delineates the quality of Gatsby’s amorally dissociated nature as his reaction to Myrtle Wilson’s death. Nick notes with surprise, and at first with disgust, that Gatsby shows no concern for the woman who was killed by Daisy’s reckless driving”.	Equivocal Endings in classic American novels, Joyce A. Rowe, p 114
Gatsby	“it is Gatsby’s unwavering focused on Daisy, and his concomitant lack of feeling for the dead woman, that is so chilling”	Equivocal Endings in classic American novels, Joyce A. Rowe, P114
Corruption, the American dream, the novel	“The corruption of the American Dream emerges in various ways throughout The Great Gatsby – extravagant parties, expensive cars and sprawling homes providing the backdrop for adulterous affairs, car crashes and, eventually, three deaths”	Say it ain’t so Jay: Fitzgerald’s use of Baseball in the great Gatsby, Robert Johnson Jr, p30
Cars	“reference to cars associate them with restlessness and also with power in all its manifestations and finally with death”	Kathleen Parkinson, Penguin critical studies the great Gatsby, p 41
Cars, wealth	“They are the emblem of consumer power, as well as of destructiveness and violence in modern society”	Kathleen Parkinson, Penguin critical studies the great Gatsby, p 41
Cars, wealth, love	“cars are seen as constructions of luxury and light, and romance too”	Kathleen Parkinson, Penguin critical studies the great Gatsby, p 41
Cars, wealth, the upper class, fragility of life	“In  significant conversation he [Nick] has with Jordan Baker – whose name is an amalgam of two America Makes of car – the car becomes a metaphor for the kind of imperviousness to the people that characterizes Tom and daisy and other such “careless people “ who are insulated by their wealth from the reality of others’ lives”	Kathleen Parkinson, Penguin critical studies the great Gatsby, p 41
Cars, myrtle, death, sexuality	“The impersonal death machine violates myrtle’s female identity and ravages her: it is a symbolic rape”	Kathleen Parkinson, Penguin critical studies the great Gatsby, p 42
Owl eyes	“owl eyes makes a reappearance in the narrative as the only other mourner at Gatsby’s funeral”	Kathleen Parkinson, Penguin critical studies the great Gatsby,p48
Owl eyes, upper class, drunkenness,	“in Gatsby’s library he made his insistent and triumphant discovery that the books… “were real””	Kathleen Parkinson, Penguin critical studies the great Gatsby,p48

Mrs Hill's Homework for 26.09.2012

Largely for me and carrie but for those too lazy to look 

Great Expectations VIDEO STYLE *shocked gasp*

So I just made my first Youtube video! Admittedly my inspiration was somewhat lacking and didn't really come up with anything original

BUT STILL

it's on the web and I have to say I'm pretty proud of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOMcIL2T_jQ
if you're interested



So here is the plot as promised.

'Great Expectations' is written in the form of retrospective narration, which is just a fancy way of saying it's being looked back on rather than happening as we read it. As the narrator is Pip, and we aren't told exactly when the book is being written in relation to the rest of the novel, you have to question whether Pip is a reliable narrator, and whether we are being told facts or just interpretations/opinions.

The novel starts with Pip as a young boy, living with his sister Mrs Joe and her husband Joe, a blacksmith. We don't know what has killed their parents, but it is clear that Mrs Joe isn't happy about having to raise her brother from birth. Mrs Joe is very violent, often beating Pip and Joe, bragging about how she brought him up by hand. Joe is the absolute opposite to this. He is more like a brother to Pip, even though he should be a father if Mrs Joe has brought him up. This is because Joe is dominated by his wife and so is reduced to a child.

One day, Pip is visiting his parents' graves, a convict jumps up and threatens him if he won't get him a file. Pip is terrified, but he later returns with a file and some food for the convict. The convict is later caught, but he saves Pip taking the blame. This is a key event in the novel.

After a few years, Pip is taken by Uncle Pumblechook (who is Joe's uncle) to Satis House, the home of the mysterious Miss Havisham, who has requested a child to entertain her adopted daughter Estella. Miss Havisham is the ghost of a bride, the house is decorated as the ghost of a wedding. Pip plays with Estella who is mean to him, but Pip still falls hopelessly in love with her and is convinced Miss Havisham will make him a gentleman so that he can marry her. However, she decides to make him a blacksmith instead, which Pip is quite upset about.

Pip is made Joe's apprentice and learns to be a blacksmith. He hates his life and low position and is generally just rather depressed. One night after an altercation with Orlick, another labourer, Mrs Joe, is viciously attacked and become a mute invalid. Pip feels guilty for this because she is assaulted with a leg iron , which reminds him of the convict.

A lawyer named Jaggers appears with strange news: a secret benefactor has given Pip a large fortune, and he must come to London immediately to begin his education as a gentleman. Pip is convinced all this money is from Miss Havisham and , like a fairy godmother wishes to make him worthy to marry Estella.

Pip moves to London leaving his life behind him and befriends a young gentleman named Herbert Pocket and Jagger's law clerk, Wemmick. He shares with Herbert how ashamed he is for his former friends and loved ones, especially Joe, but he continues to pine after Estella. He furthers his education by studying with the tutor Matthew Pocket, Herbert's father. Herbert also helps Pip learn how to act like a gentleman.

When Pip turn 21 and begins to receive an income from his fortune, he secretly helps Herbert buy his way into the business he has chosen for himself. But for now, Herbert and Pip lead a fairly undisciplined life in London, enjoying themselves and running up debts.

One Day Pip decides to travel back to Kent and runs into Orlick who is employed as Miss Havisham's porter, but Pip tells her to fire him. Mrs Joe dies and Pip goes to the funeral, feeling remorse and grief - which seems silly considering how much he hated her while she was alive.

Many years go past and the convict stumbles into Pip's apartment. Magwich (convict) reveal that he is the benefactor. Pip is devastated realising he isn't meant for Estella, who is just as gorgeous as when she was a child.

Magwich was moved by Pip's boyhood kindness - which is rather good considering he is such a snob now - and dedicated his life to making Pip a gentleman, and made a fortune in Australia for that purpose.
Pip is appalled but is morally bound to help Magwich escape London, who is pursued by the police and by Compeyson, his former partner in crime, who was the other convict Pip was threatened with because he ate people.

Dickens creates a mystery when Pip discovers that Compeyson was the man who abandoned Miss Havisham at the alter and that Estella is Magwich's daughter. Miss Havisham, was was rather upset at the fact her boyfriend dumped her at the altar, adn raises Estella to break hearts, as revenge for her own. Pip finds out that he was merely practise and Miss Havisham was just extremely happy to find out Estella's ability to toy with his affections.

Weeks pass, and Pip begins to see the good in Magwich, beginning to care for him deeply. Before Magwich's escape attempt, Estella married Bentley Drummle, an upper-class ... meanie. Pip visits Satis House, where Miss Havisham begs his forgiveness for the way she has treated him and he forgives her. However, later she bends over the fireplace, and her clothes catch on fire and she goes up in flames. She survives but becomes an invalid. In her last days she continues to repent her misdeeds and pleas forgiveness.

Magwich is meant to sneak down the river on a rowboat, but they are discovered by the police, who Compeyson tipped off.  Magwich and Compeyson fight in the river, and Compeyson is drowned.


Magwich is sentenced to death, and Pip looses his fortunes.Magwich feels that he is being forgiven by God and dies in peace. Pip falls ill and Joe comes to London to care for hm, and they are reconciled. Joe gives him the news from home: Orlick, after robbing Pumblechook is now in jail; Miss Havisham has died and leftmost of her fortune to the Pockets. Pip then returns to Kent to see Joe remarry.

We learn that Pip has joined Herbert abroad to work in the mercantile trade. returning years later, he encounters Estella in the ruined garden at Satis house. Drummle, her husband, treated her badly but is now dead. Pip finds that Estella's coldness and cruelty have been replaced by a sad kindness, and the two leave the garden hand in hand, Pip believing that they will never part again.

Because of School...

For Many of us, school has just begun, and with that so has the blues. I thought, what with us being three weeks in, it is probably a good time to start talking about the horrors of 21st century education.  However, while i was trying to work out what it was about school that I disliked the most, i relised (rather saddeningly) it was the people.

So what did i decided to do ?

The People Which Make School Just So God Damn Fustrating!

Bronwen Style. 

The I've-forgotten-the-hierarchy-of-the-school kids

Ok, so this is mainly a pride thing. Recently my school implemented a programme called THE DREADED HOUSE SYSTEM (admittedly that's not the offical name, just the one the students implemented). It has been fantastic in reducing problems such as bullying and encourages counciling, however, and i cannot stress this enough, it makes those in compulsory education think they are level with those of us in the sixth form. 

NO. JUST NO.

When I was in year seven (donkey years ago) if a sixth former, or in fact anyone older, came near you you had to throw yourself at teh wall so that they could walk past with ease, occasionally bowing for good measure. I WANT THIS TO RETURN! Instead those in uniform seem to think they can walk through me. I mean, I don't know what programmes these kids are watching but i'm pretty sure that's only possible if you're paranormal. They've also adopted this measure of.... talking. What ever happened to children should be seen and not heard? I WANT THIS TO RETURN. Especially as the only thing of merit they have to say is of the waging war between the bliebers and the directioners. 

Oh yes, please entertain me with the horrors of the charts, while I read this mass production of fiction called the news. What you have to say is CLEARLY more important!

Ok, so i rarely read teh newspaper in form BUT STILL the point remains valid. 

The Oh-My-God-Did-You-Hear-What-Happened kids.

I can't deny that humans are creatures of social interaction. I can't deny that, to my knowledge, we are the only species on Earth which can gossip. I can't deny that sometimes gossip can be very entertaining. BUT I CAN DENY that it is always interesting. Sometimes, the gossip is so unexicting you have to think 

'Really, You wanted to embarass yourself to tell me that?!?'

And when it is sooooooooo impossible, you can't help but cry for humanity.

Ohmygod, did you hear? 

No, What ?!?!

Jacob like totally got off with a unicorn at Tina's 18th last week. Iknowrightamazing!

Are you experiencing a break down or something?

Ok so Unicorn hook ups rarely come up in my school's gossip grapevine, but sometimes you do have to think, WHY GOD WHY!?! YOU COULD HAVE DONE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS. *weeps* 

The Ross-Rachel-Complex

Being a teenager, apparently there is this disease called "hormones" which causes symptons of massive breakdowns, compulsive eating and "relationship problems". This disease is very contagious, infact there is no cure. The only measure of prevention is GET AS FAR AWAY FROM THE INFECTED PERSON AS POSSIBLE. 

An infectee will react very different in accordance to their gender. If they are female, they are likely to respond in excessive weeping, enormous chocolate consumption (but not the good stuff, the sugar free low fat chocolate because 'they must make him jealous') and huge amounts of 'girl power' and 'friends forever' schmuck. It you remain too close to a female infectee you are likely to develop 'rom-com-ilitus' and have gain 3 stone (should be 10 but the weep sheds pounds) .

If they are male, they are likely to respond by drunkeness, long meet up with their "bros", and offensive masculine phrases such as "I would" and "that's what she said". These are the ones we have to weep for because they never do.

If you are in regular attendance with an infectee, or the worse case senerio, a recurring infectee ( also known as the chamelion, the transporter, or the ross/rachel regarding gender)... just run. Seriously. The Stress. The Tears. The Chocolate. I'm getting shivers just thinking about it. Just Run. And God Save You My Friend.

The Oh-My-God-I-Like-Totally-Got-Wasted-And-Don't-Even-Come-To-School-Let-Alone-The-Lessons-But-I'm-Still-Going-To-Oxbridge-And-Will-Probably-End-Up-Marrying-A-Royal-And-You-Will-Have-To-Work-For-Me People.

Seriously                                            What The Hell!

Ok, so this is probably the biggest annoyance to many people in the education system but I still think it's worth mentioning. 

Oh, and if you can't work out who this person in your school is, it's probably you. Just saying. 

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad they're doing something with their lives, I just wish they could achieve it at the same pace of me. But then I suppose, with out these people, I'd get no help on my maths homework while they are too intoxicated to remember I do maths, which i suppose is a good thing. 

The Oh-My-Goodness-I-Must-Have-Everything-In-My-Life-Strategically-Planned-Because-Otherwise-The-World-Will-End People. 

Ok so this point is probably a little bit hypocrytical, but STILL, these people are very annoying.

Yes I am including me at this point. 

These are the people who work through every break, every lunch, every hours filled with light, only emerging when they have run out of paper. They are the people who might as well be having a two perosn conversation with the teacher they put their hands up so much (and this is where the likeness ends) . Don't get wrong, these people are getting me through my a levels, but there comes a point when it becomes frustrating. There comes a point when they make the rest of us look like slugs sitting in the sun waiting for someone to pour salt on us.

Teacher: Why don't the rest of you engage like Mia here? Sometimes it feels like this is a two people class

Student: That's because this isn't the registered lesson slot. Mia  is such a controlee that  she's stalked you to your house and are asking you maths questions in the lounge. 

Oh, so that rarely happens but you get the gist. 

And Finally 

The worst

The Dreaded

The Oh-My-God-The-Sun-Is-Shining-And-The-World-Is-Beautiful-And-I'm-Just-So-Happy-All-The-Live-Long-Day People

These are the worse. These are the people who are just constantly happy. Happy when it rains. happy when it snows. These people are even happy when its Monday. No Joke! These skip up the corridors, pigtails swinging as they giggle sweetly onto their next lesson. I mean, happiness is fine just ... do it in private. Where i don't have to see it. I like to think these people will be the ones killed first come the revolution of the tea towels. IT WILL HAPPEN.

Does that make me sound like a homicidal maniac? 

Happiness aside, these people have an even worse side. These people are what i call emotional leeches. We all have them. 

Open your imagination ... 

It's Thursday afternoon. You only have one lesson left. You're suitably happy. It's not quite the weekend but you're happy because it's Friday tomorrow. 

Then the door opens. 

"OHMYGODGUYS. DOYOUREALISEIT'SFRIDAYTOMORROWANDI'MJUSTSOHAPPY."

Happiness=gone. Now you are just an empty, hollow mess. You just want to find a rock and hide under it. But first, first you want to take that sweet, smiling, innocent doll and take the rock and introduce it to their perfect, smiling face........

Thanks for reading!

Let me know if it's just me who gets annoyed by these people? Should I seek therapy? 

The Hound from Hell

It's a calm Saturday morning. The sunlight streaks in through the vulnerable windows, as though streaks of enlightenment through dull eyes. The cold bites at those who venture to experience the hostile environment laying outside my man-made paradise. The grass glistens in imperfect perfection as birds dance across its frosty floor.

I shrink further into the blanket, gripping tighter onto the pages of my book. I want to escape from my surroundings; the mundane environment around me is too much to handle. I NEED to escape. The pages offer a haven, their sheet oozing with delight. They beckon me in. They drip with style. I can hear the crystal glass clinking against each other. I can hear the false laughter of the women, made up to the height of fashion, putting on their highest show of falseness. I can hear the money in their voices, each mocking their company. They offer the delight of fiction: drama, romance, heart break, intrigue. The colours blind me; the lives fascinate me. All I want is to forget: forget and surrender into the story that lays between my hands. A world of materialistic rivalry. A world where the highest tension is being transport away from reality but to the issue of status: Modern or Family wealth? The status of violence or corruption? The status of husband and adulterer or lost love and hero? I am about to surrender to the 1920's. The music drowns me. I am in the novel... and then... then I am brought suddenly and heartbreakingly back to my mundane existence.

I glance down at the root of my disturbance. The wolf gazes back up at me. It's sharp, razor teeth cut into the naked flesh of my foot. Its dark eyes bore holes into my existence.  They hold so many opinion but show nothingness. The black fur that surrounds the owner falls in waves around the pair of craters. It creates the falsity of a loving and adorable friend, but i am not fooled. I see the beast for what it is.

Yet i can't move.  I am petrified to the spot. I cannot retract my foot. No, it is more I will not retract my foot. I no longer appear to have control over myself. Has the beast master me? Did i stare to long into those black holes and become nothing more than a spirit with held in a natural prison? The stronger part of my matter takes control. I shan't become prisoner. I yell out to the beast, taking control. I wont surrender. I wont give in. I am the master of my own existence.

I wrap my feet under the protection of my woolen shield. I close the book, marking off all escape. But i never take my eyes off the two windows to the abyss.

The beast can tell its end is near. It bows its head for a moment, letting out a quick whimper. Slowly, its head returns to my eye level. The windows have warmed. They are now majestic, ebony disks shouting personality. The mouth opens and the rubescent tongue falls playful to the side. A cheeky expression falls on capturer's face and i fall prisoner to myself. A smile slides itself half way across my face. The cheeky expression then changes to one of smugness.

The beast raises its head to the artificial moon commanding above him. It looks out mockingly at me. Its electric commands can be heard by all, and I am left alone with the beast. Slowly, the beast's eyes return to me. On its face i can tell it has understood its commander's orders. I cannot remove my eyes and instead drown in my own fear. The eyes change to that of pride. The beast pounces.





 The satanic monster that led to the inspiration of this blog: the dreaded 8 month German Shepard *shudders*

thank you for reading - please let me know what you think and link me any of your own - I'd love to read them! xx

My top ten books

I have a lot of books. A LOT OF BOOKS. In fact, I have so many that I had to buy a Kindle to put them on as I simply do not have enough space in my room. So, therefore i thought i'd share my top ten in a sort of

MY TOP THE-NIGHTS-ARE-GETTING-DARKER-SO-YOU-MAY-WANT-TO-READ-THESE-BUT-THEY-ARE-ALSO-BRILLIANT-WHENEVER-YOU-WANT-TO-READ BOOKLIST

 (yeah i know- it needs revising) 

Number ten :The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach 
 
Just because you've seen and loved or hated the film PICK UP THIS BOOK. It is NOTHING like film apart from names and, in someways, I'd argue the difference makes it better. I read after the film and the difference just made me appreciate it more as I discovered new things as i read.
 

Number nine: Life and Laughing: My story by Michael McIntyre

Michael McIntyre is Britain's biggest comedy star. He has released two record-breaking DVDs, Live and Laughing and Hello Wembley; hosts his own BAFTA-nominated BBC1 series, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow; and has picked up British Comedy Awards for Best Live Stand-Up and Best Male TV Comic. Last year he became the youngest ever host of the Royal Variety Performance, and now in 2011 he takes the hot seat as a judge in the hit ITV show Britain's Got Talent.

How did he get there?

Michael reveals all in his remarkably honest and hilarious autobiography, Life & Laughing. His showbiz roots, his appalling attempts to attract the opposite sex, his fish-out-of-water move from public to state school and his astonishing journey from selling just one ticket at the Edinburgh Festival to selling half a million tickets on his last tour. Michael's story is riveting, poignant, romantic and above all very, very funny.

It is just beautifully hilarious and is definitely a read for the rain and the cold.

Number eight: Grimm's Fairy stories
I love fairy tales and I presume you are either lying, moronic or come from a different planet if you claim that you don't like fairy tales : the type of people who get bored during disney films *unhappy expression* . Therefore reading the originals was amazing. The stories are so different they may as well be a different story. They are challenging but definitely so if you're stuck i suggest you read them because they are enlightening.

Number seven: The Help by Kathryn Stockett 
Enter a vanished and unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver...There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared.Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. No one would believe they'd be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another. Each is in a search of a truth.

If you're looking for a happy read - avoid like the plague. If you're lookin for a book which will make you cry for humanity and then jump for joy at the glimmer of happiness in it, then this is for you. If you love history and everything about it (even the bad) PICK UP. Generally - THIS IS JUST BEAUTIFUL 

Number six:Me before you by Jojo Moyes

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

This book isn't necessarily happy but it is beautiful in every way. 

Number five: The Flambards series: Flambards by K.M. Peyton
This novel is set just before the first world war, when Christina is forced to move into the house of her Uncle Russel and her two cousins, Mark and William. Christina is an orphan and will inherited a huge fortune when she reaches 21. Uncle Russel (who is her mother's half-brother - so its not too icky) plans to marry Christina off to Mark (the eldest) so that her money can be used to restore Flambards, which has sinced detiriated. Christina learns to ride and hunt, falling for both William and Dick, the stable hand. 

I have only put this book down but the entire series is brilliant, especially the second in which I bawled my eyes out. If your not interested in that time period then I suggest you don't read it - while a love of horses isn't needed, you do experience a lot of the fall of equestrian dependacy in England what with the second and third books being based before and after teh war. I loved it and i'm sure you will too, but it is more niche than other books. 

Number four: The Trylle series: Switched by Amanda Hocking

Wendy Everly knew she was different the day her mother tried to kill her and accused her of having been switched at birth. Although certain she’s not the monster her mother claimed she is – she does feel that she doesn’t quite fit in . . . The new girl in High School, she’s bored and frustrated by her small town life – and then there’s the secret that she can’t tell anyone. Her mysterious ability – she can influence people’s decisions, without knowing how, or why . . . When the intense and darkly handsome newcomer Finn suddenly turns up at her bedroom window one night – her world is turned upside down. He holds the key to her past, the answers to her strange powers and is the doorway to a place she never imagined could exist. Förening, the home of the Trylle. Everything begins to make sense to Wendy. Among the Trylle, she is not just different, but special. But what marks her out as chosen for greatness in this world also places her in grave danger. With everything around her changing, Finn is the only person she can trust. But dark forces are conspiring – not only to separate them, but to see the downfall everything that Wendy cares about. The fate of Förening rests in Wendy’s hands, and the decisions she and Finn make could change all their lives forever .

This is a series but it's really good as it's completely different to anything else you would read in regards to fantasy. It has a bit of a cliche love story but the adventure and everything else makes up for it. so ERMEHGERD READ IT!!!!!!

Number three: Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.
Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon.
But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....


I love this book and even more so the entire series. If you like fantasy but have got a little tired of the whole vampire-teenage girl love story, this is the book for you. It's a little dark and trust me the ending of the first is a little ... wierd BUT TRUST ME it makes sense in the end you just have to keep reading. I have all of them at it's one of few series which i will read again as  you always spot new things on teh re-read.

Number two: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol

No matter how old I get, how sophisicated my life may become, or how mature my dreams grow, I will always want to fall down the rabbit hole into wonderland. It is beautifully funny and full of fantastic words such as 'Futterwacken' and 'Gallymoggers' which makes it practically impossible to read just once. All I would suggest is that if you have watch films, such as the latest Tim Burton one or the Disney version, just be careful because it is slightly different and if you think it will be the same it mifht not be, so just be prepared for that.

Number one: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I don't care how pompous it makes me sound, when i'm upset, emotional or just need a good read I will always pick up this beautiful classic. 

For those of you who live on planet mars, Pride and Prejudice has a beautifully cliched story. When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. Austen writes this love story in a comedic manner and, even thoguh i know the ending practically by heart, i'm am still always in suspense over what will happen. 

SO YEAH READ IT IF YOU HAVEN'T!!!


hope you like it - let me know what you think and you favourite books ! bye x