Humanities Book 2: Doctor Haggard's Disease - Patrick McGrath

McGrath's style is exquisite. This book is a must read for all bibliophiles. It is a contemporary gothic novel. According to my friend Wikipedia "His fiction is principally characterised by the first person unreliable narrator, and recurring subject matter in his work includes mental illness, repressed homosexuality and adulterous relationships".  That sums it up really well.

The book is set in WWII era, and is set in England. McGrath very well describes the setting, the culture, the life then. If you were watching Downton Abbey, it could be a darker follow up as to where they left off. The society, in England, is the same although changing quickly, and going to war yet again.

The main character or narrator is definitely unreliable, but it is a fascinating look into a diseased man's mind and processes. The other characters are all from this unsound narrator's perspective, so it would be unwise to jump to conclusions about them, they are very interesting nonetheless.

A summary: The plot follows the narration of one Dr. Haggard, who describes his love affair with his first love. His only love. The heart break that follows and how her love haunts him. He later meets her son, long after her death. The son is a spitfire pilot and he knows time is not on his side, as Hitler's blitzkrieg was progressing to England rapidly. He needed to find out about his mother's affair with Dr. Haggard, he pursues, so the story goes.

I recommend this book for a nice read in isolation, with coffee or a whiskey. Probably a whiskey because there's some crazy stuff that goes down. It's a short read and can be done in a week, however it is heavy stuff. The plot is convoluted, and the end is shocking as I've been told by many of the other students. The characters especially Dr. Haggard are gripping. I had a hard time putting down this book because the desire to want to know what happens next is so nagging. The language is lovely and I can not wait to read other of McGrath's works.

Plot: 9/10
Entertainment: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Writing Style: 10/10
Thought Provoking: 10/10
Recommend: 10/10

NEVER judge a book by its cover.

The Magicians - Lev Grossman

I've been dying to review this book but I have had to wait till my feelings about it matured. So as a novice reader would find they tend to like books where they can see themselves as the main character, or where the character has no flaws - ie. Harry Potter, Twilight series, or Superman. The Magicians is about a a boy Quentin, who is obsessed with a magical world similar to Narnia. He's in high school and soon gets an invitation to a secret magical school not unlike Hogwarts. He passes the multiple entrance exams and he's suddenly a student. They quickly dispense of how he was able to ditch his mother and father and real life circumstances to be able to join the school.

The school is a small part of the larger plot but if I remember correctly it takes up most of the first book. The other characters in the book are Alice, his soon to be secretive but very intelligent (like Hermione) girlfriend. Eliot and Janet who are his house leaders for lack of better term, and his friends from old real life times, who he has now ditched. Oh and the strange character Penny who becomes important in later books.

Quentin himself is an interesting character because he is introverted, a perpetual grumpkin, and might suffer from Major Depressive disorder as described in the DSM IV. This is a strange combination, however not rare, for the protagonist. People hate this book because he is hard to identify with (I've read a lot of the reviews), others enjoy his character because he is real. I slowly began to enjoy his character after reading The Monsters (by the Hooblers) and Doctor Haggard's Disease (McGrath), where the character's flaws were the pivotal part of the story. Quentin's flaws add that overall feel to the book. Also it probably addresses mental illness and depression in a very real way.

The book gets time to get into, however after reading all three books one realizes that together they form a pretty good series. The series is now a show on the syfy channel, and they are of course, putting their own twist on it, but it makes it all the more interesting.

If you ever enjoyed the Narnia series, then this book is for you but for adults due to the sexual content, drugs and lots of drinking. Yes a Harry potter for adults. A Narnia-Harry Potter series for adults, however I would like to see this series someday stand on its own. to me Fillory is slowly becoming a very different imaginary world from Narnia.

I fell in love with the series after reading it, letting the adventure of the experience of reading it sink in, and watching the tv series where they change a lot. I think I will review the other books in the series in comparison to the actual tv show series in the future.

I'm giving it a bunch of eights though because it may be a tv show, but it is not a masterpiece, just fun for grown ups and drinking games.

Plot: 8/10
Entertainment: 8/10
Characters: 8/10
Writing Style: 6/10
Thought Provoking: 6/10
Recommend: 8/10