Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

How did I ever escape from high school without having read this book? It seems to be another regular on the "required reading lists". And, although I really enjoyed this book, I can understand why kids get discouraged by "Literature". I blame it on language 150 years old. Because it's not the story elements themselves! It has lost love, bad guys that become good guys? romance, fighting, plot twists and turns, surprise "who's your daddy?" moments...and Miss Havisham- the creepiest of characters...this book is exciting. It drags a bit here and there, as compared to our constant excitement great expectations. But this is what it is to develop a plot and story. I would recommend reading this book outside of the "required reading" framework. I think pressure makes it less enjoyable. And don't give up on the first half of the book, as the second half moves faster.
This is on the "lists" because it should be....I just wish there were more selections on the same "lists" written in this century. Perhaps my expectations are too great.

Breakfast of Champions or, Goodbye Blue Monday by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

To be fair, since I chose to read this book because of someone's "best ever novels" list, could it really live up to the hype of "best ever"? And, I had heard of Vonnegut. Like you hear of Faulkner, or Joyce. So, when you come across a list that says this is one of the best novels ever written, you think to yourself "Hmmm, I haven't ever read Vonnegut. Could this be a huge gap in my literary ramblings which I should fill?"
So, to the library to pick up a copy of Breakfast of Champions, published in 1973.
This is a strange book.
I kept wondering when I would see the light of the "best ever" shining through the pages. Perhaps as the days and months go by, the light will indeed come on, and I shall bask in the new knowledge I have found courtesy of Kilgore Trout and Dwayne Hoover. For now, I remain in the darkness as to its brilliance.
The aforementioned Trout and Hoover could be considered the main characters. The book jumps about, and eventually puts them in the same smarmy lounge in the midwest, two insane men who have yet to meet. They meet briefly, and then after reading a whackadoo book by Trout, Hoover beats up a bunch of people and goes to the asylum. That's pretty much it. Messages in this book:
1)We are killing the planet (This might have been revolutionary in 1973. After all, we were still driving around steel boats that poured out black fumes and recycling was seeing if the old adage "it's like riding a bike" was true. The buzz words "global warming" and "green" were decades away)
2)People are hopelessly insane. Those who aren't just don't know it yet.

Messages about this book:
1) I do not agree that it is one of the best novels ever written.
2) I do not recommend spending the time it takes to find out that we are ruining the planet and are insane.
3) Mr. Vonnegut had a sense of humor that can be, well, pornographically inclined. For this and the previous two reasons, I do not recommend this for even children who wish to find out we are ruining our planet and are insane.