Book list and reading

I just finished reading 'Rebecca' by Daphne du Maurier. I liked it better than either Sense and Sensibility or Wuthering Heights - so that's good news! In case anyone (read: My SLBer) is interested, my book list of everything I've read in 2010 is located over here.

I usually write a short review (sometimes long, sometimes just a few sentences) about any books I finish, and I figured I might post those here, too.

Rebecca
So, yes ... Rebecca. This novel was recommended to me by a few people over at a forum for a certain fantasy series. I made a topic about exploring other (sub-)genres and several members said they liked 'Rebecca', so I decided to give it a try.

One of the first things that I noticed was that du Maurier tends to overuse the word 'rhododendron'. (It's one of my favourite words, I mean... just look at it, it's almost perfect. Aesthetically pleasing and it sounds good, too. Overexposure can make you immune to the loveliness of some things, so this is definitely not a good thing.) I really liked the imaginary she uses throughout the book. The writing style is not as dry as some other classics tend to be, and after a few chapters it was quite a relaxing read.

One of my favourite quotes:
Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind.

Favell must be my favourite character. He's annoying and rather strange, the way he's obsessed with Rebecca (I suppose every character was just that, obsessed - in their own way.). It all makes him a rather interesting character, although not very likeable. Beatrice was also a good character.

I gave 'Rebecca' 3 out of 5 stars on Shelfari, but in reality it deserves at least 3 1/2. It's not really 'my genre' so that's why I didn't rate it higher than that... But on a second read-through I might enjoy it even more. Maybe in a few years...

Welcome ☆

This might just be the first post of many. In this blog I will try to create a collection of posts describing my experiences in Johannesburg, South Africa. I'm hoping to add pictures and short videos to my written entries to make it a bit more interesting for my readers. As this is my 'official' blog - first and foremost written to keep my teachers happy and classmates informed of my adventures (as well as accounting for how this escapade can be useful useful in more mundane ways (such as language development and exploring a whole new accent and culture)) - it might not always be as interesting to the casual reader. (And you might see some of these posts cross-posted to my livejournal, too.)

I'm sure this blog will be like my overall experience in South Africa. Both extremely engaging at times, as well as incredibly boring at other times. To anyone interested or courageous enough to attempt to follow my journey these coming months... Good luck. I'm convinced we'll need it.

The facts:
~*~Flying~*~ to a place far away from this tiny country: July 31.
-.-Going back home-.-: December 13.
☆★Where to?★☆: Highlands North, Johannesburg, South Africa.
○~To do what exactly?~○: Helping out at a local primary school, volunteering at a library (to earn myself some free reading, obviously.) and helping my cousins out with their homework. Possibly tutoring college students, too.
※Fun facts※: My family is Jewish, so part of my social life will happen at the local synagogue - hopefully a good way to get to know some people. I'll be postcrossing from South Africa - it's a much rarer country to receive cards from than the Netherlands, so I might make some people happy with some South African postcards. I'll try to join a local writers' group/reading group.