Books in Primary Colours: Yellow

As a means of briefly commenting on some of the books that I’ve either read before I started blogging or that I feel that I should talk about more often, I’m writing a three-part series of posts about three books whose covers are predominantly yellow, blue or red. Besides their covers being dominated by a primary colour, these books only need to have one more thing in common – to still have a place on my shelves.

The first post in this series is devoted to the colour yellow. The following books were penned by authors from different countries and whose writing styles are clearly dissimilar. One I loved, the others not so much.

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

The main characters in this novel are Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba Everdene. Gabriel is a young shepherd who has leased and stocked a sheep farm with money from his savings and a loan. He asks Bathsheba in marriage, but she refuses, since her independence is of great importance to her. Although she moves to another village, they end up meeting again. The circumstances have changed, though. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the book as much as I was expecting to. Having really relished the characters, my chief problem was getting bored with the many descriptions about rural life. I kept the book, as it’s a beautiful Penguin English Library edition.

Aparição (Apparition) by Vergílio Ferreira

I really liked almost all of the books and authors that I had to read at school in Year 12, including Eça de Queirós, Fernando Pessoa and Sophia de Mello Breyner. That wasn’t the case of Vergílio Ferreira, though. I still keep Aparição on my shelves, because it’s full of notes and I want to give it a second chance one day. Maybe I’ll like it more now that I’m older. The protagonist of the story is Alberto Soares, who contemplates his life. He recalls the time he spent in Évora as a teacher, his existentialist theories and his relationship with Sofia.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

I have mentioned the fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire quite a few times. However, I don’t think I have ever focused solely on the first book in the series. It introduces readers to the fictional worlds of Westeros and Essos. Westeros is divided in seven kingdoms, each one of them having a lord protector, who serves the king sitting on the Iron Throne. That king is Robert Baratheon, who won a rebellion against the Targaryens years beforehand. The book is written from various points of view and is full of political machinations. The plot is gripping and the characters are complex and multifaceted, even the ones closer to be considered the heroes. I probably need not have explained all this, because even if you’ve never read the book, there is a huge chance you’ve heard about the TV series.

Have you read any of these books? What are your opinions on them? Tell me in the comments!