Overdue book reviews
It's been a long time since I last posted a book review, and here are the book reviews on the books I've read since then.
Why bother about the book review, you might ask? Well, it's something in my long term plan that is to keep track of the stuff I've read and like. It kinda force me to think deeper and beyond what's on the surface. It could be a result of writing so many essay plans analyzing literary pieces during high school too. LOL.
Either way. Here they are.
Title: The Reader
Author: Bernhard Schlink
Genre: Literature
Summary: The Reader, set in post-WWII Germany, follows teenager Michael Berg as he engages in a passionate but secretive affair with an older woman named Hanna. Eight years after Hanna s disappearance, Michael is stunned to discover her again as she stands on trial for Nazi war crimes. The Reader is a haunting story about truth and reconciliation and how one generation comes to terms with the crimes of another. Kate Winslet won and Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her performance.
My two cents: It's the second book set around the WWII. I sort of figured out a thing or two about the plot through watching the trailer, and that's sort of what got me hooked. For Kate Winslet, to be more precise, considering I wasn't expecting much from a book so thin and given the time setting, I seriously believed that nothing could beat The Book Thief, which is set against the same backdrop. But, I'm wrong. All I can say is, this book is almost the polar opposite of The Book Thief. Whereas TBT explores human relationship through the interaction between a child and a Jewish man, this one is between a German adolescent boy and a grown up woman (which later proved to be more than that). TBT made me feel warm and fuzz and the Reader made me wonder about human nature in an almost alienated sort of way. I also found it interesting how the Reader has such a stereotypically Germanic narration: logical, detached and plain at some points, even during scenes that are... well... rather NC-17. In short, it was not the most lovely thing I've read but I definitely enjoyed it to the point I wish that we've chosen this book to analyze in high school, though it scares me to think about what our English teacher would have to say about it...
Title: Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
Genre: Adventure (?)
Summary: An award winner in Canada, Life of Pi, Yann Martel's second novel, should prove to be a breakout book in the U.S. At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book. --Brad Thomas Parsons
My two cents: My English tutor told me it's 'very challenging and extremely interesting read, but you might find it too confronting at some parts'. Given all I knew back then was the fact that a boy and a tiger were trapped on the same lifeboat I thought it was going to be gory. Thus, it came as a surprise as to how peaceful (almost joyful, especially providing the boy's description of the ordeal) the whole book was. Until, I got to the very end of it. Indeed, very challenging and confronting. It's amazing what extreme condition can push you to do. This is perhaps the most unpredictable ending I've came across this year. So, highlights of the book: 1) how nicely the ending ties up everything earlier in the book and 2) if the information provided is truthful, I think it's a pretty good survival guide too! Also, one warning, for those of you who like to read the ending first, DON'T! It will seriously spoil all the fun.
Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Author: Seth Grahame-Smith
Genre: Parody, action
Summary: This may be the most wacky by-product of the busy Jane Austen fan-fiction industry-at least among the spin-offs and pastiches that have made it into print. In what’s described as an “expanded edition” of Pride and Prejudice, 85 percent of the original text has been preserved but fused with “ultraviolent zombie mayhem.” For more than 50 years, we learn, England has been overrun by zombies, prompting people like the Bennets to send their daughters away to China for training in the art of deadly combat, and prompting others, like Lady Catherine de Bourgh, to employ armies of ninjas. Added to the familiar plot turns that bring Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy together is the fact that both are highly skilled killers, gleefully slaying zombies on the way to their happy ending. Is nothing sacred? Well, no, and mash-ups using literary classics that are freely available on the Web may become a whole new genre. What’s next? Wuthering Heights and Werewolves? --Mary Ellen Quinn
My two cents:
Five words: Do. Not. Like. AT ALL!!!!! I don't know. I might be one of those who can't take jokes like this easily. And yes, the book is a joke. Basically, the author pulled Pride and Prejudice apart and inserts random phrases like 'the deadly art', 'the unmentionables', 'kanata', and 'ninjas' (yes, the Japanese forever masked type ninja). It's ridiculous. I LOVE Pride and Prejudice to bits and there seemed to be a hype about this series (yes, the author has ruined other classics by creating a series of literary insults like this) so I thought it will be interesting to read, but NO! It was painfully painful. Gah. For hardcore P&P fans like me, don't read it! It was more painful than all the years of tedious training Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters had endured upon the mountain of Shaolin as well as being gruesomely torn apart by the unmentionables all together!!! GAHHH!
Why bother about the book review, you might ask? Well, it's something in my long term plan that is to keep track of the stuff I've read and like. It kinda force me to think deeper and beyond what's on the surface. It could be a result of writing so many essay plans analyzing literary pieces during high school too. LOL.
Either way. Here they are.
Title: The Reader
Author: Bernhard Schlink
Genre: Literature
Summary: The Reader, set in post-WWII Germany, follows teenager Michael Berg as he engages in a passionate but secretive affair with an older woman named Hanna. Eight years after Hanna s disappearance, Michael is stunned to discover her again as she stands on trial for Nazi war crimes. The Reader is a haunting story about truth and reconciliation and how one generation comes to terms with the crimes of another. Kate Winslet won and Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her performance.
My two cents: It's the second book set around the WWII. I sort of figured out a thing or two about the plot through watching the trailer, and that's sort of what got me hooked. For Kate Winslet, to be more precise, considering I wasn't expecting much from a book so thin and given the time setting, I seriously believed that nothing could beat The Book Thief, which is set against the same backdrop. But, I'm wrong. All I can say is, this book is almost the polar opposite of The Book Thief. Whereas TBT explores human relationship through the interaction between a child and a Jewish man, this one is between a German adolescent boy and a grown up woman (which later proved to be more than that). TBT made me feel warm and fuzz and the Reader made me wonder about human nature in an almost alienated sort of way. I also found it interesting how the Reader has such a stereotypically Germanic narration: logical, detached and plain at some points, even during scenes that are... well... rather NC-17. In short, it was not the most lovely thing I've read but I definitely enjoyed it to the point I wish that we've chosen this book to analyze in high school, though it scares me to think about what our English teacher would have to say about it...
Title: Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
Genre: Adventure (?)
Summary: An award winner in Canada, Life of Pi, Yann Martel's second novel, should prove to be a breakout book in the U.S. At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book. --Brad Thomas Parsons
My two cents: My English tutor told me it's 'very challenging and extremely interesting read, but you might find it too confronting at some parts'. Given all I knew back then was the fact that a boy and a tiger were trapped on the same lifeboat I thought it was going to be gory. Thus, it came as a surprise as to how peaceful (almost joyful, especially providing the boy's description of the ordeal) the whole book was. Until, I got to the very end of it. Indeed, very challenging and confronting. It's amazing what extreme condition can push you to do. This is perhaps the most unpredictable ending I've came across this year. So, highlights of the book: 1) how nicely the ending ties up everything earlier in the book and 2) if the information provided is truthful, I think it's a pretty good survival guide too! Also, one warning, for those of you who like to read the ending first, DON'T! It will seriously spoil all the fun.
Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Author: Seth Grahame-Smith
Genre: Parody, action
Summary: This may be the most wacky by-product of the busy Jane Austen fan-fiction industry-at least among the spin-offs and pastiches that have made it into print. In what’s described as an “expanded edition” of Pride and Prejudice, 85 percent of the original text has been preserved but fused with “ultraviolent zombie mayhem.” For more than 50 years, we learn, England has been overrun by zombies, prompting people like the Bennets to send their daughters away to China for training in the art of deadly combat, and prompting others, like Lady Catherine de Bourgh, to employ armies of ninjas. Added to the familiar plot turns that bring Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy together is the fact that both are highly skilled killers, gleefully slaying zombies on the way to their happy ending. Is nothing sacred? Well, no, and mash-ups using literary classics that are freely available on the Web may become a whole new genre. What’s next? Wuthering Heights and Werewolves? --Mary Ellen Quinn
My two cents:
Five words: Do. Not. Like. AT ALL!!!!! I don't know. I might be one of those who can't take jokes like this easily. And yes, the book is a joke. Basically, the author pulled Pride and Prejudice apart and inserts random phrases like 'the deadly art', 'the unmentionables', 'kanata', and 'ninjas' (yes, the Japanese forever masked type ninja). It's ridiculous. I LOVE Pride and Prejudice to bits and there seemed to be a hype about this series (yes, the author has ruined other classics by creating a series of literary insults like this) so I thought it will be interesting to read, but NO! It was painfully painful. Gah. For hardcore P&P fans like me, don't read it! It was more painful than all the years of tedious training Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters had endured upon the mountain of Shaolin as well as being gruesomely torn apart by the unmentionables all together!!! GAHHH!