Book Reviews

I tend to buy a lot of books, but the ratio of buying to completely reading is about 3:1. I must change that. Anyway, I’ll be looking to expand this in the near future, but here are some of the books I have read, and my thoughts.

Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell

Orwell, you are the master of dystopian prose. Beautifully written. The plot is incredible. The first 200 pages or so made me think, and they made me care, but it was the last setion that made me shocked, and terrified, and amazed all at once. No opinions can describe the emotions I tossed around my head as I read that conversation between O’Brian and Winston. Wow.

Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks

You know, there’s everything in here. You’ll laugh, and your tears will burn into sadness and then the cheeks will burn a smile. And then Stephen will be changed forever and so will you. I loved this. Breathtakingly wonderful. Again, it’s the ending. And the heartbreak of friendship. The sex scenes are merely a bonus.

Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman

As I read this, I was delivered upon humour and fantasy and a few clichés but at the same time, there was character development that twisted me around as I laughed in joy. The ending was, once again, the thing that linked all those loose ends and then set us off the rope, realising what we have just read.

Eragon, Christopher Paolini

Crap. Riddled with purple prose, plagiarism, arrogance and immature spout. Pao-Pao? Stop writing. Now. Or at least find something worthwhile to write. Your talent is almost nil now.

The Road, Cormac McCarthy

This, McCarthy, is Pulitzer-Prize winning for a reason. Its imagery makes me gasp and think and fear. Your similes are perfect. Your writing is wonderful. On reflection, there is little plot here, but the progression of the father-son relationship in the burnt land of America compels me deeply.

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

Oh my. This is fantastic also. As I read this, a little a night, I came across a world that I did not know existed. I saw the truth of Germany; I saw that the Second World War wasn’t all burn-the-jews-and-laugh; it was more sincere, and the innocence of the poor civilians was astounding. Wonderful. The ending is so powerful and am qwertuzzled.

#

Brevity is the soul of wit, eh?