Kindle worm part II

Thank you to everyone who  left a comment on my last post telling me about the books they liked/disliked.

@Juanita Tortilla recommends "The Imam's Daughter" by Hannah Shah and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. And just like me, she thought that the "Life of Pi" was VERY overrated (to put it in a polite way).

@Nic's notebook recommends "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett and "Room: A Novel" by Emma Donoghue.

Having read the synopsis of these books on Amazon, I must admit that I am quite tempted to deviate from The List and give those books a go. Please, keep your comments and suggestions coming!

So, going back to the remaining 5 books I have been through in the last couple of months:

I really liked it

6) Lord of the Flies by William Golding

This is a novel about a group of British boys stuck on a deserted island who try to survive until the arrival of a longed-for rescue ship. The focus of the novel is on the conflict between the human instinct to live peacefully/abide the rules versus the impulse to seize power through violence. As the boys split into two groups, the island is plunged into chaos.

I was initially very confused with the book. I read the first 10% of the book waiting for one of them to turn into a fly before realising that I had "Lord of the Flies" mixed up with the horror film "The Fly" by Kurt Neumann. Doh! Once I got over this revelation, I really enjoyed reading it!



"Meh"



 7) The drowned world by J.G. Ballard

In 2145, climate change has caused the polar ice caps to melt, turning cities into tropical swamps full of prehistoric-looking reptiles. Sounds familiar/worrying?

The protagonist of the novel, a scientist named Keran, is rather fascinated by this new world and not the least worried that the days of Humanity are counted. The novel toys with the idea that as the environment around us is changing, we will need to redefine what it means to be human.

As a rule, I am not a big fan of science-fiction novel. I did enjoy reading parts of this book but stopped being interested in it about half-way through it. I think that some of the questions raised are interesting but that the novel does drag itself on a bit and I got confused with parts of the plot which I thought were not necessary.



"Meh!"



8) Running Wild by J.G. Ballard

As I type this, I've just realised that this isn't actualy on The List but got downloaded on my Kindle by mistake. Oh well, it is only short and I have read it so here it stays.

Thirty miles outside of London lies a suburban utopia called Pangbourne Village, an exclusive residential development in parents and children seem to live in a blissful harmony. One morning, Pangbourne's 32 adults are found murdered, and the 13 children have vanished. Written as a police psychiatrist's forensic diary, the story unfolds as an investigation that quickly points to unexpected culprits.

A short read, neither great nor bad.

 

"I really liked it!"



9) Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

I had reservation about this as I did not particularly like In Cold Blood by the same author. The novel tells the story of the short friendship between Holly Golightly, a New-York socialite and an unnamed narrator. Perhaps many of you have seen the movie and know the story (although I have been told that the book and the film are somewhat different). I hadn't seen the movie and was pleasantly surprised with the story and the complexity of the characters/relationships explored.

A short but oh-so-enjoyable read! Highly recommended!

"Waste of my time"

10) The Trial by Franz Kafka. The novel tells the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, for a crime whose nature is, to my knowledge, never revealed. I say "to my knowledge" because I haven't actually made it past 60% of this book.

I tried really hard, I REALLY did , but I could not find enough enthusiasm to plough through a plot that doesn't go anywhere.

I may try and pick it up again if one of you tells me that the story does improve later on in the book but otherwise, I'm done with it!

So that's it for me! I have already started on my next book which I am really enjoying at the moment. I'll try and find second-hand copies of the books some of you have recommended too and widen my literary horizons even more.

Do come back to Made in Suisse this weekend for some crafty posts (I hope to find some time to get the sewing machine out and experiment!). Have a lovely weekend everyone!