classic

Firestarter by Stephen King – Book Review

by
Firestarter by Stephen King – Book Cover

Oh, we know all about the CIA and the likes of them, don’t we? Of course we do! If some genius over there comes up with the idea to inject shady concoctions into unsuspecting college students as part of an experiment, well, they don’t hesitate. They just go for it. And if a few people drop dead in the process, they probably figure it’s not too steep a price to pay for developing psychic abilities… Of course, messing around with the secrets of the universe always comes with a side of danger. You can bet the real trouble only begins if the experiment actually works. When the genie’s out of the bottle. Or when someone shows up who can set things on fire. With their mind. Easily. And on any scale. A Firestarter, if you will.

Firestarter Walk With Me

Stephen King has never shied away from the supernatural. (There. We said it.) The pyrokinesis that serves as the basis for Firestarter may have been heard of before—if nowhere else, then at least in connection with so-called spontaneous combustion. And it’s no secret that during the Cold War, both the Americans and the Soviets were digging into the mysteries of the human mind. (With, let’s say, varying degrees of success.)

Still, having a real, living, breathing fire mage? That’s a whole different level!

Read more

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott – Book Review

by

England in Peril

By the year 1199, England had gone to the dogs. The knightly king, Richard the Lionheart, had left for a crusade in the Holy Land. In his absence, his corrupt and unprincipled brother John ruled in his place. Society is torn not only by unjust laws but also by the tyranny of the Normans, who had previously subjugated the Saxons. Robber knights terrorized the land, while outlaws prowled the forests… In such dire times, only a brave and noble-hearted knight could set things right—someone like Ivanhoe.

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott – Book Cover

A Dash of Romance…

Sir Walter Scott, the pioneer of the historical romance genre, perhaps achieved his greatest success with Ivanhoe. The chivalric romance, deeply rooted in English literature since the Arthurian legends, provided a solid foundation for the emergence of a noble-hearted hero. And the ever-popular Robin Hood legends, passed down through the centuries, only added to the book’s success.

The readers’ emotional investment is secured by identifying with the oppressed Saxons suffering under arrogant tyranny—after all, who wouldn’t sympathize with the undeserving victims of injustice?

Of course, no historical romance is complete without a heroine—one who must be adored from afar, and, inevitably, rescued. Scott doesn’t settle for just one; Ivanhoe gives us two such heroines. Naturally, both are stunningly beautiful, but more importantly, they are also strikingly independent for the era in which they live. Cheers to strong female characters!

Read more

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie – Book Review

by
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie – Book Cover

The last time I read an Agatha Christie book was around 35-40 years ago. I’d worked my way through most of her collection, thanks to my Aunt Maggie, who spent decades amassing mystery novels, so naturally, the works of the Queen of Crime were included. Then, suddenly, I had enough. I got tired of the Belgian with the big mustache, just as I did with the nosy Mrs. Marple. But a book review blog offers a good opportunity to give this classic British author another chance. And, of course, it’s wise to start with one of her most famous works. Like Murder on the Orient Express.

The Mystery of the Sealed Express Train

The Orient Express, spanning the width of continental Europe from Istanbul to Paris, seems like the perfect setting for a murder. You board, do what you must— preferably at night, when everyone’s peacefully snoozing in their sleeping compartments – then get off at the next stop and sayonara, leaving the rest to those left on the train.

Of course, accidents can always happen. Like a snowstorm that leaves you stuck on the train in the middle of nowhere in Yugoslavia. And then, even worse, the famous Belgian private detective, Hercule Poirot, is also on board and is immediately asked to investigate. But let’s be real, even if they hadn’t asked, I’d bet my rusty pocketknife he’d look into it anyway.

Read more

The Collector by John Fowles – Book Review

by
The Collector by John Fowles – Book Cover

Frederick Clegg, a butterfly collector and an even grayer-than-gray low-level office clerk, admires Miranda, a lively, aspiring art student, from afar. (Actually, more like he’s just stalking her.) He has no chance with her. In fact, he has no chance with anyone. He’s weird, unfit for life, humorless, and lacks any imagination. However, when he suddenly comes into a large sum of money thanks to a lottery win, brand-new opportunities open up for him. The collector decides to add Miranda to his collection.

Time Has Flown By for The Collector

This is actually the first thing you notice. John Fowles’ novel was first published in 1963. It’s hard to say whether the author himself was stuck in the past or if it’s just his utterly characterless protagonist that creates this slightly unsettling feeling. Either way, it’s not immediately obvious that the story takes place at a time when the Beat era and the sexual revolution were in full swing.

In The Collector, these cultural shifts are only faintly present. Clegg narrates the capture of his new acquisition and his activities with her with an odd, emotionless detachment. It’s as though the butterfly collector, this man without qualities, is somehow stuck outside of time, or at least has remained firmly anchored in the past. Everything about him feels like it belongs to decades earlier.

The early 1960s was a time when class distinctions were largely dissolving in the West. The constant emphasis on the class differences between Miranda, an upper-middle-class girl, and her lower-class, socially aspiring captor doesn’t do much to help the novel’s reception decades later… And Fowles’ characters listen to Bach and Mozart instead of The Beatles…

No Sex, Please, We’re British

Read more

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Book Review

by
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Book Cover

I first read the most famous of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s four Sherlock Holmes novels during my elementary school years. Admittedly, It’s been quite a while since then, but I can tell you that the wretched beast scared me so much that I could hardly sleep. I vividly imagined its fire-breathing snout and its eyes blazing in the flames as it roamed the moors, hunting for prey and howling at the moon, so fiercely that it sent shivers down my spine. However, it’s been 120 years since the writing of The Hound of the Baskervilles, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if the notorious hound’s fur had thinned out a bit by now. And most of its teeth might have fallen out as well…

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a Terrifying Monster

It’s easy to understand why the tale of the bloodhound, which has been haunting the Baskerville family for centuries, is the Scottish writer’s most popular work. It’s self-evident, due to its supernatural aspects. The otherworldly creature that haunts the family as a vengeful spirit has become a local legend. The crime scene is an abandoned, dangerous moor populated by eccentric characters. All these elements serve to heighten the reader’s sense of dread.

Moreover, considering the impact of the story at the time of its release, it’s not hard to imagine the reaction it must have provoked. Doyle, who revitalized and pioneered the crime fiction genre, had an influence on his field comparable to, that of The Beatles on the music of the 1960s.

The unsuspecting Victorian-era readers, accustomed to a more leisurely pace of life, probably reacted the same way I did as a child: they were so excited that they ended up filling their pants.

Read more

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery – Book Review

by
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery – Book Cover

When the elderly siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, living in the Prince Edward Island village of Avonlea, request an orphan boy from the orphanage to help with the chores around their home, they are quite surprised to find they’ve received a girl instead. But who on earth needs a girl? Certainly not Marilla, the practical, down-to-earth spinster. So what will happen to Anne Shirley, the freckled, skinny, red-haired, plain-looking eleven-year-old girl? How will she ever become Anne of Green Gables?

Anne Shirley is unwanted by anyone

The girl’s only hope is Matthew, the slow-witted, odd, and shy old man who has a pathological fear of women. He doesn’t even look at them, let alone speak to them. (This is somewhat understandable, of course.) So, Anne Shirley’s chances, to put it mildly, are not very promising…

However, the reclusive Matthew, who sticks out like a sore thumb among his peers, is the first to realize—even before the reader—that the lonely and unwanted Anne needs them far more than they need her. (Understanding that the reverse is also true comes later.)

Read more