Review: Dan Brown's Inferno

What a journey, what a ride.

Dan Brown takes us through this strange, but highly entertaining journey that begins with a generic murder case, but as a loyal Brown reader, we all know that the concept of boredom does not belong in his books. Fast-paced events that coincide with the informative sections that Brown gives his readers in order to keep up with the different symbols in the book, and much more. Never bored, always entertained.

There are many well thought ideas thrown here, the idea that the world is overpopulated, companies to big to fail, and how we can take all our fears and implement them in our lives. Also, readers of the original Dante's Inferno will recognize similar themes and ideas between the two books.

One of his best indeed, a page turner that readers can't stop until they arrive at the end of Robert Langdon's journey.

The Sherlockian, by Graham Moore

Note: this review may contain some spoilers, read this review AFTER finishing the book. 

The thing that caught my attention when picking this book was the idea of combining modern mystery fiction with historical fiction which I love. Having two different genres in one book is a great idea, on paper at least. But when writer Graham Moore tried to do so, it was a complete fail in my opinion.

Writers are always careful when it comes to trying out new things. So before reading this book, I though that Moore would do the same. Using these two important styles is a hard task; one that Moore did not know how to use.

Moore approach with using these two literary genres is that he includes two different stories in the book. One story that focuses on a present-time murder mystery and the second one goes back to the Victorian times and involves the great writer of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Sir Arthur Canon Doyle. With these two different times that Moore uses in his book, he then tries throughout both stories to establish a connection between them, a weak connection, in my opinion.

Let’s start with the first story that the novel tackles. A modern day mystery story that revolves around a secret literary society called the Baker Street Irregulars. So far so good, you can’t go wrong with secret societies and literature (ask Dan Brown about it). My problem with this first section of the book was not the story itself (although some times it was weak) but rather with the characters themselves. For example, the main character of the story, Harold was built as this clumsy character that you can’t help but root for, because he clearly is being established as this weak underdog who is always out of luck. Moore explores this fact in the first few chapters. But then, and from nowhere, the character suddenly becomes a hero that can solve everything and anything. What bothered me the most was also the fact that Moore tells us that Harold is a coward from the beginning, but then changes his mind and portrays him as this hero that does not deserve to be one. I did not like this change of character. It shows that a writer did not figure out his own characters and just went with the easy choice and changed their core elements just for the sake of moving the story. If you ever want to see consistency when it comes to mystery characters, read any Stephen King novel (well, not any but all the good ones) he knows how to write good characters that act in both a normal way and also in a consistent way.

The story in this part of the story is O.K! Nothing special. Nothing I have not read before.

Going to the second part of the story, I have to be honest, I enjoyed this part. Although Moore did not fix his issues with inconsistent characters, I did not care because he used the great Arthur Canon Doyle as his main character. And after reading Moore’s notes on the story itself and his list of the true facts that he used in it, readers will enjoy this part of the story even more.

The problem with this part of the book is that although we as reader are happy that we get to see our famous Victorian writer in action, the connection that Moore tries to build between the different timelines damages the story itself and makes the plot very weak. This connection also will limit the things that the characters can do. And that what made this story useless, we don’t want a story that the only purpose of it is to connect and feed the plot of another one. We want two separate stories that talk about the same thing. We did not get that, but rather a boring story that uses an interesting character that did not do much because the writer wanted to maintain this level of similarity between the two stories.

I have to note that my review of the book is my own opinion of it. There are many readers who reviewed the book and loved it. We all have our own opinions, but I personally did not enjoy this book. So for that, I’m giving it a score of 2/5.

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

    Anne Frank. That name alone ought to be enough of a review for this particular work. There is simply nothing like it, and nothing will ever be as genuine as it. You see, the thing about the diary of Anne Frank is that it is so raw, so ethereally unbesmirched that any other war memoir pales in comparison. And I can say that without stirring controversy because I myself am an exiled child.

Anne Frank shares her tale around the early days of the Holocaust until the few weeks before her harrowing death. She is a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl with the same concerns as any other thirteen-year-old girl even today. When her family is forced into hiding, all she could think about was the attractive young man whom they were sharing a household with. This may seem trivial to some, but to readers such as myself, I basked in Anne's youthful optimism. I could loll all day in that little girl's hope, and even the knowledge that this was a non-fiction work (go away, naysayers) could cause my faith in Anne to waver. My only regret is that I cannot read her diary in its original language and marvel at the exact words that she herself took the time to sit down and write. Anne's writings are dated in non-sequential order, and she often leaves long gaps of time before writing another entry, just I often to when writing my own. Thus the fickleness of devotion to writing remains a minor aspect in Anne's diary, a detail small enough but important enough to confirm the validity of her writing. 

What makes Anne's diary remarkable is that it is so candid in nature. This is not a diary that a little girl would want her older sister or father to see, let alone the world and its subsequent generations. Thus, she wrote without reserve and even complained of her mother's persistent nagging and mocked her older (and less attractive, as she does not fail to note) sister. A child's voice is often the most honest yet the most unreliable. At time when Anne wrote, more horrible things were happening outside their very window than having stale toast. Despite this, Anne did eventually become just another casualty of the Holocaust- and oh, isn't one casualty one too many?- yet her diary remains in circulation even today. That little girl with the crush on their housemate's voice resonates throughout the pages of history as the girl who was absolutely radiant with hope- look at that face!- somehow received the most atrocious end.

To her, we say rest in peace. To you, I say your library is incomplete without the single most hopeful book ever to be unintentionally written.

Emma

Shakespeare's Star Wars

It literally cannot get any nerdier than this. The beloved bard William Shakespeare meets the fantastical, sci-fi world of George Lucas. I must admit that I never actually watched a Star Wars movie (other than Episode 3), so this was my first honest exposure to Star Wars. It is the only way I would read it while maintaining interest, because honestly I'm not into the whole space adventure thing. But this read was awesome!

A disclaimer: the play is written honest to Shakespearean style, meaning that it was written in late-middle, early-modern English and may take some getting used to, but those of you who are comfortable with reading Shakespeare, it's an easy read. It starts out with Darth Vader Killing one of his henchman, and you see the characters in a more elegant manner. Here's an excerpt from Act I:

The play is really funny and it gets you comfortable with the world of Star Wars, as author Ian Doescher is aware that a medieval work must provide some sort of explanation for all the technology running about. It is not overwhelmingly geeky at all, I promise. It takes a bit of time to read, but it certainly isn't boring. Not at one point did I want to put it down, and the overall tone of the work is light and comedic. The great thing about Doescher is that he treats the play as an isolated work, and it is almost as though he was aware that many non-fans of Stars Wars would use his play as a gateway to become a fan of the series. I will certainly use my timid exposure to George Lucas' world as a means of familiarizing myself more and more with the films and perhaps even the novels. Definitely don't let something as awesome as this pass you by unread!

Emma

The Rules of Gentility

     As we all know, I love anything Jane Austen. I've read most of her books (save for two that I don't need to read to recite the entire story) and I often linger around the historical romance genre. I came across this book in Canada because I was desperate for something to read, and this was right there on the clearance table. So I picked it up, paid a Toonie, and finished the novel in the duration of my Toronto to London flight. It wasn't very long, but it was certainly very enjoyable and an easy read.
   The premise is Austen-esque: a young woman must get married and her mother is pushing her towards the richest and most socially esteemed suitor. However, the protagonist chooses one completely below her stature and must fight for him, go through the whole, "I never want to see you again!" phase (which includes other engagements and such shenanigans. Finally, the couple have respective epiphanies and run back to each other and blah blah blah romance the end. The novel is sort of like a Bridget Jones-Sense and Sensibility hybrid. What makes the book memorable and earn two re-reads from me, however, was how genuinely hilarious the story is! It's not forced comedy, and I do praise Janet Mullany for her ability to convey humour so effectively. Writing a comedy novel is truly an impossibly difficult task, which is why The Rules of Gentility serves as an excellent reference point for comedic writing.
   I looked into other Mullany books and I have to admit that they did not inspire much interest as The Rules of Gentility. I think I'll only read one more book by her, A Most Lamentable Comedy, next time I find myself on a London-bound flight.

Emma

Atonement

     In carrying on my theme of heroines portrayed by Keira Knightley, I'm going to review Ian McEwan's Atonement. Right off the bat, let me bitch about how inappropriately named the novel is, because by the end of it there is no atonement or closure or anything remotely satisfying really.

     The premise of the tale is 13-year-old Briony Tallis misinterprets a scene between her older sister and the family gardener, and subsequently ruins the young lovers' lives. The family is torn apart by the lie, but Briony envies them all because although they all live in rage and hatred, they are not suffering the guikt she feels. I won't ruin the story and tell you what happens (and what should but doesn't).

   The novel is Jane Austen-meets-modernism. It takes place in WWII England, right around the financial downfalls of many coveted estates and feudalism as a whole. The film adaptation does a good job of capturing that essence while safe away from the war. Honestly, this is the first (and last) time I'll ever admit to a movie being better than a novel, so skimp on the reading and watch the movie. Just this once!
Emma

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

     We all have that one book that we can never get bored of. For me, that's Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Yes, I know I write under the pseudonym Emma Woodhouse, the main character of Jane Austen's Emma, but Pride and Prejudice is the ultimate love story. 

     My favourite romances are those that begin with dislike either with one party or mutually. There's something so magical about two people who just don't fit coming together. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet seem like the odd couple, and their paths are certainly not paved with rainbows and butterflies. It's their many trials, arguments, tribulations, differences, and mistrust that fuels the passions of their flames. They both realize that they love each other when they're standing under the rain, and yes, I know that's cheesy, but I am cheesy. A good romance has to have a bit of all that corny nonsense for it to work, and Jane Austen does it well. Applaud for her!

    A novel this good deserves its own movie adaptation, and it got more than one. There are mini series, several movies, TV movies, plays, and so on based on the novel. However, I'm not just saying this because it's the most recent, but the 2006 version with Keira Knightley is my favourite. Keira is well suited for period dramas, and she portrays Elizabeth as slightly awkward and stubborn perfectly. Another adaptation that the comic book fanatic Pip somehow neglected to inform me about was Marvel's take on the classic. That's right, they turned it into a comic book. I've been trying to get my hands on it physically, but I will soon be surrendering and downloading it on to my iPad. I promise to review it as soon as I can.

Read Pride and Prejudice if you want to be my friend.

Emma

The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich

     The Story of Art by Ernest Hans Gombrich was initially introduced to me as an art history text book. It was this very book that inspired by passion to pursue a future in Art History (but then I realized my love for literature, don't worry). I used to think that Art History was nothing but a load of hot air, but Gombrich changed my mind completely.

     Although it was used as a textbook, I read it like a story. It seems almost fictional how enigmatically complex art history really is! Gombrich does such a wonderful job of explaining all the intricacies of art and progresses such as the invention of foreshortening, the eight visual elements, and such other once-obscure ideas. The book is constantly updated (I believe it's at edition fifty-three right now) and explains new movements in art such as post-post modernism and the death of old techniques such as tempra. But honestly, the best think about The Story of Art is that it does not neglect the social aspects influencing art. It's as much a history book as an art book. 

    I cannot stress how beneficial and how easily read the book is. It is a bit fleshy, but it flies by. I've read it at least three times because of how informative it is. You will definitely emerge on the other side a more enlightened person and you will have new insights into art. The objectivity of Gombrich opens doors to new analysis to art works, and it's like the author himself is speaking to you face-to-face because of how interactive it is. He jumps into the second person very often, which made me feel important when I first read it (I was an adorable little fourteen-year-old). Also, the book makes a great companion to you fans of Dan Brown (ehhem PIP!).

Emma.

The Salmiya Collection by Craig Loomis

    This book is not really out there yet, but it should be. It's by Professor Craig Loomis, associate professor of English literature at the American University of Kuwait. Pip and I both took classes with Loomis, and we have to admit that we barely scraped by. He set very high standards for his students, and judging by this book, it's not hard to see why.
    Loomis lived in Kuwait for 9 years, and he documented these years through short anecdotes and observations found in the novel. Most of the stories begin in medias res, but readers are not thrown off. Certainly, people who have not spent time in the Middle East would find certain concepts to be difficult to grasp, and there are certain cases in which Arabs may be portrayed in a bad light (whether intentionally or not). Regardless, most of the stories are given the disclaimer that they maintain a very subjective point of view and can therefore not be taken to be absolute raw and unprejudiced opinions of Kuwaiti society. Plus, it's important to note that the book is entitled The Salmiya Collection and not The Kuwait Collection. Salmiya is a Kuwaiti governorate that is not highly populated with Kuwaitis; it is mostly expat Arabs and Westernerers. Be wary of that.
    Despite the minor fallacies of the novel, it's still a great read because I am so familiar with the stories being told. Arab girls desperate to find husbands, eating during the day in Ramadan, the adventures of an American professor amongst Arab students, and such other shenanigans make the book an easy and entertaining read. 

Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Muarakami

This will be the shortest review you will ever read:
Do not read this book. It will linger in the most negative and lachrymose way possible. It makes absolutely no sense. There is no plot. Do not read it if you do not wish to suffer the consequences of a depressingly terrible novel.




(read it. It is a chaotic mess of beauty and allegory.)