Book Review
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The Buried Giant
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro Imagine yourself in a familiar world with characters like the ones in the fairytales you grew up reading. Borrowed characters like ogres, knights, and dragons are common characters embedded in your psyche. Ishiguro uses familiar and dominant literary landscapes as essential components of The Buried Giant where Ishiguro opts for the known vs the unknown. In The Buried Giant Beatrix and Axl, read like two elderly rabbits from a Beatrix Potter illustration, walk hand in hand, navigating the English countryside, often confused by the situation they are in search of the memories taken away by a mysterious mist. As they try to figure out who they are,…
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Kafka by the Shore
Kafka by the Shore I am late to Murakami, and after reading Haruki Murakami’s Kafka by the Shore a spark of inquisition was generated. Murakami makes it impossible to ignore the cultural implications in his writing, so I looked for connections and wondered what fueled Murakami and his writing. What I found was remarkable. Understanding some of the nuances of Japanese culture helped me understand Murakami, his characters, and Japanese culture. Japanese culture is a deep and vast cavern of riches steeped in history, and its modern history is just as rich and intriguing. Today many Japanese people often go missing by choice. They leave behind all valuables and anything…
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Station Eleven, By Emily St.John Mandel
Begin your journey with Station Eleven The opening of the novel is everything a reader expects in a narrative, drama, excitement, and a strong character introduction. In spite of that, the rest of the novel limps on in comparison. The narrative is packed with starting with a global pandemic and a traveling Shakespeare troupe making their way through mostly empty pockets of leftover communities. A symphony of nameless musicians known only by the instrument they play in the novel, a cult with the most boring cult leader in history, and a nonlinear plot that keeps you going. It’s hard to pinpoint where the narrative starts to wane, what is clear…
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FairyTale, By Stephen King
Fairy Tale, By Stephen King The King of Horror wears two crowns. There are no complaints here about his writing. Fantasy fiction lovers will be treated to a Jack and the Beanstalk world full of curses, stadium battles, giant insects, two moons, gold, and one tricycle. The only downside is that you will have to wait until the second half of the novel for the fantasy. The first half is classic Stephen King character development, which is just as engaging as the fantasy parts. If you have not read Stephen King, this might not be the novel to start with. Here are some tips to consider: there are disfigured characters…
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The God of Endings, A Novel By Jacqueline Holland
The God of Endings 🔗 The title emphasizes endings, but the story carefully steers into the realm of new beginnings. The narrative is not typical of the supernatural genre, not what you may expect from a vampire novel. Holland’s story begins in 1834 with a young girl named Anna, who later becomes Collette LeSange’s a teacher and the founder of an elite preschool in upstate New York. The narrative mainly focuses on her experiences as a young girl named Anna. After a period of suffering and loss Anna is given immortality, a gift and a curse she did not ask for and does not want. Holland’s writing style is easy…
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“The Stranger in the Lifeboat” By Author Mitch Albom
The Stranger in the Lifeboat Mitch Albom’s “The Stranger in the Lifeboat” delves into the complexities of the human psyche when faced with tragedy. The book follows the wealthy and influential passengers of a luxury yacht named the Galaxy, who end up stranded on a lifeboat with crew members and a mysterious stranger. As they fight for survival, tensions rise and the true nature of each individual is put to the test. The book poses thought-provoking questions, such as what one would do if one asked God for help and the Lord showed up. The characters grapple with their fears, hopes, and regrets while coping with the uncertainty and despair…
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Sea of Tranquility: Shared Experiences
By Mariam Nooristani Sea of Tranquility Novel by Emily St. John Mandel The narrative revolves around a haunting moment in time where the characters in the novel experience something unexplainable. Mandel’s storytelling is simply hypnotic as she seamlessly captures the gravity of global events in elegant prose. One event covered in the novel is the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemic-related work may not be your cup of tea right now. Considering this, Mandel writes about the pandemic without causing a flutter of anxiety or panic. The narrative creates a gap of time that allows for time and space to have passed sufficiently enough to where the reader feels a safe mental…
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Mad Honey By Jodi Picoult: Either You’ll Love The Twist Or Hate It
By Mariam Nooristani Mad Honey 🔗 Mad Honey begins as a carefully crafted narrative, with an endearing mother and son relationship. It quickly pulls the reader into Picoult’s world of transforming relationships, and the challenges and strength needed to navigate them. Mad Honey is a contemporary themed narrative about a single mom and Beekeeper named Olivia McAfee. Olivia is a devoted mother, and as her son slowly pulls away into adulthood Oliva seeks refuge in her beekeeping. After a turbulent marriage and divorce Olivia returns home to the small town that she grew up in with her son Asher. As Oliva struggles with her past and the unknowns of the…
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Lessons In Chemistry: Would Elizabeth Zott Read This Book ?
By Mariam Nooristani Lessons in Chemistry Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is a compelling story about a struggling chemist named Elizabeth Zott. Zott, a fiercely independent individual, finds herself struggling in a man’s world. Zott is rational and struggles to change the status quo in the science and TV industry in the early nineteen sixties. Zott is easy to fall in love with on paper Zott is funny, zippy, and intelligent. Ultimately her characterization is overproduced. The first seven chapters of the novel illustrate Elizabeth Zott as the archetypical trail-blazing pioneer, a Hollywood leading lady in the nineteen fifties and sixties. Lessons in Chemistry maintains the same type…
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White Teeth: Is It Still Culturally Relevant?
White Teeth 🔗 Let us begin with White Teeth, a novel so impressive that some said it was a fluke. Twenty three years later, in an interview, Smith acknowledges that she is not the same girl who wrote White Teeth. Since the publishing of the novel the world has changed. Cultural and political atmospheres all around the world have shifted. Major events like 9/11, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, BRITAX, Trump, and a pandemic, countless protests and an insurrection have transformed the world. People are navigating through minefields of political correctness and apologizing as they do it. With all that has happened since the book was first published, beginning…