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Finished another novel between the writing of part I and this part II. Just thought I should clarify in case people think I cannot count. =)
Part I and part II together has a total of 22 reviews now instead of the 21 stated previously.
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A Twist in the Tale by Jeffrey Archer is a collection of entertaining short stories.
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Easy read and the usual great writing from Archer. I particularly like "Just Good Friends" which completely caught me by surprise and "Christina Rosenthal", which deeply moved me: 7.5/10
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Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton, probably better known as The 13th Warrior, happened to be a novel that I read after I have watched the movie version starring Antonio Banderas.
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It's about an Arab adventuring with the vikings. This is probably not the best of Crichton's, I find it less believable than his other novels. That said, it's still an engaging read, it's just me having high expectation from Crichton: 6.5/10
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A Matter of Honour by Jeffrey Archer has got the honour spelled right, the British English shall remain the "real English" for me. I reject the emigrant's version of "no 'u'
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Story involves the Russian, the American, the British, the Swiss, and the French. It revolves around an icon with a secret, a deal signed 99 years ago nearing it's expiry date. Agents from various countries killed to either get hold of the icon, or prevent the others from getting it: 7.5/10
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The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown probably doesn't need any introduction for avid readers, think even those who don't read heard of it.
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Without wax is back! =) (go read Digital Fortress)
The story revolves around Masonic secrets and a mad person, the plots and twists gave me deja vu, it's like reading Da Vinci Code all over again, but with different object of desire and different group of people. Instead of trying to obtain and break the Da Vinci Code, it's now trying to obtain and decipher the lost symbol's concealed meaning.
The novel reads like a movie, probably wrote with that in mind. The revelation of the Lost Word is... meh, I am disappointed by the ending, perhaps because I am not a religious person. Total Liquid Ventilation (TLV) is cool, but the feeling of same old same old plus a weak ending puts it at: 6.5/10
Quotes from The Lost Symbol:
"Knowledge is a tool, and like all tools, its impact is in the hands of the user."
"Great minds are always feared by lesser minds."
Masonic luminary Albert Pike: "what we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."
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If it wasn't left behind by my brother, I probably wouldn't have read Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie, and good grief, I wish he hadn't left it behind! I thought I am long-winded, rest assured I am properly humbled after struggling through this novel.
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The storyline, well, the core of it anyway, is about a clown turned assassin because his wife ran away, so he went bonkers and went about killing everyone involved.
The author has a very different writing style, and it's not one that I like. Long sentences talking about ten things at once, branching out whenever a new thing is mentioned as if the author has to explain everything there and then in the same sentence. And seriously, why the heck are those things mentioned anyway? Paragraph spanned pages that suffocates the reader, definitely not an easy read.
I reckon the story could be told in 30% of the volume, ditching all those rubbish fillers that served only to bring you to Holland and back with no added value. After all the long-windedness, the story has an abrupt ending, jeez... 3/10
Quote from Shalimar the Clown:
"I like it that you're clumsy with compliments," she consoled him... "I never trusted men who were too smooth with words."
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The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a motivational book.
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It's about the story of a shepherd going after his dream (Personal Legend). A lot of goodness packed in a small and short book. Elegent and insightful: 6.5/10
Quote from The Alchemist:
"The sercet of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times."
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling... Seriously, do I have to introduce this book?
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I reread this because I watched the Harry Potter movies 1 to 6 during the Chinese New Year holidays.
While I know the general storyline and ending, I have totally forgotten so much of it it felt like reading a new novel, thank you goldfish memory! =P Second time through it and it's still immensely enjoyable, and such an easy read I finished in three days (nights).
I won't talk about the storyline, I probably don't have to anyway. =) Suffice to say that this is the final book for the Harry Potter series. Rowling deserved to be an author made millionaire, if only I could write like her (and be as rich as she is): 9/10
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The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga is another book I had the misfortune to find lying around.
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The truth is, I started reading this book, then I watched the Harry Potter movies, then I went ahead and read the Harry Potter book before I returned to this book. Says something about how gripping this novel is huh? Not.
It's a long-winded story of a murder, not sure if the author was trying to justify murder? I am starting to see a trend with Indian writers, in fact I can relate that to my co... nevermind. There is "ooh, tell me more, tell me more" and there is "bloody hell, just get on with it!" It's the later for this book: 3.5/10
Quote from The White Tiger:
"I don't keep a mobile phone, for obvious reasons - they corrode a man's brains, shrink his balls, and dry up his semen..."
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It's refreshing to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon after the previous novel.
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221 pages of short but captivating story of a child with behaviour disorder (autistic) solving a dog murder case. Touching and reminds me of how lucky we are being normal: 6/10
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The Associate by John Grisham is about a fresh lawyer, surprised? =P
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Story started with a video from a drunken party in the past, involving sex and possibly rape charge, which forced Kyle to play along an information theft scheme from his blackmailers.
About half way through the novel, an episode in the story put my imagination to overdrive and I thought "aha, this must be the other spy" and spun for myself the plot of the story and how it would end, much like what I did for other mystery or detective stories, which I was often right.
But I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was wrong, the plot didn't go as I imagined. The ending, well, it's more like there isn't a real ending, no closure, similar to real life. Gripping story, nice read: 7/10
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Buried Fire by Jonathan Stroud is a so so novel.
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It's about how a selected few who possessed dragon given powers trying to free the dragon when the seal that held it underground broke, and how this whole thing was thwarted.
Not terribly boring yet not very interesting: 5/10
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