5 posts tagged “review”
Two more books I've read in the past week.
Time of Twins is pretty typical fantasy. Good read, but nothing really special about it. If you like cookie cutter fantasy, then this will keep you running.
Bringing down the house was a pretty interesting biography. The story is engaging and I found myself staying up late to get chapters done. The only bad thing I can say about it, is that as a biography...it is written too much like fiction. I would still suggest it to anybody looking for a good read
The first thing I have been asked when I read this book was 'did you like it?' and the answer is surprisingly not that simple.
The book itself is a good read. I enjoy the witty and humorous tone of the book. The situations are some that I myself can empathize with (I think most of us have at one point in our lives held a crappy job with dim pay and prospects). However what I did not enjoy are her conclusions.
There are a lot of conclusions that she came to that are at best a stretch. At one point in the book she concludes that the reason she feels the way she does (about her job and life at that point) was because of the structured dominance of the American service industry. Pretty strong statement, not much to back it up though.
All in all I would suggest that anybody who likes investigative journalism to give this a read, but do not expect to have an epiphany by the end.
An Unreasonable Man follows the life of activist Ralph Nader from his fight against GM until his failed run at the 2004 Presidency. It honestly and sometimes brutishly details his rise to one of the most important figures in American activism to taking a pie in the face in 2003 while supporting a green party candidate.
This documentary seems to lionize Nader, but at the same time provides ample time to opinions on how his more recent policies have hurt the leftist causes.
Overall I would suggest this to anybody who enjoys a good documentary, but at just over 2 hours some may find it drags if the material is not something you are interested in.
Monster is a manga that I suggest for people to read when they are coming from this misconception. Monster is a complex drama that reads like a puzzle as it puts together pieces slowly throughout the story until you have a whole at the end. The basic story is that of a genius doctor who finds himself becoming the yes man underneath a director at a prestigious hospital. After being told to operate on an Opera singer as opposed to a commoner who had come into the hospital first, Dr. Tenma begins to realize that the people around him place higher value on celebrity lives.
Further into the story Dr. Tenma comes to a crossroad. He must decide between the life of a Mayor who has promised money to the hospital or a young boy who's life is on the line. He chooses the boy and from this decision arises a monster...
I have not read enough of Urasawa's works to make this claim yet, but if he continues to weave suspenseful stories that keep you turning the pages the way Monster and 20th Century Boys (another of his works) does then I may start calling him the Hitchcock of manga.
I am now a little over half way finished and the book has me enraptured. I find myself reading just one more chapter until I have digested five or more in one sitting. Since I have not reached the conclusion I can not say with certainty whether this will be a book that I can suggest, however if it keeps pace and delivers an acceptable ending I am sure it will.
