This time it's a review of the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. And what a book it was.
After surviving the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen has all the food and money she could ever want/need. However, she's still suffering depressive moments as well as new policies within District 12 and the possibility of an uprising.
To make things worse, it's the 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games meaning a 'Quell' will be drawn. The result is that only the victors of each district will be put into the reaping ball. This means that with Katniss being the only female to ever win in District 12 there's 100 percent chance she will be pulled.
And so K is sent to the Hunger Games again. But, like the first book, there's a lot more than just a group of people fighting to the death. An uprising has begun in one district and there is expected to be another in District 12. The Capitol, a capitalist state still controls everything and each district takes care over various trades.
Written in a similar style to the first book, this is filled with cliffhangers, fast-paced scenes and is impossible to put down. The characters are interesting and much different to those in the first, the arena has been changed and deaths are very juicy. If you've managed book 1, you'll need to read this.
Ending with a very big cliffhanger, I feel rather eager to get stuck in to the final book. I can safely say it's been a long time since I've shot through a series of books. I'll also repeat this: despite being written for Young Adults, old adults will find these books an excellent read. The content is political (and very interesting from a Socialist point of view), the deaths are varied in style and, as previously mentioned, it's filled with cliffhangers resulting in a 6 hour read, desperate to find out what happens next.
One could even argue that Suzanne Collins is a writer not dissimilar to Simon Kernick, except she writes for children rather than adults.
Managed in around 3 or 4 days this is well worth a read. Buy these books.
5 out of 5
Saturday, 14 July 2012
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
As you may be able to tell from previous reviews, I'm not a big reader of young adult (YA) fiction. However, this first book in the Hunger Games trilogy is really something else.
I saw the film while it was in the cinemas and found myself very impressed and comparing it to the Japanese novel and film Battle Royale. The novel, however, goes beyond that. Although it does have elements of BR with the concept of a group of kids going to an island and fighting to the death, there is a lot more to go with it.
For a starter, the politics within the novel are very interesting, especially after my attending the 5 days Marxism fest. In the Hunger Games, rather than towns, people live in 12 districts with there being the rich districts, the industrial districts and the poverty-ridden districts. Along with this there is the Capitol state which holds the yearly Hunger Games. This is a capitalist state filled with rich people, huge feasts, genetically engineered creatures and spectacular events. This, I believe, is what helps to make the book attractive to adults.
For kids and/or young adults the concept of a bunch of kids fighting to the death creates an attractive story. If politics isn't your thing but fighting is, you'll love this book. If politics is your thing, you'll love this book.
Well researched and thought out it's no wonder The Hunger Games did so well. This is a novel great for escaping into but also good for getting one thinking that it's possible something like this could happen if capitalism took over. Saying that, it would help to get rid of all those bloody teenagers.
I have to admit that I'll be recommending this book (and possibly the sequels) to my little brother who never reads and maybe even my mum who wants to read that 50 Shades of Grey trash. If you wish to do the same, don't! Read this book instead.
This gets a generous 5 out of 5. Keep checking back for book 2.
I saw the film while it was in the cinemas and found myself very impressed and comparing it to the Japanese novel and film Battle Royale. The novel, however, goes beyond that. Although it does have elements of BR with the concept of a group of kids going to an island and fighting to the death, there is a lot more to go with it.
For a starter, the politics within the novel are very interesting, especially after my attending the 5 days Marxism fest. In the Hunger Games, rather than towns, people live in 12 districts with there being the rich districts, the industrial districts and the poverty-ridden districts. Along with this there is the Capitol state which holds the yearly Hunger Games. This is a capitalist state filled with rich people, huge feasts, genetically engineered creatures and spectacular events. This, I believe, is what helps to make the book attractive to adults.
For kids and/or young adults the concept of a bunch of kids fighting to the death creates an attractive story. If politics isn't your thing but fighting is, you'll love this book. If politics is your thing, you'll love this book.
Well researched and thought out it's no wonder The Hunger Games did so well. This is a novel great for escaping into but also good for getting one thinking that it's possible something like this could happen if capitalism took over. Saying that, it would help to get rid of all those bloody teenagers.
I have to admit that I'll be recommending this book (and possibly the sequels) to my little brother who never reads and maybe even my mum who wants to read that 50 Shades of Grey trash. If you wish to do the same, don't! Read this book instead.
This gets a generous 5 out of 5. Keep checking back for book 2.
Monday, 2 July 2012
Severed by Simon Kernick
Yes, it is yet another Simon Kernick review, and so soon after the previous review. This time, however, it is his 2007 release, Severed.
Before going into the book/review I'll give a little background on why I read this. As you'll notice, I've been reading a few 19th Century novels for my uni course. After finishing Silas Marner I decided that before I go into next semester's reads, I'd devour something simple yet worthy of a long sit down. And so I chose Severed, a book I've read once a few years ago, but knew was good.
I always find that SK's books are simple to read, yet filled with fast-paced action, and not lacking a large amount of death, fear (in the characters) and general carnage. A good head-clearer, if you will. I also wouldn't need to focus on or think about theories (i.e. Psychoanalysis, post-modernism, imagery, characterisation amongst others), I can just sit down and read, which I did with this.
Moving on, Severed is the story of a successful car salesman who wakes up next to his girlfriend. But there's a problem: she's dead. And not peacefully either. She's been brutally murdered and now the protagonist, Tyler, must find out who killed her and seek his revenge.
The next 24 hours are the most telling as he is sent on a wild goose chase around the grim streets of East London. Inevitably he hits many a brick wall yet somehow recovers. I'll stop the spoilers there.
Fast-paced and action-filled, this is definitely one of Simon Kernick's best books. Much like Siege, I managed it in just two sittings (with the odd 20 min break here and there), finding it incredibly hard to put down due to the numerous cliffhangers which leave the reader desperate to know what happens next.
As some people may know, I am a cynical person at times, however, I can find nothing negative to say about the book. The characters are just right, events are described perfectly and the storyline/plot is constantly pushed forward with the skill of Kernick's writing. Or maybe I'm just being biased. You decide.
For anyone who hasn't read Severed and likes their crime fiction, grab this book today. If you haven't read Simon Kernick in the past, also pick up this book. I'm sure you'll become an instant fan. I've probably said that about his other books, but a writer loves their praise (trust me, I know).
This one gets a nice big 5/5 from me.
Before going into the book/review I'll give a little background on why I read this. As you'll notice, I've been reading a few 19th Century novels for my uni course. After finishing Silas Marner I decided that before I go into next semester's reads, I'd devour something simple yet worthy of a long sit down. And so I chose Severed, a book I've read once a few years ago, but knew was good.
I always find that SK's books are simple to read, yet filled with fast-paced action, and not lacking a large amount of death, fear (in the characters) and general carnage. A good head-clearer, if you will. I also wouldn't need to focus on or think about theories (i.e. Psychoanalysis, post-modernism, imagery, characterisation amongst others), I can just sit down and read, which I did with this.
Moving on, Severed is the story of a successful car salesman who wakes up next to his girlfriend. But there's a problem: she's dead. And not peacefully either. She's been brutally murdered and now the protagonist, Tyler, must find out who killed her and seek his revenge.
The next 24 hours are the most telling as he is sent on a wild goose chase around the grim streets of East London. Inevitably he hits many a brick wall yet somehow recovers. I'll stop the spoilers there.
Fast-paced and action-filled, this is definitely one of Simon Kernick's best books. Much like Siege, I managed it in just two sittings (with the odd 20 min break here and there), finding it incredibly hard to put down due to the numerous cliffhangers which leave the reader desperate to know what happens next.
As some people may know, I am a cynical person at times, however, I can find nothing negative to say about the book. The characters are just right, events are described perfectly and the storyline/plot is constantly pushed forward with the skill of Kernick's writing. Or maybe I'm just being biased. You decide.
For anyone who hasn't read Severed and likes their crime fiction, grab this book today. If you haven't read Simon Kernick in the past, also pick up this book. I'm sure you'll become an instant fan. I've probably said that about his other books, but a writer loves their praise (trust me, I know).
This one gets a nice big 5/5 from me.
Sunday, 1 July 2012
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Another book set for my exam tomorrow, Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe is a story similar to Wuthering Heights in that it features a number of things included in the latter story: death, trust, betrayal, family issues/troubles and personal and physical growth.
Silas Marner is a weaver from the small town/village of Raveloe who, one night, comes home to find that the large amount of gold he has earned through weaving has been stolen. Without his gold, a wife or any family, Master Marner is a lost and emotionally unstable man. That is until he comes into the posession of a 2 year old girl whose mother has died in the snow of an extremely cold winter.
This child becomes his daughter, and over the years he raises and nurtures her (bit of nature vs nurture there) into the most beautiful girl the village has seen.
This novel is filled with optimism, pessimism, happiness, sadness and awkwardness. Much like Wuthering Heights, it has a number of stories within a story, but they are very interesting stories and events.
I didn't really expect much from this book when I first opened it. I mean, a man who spends his days weaving. What's interesting about that? But as I read on, I found it to be gripping and very interesting. No, it isn't a crime novel, but it was a very good read, in my opinion. It had scenes which made me feel a bit 'meh' and others which made me feel a bit more upbeat.
Additionally it had some surprises thrown in and an uplifting final quote (readers who don't want it spoiled, scroll to the end, those who don't mind, read on): "O father, what a pretty home ours is! I think nobody could be happer than we are."
Sometimes a bit tedious, but nonetheless, a good read, George Eliot's Silas Marner is a read for anybody who likes 19th Century literature.
This receives a nice 4.5/5 from me.
Silas Marner is a weaver from the small town/village of Raveloe who, one night, comes home to find that the large amount of gold he has earned through weaving has been stolen. Without his gold, a wife or any family, Master Marner is a lost and emotionally unstable man. That is until he comes into the posession of a 2 year old girl whose mother has died in the snow of an extremely cold winter.
This child becomes his daughter, and over the years he raises and nurtures her (bit of nature vs nurture there) into the most beautiful girl the village has seen.
This novel is filled with optimism, pessimism, happiness, sadness and awkwardness. Much like Wuthering Heights, it has a number of stories within a story, but they are very interesting stories and events.
I didn't really expect much from this book when I first opened it. I mean, a man who spends his days weaving. What's interesting about that? But as I read on, I found it to be gripping and very interesting. No, it isn't a crime novel, but it was a very good read, in my opinion. It had scenes which made me feel a bit 'meh' and others which made me feel a bit more upbeat.
Additionally it had some surprises thrown in and an uplifting final quote (readers who don't want it spoiled, scroll to the end, those who don't mind, read on): "O father, what a pretty home ours is! I think nobody could be happer than we are."
Sometimes a bit tedious, but nonetheless, a good read, George Eliot's Silas Marner is a read for anybody who likes 19th Century literature.
This receives a nice 4.5/5 from me.
Friday, 22 June 2012
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
After a month or so of not reading, I was almost required to pick up and read this book as part of my degree due to failing a previous exam on it. However, I can't really complain as, despite a slow start, Emily Brontë's only novel, was a pretty decent read.
Set in the deep hills of Yorkshire, W.H. follows the lives of the Heathcliff, Earnshaw an Linton families along with Mr. Lockwood and Mrs. Dean.
Slightly gothic and dark-spirited in nature, W.H. is an insight into how people lived in the early 19th century as well as an exploration into death, illness, family matters and borderline incest.
When I first picked this book up I didn't expect much, but as I delved deeper in, I found that it included a number of subjects which I often search for when reading (death, darkness, controversy) which, in turn, satisfied my needs/requirements.
Much like a realistic version of Frankenstein, this is a book which I now feel any person interested in classic or gothic literature should have a go at reading. I can't guarantee that I'll be re-reading this in the near future, but I may do so in a few years. We'll see.
In the meantime I think I'll rate this one at 3.5/5.
Set in the deep hills of Yorkshire, W.H. follows the lives of the Heathcliff, Earnshaw an Linton families along with Mr. Lockwood and Mrs. Dean.
Slightly gothic and dark-spirited in nature, W.H. is an insight into how people lived in the early 19th century as well as an exploration into death, illness, family matters and borderline incest.
When I first picked this book up I didn't expect much, but as I delved deeper in, I found that it included a number of subjects which I often search for when reading (death, darkness, controversy) which, in turn, satisfied my needs/requirements.
Much like a realistic version of Frankenstein, this is a book which I now feel any person interested in classic or gothic literature should have a go at reading. I can't guarantee that I'll be re-reading this in the near future, but I may do so in a few years. We'll see.
In the meantime I think I'll rate this one at 3.5/5.
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Join Me by Danny Wallace
This review would have been of The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, but after that damn essay, literature was not something I wanted to read, and so, after some thought, I picked up an easy book. That easy book was another Danny Wallace experiment.
In the past I've read 'Yes Man' and 'Awkward Situations for Men' so I knew and expected something good. However, I didn't expect something this good and funny.
'Join Me' is the tale of a 25 year old Danny Wallace who, bored one day decides to put an ad in a local paper saying the simple words 'Join me'. What for, he didn't know, but soon after posting the ad, people of all ages were joining him. Wanting to be like his recently-deceased great uncle, Danny soon decided to try and collect ('not a cult, a collective') 1000 Joinees as it was something his great uncle had attempted but failed to achieve.
Soon, Danny was travelling over Europe to meet and collect joinees, and it was good.
That is all I can really say without giving too much away, but what I can say is that this was another excellent read from Danny Wallace. It was funny, fast-paced and hard to put down, managed in 2 days, if that. It was also easy and a good head-clearer after all the work I've had recently (when people tell you 2nd year is a pisstake, believe them).
Will I become a joinee myself? I don't know, probably not, but only time can tell. In the meantime, it probably can't hurt to try and be a bit like the joinees and perform some random acts of kindness, can it?
Overall a good read, but a bit 'holiday-read'-like. Overall rating: 4/5
Monday, 2 April 2012
Essex Boys (So This is Ecstasy?) by Bernard O'Mahoney
As readers, new and old, may be able to tell, I take a slighty unhealthy interest in gang activity and murders - from the Manson Family to the Rettendon Murders, the latter of which this book is related to.
In 1995, three prominent Essex drug dealers and gang members were found brutally murdered in a Range Rover parked near the end of a small country lane in Rettendon, Esssex. This book tells the story from O'Mahoney's point of view. It gives the reader an insight into how the firm worked, the drug dealing and related violence, the death of Leah Betts and how, after falling into the world of firms and drugs, deaths were inevitable.
Rather than being written by an outsider, this book was written by a man who has experienced it all, making it interesting, disturbing and leaving the reader wanting to know more. It tells from the day he was released from prison (imprisoned for 6 months on wounding with intent), how doorman in Essex would handle certain hecklers or drunkards and of reform after the firm became too much.
When reading O'Mahoney's tales, for use of a better word, I found myself wondering how the hell he managed to avoid hefty jail sentences and instead simply going home and returning to his job the day after driving a lorryload of stolen coffee beans. Or how he got away with beating certain rivals up. I also found myself sympathising with certain people in the book.
Rather than skip anything, Bernard, or Bernie to his friends, gives all the gory details, sparing none. When I picked this book up I wasn't sure what to expect seeing as this had been written by a former hardman, however, I found myself reading it almost whenever possible and into the early hours. What also made it a good read is that much like the film of the same name (but telling a completely different story, fictional) I recognised some of the described areas, including Chelmsford, the town of my birth, Basildon, my nan's home town and Southend, where my dad and stepmum currently reside.
Certain parts were a little tedious, but the whole things gets a 4/5 from me.
In 1995, three prominent Essex drug dealers and gang members were found brutally murdered in a Range Rover parked near the end of a small country lane in Rettendon, Esssex. This book tells the story from O'Mahoney's point of view. It gives the reader an insight into how the firm worked, the drug dealing and related violence, the death of Leah Betts and how, after falling into the world of firms and drugs, deaths were inevitable.
Rather than being written by an outsider, this book was written by a man who has experienced it all, making it interesting, disturbing and leaving the reader wanting to know more. It tells from the day he was released from prison (imprisoned for 6 months on wounding with intent), how doorman in Essex would handle certain hecklers or drunkards and of reform after the firm became too much.
When reading O'Mahoney's tales, for use of a better word, I found myself wondering how the hell he managed to avoid hefty jail sentences and instead simply going home and returning to his job the day after driving a lorryload of stolen coffee beans. Or how he got away with beating certain rivals up. I also found myself sympathising with certain people in the book.
Rather than skip anything, Bernard, or Bernie to his friends, gives all the gory details, sparing none. When I picked this book up I wasn't sure what to expect seeing as this had been written by a former hardman, however, I found myself reading it almost whenever possible and into the early hours. What also made it a good read is that much like the film of the same name (but telling a completely different story, fictional) I recognised some of the described areas, including Chelmsford, the town of my birth, Basildon, my nan's home town and Southend, where my dad and stepmum currently reside.
Certain parts were a little tedious, but the whole things gets a 4/5 from me.
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