September 2011
9 posts
The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Superheroes, love, lust, growing up, becoming a man, homosexuality, the Holocaust and countless other themes are bound in this marvelous novel. Michael Chabon manages to captivate his audience from the get-go with this intriguing novel; the main protagonists are polar opposites and work/clash with each other with the elegance of a well choreographed ballet. It is within the pages of the...
The Death & Life of Charlie St. Cloud
Death before life; beginning anew after a tragic accident can occur at any age and only after a true realization of what really lies ahead for yourself can an individual move forward. One must learn to accept the coincidences in life as they come, how that individual reacts to these defines the remainder of their life and the impact that they can have on other people. The theme of second...
The Brooklyn Follies
Life is a mosaic of memories and Paul Auster definitely uses this adage to tell a unique story. This is the story of a man who through the unwillingness to want to live found a new breath of life and a better understanding of coincidences and believed in the world again. The story is a contemporary and takes place in the early 2000s and encapsulates people from many walks of life and differing...
August 2011
9 posts
The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract...
“Richard is both fascinating and as frightening as your worst nightmare. He represents the worst of who we are - yet, he is absolutely fascinating to listen to.” - Sheila Nevins, HBO producer.
The mafia was a force to be reckoned with but every crime family is only as strong as the appendages that it uses to keep them in power, enter Richard Kuklinski; a man who kills without remorse,...
The Help
Armed with nothing but a pen and a “radical” idea Skeeter Phelan, Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson and other domestic workers ban together to stir the pot and gave a voice to voiceless people in Jackson, Mississippi during the tumultuous 1960s. The Help is a fantastic read and keeps the reader riveted to the page with character development, changing point of views, seamless integration of historical...
Something Borrowed
“The language of friendship is not words but meanings”-Henry David Thoreau, this is the sentimentality that lurks below the surface in the central friendship that is depicted in the novel, Something Borrowed. What is the true meaning of the word friendship and can people truly have a lifelong friend? This novel discusses the aforementioned ideas and how the works into the existence of people...
Roshōmon
Minimalistic, simplistic storytelling, which is the way of the Japanese author Akutagawa. On the surface the plot may seem simple and easily digestible for the laymen to read but if the reader begins to hone in on the themes of the story; it seems to grow and grow in the more the reader delves into the content that the story brings about. The themes that are highlighted in the story are the...
