9th August, 2008
1984 by George Orwell
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
This book was weird. I didn’t really understand Part 1 of Chapter 1, so I looked up Google and Wikipedia. This website helped me understand the story better.
So, the story’s about Winston Smith who lives in London, Oceania. It’s the year 1984 and there are only 3 countries in the world: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. Oceania is always at war with both countries but will always insist that it has been at war with one country at all times. Meaning, if they’re at war with Eurasia now means that they’ve always been at war with Eurasia. But then, they’ll suddenly be warring with Eastasia and then they’ll say that they’ve always been at war with Eastasia. Anybody who contradicts will of course be punished severely. Then, they’ll be altering newspapers, books, documents so that ‘mistakes’ will be cleared. It’s pretty stupid actually but then that’s how it is in Oceania.
Winston works in the Ministry of Truth. One day during his lunch hour, he goes back home and starts a diary secretly. No one was allowed to keep a diary. No one was allowed to have personal thoughts. And no one had privacy. There were telescreens in the houses of those who belonged in the Inner Party and Outer Party. The telescreens transmits and receives, like an advanced CCTV (closed-circuit television). Meaning those in charge will be monitoring your daily lives.
The Party rules Oceania. Big Brother is the leader and he’s always right. No one knows if Big Brother exists but his posters are everywhere to remind everyone that he’s ‘watching’ them. Big Brother is like the symbol of Oceania. Anyone who has thoughts of going against Big Brother will be caught by the Thought Police and will be tortured and brainwashed so that they’ll really love Big Brother again. To even think of something bad about the Party or of Big Brother is called ‘thoughtcrime’.
Thoughtcrime is a word in the Newspeak language. Newspeak is the official language of Oceania. According to Syme, one of the characters in 1984, ‘Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year’. You’ll encounter new words like ‘doublethink’, ‘crimestop’, ‘doubleplusungood’, and so on in this book. These are words in Newspeak. Oldspeak is what we’re speaking now.
Anyway, a woman from the Fiction Department, Julia, secretly hands Winston a note. He thought she’s a spy and that she’ll report him to the authorities sooner or later. However, this was what’s in the note:
“I love you”
Since then, they’ve begun a secret and illicit affair. It’s not allowed to love another woman so what they’re doing is going against the Party. Like Winston, Julia hates the Party and will do anything to go against them discreetly. They also know that they will be caught. Winston knows that they are as good as dead.
Oceania would be a really scary and tough place to live in. There’s no chance to be an individual. Everything is for the Party. Everyone must love Big Brother and the Party. The three slogans of the Party are:
Freedom Is Slavery
Ignorance Is Strength
I finally read this book because my lecturer mentioned it in class. I’m glad I read it. You should pick it up soon so you’ll know how terrible it is to live in a country where there’s no freedom to do what you want, to believe in what you feel is right, to be a unique individual, etc.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- In The Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce
- 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover by Linda Wisdom
- The BFG by Roald Dahl
Posted in Authors O, Modern Classics, Science Fiction, Titles N at 9:54 am | Comments (4)
16th May, 2008
In The Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce
This is Book 2 in the Song of the Lioness series. Check out my review of Book 1, Alanna: The First Adventure.
Alanna is still pretending to be a boy at the King’s court and is now Prince Jonathan’s squire. So far, only a few people know about her secret. One night, Alanna meets a stranger in the middle of the night while she’s travelling back to the palace. The stranger happens to be a Goddess and she kind of advises Alanna to face her fears.
Then, Alanna is also cautious of Jonathan’s cousin, Duke Roger of Conte. She suspects of the duke’s intentions to wipe out the whole of the royal family and other important knights so that HE can be the King of Tortall. When there was war between Tortall and Tusaine, Alanna was captured by the Tusaines. The Duke knows that Alanna is against him and plans to get rid of ‘him’. He thinks Alanna is a boy.
Besides being worried about the Duke of Conte, Alanna also has to deal with George Cooper and Jonathan who are trying to win her heart. This makes Alanna pretty confused and she always says that love is not important to her at all. All she wants to do is be a knight and have many great adventures. Anyway, she’s also trying to act like a girl at times, for example wearing girls’ dresses and receiving lessons from George’s mother on how to act like a proper lady.
After Alanna’s eighteenth birthday, she has to go through the Ordeal of Knighthood. A few years ago, Jonathan and her other friends went through it and after the ordeal, they came out looking like they went through the worst in their lives. Therefore, she’s quite worried about passing the Ordeal and finally getting her shield.
There was one part where Alanna was not very bright. In the war with Tusaine, Duke Gareth, the queen’s brother, was ‘accidentally’ injured. Duke Gareth was supposed to lead the army against the Tusaine fighters. But then, Duke Roger was chosen instead to take over Duke Gareth’s place as leader of the army. It’s quite clear that Duke Roger had something to do with Duke Gareth’s accident and since Alanna was always suspecting that Duke Roger was up to no good, it’s quite surprising that she doesn’t know why he’s the army’s leader now. George had to explain it all to her.
Anyway, two more Song of the Lioness books to go!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
- Doing It by Melvin Burgess
- Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
- Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
- 1984 by George Orwell
Posted in Adventure, Authors P, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Titles I, Young Adult Fiction at 2:12 pm | Comments (2)
5th May, 2008
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
It’s something like Mulan where the girl pretends to be a boy so that she gets to do what she really wants. In Alanna’s case though, she aspires to be a knight while her twin brother, Thom, prefers to be a sorcerer. However, their father was going to send Thom to the court of the King to train to be a knight while Alanna was to go to the convent to learn to be a lady.
Then, Alanna has a brainstorm. Why don’t they switch places? She’ll go to Corus to learn to fight and Thom will go to the City of Gods and learn to be a sorcerer. Now this is like the story from The Parent Trap! They will also need to tell Coram and Maude, who will be travelling with them to their destinations. Their father would be too busy with his books to even realize that the twins had switched places.
Alanna is lucky when she reaches the palace as she made a very good impression on Prince Jonathan and his friends. She calls herself Alan of Trebond. On the other hand, she also manages to make an enemy. Ralon of Malven is a bully and he decided to pick on ‘Alan’ when he spotted him.
Life isn’t peaceful if you’re constantly being bullied discreetly by somebody. Alanna is smaller in size but she’s adamant to not let anyone else think that Ralon’s been hitting and punching her. She is determined to fight her own battles. Therefore, she is determined to fight off Ralon herself for once and for all. But first, she needs to learn to fight properly. That’s where Coram and George help her learn the tactics of fighting. George is also Alanna’s new friend. He’s the King of Thieves, by the way. Robin Hood comes to mind now, eh?
The Sweating Fever happened next and one of Alanna’s friends succumbed to the sickness. That made Alanna feel guilty for not using her Gift of healing to heal him. When Prince Jonathan fell ill and was on the verge of dying, Alanna uses her healing gift to help him fight off death.
It’s believed that the Sweating Fever was deliberately caused to make the royal family fall ill. Is somebody after the throne? The culprit would be a really powerful sorcerer then. George and Alanna discussed this among themselves. They are also suspicious of Jonathan’s cousin, Duke Roger who has returned to the palace to teach Jonathan and Alanna how to use their Gifts properly.
I first read this book many years ago and immensely enjoyed reading about Alanna’s journey. It’s definitely a page turner and I just couldn’t put the book down. This book is one of a kind, a totally different fantasy story and also one that encourages girls to strive to achieve their goals. Well, we don’t really need to dress up as boys to do that, do we?
All the same, this is the first book in the Song of the Lioness series. There are 3 more books to go.
Buy Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness)
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- In The Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce
- Doing It by Melvin Burgess
- Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
- A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Posted in Authors P, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Titles A, Young Adult Fiction at 3:09 pm | Comments (3)
22nd March, 2008
50 Ways to Hex Your Lover by Linda Wisdom
I know of a story where a vampire is in love with a human but what if the romance is between a vampire and a witch??? Now, that should be a very interesting tale.
Jasmine Tremaine or Jazz, is a 700-year-old witch who was banished from The Academy for Witches many, many years ago and is forced to survive on her own in the big, bad world. So now, she works as a curse eliminator and also as a driver for All Creatures Limo Service during the night. Dweezil is Jazz’s boss in this limo service company.
Jazz’s life is tumultuous. Eliminating curses for people can be quite a tough job, especially when clients don’t pay her but that’s easy because she will only need to bring the curse back to them. Then only they’ll pay her quickly!
Besides that, working as a driver for Dweezil’s company is like a nightmare. One of the customers that she has to drive is Tyge Foulshadow whose farts are absolutely horrendous but since Jazz is a witch, they don’t bother her that much. She hates to drive him, too because she knows that he likes her and she feels uncomfortable around him. Tyge pays in gold bars and Dweezil values him as a very valuable customer. That’s why Jazz still drives him around.
But wait! The excitement isn’t quite over yet. How would you feel if you had a T-Bird car with a ghost in it? Pretty scary, right? Well, Jazz’s ghost is not that scary at all. Irma is/was a heartbroken woman who killed herself in her husband’s car. And now that car belongs to Jazz.
Now, the part I guess you’ve been waiting for. The man, or should I say vampire in Jazz’s life. He is Nikolai Gregorivich or simply Nick. He needs Jazz’s help now to find the bad guy who’s responsible for the disappearances of vampires. The thing is, will she help him? Many years ago, he had put her in jail because he thought that she was a thief! Weird, huh? They’ve already hooked up and broke up lots of times.
What do you think? It is an exciting book, after all. Just check out the cover’s design. I like the cover and I like the feel of the cover. I just like to hold the book, you know. 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover is fun to read, a few twists and turns here and there, and you will like Irma the ghost. You might not like Dweezil or Tyge as they are quite sleazy kind of creatures.
The bad guy’s part is kind of creepy. Well, he has to be creepy, right, since he’s the bad guy? I guess this is not purely a chick lit’s book as chick lit books don’t scare me. Nevertheless, it kept me turning the pages to find out if good triumphs over evil.
By the way, look out for more of Jazz’s adventures in the next book, Hex Appeal! And don’t hesitate to check out my interview with Linda Wisdom!
*Review copy sent by Sourcebooks*
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
- Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
- A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
- Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
- An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Posted in Authors W, Contemporary, Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction, Titles A at 3:50 pm | Comment (0)
3rd February, 2008
Maggie Again by John D. Husband
When I read the synopsis for Maggie Again, I knew this was going to be a one-of-a-kind kind of book. And I was right! This book was an enjoyable and easy read. Great for reluctant readers.
From the title, it’s obvious that the story revolves around Maggie, an active and vivacious 16-year-old country girl from Cobblers Eddy, Indiana. She enjoys spending time with her three best friends, Tom, Gordie, and Alfie. She and Tom have some romantic thing going on. Alfie is some kind of psychic. Sometimes, he knows what’s going to happen in the future.
Maggie’s world was turned upside down when she found out that her dad was going to move to New York and she and her mom are going too. Initially, she hated the idea of going to live in New York but later she understood how much it would mean to her father to work there. So, they did move to New York.
Maggie also wrote a letter to Tom, asking him to come visit her as soon as possible. After that, Tom, Gordie and Alfie hopped onto a boxcar, which they thought was going to New York. Alfie began to hear some strange music and before they knew it, they arrived in New York. But they arrived in the year 1984. They left Indiana in 1926. This means that they had travelled through time. Interesting, huh?
Meanwhile, in 1926, Maggie found out that the three boys had left Indiana to visit her. But they never came to New York. After weeks of their disappearance, they were declared dead and Maggie moved on with life. She got married and had a son. But she was not happy. She still wished she could see her 3 childhood friends again.
Well, she did meet them in 1984 when she’s already an old lady and the boys are still teenagers. The whole thing seemed completely bizarre for them. Totally unbelievable but it was hard to not to believe since they were all right in front of one another.
So, how do you think it’ll all work out? How will the relationship between Tom and Maggie develop? While reading, I wondered if Maggie will become young again. I wondered if it’s just all a dream for Maggie, Tom, Gordie, and Alfie. That kept me turning the pages.
Maggie Again is John D. Husband’s first novel and not a bad one either. I enjoyed reading it and if there’s a second novel, I’ll surely put it in my list of books to read.
Alfie looked down at her and answered her question in a low and somber voice: “You’re Maggie again.”
I’d like to thank Lisa Roe for sending this ARC for me to review. My very first ARC too! 
Buy Maggie Again
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- I Like It Like That - A Gossip Girl Novel by Cecily von Ziegesar
- The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
- Doing It by Melvin Burgess
- Boy by James Hanley
- The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge
Posted in Authors H, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Titles M, Young Adult Fiction at 4:51 pm | Comments (11)
5th December, 2007
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Probably this book became even more popular after a movie based on this story came out in cinemas. Unfortunately, I did not watch the whole movie yet and I think that Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka is quite suitable. After all, Mr. Wonka is an eccentric character and I’m sure Depp plays the role to perfection.
Anyway, the hero is Charlie Bucket and his family is extremely poor. His father is the only one in his family who is working but his pay is not enough to buy the proper amount of food for his whole family. Also, Charlie’s grandparents are very old and they stay on their bed all day and night. But, everyday, Charlie will sit on the bed and talk with his grandparents. This cheers them up despite having to live in such poor conditions.
And every day on the way to school, Charlie passes Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. When Charlie’s birthday was coming up, something exciting happened too. After so many years since he’s reopened his chocolate factory, Willy Wonka is inviting 5 children to visit his factory. He’s inserted 5 golden tickets in 5 random chocolate bars and the lucky 5 kids who find those tickets can see what it is like inside the factory.
As luck would have it, Charlie is the fifth person to find the last Golden Ticket. The other four lucky finders are Augustus Gloop – a boy who loves to eat, Veruca Salt – a rich, spoilt brat, Violet Beauregarde – a girl who likes to chew on chewing gum, and Mike Teavee – a boy who always watches television. Aren’t they an interesting mix?
The day of the visit is on Feb 1. Charlie is accompanied by his Grandpa Joe. As they enter the factory, all the visitors are overwhelmed by the beauty and the heavenly chocolatey smell there. Wow, wouldn’t I want to drink a cup of melted chocolate from the chocolate river? How I wish there’s a real Chocolate Room somewhere like the one in Wonka’s factory!
Besides that, the children got to see Willy Wonka’s secret workers, the Oompa-Loompas! These Oompa-Loompas are small people who love singing and eating cacao beans. It’s certainly a magical chocolate factory and new surprises lie in wait for all the visitors. Good and bad surprises.
The book that comes after Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Oh, Dahl probably doesn’t like the television very much. The joy and wonders of reading is clearly stressed in one of the Oompa-Loompas’ songs!
Buy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- Firestarter by Stephen King
- White Boots by Noel Streatfeild
- Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
- The BFG by Roald Dahl
- The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett
Posted in Authors D, Children's Books, Fantasy, Humour, Modern Classics, Science Fiction, Titles C at 12:04 pm | Comments (8)
3rd December, 2007
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
A well known book and has gained numerous excellent book reviews though some book bloggers couldn’t finish it. Well, I did complete the book. The language was easy and it was quite a quick read. However, some parts of the book were too deep for me and I’m too tired to understand everything in it. But, never mind, at least I got the gist of it all. After reading, you may want to consider to really follow your dream, like what Santiago did!
The title is ‘The Alchemist’ but it isn’t wholly about an alchemist. The alchemist only appears halfway through the book. All the while, the story is about a young boy, Santiago, who is in search of some hidden treasure near the pyramids of Egypt. That’s what a gypsy lady told him after she interpreted some dream he had dreamt a few times.
Santiago was a shepherd and understood his sheep but he gave them up so that he could look for the treasure. During his journey, he met several interesting characters who guided him towards his goal. He’s met the gypsy lady, a king who wanted his sheep, a crystal merchant, an English man and many others. He even fell in love with a woman of the desert.
Then, there’s all this stuff about Personal Legend, the Soul of the World, the Language of the World, etc, which is all quite complicated. Perhaps I just wasn’t alert enough to really understand everything. Anyway, there are words of wisdom that one could use through life. It’s kind of like a motivation book. A book that gives hope to the despondent. My favourite part of the book is on page 86 where a camel driver tells Santiago:
“Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man.”
That makes a whole lot of sense, don’t you think? No use worrying about the past or the future. It just won’t bring anyone any good.
If you have read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, then you’d definitely be familiar with the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life. The functions of both items are explained more in this book. So, that part’s quite fascinating.
While reading, I had suspicions that the ‘treasure’ wouldn’t be a physical thing. The ending was a surprise anyhow. It’s an okay book for me – some parts were too deep and boring. Or like I said, perhaps I didn’t give this book a chance. I will try reading it again later on.
Buy The Alchemist
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- Maggie Again by John D. Husband
- Astro Socks by Leigh M. Le Creux
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
- Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Posted in Authors C, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Titles A at 1:28 pm | Comments (9)
17th April, 2007
Firestarter by Stephen King
Who’s the firestarter in this book? Why, it’s only a little girl! So young and innocent and yet she is able to start fires that could burn you to death.
Firestarter by Stephen King is one of the many interesting and thought-provoking books that I’ve read. The little firestarter’s name is Charlene McGee or just Charlie. Her parents, Andy and Vicky, once needed 200 dollars when they were young and they had participated in some weird drug experiment to get the money.
Andy felt uncomfortable during the experiment and saw some gory incidents but was told later that he was merely hallucinating, part of the side effects of the experimental drug called Lot Six, which was injected into him. However, after the day of the experiment and after getting his 200 bucks, he discovered that he had the ability to ‘push’ other people into doing things he wanted them to do. Vicky, who eventually became his wife, had telekinetic abilities, too like turning off the TV even though she’s nowhere near it.
Then, they had a daughter, Charlie. Charlie would unintentionally light fires when she’s agitated, angry or just feeling extremely emotional. It was dangerous when she was a baby because if her bottle of milk was late, then there would be fire burning somewhere. That’s why her parents kept fire extinguishers all around the house.
Vicky and Andy did not know that they were being watched by a secret government agency, The Shop. The Shop is actually a scientific department and now, they want to get hold of Charlie to study her ability to start fires just by thinking about doing it. Her talent is called pyrokinesis.
However, they are being merciless towards the McGee family. They will do anything just to have Charlie. Therefore, Andy and Charlie are on the run, away from the agents of The Shop. Andy knew they were in serious trouble when he came home one day to find his wife dead.
Nonetheless, this book has lots of unimportant parts that were relatively boring to me. I enjoyed reading the ending though. ‘Scary’, ‘frightening’, and ‘terrifying’ were among the words used to describe the book. Hmmm, well, I guess a part or two was chilling enough. I would call this book entertaining and it made me feel tremendously sad for Charlie. No 7-year-old deserves to live such a terrifying life.
The story was adapted into a movie in 1984 with Drew Barrymore acting as Charlie! This is getting even more interesting. Looks like I’m going to be on a hunt for the movie now.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
- The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
- Shopaholic Abroad by Sophie Kinsella
Posted in Authors K, Horror, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction, Titles F at 12:10 pm | Comments (4)
Back to Top
|
