Quick Review: Recent Reads #1
Ender’s Game by Orson Scot Card.
I’d seen Ender’s Game pop up at the head of many Top 100/50/10 Sci-Fi book lists, so decided to give it a go. There is a clever (and brutal) plot here, and I can see elements of this story have been appropriated for many films. Some interesting reflections on war too, both good and bad. A lot of the action takes place in Zero G, the description of those scenes was sometimes hard to follow. Ultimately, I found I didn’t care about the protagonist and the last few chapters, with their weird religious undertone, felt bizarre and tacked on.
Scores: 2 out of 5.
I’m a huge fan of Stephen Fry and had high hopes for The Liar. It started off well and I found myself laughing out loud many times. As I progressed though, I began to feel like Mr. Fry was more interested in showing off his education and intellect than helping me follow a plot (which was absent for most of the book and eventually just too silly). Overall disappointing.
Scores: 2 out of 5.
The Backpacker by John Harris.
From a strong start this “true story” (bullshit) turned into badly written infantile crap. I felt annoyed I wasted my time reading it. Definitely no “The Beach”. Avoid.
Scores: 1 out of 5.
Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene.
It’s a little clichéd to call a book charming but the description just fits perfectly for Monsignor Quixote. I loved the friendship between the two central characters: A Catholic priest and a Marxist mayor (I never would have guessed that, as a serious atheist, I’d have so much time for a priest!) and even though I sometimes struggled to understand their political discussions, I still found this book an enjoyable read. Also, it left me with a serious hankering for red wine and cheese.
Scores: 3 out of 5.
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