Scan barcode
leventmolla's reviews
1640 reviews
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Angels Fall by Nora Roberts
4.0
Nora Roberts has once again created a compelling atmosphere for this thriller. Reece comes to this small Wyoming town, getting away from the horror in her past. As she takes on a cook job and tries to relax in this forgotten corner in the middle of a terrific nature, she will find out that it is not always so easy to leave the past behind.
Roberts builds up her story slowly, and you keep wondering how it is going to develop. Of course she uses typical 'whodunit' plot mechanisms (after all, Agatha Christie probably used all possible plots in her novels) but the result is not obvious at first. Character development is also given at an appropriate level so that the story does not stagnate or get boring.
Roberts builds up her story slowly, and you keep wondering how it is going to develop. Of course she uses typical 'whodunit' plot mechanisms (after all, Agatha Christie probably used all possible plots in her novels) but the result is not obvious at first. Character development is also given at an appropriate level so that the story does not stagnate or get boring.
11.22.63 by Stephen King
4.0
The Kennedy Assassination is one of the fixations of a few generations of Americans and the conspiracy theories that go with it have motivated people to write numerous books and shoot numerous movies with that subject.
Stephen King is taking on this task now. His protagonist Jake Epping is a teacher who has been recently separated from his wife. He is friends with Al, the owner and cook of Al's Diner. One day Al confides in him. He is diagnosed with cancer and is in the terminal stage. He wants to share a secret with Jake. He has discovered a time-space anomaly (a "rabbit-hole") in his diner. Sending Jake through the anomaly so that he can experience the past, he explains what he has in mind. For some reason the anomaly is opening back in time in the year 1958, 5 years before President Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, or someone else, if you believe the conspiracy theorists.
Al explains that the rabbit-hole resets itself every time someone goes through it and he has done hundreds of trips, acquiring information that could be useful to prevent the Kennedy Assassination. Now that he's dying and his diner will soon be seized by the bank, he wants Jake to go back and stop the Kennedy Assassination.
Jake first tests the ground by going back and changing the past (thinking about the 'Butterfly Effect' all the time) by trying to change the destiny of the janitor who had lost his whole family to an abusive father. When that works - sort of - he decides to take on the big task and goes back. With his knowledge of the future and detailed notes he has with him, he can get a lot of money from bets.
What he does not know at the time is that the past is quite resistant to change and literally will do anything to prevent being changed. Maybe the trips do not completely reset the effect of earlier trips...
Worst of all is his new hindrance : He has fallen in love with Sadie, a young teacher who is now the love of his life. Can he risk losing her in his noble task? What would happen if he succeeds to prevent the assassination? What would the "Butterfly Effect" result in? As he is following the complicated itinerary of Lee Harvey Oswald as the calendar gets closer to 22 November 1963, he is trying to make sure he does minimal change to the past until he gets the opportunity to cancel the big event.
King is not really interested in a science-fiction background in his time travel story. He is interested in telling about a great love story and maybe - a little bit - all the values we have lost from the 60's. It is a moving book and very enjoyable. I can easily see a movie deal out of this book, which would work quite well.
Stephen King is taking on this task now. His protagonist Jake Epping is a teacher who has been recently separated from his wife. He is friends with Al, the owner and cook of Al's Diner. One day Al confides in him. He is diagnosed with cancer and is in the terminal stage. He wants to share a secret with Jake. He has discovered a time-space anomaly (a "rabbit-hole") in his diner. Sending Jake through the anomaly so that he can experience the past, he explains what he has in mind. For some reason the anomaly is opening back in time in the year 1958, 5 years before President Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, or someone else, if you believe the conspiracy theorists.
Al explains that the rabbit-hole resets itself every time someone goes through it and he has done hundreds of trips, acquiring information that could be useful to prevent the Kennedy Assassination. Now that he's dying and his diner will soon be seized by the bank, he wants Jake to go back and stop the Kennedy Assassination.
Jake first tests the ground by going back and changing the past (thinking about the 'Butterfly Effect' all the time) by trying to change the destiny of the janitor who had lost his whole family to an abusive father. When that works - sort of - he decides to take on the big task and goes back. With his knowledge of the future and detailed notes he has with him, he can get a lot of money from bets.
What he does not know at the time is that the past is quite resistant to change and literally will do anything to prevent being changed. Maybe the trips do not completely reset the effect of earlier trips...
Worst of all is his new hindrance : He has fallen in love with Sadie, a young teacher who is now the love of his life. Can he risk losing her in his noble task? What would happen if he succeeds to prevent the assassination? What would the "Butterfly Effect" result in? As he is following the complicated itinerary of Lee Harvey Oswald as the calendar gets closer to 22 November 1963, he is trying to make sure he does minimal change to the past until he gets the opportunity to cancel the big event.
King is not really interested in a science-fiction background in his time travel story. He is interested in telling about a great love story and maybe - a little bit - all the values we have lost from the 60's. It is a moving book and very enjoyable. I can easily see a movie deal out of this book, which would work quite well.
The Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht
3.0
I have read the Royal Shakespeare Company edition of Brecht's A Life of Galileo and I must say I am confused. This is arguably his best play, but this edition shows none of his signature Epic Theatre techniques. It is of course known that Brecht rewrote his play after Hiroshima, changing the positive vision of science portrayed in the earlier version due to the negative role of science perceived after the atomic bomb, but I believe this version translated by Mark Ravenhill of the RSC is closer to the earlier version.
The play portrays Galileo as he - seemingly - submits to the authority of the church and recants his earlier claims that the Earth is not the centre of the universe and it rotates around the Sun, contrary to what the Bible proposes. Later in his life he covertly writes his theses and smuggles it out of Italy so that they are published and disseminated.
I did not get too much out of the play and the defiance of Galileo does not come out very clearly. I am not sure whether Brecht's original text was also this plain and whether he might have added all the epic elements in the production of the play. I also do not know how close Mark Ravenhill stayed to Brecht's text, since he mentions that he has done it from a literal translation of the play (from German). Interesting, but does not project greatness.
The play portrays Galileo as he - seemingly - submits to the authority of the church and recants his earlier claims that the Earth is not the centre of the universe and it rotates around the Sun, contrary to what the Bible proposes. Later in his life he covertly writes his theses and smuggles it out of Italy so that they are published and disseminated.
I did not get too much out of the play and the defiance of Galileo does not come out very clearly. I am not sure whether Brecht's original text was also this plain and whether he might have added all the epic elements in the production of the play. I also do not know how close Mark Ravenhill stayed to Brecht's text, since he mentions that he has done it from a literal translation of the play (from German). Interesting, but does not project greatness.
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace
1.0
The 1959 movie Ben Hur is one of my favorites. Although it has a subtitle "A Story of the Christ" the William Wyler movie has under-emphasized the Christian theme and concentrated on the revenge. Charlton Heston is superb in his portrayal of Judah Ben Hur, especially in the chariot race scenes and in general.
I discovered the Kindle edition of the original Lewis Wallace novel and downloaded it with excitement. Oh God! What a bore! It is very long, didactic, uses a very archaic style. The scriptwriter was very skillful, to carve a good story out of an awful text.
I discovered the Kindle edition of the original Lewis Wallace novel and downloaded it with excitement. Oh God! What a bore! It is very long, didactic, uses a very archaic style. The scriptwriter was very skillful, to carve a good story out of an awful text.
Critical by Robin Cook
3.0
Dr. Laurie Montgomery takes on serial killings in a private hospital chain at the same time she's worrying about her husband being operated in one of these hospitals. Good treatment of medical subject without losing the reader.
Avenger by Frederick Forsyth
2.0
Pretty disappointing book by Forsyth. Not much excitement, too much of a know-all teacher attitude. The story is not interesting any more, since it has been covered many many times before.
Denial by Peter James
3.0
Not bad, but it uses similar literary devices to Silence of the Lambs (it even refers to it!)
Darwin's Children by Greg Bear
3.0
Darwin's Children takes the story up 11 years after the first book (Darwin's Radio). There are many Shevite children who have been held in camps or special educational institutions. As Kay and Mitch work with Washington insiders to try to prove that the children constitute no health risk, different actors are moving to take more totalitarian actions to establish their kingdoms within the government. The Shevite children are growing up and they are reaching puberty, with complications of their own.
As the tyrants move to strengthen their powers, Kay, Mitch and other parents are trying to make sure that the new children can form their own societies and develop the skills (that many people are afraid of) to establish the future of mankind.
The second book did not provide too much of a hint into how the Shevite society would actually develop, although it touches some of the collective practices the children apply in a group. I have a suspicion that we will see a third book which looks into the future, describing how the new human species is transforming the society they have bene recluctantly accepted into.
Greg Bear is certainly on of the authors I will be watching very carefully, since I do favor "hard science" books with minimal fantasy elements.
As the tyrants move to strengthen their powers, Kay, Mitch and other parents are trying to make sure that the new children can form their own societies and develop the skills (that many people are afraid of) to establish the future of mankind.
The second book did not provide too much of a hint into how the Shevite society would actually develop, although it touches some of the collective practices the children apply in a group. I have a suspicion that we will see a third book which looks into the future, describing how the new human species is transforming the society they have bene recluctantly accepted into.
Greg Bear is certainly on of the authors I will be watching very carefully, since I do favor "hard science" books with minimal fantasy elements.