The Book Worm's Library

About the Book:

Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal.

Book Review:

I actually never read this book until I returned to College, nearly 10 years following my high school graduation.  And to be honest I haven’t had the courage to pick it up again since.  Many know the story — the theory of big brother, and the constant suppression of an entire nation through governmental, mandated control.  And Mr. Orwell certainly wrote more than he ever knew.  I figured when I started it that it would be an easy read, since it wasn’t very long, and I was very short on time.  Little did I know how much of an influence this book would have on me, and how lasting of an impression it would make over time.

I have never really considered myself much of a conspiracy theorist.  I find the fantasies of there being something more out there that we don’t know about just bothersome in the extreme.  Yeah, I know the government keeps secrets from its citizens — that’s what governments do.  It is the ultimate play for power.  And the obtaining of power, only leads to the desire for more power.  And this book is the classic example of that belief.

However, it wasn’t the over all story that I found troubling.  The obvious brainwashing techniques, and the deliberate suppression of men was not the troubling aspect of this book.  What I found most disturbing was the subtle methods used by the government to control men’s lives, as well as their thoughts.  We have always believed as individuals that there is one thing that can never be taken from us.  That is the knowledge of self.  No one can change our beliefs and ideals, our true selves — unless we abdicate that control to them.  And as far as that statement goes, it is true.  But this book looks closely at how difficult the fight is to maintain the absolute control of the self.

When a government, or some other entity controls your method of speaking, eating, breathing, living — it is very hard to maintain the belief in the personal identity.  I guess I should demonstrate what I mean.  There is a passage in this book that talks, quite extensively about the reconstruction of the base language into “newspeak.”  This troubled me because it represents the systematic reconstruction of the language so that people could be programed to speak the way others felt they should.  Words that were considered problematic in any form, were altered either in meaning, association, or simply disappeared all together.  When I first read this I considered this an extreme example for Mr. Orwell to use, as a means of brainwashing the people.  However, not many years following the writing of this book, the American people went through its on example of this very action.  Known as “politically correct,” it sought to remove from the language words that were considered provocative in any way.  This is simply one example from this book that Mr. Orwell used to demonstrate the point he was trying to make, which was that the dangers of destructive elements within a society already exist.  From a true literary sense, words can only take on the meaning that individuals wish to apply to them.  If someone wishes to take offense to a word, it is because they find offense — not that it is inherent in the word.  A simple example of this is that we have a hard time deciding if we should use “men” as opposed to “individuals,” but we don’t have trouble with blatant and deliberate profanity.

This book is troubling to read – especially if done so while giving significant consideration to the minor details.  Mr. Orwell truly created a masterpiece, but I don’t know that he ever understood how close to home this would eventually become.  And if he did then this book should be considered as bordering on the prophetic.

For more information on this book, or abut it’s author, be sure to visit the following websites:

The Literature Network

George Orwell Website

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events.  Our affiliates are Amazon.com, Abe Books, Barnes and Noble, and Indie.  We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

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About the Book:

Barcelona, 1945—Just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes one day to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face. To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again.

Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a book from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the book he selects, a novel called The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last of Carax’s books in existence.

Before Daniel knows it, his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness, and doomed love, and before long he realizes that if he doesn’t find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.

Book Review:

This is a book that I really did stumble upon.  I had gone to the local book store in search of something else.  And since you have to look around at what else is available when you are in a bookstore — I just happened to be wandering.  As I came around the corner of a bookshelf, I knocked a book off, and it hit my foot, and slid across the floor.  When I picked it up — I just decided it had to go home with me.  It must have been the book gnomes making another recommendation, since this book rapidly made it onto my favorite books list.  The story is of a young boy that has lost his mother, and his father is seeking a means of helping him over the tremendous loss.  He takes him to a secret library — where he adopts one of the many lost books that are kept in this mysterious place.  The resurfacing of this book starts a mystery that proves to be both unusual, and entertaining all at the same time.  And yet it straddles the fence between being a true mystery novel, or a literary mystery novel.  It has the best aspects of both combined to make for a powerful story.

However, as compelling as the story was, it was the descriptive passages that I fell in love with.  Set in the city of Barcelona, in 1945, the descriptions of this city come alive in this book.  I was amazed at how beautiful the city sounded, and the feeling of mystery and romantic setting is so overwhelming, it radiates from the pages.  Mr Zafon is exceptional at describing places to such a degree that his readers come away feeling as if they have just visited this thrilling city. A lot of times I like to read books that deal with other places and cultures, because I find I gain a greater appreciation for other places, countries, cultures, and beliefs.  This is one of the primary reason that I read — and this book has a lot to offer on the city of Barcelona.  And since I never knew much about this city — I really came away awed at the whole presentation.  I really felt a connection to this place, due to the descriptive powers of Mr. Zafon.

I was also very impressed at the multiple layers of the story, and how well they came together.  I find that authors are usually very good at taking a linear story, and creating a thrilling adventure from beginning to end.  But it is the rare few that are able to create multiple stories in one book, without confusing the readers, or muddling the stories threads so completely that it is difficult to figure out what is going one.  But Mr. Zafon has a great gift for developing multiple story lines, and actually maintains a powerful sense of mystery, without the confusion.  I also loved the fact that this wasn’t your stereotypical mystery story.  Mr. Zafon did not feel the need to follow the mold of traditional detective stories, and he resisted the temptation to resort to trite, cliche phrases that I find such a turn off.  This is simply an engrossing story that draws the reader in, and holds their attention.

I had a friend that I lent this book to, and they had a hard time getting into it — mainly because they found the relationship between the father and son to be a little creepy in the beginning.  And I must admit the opening couple of chapters seemed a little odd to me at first.  But as the story develops the beauty of this relationship between father and son becomes a great stabilizing factor of the story.  And best of all — many of the main characters have a reappearance in the follow up book The Angel’s Game.

I am always a fan of books that teach children to turn to books for solace, comfort, and a source of knowledge.  And I love to find a writer that still encourages this activity through the books he writes.  That is the other reason that I fell in love with this book.  Reading is becoming a much less popular form of entertainment in a world that is overwhelmed with information overload.  And many people have forgotten how fun it can be to stretch your imagination and enter another world inside of the covers of a book.

For more information about this book, and it author — be sure to visit the websites below:

Carlos Ruiz Zafon Website

Carlos Ruiz Zafon Interview

Interview — Time Magazine

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events.  Our affiliates are Amazon.com, Abe Books, Barnes and Noble, and Indie.  We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

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About the Book:

Set in 12th-century England, the narrative concerns the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge. The ambitions of three men merge, conflict and collide through four decades during which social and political upheaval and the internal politics of the church affect the progress of the cathedral and the fortunes of the protagonists. The insightful portrayals of an idealistic master builder, a pious, dogmatic but compassionate prior and an unscrupulous, ruthless bishop are balanced by those of a trio of independent, resourceful women (one of them quite loathesome) who can stand on their own as memorable characters in any genre. Beginning with a mystery that casts its shadow on ensuing events, the narrative is a seesaw of tension in which circumstances change with shocking but true-to-life unpredictability. Follett’s impeccable pacing builds suspense in a balanced narrative that offers action, intrigue, violence and passion as well as the step-by-step description of an edifice rising in slow stages, its progress tied to the vicissitudes of fortune and the permutations of evolving architectural style. Follett’s depiction of the precarious balance of power between monarchy and religion in the Middle Ages, and of the effects of social upheavals and the forces of nature (storms, famines) on political events; his ability to convey the fine points of architecture so that the cathedral becomes clearly visualized in the reader’s mind; and above all, his portrayals of the enduring human emotions of ambition, greed, bravery, dedication, revenge and love, result in a highly engrossing narrative. Manipulating a complex plot in which the characters interact against a broad canvas of medieval life, Follett has written a novel that entertains, instructs and satisfies on a grand scale.

Book Review:

When I told someone that I had started reading this particular book, their response was “Oh — that one about the building of a cathedral mixed in with the soap opera.”  At first I was puzzled by this comment.  I wasn’t exactly sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.  Now I understand — and to be honest it is probably the best description of this book that I have come across.  This is one that I wanted to walk away from more than once.  There were certainly parts of the book that I loved — but there were also parts that I simply was completely turned off by.  But, in a book of this size, it isn’t unusual to come across parts that are a real turn off.  It covers a lot of history, and a lot of ground, so it isn’t a book that is a simple read in a weekend escape novel.

I really liked the portrayal of the the power struggles between the church and state.  And if anyone has ever studied this particular issue in history — then you know that this power struggle cannot be understated.  Not only did this struggle destabilize governments, but it tore apart countries, families, congregations — and even lead to centuries of horrifying crusades and death.  The religious characters in this book really presented a great insight into the different cross section of all the different personalities that helped to create this power struggle.  Everything from the truly pious Prior Phillip, all the way through the completely hypocritical Bishop Walleran.  And Mr. Follett’s ability to create characters, and develop them into living personalities is exceptional, and is what makes this power struggle live in his book.  The only thing that detracted from this particular part was that I didn’t feel that the royal characters — King Stephen, and Maude were as strong a characters to off set the machinations of the religious leaders.  I came away feeling like the whole thing was about the priests — and the royal influence was superficial at best.

The other part of this book that I really liked was the presentation of the actual building of the cathedral.  I have always been captivated by the process that went into the building of these kinds of buildings — especially in a time when there were no back hoes and modern machinery.  I don’t think we can ever truly comprehend how daunting a task this building process was in these centuries.  And to build something to the scale of a cathedral, to me is simply amazing.  And Mr. Follett did a wonderful job of presenting this particular aspect of the story.  And though I didn’t thrill to this one as well as I did Cathedral of the Sea, this book still provides a great insight into the sacrifices that went into building these amazing buildings.

Unfortunately, even with all of these things that I really loved, the parts that I found really turned me off, in the end became so overwhelming that I found I really had a hard time getting through the book. The brutality, and the graphic nature of many of the scenes in this book were over the top — at least for me.  There are several rape scenes — and in one a child was even forced to watch.  The crudity, graphic sex, and the brutality of the violence was a little too much for my liking.  I felt like Mr. Follett was trying for the shock effect to wow his readers — rather than writing an excellent story, and letting it speak for itself.

So, overall I had definite mixed responses to this book, and at best I would recommend it with caution.  But for me a book is all about story line, and well written passages that make the book live.  And anything that detracts from that frustrates me.  For more information about this book, and its author, be sure to visit the following websites:

Ken Follett’s Website

Author Biography and Interview

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events.  Our affiliates are Amazon.com, Abe Books, Barnes and Noble, and Indie.  We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

AbeBooks.com

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Staton Ravin -- Author

About the Book:

2097 is a transformed world. Thirty years earlier, a mysterious plague wiped out 97 percent of the male population, devastating every world system from governments to sports teams, and causing both universal and unimaginable grief. In the face of such massive despair, women were forced to take over control of the planet—and in doing so they eliminated all of Earth’s most pressing issues. Poverty, crime, warfare, hunger . . . all gone.

But there’s a price to pay for this new “utopia,” which fourteen-year-old Kellen is all too familiar with. Every day, he deals with life as part of a tiny minority that is purposefully kept subservient and small in numbers. His career choices and relationship options are severely limited and controlled. He also lives under the threat of scattered recurrences of the plague, which seem to pop up wherever small pockets of men begin to regroup and grow in numbers.

And then one day, his mother’s boss, an iconic political figure, shows up at his home. Kellen overhears something he shouldn’t—another outbreak seems to be headed for Afterlight, the rural community where his father and a small group of men live separately from the female-dominated society. Along with a few other suspicious events, like the mysterious disappearances of Kellen’s progressive teacher and his Aunt Paige, Kellen is starting to wonder whether the plague recurrences are even accidental. No matter what the truth is, Kellen cares only about one thing—he has to save his father.

Book Review:                                        **Spoiler Alert**

This is a book that I found disturbing on several levels.  I don’t know if this was meant to be a commentary on the differences between the sexes, a statement on terrorism, or simply a look at what the world would be like if it was turned upside down, and everyone’s rolls were reversed.  But it really was quite the read.  It was interesting to see the lines drawn along the fault line of the sexes — and I was very impressed with Mr. Patneaude’s presentation of a world turned upside down,  and overall I came away appreciating his ability for character development.  But the story certainly kept me wondering for a while.

The first thing that I found of particular concern was the appearance of bio-warfare.  And this is certainly a hot topic in our world today.  The threat that someone could launch something that could be so devastating that there wouldn’t be enough time to contain it, or prevent it from leaving a terrible wasteland in its wake.  And this is not a threat that the world has lived with for only a short time.  It is the things like the plague, and the various flu epidemics that have lead to this concern.  But what I found truly disturbing about this one — and I think it is because this is such a fear in the world, is that it was a man made epidemic that proved to be so disturbing.  And while in this book it was designed to have very specific consequences, and it was able to be contained at will — I found the theory behind this idea troubling.  Simply put — what are the consequences when someone dreams up a new form of disease that man finds he is unable to stop.  And in this world where we have become germ-o-phobes, and everything is about killing the germs, viruses, and bacteria — I can’t help but wonder what happens when our bodies are no longer able to fight bacteria, because we have taught them they don’t have to?

I also found the presentati0n of human nature presented in this book to be a fascinating look into the differences between men and women.  In a world where women engineered the means of taking over the ruling control all in an attempt to prevent men from destroying themselves, and everyone else right along with them, the question is raised of is there really any better solution than what we have?  Sure, no matter who is in control — they can always justify the means of getting to where they are, but bottom line — there isn’t a lot of difference between all out warfare, and bioengineering a virus that will accomplish the same means.  In the end the dead still remain — and neither one is very humane — no matter what your definition of humane is.

I actually really enjoyed this book — and Mr. Patneaude is a gifted author with a great deal of insight into human nature, and the reasons behind why people do what they do.  And the book itself is actually quite insightful into some of the issues that we are dealing with in today’s world.  For more information about this book, or its author — be sure to visit the following websites:

David Patneaude’s Website

Authors in Schools

Author Interview

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events.  Our affiliates are Amazon.com, Abe Books, Barnes and Noble, and Indie.  We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

AbeBooks.com

Barnes and Noble

Shop Indie Bookstores