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Read about Books : Content , Reviews and abstracts:
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Most of these books reviewed and abstracted are available on www.secondhandbooksindia.com , Please log in to find the book of interest. We have reviewed a cross section of books to give the reader a insight into different authors and writing styles. We hope to stimulate more reading and improve and widen the readers choice of authors .
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Title: Alaska
Author: James E . Michener
Author James A. Michener has conceived and written an epic novel about the land we now know as Alaska. Using his characteristic writing style of starting at the very beginning (in this case, with native people living on the coastland we now know of as Eastern Russia) and then developing the story generation after generation through his rich and interesting characters, Michener tells the complete story of Alaska. The reader learns how Alaska was first settled, what animals first roamed its lands, what the native Inuit people were like in their unique culture and how they survived in the harsh environment, how the Americans bought the land from Russia, how the gold rush happened and what it was like for gold prospectors in the unforgiving wilderness, and finally, it tells the story of the multi-ethnic peoples of Alaska, and this perhaps is Michener's strength in story-telling. Michener, as he has done in other novels, again proves his writing has a prophetic nature to it, as the last chapter details an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean that sends a Tsunami wall of water to assault the shore or Alaska, eerily reminiscent of the tsunami that devastated Sri Lanka recently.
The novel is long - over 1,000 pages, but it is still an absorbing page-turner. Each chapter is a mini-novel in itself and tells the story of a particular generation of people in Alaska's development. Michener has a knack of creating and developing characters that are both interesting and believable and this is his greatest strength as a writer. The reader comes to care about these characters as though they are living breathing realities. The characters are based on historical personages, and in that sense they are ‘real’.
"Alaska" is a marvelous book, and for those that are into long sweeping novels, this is a book for you. Michener , takes the reader to Alaska , and through his eyes and research , one gets to learn and appreciate the marvelous land and the culture. This is a wide sweeping panorama of a vast, cold land where men and animals clash and try to find a mutually beneficent symbiotic relationship as they survive and tame this wild land.A unique and must read, wide sweeping, historical novel… Unforgettable.
Title: Young Wives
Author: Olivia Goldsmith
Three young women discover something about their husbands they should have known all along: they are rotten. They realize that they are being mistreated and being given a very bad deal .
Young Wives is about Jada, Michelle, and Angie and the bond that grows between them. All three of their husbands are awful and they are caught in vicious marriages with no solution in sight. Then these three women bond together , work together and seek revenge on the men. The book is suspenseful and leaves you always wanting more. Something exciting is always round the corner . Every chapter is full of wit sharp prose.
Girls would probably like this novel more, just because it is a novel in the revenge genre and they can identify more with the characters. Olivia Goldsmith’s sub-theme of what happens when women's idealistic dreams are shattered, and how they must become independent to achieve lasting happiness, adds a certain poignancy and depth to the book. The men will enjoy the book . because it is witty and revenge is an emotion , they can identify with. . The plots are authentic, funny and exciting. One just wishes that the story never ends and the excitement continues.
Title: King Rat
Author: James Clavell
James Clavell's King Rat is a poignant, resonating tale about humanity and struggle in incredibly dire situations--namely, the World War II Japanese prison camp of Changi. It is extremely autobiographical and the central character – Corporal King , seems to have been modeled on some real life character in the author’s life.
The bulk of the story, consisting of the life-and-death daily turmoil among the POWs, is deeply affecting and intriguing. The novel has a major impact on readers due to its stark simplicity and forthrightness, particularly in describing the moral dilemmas that confront the protagonist, Marlowe. With the issue of survival in the balance, does morality become relative? Marlowe concludes that the only man who could answer his questions, his father, is dead-- killed on the Murmansk run. But just as Changi is rebirth for Marlowe, perhaps it is the King-- the trader ‘ Rat ‘ with the Japanese—who can best answer these questions. The ‘Rat ‘ survives by finding a way to transcend above the problems, living off the black market and a network of informants. This is a story of human dignity and how one survives with dignity even in the most horrifying conditions.This book is dark and one of Clavell’s first and best works. It is a precursor to his later writings….
The ending leaves the reader profoundly melancholic –and questions about honor, duty, loyalty, love, and a thousand other human emotions are left to debate. As the war ends and the prisoners are faced with the somehow-terrorizing concept of returning to normal life, the reader comes to grips with what truly matters in life, the hope and faith of the POWs, and the joy of life in the face of death.
This is a grand tale …..