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kerrypoole

kerrypoole

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International)

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami, Alfred Birnbaum So incredibly good, two stories that twist and turn and then finally come together. Murakami is absolutely amazing. Everything you could want in a book and more.

Nights at the Circus (Oberon Modern Plays)

Nights at the Circus - Emma Rice, Tom Morris, Angela Carter A marvelously strange and beautiful masterpiece. The beginning started out a little slow, but towards the end I couldn't put it down. One of a kind.

Wise Children: A Novel

Wise Children - Angela Carter Twins, Shakespeare, incest, clever story at times, but something seemed amiss. The characters never mature, they all seem so stuck in the past. I guess that was probably the point though, show business can take a lot out of you, leaving you yearning for what you had. This was my first experience with Angela Carter, and thankfully was not my last. I wouldn't recommend reading this one first out of all her works, unless you have a strong love for Shakespeare or the stage.

Johnny Got His Gun

Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo, Cindy Sheehan, Ron Kovic One of my favorites. A human torso with no face recalling his life from a hospital bed and trying to communicate with the staff using Morse code. A depressing, maddening story, such are the perils of war.

The Giver (illustrated; gift edition)

The Giver (illustrated; gift edition) - Lois Lowry, Bagram Ibatoulline I loved this book when I first read it, looking back now I see a lot of parallels between this and Murakami's "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" which was published first, in Japan. I wonder if Lois Lowry knew Japanese? I guess there are a lot of books like this one out there, this is just the children's version. Don't get me wrong this book is a gift to the world and it did have a lot of differences from Murakami's, but I can't help but wonder...

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone  - J.K. Rowling Ripped off version of Jane Yolen's "Wizard's Hall". I had really enjoyed this book, and then it became sickeningly famous, my sister became obsessed, made loads of money as a series, and it got turned into a horrible movie. If I were Jane Yolen, I'd be pissed, she probably has a dart set with J.K.Rowling's picture in the middle of the bulls-eye. With all that aside, I still love it.

Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies - Edmund L. Epstein, William Golding A book that shows the darkness in human nature, and how quickly everything you ever learned in "civilized" society can be thrown out the window if the opportunity arises. I believe that the same situation could happen if they were adults, but they weren't, so it only assisted the eerie helplessness feeling that wafted throughout the book. Interesting and ominous, I hold this book in the highest regard. There's nothing to fear, but fear itself, and monsters, of course monsters. Oh yeah, and hierarchies, hierarchies most of all.

One Hundred Years of Solitude (P.S.)

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez I floated through this book like a dream; when I was done I still wanted more. I wanted the history to keep flowing through my fingertips. Madness, lust, power, the themes flow on and on. In the beginning, the names were the biggest headache for me, which leaves you exhausting the front index, but even the re-usage of names is worth it in the end. Beautiful language. This was my first encounter with Marquez and definitely will not be last.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin Wow....no wonder they say this is Murakami's best work. It's hard for me to rate anything by him anymore, it seems his stories just flow together, transcending space and time. I've heard before the number 4 is somehow tied to death. Strange that 2 deaths occur on page 444, just a simple observation. Even stranger was my yearning for there to be more about the well in "Norwegian Wood", having not known anything about this book at all. Not so simple. So much to think about... I could probably go on all day and ruin the book for everyone, but I won't. NOTE TO SELF: find and read those two missing chapters that were left out of the English version. Simply amazing, for me this book will never truly end, I love it so

Outlander (20th Anniversary Edition): A Novel

Outlander - Diana Gabaldon I was off and on about this novel for the first 130 pages, but then it took off, in all it's raunchy, historical, lovely glory. I'm sure I'll be at the library as soon as possible to check out the next in the series, "Dragonfly in Amber". This is one book that doesn't disappoint.