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Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go | null | null | At this stage he struggles with his growing unhappiness and tries to drench it in alcohol. One night after too many drinks, Nick Stefanos gets drawn into the murder of Calvin Jeter, and his conscience pulls him back to his earlier occupation. It becomes a journey through the harshest part of the American capital and the blackest part of the human soul. |
The Great War: American Front | Harry Turtledove | 1,998 | After a prologue with Robert E. Lee smashing the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, in October 1862, and the subsequent Anglo-French diplomatic recognition of the Confederate States of America, the novel begins on June 28, 1914, the same day Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. World War I breaks out and spreads to North America, where the pro-German United States under Theodore Roosevelt declares war on Woodrow Wilson's CSA, which is allied with Great Britain and France. After initial US invasions of Kentucky, British-controlled Canada, and western Virginia, and CS invasions of Maryland and Pennsylvania, the conflict bogs down into trench warfare. Across the Mississippi River, in the western part of the continent, the conflict is a war of movement. The novel ends in the autumn of 1915, with the beginning of a Marxist black rebellion against the war-distracted government of the CSA. Most of the characters in the book are small-time folks being caught up in the bigger world of a global war. One main character in the book whose destiny will be intertwined with that of the twentieth century is an artillery sergeant named Jake Featherston. This book is followed by The Great War: Walk in Hell, and then The Great War: Breakthroughs. |
The Devil Wears Prada | Lauren Weisberger | 2,003 | Andrea Sachs, a recent graduate of Brown with a degree in English moves to New York City hoping to break into the publishing world. She moves in with her longtime friend Lily, a graduate student at Columbia, and blankets the city with her résumé, hoping for a foot in the door of the magazine industry to further her dream of working for The New Yorker. She gets a surprise interview at the Elias-Clark Group and is hired as the junior assistant of Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine "Runway". Although she knows little of the fashion world, she is told repeatedly that "a million girls would die for [her] job". Andrea is told that if she manages to work for Miranda for a year, she can have her pick of jobs within the magazine industry. Despite the lavish perks that come with her job--free designer clothes, generous expense accounts--she soon finds out that Miranda is tyrannical and capricious. As she is exposed to the grueling yet shallow nature of the magazine world, Andrea begins to doubt the true value of her job. At a celebrity party Andrea meets Christian Collinsworth, a charismatic Yale graduate who has been identified as the hot, up-and-coming writer of their generation. They become attracted to each other, complicating her relationship with her boyfriend, Alex. Andrea is forced to sacrifice her personal life for her all-consuming job, to the detriment of her relationships. Lily increasingly turns to alcohol and picking up dubious men to relieve the pressures of graduate school. Alex, struggling with his own demanding job as an inner-city schoolteacher, grows frustrated with Andrea's long hours and constant stress. Andrea's relationship with her family also suffers. Matters finally come to a head when her coworker Emily gets mononucleosis and Andrea must travel to Paris with Miranda in her stead. Andrea agrees, although this will mean canceling a long-awaited trip with Alex. In Paris, she has a surprise encounter with Christian. Later that night, Miranda finally lets down her guard and asks Andrea what she has learned, and where she would like to work afterwards. She promises to place phone calls to people she knows at The New Yorker on Andrea's behalf once her year is up and suggests that she take on some small writing assignments at Runway. Back at the hotel, Andrea gets urgent calls from Alex and her parents asking her to call them. She does so and learns that Lily is comatose after driving drunk and wrecking a car. Though Andrea is pressured by her family and Alex to return home, she tells Miranda she will honor her commitment to Runway. Miranda is pleased, and tells her that her future in magazine publishing is bright. At the Paris fashion show for Christian Dior, however, Miranda phones her with yet another impossible demand. Andrea finally realizes that her family and friends are more important than her job, and realizes to her horror that she is becoming more and more like Miranda. She refuses to comply with Miranda's latest outrageous request, and when Miranda scolds her publicly, Andrea replies, "Fuck you, Miranda. Fuck you". She is fired on the spot, and returns home to reconnect with her friends and family. Her romantic relationship with Alex is beyond repair, but they remain friends. Lily recovers and fares well in court for her DUI charge, receiving only community service. In the last chapter Andrea learns that her tiff with Miranda made her a minor celebrity when the incident made 'Page Six'. Afraid she has been blacklisted from publishing for good, she moves back with her parents and works on short fiction, financing her unemployment with the profits from reselling the designer clothing she had been provided with for her trip. Seventeen buys one of her stories. At the novel's end, she is returning to the Elias-Clark building to discuss a position at one of the company's other magazines. She sees a girl who she realizes is in fact, Miranda's new junior assistant, who looks as harried and put-upon as she once did. |
Paris in the 20th Century | Jules Verne | 1,994 | The novel's main character is 16-year-old Michel Dufrénoy, who graduates with a major in literature and the classics, but finds they have been forgotten in a futuristic world where only business and technology are valued. Michel, whose father was a musician, is a poet born too late. Michel had been living with his respectable uncle, Monsieur Stanislas Boutardin, and his family. The day after graduation, Boutardin tells Michel that he is to start working at a banking company. Boutardin doubts Michel can do anything in the business world. The rest of that day, Michel searches for literature by classic 19th century writers, such as Hugo and Balzac. Nothing but books about technology are available in bookstores. Michel's last resort is the Imperial Library. The librarian turns out to be his long-hidden uncle, Monsieur Huguenin. Huguenin, still working in the arts, is considered a "disgrace" to the rest of the family, and so was barred from attending Michel's birthdays, graduations, and other family events, though he has followed Michel's life—from a distance. This is the first time they meet in person. At his new job, Michel fails at each task with Casmodage and Co. Bank until he is assigned to The Ledger, where Michel dictates the accounts for bookkeeper Monsieur Quinsonnas. Quinsonnas, a kindred spirit of 30, writes the bookkeeping information on The Ledger. Quinsonnas tells Michel that this is a job he can do in order to eat, have an apartment, and support himself while he continues working on a mysterious musical project that will bring him fame and fortune. Michel's fear of not fitting in is resolved; he can be a reader and still work on his own writing after work. The pair visit Uncle Huguenin and are joined by other visitors, Michel's former teacher Monsieur Richelot and Richelot's granddaughter, Mademoiselle Lucy. Quinsonnas and Michel both dream of being soldiers, but this is impossible, because warfare has become so scientific that there is really no need for soldiers anymore—only chemists and mechanics are able to work the killing machines. But this profession is denied to even them, because "the engines of war" have become so efficient that war is inconceivable and all countries are at a perpetual stalemate. Before long, Michel and Lucy are in love. Michel discusses women with Quinsonnas, who sadly explains that there are no such things as women anymore; from mindless, repetitive factory work and careful attention to finance and science, most women have become cynical, ugly, neurotic career women. In fury, Quinsonnas spills ink on The Ledger, and he and Michel are fired on the spot; Quinsonnas leaves for Germany. In a society without war, or musical and artistic progress, there is no news, so Michel can't even become a journalist. He ends up living in Quinsonnas' empty apartment while writing superb poetry, but lives in such poverty that he has to eat synthetic foods derived from coal. He eventually writes a book of poetry entitled Hopes which is rejected by every publisher in Paris. As the year 1961 draws to a close, all of Europe enters a winter of unprecedented ferocity. All agriculture is compromised and food supplies are destroyed, resulting in mass famine. The temperature drops to thirty degrees below, and every river in Europe freezes solid. In despair, Michel spends his last bit of money on violets for Lucy, but finds that she has disappeared from her apartment, evicted when her grandfather lost his job as the university’s last teacher of rhetoric. He is unable to locate her amongst the thousands of starving people in Paris. He spends the entire evening stumbling around Paris in a delirious state. Michel becomes convinced that he is being hunted by the Demon of Electricity, but no matter where he goes, he is unable to escape its presence. In the climax of the story, the heartbroken Michel, bereft of friends and loved ones, wanders through the frozen, mechanized, electrical wonders of Paris. The subjective narrative becomes steadily more surreal as the dying artist, in a final paroxysm of despair, unconsciously circles an old cemetery and finally collapses comatose in the snow. |
Ein deutsches Requiem | Jorge Luis Borges | 1,949 | A member of the German nobility, zur Linde is born in Marienburg, West Prussia in 1908. Raised Lutheran, zur Linde loses his faith in Christianity after reading the writings of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Oswald Spengler. Soon after, he joins the Schutzstaffel. Despite his deep contempt for his fellow S.S. men, zur Linde persuades himself that the Nazi Party needs men like himself to assure the world a glorious future. On March 1, 1939, he is wounded in the leg while attacking a synagogue in Tilsit. Days later, the Wehrmacht invades Czechoslovakia, zur Linde is recuperating in a hospital following the amputation of his leg. Declaring how Raskolnikov's switch to robbery and murder was more difficult than the conquests of Napoleon Bonaparte, zur Linde relates how, on February 7, 1941, he was appointed subdirector of Tarnowitz concentration camp. There, many Jewish intellectuals are tortured and murdered under his orders. He relates, "Carrying out the duties attendant on that position was not something I enjoyed, but I never sinned by omission. The coward proves himself among swords, the compassionate man, seeks to be tested by jails and other's pain." During the fall of 1942, Otto's brother Friedrich is killed in action in the Second Battle of El Alamein. Soon after, an Allied bombing raid destroys zur Linde's house in Marienburg. Soon after the end of the Second World War, zur Linde is captured and placed on trial for crimes against humanity. Refusing to offer a defense for his actions, zur Linde is convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad. As he awaits his end, zur Linde scribbles a last testament in his prison cell. He offers no justification and rejoices in the fact that "violence and faith in the sword" shall govern the future rather than "servile Christian acts of timidity." He further expresses hope that, if victory and glory do not belong to Nazi Germany, let them belong to other nations. As he ponders how he shall comport himself before the firing squad, zur Linde realizes that he feels no fear or pity, even for himself. |
Breathing Lessons | Anne Tyler | 1,988 | The story describes the joys and pains of the ordinary marriage of Ira and Maggie Moran as they travel from Baltimore to attend a funeral and back home again in one day. It also examines Maggie's attempts to reconcile her son and daughter-in-law. |
Perfect Circle | Sean Stewart | 2,004 | Texan William Kennedy can see and talk to ghosts - an ability which complicates his life immensely and threatens his relationships with family and friends. When his cousin calls him in to lay the ghost in the garage, Will finds he has a murderer to deal with. |
Marianne Dreams | Catherine Storr | 1,958 | Marianne is a young girl who is bedridden with a long-term illness. She draws a picture to fill her time, and finds that she spends her dreams within the picture she has drawn. As time goes by, she becomes sicker, and starts to spend more and more time trapped within her fantasy world, and her attempts to make things better by adding to and crossing out things in the drawing make things progressively worse. Her only companion in her dreamworld is a boy called Mark, who is also a long-term invalid in the real world. Marianne Dreams was first published by Faber and Faber in 1958, and was first printed in paperback by Puffin Books in 1964. It was illustrated with drawings by Marjorie-Ann Watts. Catherine Storr's later novel Marianne and Mark was a sequel to Marianne Dreams. It is thought that the house that Marianne dreams of is based on a house in the village of Avebury, Wiltshire. This house looks as if has been drawn by a child, with small, very high up windows. All around the house are the menacing prehistoric standing stones of Avebury Stone Circle. |
Tamburlaine | Christopher Marlowe | 1,590 | Part 1 opens in Persepolis. The Persian emperor, Mycetes, dispatches troops to dispose of Tamburlaine, a Scythian shepherd and at that point a nomadic bandit. In the same scene, Mycetes' brother Cosroe plots to overthrow Mycetes and assume the throne. The scene shifts to Scythia, where Tamburlaine is shown wooing, capturing, and winning Zenocrate, the daughter of the Egyptian king. Confronted by Mycetes' soldiers, he persuades first the soldiers and then Cosroe to join him in a fight against Mycetes. Although he promises Cosroe the Persian throne, Tamburlaine reneges on this promise and, after defeating Mycetes, takes personal control of the Persian Empire. Now a powerful figure, Tamburlaine now turns his attention to Bajazeth, Emperor of the Turks. He defeats Bajazeth and his tributary kings, capturing the Emperor and his wife Zabina. The victorious Tamburlaine keeps the defeated ruler in a cage and feeds him scraps from his table, releasing Bajazeth only to use him as a footstool. Bajazeth later kills himself onstage by bashing his head against the bars upon hearing of Tamburlaine's next victory, and upon finding his body Zabina does likewise. After conquering Africa and naming himself emperor of that continent, Tamburlaine sets his eyes on Damascus; this target places the Egyptian Sultan, his father-in-law, directly in his path. Zenocrate pleads with her husband to spare her father. He complies, instead making the Sultan a tributary king. The play ends with the wedding of Zenocrate and Tamburlaine, and the crowning of the former as Empress of Persia. In Part 2, Tamburlaine grooms his sons to be conquerors in his wake as he continues to conquer his neighbouring kingdoms. His oldest son, Calyphas, preferring to stay by his mother's side and not risk death, incurs Tamburlaine's wrath. Meanwhile, the son of Bajazeth, Callapine, escapes from Tamburlaine's jail and gathers a group of tributary kings to his side, planning to avenge his father. Callapine and Tamburlaine meet in battle, where Tamburlaine is victorious. But finding Calyphas remained in his tent during the battle, Tamburlaine kills him in anger. Tamburlaine then forces the defeated kings to pull his chariot to his next battlefield, declaring, : Holla ye pampered jades of Asia! : What, can ye draw but twenty miles a day? Upon reaching Babylon, which holds out against him, Tamburlaine displays further acts of extravagant savagery. When the Governor of the city attempts to save his life in return for revealing the city treasury, Tamburlaine has him hung from the city walls and orders his men to shoot him to death. He orders the inhabitants -- men, women, and children -- bound and thrown into a nearby lake. Lastly, Tamburlaine scornfully burns a copy of the Qur'an and claims to be greater than God. In the final act, he is struck ill but manages to defeat one more foe before he dies. He bids his remaining sons to conquer the remainder of the earth as he departs life. |
Kushiel's Dart | Jacqueline Carey | 2,001 | Phèdre is born to Liliane de Souverain, a Servant of Naamah, and Pierre Cantrel, a merchant's spend-thrift son. She is born fair-skinned and black-haired, and given a cursed Hellene name. She is distinguished most by a red mote in her left eye, a flaw that is believed to render her unsuitable for work as a Servant of Naamah. Due to poverty and Pierre Cantrel's unwillingness for his wife to continue in the Service of Naamah, Phèdre is sold to Cereus House of the Court of Night-Blooming Flowers. Phèdre grows up in Cereus House but is somewhat outcast, given her flaw that keeps her outside the canons of the Night Court. As a result, she can never become an adept of one of the Houses of Court of Night-Blooming Flowers. Since she will never be an adept, she must pay off her marque by earning money with any talent she has. One day, after learning about The Eluine Cycle, Phèdre pricks her hand with a pin. The look in her eyes causes the Dowayne to call in the lord Anafiel Delaunay, a learned poet. He recites lines from an ancient epic poem that identifies Phèdre as an anguissette, Kushiel's Chosen, who will always find "pleasure in pain". He buys her marque. To make her fit for his service, Phèdre begins learning the Caerdicci tongue (analogous to Italian / Latin) at age eight, and at age ten, begins her apprenticeship with Delaunay. Delaunay's other pupil, Alcuin nò Delaunay, becomes her foster brother. They are trained physically, mentally, and sexually to be scholars, spies and Servants of Naamah. Her nature as an anguissette is kept secret from all of Delaunay's guests, to make her more valuable as she grows and learns. At age thirteen, Phèdre first meets Melisande Shahrizai, who is one of the few people to identify her as an anguissette at first glance. When they enter the Service of Naamah, Delaunay uses their skills as spies for his court intrigues, the nature of which Phèdre and Alcuin nó Delaunay do not always know. At fourteen, Phèdre officially dedicates herself as a Servant of Naamah. Her virgin-price is bought by Childric d'Essoms when she is sixteen. His patron-gift allows her to begin work on her marque, which Delaunay commissions. When her bodyguard is killed in an incident involving Alcuin nó Delaunay and the political intrigues of the Stregazza family, Delaunay contracts the Cassiline Joscelin Verreuil to protect his charges. An immediate discord strikes up between Joscelin and Phèdre as he does not approve of Phèdre's line of work or her nature as an anguissette, and Phèdre finds him dour and too imposing. Delaunay eventually learns that Alcuin made his marque (became a free D’Angeline citizen) that night. One of the facts of D'Angeline existence is the riddle of the Master of the Straits. Terre d'Ange is separated from Alba by a small channel of water, but which no one has been able to cross for eight hundred years. It is said that the "Master of the Straits" controls the water and will not allow any meeting between the two nations. Phèdre becomes increasingly frustrated when she sees Alcuin working to solve this mystery and yet he will not tell her why. On the Longest Night, Melisande Shahrizai contracts Phèdre for herself for a midwinter masque. She parades Phèdre before the nobles of Terre d'Ange. Phèdre loses herself entirely to Melisande that night, and when Melisande uses flechettes on her, she gives her signale (safeword) for the first time. Phèdre accidentally reveals to Melisande that Delaunay is waiting for word from Quintilius Rousse. Melisande's patron gift provides Phèdre enough money to complete her marque. Joscelin accompanies her to the marquist's, but before the marque can be finished, they are interrupted by a sailor, bearing a message from Admiral Quintilius Rousse to Delaunay; he knows that Delaunay's house is being watched, and seeks to give the message to Phèdre instead. She only believes him when he gives a password, which Phèdre believes to refer to a ring she saw Ysandre present to Delaunay. Rousse's message in return makes no sense to Phèdre but, given that the soldier said Delaunay's house was being watched, she believes that her lord is in danger. Dying, Alcuin tells Phèdre to tell Ysandre what has happened, to trust Admiral Rousse and the remaining Trevalions, that Thelesis de Mornay knows about Alba, and that the important figure is the Dauphine, not Ganelon. Phèdre and Joscelin rush to the Palace, but before they can reach Ysandre, they are betrayed by Melisande, who drugs them and sells them into slavery in Skaldia. Joscelin initially refuses to submit to the Skaldi, and most likely would have gotten himself killed, but that Phèdre steps in and persuades the Skaldi not to harm him. He is instead chained with their dogs until Phèdre can convince him that they will be best served by obedience. She begins to teach him the Skaldic language. Phèdre becomes the bed-slave of Gunter Arnlaugson, the lord of the steading. She is protected somewhat by Hedwig Arnildsdottir, the daughter of the previous lord, and spends some of her time learning songs and stories from the Skaldic women. The relationship between Phèdre and Joscelin first begins to change on the night Gunter and his men return from raiding a D'Angeline town. It reminds them of the severity of their situation, and forges truer compassion and understanding between them. Gunter takes Phèdre and Joscelin to the Allthing held by Waldemar Selig, presenting them both as gifts to Selig. Phèdre becomes Selig's bed-slave, and learns of his plans to invade Terre d'Ange by betraying the traitor Duc Isidore d'Aiglemort. Her knowledge of the political machinations becomes even greater when she sees in Selig's room a letter to him from Melisande Shahrizai, who is helping Selig to betray Isidore. In this way Melisande is playing both Isidore d'Aiglemort and Waldemar Selig and that no matter which one wins, Melisande will have been in league with them, and will benefit. Phèdre comes up with an escape plan and persuades Joscelin to go along with it. Initially she means to take Melisande's letter with her, but decides against it, realizing that would let Selig know she knows his plans. Joscelin disguises himself as a Skaldic warrior, killing several guards so that he and Phèdre may escape from the camps. It takes Selig's best riders four days to catch up with Phèdre and Joscelin; while Joscelin battles several of them, the young Harald the Beardless out of Gunter's steading attempts to recapture Phèdre; she kills him with her dagger in order to escape. Several days out on their journey, Phèdre and Joscelin take shelter in a cave, where Phèdre patches his wounds, and the two make love. The next morning, they find etched on the cave wall the sigil of Blessed Elua, and realize that he and his Companions rested in that same place during their wanderings. Phèdre and Joscelin eventually reach Terre d'Ange. Once back in Terre d'Ange, Phèdre and Joscelin encounter the men of the Marquis le Garde, one of the Allies of Camlach; she borrows names from Cereus House and tells them she is Suriah of Trefail, and that Joscelin is her cousin Jareth, refugees from a town that has been set upon by the Skaldi. When it looks as though they are going to be taken into custody, Joscelin holds their commander at knifepoint and demands horses for their escape. They proceed down a road called Eisheth's Way, until they encounter a Yeshuite wagon on the road. The Yeshuites give them shelter when they recognize Joscelin for a Cassiline, with whom their people share an affinity. They take Joscelin and Phèdre all the way to the City of Elua; in gratitude, Phèdre gifts them with the small grey pony that has come with her all the way from Skaldia. Once inside the City of Elua, Phèdre decides that the only person she can trust is her old friend Hyacinthe, whom she and Joscelin seek out immediately. From Hyacinthe, Phèdre learns that she and Joscelin were tried and convicted in absentia for the murders of Delaunay, Alcuin, and the entire household. Some few spoke on their behalf, including Gaspar Trevalion and Cecile Laveau-Perrin. Deciding upon the best course of action to reach Ysandre, Phèdre sends a message to Thelesis de Mornay, written as a love poem in Cruithne, that it might not be understood if intercepted. Thelesis comes to Hyacinthe's to fetch them and bring them to Ysandre right away. Ysandre wants to clear Phèdre's and Joscelin's names immediately, but Phèdre persuades her that to do so would be to reveal their hand too soon, and would let Isidore know that Ysandre knew of his betrayal. Ysandre instead places Phèdre, Joscelin, and Hyacinthe into royal custody. During this time, the extremely ill King dies. The newly crowned Queen Ysandre de la Courcel can only trust the few courtiers that she is sure aren't working for Melisande. She gathers these trusted peers in a secret conference where she reveals Phedre and Joccelin and the threat to the realm they have discovered. During this secret council, it is mentioned that Ysandre is in love with and was betrothed secretly to the heir of Alba, Drustan mab Necthana. The council knows that without the support of Isidore d'Aiglemort's army, Terre d'Ange must have the support of Alban troops to defeat the Skaldi. The trouble is, Drustan's throne has been stolen by Maelcon The Usurper and he and his family are currently refugees with the Eiran Lords of the Dalriada. Thanks to the Hyacinthe's mother's old fortune, however, this plan is not forsaken and Ysandre decides to make Phèdre - one of the few who can speak Cruithne - her ambassador to Alba and Eire. As well, as the Black Boar is the symbol of Drustan's clan, Elder Brother should allow them to pass. Phèdre must now go to Alba and Eire and convince the Dalriada to help Drustan reclaim his throne, so that Drustan can bring his army to Terre d'Ange to help defeat the Skaldi. Phèdre agrees, if somewhat reluctantly, doubting her aptitude to serve in that capacity. Joscelin, loathe to leave her, swears his sword into Ysandre's service, becoming anathema to the Cassiline Brotherhood, and is allowed to accompany Phèdre to Alba. In a demonstration of her benevolence, Ysandre secretly brings the marquist Robert Tielhard to Phèdre so that her marque may be completed before her journey, allowing her to leave as a truly free D'Angeline citizen. When Phèdre tries to kneel to her, Ysandre dismisses it, declaring them bed-cousins. Ysandre then also Phèdre the diary of her father Rolande, as much was written there about Phèdre's master Delaunay. Hyacinthe comes up with the idea to transport Phèdre safely to Admiral Quintilius Rousse by traveling along the Tsingani routes that are unknown by D'Angelines. He disguises Phèdre as his cousin, a Tsingani prostitute's by-blow, and Joscelin as a Mendacant, a traveling bard from Eisande. At the horse fair in Kusheth, Hyacinthe is reunited with his grandfather and extended family; being unanimously accepted as one of them. While at the horse fair, Phedre sees Melisande Shahrizai and becomes frozen with fear that she will be found. Hyacinthe uses the dromonde (a gift of fortune-telling held by the Tsingani) to assure her that Melisande will not see her. For this, Hyacinthe's family casts him out because only Tsingani women are supposed to use the dromonde. While traveling across Kusheth, the party is intercepted by Quincel de Morhban, the reigning Duc of Kusheth. In order to gain safe passage to Quintilius Rousse's fleet, without questions about their mission, Phèdre suggests a one night assignation with the Duc. This is accepted and the next morning they reach Rousse's fleet. The Master of the Straits attempts to halt their passage to Alba, coming to them in a fierce storm as a face in the waves, and demands a toll. Remembering the story of Thelesis de Mornay, Phèdre pays their passage with one of the Skaldic hearth-songs taught to her by Hedwig Arnildsdottir. The Master of the Straits lets them pass, and they come to the far western shore of Éire, where a delegation is waiting for them; Moiread, Drustan mab Necthana's younger sister, saw their coming in a prophetic dream. Phèdre and her companions are taken to meet the Dalriada. Here Phèdre informs Drustan that the price of marrying Ysandre is helping her to secure her throne from invasion, and that the Master of the Straits will only allow the Albans to cross to Terre d'Ange after Drustan wins his own throne back. The joint Lords of the Dalriada, Grainne and Eamonn, greet the D'Angeline delegation and become part of the discussion on whether or not to go to war. They are eventually reconciled only when Phèdre has sex with Grainne. As Eamonn can not stand Grainne having something he does not, he asks Phèdre why she continues to refuse him. Phèdre says to him that D'Angelines like strong men and not those that are afraid of battle. Eamonn then says he is not weak and will prove his courage by going to battle for Drustan. In the ensuing battle, Phèdre spends it with Necthana and her daughters, with Joscelin as their guard. Unfortunately, this location proves unsafe as they are attacked by a small group and one of Necthana's daughters, Moiread, dies. After the battle is over, Phèdre knights those of Quintilius Rousse's men that survived. That night, she sleeps with Hyacinthe, to comfort him over the sorrow of Moiread's death, and thus comes to understand the view of Naamah expressed by Balm House. After the battle, Rousse tells Phedre that he pledged to his men that all who survived the battle would be knighted and receive the title of "Chevalier". Phèdre keeps Rousse's pledge and, as the Queen's emissary, knights his men. These men see Phèdre as a charm of good luck and make her their personal symbol, calling themselves Phedre's Boys. On their march to the coast, they create a flag for themselves, which they present to her. Phèdre announces that, for those who survive, she will throw open the doors of the Night Court and have a party like none of them have ever seen. On their trek back across the straits to Terre d'Ange, the Master of the Straits accosts them one last time and exacts a terrible price: he needs an apprentice before the ships can leave. To determine who, he gives them a riddle to solve. Phèdre manages to solve it but before she can answer, Hyacinthe uses the dromonde to get the answer, and upon saying it, must take the curse for the rest of his days. That night, Phèdre sleeps with Hyacinthe again as a last tribute to their friendship. They finally reach Terre d'Ange in the midst of battle with the Skaldi. They learn that the D'Angeline army is mostly holed up in the fortress of Troyes-le-Mont. Phèdre comes up with a plan to trap the Skaldi between the walls of the city and an advancing army. In order to break through the Skaldi lines, however, they will need more men. Phèdre achieves the impossible when they accidentally stumble upon Isidore d'Aiglemort's traitorous forces. She tells d’Aiglemort about Melisande's betrayal of him to Waldemar Selig, and that he will be a dead man no matter what. She offers him the choosing of the manner of his death, proposing that he regain his honor and die a hero by fighting for Terre d'Ange. D'Aiglemort vows to help the D'Angelines so that he can spite Melisande and kill Selig himself. They plan to charge the Skaldi army the next morning and aim straight for Selig. Knowing this plan will work most effectively and give the D'Angelines the greatest advantage if those inside the city know of it beforehand, Phèdre decides to make a suicidal attempt to sneak through the Skaldi lines and warn those on the battlements not to fire on Isidore's troops. Knowing that no one will let her sacrifice herself like this, she silently slips out of the Alban-D'Angeline camp in the dead of night. She manages to gain the wall and shout a message to be delivered to Ysandre before the Skaldi drag her down. When Selig learns what she has done, he begins to skin her alive as a message to Ysandre. He is interrupted almost immediately, however, by Joscelin, who, having followed Phèdre from the camp, challenges Selig to the holmgang. As Joscelin realizes that even if he wins the fight they will not escape alive, he begins the terminus (the act where a Cassiline kills himself and his ward at exactly the same time). Upon seeing a rescue force leaving the fort, however, Joscelin quickly changes his mind and kills Phèdre's captor. They are brought inside by Barquiel L'Envers and Ysandre immediately brings a healer to Phèdre. Phèdre then informs her face-to-face that an army of seven thousand is approaching the city and will attack in the morning. She also assures Ysandre that Drustan is alive and crowned. Phèdre watches the next day's battle with Ysandre, looking out from the battlements. She sees Isidore d'Aiglemort, not yet dead of the seventeen wounds he took in battle, charging for Waldemar Selig. He kills Selig and the battle is won, with the defeated Skaldi fleeing back to Skaldia. After the battle, Phèdre is on the fields helping to comfort the wounded and give the wounded and dying water. She finds Isidore and gives him water before witnessing his death. Phèdre spends much of the next few weeks translating for Ysandre and others, as she is one of the few d'Angeline who speak Cruithne or Skaldi, and the only one who can be wholly trusted. Soon after, the Duc de Morhban, brings Melisande Shahrizai, who has been sold out by her kinsmen Marmion and Persia Shahrizai, to the fortress in chains. She is convicted of treason and sentenced to be executed the next morning. Melisande requests for Phèdre to visit her in her cell during the night. In that conversation, she reveals that rather than allowing Selig to rule Terre d'Ange, she had every intention of seizing control of Skaldia. Phèdre leaves her and spends the night alone on the battlements of the city, only to discover later that Melisande somehow escaped her cell before daybreak. Ysandre interrogates everyone, even Phèdre, but then apologizes for casting any suspicion on her. Ysandre clears Phèdre's name entirely, and bestows all of Anafiel Delaunay's estates onto her. At this point, Phèdre officially becomes the Comtesse de Montrève, inheriting Delaunay's mother's estate in Siovale as well. After the wedding of Ysandre and Drustan, Phèdre travels to Montrève with Joscelin. After settling in, Phèdre and Joscelin travel to L'Arène to find Taavi and Danele; they return with Seth ben Yavin, a Yeshuite scholar who agrees to teach Phèdre the Yeshuite language, that she may find the secret to freeing Hyacinthe from his island. Later, a visitor from La Serenissima comes bearing Phèdre's sangoire cloak, which she had lost when Melisande sold her to the Skaldi. This is Melisande's challenge to Phèdre: to find her. |
States and Social Revolutions | Theda Skocpol | null | Before Social Revolutions can occur, she says, the administrative and military power of a state has to break down. Thus pre-revolutionary France, Russia and China had well-established states that stood astride large agrarian economies in which the imperial state and the landed upper classes partnered in the control and exploitation of the peasantry but monarchy in each country faced an extraordinary dilemma in dealing with foreign power intrusion on the one hand and resistance to raising resources by politically powerful dominant domestic classes on the other. She describes the processes by which the centralized administrative and military machinery disintegrated in these countries, which made class relations vulnerable to assaults from below. |
The Antiquary | Walter Scott | 1,816 | At the opening of the story, Lovel meets Oldbuck while taking a coach from Edinburgh. Oldbuck, interested as he is in antiquities, has with him Gordon's Itinerarium, a book about Roman ruins. The book interests Lovel, to the surprise of Oldbuck and by their shared interest the two become friends. Oldbuck invites Lovel to come to Monkbarns and takes the opportunity of a willing listener to divulge his ancient knowledge. In the process of which, Oldbuck shows Lovel a plot of land he purchased at great personal cost which bears the inscription "A.D.L.L", which Oldbuck takes to mean "Agricola Dicavit Libens Lubens". Edie Ochiltree shows up to dispute the antiquary's history, in one of the more amusing scenes of the story (see image at left). Oldbuck decides to introduce Lovel to his good friend, Sir Arthur Wardour. When Sir Arthur arrives, Lovel meets Arthur's daughter, Isabella and the two realize they have seen each other before. Because Lovel is illegitimate, she knows her father would not approve of a marriage between them. When she sees Lovel standing in the road waiting to talk to her, she convinces her father to take the long way home, walking down to the beach. Luckily, Edie Ochiltree, having the insight that someone may be trapped on the beach not knowing that the tide was coming in, finds the Wardours and helps them escape the rising waters. Then, Lovel appears and gets them to relative safety, huddling on the side of a rocky cliff. Finally, Oldbuck arranges a team with a lift system to pull the four up over the cliff to safety. A while later, Oldbuck takes Lovel, the Wardours, his niece and nephew, Douster-swivel and a priest to the ancient ruins of Saint Ruth on Sir Arthur's property. While exploring the property, they discuss an ancient treasure that they believe to be buried at the ruins. Captain M'Intyre dominates Isabella's attention, which she leaves in favor of Lovel's to the dismay of M'Intyre. M'Intyre, angered at this slight, discovers that Lovel is in the military, but realizes he knows of no one named Lovel in his division and calls him out upon the topic. They agree to a duel and return to the scene to fight for their individual honor. Lovel's bullet strikes best and leaves M'Intyre bleeding on the ground, when Lovel flees with Edie to avoid a potential arrest. In their hiding, Edie and Lovel see Douster-swivel and Sir Arthur return to the ruins, looking for treasure. They see Douster-swivel attempting to convince Sir Arthur of his magical abilities to find gold and he does conveniently find a small bag under a stone. After they leave, Lovel boards a military ship and departs. Oldbuck, understanding Douster-swivel's knavery, confronts him about his cons and takes Sir Arthur back to the ruins to look for treasure without Douster-swivel's magical intervention. Digging further under the same stone under which Douster-swivel had previously found treasure, they discover a chest full of silver, which Sir Arthur promptly takes back home. Edie hangs behind and whispers for Douster-swivel to join him. Then, showing the con artist the lid to the chest, with the phrase "Search 1" written on it. Edie convinces the German mage that this phrase means there is a second chest nearby, this time full of gold. They return at night and dig, but cannot find another chest. Just as Douster-swivel is starting to realize that Edie is mocking him, Steenie Mucklebackit jumps from the shadows and knocks Douster-swivel unconscious. Steenie and Edie flee to Steenie's house, where Steenie shows him Douster-swivel's pocketbook, accidentally picked up during the excitement. Edie makes him promise to return the pocketbook and then leaves. Alas, Steenie is not long for this world and dies in a fishing accident the next day. As the family is in mourning, Elspeth, Steenie's grandmother, comes out of a long senility to tell Edie to take a ring and a message to Lord Glenallan. Oldbuck, whose land the Mucklebackits occupy, comes to help carry the casket and pay his respects, to the awe and thanks of the family. Edie meets Lord Glenallan and gives him the ring and tells him to go visit Elspeth. Glenallan does and learns from her his own history. He had married a woman named Eveline Neville, who his mother helped convince was his sister after she had already become pregnant. Eveline attempts to commit suicide by jumping into the sea. She is taken from the water barely alive and dies after giving birth. The child is taken by another maid named Theresa and is raised by Glenallen's younger brother as his own illegitimate son. Glenallen does not know this. Glenallan never recovers from believing that he committed a violation of nature. Elspeth tells him that Eveline was not his sister and that his marriage with her was perfectly legitimate. It relieves his mind and he desires to find his son. Meanwhile, Edie is arrested for attacking Douster-swivel. Oldbuck proves that Douster-swivel is merely a thief and frees Edie, who immediately goes upon a mission. Oldbuck then receives word that Sir Arthur, who has been heavily in debt, is under arrest and has the valuables of his home being taken. Edie returns with money sent by Wardour's son and an order to stop the arrest. Finally, a mistake causes the national warning system—a series of towers with fires that can be lit to warn of invasion—to be lit and everyone believes the French are invading. Oldbuck dons his sword and travels to town to help with defence along with his nephew, who promptly assumes the role of a commander. As they prepare for the defence, Lord Glenallan comes in with his highland troops. Finally, Lovel and Captain Wardour arrive to take command of the defence and it is revealed that Lovel is actually Major Neville. Further, Oldbuck realizes that Major Neville is Glenallan's son and the two are reunited. Major Neville becomes the next Lord Glenallen and is now free to marry Isabella Wardour. |
The Gun Seller | Hugh Laurie | null | The Gun Seller tells the story of retired Army officer Thomas Lang, who lives a somewhat hand-to-mouth existence in London, his attention focused mainly on drinking whisky and driving his motorcycle. His income stems from a variety of bodyguard, strong-arm and mercenary jobs he undertakes, utilizing the skills he learned and contacts he made during his time in the Army. After being approached in Amsterdam by a man asking him to assassinate American businessman Alexander Woolf, Lang attempts to warn the intended victim at his Belgravia flat, finding Woolf gone and instead clashing with (and incapacitating) a mercenary, then encountering Woolf's daughter Sarah. Afterward Lang finds himself under intense scrutiny from both the Ministry of Defence and the Central Intelligence Agency, who claim Woolf is an international drug smuggler currently under investigation. Intrigued by the sudden interest of two government agencies, Lang attempts to track down the man who approached him in Amsterdam, unexpectedly finding him in London, and even more unexpectedly discovering that the man is Alexander Woolf himself. Eventually Woolf and his daughter agree to meet Lang at dinner and answer his questions. The elder Woolf explains that he tried to hire Lang as a hitman to see if he was a "good man", and admits he is under investigation, but not for selling drugs. Rather, Woolf is of interest because of what he knows about a next-generation light attack helicopter. More disturbingly, Woolf and Sarah claim that a conspiracy is under way to stage a terrorist attack and subsequently promote the light helicopter by sending one in to eliminate the terrorists. Lang is skeptical, but begins to believe the story after he is kidnapped and interrogated about Woolf. He frees himself, finding a heavily tortured Alexander Woolf in a nearby room. Woolf is killed shortly thereafter as Lang makes his escape, killing his captors in the process. With Sarah missing and now certain the conspiracy is real, Lang attempts to determine the main conspirators, aided by a friend of Sarah's named Ronnie. After some investigating he centers on a CIA Deputy Director named Barnes, who (forcibly) takes him to meet the head conspirator: billionaire Naimh Murdah. Murdah, owner of the company that manufactures the helicopter, openly admits to the plot and plainly states that Lang will be helping to carry out the terrorist attack, backing up his declaration with an open and explicit threat on Sarah's life. To illustrate his point, Murdah casually kills a CIA agent who accompanied Lang and Barnes to his home. Lang is placed within a small terrorist group called the Sword of Justice as a Minnesotan named Ricky, officially in order to gather intelligence and minimize casualties. A Dutch politician is seemingly shot dead by Lang in Switzerland as a warm up activity by the Sword of Justice, although it was a set-up and the politician was briefed and was wearing body armour. During a brief return to London Lang encounters Sarah and confronts her regarding pictures, provided to him by his friend and handler Solomon, showing Sarah and Barnes together. Sarah admits to being a part of the conspiracy, but swears her father's death was never part of the arrangement. Lang and Sword of Justice arrive in Casablanca and successfully take control of the American embassy there, holding a number of hostages. Barnes, Murdah, Sarah, and a number of other conspirators arrive in Casablanca to direct Lang and ensure the success of the plot. Lang covertly leaves the Embassy as directed, but as Murdah is talking to him Lang pulls a gun, slipped to him by Sarah as part of a plan they made in London. Lang forces Murdah into the Embassy at gunpoint and handcuffs him to a fire escape on the roof, then orders him to call off the helicopter attack. Murdah refuses, certain the attack will not come since he is in the line of fire, but Lang contends the greed of the remaining conspirators will ensure the attack goes as planned. Just as Lang predicted, the helicopter attacks, killing one of the terrorists, but before it can make another pass Lang shoots it down with a Javelin missile he smuggled into the embassy earlier. Footage of the helicopter's attack and destruction is shown worldwide via news networks covering the siege, ruining any chance of any military investing in the helicopter. Lang releases a statement (via the terrorists) to CNN outlining the conspiracy, ensuring that the plot is thwarted. The Ministry of Defence flies a tired Lang and Solomon back to England. After landing Lang is greeted by Ronnie, who managed to force the Ministry to allow her to ride with him from the airport, and makes it quite clear she is happy to see him. |
Tokyo Doesn't Love Us Anymore | Ray Loriga | null | It is a first-person account of a travelling drug salesman. He goes to different places around the world, peddling a memory erasing drug. Various minor characters act as outlets for the authors musings on memory. Told through a mental haze of pretty much every drug ever invented and smattered with promiscuous sexual encounters of all varieties, the protagonist eventually begins sampling his own product. Pages of deja vu and disjointed thought lead him to meet with the inventor of the drug in Arizona. The author is an epileptic and took his seizures and temporary memory loss as part of his inspiration for the book. The memory loss also gives him an interesting transitional device for forwarding the plot without having to get caught up in details he wishes to omit. |
The Eagle of the Ninth | Rosemary Sutcliff | 1,954 | Discharged because of a battle wound, a young Roman officer Marcus Flavius Aquila tries to discover the truth about the disappearance of his father's legion in northern Britain. Disguised as a Greek oculist and travelling beyond Hadrian's Wall with his freed ex-slave, Esca, Marcus finds that a demoralised and mutinous Ninth Legion was annihilated by a great rising of the northern tribes. In part, this disgrace was redeemed through a heroic last stand by a small remnant (including Marcus's father) around the legion's eagle standard. Marcus's hope of seeing the lost legion re-established is dashed, but he is able to bring back the bronze eagle so that it can no longer serve as a symbol of Roman defeat — and thus will no longer be a danger to the frontier's security. |
The Lantern Bearers | Rosemary Sutcliff | 1,959 | The story is set during the turbulent years following the withdrawal of the last Roman troops from Britain. The land is reeling under the onslaught of Saxon raiders, the Pict War and a slave revolt. Vortigern, the British-Celtic chieftain, has invited Hengest the Saxon and his tribe to fight the Picts, and relies on Roman soldiers to hold the Saxons in check. Rome is increasingly under threat from the barbarian hordes surrounding it on all sides and cannot afford to deal with the problems of a distant province. 18 year-old Aquila, descendent of Marcus Flavius Aquila, is a Decurion of Roman cavalry, serving in the Auxiliary legion at Rutupiae. The story begins when Aquila is home on leave at the family farm in the Downs, with his blind father Flavian, younger sister Flavia and trusted servants who have served his family for years. The few remaining Romans, including Aquila's father Flavian, look upon Ambrosius Aurelianus, the descendent of a Welsh princess and a Roman soldier, as the last hope of Britain. Aquila is hastily recalled to Rutupiae where he is informed that all Roman troops will be withdrawing from Britain in three days on orders from Rome. Caught by surprise, Aquila struggles between loyalty to his duty and attachment with his homeland. At the last minute, he decides that he belongs to Britain and not Rome and so deserts the army. As the last of the legions sail away, he lights the beacon at Rutupiae for the last time. He returns home, only to have the farm attacked by a raiding party of Saxons two days later. In the skirmish, Aquila kills the leader of the band but is soon overpowered by the many assailants. He is forced to watch while a tall blond giant carries away Flavia forcibly. The raiders kill everyone else on the farm and burn down everything. Aquila is left tied to a tree for the wolves as revenge for killing the Saxon. The Saxons are followed by a band of Jutish raiders, who find Aquila and take him to Jutland. Aquila spends nearly 3 years as a slave, during which time he learns that the Saxons who murdered his family and destroyed his home were no chance band of raiders but sent there by Hengest as revenge on Flavian and others who had dared to write to Consul Aetius in Rome pleading for help against Vortigern and the Saxons. Flavian had been betrayed by a bird-catcher who used to carry messages between the Roman plotters. Often tormented by visions of his sister screaming for help, Aquila bides his time for the day he can return, find his sister and take revenge on the bird-catcher. Bad harvests force the Jutes to accept Hengest's invitation to settle in Britain. Aquila sails with them and returns to Britain only to find Rutupiae forsaken and devastated. With the Romans gone and Vortigern too powerless to resist, Hengest has free run of the land. Aquila is plotting his escape from the Saxon camp when he chances upon Flavia, who is now married to the man who abducted her and has a year-old child by him. She helps him escape but refuses to come with him, telling him that she cannot leave her husband and child. Devastated by her apparent betrayal, Aquila leaves alone and bitter. He stumbles upon a cheerful bee-keeping monk, Brother Ninnias, who lives by himself in a forest, the lone survivor of a Saxon raid upon his abbey. Brother Ninnias cuts away the thrall-ring around Aquila's neck and gives him food and shelter. During his stay with the monk, Aquila learns that the bird-catcher had betrayed his father only after being tortured by the Saxons and had died soon after. Denied his revenge as well as his sister, Aquila realises he no longer has a purpose in life. Brother Ninnias advises him to take up his father Flavian's cause and offer his service to the Prince of Britain, Ambrosius Aurelianius. Aquila travels to Dynas Ffaraon, Ambrosius's stronghold in the Welsh mountains and is soon accepted into the prince's Inner Companions. But past hurt and bitterness makes him wary of people and he soon begins to be called 'Lone Wolf'. Ambrosius tries to unite the people of Britain - Celts and Romans alike - to fight the Saxons. He tells Aquila to marry one of the two daughters of Cradoc, a Celtic chieftain whose life Aquila had once saved during battle, as an alliance to unite the two peoples and Aquila chooses younger spirited Ness over the beautiful elder sister, Rhyanidd. At first Aquila is quite indifferent to Ness and she resents him for taking her away from her home and her people. As years pass by, Aquila learns to let go of his hurt and open up to others, especially after the birth of his son who he names Flavian in his father's memory. In the years of skirmishes, uneasy truce and battles that follow, Ambrosius finally scores a decisive victory over the Saxons with the help of Artos (Arthur), his nephew, and Aquila. During the fight, Aquila sees a young dark-haired boy resembling his sister. He tries to dismiss it as his imagination but comes upon the boy lying unconscious on the road and realises that it is indeed Flavia's son. With Brother Ninnias' help, he tends to the boy's injuries, hides him from British soldiers and sends him back to his mother with a message for her. Later Aquila publicly confesses his deed to Ambrosius on the night of the banquet celebrating Ambrosius' ascension as the High King of Britain. Ambrosius listens to the whole story and forgives him. Aquila finally feels free and content even though he knows that the respite he and his people have found is only temporary and they cannot hold off the invaders from Britain forever. |
American Empire: Blood and Iron | Harry Turtledove | 2,001 | The victorious United States of America stands over the fallen Confederate States of America, victim to its own nationalist-ego and myth after three years of bloody trench fighting. In the CSA, a former soldier named Jake Featherston joins the Freedom Party and uses it as his platform for beginning to take over the Confederate government and exact revenge on both the USA and the groups he perceives as having stabbed the CSA in the back: blacks, the Southern aristocracy, and the Whig Party. He soon takes over as leader of the Party and unleashes angry veterans on his enemies. He almost becomes president in 1921, but setbacks at the polls and elsewhere force him and the Party to wait longer to accomplish their ruthless goals. The USA's conservative government, meanwhile, had been voted out of office by the party of the masses: the Socialists, electing President Upton Sinclair and Vice President Hosea Blackford, who marries Congresswoman Flora Hamburger. Ignoring the looming threat of the south, the Socialists focus on improving the lives of its citizenry — at the cost of trimming down its defenses and the military. The assassination of the Confederate president Wade Hampton V, a Whig, by Freedom party member Grady Calkins led to a mass exodus of Freedom Party members and evoked the pity of the USA's socialist administration. The USA ended Confederate reparations causing the revival of the CSA's currency, which had suffered from crippling inflation since the conclusion of the Great War. Popular distrust in the Freedom Party and the newfound strength of Confederate paper money led to support for the newly appointed Whig president Burton Mitchel. The Socialists also have no better notion about what to do with the blacks in North America, and ignore the plight of those in the Confederacy. |
Dirty White Boys | Stephen Hunter | 1,995 | The opening scene for Dirty White Boys sets the tone for the rest of the novel with main antagonist Lamar Pye using brutal violence to avoid being raped by a giant black inmate in the showers at McAlester State Penitentiary where he is a "Prince" (a ranking prisoner) among the Dirty White Boys, the white gang element of the prisoner population. Lamar is a physically powerful, charismatic, aggressive and intelligent "alpha male" in his late 30s. The rape was ordered in revenge for a perceived slight made by Lamar's retarded, behemoth cousin Odell against the white gang chief, Lamar having been "sold" to the black inmate gang. Knowing that revenge in some form is certain if he remains in the prison Lamar uses his wits and unrestrained capacity for violence to escape from "the Mac", taking along his cousin and their cell mate Richard Peed, a failed artist who is at once a timid victim yet imprisoned for a gruesome crime of violence against his mother. Bud Pewtie the other main protagonist is introduced as a state trooper called in to participate in the search for the escaped criminals. Pewtie at first seems to be a responsible father of two teenage boys but it quickly emerges that he is having an affair with the young wife of his partner Ted, a confused young man with unarticulated doubts about his role as a trooper. The troopers are among others briefed on the escape by the head of the search effort an embittered alcoholic Lieutenant called C. D. Henderson (Earl Swagger's subordinate from Hot Springs) who was once a star law enforcement officer. The search for the convicts leads the troopers to the remote farmhouse of an old couple where the Pye's and their passenger Richard have taken refuge and armed themselves with the man's guns. The ensuing ambush sees Pewtie perform well under fire but his partner caves under assault, Pewtie is severely wounded and watches as Lamar executes his helpless partner and is himself left for dead after being shot by Lamar. The Pyes escape but Pewtie survives having been unknowingly shot by Lamar with lightweight bird hunting shot. The Pyes flee to the remote house of a mentally ill young woman, Ruta Beth Tull, who has been writing confused letters to Richard about their "mystic connection". Tull it later emerges murdered her own parents as a juvenile and sees this as her link to Richard. Tull immediately takes to Lamar and the group forms into a twisted family unit as the search for them loses momentum. Pewtie returns to the house where he was ambushed to thank the owner, who also survived being kidnapped by Lamar and raised the alarm about the shootout. While at the house he is given pictures of Lions drawn by Richard, and overlooked by investigators, as Richard's value to Lamar rests on his ability to draw pictures as Lamar orders him to; Lamar being amused and intrigued by the artist's ability. Pewtie also returns to his affair with his dead partner's wife Holly and frustrations at the conflicting demands of his newfound romance and his family life continue to build. Lamar and his "family" carry out a bloody robbery of a restaurant in a small Texas town from which Lamar narrowly escapes with his life. The bloodshed of the robbery intensifies the manhunt for Lamar and Pewtie is one of the officers who drops by the scene of the crime. There he finds more pictures of Lions drawn by Richard at the restaurant. He is questioned by a suspicious LT Henderson about his find but does not explain it or the earlier pictures. Lamar now reveals to his family that Richard has in fact been working on the design for a tattoo and they begin a search for a top quality tattoo artist to carry out the work and finding Jimmy Ky outside a small town. After discussing the drawings with a local art teacher Bud also begins to suspect that Lamar is working on a tattoo, and obtains information about Jimmy Ky. The stage is now set for the second bloody confrontation between Bud Pewtie and Lamar. Pewtie literally stumbles in as Lamar is being tattooed and watched over by Odell. A gunfight ensues which ends with Pewtie killing Odell with the last shot in his gun (the last of three he was carrying) and blasting two fingers off Lamar's left hand. Pewtie himself is once again badly injured and Lamar escapes after the intervention of Richard and Ruta. As Bud struggles with his choices Lamar plots a terrible revenge for the death of his cousin. The stage is set for the final confrontation between Pewtie and Lamar. Pewtie fails at first to shoot Lamar with a rifle, his bullet deflected just enough by an unseen glass door to miss his intended target and wound Ruta. The firefight leads to Lamar breaking out of a window using Holly as a shield as running across the fields towards a patch of trees with Pewtie chasing. Holly breaks away from Lamar and runs back towards the house leaving Bud to face Lamar. Bud again confirms to Holly that they are through. Lamar ambushes Bud in the patch of trees but fails to shoot him with his final bullet; the two men begin a desperate hand-to-hand struggle for Bud's gun, in which the physically stronger Lamar is sure to win. As the men fight, Pewtie deperately manages to fire a shot, which hideously wounds Lamar. The fight finishes as Bud uses his back-up gun to shoot Lamar twice in the head. As the medics and SWAT teams arrive all seems to be settled, but Richard is still alive and decides he should help Lamar. He finds Bud near a creek with the just-arrived Henderson. Both of the policemen talk quietly to Richard, trying to convince him to drop his gun and telling him that they know he was not responsible for the crimes committed by the Pyes. Richard responds by firing at Bud with the gun that Lamar took from Pewtie after their first confrontation at the old couples' farmhouse. Henderson moves in front of Bud and takes the brunt of the bullet's damage, though the bullet hits Pewtie after going through Henderson. Bud is severely injured but lives as Henderson dies. The final scene is of a recovered Richard (having been shot by other policemen after firing) being transferred back to "the Mac" where he finds his previous fear of the prison and its brutal inmates is gone and he is a feared member of the criminal community. |
The Far Arena | null | null | Lew McCardle is a geologist working for Houghton Oil, which has reason to believe that there is oil in the far north. While running a test drill, the machine accidentally uncovers the frozen body of a man. Lew is given charge of the body, and he immediately calls his friend Semyon Petrovitch, who is a Soviet scientist. Petrovitch, who specializes in cryonics (but not cryogenics, as he explains) immediately takes the body to be revived, explaining that it is easier to treat such a case as alive until it is proven that life cannot be restored. The blood is pumped from the body, and various treatments are administered until, amazingly, it does come back to life. It spends the next fifteen days in a deep sleep, muttering to itself. The mutterings are recorded, but no-one can figure out the language. Finally, Lew McCardle, who has eight years of Latin, sends for a Catholic nun, who joins him and Petrovitch on their quest to sort out the mysteries of the body. |
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds | Paul Zindel | null | The play revolves around the dysfunctional family consisting of single mother Beatrice and her two daughters, Ruth and Tillie, who try to cope with their abysmal status in life. The play is a lyrical drama, reminiscent of Tennessee Williams' style. Shy Matilda "Tillie" Hunsdorfer prepares her experiment, involving marigolds raised from seeds exposed to radioactivity, for the science fair. She is, however, constantly thwarted by her mother Beatrice, who is self-centered and abusive, and by her extroverted and unstable sister Ruth, who submits to her mother's will. Over the course of the play, Beatrice constantly tries to stamp out any opportunities Tillie has of succeeding, due to her own lack of success in life. As the play progresses, the paths of the three characters diverge: Tillie wins the science fair through perseverance; Ruth attempts to stand up to her mother but has a nervous collapse at the end of the play, and Beatrice—driven to the verge of insanity by her deep-seated enmity towards everyone—kills the girls' pet rabbit Peter and ends up wallowing in her own perceived insignificance. Despite this, Tillie (who is much like her project's deformed but beautiful and hardy marigolds) secretly continues to believe that everyone is valuable. |
The Seven Storey Mountain | Thomas Merton | 1,948 | The Seven Storey Mountain is an autobiography which reflects on the life of Thomas Merton and his quest for his faith in God leading to his conversion to Roman Catholicism at age 23. Subsequently he left behind a promising literary career and resigned as a teacher of English literature at St. Bonaventure College in Olean, New York, and entered The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in rural Kentucky on December 10, 1941, a moment which he described in the book: "...So Brother Matthew locked the gate behind me, and I was enclosed in the four walls of my new freedom." Later, Dom Frederic Dunne, the abbot at the abbey, who had received him as novice, suggested that Merton write out his life story, which he reluctantly began, but once he did, it started "pouring out". Soon he was filling up his journals with the work which led to the book which TIME later ascribed for having, "...redefined the image of monasticism and made the concept of saintliness accessible to moderns." In Merton's journals, the first entry mentioning the project is dated March 1, 1946, but many scholars suspect he started writing it earlier than that because the draft (more than 600 pages) reached Naomi Burton Stone by October 21, 1946. In late 1946, the partly approved text of The Seven Storey Mountain was sent to Naomi Burton, his agent at Curtis Brown literary agency, who then forwarded it to the noted book editor, Robert Giroux at Harcourt Brace publishers. Giroux read it overnight, and the next day phoned Naomi with an offer, who accepted it on the monastery's behalf. With Merton having taken a vow of poverty, all the royalties were to go to the abbey community. Though soon a trouble arose, when an elderly censor from another abbey objected to Merton's colloquial prose style, which he found inappropriate for a monk. Merton appealed (in French) to the Abbot General in France, who concluded that an author's style was a personal matter, and subsequently the local censor also reversed his opinion, paving way for book's publication. Edward Rice, a close friend of Merton's since their college days together at Columbia, suggests a different story behind the censorship issues. Rice believes the censor's comments did have an effect on the book. The censors were not primary concerned with Merton's prose style, but rather the content of his thoughts in the autobiography. It was "too frank" for the public to handle. What was published was a "castrated" version of the original manuscript. At the time Rice published his opinion, he was unable to provide any proof, however, since then early drafts of the autobiography have surfaced and prove that parts of the manuscript were either deleted or changed. In the introduction to the 50th anniversary copy of the autobiography, Giroux acknowledges these changes and provides the original first paragraph of Merton's autobiography. Originally, it began "When a man is conceived, when a human nature comes into being as an individual, concrete, subsisting thing, a life, a person, then God's image is minted into the world. A free, vital, self-moving entity, a spirit informing flesh, a complex of energies ready to be set into fruitful motion begins to flame with love, without which no spirit can exist..." The published autobiography begins with "On the last day of January 1915, under the sign of the Water Bearer, in a year of a great war, and down in the shadow of some French Mountains on the borders of Spain, I came into the world." In the summer of 1948, advance proofs were sent to Evelyn Waugh, Clare Boothe Luce, Graham Greene and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. All responded with compliments and quotations which were used on the book jacket and in some advertisements and the first printing run was increased from 5,000 to 12,500. Thus the book was out in October 1948 and by December it had sold 31,028 copies was declared a bestseller by TIME. The New York Times, however, initially refused to put it on the weekly Best Sellers list, on the grounds that it was "a religious book". In response, Harcourt Brace placed a large advertisement in the New York Times calling attention to the newspaper's decision. The following week, The Seven Storey Mountain appeared in the bestseller's list, where it remained for almost a year. |
England, Their England | A. G. Macdonell | 1,933 | Set in 1920s England, the book is written as if a travel memoir by a young Scotsman who had been invalided away from the Western Front, "Donald Cameron", whose father's will forces him to reside in England. There he writes for a series of London newspapers, before being commissioned by a Welshman to write a book about the English from the view of a foreigner. Taking to the country and provincial cities, Donald spends his time doing research for a book on the English by consorting with journalists and minor poets, attending a country house weekend, serving as private secretary to a Member of Parliament, attending the League of Nations, and playing village cricket. The village cricket match is the most celebrated episode in the novel, and a reason cited for its enduring appeal. An important character is Mr Hodge; a caricature of Sir John Squire (poet and editor of the London Mercury) while the cricket team described in the book’s most famous chapter is a representation of Sir John’s Cricket Club – the Invalids - which survives today. The book ends in the ancient city of Winchester, where MacDonnell had gone to school. |
Bloom | Wil McCarthy | 1,998 | Bloom is set in the year 2106, in a world where self-replicating nanomachines called "Mycora" have consumed Earth and other planets of the inner solar system, forcing humankind to eke out a bleak living in the asteroids and Galilean moons. Two groups of humanity exist—The Immunity which use "ladderdown" technology and augmented reality and lives on the moons of Jupiter, and The Gladholders which use human intelligence amplification and artificial intelligence and live in the asteroid belt. The story begins on Ganymede with an article about a “bloom”, or outbreak of Mycora, that serves to emphasize the danger and horror of this technogenic life (TGL). The author of said story, Strasheim, is also the main character. He is first seen in the office of Lottick, a major public figure, who has called him there for an unknown purpose. Lottick tells Strasheim that the Mycora have apparently been stealing human gene sequences and may develop resistance to the coldness of the outer system, which incites concern. In the short term, a mission to drop some TGL detectors onto Mars' and the Earth's polar icecaps has been approved and Lottick asks Strasheim to go along as a reporter. In the long term, a starship is being constructed to try to beat the Mycora to colonizing other star systems. Strasheim agrees and soon after goes to meet the other crew-members and inspect the ship, which is called the Louis Pasteur which is technologically camouflaged to protect the crew against Mycora. Unfortunately, an unnamed man releases a Mycora bloom in the hangar, killing one crew-member and forcing the others to launch the Pasteur three weeks earlier than planned and without adequate supplies. Because of their forced launch, the Pasteur docks at Saint Helier, a medium-sized Floral asteroid to pick up supplies. While there, they are surprised multiple times, but what shocks them most is that the asteroid's inhabitants have apparently discovered human life on Venus, co-existing with the mycora. Shaken, the crew continues on their journey, but become aware that one of the crew is sabotaging the mission. The saboteur turns out to be a woman named Baucum, to whom Strasheim had formed a strong sexual attraction. She is secretly a member of the Temples of Transcendent Evolution, a spiritual group that believes the Mycora to be divine and invests large sums of money into researching them. After being found out, Baucum ruptures a storage bag inside herself that had been carrying spores of Mycora. Terrified, Strasheim shoves her out of an airlock before the Mycora can devour him and the rest of the crew too. Later, it is revealed that the mission has a somewhat more violent purpose than the crew was led to believe. The detectors that they are supposed to drop on Mars' and the Earth’s surface are designed in such a way that they can generate enough heat to rid Mars and the Earth of most Mycora. The Louis Pasteur is being followed by an armada of Temples ships, seemingly intent on destroying them at any cost. Strasheim realizes that their "cascade fusion" technology could be used to initiate a massive wave of solar flares that would wipe out most Mycoran life in the inner solar system. For this reason, the Temples ships are willing to risk their own destruction to stop the Louis Pasteur. But the true purpose of the mission to Earth isn’t all the Temples were right about, as at the climax of the story, the Mycora is discovered to be sapient and without ill-will toward humans. Communication is brief but paradigm-shattering. An ambassador explains that nearly every person consumed on Earth or on the evacuation out-system was incorporated into the Mycosystem and are still alive, their consciousness and intelligence significantly upgraded, "Unpacked". The crew is given information on how to mark areas as off-limits to the Mycosystem. They are told that humanity is, "...Utterly free. Free to conduct your lives in the classical manner, to escape this solar system, to populate the stars. Free to Unpack, if you choose." The book ends almost thirteen years later. The captain of the Pasteur has been diagnosed with a terminal disease and requests that Strasheim (now a successful media magnate) be his witness as he joins the Mycora and transcends. |
The Haunting of Hill House | Shirley Jackson | 1,959 | Hill House is an eighty-year-old mansion built by a man named Hugh Crain. The story concerns four main characters: Dr. John Montague, an investigator of the supernatural; Eleanor Vance, a shy young woman who resents having lived as a recluse caring for her demanding invalid mother; Theodora, a flamboyant, bohemian, possibly lesbian artist; and Luke Sanderson, the young heir to Hill House, who is host to the others. Dr. Montague hopes to find scientific evidence of the existence of the supernatural. He rents Hill House for a summer and invites as his guests several people whom he has chosen because of their past experience with paranormal events. Of these, only Eleanor and Theodora accept. Eleanor travels to the house, where she and Theodora will live in isolation with Montague and Luke. Hill House has two caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, who refuse to stay near the house at night. The blunt and single-minded Mrs. Dudley is a source of some comic relief. The four overnight visitors begin to form friendships as Dr. Montague explains the building’s history, which encompasses suicide and other violent deaths. All four of the inhabitants begin to experience strange events while in the house, including sounds and unseen spirits roaming the halls at night, strange writing on the walls and other unexplained events. Eleanor tends to experience phenomena to which the others are oblivious. At the same time, Eleanor may be losing touch with reality, and the narrative implies that at least some of what Eleanor witnesses may be products of her imagination. Another implied possibility is that Eleanor possesses a subconscious telekinetic ability which is itself the cause of many of the disturbances experienced by her and other members of the investigative team (which might indicate there is no ghost in the house at all). This possibility is suggested especially by references early in the novel to Eleanor's childhood memories about episodes of poltergeist-like phenomena that seemed to involve mainly her. Later in the novel, the bossy and arrogant Mrs. Montague and her companion Arthur Parker, the headmaster of a boys’ school, arrive to spend a weekend at Hill House and to help investigate it. They, too, are interested in the supernatural, including séances and spirit writing. Ironically, and unlike the other four characters, they don't experience anything supernatural, although some of Mrs. Montague’s alleged spirit writings seem to communicate with Eleanor. Mrs. Montague's lack of social skills provides another source of comic relief in the novel. Many of the hauntings that occur throughout the book are described only vaguely, or else are partly hidden from the characters themselves. Eleanor and Theodora are in a bedroom with an unseen force trying the door, and Eleanor believes after the fact that the hand she was holding in the darkness was not Theodora’s. In one episode, as Theodora and Eleanor walk outside Hill House at night, Theodora looks behind them and screams in fear for Eleanor to run, though the book never explains what Theodora sees. By this point in the book it is becoming clear to the characters that the house is beginning to possess Eleanor. Fearing for her safety, Dr. Montague declares that she must leave. However, Eleanor regards the house as her home, and resists. The others have to practically force her into her car, but she is then killed when her car crashes into a large oak tree on the property. The reader is left uncertain whether Eleanor was simply an emotionally disturbed woman who has committed suicide, or whether her death at Hill House has a supernatural significance. |
Man's Fate | André Malraux | null | The novel occurs during a 22 day period mostly in Shanghai, China, and concerns mainly the socialist insurrectionists and people involved. The four protagonists are Ch’en Ta Erh (whose name is spelled Tchen in the French version of the book), Kyoshi ("Kyo") Gisors, the Soviet emissary Katow, and Baron De Clappique. Their individual plights are intertwined throughout the book. Chen Ta Erh is sent to assassinate an authority, succeeds, and is later killed in a failed suicide bombing attempt on Chiang Kaishek. After the assassination, he becomes governed by fatality and desires simply to kill, thereby fulfill his duty as a terrorist, a duty which controls his life. This is largely the result of being so close to death since assassinating a man. He is so haunted by death and his powerlessness over inevitability that he wishes to die, just to end his torment. Kyo Gisors is the commander of the revolt and believes that every person should choose his own meaning, not be governed by any external forces. He spends most of the story trying to keep power in the hands of the workers rather than the Kuomintang army and resolving a conflict between him and his wife, May. He is eventually captured and, in a final act of self-determination, chooses to take his own life with cyanide. Katow had faced execution once before, during the Russian Civil War and was saved at the last moment, which gives him a feeling of psychological immunity. After witnessing Kyo's death, he watches with a kind of calm detachment as his fellow revolutionaries are taken out one by one, to be thrown alive into the chamber of a steam locomotive waiting outside, intending, when his turn comes, to use his own cyanide capsule. But hearing two young Chinese activists talk with trembling fear of being burned alive, he gives them the cyanide (there is only enough for two), himself being left to face the more fearsome death. He thus dies in an act of self-sacrifice and solidarity with weaker comrades. Baron De Clappique is a French merchant, smuggler, and obsessive gambler. He helps Kyo get a shipment of guns ended and is later told that Kyo will be killed unless he leaves the city in 48 hours he will be killed. On the way to warn Kyo, he gets involved with gambling and cannot stop. He considers gambling "suicide without dying". Clappique is very good-humored and always cheerful all the time but suffers inwardly. He later escapes the city dressed as a sailor. *Ch'en Ta Erh – the assassin. Protagonist. *Kyo Gisors – the leader of the revolt. Protagonist. *Baron De Clappique – a French merchant, smuggler, and obsessive gambler. Protagonist. *Old Gisors – Kyo's father, one-time Professor of Sociology at the University of Peking, and an opium addict, acts as a guide for Kyo and Ch’en *May Gisors – Kyo's wife and a German doctor, born in Shanghai *Katow – A Russian, one of the organizers of the insurrection, he is burned alive for treason. *Hemmelrich – A Belgian phonograph-dealer. *Yu Hsuan – His partner. *Kama – A Japanese painter, Old Gisors' brother-in-law. *Ferral – President of the French Chamber of Commerce and head of the France-Asiatic Consortium. He struggles with his relationship with Valerie because he only wishes to possess her as an object. *Valerie – Ferral's girlfriend. *Konig – Chief of Chiang Kaishek's Police. *Suan – Young Chinese terrorist who helped Ch’en, later arrested in the same attack in which Ch'en was killed. *Pei – Also helped Ch’en. |
Bellarion the Fortunate | Rafael Sabatini | 1,926 | The narrative is presented as the author's compilation of various histories of Bellarion's life, in particular that of one Fra Serafino of Imola. Bellarion, abandoned as a child and raised in an abbey, departs as a young man with a letter of introduction from the respected abbot, intending to study in Pavia. He meets and travels with a Franciscan friar, but discovers that someone has robbed him of his money and letter. Upon arriving in Casale, the capital of Montferrat, he finds himself pursued by the authorities, who suspect him of complicity with the false friar, actually a well-known scoundrel named Lorenzaccio da Trino. He flees until he reaches a palace and enters by a garden door which he is surprised to find unlocked. A beautiful lady admits him, bolts the door, and takes pains to hide him from his pursuers. They arrive, and Bellarion listens to her rebuff them, discovering that she is the Princess Valeria of Montferrat. When the Guard depart, Valeria quizzes Bellarion, mistaking him for a messenger she had been expecting, asking after Giufreddo and Lord Barbaresco. He corrects her misapprehension, but, sensing an intrigue and anxious to impress her, offers in return for her kindness to carry a message to Lord Barbaresco. She distrusts him, but charges him simply to ask what has become of Giufreddo, who Bellarion assumes is the previous messenger, and how Barbaresco's plan is progressing. He discovers that Barbaresco and a group of friends, including Valeria's trusted confidante Enzo Spigno, are plotting the murder of Theodore, Valeria's uncle, who is serving Regent of Montferrat until Valeria's brother, the rightful Marquis, reaches majority. Theodore is plotting to keep the throne for himself, and is doing so by corrupting his nephew and rendering him unable to rule. Bellarion continues to investigate the matter, despite Valeria's wishing that he would leave her alone; he discovers that Spigno is a traitor to the group and is in the employ of Theodore, and consequently stabs him. As he escapes, the Guard captures him, and its captain recognizes him as the same companion of da Trino who had escaped a week before. He goes before the local high court, over which the Podestà presides, for the murder of Spigno. He tells the court that Spigno was murdered in a fight in the house at which Bellarion was not present, and claims to be the adoptive son of Facino Cane, a condottiere in Milan, as a delaying tactic. The Podestà holds the case for the time being, intending to contact Facino to verify whether Bellarion is truly his adoptive son; meanwhile, Theodore enters his prison cell, believing that he was a traitor to Valeria and loyal to himself, and affords him means to escape, unaware that he did in fact murder Spigno. Bellarion travels thence to Milan. Upon nearing Milan, he is attacked by dogs commanded by Gian Maria Visconti, the despotic and cruel Duke of Milan and the son of Gian Galeazzo Visconti. He kills one, becoming soaked in dog's blood, and the rest become pacified, unwilling to attack someone who smells like one of them. Gian Maria believes this is some manner of witchcraft and takes Bellarion to Milan to interrogate him, whereupon Facino Cane, who has heard that his supposed adoptive son has arrived, takes possession of him. Bellarion explains his past to Facino, who thinks it highly amusing, and shortly sets about formalizing the adoption. The story continues to follow the career of Bellarion, who becomes a true and loyal son to Facino Cane, then pledges loyalty to Cane's widow after Facino dies. There are numerous twists and turns to the plot as Bellarion rises in rank to become an important mercenary captain. He serves Valeria in many ways, and that story takes over the plot. |
The Curse of Chalion | Lois McMaster Bujold | 2,001 | Lupe dy Cazaril, a castillar (a knight or minor baron), returns home to the Royacy (Kingdom) of Chalion a broken man, though he is only in his mid-thirties. "Caz", as he is known to his friends, had defended a castle during a long siege, only to be ordered to surrender it. Afterward, a jealous enemy had seen to it that he was not ransomed (as were the rest of his men), but sold into slavery, spending 19 months as a galley slave before finally escaping. His old noble patroness finds a use for him as a tutor for her granddaughter, the Royesse (Princess) Iselle, half-sister to the king, and her companion, Lady Betriz. Despite his ardent desire to live a safely low-profile, peaceful life, Caz finds himself drawn into a strange journey of dangers both spiritual and temporal as he seeks to dispel the debilitating curse that hangs over the royal family of Chalion. |
Journey Into Fear | Eric Ambler | null | The first part of the novel focuses on Colonel Haki, the dour but basically likable head of Turkish Security, who already made his first appearance in The Mask of Dimitrios and returns in later Ambler stories as a general. The protagonist is a British engineer traveling back from Turkey, where he had completed high-level technical talks which could help cement a Turkish-British alliance in the recently-started Second World War. German spies seek to assassinate him. Most of the plot takes place on board an Italian ship, where the protagonist travels in company with his nemesis - a satanic yet believable German intellectual spymaster, accompanied by a Romanian hired killer - and with a rich cast of other characters, such as a Turkish secret agent, a Spanish courtesan and her pimp, and a French couple of which the husband is left-leaning and his wife is a staunch reactionary. |
The Inner Circle | T. Coraghessan Boyle | 2,004 | Milk's sexual coming of age starts in 1939 when he is a student at Indiana University in Bloomington and attends Kinsey’s “marriage course”, a lecture in which the renowned zoologist propounds his theories and his plans for the first time in front of a large audience. Still a virgin, he makes Kinsey’s acquaintance when the latter interviews him in order to take his “sex history”. Kinsey makes Milk his personal assistant despite his inexperience, but he turns out to be a quick learner, and thus the young man becomes the first member of what will be “the inner circle”: a handful of men (and, up to a point, also their wives) who furiously collaborate under Kinsey’s dictatorial rule towards the publication of the two volumes later referred to as the Kinsey Report. |
The Garden of God | Henry De Vere Stacpoole | 1,923 | The sequel picks up precisely where the first book left off, with Arthur Lestrange in the ship Raratonga discovering his son Richard and niece Emmeline with their own child, lying in their fishing boat which has drifted out to sea. While the last line of The Blue Lagoon states that they are not dead but sleeping, the first line of the sequel is "No, they are dead", and we are told that they have stopped breathing. The child is drowsy but alive, and is picked up by the sailors. Arthur is shaken, but at the same time relieved. He can see that Richard and Emmeline were healthy, that they must have lived in peace. He feels it's better that they died while still in a savage state and did not have to return to civilization. He has a dream-vision of the pair; they ask him to come to Palm Tree, the island where they lived, and promise he will see them again. Their child becomes quite popular with the Raratonga's crew. His favorite among the sailors is a rascally quasi-pirate called Jim Kearney. Because the child says "Dick" and "Em" while playing with the sailors, Kearney calls him Dick M. Captain Stanistreet has been concerned for Arthur's sanity since they found Richard and Emmeline, but he appears calm when they get to Palm Tree, investigating the things the couple left behind. Only when he enters the house and finds the flower decorations and neatly arranged supplies—unmistakably the work of Emmeline—does he break down in tears. Arthur plans to stay on the island with Dick M, and the captain of the Raratonga asks for volunteers from among his crew to stay also. Jim Kearney volunteers. The captain says they'll return the following year, but the ship is promptly swallowed up in a storm out at sea. Arthur believes his dream-vision is partly fulfilled when he looks at Dick and notices characteristics of both Emmeline and Richard in him. Kearney does most of the parenting for Dick. Years pass; Arthur dies quietly while walking in the forest, and his body is never found. Kearney and Dick are left to their own devices, until an intruder enters: a young woman named Katafa (her name means "Frigatebird"). She hails from the island of Karolin, forty miles away, which is populated by Kanaka natives. It is a huge, almost treeless coral atoll, with no water source other than rain. Richard and Emmeline were aware of the Kanaka's existence, but never encountered them—for many reasons, they stay away from Palm Tree and believe it's haunted. Katafa is actually the daughter of a Spanish sea captain who was killed to prevent his taking water from their wells during a drought. Raised by priestess Le Juan, and psychologically conditioned as a taminan untouchable, she can talk and interact with Karolin natives, but cannot touch or be touched by them. She is on Palm Tree only because a storm blew her fishing boat off course. She makes friends with Dick and teaches him her language, naming him Taori, but Kearney is suspicious of her, particularly when he finds she evades touch. She is likewise antagonistic toward him for having tried to touch her. Her boat destroyed by a volley from a passing ship, she has to stay on Palm Tree until further notice. She lights a fire as a prayer to Nanawa, the ocean god, to return her to Karolin, but Kearney thinks she's trying to signal her people to attack the island. She gets back at Kearney by stealing his chewing gum, blunting his fish spears and sabotaging his fishing lines. He comes to believe she is out to kill him, and is about to return the favor when, pursuing her into the lagoon, he is trapped and killed by a giant tentacled cephalopod. Left to themselves, Dick and Katafa live somewhat as Richard and Emmeline had done; Dick taking Katafa for granted unless he wants help or an audience. Katafa still wants to go home; she creates an image of Nan, the gentler of Karolin's two gods, out of a coconut shell, and puts it up on the reef on a pole, as a signal should any Karolin fishermen come close to the island. The god belongs only to Karolin's people and will show either that someone from Karolin lives on Palm Tree, or that Nan has been "kidnapped". Sure enough, four Karolin fishermen arrive. Seeing their proprietary god on a reef with Dick (a foreigner) nearby, they attack him. He lashes out, killing one. Katafa is angry when she learns her people were that close, but she finds she can't hate Dick; she's falling in love with him, to the point that she begins to desire to touch other living things. Dick wants to hug her, but she automatically evades him and hides in the forest, due to her psychological conditioning. The narrative focus shifts to Karolin. The three remaining fishermen return with their terrible news. The fisherman Dick killed was the grandson of the island's king, Uta Matu, and the fishermen assume that where they saw one 'foreigner', there must be dozens, maybe hundreds. Worst of all, Nan is there, seemingly stolen by the newcomers. Advised by Le Juan in one of her epileptic trances, the king declares war, and all the men of Karolin assemble in their canoes, led by the king's son Laminai and his second son, Ma. In the middle of the night, Dick pursues Katafa through the forest once more, carrying a spear in case of trouble, when he runs straight into the warriors. He kills Ma with the spear, and is about to be killed by Laminai, when Katafa leaps out of nowhere and attacks Laminai. The people have long believed Katafa to be dead, so the warriors flee, thinking she's a ghost. A sudden storm blows up, and in the darkness, noise and confusion the Kanaka kill each other. Now able to hold and touch one another, Dick and Katafa become lovers. They stay together on Palm Tree, but prepare to leave for Karolin. When a schooner of copra harvesters arrives, crewed by Melanesian slaves under the direction of two white men, Dick wants to speak to them but is attacked. He kills the leader, and the Melanesians stage an uprising and take over the island. Dick and Katafa escape to Karolin. By chance, Dick has picked up a large, beautifully decorated club left by the warriors. Katafa tells Dick that it is the sacred war club, and can be carried only by men of the royal family, so he must be the new king of Karolin, and indeed, when they get there, Uta Matu has died. The people—women, very young men, and little children—have turned against old priestess Le Juan, who has terrorized them for so many years and whose advice had sent all the warriors to die on Palm Tree. She drops dead of a stroke when she sees Katafa, seemingly returned from the dead, and the people proclaim Dick their new king. it:The Garden of God |
The Woods Out Back | Robert Anthony Salvatore | null | Gary Leger works at a plastic manufacturing factory. Every day he has the same boring routine. Gary constantly refers to The Hobbit as his favorite book and reads it all the time. In the blueberry patch that is near his house through a steadily receding woodline, he sees a pixie holding a small bow before he passes out on the ground. He then awakes in the mystical forest of Tir'na'nog in the presence of the leprechaun Mickey McMickey. After being seduced by a nymph (Leshiye), he is rescued by the elf Kelsenellenelvial Gil-Ravardy (Kelsey for short), who takes Gary on a quest to re-forge the spear of the legendary hero Cedric Donigarten. There are however two problems. The first is that to re-forge the spear, they require the services of the finest blacksmith alive, the dwarf Geno Hammerthrower. To solve this problem they capture him in his home. The second problem is that it must be forged in the flames of a dragon. On their way to visit the dragon Robert they are captured by the witch Ceridwen. Gary and company, through a plan developed by Gary, escape Ynis Gwydrin with the help of a giant named Tommy and make it to the lair of Robert. Kelsey (or rather an image of Kelsey conjured by Mickey) defeats Robert in single combat and convinces him to reforge the spear. Upon returning home, Gary is assured of the reality of all the events in the book when he sees that his book is still in the script of Mickey McMickey. |
The Blue Lagoon | Henry De Vere Stacpoole | 1,908 | The novel is about two young children and a galley cook who are the survivors of a shipwreck in the South Pacific. In the turmoil of the burning ship from which they escaped, they become separated from another lifeboat that the boy's father (who is the girl's uncle) is in and drift out to sea. After days afloat, they arrive and are stranded on a lush tropical island. The cook, Paddy Button, assumes the responsibility for caring for the small children, teaching them how to behave, how to forage for food, etc. He warns them as well what not to eat, particularly arita, which he calls "the never-wake-up berries." An unspecified amount of time passes and Paddy eventually dies in a drunken binge. Together, cousins Richard and Emmeline Lestrange have to survive solely on their resourcefulness, and the bounty of their remote paradise. Years pass and both Richard and Emmeline grow into tall, strong and beautiful young adults. They live in a self-constructed hut and spend their days fishing, swimming, diving for pearls, and exploring the island. During this period, they get along unthinkingly, although Richard often ignores Emmeline or takes her for granted, unless he needs an audience for one of his stories. Eventually, strange emotions start influencing their relationship. Richard and Emmeline (they call each other Dick and Em) begin to fall in love, although they do not realize it, partly due to their general ignorance of human sexuality. They are physically attracted to each other, but don't realize it or know how to express it. They spend periods of time apart, feeling a sense of annoyance. Ultimately, after making up after a fight, they consummate their relationship. Stacpoole describes their sexual encounter as having "been conducted just as the birds conduct their love affairs. An affair absolutely natural, absolutely blameless, and without sin. It was a marriage according to Nature, without feast or guests." From then on, Richard is very attentive to Emmeline, listening to her stories and bringing her gifts. They make love quite often for several months, and eventually Emmeline gets pregnant. Richard and Emmeline have no knowledge of childbirth and don't understand the physical changes to Emmeline's body. One day, Emmeline disappears. Richard searches for her all day, but cannot find her; he returns to their house and eventually she comes walking out of the forest, carrying a baby in her arms. Assuming her labor pains were a symptom of nauseous migraine like the ones she suffered as a child, she had simply gone for a walk to clear her head, and this strange thing had happened to her. Knowing nothing about babies, they learn by trial and error that the child will not be able to drink fruit juice, but will nurse from Emmeline's breast. Because the only baby they have ever known was called Hannah, they give their little boy this name. Together, the two young castaways spend all their time with Hannah, teaching him how to swim, fish, throw a spear, and play in the mud. They survive a violent tropical cyclone and other hazards of South Sea Island life; Emmeline often feels that the paradisiac beauty of the island is a mask or facade, and that the dangers — poisonous berries and deadly storms — are the reality. Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, Richard's father Arthur (Emmeline's uncle) still believes the pair are alive and that he will find them, obsessively turning over any clue. The strongest lead is a child's toy tea set, picked up on an island that the sailors call Palm Tree (because there is a large one at the break of the lagoon). Ships stop there for fresh water, and someone on a whaler had picked up the box out of curiosity. Arthur at once recognizes it as an old plaything of Emmeline's — she had carried it everywhere and would never be without it. He finds a ship whose captain is willing to take him to Palm Tree. One day, the two young parents and Hannah return in their lifeboat to the side of the island where they had lived with Paddy. Inexplicably, even to herself, Emmeline has broken off a branch of the deadly "never-wake-up" berries that Paddy warned her about on their first day. While Richard cuts bananas, absent-minded Emmeline fails to notice that her son has tossed one of the oars out of the boat. The tide comes in and sweeps the boat out into the lagoon, with her and Hannah in it. Richard comes swimming after, but is followed closely by a shark and is only saved when Emmeline throws the other oar, striking the shark and allowing Richard enough time to climb in. Although not far from shore, they cannot get back, or jump into the water to retrieve the oars for fear of a shark attack. They try to paddle with their hands, but to no avail; the boat is caught in the current and drifts out to sea. Clasped in Emmeline's hand is the branch of arita. The reader is not made privy to the specifics of what happened next. Somewhat later, Arthur Lestrange's ship comes upon the pair with Hannah in their boat, lying unconscious but breathing. The arita branch is now bare, save for one berry remaining. Lestrange asks "Are they dead?" and the captain answers "No, sir. They are asleep." The ambiguous ending leaves it uncertain as to whether they can be revived. In The Garden of God, Stacpoole's sequel to The Blue Lagoon, the story begins at the very next moment and the pronouncement is made that Richard and Emmeline are now dead, as their breathing has just stopped. Hannah lives and is revived. |
Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out | null | null | The first part of the book presents an overview of the theological-juridical underpinnings of apostasy in Islam based upon the Qur’an, the hadiths and written opinions from classical schools of Islamic jurisprudence as well as contemporary written pronouncements of Islamic jurists. The next section presents the history of the application of Islamic jurisdiction on apostates documenting notable cases from the early centuries of Islam, such as those of freethinkers Ibn al-Rawandi and Ar-Razi (865-925), or skeptical poets such as Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) and Hafiz (1320–89), or Sufi (mystic) practitioners including Mansur Al-Hallaj, executed in 922 and As-Suhrawardi executed in 1191, and the atheist Sulayman al-Ma'arri (973-1057). This followed by numerous case studies covering modern day apostasies and conversions out of Islam trends throughout the world. The later part contains testimonials of born Muslim apostates including the ex-Muslim Ali Sina and other western converts. |
Basket Case | Carl Hiaasen | 2,002 | Jack Tagger, aged forty-six, is an obituary writer for the Union-Register (a fictitious South Florida newspaper). He becomes excited on seeing a death notice for James Bradley Stomarti aka Jimmy Stoma, lead man of the rock band Jimmy and the Slut Puppies. Jack interviews Jimmy’s widow, pop singer Cleo Rio (her stage name comes from the rumor that she flashed a sight of her pubic area during one of her music videos), who says that Jimmy died in a diving accident in the Bahamas. Cleo also plugs her new upcoming album, with a title song co-written by Jimmy and herself. Jimmy's sister Janet tells him Cleo lied: Jimmy was working on his own comeback album. Jack gets more suspicious when he visits Jimmy’s corpse in a funeral home and find that no autopsy was performed on his body. However, before Jack can call for an official autopsy, Jimmy’s body is cremated. Jack used to be an investigative reporter, but was demoted to the obituary beat after publicly insulting Race Maggad III, the CEO of the newspaper’s publishing company. His ambition is to climb back onto the front page by “yoking my byline to some famous stiff.” He tries to convince his editor, the “impossible” Emma to let him investigate Jimmy’s death, but she refuses. Jack’s current job has taken its toll on his life; writing obituaries all day long, he has become morbidly obsessed with death, especially his own. Each year, Jack obsesses about people who died at his age, and about the fate of his deceased father, who disappeared when Jack was young. These obsessions cost him his favorite girlfriend, Anne. Parked outside Cleo’s condominium one night, Jack sees her with a young man, an obvious sex partner. Emma relents and gives Jack a week to investigate Jimmy's death. Jack tracks down Jay Burns, the Slut Puppies’ old keyboardist, and Jimmy’s dive partner. Jay is heavily stoned, but to Jack it is obvious he is lying about something. Later that night, a burglar breaks into Jack’s apartment. Jack attacks him with the frozen corpse of a dead Savannah Monitor lizard which he keeps in his freezer. Jack is beaten unconscious, but the burglar disappears. A few hours later, two police detectives show up and tell him Jay Burns has been found murdered. His apartment trashed, Jack goes to stay with Emma. They decide to search the boat where he interviewed Jay. After careful searching, they find an external hard drive concealed inside the false bottom of a scuba tank. Jack is depressed to hear from his friend Carla Candilla, Anne’s teenaged daughter, that Anne is getting married again — worse, to a hack spy novelist. Meeting her at a club, he catches sight of Cleo's boyfriend, a man who calls himself "Loreal" and claims to be her record producer. Jack and Emma are alarmed when Janet disappears from her home. Jack finds a small patch of blood on her carpet. With the help of Jack's best friend, sports writer Juan Rodriguez, Jack decrypts the hard drive and finds it contains master recordings for Jimmy’s unfinished new album. Listening to it, Jack is still baffled in looking for a motive for Jimmy’s murder, if he was murdered. The cruel fact is, to most of the music industry Jimmy was a has-been. To Jack’s surprise, Emma spends the night with him at his apartment. A few days later, she excitedly tells him that another former Slut Puppy, Tito Negroponte, was shot but not killed in Los Angeles. Jack flies to California and interviews the bass player, who puts his finger on why Cleo killed Jimmy: she wanted a song from his album, “Shipwrecked Heart” for herself. Jack listens to the song, telling Emma that Cleo’s desperate to put out another hit before she fades from the scene, and Jimmy’s song is better than anything she can write. Still, Jack admits that he can’t prove that Cleo killed Jimmy. Cleo's bodyguard kidnaps Emma, and she demands the master in exchange for her. At the climactic confrontation on Lake Okeechobee, Jack and Juan meet the bodyguard and Loreal, and trade the master for Emma. Then the bodyguard tries to kill all of them, but ends up upending the airboat he’s driving, with fatal results. The day after the rescue is Jack’s 47th birthday. Carla calls from Anne's wedding to wish him a happy one. Jack’s mother sends him a card with a copy of his father’s obituary; she confesses that he died at age 46. (“See? You made it!”) Janet resurfaces, saying she skipped town when Cleo’s goons broke into her house. She confesses to Jack that she switched the tags on a pair of coffins at the funeral home, meaning Jimmy’s body wasn’t cremated, but is buried in the wrong man’s grave. At her request, the body is exhumed, and autopsied, and the pathologist finds that Jimmy was drugged before diving off the boat, causing him to pass out underwater and drown. Cleo is arrested, tried, and convicted of murder; Jack sails back onto the front page covering the story. Jimmy’s posthumous album is a hit. A subplot focuses on Jack’s ongoing feud with Race Maggad III, and the ailing state of the Union-Register since Maggad bought it. Maggad’s policy has been to increase the newspaper’s profits to the maximum by cutting down as much as possible on the actual gathering and reporting of news – less space in the paper devoted to news and more to advertisements, fewer reporters and editors employed, and stories that are deferential to business interests and lacking in depth. After Jack insulted him at a shareholders’ meeting, Maggad demoted Jack to the obituary page, expecting him to quit in humiliation. Instead, Jack finds an ally in MacArthur Polk, the newspaper's former publisher. Like Jack, Polk is furious about what Maggad has done to his newspaper, and now holds a position of power, because he owns a large number of shares in Maggad’s publicly-traded company, which Maggad is desperate to buy back before two foreign companies initiate a hostile takeover. Polk dies on the same night Jack rescues Emma. His will names Jack trustee of his shares, with instructions that Maggad can have the stock back, but only if he sells the Union-Register back to Polk’s family. Maggad reluctantly agrees. The new publisher, Polk’s widow, restores the paper to its former glory. Emma is promoted, and the novel ends as she is trying to talk Jack back from his leave of absence from journalism. |
The Fireship | C. Northcote Parkinson | null | In 1797, the year the novel begins, the Royal Navy was beset by two serious mutinies. The main grievance of the mutineers were over pay and working conditions. The sailors hadn't received a raise in decades, whereas the soldiers had just received a significant raise. Discipline was harsh and most of the seamen were conscripts. Unsurprisingly, Admiral Duncan's fleet was seriously affected. Quick thinking on the part of the first lieutenant of Delancey's ship prevents the mutiny from taking hold, and the Glatton is able to join Admiral Duncan's ship, and bluff until the rest of the fleet joins him. But he had to shoot a mutineer to do so. Since the mutineer's death occurred in port, the first lieutenant has to stay ashore, and Delancey has to assume his duties. He is acting first lieutenant when the Dutch fleet leaves port and is engaged by Admiral Duncan's fleet. The Battle of Camperdown is a decisive victory. Every ship's first lieutenant is to be promoted to commander. But Delancey's colleague has been acquitted, and the Captain wants him to receive the promotion, not Delancey. The Captain wants to make sure the trial does not put a black mark against this loyal officer's career — And the first lieutenant, after all had the primary responsibility for training the crew so that their performance was exemplary. Delancey is bitter, but he does receive command of a fireship. He makes the most of this, by researching the history of fireships. Fire was a very serious danger aboard sailing ships. Their upper works could be bone dry, and very highly flammable materials, like pitch, were used in their construction. Fireships were ships intended to be sailed against enemy fleets at anchor, loaded with incendiaries. Big hooks are hung from her upper works, to entangle with the enemies ship's rigging. When they get close to the enemy fleet, the incendiaries are set alight. Delancey learns that if his vessel is destroyed while burning an enemy vessel, he can count on promotion. It seems a long shot. But a French expedition to stir up sedition in rural Ireland provides him with his opportunity. |
The Incoherence of the Philosophers | null | null | The late 11th century book brings out contradictions in the thoughts of philosophers about God and the universe, favoring faith instead. In some ways, it can be seen as a precursor to Søren Kierkegaard's Either/Or or Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, where some even describe it as a "more incisive and decisive critique of metaphysics than that of Kant." The Incoherence of the Philosophers is famous for proposing and defending the Asharite theory of occasionalism. Al-Ghazali wrote that when fire and cotton are placed in contact, the cotton is burned directly by God rather than by the fire, a claim which he defended using logic. He explained that because God is usually seen as rational, rather than arbitrary, his behaviour in normally causing events in the same sequence (i.e., what appears to us to be efficient causation) can be understood as a natural outworking of that principle of reason, which we then describe as the laws of nature. Properly speaking, however, these are not laws of nature but laws by which God chooses to govern his own behaviour (his autonomy, in the strict sense) - in other words, his rational will. This is not, however, an essential element of an occasionalist account, and occasionalism can include positions where God's behaviour (and thus that of the world) is viewed as ultimately inscrutable, thus maintaining God's essential transcendence. On this understanding, apparent anomalies such as miracles are not really such: they are simply God behaving in a way that appears unusual to us. Given his transcendent freedom, he is not bound even by his own nature. Miracles, as breaks in the rational structure of the universe, cannot occur, since God's relationship with the world is not mediated by rational principles. Al-Ghazali expresses his support for a scientific methodology based on demonstration and mathematics, while discussing astronomy. After describing the scientific facts of the solar eclipse resulting from the Moon coming between the Sun and Earth and the lunar eclipse from the Earth coming between the Sun and Moon, he writes: In his defense of the Asharite doctrine of a created universe that is temporally finite, against the Aristotelian doctrine of an eternal universe, Al-Ghazali proposed the modal theory of possible worlds, arguing that their actual world is the best of all possible worlds from among all the alternate timelines and world histories that God could have possibly created. His theory parallels that of Duns Scotus in the 14th century. While it is uncertain whether Al-Ghazali had any influence on Scotus, they both may have derived their theory from their readings of Avicenna's Metaphysics. |
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner | James Hogg | 1,824 | Many of the events of the novel are narrated twice. First by the 'editor', who gives his account of the facts as he understands them to be, and then in the words of the 'sinner' himself. The 'Editor's Narrative' starts in 1687 with the marriage of Rabina Orde to the much older George Colwan, the Laird of Dalcastle. Rabina disapproves of her new husband because he lacks her religious beliefs, dances and drinks alcohol, leading to the couple soon separating. However, Rabina Colwan gives birth to two children. The first, George, is the son of the Laird. It is strongly implied, though never absolutely confirmed, that her second son, Robert, was fathered by the Reverend Wringhim, Rabina’s spiritual adviser. George, raised by the Laird, becomes a friendly young man who enjoys sports and the company of his friends. Robert, educated by his mother and adoptive father Wringhim, is brought up to follow Wringhim’s radical sect of Calvinism, which holds that only certain elect people are predestined to be saved by God. These chosen few will have a heavenly reward regardless of how their lives are lived. The two brothers meet, as young men, in Edinburgh where Robert starts following George through the town, mocking and provoking him and disrupting his life. He appears to have the ability of appearing wherever George is. When on a hill-top, George sees a vision of his brother in the sky and turns to find him behind him, preparing to throw him off a cliff. Robert rejects any friendly or placatory advances from his brother. Finally, George is murdered, stabbed in the back, apparently during a duel with one of his drinking acquaintances. The only witness to the murder is a prostitute, who claims that the culprit was Robert, aided by what appears to be the double of George’s friend. Before Robert can be arrested, he disappears. The second part of the novel, 'Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner', consists of Robert's account of his life. It is, supposedly, a document, some of it handwritten, and some printed, which was found after his death. It recounts his childhood, under the influence of the Rev Wringhim, and goes on to explain how he becomes in thrall to an enigmatic companion who says his name is Gil-Martin. This stranger, who could be seen to be the devil, appears after Wringhim has declared Robert to be a member of 'the elect' and so predestined to eternal salvation. Gil-Martin, who is able to transform his appearance at will, soon directs all of Robert’s pre-existing tendencies and beliefs to evil purposes, convincing him that it is his mission to “cut sinners off with the sword”, and that murder can be the correct course of action. The confession traces Robert's gradual decline into despair and madness, as his doubts about the righteousness of his cause are counteracted by Gil-Martin’s increasing domination over his life. Finally, Robert loses control over his own identity and even loses track of time. During these lost weeks and months, it is possible that Gil-Martin assumes Robert’s appearance in order to commit further crimes. However, there are also suggestions in the text, that 'Gil-Martin' is a figment of Robert's imagination, and is simply an aspect of his own personality: as, for example when 'the sinner' writes: 'I feel as if I were the same person' (as Gil-Martin). The novel concludes with a return to the 'Editor's Narrative' which explains how the sinner's memoir was discovered. |
Specter of the Past | Timothy Zahn | null | Once the unquestioned master of countless solar systems, the Empire is tottering on the brink of total collapse. Once commanding and invincible armada of Star Destroyers, its fleet has been reduced to a skeleton force. Day by day, neutral systems are rushing to join the New Republic coalition. But with the end of the war in sight, the New Republic has fallen victim to its own success. An unwieldy alliance of races and traditions, the confederation new finds itself riven by age-old animosities. Princess Leia struggles against all odds to hold the New Republic together. But she has powerful enemies. An ambitious Moff Disra leads a conspiracy to divide the uneasy coalition with an ingenious plot to blame the Bothans for a heinous crime that could lead to genocide and civil war. At the same time, Luke Skywalker, along with a mysterious group of pirate ships whose crews consist of clones. And then comes the most startling news of all: Grand Admiral Thrawn--believed to be dead for ten years--is alive. The most cunning and ruthless warlord in an Imperial history has seemingly returned to lead the Empire to triumph. As Han and Leia try to prevent the unraveling of New Republic in the face of this fearful and inexplicable threat from the past, Luke sets out to track down the rogue pirate ships. To do so, he will team up with Mara Jade, with whom he will share his growing mastery of the Force and the ever- present threat of the dark side. All the while, lurking in the shadows is the enigmatic Major Tierce, a disciple of Emperor Palpatine, sharing his long-dead master's lust for power, schooled in the devious stratagems of Thrawn himself, and armed with his own dark plans for the New Republic and the Empire. |
Vision of the Future | Timothy Zahn | null | Admiral Gilad Pellaeon admits that the Empire, down to only a few sectors, is now fighting a losing battle. He initiates preliminary peace talks with Princess Leia, who acts as the New Republic representative. However, several Imperial officials are vehemently anti-surrender, the most notable being Moff Disra. He hires a con artist, Flim, to impersonate Grand Admiral Thrawn, the idea being that Imperial Forces would rally, and many systems would rejoin the Empire, due to Thrawn's "returning from the dead." Another Imperial plot is underfoot, to provoke civil war in the New Republic, involving the Caamas Document. Caamas was a world destroyed by the Empire shortly after the Clone Wars, and it is revealed in the book that this was made possible by Bothan sabotage of that planet's planetary shield. Various alien races take sides over treatment of the Bothans and what would be justice for Caamas; more than a hundred alien warships gather in orbit over the Bothans' homeworld of Bothawui. Several of this book's plotlines revolve around major characters seeking an unaltered copy of the Camaas Document, in an attempt to settle the issue. Han Solo and Lando Calrissian travel to an Imperial base at Bastion in an attempt to find it. Meanwhile, Garm Bel Iblis attempts a raid on an Imperial Ubiqtorate base at Yaga Minor. The Empire hopes that the confrontation over Bothawui will reach a flash point, and three Imperial Star Destroyers lie in wait to 'finish off' the survivors. Furthermore, an Imperial sabotage team successfully knocks out a major section of the Bothawui planetary shield. Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade successfully sneak into a fortress called the Hand of Thrawn (so called because of its 'four fingers and a thumb' shape). Many secrets are revealed there, including mention of an expedition by Thrawn to the galaxy's Unknown Regions. Luke and Mara are about to die, when Luke proposes to Mara, she accepts. They escape and at the end of the novel, a peace treaty is signed by Admiral Pellaeon and New Republic president Ponc Gavrisom. fr:Vision du futur |
Why Not Me? | Al Franken | 1,999 | The book is made up of three different sections. First is Franken's autobiography, Daring to Lead. Second is a campaign diary, following Franken and his campaign staff across the primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. The final section, supposedly written by Bob Woodward, is a behind-the-scenes account of Franken's first hundred days as president, titled The Void. There is also an epilogue, set several decades after the plot, giving historical perspective on the Franken presidency and Franken's post-presidential life. The book starts with Daring to Lead, Franken's campaign autobiography, in which he recounts his life from his childhood in the fictional town of Christhaven, Minnesota, to his college years, to his career on NBC's Saturday Night Live. We learn later from Franken's campaign diary that some parts of Daring to Lead are completely fabricated. The diary itself describes his experiences in the race in great (and disturbing) detail. We learn that Franken starts out as a dark horse Democratic candidate, running on a single-issue platform (ATM fees). In the diary, Franken routinely insults the residents of New Hampshire and Iowa and describes numerous extramarital affairs, illegal actions, ridiculous campaign promises, and deceptive (and sometimes disastrous) schemes designed to bolster Franken's appearance to the public. Despite Franken's deceit, he is eventually given the Democratic nomination due to a rise in support after the Y2K bug creates glitches solely on ATMs. He is elected president in an unprecedented landslide victory. The Void, a book supposedly written by Bob Woodward, describes Franken's brief and turbulent tenure at the White House. His administration is gripped in crisis from day one, when Franken makes a bizarre inauguration speech apologizing for slavery. A firestorm erupts, causing a PR nightmare for the administration and sending Franken into depression. Franken's aides soon give him anti-depressant drugs, but this causes Franken to display strange behavior. Franken has himself cloned, punches Nelson Mandela in the stomach during a state meeting, and hatches a strange and dangerous plan to assassinate Saddam Hussein by hitting him with a plaque that reads, "World's Greatest Grandpa." Congress forms a committee to investigate Franken's behavior, which leads to the unraveling of his administration. After his secrets come out, Franken is forced to resign. The epilogue reveals that a clone of Franken was indeed made, and the clone (parented by then-lesbian lovers Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche) is now the head of Franken's presidential library. Franken's entire cabinet was arrested and impeached along with the President, and all served varied prison terms; Franken pardoned himself before resigning. Franken later wrote a disastrous TV pilot, but became a successful biblical archeologist after finding the intact skeleton of Jesus Christ, still nailed to the cross. Franken's term is actually revealed to have had some benefits: Franken's campaign for Russia to enter NATO provides important global security; Franken's Vice President, Joe Lieberman, turns out to be the greatest President in history serving eighteen years in office, and the effects of Franken's dismantling of the remains of the Glass–Steagall Act. Most of the characters in the book are real people, but the events are fictional. |
The File on H | Ismail Kadare | 1,981 | In this often-comic novel, two Homeric scholars from Ireland by way of Harvard University plan to investigate the tradition of oral epic poetry in the rural habitats of Albania where historical epics are composed and sung by itinerant minstrels as popular entertainment. The singers have been doing this for many generations, possibly since ancient Greek times (H stands for Homer). The scholars travel to Albania with a tape recorder to study the phenomenon and record samples of the singing and the changes over time in multiple recordings of the same song, the study of which would give them an answer whether Homer was an editor or a writer. Their main interest is in the variations on the tradition exemplified in the work of individual singers, how historical events are woven into poetry, and whether there is regional bias in their interpretations. When they reach their destination, they are confronted by suspicious provincial townspeople and a paranoid local governor, who sends spies after them, convinced that they themselves are spies of some sort. Their work is attacked by the Serbian pastor because the scholars favor the Albanian epic poetry as original and the Serbian as an imitation. One interpretation of the story is a metaphor for why legends continue to be believed despite our attempts to discover the truth, and highlights the difficulty that the modern world has in truly understanding past, or even rural, civilizations. The novel also considers the passing of the epic form as a means of recording and retelling history and questions the nature of civilization itself as art forms are lost to development and technology. |
The Secret of Terror Castle | null | null | Three boys are investigating a known haunted house, Terror Castle, in hopes that perhaps Alfred Hitchcock would use it in his upcoming movie. Having just launched their investigation firm, the Three Investigators are hoping for a triumphant success to gain publicity and build their credibility. They briefly gain an audience with the skeptical Hitchcock, who is dismissive but agrees to introduce their case if they are able to demonstrate that the castle is truly haunted. Terror Castle is the former home of movie actor Stephen Terrill, who has died in a possibly suicidal car accident that occurred as his career was on the verge of collapse. Terrill had pledged to haunt his former home to keep anyone else from living there. During their investigations, the boys find very scary and seemingly real activities going on in the abandoned structure, such as the Fog of Fear and the Blue Phantom. |
Bloodsucking Fiends | Christopher Moore | 1,995 | Jody, a young single red-headed woman living in San Francisco, is attacked by a vampire and soon finds that she's become one herself. While trying to adjust to her new nocturnal lifestyle, she's aided by C. Thomas (Tommy) Flood, a wannabe writer who just moved to town and works as a night clerk (and champion "turkey bowler") at a local Safeway. As Jody and Tommy begin their life together (and become attracted to each other), they also discover that a recent string of mysterious murders may be the work of the vampire who attacked Jody. To get to the bottom of the matter, they engage the help of Tommy's coworkers ("the Animals") and an eccentric street person known as "The Emperor." |
Tietam Brown | Mick Foley | 2,003 | The book is about a period of time in the life of Antietam (Andy) Brown V and his father Antietam (Tietam) Brown IV (the names span across five generations, being taken from the Battle of Antietam). After 16 years of being tossed from foster home to foster home, and spending time in Juvenile Detention for killing a teenager who tried to rape him, his father then shows up to take him home. Andy was molested by his foster father, who was also a member of the KKK, and physically abused by his father. He puts up with cruel treatment from adults and older students at school. Every now and then in his life he cracks, and in a rage causes terrible harm to his tormentors. He draws strength from the love he gets from Terri, a beautiful girl in his grade at school. |
Donovan's Brain | Curt Siodmak | null | The novel is written in the form of diary entries by Dr. Patrick Cory, a middle-aged physician whose experiments at keeping a brain alive are subsidized by Cory's wealthy wife. Under investigation for tax evasion and criminal financial activities, millionaire megalomaniac W.H. Donovan crashes his private plane in the desert near the home of Dr. Cory. The physician is unable to save Donovan's life, but removes his brain on the chance that it might survive, placing the gray matter in an electrically charged, oxygenated saline solution within a glass tank. The brainwaves indicate that thought—and life—continue. Cory makes several futile attempts to communicate with it. Finally, one night Cory receives unconscious commands, jotting down a list of names in a handwriting not his own—it is Donovan's. Cory successfully attempts telepathic contact with Donovan's brain, much to the concern of Cory's occasional assistant, Dr. Schratt, an elderly alcoholic. Gradually, the malignant intelligence takes over Cory's personality, leaving him in an amnesiac fugue state when he awakes. The brain uses Cory to do his bidding, signing checks in Donovan's name, and continuing the magnate's illicit financial schemes. Cory becomes increasingly like the paranoid Donovan himself, his physique and manner morphing into the limping image of the departed criminal. Donovan's bidding culminates in an attempt to have Cory kill a young girl who stands in the way of his plans. Realizing he will soon have no control over his own body and mind, Cory devises a plan to destroy the brain during its quiescent period. Cory resists the brain's hypnotic power by repeating the rhyme "He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts." With Dr. Schratt's help, he destroys the housing tank with an ax and leaves the brain of Donovan to die, thus ending his reign of madness. |
Death of a Red Heroine | Qiu Xiaolong | 2,000 | One afternoon, the naked body of a young woman is found wrapped in a black trash bag in an obscure canal in Shanghai by two friends. Upon further investigation, it is found that the corpse is that of Guan Hongying (the name Hongying can be read as Red Heroine), a national model worker - thus bringing the case's political aspects squarely into place. Chief Inspector Chen Cao and his older subordinate Yu investigate the case, eventually tracing the likely murderer as Wu Xiaoming, the only son of Wu Bing, a high-ranking Party cadre. Having then established Wu as the likely murderer, Chen and Yu must struggle to discover the motive, all the while grappling with political obstructions and power plays as Wu makes use of his family connections to hinder the investigation. Eventually, though, Chen discovers the motive and brings everything to the attention of his superiors. |
The Gremlins | Roald Dahl | null | The story concerns mischievous mythical creatures, the Gremlins of the title, often invoked by Royal Air Force pilots as an explanation of mechanical troubles and mishaps. In Dahl's book, the gremlins' motivation for sabotaging British aircraft is revenge of the destruction of their forest home, which was razed to make way for an aircraft factory. The principal character in the book, Gus, has his Hawker Hurricane fighter destroyed over the English Channel by a gremlin, but is able to convince the gremlins as they parachute into the water that they should join forces against a common enemy, Hitler and the Nazis, rather than fight each other. Eventually, the gremlins are re-trained by the Royal Air Force to repair rather than sabotage aircraft, and restore Gus to active flight status after a particularly severe crash.The book had an autobiographical connection as Dahl had flown as a Hurricane fighter pilot in the RAF, and was temporarily on leave from operational flying after serious injuries sustained in a crash landing in Libya. He later returned to flying. The book also contains picturesque details about the ordinary lives of gremlins: baby gremlins, for instance, are known as widgets, and females as fifinellas, a name taken from the great "flying" filly racehorse Fifinella, that won both the Epsom Derby and Epsom Oaks in 1916, the year Dahl was born. |
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus | Orson Scott Card | 1,996 | It is written in the form of two parallel lines, with alternating chapters in some ways reflecting each other, and which would converge only late in the course of the book. In the late 15th century Christopher Columbus is working slowly towards the trip across the ocean which would make him famous, and the story follows the many ups and downs of his career and especially his complicated relations with the women in his life. The early chapters, before travelers from the future impinge on his life, can in fact be read as a straightforward historical novel. In a parallel development, in a doomed future where humanity had used up the Earth’s resources and civilization is on the verge of collapse, a team of researchers has developed a machine called the “TruSite II” to view and record the events of the past. (The Concept of a "Time viewer" is discussed further on that page). The TruSite II had higher resolution, both visually and temporally, than an earlier competing machine known as the “TempoView,” and an even earlier machine, the “TrueSite I.” Though trying to restore the ravaged earth and preserve personal freedom, the PastWatchers discover that the society in which they live is doomed. The human race is reduced to a population of less than a billion after a century of war, plague, drought, flood and famine. There have been extinctions and the land is poisoned. Ecological damage from misuse of technology cannot be repaired quickly enough to save humanity from even more drastic population reductions, dooming their descendants to primitive, horrific lives for the remainder of the existence of life on Earth. They are endeavoring to record history for future generations, when it is revealed things are far worse than supposed. Upon discovering that the TrueSite II machines (unlike their predecessors) can send information into the past, the scientists set upon a mission to rewrite history and give humanity a second chance for survival. Their efforts are focused on Columbus, a pivotal figure whose religious zealotry and irrational fixation on the New World led to centuries of mass genocide and ecological devastation. When time travel technology is developed, three agents are sent back to the 15th century to alter Columbus’s actions for the better. It’s a one-way trip though, since their timeline along with everyone they know and love will be nullified in the process – an outcome only acceptable since that world is doomed to a fate far worse than extinction anyway. Another sub-story is the discussion about just why Columbus was so obsessed with his westward expedition. A study of his life reveals that the Pastwatch scientists were not the first to realize Columbus’s importance, and that people in a previous incarnation of the timeline had used Columbus’ westward ambition to alter history once before, an action which resulted in our own history. In this “original” history, Columbus never sailed the Atlantic and instead led a last European Crusade to capture Constantinople, taken by the Turks several decades previously. Meanwhile, the Aztec Empire fell and was replaced by an iron-wielding Tlaxcalan empire that was capable of recognizing technological advantages. The Tlaxcala were able to establish a more modern, centralized state and pushed their influence far beyond the old Aztec borders, though still confined to the Americas. This changed, however, when Portuguese sailors in the early 16th century began to be captured by the Tlaxcala and forced to teach them about firearms and large ship construction. This early contact also inflicted the European plagues on the New World empires, which suffered considerable loss of life – but the survivors acquired an immunity. The plagues and arrival of foreigners were taken as a sign that their god, Camaxtli, who demanded human sacrifice, wanted the Tlaxcala to embark on more wars of conquest. Europe of the 16th century was highly politically fragmented to begin with and further weakened by the crusade led by Columbus, and proved to be no match for the invading Tlaxcala armies. Moreover, while the Tlaxcala were already immune to European diseases, the Europeans were vulnerable to such American diseases as syphilis, which accompanied the conquering armies. Later on, the Tlaxcala discovered steam, developed a 19th century type industrial technology while keeping their bloodthirsty, human-sacrificing religion, conquered and enslaved the entire world and destroyed all cultures except for theirs. This history, while dire, eventually developed its own PastWatch which viewed the Tlaxcalan conquest of Europe as the single most tragic event in history. Thus they decided to redirect Columbus’s drive and ambition towards eliminating the fledgling Tlaxcalan empire when it was still vulnerable to European conquest. This action, while technically successful, failed in that they did not go far enough, only trading one flawed timeline for another. The three agents going back in time seek to achieve a balance, and create a timeline where neither Europeans nor Native Americans would cross the ocean on a wave of oppressive conquest. Enormous hard work and endless sacrifice are needed of the three. One of them must deliberately sacrifice his life in destroying Columbus’ ships and stranding him and his crews in the Caribbean. The other man, himself a Central American Indian, works among his own remote ancestors to create a less-aggressive alternative to both the Aztecs and the Tlaxcala. The woman is in the Caribbean, waiting to meet Columbus and his men after they are stranded, to reconcile them with the indigenous tribes and persuade them to share their technology; she eventually becomes Columbus’ lifelong wife and devoted companion. Meanwhile, an artificial germ developed by the genetic engineering of the world they came from is spread through the Americas, designed to give its population immunity to European diseases and thus preventing the decimation they suffered in our timeline upon contact with Europeans. Finally, after decades of hard work, the purpose is achieved: two federations of tribes, one in Central America and the other in the Caribbean, are amalgamated. The structure is held together by the various tribes’ respect for each other, and cemented by the European technology of the Spanish sailors with some additions from the later future, and by a form of tolerant and enlightened Christianity very different from that practiced in contemporary Europe, and especially the Inquisition-ridden Spain. Finally, Columbus returns to Spain more than twenty years after he had set out, at the head of fleet of warships crewed by his new countrymen – making clear that the people of the continent across the ocean can very well defend themselves against the Europeans, but that they come to Europe only for peaceful trade and cultural exchanges – thus averting the evils of both of the previous timelines. Late in his life, Columbus’ future-born wife tells him the truth and reveals the horrific deeds he might have perpetrated and instigated had she not intervened, and he weeps for days. The “redemption” of the title has been achieved. At the end a glimpse is given of this timeline’s Twentieth Century – a harmonious, peaceful and technologically-advanced utopia. Though not explicitly stated, it is implied that this timeline would also avoid the ecological devastation which destroyed its predecessor. Archaeologists in year 1951 (447 of the Humanist Era) disinter an abnormally heavy skull, discover the four indestructible sheets of metal surgically embedded into it by a science clearly more advanced than their own, and follow the indications to recover the three time travelers’ time capsule which will forewarn them of the possible futures. |
The Weight of Water | Anita Shreve | 1,997 | In March 1873, two Norwegian-born women were brutally murdered who lived on the desolate Smuttynose Island, one the Isles of Shoals off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire. Maren Hontvedt, a sister of one of the victims, survived by hiding in a sea cave until dawn. The murdered women were her older sister Karen Christensen and Anethe Christensen, their sister-in-law. A man named Louis Wagner was tried and hanged for their murders, mostly on circumstantial evidence. His conviction has been argued about, as some people think he could not have done it. More than a century later, Jean Janes, a magazine photographer working on a photo essay about the murders, returns to the Isles with her husband Thomas and five-year-old daughter. Thomas is an award-winning poet who has been struggling with alcoholism and not writing much. Hoping to have a small vacation, they travel on a boat skippered by Thomas' brother Rich, who has brought along his girlfriend Adaline. Jean becomes immersed in the details of the 19th-century murders after discovering a purported memoir of Maren in the library. Gradually, tensions increase among the group on the sloop, with unspoken emotions surfacing. Jean begins to suspect an affair between Thomas and Adaline. The novel is split into two parts: the present day, told from Jean's point of view and in the present tense; and 1873, told in first person from Maren's point of view, her "memoir." |
Flaubert's Parrot | Julian Barnes | 1,985 | The novel follows Geoffrey Braithwaite, a widowed, retired English doctor, visiting France and the Flaubert landmarks therein. While visiting various sites related to Flaubert, Geoffrey encounters two incidents of museums claiming to display the stuffed parrot which sat atop Flaubert's writing desk for a brief period while he wrote Un coeur simple. While trying to differentiate which is authentic Geoffrey ultimately learns that (n)either could be genuine, and Flaubert's parrot could be any one of fifty ("Une cinquantaine de perroquets!", p. 187) that had been held in the collection of the municipal museum. Although the main focus of the narrative is tracking down the parrot, many chapters exist independently of this plotline, consisting of Geoffrey's reflections, such as on Flaubert's love life and how it was affected by trains, and animal imagery in Flaubert's works and the animals with which he himself was identified (usually a bear, but also a dog, sheep, camel, and parrot). |
Lucky | Alice Sebold | 1,999 | Sebold was finishing her freshman year at Syracuse University when she was raped while walking home through a park off campus. She reported the crime to the police, who remarked that a young woman had once been murdered in the same location. Thus, they told her, she was "lucky." Sebold returned home to Pennsylvania to live with her family for the summer before beginning her sophomore year at Syracuse. After months of no leads by the police, Sebold spotted her rapist while walking down the sidewalk. He smirked at her and remarked that he knew her "from somewhere" before continuing on. She called the police, who apprehended him. Among her professors at the time was Tess Gallagher, who became one of Sebold's confidantes. Gallagher accompanied Sebold to several legal proceedings. Also among her professors were Ray Carver, Tobias Wolff and Hayden Carruth. During a lineup, Sebold failed to correctly identify her assailant, as he had brought a friend with him who looked very similar in order to confuse and presumably intimidate Sebold. Finally, he was arrested again and tried for her rape. After he was convicted, Sebold's off-campus apartment was broken into and her roommate was raped. Though no connection to Sebold's rape case was ever proven, she felt that it was retaliation for her rapist being locked up. Her roommate looked at a photo lineup but ultimately decided not to pursue any further legal action. |
Zorba the Greek | Nikos Kazantzakis | null | The book opens in a café in Piraeus, just before dawn on a gusty autumn morning in the 1930s. The narrator, a young Greek intellectual, resolves to set aside his books for a few months after being stung by the parting words of a friend, Stavridakis, who has left for the Caucasus in order to help some ethnic Greeks who are undergoing persecution. He sets off for Crete in order to re-open a disused lignite mine and immerse himself in the world of peasants and working-class people. He is about to dip into his copy of Dante's Divine Comedy when he feels he is being watched; he turns around and sees a man of around sixty peering at him through the glass door. The man enters and immediately approaches him to ask for work. He claims expertise as a chef, a miner, and player of the santuri, or cimbalom, and introduces himself as Alexis Zorba, a Greek born in Romania. The narrator is fascinated by Zorba's lascivious opinions and expressive manner and decides to employ him as a foreman. On their way to Crete, they talk on a great number of subjects, and Zorba's soliloquies set the tone for a large part of the book. On arrival, they reject the hospitality of Anagnostis and Kondomanolious the café-owner, and on Zorba's suggestion make their way to Madame Hortense's hotel, which is nothing more than a row of old bathing-huts. They are forced by circumstances to share a bathing-hut. The narrator spends Sunday roaming the island, the landscape of which reminds him of "good prose, carefully ordered, sober… powerful and restrained" and reads Dante. On returning to the hotel for dinner, the pair invite Madame Hortense to their table and get her to talk about her past as a courtesan. Zorba gives her the pet-name "Bouboulina" and, with the help of his cimbalom, seduces her. The protagonist seethes in his room while listening to the sounds of their impassioned lovemaking. The next day, the mine opens and work begins. The narrator, who has socialist ideals, attempts to get to know the workers, but Zorba warns him to keep his distance: "Man is a brute.... If you're cruel to him, he respects and fears you. If you're kind to him, he plucks your eyes out." Zorba himself plunges into the work, which is characteristic of his overall attitude, which is one of being absorbed in whatever one is doing or whomever one is with at that moment. Quite frequently Zorba works long hours and requests not to be interrupted while working. The narrator and Zorba have a great many lengthy conversations, about a variety of things, from life to religion, each other's past and how they came to be where they are now, and the narrator learns a great deal about humanity from Zorba that he otherwise had not gleaned from his life of books and paper. The narrator absorbs a new zest for life from his experiences with Zorba and the other people around him, but reversal and tragedy mark his stay on Crete, and, alienated by their harshness and amorality, he eventually returns to the mainland once his and Zorba's ventures are completely financially spent. Having overcome one of his own demons (such as his internal "no," which the narrator equates with the Buddha, whose teachings he has been studying and about whom he has been writing for much of the narrative, and who he also equates with "the void") and having a sense that he is needed elsewhere (near the end of the novel, the narrator has a premonition of the death of his old friend Stavridakis, which plays a role in the timing of his departure to the mainland), the narrator takes his leave of Zorba for the mainland, which, despite the lack of any major outward burst of emotionality, is significantly emotionally wrenching for both Zorba and the narrator. It almost goes without saying that the two (the narrator and Zorba) will remember each other for the duration of their natural lives. |
The Flies | null | null | Orestes first arrives as a traveler with his tutor/slave, and does not seek involvement. Orestes has been traveling in a quest to find himself. He enters the story more as an adolescent with a girlish face, one who does not know his path or responsibility. He enters the city and introduces himself as Philebus ("lover of youth"), to disguise his true identity. Zeus, also disguising his true identity, has followed Orestes on his journey. Orestes has come on the day of the dead, a day of mourning to commemorate the killing of Agamemnon fifteen years prior. No townsperson will speak to Orestes or his tutor because they are strangers and not mourning, remorseful or dressed in all black. Orestes meets his sister, Electra, and sees the terrible state that both she and the city are in. Electra has been treated as a servant girl since her mother and Aegisthus killed her father. She longs to exact her revenge and refuses to mourn for the sins and death of Agamemnon or of the townspeople. Orestes goes to the ceremony of the dead, where the angry souls are released by Aegisthus for one day where they are allowed out to roam the town and torment those who have wronged them. The townspeople have to welcome the souls by setting a place at their tables and welcoming them into their beds. The townspeople have seen their purpose in life as constantly mourning and being remorseful of their "sins". Electra, late to the ceremony, dances on top the cave in a white gown to symbolize her youth and innocence. She dances and yells to announce her freedom and denounce the expectation to mourn for deaths not her own. The townspeople begin to believe and think of freedom until Zeus sends a contrary sign to deter them, and to deter Orestes from confronting the present King. Orestes and Electra unite and eventually resolve to kill Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. Zeus visits Aegisthus to tell him of Orestes's plan and convince him to stop it. Here Zeus reveals two secrets of the gods: 1) people are free and 2) once they are free and realize it, the gods cannot touch them. It then becomes a matter between men. The ceremony of the dead and its fable has enabled Aegisthus to keep control and order over the town, instilled fear among them. Aegisthus refuses to fight back when Orestes and Electra confront him. Orestes kills Aegisthus and then he alone goes to Clytemnestra's bed chamber and kills her as well. Orestes and Electra flee to the temple of Apollo to escape men and the flies. At the temple, the furies wait for Orestes and Electra to leave the sanctuary so the furies can attack and torture them. Electra fears her brother and begins to try to avoid her responsibility for the murders. She attempts to evade guilt and remorse by claiming she had only dreamt of murder for 15 years, as a form of release, while Orestes is the actual murderer. Orestes tries to keep her from listening to the Furies - which are convincing her to repent and accept punishment. Zeus attempts to convince Orestes to atone for his crime, but Orestes says he cannot atone for something that is not a crime. Zeus tells Electra he has come to save them and will gladly forgive and give the throne to the siblings, if they repent. Orestes refuses the throne and belongings of the man he killed. Orestes feels he has saved the city by removing the veil from their eyes and exposing them to freedom. Zeus says the townspeople hate him and are waiting to kill him; he is alone. The scene at the temple of Apollo represent a decision between God's law and self-law (autonomy). Zeus points out that Orestes is foreign even to himself. Sartre demonstrates Orestes' authenticity by stating that, since his past does not determine his future, Orestes has no set identity: he freely creates his identity anew at every moment. He can never know who he is with certainty because his identity changes from moment to moment. Orestes still refuses to repudiate his actions. In response, Zeus tells Orestes of how he himself has ordered the universe and nature based on Goodness, and by rejecting this Goodness, Orestes has rejected the universe itself. Orestes accepts his exile from nature and from the rest of humanity. Orestes argues Zeus is not the king of man and blundered when he gave them freedom - at that point they ceased to be under god's power. Orestes announces he will free the townspeople from their remorse and take on all their guilt and "sin" (author makes reference to Jesus Christ). Here Orestes somewhat illustrates Nietzsche's overman by showing the townspeople his power to overcome pity. Electra chases after Zeus and promises him her repentance. When Electra repudiates her crime, Orestes says that she is bringing guilt on herself. Guilt results from the failure to accept responsibility for one's actions as a product of one's freedom. To repudiate one's actions is to agree that it was wrong to take those actions in the first place. In doing this, Electra repudiates her ability to freely choose her own values (to Sartre, an act of bad faith). Instead, she accepts the values that Zeus imposes on her. In repudiating the murders of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, Electra allows Zeus to determine her past for her. She surrenders her freedom by letting her past take on a meaning that she did not give to it by herself, and as a result she becomes bound to a meaning that did not come from her. Electra can choose, like Orestes, to see the murders as right and therefore to reject feelings of guilt. Instead, she allows Zeus to tell her that the murders were wrong and to implicate her in a crime. The Furies decide to leave her alone in order to wait for Orestes to weaken so they can attack him. The Tutor enters but the Furies will not let him through. Orestes orders him to open the door so that he may address his people. Orestes informs them he has taken their crimes upon himself and that they must learn to build a new life for themselves without remorse. He wishes to be a king without a kingdom, and promises to leave, taking their sins, their dead, and their flies with him. Telling the story of the pied piper, Orestes walks off into the light as the Furies chase after him. |
Merrick | Anne Rice | 2,000 | We again meet Louis, Lestat, and David. They are followed by the beautiful witch Merrick Mayfair, an offshoot of the Mayfair clan, with Julien Mayfair as one of her ancestors. She knew David when he was a mortal man working as a member of the Talamasca and it is through David that Louis seeks Merrick's help in resurrecting the spirit of Claudia. This novel is a major turning point for Louis, after talking with the spirit of Claudia, called upon by Merrick, and receiving harsh words from the spirit that only confirm what the diary found in the French Quarter flat, the one Louis, Lestat, and Claudia once shared, by Jesse as narrated in Queen of the Damned (the diary was kept in the vaults of Talamasca and retrieved by Merrick), he attempts to commit suicide by allowing himself to bake in the sun, but he doesn't burn completely. The other vampires, including Merrick, David and Lestat, find him and restore him by showering him with their preternatural blood. Most of the novel is a rather long flashback detailing David and Merrick's adventures. Readers meet Merrick's malevolent sister, Honey Isabella or Honey in the Sunshine; Merrick's mother, Cold Sandra; and the Great Nananne, a powerful witch whose very presence is enough to frighten and instill respect in Talbot. One notable adventure involves a journey to Central America, which Merrick is compelled to undertake by dreams of Oncle Vervain (or so she thinks). Merrick and David find the cave where Matthew had contracted a fatal disease. David is surprised at the malevolence of the spirits in the cave and conjectures that they are protecting some great treasure. Merrick leaps forward and finds the treasure: a beautiful jade mask. By looking through this mask, one can see ethereal spirits as if they were corporeal. The two Talamascans see a mysterious spirit who resembles a priest. David then falls deathly sick, though Merrick does not. The two escape the treacherous cave, with David growing weaker by the moment; he is shuffled from hospital to hospital and is eventually cured of the disease. At the very end of the book, Merrick reveals her grand scheme. It was she who, from the very beginning, had used her potent magic to draw David and Louis inexorably towards her so that she would receive the Dark Gift of vampirism. Because Lestat (along with Louis) has given Merrick their blood, the Talamasca Elders threaten to wage war on the vampires. David Talbot tries to placate them with a final letter, warning that Lestat's enmity is more than the Watcher society could handle. He writes, "You have made yourselves an interesting adversary to one who loves challenges, and it will require all of my considerable influence to protect you individually and collectively from the avid lust you have so foolishly aroused." This novel builds upon a statement by David in Pandora that vampire powers have recently evolved to include the psychic powers of the human from which they were created. Previously, it was stated that a witch's powers are lost upon his or her transformation into a vampire (stemming from Maharet's recounting of her and her sister's history in Queen of the Damned, wherein she states that while they can no longer see the spirits, they do sometimes still see ghosts). However, Merrick's human supernatural powers remain intact in her vampire form. de:Merrick oder die Schuld des Vampirs es:Merrick (novela) fr:Merrick (roman) it:Merrick la strega nl:De Mayfair Heks pl:Merrick (powieść) pt:Merrick (livro) ru:Меррик (роман) |
Our Gang | Philip Roth | null | The book is six chapters long. Chapter one is entitled "Tricky comforts a troubled citizen". In the chapter, the citizen in question is concerned with William Calley's killing of twenty-two Vietnamese villagers at My Lai, but he is "seriously troubled by the possibility that Lieutenant Calley may have committed an abortion". Throughout the chapter, Dixon defends the notion that Calley may have killed a pregnant woman, covering many factors; If the pregnant woman was showing or not, if Calley could have communicated with her, if he really did know she was pregnant, whether the woman asked Calley to give her an abortion or not, etc. In true Nixonian style, Trick E. Dixon manages to defend Calley well until the citizen asks if Calley could have given her an abortion against her will, as "an outright form of murder", and Dixon gives the following answer, which is supposed to reflect his background as a lawyer and his hard-to-pin-down nature: Well, of course, that is a very iffy question, isn't it? What we lawyers call a hypothetical instance-isn't it? If you will remember, we are only "supposing" there to have been a pregnant woman in the ditch at My Lai to begin with. Suppose there "wasn't" a pregnant woman in that ditch — which, in fact, seems from all evidence to have been the case. We are then involved in a totally academic discussion. In chapter two, entitled "Tricky holds a press conference", Dixon takes questions from reporters with names to suit their respective personalities. The reporters are called Mr. Asslick (who, as his name suggests, "sucks up" to the President), Mr. Daring (who poses, as suggested, the more daring suggestions in the style of investigative journalism), Mr. Respectful (who acts rather meekly compared to some of his compatriots), Mr. Shrewd (who, being slightly more daring than Mr. Daring, suggests President Dixon may be giving voting rights to the unborn for purely political reasons), Miss Charming (the typical female reporter often stereotyped in media as 'charming' indeed), Mr. Practical (concerned not with the politics of the situation, but the when and the how much of the situation). From this starting point, Roth satirizes Nixon and his cabinet — particularly Henry Kissinger ("Highbrow coach") and Spiro Agnew ("Vice President-what's-his-name") — as Tricky tries to deny that he supports sexual intercourse, provoking a group of Boy Scouts to riot in Washington, D.C. in which three are shot. Tricky tries to pin the blame on baseball player Curt Flood and the nation of Denmark, managing to obliterate the city of Copenhagen in the process. After an operation to remove his upper lip sweat gland, he is eventually assassinated by being drowned in a giant baggie filled with water, his corpse in the fetal position. Tricky ends the novel in Hell, campaigning against Satan for the position of Devil. es:Nuestra pandilla (novela) |
The Time of Your Life | William Saroyan | null | The play is set in Nick's Pacific Street Saloon, Restaurant and Entertainment Palace, a run down dive bar in San Francisco. Much of the action of the play centers around Joe, a young loafer with money who encourages each of the bar's patrons in their eccentricities. Joe helps out a would-be dancer, Harry, and sets up his flunky, Tom, with a prostitute, Kitty Duval. The bar is frequented by a number of colorful characters, including a frenetic young man in love, an old man who looks like Kit Carson, and an affluent society couple. Nick's saloon is based on the café operated by Izzy Gomez in San Francisco, which Saroyan frequented. |
The World Is Flat | Thomas L. Friedman | 2,005 | In his book, The World is Flat, Friedman recounts a journey to Bangalore, India, when he realized globalization has changed core economic concepts. In his opinion, this flattening is a product of a convergence of personal computer with fiber-optic micro cable with the rise of work flow software. He termed this period as Globalization 3.0, differentiating this period from the previous Globalization 1.0 (in which countries and governments were the main protagonists) and the Globalization 2.0 (in which multinational companies led the way in driving global integration). Friedman recounts many examples of companies based in India and China that, by providing labor from typists and call center operators to accountants and computer programmers, have become integral parts of complex global supply chains for companies such as Dell, AOL, and Microsoft. Friedman's Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention is discussed in the book's penultimate chapter. Friedman repeatedly uses lists as an organizational device to communicate key concepts, usually numbered, and often with a provocative label. Two example lists are the ten forces that flattened the world, and three points of convergence. Friedman defines ten "flatteners" that he sees as leveling the global playing field: * #1: Collapse of the Berlin Wall – 11/9/89: Friedman called the flattener, "When the walls came down, and the windows came up." The event not only symbolized the end of the Cold War, it allowed people from the other side of the wall to join the economic mainstream. "11/9/89" is a discussion about the Berlin Wall coming down, the "fall" of communism, and the impact that Windows powered PCs (personal computers) had on the ability of individuals to create their own content and connect to one another. At that point, the basic platform for the revolution to follow was created: IBM PC, Windows, a standardized graphical interface for word processing, dial-up modems, a standardized tool for communication, and a global phone network. * #2: Netscape – 8/9/95: Netscape went public at the price of $28. Netscape and the Web broadened the audience for the Internet from its roots as a communications medium used primarily by "early adopters and geeks" to something that made the Internet accessible to everyone from five-year-olds to ninety-five-year-olds. The digitization that took place meant that everyday occurrences such as words, files, films, music, and pictures could be accessed and manipulated on a computer screen by all people across the world. * #3: Workflow software: Friedman's catch-all for the standards and technologies that allowed work to flow. The ability of machines to talk to other machines with no humans involved, as stated by Friedman. Friedman believes these first three forces have become a "crude foundation of a whole new global platform for collaboration." There was an emergence of software protocols (SMTP – simple mail transfer protocol; HTML – the language that enabled anyone to design and publish documents that could be transmitted to and read on any computer anywhere) Standards on Standards. This is what Friedman called the "Genesis moment of the flat world." The net result "is that people can work with other people on more stuff than ever before." This created a global platform for multiple forms of collaboration. The next six flatteners sprung from this platform. * #4: Uploading: Communities uploading and collaborating on online projects. Examples include open source software, blogs, and Wikipedia. Friedman considers the phenomenon "the most disruptive force of all." * #5: Outsourcing: Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing activities into components which can be subcontracted and performed in the most efficient, cost-effective way. This process became easier with the mass distribution of fiber optic cables during the introduction of the World Wide Web. * #6: Offshoring: The internal relocation of a company's manufacturing or other processes to a foreign land to take advantage of less costly operations there. China's entrance in the WTO (World Trade Organization) allowed for greater competition in the playing field. Now countries such as Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil must compete against China and each other to have businesses offshore to them. * #7: Supply-chaining: Friedman compares the modern retail supply chain to a river, and points to Wal-Mart as the best example of a company using technology to streamline item sales, distribution, and shipping. * #8: Insourcing: Friedman uses UPS as a prime example for insourcing, in which the company's employees perform services – beyond shipping – for another company. For example, UPS repairs Toshiba computers on behalf of Toshiba. The work is done at the UPS hub, by UPS employees. * #9: Informing: Google and other search engines are the prime example. "Never before in the history of the planet have so many people – on their own – had the ability to find so much information about so many things and about so many other people," writes Friedman. The growth of search engines is tremendous; for example take Google, in which Friedman states that it is "now processing roughly one billion searches per day, up from 150 million just three years ago." * #10: "The Steroids": Wireless, Voice over Internet, and file sharing. Personal digital devices like mobile phones, iPods, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Digital, Mobile, Personal and Virtual – all analog content and processes (from entertainment to photography to word processing) can be digitized and therefore shaped, manipulated and transmitted; virtual – these processes can be done at high speed with total ease; mobile – can be done anywhere, anytime by anyone; and personal – can be done by you. Thomas Friedman believes that to fight the quiet crisis of a flattening world, the United States work force should keep updating its work skills. Making the work force more adaptable, Friedman argues, will keep it more employable. He also suggests that the government make it easier to switch jobs by making retirement benefits and health insurance less dependent on one's employer and by providing insurance that would partly cover a possible drop in income when changing jobs. Friedman also believes there should be more inspiration for youth to be scientists, engineers, and mathematicians due to a decrease in the percentage of these professionals being American. |
Disclosure | Michael Crichton | 1,994 | Tom Sanders, the head of advanced products manufacturing at DigiCom, expects to be promoted to run the advanced products division after DigiCom's merger with a publishing house. Instead, his ex-girlfriend, Meredith Johnson, who recently moved to Seattle from the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California; is given the promotion. Later that day, Meredith calls Tom into her office, ostensibly to discuss an advanced CD-ROM drive. She aggressively tries to resume their relationship, despite Tom's repeated attempts to resist. When he spurns her sexual advances, Meredith angrily vows to make him pay. The next morning, Tom discovers that Meredith has retaliated by falsely accusing him of sexual harassment. DigiCom president Bob Garvin, fearing that the incident could jeopardize the merger, tells the company's general counsel, Phil Blackburn, to propose transferring Tom to the company's Austin facility. However, Tom's division is due to be spun off as a publicly traded company after the merger, and if he's transferred, he will lose stock options which would make him a wealthy man. Seemingly out of options, Tom gets in touch with Seattle attorney Louise Fernandez, who agrees to take the case. Tom threatens to sue Meredith and DigiCom for sexual harassment unless Meredith is fired, throwing the merger and his future with the company in jeopardy. During a mediation, Tom discovers that when he called one of his colleagues, John Levin, about the problems with the drive, John's answering machine recorded the whole incident with Meredith. He and Linda also discover that DigiCom officials have known for some time that Meredith has a history of unwelcome advances toward male coworkers, and yet did nothing to stop it. Confronted with this evidence, DigiCom is forced to agree to a settlement in which Meredith is quietly pushed out and Tom is restored to his former post. That night, Tom gets an email from "A Friend" warning him that all is not normal yet. Later, he overhears Meredith and Phil planning to make it look like Tom is responsible for defects in the CD-ROM project, thereby giving DigiCom an excuse to fire him for incompetence. Tom is unable to access information in the database that would prove his innocence since Meredith has locked him out of the system. Through a prototype of the company's virtual reality machine, Tom discovers that Meredith changed the quality control specifications at the Malaysian plant manufacturing the drive. These changes, ostensibly to appease Malaysian government demands and cut costs, resulted in the defects. With the help of one of his Malaysian colleagues, Tom obtains enough evidence to turn the tables on Meredith, resulting in her getting fired instead. |
Guy Mannering | Walter Scott | 1,815 | Guy Mannering, after leaving Oxford, had been Mr Godfrey Bertram's guest on the night of his son's birth, when he made acquaintance with Dominie Sampson, and with Meg Merrilies, who came to tell the infant's fortune. The young student, however, offered to do this from the stars, and predicted that three periods of the boy's life would be very hazardous. Five years afterwards he was kidnapped while riding with Kennedy, whose dead body was found on the beach; and the same night, after giving birth to a daughter, Mrs Bertram left her husband a widower. Sixteen more years had elapsed when Colonel Mannering returned from India just in time to be present at his friend's death, and Glossin, who had been concerned in Harry's abduction, became the possessor of the Ellangowan estate. Lucy and the dominie accepted the hospitality of Mr and Mrs MacMorlan; but the colonel, having learnt from Mr Mervyn, at whose house his daughter was staying, that she had a lover, who afterwards proved to be Brown, hired a house in the neighbourhood of Kippletringan, and invited Miss Bertram to be Julia's companion, and the tutor his librarian. As he was following Miss Mannering to Scotland, the smuggler Brown, whom the colonel believed he had shot in a duel in India, dined with the farmer Dinmont at an inn, where he also met Meg Merrilies, who recognised him; and, having rescued the farmer from some robbers, he spent a few days at his house. Proceeding on his journey, he came to a ruined hut, in which the gipsy was tending a dying man; and, hidden by her, he saw a gang of ruffians divide the contents of his portmanteau, and bury their comrade. When they had gone she pointed out his road, and gave him a purse, exacting at the same time a promise that he would come with her whenever she called for him. Writing to a friend, Julia made great fun of the dominie's peculiarities, and mentioned Lucy's discouragement of young Hazlewood because she had no fortune. In her next letter she described an attack upon their house at Woodbourne by smugglers; and in another the sudden appearance of Brown, who had wounded Hazlewood and escaped. The attorney Glossin, now a justice of the peace, was indefatigable in endeavouring to trace him, and heard with pleasure that MacGuffog had a man in custody. He, however, was Hatteraick, in whose smuggling ventures the attorney had largely shared, and who told him that Harry Bertram was in the neighbourhood. Having connived at his escape from custody, Glossin met him in a cave, and learnt that the young heir had been carried to Holland, where he was adopted by a merchant named Vanbeest, who afterwards sent him to India. The attorney then called at Woodbourne to announce that Miss Bertram had left her fortune to Lucy, and the colonel at once started with the dominie to Edinburgh, to place the matter in the advocate Mr Pleydell's hands. Harry had retreated to Cumberland, but he managed to correspond with Julia; and, having returned to Ellangowan, he was wandering among the ruins when he encountered Glossin, who had him arrested for shooting at Hazlewood, and lodged in the bridewell (small prison) adjoining the custom-house at Portanferry. Here he was visited by Dinmont, who had heard from Gabriel of his being in trouble, and was allowed to pass the night with him. Meanwhile Meg Merrilies had sent a paper to the colonel by the dominie, and urged young Hazlewood to cause the soldiers who had been withdrawn from Portanferry to be sent back there instantly. During the night the custom-house was fired by a gang of ruffians; but one of them helped Bertram and his friend to escape, and led them to a carriage, which conveyed them to Woodbourne, where Mr Pleydell had previously arrived. Having been recognised by the colonel as Brown, and questioned by the lawyer, his identity as the heir of Ellangowan was established, and he was hugged by the dominie as his little Harry. The next morning Lucy embraced her long-lost brother, and Julia acknowledged him as her lover. As he was walking with them, Meg Merrilies sent Dinmont to claim Bertram's compliance with his promise to her; and, followed also by Hazlewood, she led the way to a room where she armed them, and thence to the smugglers' cave, where, after a struggle, in which the gipsy was mortally wounded, they seized Hatteraick and handed him over to the village constables. Meg's dying revelations furnished sufficient evidence for arresting Glossin, who, by bribing the jailer, obtained access to the smuggler's cell, where he was found strangled, and his accomplice in crime committed suicide. Having recovered the property of his ancestors, Harry Bertram was able to discharge all his father's debts, and, with the help of Julia's dowry, to erect a new mansion, which contained a snug chamber called "Mr Sampson's apartment." His aunt's estate also reverted to him, but he resigned it to his sister on her marriage with Hazlewood. |
Minty Alley | C. L. R. James | 1,936 | The book opens with Mr. Haynes deciding to rent part of a house situated nearby on the title street—a very short alley. His mother has died, and he is trying to make the best out of an otherwise dull life. Figuring out how to pay for the house, he arrives there the following day, meeting Maisie and her aunt, Mrs. Rouse, who has a small room to let. Haynes agrees to use it after hearing of the conditions and the price—$2.50. Early next morning, Haynes begins transferring his goods to his new home. Back at that residence, he is introduced to his new landlord, Mr. Benoit. On the first Saturday evening of his stay, he meets a sick Miss Atwell and an East Indian servant named Philomen, as well as a cake-seller named John. Later on, Mrs. Rouse arrives with her new lodger, a nurse named Jackson, and the rest in the house engage in a lot of conversation soon after. Yet after such good times, Haynes is bored and wants to move out of No. 2 in a month, in which case he will leave the rest up to Ella. The next morning, while Rouse and niece are attending Mass, he secretly encounters a brief love affair between Benoit and the lodger nurse. As days go by, that nurse becomes the dominant factor of life at No. 2, keeping the entire house in full shape. One morning, a stay-at-home Haynes witnesses Sonny, Nurse Jackson's son, being beaten by the landlord over his prize for winning a marbles game: a kiss for his opponent, Maisie. After a caning from the nurse, he is chased by her all the way to Haynes’ room, where he hides from her. Then, as she calls him out like she would a dog, Haynes misses his chance to save Sonny, who is intent on staying with him for protection. But upon a further caning by Sonny’s mother, the bachelor decides he must move back to Ella, even with an injured foot. That evening, the nurse comes by to check on his foot and have it treated—the first of such a series of twice-daily visits. Only some days later does his foot become any better. Another few days pass, and the people at No. 2 are preparing to avoid the local bailiff and Mr. Brown from visiting their home. Luckily, both are nowhere to be seen; but word of the two crops up in their conversations for days afterward. Because of a fight between her and Mrs. Rouse, the nurse soon leaves the house. Troubled times thus begin herein: another morning later, a policeman asks for Aucher, who turns out to be a thief; and quarrels between Benoit and Mrs. Rouse erupt for nights at a time, all due to the nurse's departure and her love for the landlord. Even the two try to murder each other, and for that action Haynes decides strongly to move out. Surprisingly, Nurse Jackson passes her examinations, thanks partly to Benoit's help, but nothing more than her affair with the landlord is talked of for days at No. 2. More surprisingly, they both have been engaged, and news of their romance and upcoming marriage crops up regularly soon after. Their wedding takes place at nine on a Sunday morning, at the start of the month, but the people at the house are getting impatient about Miss Atwell's arrival from the ceremony. When she returns at eleven, she tells them everything that happened during that ceremony (the centre of attention being the nurse's expensive white fugi dress). Later on, No. 2 is put up for mortgage, but as an ailing Mrs. Rouse is warned by Haynes, it will take eight years before the house can fully be paid off, even with her cake business on the decline. With Mrs. Rouse, Haynes learns how much the house has fared from the time it was built at the start of the First World War. Then, upon visiting her, he learns of Ella's sickness and that a friend will replace her once she is taken to her mother in the country. December comes, and Haynes, meeting Benoit for the first time since he married the nurse, is nervous to see how much he has changed. It is rumoured that things have not been going well for the couple, and the landlord has had no new job out of this. In spite of their recent woes, Christmas goes on cheerfully for the residents of the house. During the holiday, a freed Aucher helps the rest of them as they work harder than ever to keep No. 2 clean, while Haynes decides to spent some time at the seaside for his health's sake. On Boxing Day, the company at the house, Haynes included, delight themselves with an enjoyable lunch, after which Miss Atwell honours Haynes in a short speech. The bachelor's reply turns out to be "the speech of his life". On New Year's Eve, Miss Atwell pays Haynes a visit, telling him Ella is still sick. On the New Year's holiday the following day, he pays Mrs. Rouse $20 in advance (a plan he had made with Maisie) for the sake of remaining at the house via boarding. Three days later, he learns of the now-recovered headmistress' return to town, even though she has not come to No. 2, because Haynes feels that he does not want her. For another two or three days, he ponders on what has recently come of him. In the midst of a quarrel between Rouse and niece, over Haynes' alienation from Ella, the bachelor is refunded his boarding fee. Now he wants to strike out vulgarly against them both. Late one afternoon, while on a tramcar in town, Haynes encounters the nurse being arrested for stealing clothes. He hurries home to tell everyone at No. 2 about it, but all of them are hearing Philomen's account of the event as he arrives. Then Haynes reads a letter from Nurse Jackson addressed to Rouse, in which the nurse defames Rouse's past relationship with Benoit. With Jackson on bail, gloom hangs over No. 2 once again. On the morning of her trial, everyone but Aucher is in Court to hear of the nurse's fate: she is fined £15 or three months in prison. (This is the last time Haynes will ever see her again in person.) Later, due to accusations about her husband living with another woman, the nurse and her son leave for the United States. After the case, Haynes finds a friend—and lover—in Rouse's niece. But she wants to avoid the presence of her aunt's secret admirer, Sgt. Parkes (a father of six), for fear of a do-over of Rouse's former affairs with Benoit. She does so on the Friday morning of his visit, and for this, Haynes gets upset over Maisie. Later that afternoon, Mrs. Rouse tells him, in distaste, that Benoit has returned by surprise. And at dusk, Aucher tells them the sergeant (whom Rouse is not interested in seeing) has come back. For the next several weeks, Mrs. Rouse tries not to let her house be sold, without Mr. Rojas' help, to a woman who is willing to buy the property. One day, nearly a year after his debut at No. 2, Haynes stunningly finds the major compartments of the kitchen have moved to outside for the sake of convenience. Then, he discovers just how much Philomen has changed in weight and appearance. This is due to heavy work and a love affair with Sugedo, which makes Maisie develop hatred for the servant. To avoid further trouble with Rouse, she is forced to move out of her home and live with her new employer, Gomes. A tearful farewell takes place at No. 2, whence Mrs. Rouse also cries for her before she leaves; Haynes is a part of it as well. Just when life at No. 2 begins anew without Philomen, so its trials and tribulations resume: Maisie and some others are soon accused by Mrs. Rouse for being involved in a string of petty thefts, rising by the score. It comes to a climax one Sunday morning when Mrs. Rouse finds a dollar bill belonging to Haynes, with her niece unwilling to admit to this theft. She disappears from Haynes' sight the rest of the day. After spending a worryfree August by the seaside while on leave, Haynes returns to No. 2 on the final day of the month—a rainy Sunday—and finds out that nothing has changed. As Mrs. Rouse calls for Maisie, right before Haynes and a few lodgers, the niece speaks out against her being treated by her aunt, and also against her aunt's past love life with Benoit. Thus the ultimate quarrel between the two ensues on a now-muddy yard, during which Mrs. Rouse throws away all of her niece's goods out into the mire. Supporting his now almost-defeated lover, Haynes is angry at her aunt, while the niece, in revenge, ruins some of her aunt's attire amid her own outfits. Angry at Mrs. Rouse, she sneaks away from the rest of the lodgers. Four nights later, Haynes meets her at a nearby park for the last time; she tells the bachelor of her plans for New York City. Another two days pass before she heads to the Big Apple by boat. Life at No. 2, for Haynes, will never be the same without her, and thus he cannot afford to stay there. As September comes to an end, Rouse informs him that the former landlord has suffered a stroke, which she is not sorry to see him get. Both head to the Government Hospital that Sunday night to make sure he is there, since they are unable to visit him. The two of them leave, walking up the street—Rouse to her church for prayers, and Haynes to No. 2, where he and Miss Atwell discuss about Benoit's past and present. Rouse joins them both after her session has finished. Late that same night, Haynes decides that he should end his life at the house, for all the effects that Maisie's immigration has left on him. Next morning, the 22nd of September, he wakes up uneasily to the news of McCarthy Benoit's death: this event, in turn, causes regular life at No. 2 to come to an end. Entering October, Haynes finds new lodgings with Ella's help, and this leaves Rouse and Atwell as the caretakers of the house before it can legally be sold. (Gomes [Haynes' new neighbour] and Mr. Rojas are taking over Rouse's declining cake business.) Though his visits are less frequent in time to come, bachelor Haynes often passes by No. 2, thinking of all that used to happen there. At the end of the novel, a family of five—husband, wife and three children—happen to be its new residents. |
Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission | Hampton Sides | 2,001 | In late January 1945, 121 Ranger volunteers set out to perform a rescue of over 513 Allied prisoners of war in a Japanese camp near the Philippine city of Cabanatuan. The prisoners, remnants of the Bataan Death March, had lived in deplorable conditions for three years, suffering from starvation, tropical diseases, and abuse from Japanese soldiers. Ghost Soldiers recounts the story of the prisoners, the Ranger unit performing the raid, and the Filipino guerrillas who provided assistance. A massacre of American soldiers at Palawan alerted U.S. commanders to the danger of mass POW executions as the Japanese retreated from the Philippines. As a consequence, they planned and executed a mission to rescue the POWs from Cabanatuan prison camp. Ghost Soldiers provides historical background to the events leading to the raid, detailed accounts of camp conditions and the prisoner's heroic will to survive, and the planning and successful execution of the rescue. |
Thomas | Robin Jarvis | 1,995 | Thomas tells of the midshipmouse Thomas Triton's adventures when he was young. He and his friend Woodget Pipple become embroiled in the hideous schemes of the Scale, the followers of the evil serpent god Sarpedon. |
Fleabee's Fortune | Robin Jarvis | 2,004 | The story, taking place in the year before the events of The Dark Portal, is about a young ratgirl named Fleabee, who is unlike the rest of her kind. She is gentle and does not want to harm anything. But the festival of the First Blood is approaching, when young ratlings must murder by midnight or be killed themselves. And so Fleabee has to make a difficult choice. |
The Dark Portal | Robin Jarvis | 1,989 | In the sewers of Deptford there lurks a dark presence that fills the tunnels with fear: Jupiter, a dark god known only by his evil, no one really knows who he is except for his lieutenant Morgan his glowing eyes seen behind a dark "portal" in the tunnel wall. The rats worship him and do his dark bidding. The Deptford mice, who worship the Green Mouse who brings Spring, are aware of Jupiter's evil presence in the tunnels. One of the mice, Albert Brown, is pulled through a grate into the sewers by the dark enchantments that Jupiter has woven there. He meets a cheeky mouse from the city, Piccadilly, also lost inside the lair of the rats. When Albert is captured by Morgan, a Cornish, piebald rat with a stump for a tail and rings through his ears (none other than Jupiter's lieutenant) and brought to Jupiter, Piccadilly escapes into Albert's home, known as the Skirtings, where he meets a large number of friends. Firstly, there is Audrey Brown, Albert's day-dreaming daughter who hates Piccadilly for surviving where her father did not. Then there is Arthur Brown, Audrey's plump and funny brother. There is also simple fieldmouse William Scuttle or 'Twit' and his cousin, the sickly albino runt, Oswald Chitter. Along with the old Midship-mouse, Thomas Triton and Gwen Brown, the mother of Audrey and Arthur, they venture into the sewers to banish Jupiter from the world. The Rat God, however, has an evil plan to unleash the Black Death on the world once more, ridding it of humans and enabling him to conquer it. After a tense-confrontation with Jupiter in this throne-room during which the malevolent deity is revealed to be a monstrous cat, Audrey defeats the Dark Lord by flinging her mousebrass at him. The talisman explodes and Jupiter falls into the water that is rapidly flooding his chamber. The spirits of the many mice and rats he has tortured and devoured then rise up and drag the dark god down to a watery grave. Audrey glimpses her father among the legion of spirits as they depart and despairs, realising that he is truly dead. The sewer floods and the Black Death is destroyed. Thankful that they are alive and resolving to celebrate Jupiter's downfall once they return home, the mice begin the journey back to the surface but as they leave, Orfeo the bat foretells doom. |
The Crystal Prison | Robin Jarvis | 1,989 | Oswald is ill and he's hours from death. While Twit and Piccadilly vow to return to their home, Thomas arrives, telling Audrey that she must join him on a journey to Greenwich to speak to the Starwife. So Audrey, Thomas, and Twit went they are told that the Chitters will all perish by the end of the night unless Audrey agrees to take Madame Akkikuyu to live in Twit's field. Although Oswald makes a full recovery. Nicodemus, proves his powers to Akkikuyu. Nicodemus tells Madamme Akkikuyu to release him from his prison, and a girl has to replace his spot, Akkikuyu realises that he is referring to Audrey and agrees to do his bidding Nicodemus chooses Alison for the sacrifice. Akkikuyu takes her to be sacrificed and halfway through, Nicodemus reveals that he is Jupiter, and that he will inhabit Akkikuyu's body as soon as he is freed from the Crystal Prison. For redemption Madamme Akkikuyu leaps into the flames, saving Alison and holding Jupiter imprisoned for the time being. Akkikuyu is buried in great honour. Now that Akkikuyu is dead, Audrey's deal with the Starwife is void and a little while later Jupiter's prison is smashed unknowingly by Alison and he flies into the air, vowing revenge on those who opposed him... This is the last appearance of Twit in the Deptford Mice series, although he is mentioned throughout The Final Reckoning. It is unknown if he is to cross paths with the others again, as it is noted that neither Arthur or Audrey would ever return to Fennywolde. Madame Akkikuyu's role in The Crystal Prison is very similar to Morgan's in The Final Reckoning. Both are happier than they have ever been in their life, both lives are ruined by Jupiter at its end and both commit suicide. |
The Final Reckoning | Robin Jarvis | 1,990 | The ghostly spirit of Jupiter is back, more powerful than ever before. Bent on revenge, he smothers the world in an eternal winter of ice and snow. Huddled around their fires, the Deptford Mice are worried: the mystical bats have fled the attic, and underground a new rat army is being mustered. With food short and no sign of spring, the mice know that a desperate struggle confronts them. Few will survive. |
Inside, Outside | Herman Wouk | 1,985 | The story alternates between Goodkind telling his family history and early years (specifically, his first 26 years (1915-1941)) and his account of current events in 1973, leading up to the Yom Kippur War. The tales of Goodkind's early years describe his family - his mother and father, his sister, his mother's father and father's mother, his mother's half sister, and a tribe of more distant uncles, aunts and cousins (the 'Mishpokha', Yiddish for 'family'). After college, Goodkind works for Harry Goldhandler, a gagwriter for radio comedies (very loosely based on David Freedman), and has a romance with showgirl Bobby Webb. The tales of his present day in 1973 are centered on his wife, his daughter, their friends, and Peter Quat, a college friend who also worked for Goldhandler, and who had become a famous novelist for his sexually explicit characters and unflattering depictions of American Jewish life. Quat's books seem similar to the work of Philip Roth, but Roth did not attend Columbia nor work for Freedman. As a young man, Goodkind becomes less observant, but his adult self has returned to the Orthodox practices of his father and grandfather. Goodkind as a child and young man is embarrassed by his first name "Israel", mockingly shortened by several other characters to "Izzy". In the last scene of the novel when Goodkind returns to the U.S. after the Yom Kippur war, he tells an El Al flight attendant to call him Israel. |
Filth | Irvine Welsh | 1,998 | The plot centres on Bruce Robertson, a detective sergeant serving in Edinburgh's "Lothian Constabulary". Robertson is an intensely misanthropic man driven by intense hatred, and is fuelled by his penchant for "the games" — Bruce's euphemism for the myriad foul plots he hatches directed at workmates. He is also addicted to cocaine, and is sexually abusive towards the women in his life. He is able to indulge in non-stop sex and drug use during his annual holidays to Amsterdam. The novel begins with a murder, which is the case that Bruce Robertson is investigating; however, the natural evolution of the plot itself has little or nothing at all to do with the crime. The plot traces Bruce throughout his life, told from a first-person perspective. Through narrative devices such as the tapeworm he acquires, we get to explore the facets of Bruce's personality and learn about his past, through the various tedious police routines Bruce absconds from, his sexual endeavours eventually backfiring, and his various short or long-termed schemes and plots against his colleagues in order to raise his chances of gaining the hoped-for promotion to Detective Inspector. In an example of a rather short-term scheme, at the police station's Christmas party Bruce first waits for a female colleague he calls "Size Queen" to get drunk, and then proposes a game in order to have sex with her. A longer-term scheme, and also a major sub-plot, is the harassing phone calls Bruce directs at the wife of his friend, Clifford "Bladesy" Blades: Bunty Blades. By imitating the voice of British celebrity Frank Sidebottom to call Bunty up and ask vulgar questions, Bruce manages to drive a wedge between her and "Bladesy". After ingratiating himself with Bunty by playing the role of a concerned friend, Bruce manages to trick Clifford Blades into imitating the selfsame voice in a message left to his answering machine, which serves to portray him as Bunty's perverted caller - which Bruce, of course, "reveals" to Bunty. Bruce enters into a purely sexual relationship with Bunty Blades after feigning romantic interest, whilst "Bladesy" is arrested. Apart from the general malevolent scheming, along the way Bruce Robertson also seeks to satisfy his cravings for violence, drugs, sex, and pornography whilst happily voicing his racism, sectarianism and misogyny and pining for his ex-wife. Eventually Bruce is forced into taking leave due to injuries he suffers while dressed as his ex-wife, leading to the revelation that he committed the racially-motivated murder that is the main plot, and that the colleagues he so despised — particularly his boss Bob Toal — knew of this, and were protecting him all along. The book ends with Bruce committing suicide in order to claim revenge on his divorced wife, Carole. |
Scarlett | Alexandra Ripley | 1,991 | The book begins where Gone with the Wind left off, with Scarlett attending the funeral of her former sister-in-law and rival for Ashley Wilkes' affection, Melanie Wilkes, at which her estranged husband, Rhett Butler, is not present. Scarlett, heartbroken and aggravated that Rhett has left her completely, sets out for Tara and is saddened when she learns that Mammy, her mainstay since birth, is dying. When she arrives at Tara, she sends a telegram to notify Rhett about Mammy under the name of Will Benteen (her sister Suellen's husband), because she knows that Rhett won't come if he suspects Scarlett is there. Before Mammy dies she makes Rhett swear to look after "her lamb" Miss Scarlett. Rhett agrees, although he has no intention of honoring the request. After Mammy's death, Rhett and Scarlett fight, which culminates in Rhett leaving and Scarlett returning to the Atlanta house, determined to win Rhett back. Scarlett, in her haste to win Rhett back, travels to Charleston to visit Rhett's family and tries to corner him by winning his mother's affection. He instead secludes himself in the family's old plantation on the river. Scarlett convinces Rhett to take her for a sail on the harbour, where their boat capsizes during a terrible storm. When they become shipwrecked, Rhett tries to keep Scarlett awake until they reach land. Scarlett and Rhett swim until they reach an island, and take refuge in a hollow of sand dunes. Rhett says, "Oh my darling, I thought I'd lost you! My love, my life...". Scarlett thinks he means it, and the two make love in the cave. Rhett later tells her that "when a man survived something he thought he wouldn't, he does and says crazy things," and that he didn't mean it. Scarlett, knowing that he meant it tells him to look her in the eyes, and tell her honestly that he does not love her. He then confesses, but runs out because he does not want to "lose himself" over her again. He compares her to an addiction to opium. Once safely back in Charleston, Rhett leaves Scarlett near death at his mother's house, telling her, in a letter, that while he admires her bravery in the face of danger, it has changed nothing; he will never see her again. After Scarlett has regained her strength, she leaves Charleston with her two aunts, Pauline and Eulalie, to attend her maternal grandfather's birthday celebration in Savannah. She leaves a hastily written note to Rhett's mother, whom she has grown to love and admire, with Rhett's sister, Rosemary. Rosemary burns the note. (Rosemary overheard a nasty exchange between Rhett and Scarlett and was upset with this "dark side" of her brother. Rhett told Rosemary the whole story of loving Scarlett till there was not one drop of love left and how he would fall in love with her again if he didn't keep away from her.) Scarlett connects with the Savannah O'Haras against her maternal family's wishes. Scarlett's grandfather offers Scarlett his entire inheritance if she will remain with him in Savannah until his death and avoid all contact with her father's side of the family. Scarlett refuses the old man and storms out of the house, furious at his demands. She goes to stay with her cousin Jamie and his family. Soon after another cousin named Colum, a priest from Ireland, joins them. Later Scarlett agrees to travel to Ireland with him. By this time Scarlett has realized that she is pregnant with Rhett's child but she keeps her pregnancy hidden. In Ireland, Scarlett is heartily welcomed by her Irish kin, including her grandmother, Old Katie Scarlett, Gerald's mother. Exploring one day with her cousin Colum, they pass by an old house which the latter explained was called 'Ballyhara' along with the land surrounding it; it was O'Hara land long ago before the English seized it, along with other land from the Irish. Scarlett is mildly interested until she receives a notification of divorce from Rhett. Scarlett makes plans to leave for America at once but is stunned by more news; Rhett is married to another woman, a Charlestonian named Anne Hampton, who is said to resemble Melanie Wilkes. Heartbroken and full of remorse over her past deeds, Scarlett decides to remain in Ireland. She works with lawyers and leaves her two-third share of her father's plantation, Tara, to her son Wade Hamilton (fathered by her first husband, Charles Hamilton, brother of Melanie Wilkes), buys Ballyhara and settles down in Ireland, to her Irish family's delight. She and her cousin, Colum, tell everyone that her husband had taken ill and then died, leaving her a widow, rather than tell the truth that she was divorced. As Ballyhara is slowly restored, Scarlett eagerly awaits the birth of her child, praying for it to be a girl and vowing to be a good mother. She is well respected by the townspeople and her family, earning her a reputation as a hard worker, with fierce Irish pride. She becomes known as The O'Hara, a title reserved for the undisputed leader of a family clan. One stormy Halloween night, her water breaks. Her housekeeper, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, and the midwife whom Colum summons are unable to handle the situation, and it appears that Scarlett will die. Instead, she is saved by the wise old woman who lives near the haunted tower and who appears suddenly. The Caesarian birth is successful, but internal damage is done to Scarlett; as a result, Scarlett can no longer have children. The baby, a girl, is born with dark skin like Rhett's, but with blue eyes that slowly turn as green as Scarlett's. Full of love and thanksgiving, Scarlett names her Katie Colum O'Hara, and calls her "Cat" because of her green eyes. Rumors in the town abound about the birth of the child since one of the townspeople summoned to help with the birth claimed that the wise woman (witch) birthed a healthy boy from Scarlett but replaced the boy-child with a girl-child changeling. These rumors and fears are accented by the fact that Cat is born on Halloween, the time when bad spirits roam and play tricks on the living. After Scarlett has settled down in Ballyhara, she runs into Rhett a number of times—in America when she sees him while she is on the boat to Boston, at a fair where she admits she still loves him and at a hunt a week later. All the while, he still does not know he has a child. He then seeks her out at a society ball and, in this gesture, Scarlett realizes he still loves her, and that she in turn loves him in a way only she and he will ever know. Lord Fenton, one of the wealthiest men in Europe, pursues Scarlett relentlessly, wanting to marry her but not with good intentions. He wants Scarlett to bear his children after seeing Cat's fiery spirit and fearlessness. He also plans to unite their estates; he owns Adamstown, the land adjacent to Scarlett's. The combined estate will go to their son upon their deaths but Cat will bear his name and have the best of everything. Angered by his arrogance, Scarlett refuses and orders him out of her house. He laughs at her and asks her to call him when she reconsiders. Scarlett leaves for Dublin for her yearly visit for parties and hunts. She later decides to accept Lord Fenton when she hears that Anne is pregnant with Rhett’s second child (the first child was lost to a miscarriage). The news leaks out about her engagement and Rhett, in a drunken state, insults her when she runs into him at a horse race. A mutual friend tells her that Anne died of a fever and the baby died four days after its birth and she rushes back to Ballyhara hopeful that Rhett would come looking for her. She finds English there with a warrant to arrest Colum, who is the head of the Fenian Brotherhood, a group of Irish terrorists planning to revolt against the English. Colum is murdered and Rosaleen Fitzpatrick sets fire to the entire English arsenal to avenge Colum. The villagers, thinking Scarlett is in league with the English, burn her house down. Rhett comes to her rescue and he tries to convince her to escape with him. Scarlett doesn't go, but runs around her house yelling, "Cat! Cat! Where are you?" Rhett, confusedly says, "There's no time for the cat! We have to go!" Scarlett looks at him, dumbfounded. "Oh you fool! Not a cat," she barks. "Katie Colum O'Hara, called Cat. She's your daughter." Stunned, Rhett demands that Scarlett tell him how that's possible. Scarlett, still anxious about finding Cat, gives him a hurried explanation of when Cat was conceived. Rhett frantically goes in search of his newfound daughter with Scarlett at his heels. They find Cat in the kitchen after Scarlett remembers that Cat loves the kitchen. The three climb into the high tower on Ballyhara where Cat has made a playhouse and they stay there for the night. Scarlett explains why she didn’t tell him about Cat and he understands. Rhett and Scarlett both say "I love you". They wake up the next morning ready to start their new lives together and leave Ireland. The book ends with "Grainne told me to keep it," said by Cat, speaking of the old rope ladder which they will use to climb down from the tower. |
The Boy Who Lost His Face | Louis Sachar | 1,989 | In a 1989 suburban town, a boy named David tries to get in the cool group by helping his friend Scott, and two troublemakers named Roger and Randy (the former being the leader) carry out a prank. Their target was an elderly woman who was called a witch by all the kids in the neighborhood. When they attacked her and stole her cane David flips her off to try to impress Roger. But when they were leaving the old lady's house, she cried out to David "Your Doppelgänger will regurgitate on your soul!" The following days David finds himself experiencing strange happenings that lead him to believe that he is cursed. After being rejected by Roger and his gang, David finds himself becoming a loser. He breaks his parent's window, he walks into class with his zipper unzipped, he falls off his chair in class, and his only friends are fellow outcasts Larry and Maureen "Mo". His actions lead Rogers gang to target him and his friends, calling them "The Three Stooges". He becomes friendly with a cute girl named Tori Williams, but his pants fall down when he gets the courage to ask her for her phone number. Finally, his little brother, after being ridiculed by Roger's younger brother, loses all respect for David. Eventually, David begs the elderly woman to remove the curse, but she asks for her cane to be returned first. As it turns out, Tori does not turn on him for his moment of humiliation, and tries to pretend that she had her eyes closed in thought to prevent David from becoming uncomfortable around her. David finally decides to fight for his dignity, and, with his friends and little brother by his side, he goes to face Roger's gang and get the cane back, not suspecting that many things, including the curse, are not as they seem. Mo, Tori, Larry, David and his little brother all go to Roger's house for the fight. They get the cane and bring it back to the 'witch' who turns out to be Tori's great-aunt. The aunt is not a witch and the is no curse but David was feeling so bad that sub-consciously he does the things to himself that had happened to the old lady. At the end of the book, A boy called Willy admires David and has a similar life style |
The Steadfast Tin Soldier | Hans Christian Andersen | 1,838 | On his birthday, a boy receives a set of 25 toy soldiers and arrays them on a table top. One soldier stands on a single leg, having been the last one cast from an old tin spoon. Nearby, he spies a paper ballerina with a spangle on her sash. She too is standing on one leg and the soldier falls in love. That night, a goblin among the toys angrily warns the soldier to take his eyes off the ballerina, but the soldier ignores him. The next day, the soldier falls from a windowsill (presumably the work of the goblin) and lands in the street. Two boys find the soldier, place him in a paper boat, and set him sailing in the gutter. The boat and its passenger wash into a storm drain, where a rat demands the soldier pay a toll. Sailing on, the boat is washed into a canal, where the tin soldier is swallowed by a fish. When the fish is caught and cut open, the tin soldier finds himself once again on the table top before the ballerina. Inexplicably, the boy throws the tin soldier into the fire. A wind blows the ballerina into the fire with him; she is consumed at once but her spangle remains. The tin soldier melts into the shape of a heart. |
The Little Drummer Girl | John le Carré | 1,983 | Martin Kurtz, an Israeli spymaster, recruits Charlie, a radical left-wing English actress,as part of an elaborate scheme to discover the whereabouts of Khalil, a Palestinian terrorist. Charlie's case officer is Joseph. Salim is abducted, interrogated, and killed by Kurtz's unit. Joseph impersonates Salim and travels through Europe with Charlie in order to make Khalil believe that Charlie and Salim are lovers, the goal being that, when Khalil discovers the affair and contacts Charlie, the Israelis will be able to track him down. Khalil does contact Charlie through intermediaries, and she travels to a Palestine refugee camps in Lebanon to be trained as a bomber. She becomes more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, and the schizophrenic lifestyle she is forced to live brings her close to collapse. Finally, Charlie is sent on a mission to pretend to place a bomb at a lecture given by an Israeli moderate whose peace proposals are not to Khalil's liking. She carries out the mission under the Israelis's supervision. As a result, Khalil is killed, and Charlie's mission comes to an end. She subsequently has a mental breakdown caused by the strain of her mission and her own internal contradictions. Whereupon, Joseph comes to her aid: "locked together, they set off awkwardly along the pavement, though the town was strange to them." Charlie's motives for helping the Israelis when she is in fact an anti-Zionist are indicative of why the authors' novels are so well loved. The novels are less about character and other literary concerns, than they are primers about the life of a spy that the author lived prior to becoming a novelist. By having Charlie fall in love with the Israeli Mossad agent, "Joseph," and the terrorist, "Michel," the reader is forced to see the similarities between the methods of both the intelligence services of the world, and those of the world's terrorists. The most common and most interesting method for accessing one another's secrets, is the "honeytrap," in which an attractive member of the opposite sex lures a target. As the characters of the Mossad say, in the book, "tether the goat to attract the lion." The similarity of methodology results in the fascinating inner turmoil of both the Charlie, and her beloved Joseph. Readers, too, are forced to consider the ethics of both the terrorist and the intelligence officer. The result is a wonderful ride on the rivers of conscience. |
Jedi Search | Kevin J. Anderson | null | The story begins with Han Solo and Chewbacca on a diplomatic mission from the New Republic to the spice mines of Kessel. Unbeknownst to them, Moruth Doole had taken over the space mines, and was convinced the Falcon with Solo and Chewbacca aboard was a spy ship, a prelude to invasion to seize control of the extremely lucrative spice production facilities. His small fleet, based on Kessel's solo moon, shot down the emissaries, and brought them to Doole for questioning. He proceeded to do so by ingesting a large quantity of extremely pure glitterstim, which boosted his psychic capabilities to the point where he could forcibly invade Solo's mind and ascertain the truth. When Doole realized that they had been just diplomats, and that he had effectively declared war on the New Republic, he panicked. When combined with the fact that he thought Solo knew he had been the one that ratted out Solo and Chewbacca to the Imperials (the result of which was that Solo was forced to dump his cargo on the Kessel Run; Jabba the Hutt then placed the bounty on his head mentioned in Episode IV), Doole decided the best course was to place the two prisoners in his mines as slave laborers where they would no doubt perish soon. In the mines, the two, with the aid of a young Kyp Durron sought for an escape. Simultaneously, Luke Skywalker embarked on his search for talented Force-sensitives whom he could mold into Jedi within his new Jedi Praxeum. Lando Calrissian, along with C-3PO and R2-D2, aided Luke with this search. In order to do so, he used a device that supposedly could detect one's affinity to the Force. Calrissian followed one lead to the Umgullian Blob races where Dack, the possible force-sensitive, was rumored to have predictive abilities due to his successes at gambling. However, Calrissian discovered that he was cheating and exposed him. Rather than be punished by death, as was the law on Umgul, Dack was returned to the Duchess Mistral. In return, Calrissian was rewarded with half of the one million credit reward. Skywalker, meanwhile had gone to the infested planet Eol Sha where a man named Gantoris was believed to have Force-sensitiveness. After two serious tests, one involving fighting a fire dragon, Gantoris agreed to come to the Jedi academy, but was still afraid about the "Dark man" he saw in his dreams that would one day end his life. After collecting Streen, an old hermit on Bespin, the trio made back to the Yavin 4 where the Jedi academy began. |
A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy | Laurence Sterne | 1,768 | Yorick's journey starts in Calais, where he meets a monk who begs for donations to his convent. Yorick initially refuses to give him anything, but later regrets his decision. He and the monk exchange their snuff-boxes. He buys a chaise to continue his journey. The next town he visits is Montreuil, where he hires a servant to accompany him on his journey, a young man named La Fleur. During his stay in Paris, Yorick is informed that the police inquired for his passport at his hotel. Without a passport at a time when England is at war with France (Sterne traveled to Paris in January 1762, before the Seven Years' War ended), he risks imprisonment in the Bastille. Yorick decides to travel to Versailles where he visits the Count de B**** to acquire a passport. When Yorick notices the count reads Hamlet, he points with his finger at Yorick's name, mentioning that he is Yorick. The count mistakes him for the king's jester and quickly procures him a passport. Yorick fails in his attempt to correct the count, and remains satisfied with receiving his passport so quickly. Yorick returns to Paris, and continues his voyage to Italy after staying in Paris for a few more days. Along the way he decides to visit Maria – who was introduced in Sterne's previous novel, Tristram Shandy – in Moulins. Maria's mother tells Yorick that Maria has been struck with grief since her husband died. Yorick consoles Maria, and then leaves. After having passed Lyon during his journey, Yorick spends the night in a roadside inn. Because there is only one bedroom, he is forced to share the room with a lady and her chamber-maid ("fille de chambre"). When Yorick can't sleep and accidentally breaks his promise to remain silent during the night, an altercation with the lady ensues. During the confusion, Yorick accidentally grabs hold of something belonging to the chamber-maid. The last line is: "when I stretch'd out my hand I caught hold of the fille de chambre's...End of vol II". The sentence is open to interpretation. You can say the last word is omitted, or that he stretched out his hand, and caught hers (this would be grammatically correct). Another interpretation is to incorporate 'End of Vol. II' into the sentence, so that he grabs the Fille de Chambre's 'End'. |
Dark Apprentice | Kevin J. Anderson | null | While the New Republic struggles to decide what to do with the deadly Sun Crusher--a new doomsday weapon stolen from the Empire by Han Solo--the renegade Imperial Admiral Daala uses her fleet of Star Destroyers to conduct guerrilla warfare on peaceful planets. And now she threatens Mon Calamari, the watery homeworld of Admiral Ackbar and important shipyard for the New Republic. But as the battle for a planet rages, an even greater danger emerges at Luke Skywalker's Jedi academy on Yavin 4. A strong but untrained student named Gantoris delves dangerously into the dark side of the Force and unleashes the spirit of the ancient dark side master Exar Kun, who instructs him in the creation of a unique, three crystal lightsaber that can be focused to extend beyond the normal length to that of a spear. The spirit of Exar Kun also tries, with disastrous consequences, to entice him toward the dark side. Although unsuccessful, this sets the stage for another of Luke's students, Kyp Durron, to face the same choice as Gantoris. Working together, they may become an enemy greater than any the New Republic has ever fought...more powerful than even a Jedi Master can face. Kyp Durron begins his Jedi training with Luke Skywalker during this story, but first, he is being treated to the time of his life by Han Solo. Han felt that because Kyp had been in the mines most of his entire life, that he deserved to have a little fun. When he does get to the Jedi Praxeum, he starts learning the ways of the light side of the Force, astonishing all the other students with his extraordinary talent and his aptitude for Force-training; unfortunately, he also starts learning of the dark side of the Force after Gantoris' death (Gantoris had been corrupted by the spirit of Exar Kun, but turned against him; in revenge, Exar Kun burned Gantoris alive). Exar Kun's spirit began tempting Kyp. Kyp's power increases considerably, and he is tainted by the dark side and the lies Kun told him of the history of the Jedi Order. After a violent disagreement with Tionne over ancient history (involving the fall of Exar Kun), Kyp assaulted Skywalker; with the dark aid of Kun, Kyp ripped Luke's soul from his body, placing him into a coma. With his strength in the Force, Kyp reached out and guided the Sun Crusher from the heart of the gas giant, Yavin, and set out on a mission of vengeance against Admiral Daala and the Imperial Remnant. He knows that his brother, Zeth Durron, is still part of the Empire and he sets course for Carida, intending to rescue him by force if need be. |
Dragon Rider | Cornelia Funke | 1,997 | As the novel begins, a dragon clan receives word from a rat named Rosa that humans are going to flood their valley. In frightened disbelief, most of the dragons refuse to accept this news and decide to either hide, fight, or take flight to find safe refuge somewhere else. Slatebeard, the oldest and wisest dragon in the valley, tells the dragons of a great valley he once inhabited as a child, the Rim of Heaven. He believes this to be one of the last places on Earth for the dragons to hide from humans, and urges them to seek it. Firedrake alone heeds Slatebeard's message and sets off with Sorrel, his brownie companion, to find it, but not before Slatebeard warns him to "beware the Golden One". Rosa Graytail suggests before their departure that they should see her cousin, Gilbert Graytail, to pick up a map. They do so, but since Gilbert resides in a large city, Firedrake is forced to hide in an abandoned building. There they meet Ben, an orphaned human boy. Ben is astonished but not terrified by the dragon and quickly learns of his plan. He offers to aid Sorrel in her trek to the mapmaker's home. Though reluctant to be helped by one of her perceived enemies, Sorrel agrees and accepts the company of the boy. Sorrel reaches Gilbert's abode only to discover that he has been unable to, despite constant efforts, to locate the Rim of Heaven. He does mention that the pair's queries are similar to those of some mysterious ravens who visited him recently. Returning to the warehouse with a general world-map, Sorrel and Ben, who they decided must stay, gather up Firedrake and set out from the city. Becoming lost, they encounter a group of dwarves. One of them, named Gravelbeard, conveys news of the party's presence to Nettlebrand, a golden-scaled, draconoid occupying a nearby castle. Nettlebrand, whose only passion is hunting and killing weaker silver dragons, excitedly sets his armor-cleaner, a tiny "homunculus", called Twigleg to spy on Firedrake and his party in the hope that they will lead him to other dragons. Firedrake, Sorrel, and Ben fly onward, but are soon swept off course, arriving on the shore of Egypt. Encountering a basilisk and a band of zealous archaeologists, the party eventually befriends a kindly scientist named Professor Greenbloom. Sorrel is initially suspicious but soon warms up to him. Professor Greenbloom gives Ben one of two freezing-cold metallic scales, which unknown to the humans, once belonged to Nettlebrand. Twigleg relays the news to Nettlebrand, who immediately makes his way to the dig site to find Professor Greenbloom and recover the scales. Meanwhile, the three searchers set out on the advice of the professor to seek the advice of a Djinn, whose thousand eyes can see everything. Ben succeeds in fulfilling the Djinn's arcane requirements with the question: "Where does the Rim of Heaven lie?" The answer to the question appears in two of the Djinn's thousand eyes; it is a path, marked by the Indus River, by a mountain range, and by a monastery. Beyond this monastery is the Rim of Heaven. In the monastery, Ben must break the moonlight on the stone dragon's head. The Djinn also gives them a prophecy: "When that day comes, twenty fingers will point the way to the Rim of Heaven, and silver will be worth more than gold." Meanwhile, Nettlebrand tracks down Greenbloom, who manages to escape him. Twigleg is discovered but is allowed to stay due to his almost-perfect ability to understand and translate any language. He has been grown very attached to Ben, and he begins relaying false information to his master. While flying over the ocean, a lunar eclipse occurs and Firedrake (who lives off of moonlight), cannot fly. He falls and lands on the back of an initially frightening but amiable sea serpent. She agrees to take the friends to Pakistan, where they will rendezvous with a Dracologist, Zubeida Ghalib. She alone knows a way to help Firedrake fly without moonlight. Along the way, the Serpent tells them (among other things) about Nettlebrand and his army of red-eyed Ravens. As the peaceful voyage atop Serpent-back continues, they are spotted by one of Nettlebrand's raven spies. Annoyed, Sorrel throws a stone which she has smeared her adhesive saliva. The stone sticks to the Raven's wing and sends him panicking to shore. In Pakistan, the friends enter a village where Zubeida the Dracologist is living and also find Professor Greenbloom. His wife and daughter, Guinevere, have joined him on account of the incident with Nettlebrand. Deeply worried, the two parties compare their findings, which all point to a single grim fact—Nettlebrand is hunting the Dragons who live in the Rim of Heaven, and expects Firedrake to find them for him. Dr. Ghalib reveals a legend of a Dragon Rider who once lived in the village. Ben is his reincarnation, and his destiny is to save the silver dragons from a terrible enemy. No sooner have they heard the legend than two more of Nettlebrand's ravens descend on them. Sorrel attempts the saliva trick again, with one variation: a few sparks of Dragon-fire are added to the mix. The stones do not adhere, but the Ravens are indeed changed before the eyes of all, into a few crabs. This new strangeness on the part of Nettlebrand disturbs the searchers, ultimately inducing Twigleg to reveal his original intentions as Nettlebrand's spy. He also reveals Nettlebrand's origin—an alchemist created Nettlebrand as a dragon killing machine to obtain the Dragons' horns which he used in his experiments. Twigleg, and eleven other miniature men, were made as Nettlebrand's caretakers. When the Silver Dragons went into hiding, Nettlebrand killed the alchemist and eventually ate all of Twigleg's brothers, then went hunting on his own. Zubeida shows Firedrake and company not only the tomb of the original Dragon Rider, but also a species of flower which collects moonlight in the form of dewdrops on its leaves. Having drunk this "moon-dew", Firedrake is able to fly in the daytime. The two parties split up to lose Nettlebrand's pursuit in the mountains. After a hazardous encounter with a Roc, they are forced off course and must take refuge in a valley. Nettlebrand continues tailing a boat wherein are Professor Greenbloom and his family, knowing they will lead him to Firedrake, but is seen by Guinevere. In the valley, help comes to Firedrake and company in the form of Lola Graytail, Gilbert's niece. Lola had been cartographing the country for her uncle and she guides them to the monastery. There, they are welcomed by the monks, who look on Firedrake as a bringer of good fortune. Also it is here that Ben "breaks the moonlight"--- actually a moonstone kept by the monks for this purpose. Ben shatters the moonstone and summons the aid of a four-armed brownie, named Burr-Burr-Chan. He agrees to guide Firedrake, Sorrel, Twigleg, and Ben to the Rim of Heaven. He warns, however, that Firedrake's kin have degenerated into earthbound cowards as a result of hiding from Nettlebrand. Whilst waiting for the moment of departure, the company discover Gravelbeard (who was threatened by Nettlebrand into becoming another spy) but fail to catch him. They fly on their way swiftly, with Nettlebrand in pursuit. To Twigleg's dismay, in the center of the Rim of Heaven is a great lake, a perfect gateway for Nettlebrand, who can travel by water. To make sure that he is right, Lola takes Twigleg in her miniature airplane to investigate and distract Nettlebrand, while above the others seek the Dragons' cave. There, they meet with a she-Dragon, Maia. She is the only living dragon there, as the other twenty-two have since turned into stone through lack of moonlight. Outside, Lola and Twigleg find Gravelbeard. In the struggle that follows, the Dwarf's hat (which functions as an altitude compensator), is taken by Twigleg. Promptly Gravelbeard is struck with mountain sickness, allowing himself to be taken a prisoner. Nettlebrand, who now knows their location, is coming. No one knows how they could ever stop him since he is twenty times as strong as one dragon as well as immune to other dragons' firepower. In disgust, Sorrel spits on the golden scale which the Professor gave to Ben. Inspired by his success with the Ravens, Firedrake breathes fire on it and reduces it to gold paint. Twigleg comes up with a plan. He frees Gravelbeard and sends him back to Nettlebrand. The Golden One, elated by upcoming success, orders the Dwarf to polish his armor. Unfortunately for Nettlebrand, the armor polish has been replaced with Brownie spit. Nettlebrand enters the cave, and is at once dive-bombed by Firedrake, Maia, and Lola in her plane. At last, the Dragons come together and set Nettlebrand afire. The Brownie spit reacts at once, dissolving Nettlebrand's armor and weakening him. He melts to reveal nothing but a toad underneath. As the company stare in wonder at this transformation, Gravelbeard enters. He has seen the marvelous gemstones and rock formations in the cave, and wishes to enhance them with his own skill, revealing that doing so will bring the petrified dragons back to life. Within a few days, all the silver dragons are awakened again. Firedrake and Maia fly with Sorrel and Burr-Burr-Chan to bring the other members of their species back home. Ben and Twigleg go to live with Professor Greenbloom and his family. Two months later, news reaches the humans that Firedrake has convinced the silver dragons to come with him to the Rim of Heaven. Eager to see their friends again, Ben and Guinevere occupy their time with other investigations of "imaginary" creatures until they can visit the silver dragons again. |
Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism | Georgia Byng | 2,002 | Molly Moon, an orphan at Hardwick House Orphanage in Briersville, England, is living a "boring and plain" life with her best friend Rocky Scarlet, another orphan. She is usually harassed by Ms. Adderstone, the woman in charge of the orphanage, and Hazel, a snobby orphan girl. During a cross-country race at school, Molly and Rocky have a fight and Molly storms away to the town library. As she walks in, she finds a man yelling at the librarian about a book he ordered, but ignores him. While looking in a curious compartment of the restricted section, she finds a book on hypnotism, placed in the wrong section because the "H" was ripped off the spine. Intrigued, she steals it and sneaks out of the library. She takes it to the orphanage to read it. She fakes to be sick so she can study the book better. Curiously, she finds that chapters 7 and 8 ("Voice-Only Hypnosis" and "Long Distance Hypnosis") are missing. Not long after her discovery of the book, she learns that Rocky has been adopted and taken to America with his new family. Determined to see her friend again, she gains the actual ability to hypnotize from the lessons in her book, first successfully hypnotizing the orphanage dog, Petula. Later on, she is able to hypnotize both Ms. Adderstone and their orphanage chef Edna. Using her ability, Molly wins a large sum of money from a local talent competition, by hypnotizing the crowd into believing that she is a talented singer and dancer. She uses the money to fly to New York City, taking Petula with her. Before leaving, she buys a large gold pendulum, where the mysterious professor from the library learns about her, after he bought some anti-hypnosis glasses. Soon after arriving, Molly hypnotizes her way onto Broadway, landing the lead in a musical called "Stars on Mars". However, she steals this part from a real child star, named Davina Nuttel, in the process. The show is a roaring success, and catches the attention of a man named Simon Nockman, who has passed himself off as a "professor" of hypnosis, but is truly just a criminal. He theorizes Molly must have obtained the book and learned hypnosis, and formulates a plan. After one performance of "Stars on Mars", Nockman kidnaps Petula, threatening to kill her if Molly does not comply with his orders, and she cannot hypnotize him because he always wears the anti-hypnotic glasses he bought in Briersville. He orders her to use her power of hypnosis to rob some rare jewels from a bank for him. Having no choice, Molly agrees. All goes as planned with the robbery until she finds Rocky, who much to her surprise has also learned hypnosis. He had previously stolen and learned from the missing chapters of Molly's hypnotism book, "Long Distance Hypnosis" and "Voice-Only Hypnosis". He also reveals that he had intended to take Molly with him when he was adopted, but had not been able to hypnotize his parents. Since then, he left them as they were not much fun. Together, the two pull off the robbery, but later form a plan to return the jewels. Rocky uses his talent to hypnotize Nockman into giving up his life of crime. He then helps Molly return the stolen jewels by placing them in hollow garden gnomes and placing them around the city. However, Molly keeps one diamond, which Petula found in her jacket. Molly gives her part in "Stars on Mars" back to Davina, and returns home with Rocky. Out of sympathy for the broken man, she takes Nockman with her. Before leaving, they work together to record a commercial, using their hypnotic powers to convince people to be kind to their kids. However, when they return, they find Ms. Adderstone and Edna have disappeared, leaving the orphanage in chaos. With Nockman's help, Molly and Rocky get the orphanage back into a livable condition, and get Ms. Trinklebury, the orphanage maid, to run it along with Nockman. The orphanage is renamed 'Happiness House' and the money that Molly earned in New York is used to buy new things and decorate the orphanage. However, it is implied that Nockman has returned to his old ways as he steals a camera, a lollipop and five pounds from children in the orphanage. At the end of the book, Molly is mysteriously summoned to the library by the librarian, Lucy Logan. Lucy explains that she is the descendant of Professor Logan, the man who originally wrote the hypnotism book, and is a skilled hypnotist herself. She had purposely hypnotized Molly into finding Professor Logan's hypnotism book and keeping it for a month. Now, Molly must return it. In an epilogue, it is revealed what happened to Ms. Adderstone and Edna; Ms. Adderstone left to become a pilot, and Edna is now an Italian chef. |
The Deptford Mice Almanack | Robin Jarvis | 1,997 | The almanack is presented as though it were written by Gervase Brightkin, a red squirrel. There are entries for all the days of the year, and every major event in the main novels is given a date. Also, much of the folk lore and elaborate traditions of the mice, bats, squirrels and rats is recorded in the almanack. Throughout the almanack, Gervase writes of his stay in Greenwich Park during the tenth year of Audrey Scuttle's reign as Starwife. He also travels to Fennywolde and Holeborn to ask William 'Twit' Scuttle and Arthur Brown to tell their stories. While in Fennywolde, Gervase encounters Alison Sedge, the field mouse who was jealous of Audrey in The Crystal Prison. Seemingly driven mad because of the death of her love, Jenkin Nettle, she solemnly warns that Audrey will not be the Starwife for much longer and will know great loss. At the end of the year, the Great Oak (in which the rat god Hobb was imprisoned by Ysabelle in The Oaken Throne) falls down because of heavy winds, and many of the grey squirrels in the park begin to whisper that it was Audrey's fault because she is not a squirrel but merely a mouse. When the black squirrels Morella and her father Modequai arrive in Greenwich, they and the grey squirrels plot against Audrey, and finally storm into her chamber and oust her from office. Then they give the silver acorn to Morella and she takes the title of Starwife. Strangely enough, she bears a resemblance to Alison Sedge. The almanack ends on this ominous note, opening up the possibility of a new Deptford Mice novel. |
The White Company | Arthur Conan Doyle | null | At the age of twenty, the young Alleyne, son of Edric, intelligent, skilled, and well-liked, though sheltered and naive, leaves the Catholic abbey where he has been raised and goes out to see the world, in accordance with the terms of his father's will. The same day, the abbot banishes John of Hordle, for worldly behavior: great appetite, teasing, and flirting. At the Pied Merlin inn, they make friends with veteran archer Sam Aylward. He has returned to England from France to recruit for the White Company of mercenaries, and brings an request for Sir Nigel Loring of Christchurch to take command. Aylward and John continue to Christchurch, while Alleyne detours to visit his older brother, the "socman" or landlord of Minstead, whose fierce reputation has grown to wickedness. Meeting the first time since Alleyne was an infant, the socman is threatening a lovely maiden, and still furious their father gave three hides (80-120 acres) to the monastery for the boy's support. Maude bids flee the dogs, and laughs when Alleyne states that his intentions to rejoin his friends will lead to Sir Loring. Indeed, Sir Loring takes Alleyne as squire and tutor to his daughter, the same Maude, and two other damsels. When the men must depart for France, the young couple admit their love, only to each other. Enroute to Gascony, our heroes destroy pirates, then report to the court of the Prince of Wales. After adventures fearful and funny, the valiant fighters lead the White Company to join the Prince. The Spanish and French attack them in a narrow ravine, where the mighty warriors are almost all destroyed and the Company must disband. John and Alleyne, badly wounded, survive, but Sir Nigel and Aylward are missing and presumed dead. The English go on to win the Battle of Nájera, fulfilling the mission. The Prince knights Alleyne in his sick bed, and the former socman has died. Sir Edrikson, new socman, returns victorious, John his squire, to snatch Maude from the doors of the nunnery, for marriage. Enroute back to rescue their friends, all reunite for a happy ever after. |
The Ties That Bind | Judy Blundell | null | Qui-Gon Jinn and his ally Tahl must go to New Apsolon to investigate a murder that can destroy the peace between the planet's upper and lower classes. Although he feels left out, Qui-Gon's apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, also joins the group. The Jedi investigate, although they receive few leads. During the mission, Qui-Gon and Tahl pledge their love for each other. However, Tahl is soon captured by the rogue faction that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were searching for. It is also learned that one of the heirs to the planet is in league with this faction. However, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are quickly focused on rescuing Tahl before she is killed. |
American Buffalo | David Mamet | null | The play concerns a team of men, Don, Teach, Bob, and Fletcher (who does not appear in the play, but is referred to), who are conspiring to steal a coin collection from a wealthy man. Don, who owns a junk shop, sold a nickel to a man for much less than what it was worth. Out of revenge, he and his young gofer, Bob, plan to steal the man's coin collection after suspecting that he went away for the weekend. Teach, an experienced and misanthropic friend of Don's, persuades Don to release Bob from the job because of what Teach feels is inexperience and potential disloyalty, using himself and Fletcher in Bob's place. Right before the caper is going to be carried out later that night, Bob appears at the store and attempts to sell Don a rare nickel, similar to the one Don sold. When asked where he got the nickel, Bob is evasive. He explains Fletcher's absence by saying he was mugged and is now in a hospital, but when Don calls the hospital, Fletcher has not been admitted. Bob's excuse is that he didn't actually know which hospital Fletcher went to, but by this time Teach is sure that Bob is trying to trick them and in anger strikes him on the head with a metal object from the store. Shortly thereafter a call comes in from another friend of theirs corroborating the Fletcher story and naming the correct hospital, which Don calls and confirms. Don admonishes Teach for wounding Bob and orders him to get his car so they can take him to the hospital. |
Boston Marriage | David Mamet | null | The two leads, Anna and Claire, argue over Claire's new found "Love" while Anna's Scottish maid, Catherine, is brought to tears by her employer's harsh verbal rebukes. Things get tense as Anna, a mistress to a wealthy gentleman, tries to talk Claire out of her profession of love for another: a young woman. Claire, on the other hand, has already made plans with her young love to meet at Anna's house in the hopes that she will be able to persuade her new love to engage in a "vile assignation." Things go awry, however, when the girl arrives and recognizes that an emerald necklace that Anna is wearing belongs to her mother. The plot line focuses on whether Anna and Claire will be able to find a way to hold on to both the girl and her wealthy but unfaithful father. The play is delivered through quick, witty Victorian-era dialogue, mixed with double entendres and vernacular expressions, to explore the relationship between the two women and their maid. Through humor and nuance, the play explores the negotiation, conflict, compromise and reconciliation that arise in their relationship. |
Warcraft: Lord of the Clans | Christie Golden | 2,001 | The book's plot revolves around Thrall's journey from birth, to slavery as a gladiator and finally his path on the journey to becoming Warchief of the orcish Horde. The main villain of the book is Aedelas Blackmoore, who commands the encampments where the orcs were imprisoned, and also Thrall's (thrall means slave to humans) former owner. Blackmoore's plans were to raise Thrall to command an orcish army to overrun the Alliance, allowing him to forcibly take the position of King. Thrall was trained to handle every weapon and learned battle tactics, but also studied basic writing and history. Also, to enrich Blackmoore further, Thrall was forced to compete in many gladiator tournaments, which made him want to escape even more. Thrall eventually escapes Blackmoore's tyranny with the help of a young human girl named Taretha. During his captivity, she would sneak notes to Thrall and was one of his only friends while in the grasp of Blackmoore. After earning his freedom thanks to Taretha, Thrall set out to find a group of orcs that had evaded Blackmoore. He found these orcs to be those of the Warsong Clan, led by Grom Hellscream. After learning some of his history from Grom, Thrall then headed for the mountains of Alterac to find his original clan, the Frostwolf Clan. There he met with their Shaman, Drek'Thar, who taught Thrall the ancient ways of Shamanism. There he also met with the Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer and learned more of his past and the reasons for his parents' death. With his new power, and knowledge provided by both Drek'Thar and Doomhammer, Thrall raised an army by freeing his people from the prison encampments, rallying them under the goal of freedom and a return to the orcish life before the war. Unfortunately, Doomhammer fell in a battle liberating one of the encampments, so in his final moments, he granted Thrall the title of Warchief. Thrall then decided to attack the fortress of Durnholde, home of Aedelas Blackmoore, his former captor, to free all the remaining entrapped Orcs at once by cutting off any more reinforcements. He succeeds in taking Durnholde fortress, killing Blackmoore with the help of the elements and of course, his Orcish army. Tragically however, he is too late to save the one human who had helped him during his captivity. At the end of the book, Thrall crushes Durnholde with his elemental powers, then addresses the Horde, promising they will succeed under his leadership. |
Warcraft: Day of the Dragon | Richard A. Knaak | 2,001 | Set after Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness but before Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Day of the Dragon is the story of how a human Mage, Rhonin ventures into the last remaining Orc-controlled lands in Khaz Modan by the order of Krasus. Krasus is actually a red dragon named Korialstrasz, yet is disguised as a human mage of Dalaran during the earlier chapters of the book. He is loyal to his captured queen, Alexstrasza, Queen of the Red dragon flight and one of the five great Aspects. By using the "Demon Soul", Nekros Skullcrusher, leader of the orcs in Khaz Modan, is able to hold Alexstrasza and her consorts, such as Tyranastrasz, against their will and use their offspring as pawns against the other races of Azeroth. Whilst Korialstrasz sought help from the other Aspects, Nozdormu, Malygos and Ysera, Deathwing helped Rhonin get into the Orc Fortress in order to convince Nekros Skullcrusher that there was an imminent Alliance attack on Grim Batol. Deathwing's real motivation was that he wanted the eggs so he could replenish his flight, not to free the Red Dragonqueen. Believing a great army to be on its way, Nekros had the eggs transported elsewhere, placing them in the open where Deathwing wanted them. However, as Deathwing was stealing the eggs, he was confronted by a dying Tyranastrasz. Despite initial problems, Korialstrasz managed to gain the aid of the other three Great Aspects in his task to free Alexstrasza. With the help of Rhonin, Vereesa Windrunner, Falstad Dragonreaver (Falstad Wildhammer), and a number of dwarven resistance fighters, the group managed to destroy the "Demon Soul" forever. By doing so, they free Alexstrasza, who swallows Nekros Skullcrusher in one gulp, aiding in the defeat of the orcs in the area. Ironically, Deathwing helped with the release of Alexstrasza, yet was not concerned due to the fact that the "Demon Soul" has drained the other Aspects powers. However, with the destruction of the "Demon Soul" the powers were returned to the four Aspects and Deathwing was last seen fleeing from three angry Aspects at the time as Alexstrasza went to Korialstrasz. The storyline also covers Deathwing's plot to throw the mortal kingdoms into disarray by posing as Lord Prestor, using his draconic powers to manipulate the rulers of the human kingdoms into making him king of Alterac, then planning to marry into the Lordaeron royal family to become its heir. However, with his defeat at the hands of the other four Dragon Aspects, Lord Prestor is never seen again. |
The Story of the Amulet | E. Nesbit | 1,906 | At the beginning of this book the children's father, a journalist, has gone overseas to cover the war in Manchuria. Their mother has gone to Madeira to recuperate from an illness, taking with her their younger brother, the Lamb. The children are living with an old Nurse who has set up a boardinghouse in central London. Her only remaining boarder is a scholarly Egyptologist who has filled his bedsit with ancient artifacts. During the course of the book, the children get to know the "poor learned gentleman" and befriend him and call him Jimmy. Cook's house is in Fitzrovia, the district of London near the British Museum, which Nesbit accurately conveys as having bookstalls and shops filled with unusual merchandise. In one of these shops the children find the Psammead. It had been captured by a trapper, who failed to recognise it as a magical being. The terrified creature cannot escape, for it can only grant wishes to others, not to itself. Using a ruse, the children persuade the shopkeeper to sell them the "mangy old monkey," and they free their old friend. Guided by the Psammead the children purchase an ancient Amulet in the shape of an Egyptian Tyet (a small amulet of very similar shape to the picture can be seen in the British Museum today http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/r/red_jasper_tit_amulet_of_nefer.aspx), which should be able to grant them their hearts' desire: the safe return of their parents and baby brother. But this Amulet is only the surviving half of an original whole. By itself, it cannot grant their hearts' desire. Yet it can serve as a portal, enabling time travel to find the other half. In the course of the novel the Amulet transports the children and the Psammead to times and places where the Amulet has previously existed, in the hope that — somewhen in time — the children can find the Amulet's missing half. Among the ancient realms they visit are Babylon, Egypt, the Phoenician city of Tyre, a ship to "the Tin Islands" (ancient Cornwall), and Atlantis just before the flood. In one chapter, they meet Julius Caesar on the shores of Gaul, just as he has decided that Britain is not worth invading. Jane's childish prattling about the glories of England persuades Caesar to invade after all. In each of their time-jaunts, the children are magically able to speak and comprehend the contemporary language. Nesbit acknowledges this in her narration, without offering any explanation. The children eventually bring "Jimmy" along with them on some of their time trips. For some reason, Jimmy does not share the children's magical gift of fluency in the local language: he can only understand (for example) Latin based on his own studies. In one chapter the children also come to the future, visiting a British utopia in which H.G. Wells is venerated as a prophet. Wells and E. Nesbit were both members of the Fabian political movement, as was George Bernard Shaw, and this chapter in The Story of the Amulet is essentially different from all the other trips in the narrative: whereas all the other adventures in this novel contain scrupulously detailed accounts of past civilisations, the children's trip into the future represents Nesbit's vision of utopia. This episode can be compared to many other visions of utopian socialist futures published in that era; Nesbit's is notable in that it concentrates on how the life of children at school would be radically different, with economic changes only appearing briefly in the background. (It seems somewhat akin to William Morris's News from Nowhere.) It also mentions a pressing danger of Edwardian England: the number of children wounded, burned, and killed each year. (This concern was addressed in the Children Act 1908, and later in the Children's Charter.) |
Zaynab | Muhammad Husayn Haykal | null | The novel is a seminal point in Egyptian literature since it is the first to feature a fully described, contemporary Egyptian setting and the first to feature dialogue in the Egyptian vernacular. Haykal had spent considerable time in France where he was studying as a lawyer, and it was actually at this point that he wrote Zaynab in 1911. Notably, the author chose the pseudonym Masri Fallah ("An Egyptian Rustic"), which perhaps underlines the lack of prestige attached to the genre at the time of his writing. Originally intended to be a short story, he found that his work had more mileage than he had first appreciated, and continued to tell the story of a young peasant girl named Zaynab, and of the three men who at one time or another strive for her affections. |
The Little Sister | Raymond Chandler | 1,949 | The story opens when mousy Orfamay Quest first phones and then visits Philip Marlowe's office in search of a detective. Orfamay is a "small, neat, rather prissy-looking girl with primly smooth brown hair and rimless glasses" from Manhattan, Kansas who has come to Los Angeles to search for her older brother Orrin. Orrin had recently come out to nearby Bay City (a fictional tough town that appears in many Chandler novels, modeled on Santa Monica) to work as an engineer for the Cal-Western Aircraft Company, but has in recent months stopped writing to Orfamay and their mother. Orfamay describes her concern to Marlowe and asks that he find her brother. Although Orfamay seems the epitome of the innocent small town girl, Chandler foreshadows that she is not what she seems by having Marlowe say in his initial description of her "and nobody ever looked less like Lady Macbeth". Marlowe starts with Orrin's last known address, a seedy apartment building in Bay City. He talks to the building supervisor who is counting money and obviously very drunk. The supervisor thinks that Marlowe is there to rob him and a fight breaks out in which Marlowe disarms him. Marlowe then finds a man who presents himself as a retired optometrist living in Orrin's old room. The man seems rather cagey for a retired optometrist and he and Marlowe trade wise cracks as they both try to feel each other out for information. During the exchange, Marlowe notices that the "optometrist" wears a toupee and is carrying a gun. As Marlowe leaves the apartment building he notices the supervisor, now lying unconscious. At first he assumes the supervisor has passed out but as he examines him more closely he realizes the supervisor is dead, from an ice pick stabbed into his neck. He phones the Bay City police and reports the murder but doesn't leave his name. When Marlowe returns to his office he gets a call from an unidentified man who offers him an easy $100 to hold something. Marlowe agrees to meet the man at his hotel. As he enters the man's room, a blonde emerges from the bathroom with a gun in her hand and her face covered with a towel. She knocks Marlowe out with the gun. When he comes to he finds the "retired optometrist" dead on the bed in the hotel room, also with an ice pick in his neck. The room has been searched and is in complete disarray. It is obvious that whatever they were looking for was rather small based on the kind of containers that have been opened. As Marlowe surveys the scene he tries to think of a possible spot that the killer may have missed. He remembers the optometrist's toupee which is now fixed to his bald, dead, head. He removes the toupee and finds a claim check for the Bay City Camera Shop. He keeps the claim check and notifies the Los Angeles police of the murder. The police arrive and as they survey the scene they realize that the victim is not a retired optometrist as he claims but in fact a minor player in organized crime. Marlowe, wishing to keep his client shielded from the police, tells them the truth about getting a call from the man to come to his hotel, but not about having met the man earlier. The police aren't satisfied that he is giving them a complete explanation but they let him go for the time being. Marlowe comes to realize that the woman in the hotel room was Mavis Weld, a film star. He uses the claim check and retrieves a set of photos of Ms. Weld and a reputed gangster named Steelgrave. Mavis Weld is currently a supporting star but her prospects for true stardom seem very promising, prospects that could be destroyed if a love affair with a gangster made the news. Marlowe goes to Ms. Weld's apartment. There he meets Dolores Gonzales, another minor movie star. He flirts and trades sex-laden wisecracks with Ms. Gonzales and tries to offer to help Ms. Weld but she throws him out. Two thugs sent by Ms. Weld's agent try to scare Marlowe off the case. Marlowe goes to see the agent and makes the agent realize that far from trying to blackmail Ms. Weld, Marlowe may be able to help her. Through his investigations Marlowe learns that the photos of Ms. Weld were taken by Orrin, Orfamay's missing brother. He also realizes that Orrin is working with a shady doctor named Lagardie who practices in Bay City. Marlowe confronts Lagardie but as they talk Marlowe is knocked unconscious by a cigarette laced with a small bit of arsenic that Lagardie slipped him. When Marlowe comes to he finds Orrin in the room with him. Orrin has been shot and is dying. With his last ounce of strength Orrin tries to stab Marlowe with an ice pick. This confirms Marlowe's suspicion that Orrin committed the previous murders. Marlowe realizes that he must call the police but before he does he tries to contact Orfamay. He feels that he owes it to her to let her know that her brother has died before he calls the police. Before he can meet with her however, Ms. Gonzales calls him and says he must come to Steelgrave's home immediately, hinting that Mavis Weld's life is in danger. Marlowe senses a trap but straps on his gun and drives with her to Steelgrave's home in the Hollywood hills. When Marlowe arrives he finds Mavis Weld is indeed there but Steelgrave is already shot to death, with a gun of the same caliber as Mavis threatened Marlowe with in the hotel room. Ms. Weld confesses to Marlowe that she killed Steelgrave and is ready to turn herself in. Marlowe convinces her to leave the gangster's home and he calls the police to report finding yet another body. The police are rough with Marlowe, finally fed up with his half truths and eating his dust. Marlowe stands firm and is eventually let out of jail when Mavis Weld's agent hires a high-powered attorney who makes the police realize they don't have a case. Back in his office, Marlowe is visited by Orfamay one last time. He confronts her with the truth that she knew about the photos Orrin took all along and her real motive was to get money from Mavis Weld, who is her sister. Also, that Orfamay, not her sister Mavis, killed Steelgrave as revenge for Steelgrave killing Orrin at Lagardie's office. The case seems wrapped up but Marlowe realizes there is one more thread still to go. He confronts Ms. Gonzales at her apartment. She was in fact the one pulling the strings, on Doctor Lagardie and on Orrin. She confesses to Marlowe that she engineered the crimes but says her motive was love not money. At first Marlowe laughs in her face, he finds it hard to believe someone who seems so casual about sex could be so passionate about love but he then realizes she is sincere. Ms. Gonzales was in love with Steelgrave and was jealous of Mavis Weld. Marlowe realizes that he can't touch Ms. Gonzales without destroying Mavis and her career. He leaves her apartment dejectedly only to see Lagardie heading up to see her. Marlowe realizes the doctor plans to kill her and deliberately takes his time notifying the police who arrive to find her dead. |
Snakes and Earrings | null | null | The story follows several months in the life of Lui, a young woman who, while exploring body modification, decides to split her tongue. It follows her feelings at this time, and her slow spiral downwards into alcoholism. The story ends with Lui's own tragic discovery about her lover and the mysterious tattoo artist she has grown entranced by. |
Parineeta | Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay | 1,914 | Parineeta takes place at the turn of the 20th century during the Bengal Renaissance. The story centers around a poor thirteen year old orphan girl, Lalita, who lives with the family of her uncle Gurucharan. Gurucharan has five daughters and the expense of paying for each dowry has impoverished him. He is forced to take a loan from his neighbor, Nabin Roy. Roy's son Shekhar, is a twenty five year old successful lawyer who is close friends with Lalita. While she is infatuated with him, the differences in wealth and class (and later religion) preclude marriage (as Swagato Ganguly states in the introduction to the 2005 English translation, "child marriages were the norm during much of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's life time...and did not attract any penalties from the law at the time of Parineetas publication in 1914", pp.v-vi). Shekhar is nonetheless jealous of Girin, a student who is the uncle of Lalita's friend, Charubala (her mother's cousin). Girin, Charubala and the rest of their family are Brahmos and Girin exerts a great deal of influence over Lalita's family. Girin helps Gurucharan repay the loan to Nabin Roy. He also convinces Gurucharan to convert himself and his family from Hinduism to Brahmoism as it forbade the giving of dowry in a marriage (a move which so enrages Nabin Roy that he builds a wall between the two houses). As a triangle develops between Girin, Shekhar, and Lalita, tragedy ensues in the wake of a number of misunderstandings. *Lalita: the protagonist of the novella. Lalita came to live with her uncle's family after she was orphaned at the age of eight. At the beginning of the novella, she is thirteen years old and is close with her cousin Annakali (Kali) and her neighbor, Charubala (Charu). Lalita is considered a member of not only her uncle's family but of Charu's and of Shekhar's as well. Shekhar's mother Bhuvaneshwari is so attached to Lalita that she tells Lalita to call her "ma". At a time (1914) when young women were typically married at the age of thirteen, Lalita becomes the object of a triangle between her neighbor Shekhar and Charu's uncle, Girin. *Gurucharan: Lalita's uncle is a bank clerk with a small salary and five daughters, as well as Lalita, to support. He becomes impoverished due to his attempts to follow social custom and pay large dowries for the weddings of his daughters. Indeed, the marriage of his second daughter was paid for by Shekhar's father, Nabin. In lieu of returning the money with high interest, Gurucharan's house was mortgaged to Nabin. *Lalita's aunt: She is never named in the novella and has only a minor role. *Annakali or Kali: Gurucharan's ten year old daughter and Lalita's cousin and playmate. It is during Kali's imaginary "doll-wedding" that Lalita and Shekhar exchange garlands. *Shekhar: The youngest son of the Roy family, Shekhar is twenty-five years old. He has a master's degree as well as a law degree and is working as a teacher. From the time of her arrival to Gurucharan's house, Shekhar had taken an interest in Lalita's upbringing. While Shekhar contemplates marrying Lalita, he is restrained by social customs as well as by the resistance of his father who wants him to marry a wealthy woman with a large dowry. *Nabin: Shekhar's father, who is a millionaire and an unscrupulous businessman. He becomes so enraged when Gurucharan's debt is repaid and when Gurucharan converts himself and his family to Brahmoism, that he builds a wall between the two houses. *Bhuvaneshwari: Shekhar's mother, who is an advanced thinker. She wants Shekhar to choose his own wife rather than marry the woman whom Nabin selects. She also accepts Lalita as her daughter despite the difference in wealth and position. *Abnash: Shekhar's married elder brother, a lawyer, who is mentioned in passing but never appears in the novella. *Charubala or Charu: Lalita's neighbor and playmate. She introduces Lalita to her uncle Girin. *Manorma: Charu's mother and Girin's cousin. She is an active card player and involves Lalita in many card games. *Girin: Manoroma's cousin and a university student who as been away for many years. He, as with the rest of the family, is a Brahmo, and convinces Gurucharan to convert himself (and his family). As a Brahmo, Gurucharan will no longer have to pay large dowries for the weddings of his daughters. In addition to repaying Gurucharan's loan, Girin repeatedly proves himself to be a man of integrity who acts according to the common good rather than his own self-interest. |
Joe Bob Goes Back to the Drive In | null | null | Joe Bob, now writing for different papers after apparently being fired from the Dallas Times-Herald in 1985, continues with drive-in movie criticism. The fake stories surrounding and couching each review are noticeably reduced in this book, and almost all of Joe Bob's fictional friends - except for Chubb Fricke - have basically wandered out of the ongoing, almost soap opera-like plot of the book. In addition to the reviews and Joe Bob's Mailbag, this book also has two new features. The first is Communist Alert!, in which Joe Bob singles out and derides someone, somewhere, for an act that goes against Job Bob's principles (such as the banning of a breast calendar for breast cancer awareness). These ended with "Remember: without eternal vigilance, it can happen here." The second is a review of a VHS movie of drive-in quality, after Joe Bob became an overnight VHS convert. These are always shorter than the 'feature' review, and actually lend an A movie - B movie double feature feel to his work. |
The Time Traveler's Wife | Audrey Niffenegger | 2,003 | Using alternating first-person perspectives, the novel tells the stories of Henry DeTamble (born 1963), a librarian at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and his wife, Clare Anne Abshire (born 1971), an artist who makes paper sculptures. Henry has a rare genetic disorder, which comes to be known as Chrono-Displacement, that causes him to involuntarily travel through time. When 20-year-old Clare meets 28-year-old Henry at the Newberry Library in 1991 at the opening of the novel, he has never seen her before, although she has known him most of her life. Henry begins time traveling at the age of five, jumping forward and backward relative to his own timeline. When he leaves, where he goes, or how long his trips will last are all beyond his control. His destinations are tied to his subconscious—he most often travels to places and times related to his own history. Certain stimuli such as stress can trigger Henry's time traveling; he often goes jogging to keep calm and remain in the present. He also searches out pharmaceuticals in the future that may be able to help control his time traveling. He also seeks the advice of a geneticist, Dr. Kendrick. Henry cannot take anything with him into the future or the past; he always arrives naked and then struggles to find clothing, shelter, and food. He amasses a number of survival skills including lock-picking, self-defense, and pickpocketing. Much of this he learns from older versions of himself. Once their timelines converge "naturally" at the library—their first meeting in his chronology—Henry starts to travel to Clare's childhood and adolescence in South Haven, Michigan, beginning in 1977 when she is six years old. On one of his early visits (from her perspective), Henry gives her a list of the dates he will appear and she writes them in a diary so she will remember to provide him with clothes and food when he arrives. During another visit, he inadvertently reveals that they will be married in the future. Over time they develop a close relationship. At one point, Henry helps Clare frighten and humiliate a boy who abused her. Clare is last visited in her youth by Henry in 1989, on her eighteenth birthday, during which they make love for the first time. They are then separated for two years until their meeting at the library. Clare and Henry marry, but Clare has trouble bringing a pregnancy to term because of the genetic anomaly Henry may presumably be passing on to the fetus. After six miscarriages, Henry wishes to save Clare further pain and has a vasectomy. However a version of Henry from the past visits Clare one night and they make love; she subsequently gives birth to a daughter, Alba. Alba is diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement as well but, unlike Henry, she has some control over her destinations when she time travels. Before she is born, Henry travels to the future and meets his ten-year-old daughter on a school field trip and learns that he died when she is five years old. When he is 43, during what is to be his last year of life, Henry time travels to a Chicago parking garage on a frigid winter night where he is unable to find shelter. As a result of the hypothermia and frostbite he suffers, his feet are amputated when he returns to the present. Henry and Clare both know that without the ability to escape when he time travels, Henry will certainly die within his next few jumps. On New Year's Eve 2006 Henry time travels into the middle of the Michigan woods in 1984 and is accidentally shot by Clare's brother, a scene foreshadowed earlier in the novel. Henry returns to the present and dies in Clare's arms. Clare is devastated by Henry's death. She later finds a letter from Henry asking her to "stop waiting" for him, but which describes a moment in her future when she will see him again. The last scene in the book takes place when Clare is 82 years old and Henry is 43. She is waiting for Henry, as she has done most of her life, and when he arrives they clasp each other for what may or may not be the last time. |
Raise the Titanic | Clive Cussler | 1,976 | In 1912, the RMS Titanic sunk to the bottom of the North Atlantic in one of history's most infamous maritime disasters. 75 years later it is discovered that Titanics hold contains a shipment of a rare mineral, the only available supply in the world large enough to power a top-secret and vital United States defense program. When no method can be found of extracting the mineral under more than of water, Pitt and his crew set out to do the impossible: raise the Titanic. Dr. Gene Seagram leads the top-secret Pentagon program Meta Section, which secretly attempts to leapfrog current technology by 20 to 30 years. One result: the Sicilian Project, which uses sound waves to stop incoming ballistic missiles. The immense power needs of the Sicilian Project can be met only by an extremely rare mineral called byzanium. After satellite data pinpoints the most likely source of byzanium, Meta Section sends Sid Koplin to a small island off the northern coast of the USSR. There he discovers that the byzanium ore has already been mined. While making his way back to his hidden boat Koplin is shot and captured by a Russian guard but is rescued by the story's protagonist, Dirk Pitt. Using clues found by Koplin, Seagram determines that the byzanium — a chunk worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars in 1912 figures — was mined in the early part of the 20th century by a group called The Coloradans, including Joshua Hayes Brewster. The group was hired by the French but persuaded by the US government to steal the mineral for the United States. Brewster and his men engage in a running battle with French assassins as they crisscross Europe trying to get their stolen goods home. Only Brewster reaches England alive, and he books passage on the maiden voyage of the great White Star Line ship Titanic. Realizing that the only supply of byzanium sufficient to power the Sicilian Project now lies at the bottom of the North Atlantic, Dr. Seagram approaches Dirk Pitt and the National Underwater and Marine Agency and gives them the near impossible task of raising the Titanic. Using data from drop tank experiments Pitt is able to narrow down the search area and begin searching with deep sea submersibles. After finding a presentation model cornet that they can link positively to a member of the Titanics band, Pitt and his colleagues know they are searching in the right place. After discovering that the Titanic is intact they set out on audacious plan to patch all of the holes and then raise the wreck using compressed air. Meanwhile the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) convinces the President of the United States to leak information on both the Sicilian Project and the Titanic mission to the USSR in the hopes of setting a trap to capture one of the Soviet's best intelligence men. When the leaders of the USSR realize that the development of the Sicilian Project would throw off the balance of power in the world and leave their nuclear arsenal impotent they do just as the CIA hopes and launch an operation to sabotage the mission and steal the byzanium for themselves. Once the Titanic is secured for the trip to the United States a massive hurricane strikes the salvage area, allowing the Soviets to board the ship and take the crew hostage. Pitt, who was previously believed dead after being last seen on board a crashed helicopter, reemerges to expose the Soviet spies within the salvage crew. After the crew regains control of the Titanic the ship is eventually towed to New York Harbor and laid up in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. When the ship's vault is opened all are shocked to discover the byzanium was never actually aboard the ship. This revelation, coupled with deep troubles with his marriage and the President's agreement to leaking word of the Sicilian Project to the Soviets, eventually cause Dr. Seagram to have a nervous breakdown from which he never recovers. It is eventually revealed that Joshua Hayes Brewster, fearful that he would not make it onto the ship with the mineral, buried the byzanium in the grave of the last of the group to fall to the French assassins and located in the tiny English village of Southby. The novel ends with a test of the Sicilian Project in the Pacific Ocean. |
Sylvie and Bruno | Lewis Carroll | null | There are two strands: *the conspiracy against the Warden of Outland, instigated by the Sub-Warden and Chancellor, and *the love of a young doctor, Arthur, for Lady Muriel ;Chapter 1: The narrator finds himself in a high room overlooking a public square filled with people. The room is the Warden's breakfast-saloon. The Chancellor has organised a "spontaneous" demonstration (by a rent-a-mob which seems to be confused about whether to chant "More bread, less taxes" or "Less bread, more taxes"). Bruno enters briefly, looking for Sylvie. The Chancellor delivers a speech. The narrator follows Bruno into the study, where he climbs on to the Warden's knee, next to Sylvie. The Warden tells them that the Professor has finally returned from his long wanderings in search of health. They set off for the Library, where the Professor tells them about his concerns with the barometer and with "horizontal weather". The Professor then leads the children back to the saloon. ;Chapter 2: The narrator finds himself in a train compartment, which a veiled young lady has just entered. He is on his way to see Arthur, a doctor friend, for a consultation; he rereads Arthur's letter, and absent-mindedly repeats out loud its last line, "Do you believe in Fate?" The lady laughs, and a conversation ensues. The scene changes abruptly to the breakfast-saloon, in which the Professor is explaining his plunge-bath invention to the Sub-Warden, his wife, her son, the Chancellor, Warden, Sylvie, and Bruno. ;Chapter 3: The Chancellor tries to persuade the Warden to elevate the Sub-Warden to Vice-Warden. The Warden asks the Sub-Warden for a private talk. The Sub-Warden's wife asks the Professor about his Lecture, suggesting a Fancy Dress Ball. He gives Sylvie a birthday present: a pincushion. Uggug throws butter over Sylvie. The Sub-Warden distracts his wife by saying a pig is in the garden; the Chancellor drags Uggug out by his ear. ;Chapter 4: The Warden agrees to the changes. After he has signed the Agreement and left (to become Monarch of Fairyland), the Chancellor, Vice-Warden and his wife laugh about how they have deceived him, the document having been altered at the last minute to give the Vice-Warden dictatorial powers. A beggar appears beneath the window; Uggug and his mother throw water over him. Bruno tries to throw him some food, but he has gone. ;Chapter 5: The narrator wakes up, and he and the lady discuss ghosts. They change trains at Fayfield Junction; he notices her name on her luggage: Lady Muriel Orme. An old tramp is sent on his way. The narrator falls asleep again, and hears the first stanza of the Mad Gardener's Song. The Gardener directs Sylvie and Bruno after the beggar. They give him cake, and he leads them to an underground octagonal room lined with creepers bearing fruit and flowers. His clothes transform, and they find it is their father. ;Chapter 6: He says they are in Elfland. Bruno tries to eat the fruit (Phlizz) but it has no taste. Their father shows Sylvie two lockets, one blue ("All will love Sylvie") and one red ("Sylvie will love all"). She chooses the red. The narrator finds himself at the railway station of his destination, Elveston. On arriving at Arthur's house, he tells him of Lady Muriel Orme, and it turns out that Arthur knows her and is in love with her. The narrator falls asleep again, and hears the Chancellor warn the Vice-Warden that the Ambassador of Elfland has arrived and that they will need to convince him that Uggug is Bruno, or as able as Bruno. ;Chapter 7: The Ambassador, Baron Doppelgeist, is given demonstrations of Uggug's abilities which always happen when he is looking the other way. Finding his guestroom full of frogs, he leaves in anger. ;Chapter 8: The narrator visits Lady Muriel and her father, the Earl, in the company of Arthur. They discuss weightlessness. Later, Arthur and the narrator visit the beach. Arthur goes home. Sylvie and Bruno go in search of the Beggar, their father. She rubs the red amulet, and a mouse is transformed into a lion, which they ride. Their father listens to their account of the Ambassador's visit; he cannot rectify the situation, but casts a spell. ;Chapter 9: Uggug refuses to learn his lessons. The Vice-Warden and his wife try on disguises: jester and dancing bear. Uggug sees them and runs off to fetch the Professor. When he arrives, they are dressed normally, and they tell him that the people wish to elect an Emperor—the Vice-Warden. ;Chapter 10: The Professor takes Sylvie and Bruno to see the Other Professor. The Professor asks him about the Pig-Tale, which he promised to give after the Professor's Lecture. Bruno asks what "inconvenient" means. ;Chapter 11: By way of illustration, the Other Professor recites Peter and Paul, 208 lines of verse. ;Chapter 12: After a discussion, the Other Professor vanishes. Sylvie and Bruno complain to the Professor about their treatment, and ask him to tell the Gardener to open the garden door for them, so they can go to Fairyland to see their father. ;Chapter 13: They walk a long way, stopping briefly to visit the King of Dogland, before entering the gate of Fairyland. Arthur tells the narrator that he has discovered that he has more wealth than he thought, and that marriage with Lady Muriel is at least possible. ;Chapter 14: The narrator spends a month at London; when he returns, he finds that Arthur has still not yet declared his intentions. The narrator sets off to speak to the Earl; on the way he encounters first Sylvie (who is helping a Beetle) and then Bruno (who is spoiling Sylvie's garden). He persuades Bruno to help weed it instead. ;Chapter 15: Bruno weeds the garden with the narrator's help. ;Chapter 16: The Earl invites Arthur to a picnic in ten days' time. On the day, walking to their house, the narrator encounters Sylvie and Bruno again. ;Chapter 17: The party leave the Earl's Hall and travel to a ruined castle, the site of the picnic. Muriel sings, but the narrator falls asleep, and her song becomes that of Bruno. ;Chapter 18: Muriel introduces Captain Eric Lindon, a highly presentable young man. Arthur is in despair, and declines to return with the party in the same carriage. The narrator falls asleep again, and there is a meeting between Lindon, Sylvie, Bruno, and the Professor. ;Chapter 19: A week later, Arthur and the narrator go to church. They discuss religion with Muriel, condemning High Church affectations, and moralising which relies on Pascal's Wager. The narrator helps carry a lame little girl upstairs at the railway station, and buys a posy in the street. The girl turns out to be Sylvie. ;Chapter 20: He brings Sylvie and Bruno to the Earl's Hall. The Earl is astonished by the flowers, none of which are English. Muriel sings a new song. A couple of days later, the flowers have vanished. The narrator, Muriel, and the Earl idly sketch an alternative scheme for the animal kingdom. ;Chapter 21: Sylvie asks the Professor for advice. He unlocks the Ivory Door for the two of them, and they meet Bruno. The Professor boasts of having devised the Emperor's new Money Act, doubling the value of every coin to make everyone twice as rich, and shows the narrator an "Outlandish" watch (essentially a kind of time machine). Sylvie finds a dead hare, and is horrified to learn that human beings hunt them. ;Chapter 22: Arthur is even more discouraged. Muriel is surprised to discover that Eric has met Sylvie and Bruno. Eric saves Bruno from being run down by a train. ;Chapter 23: The narrator tries to use the Outlandish watch to prevent an accident, but fails. He then uses it to witness, in reverse, some scenes of family life. Later, the narrator is talking to the Earl when he learns, and Arthur overhears, that Muriel is engaged to Eric. ;Chapter 24: Sylvie and Bruno present a variety show to an audience of frogs, including "Bits of Shakespeare", and Bruno tells them a long rambling story. ;Chapter 25: A week after discovering that Muriel is engaged, Arthur and the narrator go for the "last" time to the Earl's Hall. They discuss with Muriel how the Sabbath should best be kept, and the nature of free will. Arthur informs the narrator that he is leaving for India. ;Chapter 1: Several weeks pass in London. The narrator sees Eric Lindon at a club, and learns that Eric's engagement to Muriel is over, and that Arthur is still at Elveston. The narrator meets Bruno in a park; Sylvie gives Bruno his lessons. A thunderstorm drives the narrator home, where he finds a telegram from Arthur, asking him to come. ;Chapter 2: As before, the narrator meets Lady Muriel while changing trains at Fayfield Junction. She is giving money to the old tramp (vol. 1, ch. 5). On their way to Elveston she says that Eric broke off their engagement because of her evident discomfort with Eric's lukewarm faith. Arthur does not know this. ;Chapter 3: The next morning, on a walk, Arthur discusses his anti-socialist views, and condemns charity bazaars as "half charity, half self-pleasing". Sylvie and Bruno contrive that he should meet Muriel, who is also out walking. ;Chapter 4: The narrator presses on without him to Hunter's farm to order milk. On his way he meets the farmer, who is talking to a woman about her hard-drinking husband, Willie. At the farm, the dog Nero (who is the Dog King from vol. 1, ch. 13) catches a boy who is stealing apples. ;Chapter 5: The three of them meet the farmer's wife, daughter Bessie, and Bessie's doll, Matilda-Jane. On their way back to Elveston they pass the Golden Lion, a new public house. ;Chapter 6: Willie comes walking down the road; Sylvie and Bruno invisibly drag him away from the pub. He delivers his wages to his wife, and swears off drink. The narrator walks back to the house, and learns that Arthur is now engaged to Muriel. ;Chapter 7: At the Hall, the narrator finds Muriel with a man called "Mein Herr," who has a beard and a German accent. He bears a remarkable resemblance to the Professor. He shows them Fortunatus's Purse, and describes a gravity-powered train, a method of storing up extra time so that nobody ever gets bored, a carriage with oval wheels (with the end of one wheel corresponding to the side of the wheel opposite it, so that the carriage rises, falls, rolls, and pitches, and so anybody in the carriage gets vomitingly sick) He also describes a carriage designed to prevent runaway horses from getting anywhere. Oddly enough, nobody seems to remember where they first met "Mein Herr", nor what his real name is, nor where he lives, nor where he's from. Lady Muriel admits that she never realized what a mysterious man he is until she met the narrator. A party is planned. ;Chapter 8: Ten days pass. The day before the party, Arthur, Muriel and the narrator have tea at the Hall. Arthur argues that the gravity of a sin must be judged by the temptation preceding it. The Earl returns from the harbour-town with news of the spread of a fever. ;Chapter 9: At the party, conversation ranges over sanity and insanity, cheating at croquet versus cheating at whist, rational honeymoons, teetotalism, and keeping dinner parties interesting. ;Chapter 10: An interlude, with the arrival of Sylvie and Bruno, the discussion of wine (which is transformed into a discussion of jam) and an unsatisfying musical performance. ;Chapter 11: Another interlude, with "Mein Herr" telling tall tales about his country. He describes how nobody in his kingdom ever drowns, because they have been eugenically bred for dozens of generations to weigh less and less until everybody is lighter than water. He also hears about how the largest map ever made on Earth was six inches to the mile; as his country is older, it has gone through maps that are six feet to the mile, then six yards to the mile, next a hundred yards to the mile---finally, a mile to the mile (the farmers said that if such a map was to be spread out, it would block out the sun and crops would fail, so the project was abandoned). He goes on to portray some devices similar to modern planetary engineering or terraforming, and paint-balls. Finally, he describes a system of government where there are thousands of kings and one subject, instead of the other way around. ;Chapter 12: Sylvie plays the piano for the assembled company. Mein Herr discusses incomprehensibility by describing how, in the days when he worked at a school in his country, there was an old professor who lectured to pupils, and, although his speeches were incomprehensible, the pupils were so impressed that they memorized the speeches. Many of these pupils got jobs as lecturers in schools, and repeated the speeches made by the first professor, and the pupils were impressed by the speeches and memorized them, getting jobs as lecturers in schools later on, until a day came when everyone realized that nobody understood what the speeches meant. Another craze was that of competitive examinations, when teachers motivated students by giving them money if the answers are correct, until eventually, the bright students in school make more money than the teachers do. The most insane craze was the Scholarship Hunts, when any principal that wanted a student in his college had to hunt them in the streets and the first principal to catch the student wins. One principal, theorizing how bullets have accelerated velocity because they're spherical, becomes perfectly spherical, in an attempt to catch the brightest scholar. Unfortunately, the Principal runs too fast and soon finds himself going at 100 MPH and only stops after he crashes into a haybale. It is implied that if he hadn't deliberately run into a haybale, he would have run off the planet. ;Chapter 13: A continuation of the Scholar Hunters story of chapter 12. Mein Herr explains how the Scholarship Hunts evolves into a more 'civilized' method of catching scholars; the children are offered more and more money for a scholarship in an event that amounts to auctioning them off. One day, a linguist finds an old African Legend (although the nature of the story appears to be stereotypically Ottoman) in which a village that stands in the heart of Africa is inhabited by people for whom a beverage made for eggs is a necessity. A merchant arrives at the town with eggs and auctions them off for large blocks of money, as the natives very badly need their eggs. He returns each week with eggs, pricing them higher, and the natives end up giving him fortunes for the eggs, until one day, when they realize how they are letting the merchant get rich off of their gullibility, and cheat the system by having only one man (who requests 10 piastres for the whole cartload) appear at the next auction. The principals realize how they are having the same problems with their students that the Africans had with the eggs, and this system is abolished. Mein Herr's speech is interrupted for the narrator by stanzas of What Tottles Meant. ;Chapters 14-15: Sylvie tells the story "Bruno's Picnic". ;Chapter 16: Sylvie and Bruno have vanished. The guests, after a brief search, go home; Muriel, Arthur and the Earl discuss what pursuits might be followed in the Afterlife. ;Chapter 17: Muriel sings To a Lark (which is replaced, for the dreaming narrator, by a different song). Arthur is called away to the harbour to treat cases of the deadly fever, and he leaves immediately after his wedding the next morning. ;Chapter 18: An item in the Fayfield Chronicle reports the death of Arthur Forester. ;Chapter 19: In December of the same year, the narrator returns to Elveston, and visits Arthur's grave in the company of Muriel. They have tea with the Earl, and discuss whether animals have souls. Lady Muriel walks the narrator part of the way home, and they meet Sylvie and Bruno, who are singing A Song of Love. ;Chapter 20: Back in Outland, the Professor welcomes Sylvie and Bruno back to the palace in time for Uggug's birthday celebrations. They hear the last verse of the Gardener's Song, then hurry to the Saloon. ;Chapter 21: The Professor delivers his Lecture. It includes Axioms, Specimens, and Experiments. Part of the Specimens involve shrinking an elephant to the size of a mouse with the use of a Megaloscope, and reversing the Megaloscope to enlarge a flea to the size of a horse. One experiment involves the subject of Black Light by taking a candle and pouring black ink over the flame and turning the flame's yellow light to black light, which admittedly looks no different than no light at all. ;Chapter 22: (The narrator visits the tramp mentioned in vol. 2, ch. 2.) The Banquet takes place. ;Chapter 23: The Other Professor recites The Pig-Tale. The Emperor is in the process of making a speech when a mysterious "hurricane" causes him and his wife to regret all of their previous intrigues against the Warden. (No attempt is made to justify this in the terms of the story.) ;Chapter 24: The Beggar returns to the palace, and is revealed to be the Warden. Uggug, who has turned into a giant porcupine, is put into a cage. Sylvie and Bruno visit the ill Professor in the company of the Empress. ;Chapter 25: In the "real" world, the narrator is called urgently to the Hall. Eric Lindon has found Arthur Forester still living—he had been unconscious or delirious for several months, and went unrecognised as the doctor. On returning to his own lodgings, the narrator witnesses his last scene from Outland: Bruno and Sylvie discover that the two Jewels (vol. 1, ch. 6) are in fact one. |
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam | Neil Sheehan | 1,988 | John Paul Vann became an adviser to the Saigon regime in the early 1960s. He was an ardent critic of how the war was fought, both on the part of the Saigon regime, which he viewed as corrupt and incompetent, and, as time went by, increasingly, on the part of the U.S. military. In particular, he was critical of the U.S. military command, especially under William Westmoreland, and their inability to adapt to the fact that they were facing a popular guerrilla movement while backing a corrupt regime. He argued that many of the tactics employed (for example the strategic hamlet relocation) further alienated the population and thus were counterproductive to U.S. objectives. Often he was unable to influence the military command but used the Saigon press corps including Neil Sheehan, David Halberstam and Malcolm Browne to disseminate his views. The volume begins with a prologue giving an account of Vann's funeral on June 16, 1972, following his death in a helicopter accident in Vietnam. The author, Sheehan, a personal friend, was present. The subsequent account is divided into seven "books" detailing Vann's career in Vietnam and America's involvement in the conflict. Book I tells of Vann's assignment to Vietnam in 1962. Book II "The Antecedents to a Confrontation" tells of the origin of the Vietnam War. Book III gives a detailed account of the shambolic Battle of Ap Bac on January 2, 1963 in which the South Vietnamese army suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Viet Cong. Book IV details Vann's criticism of the way the war was being fought, his conflict with the U.S. military command and his transfer back to America. Book V tracks back to give Vann's personal history before his involvement in the war. In the final chapters, Books VI and VII give an account of Vann's return to Vietnam in 1965 and his doomed attempt to implement a war winning formula for the beleaguered U.S. army and how he eventually compromised with the military system he once criticized. |
Tom's Midnight Garden | Philippa Pearce | 1,958 | When Tom Long's brother Peter gets measles, Tom is sent to stay with his Uncle Alan and Aunt Gwen in a flat with no garden and an elderly and reclusive landlady, Mrs Bartholomew, living upstairs. Because he may be infectious he is not allowed out to play, and feels lonely. Without exercise he is less sleepy at night and when he hears the communal grandfather clock strangely strike 13, he investigates and finds the small back yard is now a large sunlit garden. Here he meets another lonely child called Hatty, who seems to be the only one who can see him. They have adventures which he gradually realises are taking place in the 19th century. And each night when Tom visits, Hatty is a different age, chronologically out of sequence. |
Plum Bun | Jessie Redmon Fauset | 1,929 | Overtly conventional through its employment of elements and techniques of traditional genres such as the romance or the fairy tale, Plum Bun at the same time transgresses these genres by its depiction, and critique, of racism, sexism, and capitalism. The heroine, a young, light-skinned African American woman called Angela Murray, leaves behind her past and passes for white in order to be able to attain fulfilment in life. Only after she has lived among white Americans does she find out that crossing the racial barrier is not enough for a woman like herself to realize her full potential. The detailed description of her coming of age makes Plum Bun a classic bildungsroman. |
A Stone for Danny Fisher | Harold Robbins | 1,952 | In the mid-1920s, a young Danny Fisher and his family move in to a new house in a Brooklyn suburb. Within a few years, however, the Great Depression hits and Danny is forced to use his one talent, boxing, as a means of supporting his family. After a few years, the family have lost their house and are living in a mean apartment in the City. Danny continues to box, much against his father's wish, and dates a young Italian Catholic girl, much to the chagrin of his mother. Danny's boxing skills attract the attention of hoodlums, and he is offered a large sum of money to throw the Golden Gloves championship, a fight he could win easily and which would bring him professional fame as well as, he hopes, his father's acceptance. Danny accepts the bribe but beats his opponent. After going on the run for a two years in Coney Island, he returns to marry his sweetheart. Their early married life is marred by the death of their first born child in poverty. Danny seeks out his former manager and goes into business with him as a black marketeer. This activity brings him into contact with the very criminals he previously cheated. The story concludes with Danny's death in counterpoint to arrival of new life. |
Old Mortality | Walter Scott | 1,816 | The novel tells the story of Henry Morton, who shelters John Balfour of Burley, one of the assassins of Archbishop James Sharp. As a consequence Morton joins Burley in an uprising of Covenanters (who wanted the re-establishment of presbyterianism in Scotland) which was eventually defeated at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679, by forces led by the Duke of Monmouth and John Graham of Claverhouse. The bulk of the novel describes the progress of the rebellion from its initial success at the Battle of Drumclog, and the growth of factionalism which hastened its defeat. Henry's involvement in the rebellion causes a conflict of loyalties for him, since he is in love with Edith Bellenden who belongs to a family who oppose the uprising. Henry's beliefs are not as extreme as those of Burley and many other rebel leaders, which leads to his involvement in the factional disputes. The novel also shows their oppressors, led by Claverhouse, to be extreme in their beliefs and methods. Comic relief is provided by Cuddie Headrigg, a peasant who reluctantly joins the rebellion because of his personal loyalty to Morton, as well as his own fanatical mother. Following the defeat at Bothwell Bridge, Morton flees the battle field. He is soon captured by some of the extreme Covenanters who see him as a traitor, and get ready to execute him. He is rescued by Claverhouse who has been led to the scene by Cuddie Headrigg. Morton later gets to witness the trial and torture of fellow rebels, before going into exile. The novel ends with Morton returning to Scotland in 1689 to find a changed political and religious climate following the overthrow of James VII, and to be reconciled with Edith. The novel takes its title from the nickname of Robert Paterson, a Scotsman of the 18th century who late in life decided to travel around Scotland re-engraving the tombs of 17th century Covenanter martyrs. The first chapter of the novel describes a meeting between him and the novel's fictitious narrator. |
Superfudge | Judy Blume | 1,980 | The novel is about Peter's relationship with his younger brother, Fudge, who always causes trouble for Peter and his family. Four-year-old Fudge has gained a high vocabulary for his age owing to his curiosity. He also knows where babies come from and plans to be a bird when he grows up. According to his older brother, Peter, he is the biggest pain ever invented, but is loved all the same. When Peter's mother, Anne, announces that she is pregnant for the third time, Peter decides to run away from home. He worries that the baby will be like a carbon copy of Fudge, but when Anne gives birth to a beautiful baby girl they name Tamara Roxanne, who soon comes to be called "Tootsie," he finds that his fears are unfounded. Fudge, however, becomes jealous of all the attention she is getting and acts out. Fudge's father (Warren) decides to take a leave of absence from his advertising agency job to write a book. Anne decides to return to university in order to pursue art history courses. Peter's parents announce that they are moving to Princeton, New Jersey for a year in order for his parents to pursue their respective goals. Peter unenthusiastic about the idea. Furthermore, when he learns that Fudge is enrolled at the same school as Peter, he feels even worse. His best friend, Jimmy Fargo, however, tries to see the bright side: Peter will be far away from his nemesis, Sheila Tubman, and Jimmy promises that he will visit Peter in Princeton. Princeton proves boring for Peter until he meets a local boy named Alex Santo. Discovering that they will be in the same class at school, they become friends. Fudge makes a new friend of his own, a self-proclaimed bird expert named Daniel Manheim, who is Jewish. At school, Peter (who is 11 years old at the start of the book) is in sixth grade, while Fudge is in kindergarten at the same elementary school. Fudge resents his assigned teacher because she refers to him by his legal name, Farley (the teacher disapproved of the nickname "Fudge") and acts out by climbing to the top of the cabinetry in his classroom and refusing to budge; Fudge is eventually moved to the other class, whose teacher accepts the nickname. Over the course of the following year, Peter and Fudge each experience their own highs and lows: *Fudge gets a myna bird he names Uncle Feather and then decides that he wants to be one when he grows up. *Peter develops a crush on a local girl named Joanne McFadden. *Jimmy comes to visit Peter, but when he and Alex meet and become fast friends, Peter can't help feeling left out and resentful. *Fudge receives a new bike for Christmas, then tells Peter a shocking secret—that he's always known Santa isn't real. *Fudge meets his favorite author, Brian Tumkin, and causes an awkward moment for Peter at a school assembly. *After Fudge plays a practical joke on Peter, he refuses to bring him to a picnic he is having with Alex. Afterwards, Fudge goes missing and Peter thinks he is to blame, until he and Daniel are found at a local bakery. At the end of their time in Princeton, Warren and Anne talk about moving back to New York City. Although Peter has gotten accustomed to life there, he looks forward to going back to his "normal" life in the big city. The timeframe for this story is presumably 1978, as the book talks a lot about Superman, which was the year the film debuted. Peter says how he had seen it when he was still in New York City, but it had not yet played in Princeton, so the friends he made there have not yet seen it. Jimmy Fargo claims to have already seen it twice; to which the second time he saw it was better. The story also mentions a coming of age event for Peter. Fudge pours ice down Peter's shirt in the onscreen shot of Superman kissing Lois Lane, and Joanne sits with him and offers him napkins to dry off the cold water. Jimmy and Alex have not yet gotten into girl-boy relationships and tease him for it. Fudge is also inspired by the film, believing it may be possible he was born on Krypton and can become like Superman. Later (post-2003) reprints contain edits to the book, including a different Christmas list for Peter, references to record players replaced with CDs, MP3 Players and tapes, and making Anne only allergic to tree nuts instead of all kinds (resulting in her unable to eat peanut butter in the original). Fudge also mentions at one part that he likes to watch The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and The Electric Company. This was edited so he says that he likes to watch Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. |
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing | Judy Blume | 1,972 | The novel is a first person account of a nine-year-old boy, Peter, and his relationship with his brother, Farley who is nicknamed 'Fudge.' Peter believes that Fudge makes his life difficult for him and his family. Peter often becomes frustrated with Fudge getting in his way and trying to always be involved in his activities, and perceives that his parents (Warren, an advertising executive; and Anne, a stay-at-home mom – although the mother's first name is not revealed in this book) will allow Fudge to get away with anything (although this is not always true). As Peter puts it: "Fudge is always in my way. He messes up everything he sees. And when he gets mad, he throws himself flat onto the floor and he screams. And he kicks. And he bangs his fists." Chapters 4 and 7 focus on Jimmy Fargo and Sheila Tubman, Peter's classmates. Peter and Jimmy are best friends, while Peter has great disdain for Sheila (who happens to reside with her family in the same apartment building as the Hatchers). Peter finds Sheila annoying. He also thinks that she likes to show off. Throughout the book, Peter recounts the times Fudge – either by being himself or trying to bond with his brother – caused trouble, including: * When a client of his father's stayed in their apartment, Fudge caused a ruckus several times. A week later, Warren announces that his firm had lost the account due to poor product sales. (Peter speculates in the next chapter that he believes his parents' inability to control Fudge created a poor impression on Warren's client, although he admits nobody ever said as much.) * Fudge going through a "refusal to eat" stage. Warren eventually loses patience with Fudge and dumps a bowl of cereal on him in the shower. This is the first time Peter sees that his parents will not let Fudge get away with everything. * While at the park, when Peter and Jimmy were bickering with Sheila when all three were supposed to be watching Fudge, he sneaks away and climbs atop a set of monkey bars. When they realize where he is, it is too late: Fudge (believing he is a bird) jumps off, thinking he will land safely, but lands hard and loses his two front teeth. When he gets home, Peter faces the wrath of his mother, who fully and solely blames him for the incident; Anne later apologizes for her hasty judgment. * The time he is asked to help supervise Fudge's third birthday party. The three guests who are invited all exhibit various behavioral traits typical of 3-year-olds: Jennie bites other children and adults; Ralph is obese for his age and always eating; and Sam has a social phobia (which he gets over after seeing Peter's turtle Dribble). The party ends up being rambunctious. * Fudge stubbornly refuses to open his mouth for an orthodontist, throws a tantrum at a shoe store (when he is asked to try on a pair of saddle shoes) and misbehaves at a diner (smearing mashed potatoes on a wall and dumping a dish of peas over his head). * Fudge scribbles on a poster Peter, Jimmy, and Sheila were working on for a class project on transportation. Peter is reduced to tears when he sees his hard work apparently ruined and complains to his mother. (Anne later tells Peter that she punished Fudge for his actions, reinforcing that she and Warren have their limits with Fudge.) The chapter also recounts Peter and Jimmy's frustration with Sheila while working on the project; each of them had handwritten a portion of the report booklet, but Sheila (without their consent) replaced their handiwork with her own, believing her handwriting to be more legible, and also wrote "Handwritten by Miss Sheila Tubman" on the report cover. * Two chapters where Warren is left home alone with the boys, when Anne makes a trip to Boston to visit her sister Linda, who just had a baby girl. First, Fudge is hired for a television commercial for Toddle Bike, and only when threatened with being replaced does he perform as directed. Later, on a rainy day, Warren takes his sons to watch a G-rated movie, and Fudge misbehaves. During the final chapter, Peter tells the reader how Fudge swallows Peter's beloved pet turtle, Dribble. Peter has difficulty accepting the loss of his turtle (which died after Fudge ate it), but later shows he cares for and loves his brother when he learns that Fudge may need surgery to remove the turtle from his stomach. Medicine that Fudge had been given (to vomit up Dribble's remains) works, and he makes a quick recovery. At the end of the book, Peter's parents give him a pet dog, which he names Turtle to remind him of his first pet. His parents also tell Peter that the dog is much too big for his brother to swallow. |
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