Having read The Magus, I knew how good a writer Fowles was. This book is no exception. Very different however. The plot is a sinister as it gets. Not a spot on The Magus, which I judge to be one of my all time favourites, but this was decent enough.
This was a long book. I have read other books on this subject that were a bit more focused and honestly, I think the author took on more than he could chew. It covers the entire depressing saga and it lost something for doing so. The writing was a bit dry and formal. It jumped around a bit and overall could have been half as long and wouldn’t have lost anything. The subject, as ever, displays the deep flaws within humanity perfectly.
This was another impulse buy and I have to say, it was brilliant. Expertly written and the details of everyday life on such a ship really gave you a feel for the time. I loved imaging the scenery and adventure of it all and learnt a lot for the bargain.
Set during the war, I thought this would be great. It was an impulse buy that weasled its way into my list of books to read. I don’t necessarily regret that. The story was good enough and it was well written. No classic though.
This was a word of mouth recommendation. It was decent. Love the premise – group of survivors stuck in a Swiss hotel during a nuclear apocalypse. Wasn’t quite the murder mystery that I wanted though. That element was very light. Didn’t quite live up to the hype for me.
I like the title of this book more than anything else. It has the ring of a classic about it. Unfortunately the actual novel doesn’t quite match up. It is by no means bad though. Middle of the road at best I would say. Something to pass the time with.
I often wonder why dinosaurs are the realm of children. To think that they walked across the same ground on which we do today is, to my mind, quite incredible. Learning about them and how they evolved and also about the vast spans of time through which they lived gives a degree of perspective. Great book.
Fantastic book which takes one through all of the basic workings of our legal system. The underlying message is one of under-funding and misguided leadership which shows no sign, unfortunately of abating. This sort of book is interesting and entertaining but more than that, people need to be reading this sort of thing to keep themselves properly informed. I fear many are not doing this!
Interesting account of Maurice Oldfield’s life but also the times in which he lived. Revealing, particularly in relation to Russian influence and one that unfortunately has sinister relevance to today.
Well. Love the subject and always interested in reading about psychopaths and murderers but this was a bizarre book. The author is supposedly a chap who has a lot of experience in talking to homicidal psychopaths but I’m afraid he is not a writer. Further, one does wonder to what extent his personality mirrors those he is talking to. He might be a lovely chap, but the way he writes (inserting completely unnecessary details, often irrelevant and pertaining to his other works and his own positive qualities) remind me of the grandiose ideas he tries to identify in others.
There is seemingly no structure to the book. The writing is disjointed and rambling and has all the hallmarks of something rushed, perhaps thrown together in a hurry. If you’re interested in this topic, you’re much better off reading The Psychopath test by Jon Ronson – a book mentioned several times by the author and written I am afraid to say by a far more accomplished author.
