A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon – Book Review.

This book was written by Mark Haddon the author of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time”. The main characters in the book are George, Jean, Jamie, Katie and David. The main character, George, is suffering from a mental disorder in which he is constantly fearful of death and also suffers from panic attacks. He also insists that his eczema is actually Cancer, and refuses to believe the diagnosis of the doctor, who believes is incompetent (The doctor had once misdiagnosed Appendicitis as being a stomach ache)

This reaches a climax when George tries to cut his eczema off with a pair of scissors. This results in him losing massive amounts of blood (The book describes this very graphically) and he starts to suffer from shock. Reaching the phone, he manages to call an ambulance before collapsing on the floor. However, this results in his wife reaching the house and panicking when seeing the large amount of blood everywhere.

Furthermore, three other story arcs are also reaching a peak at this point. Jamie, George’s homosexual son, has just broken up with his lover, while Katie is facing problems with her soon-to be husband, and Jean is thinking of leaving George for David.

Despite the explicit scenes in the book, I think that the author managed to craft the book perfectly, showing the intertwining story arcs, which really makes the book seem to parallel real life effectively, with details being shown well, allowing the reader to imagine the scene for themselves.

The title also has two meanings (Although this is only my interpretation of the title – each person may have their own viewpoints) of the eczema which is bothering George, being a “Spot of Bother”, and how George dismisses his own illness to his family as being unimportant (initially, he tells this to Jean as he does not want her to interfere having seen her having an affair with another man.).

Therefore, I think that this book a definite must read!

Book Review- Jeffrey Archer’s Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less.

Book Review- Jeffrey Archer’s Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less.

This was Jeffrey Archer’s first novel. The story starts with four men being duped into buying falsely inflated shares in a company named “Prospecta Oil”. The Share prices rise quickly with a falsified report stating that there was oil hidden at the site which Prospecta purchased. However, the share prices plunge soon after as the shares have no value - It was actually a plot by “Harvey Metcalfe” to scam those men of their money (They were not specifically picked - It was a coincidence that those four lost the most money.). Having lost over a Million in total, they decide to team up and get the money back. Thus, each of them creates their own plots to fool Harvey and get their money back. The title, “Not a Penny more, Not a Penny Less” refers to how the protagonist states that they shall only take what is owed to them, no more, no less.

Despite this being Jeffrey Archer’s first novel, I think that it really comes across as being a fun read. The characters are meticulous and go through stages after stages of planning to complete their plots. Each character is also well described, with each character almost taking on a life of their own. Some parts of this novel will make the reader grip the edge of their seat, wondering what will happen next. The twist at the end of the story is also highly amusing!!

Book Review- 1984 by George Orwell

Book Review- 1984 by George Orwell

I would rank this book as the top in my list of favourites. I have always been very fascinated by Dystopias after reading Animal Farm and The Giver. Therefore, 1984 ranked highly on my “To Read list”.

The main character, Winston Smith, has highly different views (even criminal) from the rest of the populace, who generally agree with the views of the Upper Party, an authoritarian government.

There are three classes in Oceania (Which is a new boundary formed with part of Britain) - The Proles, the lower Party, and The Upper Party. The Proles are treated like animals, but have freedom not enjoyed by the lower party - they can marry freely, divorce, drink, and relatively little is expected from them. The Lower Party is kept in control by the upper party, and are constantly watched by Telescreens - they cannot have privacy even in their home. They must also control their emotions and their thoughts (Facecrime and Thoughtcrime in newspeak) or risk capture and imprisonment in the Ministry of Love. The Upper Party, on the other hand, enjoys privileges not accorded to either the lower party or the proles. These privileges include well furnished apartments, servants, and proper food such as tea and even wine.

However, Winston has managed to keep a low profile despite his thoughts against the government. However, he soon becomes involved in an explicit affair with another member of the Lower Party, Julia (her surname is never revealed). Soon after beginning their relationship, they believe that a member of the upper party, O’Brien, is part of a society against the government (The Brotherhood). They thus go to meet that member of the Upper Party, (where they also get a glimpse of the privileged life of the Upper Party) which holds a short meeting with them and promises to send them a copy of “the book” (Yes it is written in italics in the book.), which is a text written about the government in Oceania. However, they are captured soon after and imprisoned in the Ministry of Love.

Will Winston escape? Did O’Brien betray them? Does the Brotherhood really exist? Will they manage to help their two new members?

I felt that this book is truly a great read and portrays a great vision of a dystopia - there is no friendship between people, their children are turned against them, and may report them at any moment to the police, and people may disappear suddenly (As with some of Winston’s friends - Syme being the notable example). Even worse, is the fact that history in the book continues to be re-written constantly, with inaccurate speeches being rewritten and republished under the date of the old speech - nobody can even be sure of the current date, let alone of what is true and what is not. It is also impossible to tell when the telescreen is watching you. Always, or periodically? The dystopia in this book is wonderfully potrayed (pardon the irony) and shows the extent of how power can corrupt.

“Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Book Review- Jeffrey Archer’s Prison Diaries

Jeffrey Archer was jailed for Perjury in 2001. He wrote his prison diaries (There are three novels comprising the entire set of diaries. The three novels are written with relation to the Prison he was in at the moment- depending on the category of the prison) For his three weeks in prison, he was in a High Security prison, before being transferred to lower security prisons, the last of which being an open prison, which has no walls, and each prisoner holds the key to their room. (It also has far less guards as the deterrent against escape is the possibility of being caught, which would prevent them from ever being sent to an open prison again.)

The Prison Diaries were really an insight into the life of a prisoner. Jeffrey Archer also talks about the bureaucracy faced in the prisons. He also talks about the several erroneous reports about him by the tabloids which state that he was living in luxury in the prison and that he had several privileges accorded to him (These allegations are obviously outlandish and unrealistic) such as being able to drive down to a pub nightly for beer.

Jeffrey Archer also focuses on the drug problems in prisons. He stated that many prisoners are willing to go to great risks to smuggle drugs into the prison. The Prison guards also know where the drugs are being hidden but are limited in how they can search each prisoner. Furthermore, some prison guards and some lawyers on Legal Visits also smuggle in drugs for their clients. The added incentive is that Drug Dealers usually earn much more from selling drugs in prison. This is as the drugs sold in prison are generally more diluted and also sell at a higher price due to the higher demand. However, this sometimes leads to the death of the prisoners - upon being released, many of them continue to inject themselves with drugs which are less diluted, but their body is unable to adjust to the higher dosage, resulting in them dying from overdosage. He also mentions that since heroin can be flushed out of the body faster than cannabis (Heroin can be flushed out by drinking more water than usual, whereas Cannabis can stay in the bloodstream for up to a month.). This has led to many prisoners coming up with innovative methods to escape their Mandatory Drugs Test (Which may be a random test or one based on Reasonable Risk). One prisoner even added that they could suck on a bar of soap or swallow a mouthful of “Smoker’s Toothpaste” to cloud the urine sample, thus granting them more time to clear their system of whatever drug they had consumed.

Jeffrey Archer also talked about how many first-time offenders for minor crimes ended up being imprisoned with hardened criminals. This is due to the fact that criminals awaiting trial or having just started their sentence are first placed in a “Category A” or High Security prison before they are classified into the other 3 Classifications (The whole system is from A-D). For example, he stated the case of several petty crime offenders who became hooked on drugs and soon became repeat offenders. He also stated the plight of long term prisoners who are unable to rehabilitate into society, as they have become institutionalized. Once such prisoner, upon being released, stole a purse from an elderly lady, and waited for her to call the police before handing the purse back. (A short story based on this appears in Cat O’ Nine Tales)

I would say that this book is definitely a worthy read.

Book Review - Jeffrey Archer's As the Crow Flies

Personally, Jeffery Archer is my favourite author. I most enjoy his collections of Short Stories, such as 12 Red Herrings and a Twist in the Tale. For this blog post, I will be talking about his novel, as the Crow Flies. As the Crow Flies is truly an huge story. It spans the life of Charlie Trumper from his Childhood to his later years. Charlie learns the art of trading from his grandfather, and after the death of his grandfather, takes over the family business (His father neglects the family) and takes care of his sisters. However, he leaves soon to enlist in the Army. The army seems to suit Charlie perfectly as he wakes up early than the other recruits and is more readily suited to the hardships they face. He is promoted quickly and they continue to train before heading off to their fist combat mission. However, soon after, his best friend in the army is murdered by an officer who has a grudge against his friend. After the War, Charlie returns to England, where he discovers that a Shop has been set up bearing his name by his Childhood Friend and Business Partner Rebecca. The rest of the story switches the Point of View through the different characters. (I will not spoil the rest of the story by revealing it here)

I find that although this was an extremely long novel, Jeffrey Archer managed to keep it interesting by changing the Points of View. It was also an effective story-telling technique as it allowed the reader to understand what happened during other parts of the story, despite the character not being there. Furthermore, despite introducing several characters, Jeffrey Archer manages to give characters depth in their mannerisms, which can be seen through different points of view. Furthermore, the characters are easy to remember, although many are introduced in the story.

Book Review - Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Considering the Recent "Firestorm" over the Book, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother", I jumped at the opportunity to read it. Could her parenting methods really be that extreme? Was it hyped-up hyperbole to generate Media Attention? Or would it be more like Normal parenting which most of us experience in Singapore?

Basically, The "Tiger Mother" in the title is also book's author, Amy Chua. The book is her memoirs which are talking about her experiences with her two daughters. I found the book very interesting.

It also gave me an insight into how parents try their best for their children, and they sometimes have to make difficult choices for their children or for the sake of the family. It certainly gave me food for thought over how different cultures also have different parenting styles and rationale for their styles.

I could also commiserate with some of the feelings mentioned in the book. For example, she mentioned a time when her daughter felt joy and accomplishment after learning a song successfully. Even though I am not as good a pianist as her Daughter, Sophia (Who plays at concerts and has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York), I can empathize with the difficulty one feels when trying to master a piece, as well as the sense of accomplishment when the piece has been mastered.

I think that overall, the book was very interesting and insightful for me.
Definitely Recommended!!