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!!

Reflections on Term Two Test

Reflections on term two test results

For my Term Two Essay, I believe that I could still have done better. This is that most of my sentence structure was repeated. For example, I repeated the word “used” very frequently, thus making the essay quite dry since the essay structure was very uniform.

Also, I failed to use linking words in between each paragraph. This resulted in my essay having a slightly disjointed feel.

However, I think I did well by using several examples in my essay from several areas, especially current examples, such as the middle east protests (See below post of essay). Furthermore, apart from using several examples, I also made them link to my topic sentence of each paragraph.

Therefore, I feel that I can still improve. I aim to improve by practicing other essays under exam conditions.

Term Two Test Essay - Social Media, a Blessing or a Curse? Dicuss.

Social Media - A blessing or a curse? Discuss.

(This essay was written during the Term Two LA test. It is reproduced in its entirety here.)

With the availability and convenience of modern day computers, social media has become more widely used. Social Media has been used before to allow people to share their views if the other forms of media are heavily censored by the state. Therefore, social media is a blessing if used for the proper means.

Social Media allows freedom of expression. This use of social media is most frequent in countries where other forms and types of media are heavily censored. For example, in recent protests in the Middle East, in countries such as Egypt and Syria, the social media websites were used to rally other protestors, and also to draw worldwide attention to their cause. Although the governments of the countries blocked their citizens’ access to these social media websites, the people managed to circumvent the blocks.

Also, social media has been used to generate public support and publicity. For example, after the recent Christchurch Earthquake, the Prime Minister of Christchurch stated that they would be appealing for funds to assist rebuilding efforts via Facebook. Charities also use social media platforms to garner support and donations. Apart from collecting donations or fund raising, social media can be used to reach out to the youth, as part of generating increased publicity. For example, in the ongoing 2011 General Election in Singapore, many political parties use social media to spread information and increase support for the party. Social media has also been used as part of advertising programmes, as social media is free and is already widely used.

Social media is also used as a form of entertainment. An example of social media being used as a form of entertainment is Youtube, an online video sharing community for people to share videos of all kinds, from instructional to entertaining. This service is also completely free. Since the videos are all made by users, although the quality of the videos may not be consistent, there is a mass variety of videos. Other examples include online websites which allow users to upload and share pictures. Image and file sharing websites allow users to share images and even artwork with each other.

However, there are some downsides of social media. Social media may be used as a tool for scammers to trick computer users into giving away personal information or money. Many such scams and tricks have been surfaced to the public’s attention but not before a member of an online community had already fallen prey to it . Such examples may include convincing the subject to send money to an obscure bank account to claim their winnings in a foreign lottery, or asking the user to send their personal details to claim a prize .

Also, information on Social Media is not always accurate. An example of this would be when a couple posted videos and daily updates about the relationship troubles they were feeling before they got married. Online netizens , touched by their sincerity , promised to help the couple . However, they were shocked to find out that it was an elaborate advertising programme for an insurance company. They were upset that they had been tricked. However, they could not deny that they were at fault for automatically believing what they had seen.

In conclusion, Social Media, when used properly, is a quick, efficient and convenient method to spread information. However, despite these factors, if social media is misused, the effects would be very widespread, considering the mass number of users who utilize Social Media. Therefore, Social Media is a blessing if used in a proper method.