Scott Fitzgerald- Tender is the Night

This is a book that was probably very close to Fitzgerald's heart. This was his final novel and was written during the time his wife, Zelda was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The character of Dick Diver and Nicole could have been a reflection of him and his wife. Like Zelda, Nicole was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was a patient of a psychiatrist, Dick. They later fell in love and led a life of flamboyance- giving lavish parties and were a very popular couple (the Fitzgeralds were also famous for their partying lifestyles). Nicole was seemingly on her way to recovery and they led a happy life with their children. Then the couple met Rosemary, a budding actress, and Dick and Rosemary fell in love. Nicole's mental health deteriorated and this frustrated Dick, as he was the seemingly caregiver of Nicole. However, things took a change when Nicole fell in love with their mutual friend, Tommy, and proceeded to divorce Dick and marry Tommy. Everything went downhill for Dick as he became an alcoholic and was removed from the successful clinic he owned with a partner (with Nicole's money).


I am neutral with this book, not really loving it nor hating it. But the characters in the story were real and complex and its well-worth the read, as I think Fitzgerald has quite a way with weaving his characters.

Kathryn Stockett-The Help

There was quite a lot of hype around the movie version of the book. Didnt get to watch the movie though. The story was set in the 60s, in the south of America, when helpers were still a common sight and were assumed by Blacks. The main theme of the book was that of racism, whereby the Whites look upon their help as lesser beings. Hilly and Skeeter were the main shows in the book. Hilly, an outspoken and proudly racist woman, wanted all households to implement a separate bathroom for their helps, this spurred Skeeter to want to give the helps a voice. She began recruiting various helps to share their perceptions and the stories of their lives in Whites household.

Skeeter herself had a Black nanny when she was young but who disappeared all of  sudden, one fine day. She eventually found out that it was her mom who had sent her away as she had gotten pregnant with a White child.

Although the book was a bestseller, I didnt quite find it believable. I felt that the characters, especially the helps, were too contrite and too cliched. It feels a bit too....textbook-like, with no originality.

Geling Yan- Flowers of War

I knew about this book after watching its movie trailer. The trailer was filmed really beautifully by Zhang Yimou and I had wanted to watch it but somehow did not get a chance to. The story was set in 1937 Nanking during the Japanese invasion of China. A group of choir girls was hiding in a cathedral under the care of a priest, Father Engelmann. There wasnt really too much going on in the book. It talked about the petty quarrels of the girls, the arrival of wounded soldiers, and a group of flamboyant of courtesans. Four different groups of people of different backgrounds, trying to survive the cold winter and the war, it should have made an interesting story. I think there wasnt meant to be any intricate plot. It was just a simple, beautiful story of colorful characters that drew you into that tragic time and era. Quite a nice piece of literature to read.

Anthony Horowitz- House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Story

The writing style of the book is very similar to Arthur Conan Doyle, and that is rather commendable for a modern day writer to mimic one from the 1800s. This is what is called a pastiche- a borrowing of styles/ themes from other sources. The story as always was written through the eye of Dr Watson, Holmes' sidekick (every hero needs one, don't they?), after the death of Holmes and when it was safe, to reveal the case. The House of Silk case involved important public figures as well as a royal family, and hence was never written or reported until many years later.

Holmes was approached by an art dealer, Edmund Carstairs, whose paintings were believed to have been stolen by a group of thugs. Holmes then hired a group of wayward youth to follow a suspect. One of the boys, Ross, subsequently was murdered. Then began a whirlwind chase, with Holmes ending up in prison for framed murder. Of course his wits and mostly luck, I must add, got him out of prison and thus, saving his life. The prison break was rather unbelievable, as I do not really think that anyone could be so lucky! However, apart from that, the story was quite well-written.

The House of Silk though was a rather strange concept... whether it could have existed in the 1800s, is quite questionable. But who knows, right?

Read this book if you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, or a crime fiction one.

Spell

The spell has broken 

I have lost you 

To the other world

Which you truly belong. 

The darkness in my world 

Doesn't lift

Forever nights they say,

Once you lose the one 

You love. 

In this eternal darkness, 

I walk alone,

Till the ends of the earth.

Outtakes from a Marriage-Ann Leary

Not exactly a great book as it is quite full of cliches. But life sometimes is just a bunch of cliches. This book tells a story of a famous actor and his wife. Wife found a suspicious voicemail on husband's phone, found out he had an affair, blah blah blah... The book gives one a glimpse into the Hollywood life but I think that's all that there is. But it is entertaining enough for me to finish the book, so I wouldnt say it is that bad. But all in all, a forgettable read.

Chang And Eng-Darin Strauss

Had only heard of the musical and didnt know it was a novel.. Quite a strange, entertaining read. Chang and Eng are non-fictitious characters from Siam in the 1800s. Strauss had however, spun a strange, fictitious story of the lives of the conjoined twins. The climax of the story began when the two brothers fell in love with a pair of sisters, Adelaide and Sarah Yates. Sarah had previously fell in love with a black slave and caused him to be hung. This had resulted in the sisters never being able to find good husbands to marry. Along came Chang and Eng, and the sisters found their route to having a family of their own. Chang the cheeky and humourous one, was married to Adelaide, the spitfire, and Eng, the serious, learned one, was married to the duller Sarah. Eng later fell in love with Adelaide but being joined to Chang, he had no way of expressing his love for Adelaide. Except for one night, thinking that Chang was dead drunk, Eng kissed Adelaide. What happened next was heartaching. The house that the two brothers and their families burnt down one night and only until much later, Chang confessed to setting the house ablaze, as he hadnt been asleep that night.

It is a rather sad story, with Eng wanting to be separated from his brother, and Chang not wanting to. It is definitely a painful thing to be joined at the hips to someone else and never beimg able to have your own privacy and solitude.