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.

The Platters-My Prayer

great song by the Platters. It was played in the scene when Benjamin Button went sailing on his late father's boat. I'm not sure if many knew that the movie was based on the short story by Scott Fitzgerald..I had only realised it when looking for The Great Gatsby some time ago in the library and chanced upon "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Fitzgerald was inspired by another literary hero Mark Twain, who remarked that "Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of 80 and gradually approach 18." Some other sources quoted the phrase differently: "It is a pity that the best part of life comes at the beginning, and the worst part at the end." I am not sure if he is being funny, sarcastic, or he truly meant what he said. Is the end always the worst part? Perhaps it isn't... if you have lived your life the way you wanted it to be lived, and there is nothing else you wish to change, nothing else you wish to hang on to... perhaps the end could be the best part of your life, when you leave with good memories. The beginning of life, seriously, what do we remember?! But of course, I do not doubt the beauty and power of youth. With youth, you can afford the energy and time to make mistakes, to venture into new territories without fears that you might be wasting precious time. But it is also a pity that sometimes we do not cherish our youth while we have it. I realise now that I had not taken the advantage of youth to live a little fearlessly. Oftentimes, I did not have the courage to step out of the comfort zone, or the courage to hurt someone else even though by not doing that, the person that ends up losing the most, is myself. Even now, it is the same...I guess "we are who we are, people don't change"....

George Orwell-Animal Farm

I had came across and half-read this book when I was about 9. I think at that age, I had thought the book was what it was, a story about strange, talking animals. Re-read this book 2 weeks ago and honestly, I don't think I fared any better in understanding the historical basis the book was written on. However, I dont't think Orwell was trying very hard to disguise his distaste for Stalin and his administration (the author's note blatantly stated so as well).

It is rather ironic that after the revolution against the humans and working hard to upkeep the farm, the animals returned to not only the starting point, but at a seemingly lesser place. The pigs, especially Napolean, reminded me a lot of charismatic politicians, who are able to persuade others to do the dirty work for them without lifting a finger and having these "workers" do so, without a single word of complaint. That is the power of persuasion and it something that very few people could master.

The saddest character of the story was that of Boxer, the work horse. His mantra was "I must work harder". He had never questioned what and why he was working hard for and never once complaint that most of the workload fell on his shoulders. When he could no longer work, he looked forward to the promise of a retirement home but never got it. Instead, he was sent to the slaughter house by the pigs. Heart-breaking....

Into The Wild

Finished the book a couple of weeks ago. Pretty interesting read. The book mentioned several other individuals who like Chris, decided to live different lives, away from society. I once thought the life of a hermit would be pretty awesome, as it saves you the frustration of dealing with human beings, and the complexities of relationships, responsibilities, etc. but of coz the life as a hermit comes with a price.. Boredom, fewer resources, no affection and comfort when you need them,etc. I think these people were a little extreme in their lifestyle choices and sad to say, some of them ended up killing themselves or met with accidents... It's the same with Chris McCandles... I guess his reckless youth was the cause of his death. To go into the wild without a proper map, resources, training, is as good as issuing yourself a death sentence. And I seriously do not think he had any intentions to end his life, even though there were speculations that he had a death wish. He had asked for help and had hoped that passerbys would see his SOS note and rendered him assistance. But it was too bad that hikers found him a little too late. It's a terrible waste of life. And I just can't bring myself to admire his lifestyle although I do admire his courage in doing what he felt was right and giving up the sense of comfort/ security of his life. I think I would have admired him more if he had been a little less idealistic and went to live in the wilderness with the proper tools and resources. I found him a little irresponsible as well. Sometimes we have to realize that our decisions and actions can have an impact on the people around us, and it is naive and selfish to think that "This is my life and I am free to do whatever I want with it".