Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (YA)

Summary (from Goodreads):

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.

This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

Review:

I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I go through periods of focusing on young adult fiction. Well, this was one of those moments.

To be honest, I tried reading this a few years ago, but couldn’t ‘get into it’ for whatever reason. However, picking it up now, the story itself, Christopher (the protagonist), learning about his disability, his family life, and his unique method of investigating the death of his neighbour’s dog, had me interested from almost the beginning (it takes me a while to become truly interested in a story).

The characters are believable because they are flawed, and this is what kept me reading. I wanted to learn more Christopher’s family (mother dies of cancer, and the father – a mechanic – is raising Christopher alone), his neighbours, who are colourful and not unlike some of my own, and his teachers that both inspire and try to hold Christopher back. It is the human relationships, complicated and messy, that drives the story. The story takes quite a twist about halfway through, that affects both Christopher’s investigation and his family life – sort of saw it coming, but it did nothing to lessen the surprise.

Overall, I enjoyed the novel and recommended it.

Review: Trash by Andy Mulligan (YA)

Summary (from Goodreads):

In an unnamed Third World country, in the not-so-distant future, three “dumpsite boys” make a living picking through the mountains of garbage on the outskirts of a large city.

One unlucky-lucky day, Raphael finds something very special and very mysterious. So mysterious that he decides to keep it, even when the city police offer a handsome reward for its return. That decision brings with it terrifying consequences, and soon the dumpsite boys must use all of their cunning and courage to stay ahead of their pursuers. It’s up to Raphael, Gardo, and Rat—boys who have no education, no parents, no homes, and no money—to solve the mystery and right a terrible wrong.

Andy Mulligan has written a powerful story about unthinkable poverty—and the kind of hope and determination that can transcend it. With twists and turns, unrelenting action, and deep, raw emotion, Trash is a heart-pounding, breath-holding novel.

Review:

This is one of those novels that breaks your heart and that haunts you for days afterwards. This novel is part social awareness and part mystery, but most of all it is a story of hope. This is a compulsive read and I very much enjoyed it. Recommended.

Review: We’ll Always Have Paris by Ray Bradbury

Summary (from Goodreads):

Over the course of a storied literary career that has spanned more than half a century, Ray Bradbury has taken us to wonderful places: across vast oceans to foreign lands, onto summer porches of small-town America, through dark and dangerous forests where predators wait, into the hypnotic mists of dream, back to a halcyon past to remember, forward into an exhilarating future, and rocketing through outer space.

In “We’ll Always Have Paris”–a new collection of never-before-published stories–the inimitable Bradbury once again does what few writers have ever done as well. He delights us with prose that soars and sings. He surprises and inspires, exposing truths and provoking deep thought. He imagines great things and poignantly observes human foibles and frailties. He enchants us with the magic he mastered decades ago and still performs flawlessly. In these pages, radio voices become indomitable flesh and the dead arise to recapture life. There is joy in an eccentric old man’s dance for the world and wonder over the workings of humankind’s best friend, O Holy Dog. Whether he’s exploring the myriad ways to be reborn, or the circumstances that can make any man a killer, or returning us to Mars, Bradbury opens the world to us and beckons us in.

Get ready to travel far and wide once again with America’s preeminent storyteller. His tales will live forever. We will always have Bradbury–and for that reason, we are eternally blessed.

Review:

I picked this collection up on my first walk through a public library after more than twenty years (I usually buy books or have a school library to keep my reading needs satisfied). There was no rhyme or reason as to why I chose this, only that I knew the author, knew the stories would be good, and liked the idea of having multiple stories in my hands than just one.

While the collection as a whole doesn’t mesh well thematically, I loved and enjoyed each and everyone of them. My favorite has to be the very first story (it’s the most vivid in my mind), “Massinello Pietro”. Mr. Pietro’s utter joy of living, living out loud (he literally carries a phonograph that plays his favorite opera with him) with music and a menagerie of animals, broke my heart (he’s on his last warning by the city) and inspired me. The story reminds one to live life fully, to not forget ones childish enthusiasm, and to be kind and generous to others just to be kind and generous without any expectations in return – lessons we know but might forget to live in this fast paced, stress filled world.

Each story is unique. Each story is surprising. Each story leaves one a little baffled. But, each story is utterly enjoyable. And most importantly … each story is re-readable (I’ve re-read the collection three times!). I very much enjoyed this and recommend it.

Review: The Mysterious Affair At Styles (Hercule Poirot #1) by Agatha Christie

Summary (Goodreads):

The famous case that launched the career of Hercule Poirot. When a wealthy heiress is murdered, Poirot steps out of retirement to find the killer. As the master detective makes his way through the list of suspects, he finds the solution in an elaborately planned scheme almost impossible to believe.

 

Review:

Another day, another mystery by the great lady of mystery herself, Agatha Christie, with Hercule Poirot at the center of his first case in England.

Lady Inglethorpe is murdered and everyone in the house is a suspect. The complexity of the plot and how it was executed was very well done. We are presented with the most obvious suspect, they ruled out, which leaves everyone else in the line of suspicion.

I enjoyed this one immensely mostly because of the little Belgian detective, but also because of the complexity of the murderer’s plam. Now, I am partial to Hercule Poirot, which may account for my positive reaction, but I have noticed that the novels based on him are much better written than those of other detectives.