A Very Easy Death
What constitutes an easy death? Or a difficult one? Though her mother’s death was considered ‘easy’ by doctors, it still involved pain, suffering, and turmoil.
Wesker
Wesker is a fluffy, long-haired black cat with yellow eyes. Aloof and rare, she does not particularly like snuggles — though she is getting soft in her old age. She’s the oldest of the cats, and easily the most mature.
Wesker has always been independent. Hargrave’s first child, she’s the least spoiled cat of the bunch. She’s a black cat but she’s never brought anything but good luck to this house.
If you can throw a string, Wesker will chase it. The highest honour she can bestow is to climb on the sofa or the counter and groom your hair. And, if you’re really lucky, sometimes she’ll bring you a toy.
But only after she’s let you know that she’s bringing it by meowing loudly from a distant room.
Richard III
Richard III is not meant to be history; it’s meant to be thought-provoking entertainment that is indeed tailored to the audience that Shakespeare wrote for.
Hiroshima
Hiroshima follows the stories of six individuals who lived through the bomb — a clerk, a seamstress, a doctor, a minister, a surgeon, and a Catholic priest initially from Germany. There are five chapters each with six sections — one for each person.
Kokoro
he plot of Kokoro centers around two characters that are never named. The first two parts of the novel consist of a young student getting to know an older man whom he refers to only as ‘Sensei’.
The Lost Weekend
The original novel of The Lost Weekend is quite different from the film. The book is even more honest and ugly, portraying addiction as not only destructive for the addict but the entire world around them.
The Enchanted Isle
If you haven’t heard of James M. Cain, you’ve most certainly heard of the films based on his work. Cain is a master at creating a feeling of disgusted disillusionment in his many horrible and fractured characters.
The Wall
The pace is nearly perfect, and the author is a master at giving just enough information and placing clues and events in the right places to keep the reader turning pages.
The Pickwick Papers
When I think about our little car and the time spent in it, I have a hard time imagining what it must have been like travelling by coach across the England.
Bel-Ami
A critique of journalism and the complex politics and corruption present in the newspaper industry in Paris at the turn of the last century, this is a review of Guy de Maupassant’s Bel-Ami.
Passing
It’s a short, but compelling novel that is masterfully written for maximum impact. Larsen’s prose is incisive, blunt, and yet at the same time has a poetic flow and keeps the narrative driving forward smoothly but quickly. A perfect one-afternoon read. This is a review of Passing.