Thank you to Ms. Elliott's Contemporary Literature class for the following Book Reviews!
Outside our capital city, an experienced burglar named Luther Whitney has just finished robbing a multi-million mansion in a very upscale neighborhood. However, as Luther is leaving the house, in which he is certain the owners are gone, he is confronted with a difficult situation where he hears two people coming upstairs. Luther hides out inside a bedroom in which a young man and women come up into. Little did Luther know that this woman would be murdered right in front of his eyes, and there was nothing for him to do to stop it. More shocking is that this isn’t an ordinary person, yet the President of the United States. Luther quickly bolts out of the house and into a world of hide and seek, undecided on what to do. This novel connects three different perspectives of this murder into one great story.
I would recommend reading this story because of the action in the beginning and the suspense reading on. It is a quick read and hard to put down after opening the book. Within the first ten pages, the reader gets thrown into all of the action making this book hard to stop reading on. This is an entertaining book for readers of all types. If you have the time, be sure to read Absolute Power.
*****************************************
The story of Absolute Power revolves around a brutal murder involving the President of the United States and his attempts to cover it up. While sneaking around with a woman named Christine Sullivan, the two get drunk and he turns abusive. When she almost kills him in self defense, his secret service agents shoot her to death. The crime scene is cleaned up completely, but there’s one hitch: a burglar happened to witness the scene while robbing the house, and he escapes with a key piece of evidence: a letter opener with the blood and fingerprints of both the president and the victim. Now the burglar, named Luther Whitney, has a choice to make: Does he try to get away clean, or does he try to take on the man of the people? Also involved are his daughter, who hates him so much that she became a prosecutor, and a young defense lawyer named Jack, who is currently engaged to a woman he’s not sure he loves.
The book is relatively long, with a slight lull in the action toward the middle, but it’s still exciting overall, and filled with plot twists that keep things interesting. The story also switches between characters at a fairly rapid pace, giving the plot a really rapid, suspenseful feeling. It does drag on a bit, and the ending is very weak, leaving open a lot of loose ends, but I still would recommend it for someone who wants a change of pace.
When I started reading A Hole In My Life, I was skeptical. I had heard of Jack Gantos’ literary prowess as a children’s author, and was not particularly thrilled about the prospect of having to read what in all possibility what could have been a rather interesting and adult plot premise written with a 4th grade reading level in mind, and as events unfolded, my skepticism proved not only well founded but true.
The book follows the misadventures of the book’s author, Jack Gantos. Gantos spares no undue detail in describing his early life (relatively speaking), his movement from the continental US to the Florida Keyes in search of work, and his return back to the mainland without his parents to continue high school ( a move which seems to be a misjudgment on the part of his parents, most noteworthy of which his removed yet protective father). Yet somewhere between when young Jack returns to the island of St. Croix looking for work and when he accepts a deal to transport two tons of hash (or hashish if you want to get particular) directly to New York City by sailboat for the humble sum of $10,000, Gantos loses his sense of detail. Now, this may be because at that particular time, Jack was more likely to be high than, well, doing anything else, and his memory was appt to failure, but that doesn’t make the literary sin of confusing the reader through his own inaction any more forgivable.
It was not often that I found myself confounded as to what was going on because an important detail turned up absent in the story. The lack of detail made the story feel empty, making some plot elements feel rushed and disjointed. I mean, Gantos barely gets off the boat before he’s apprehended by the authorities (which, by the way, was a period of about a week or two) and shipped off for prison. (The funny thing, is in prison, Gantos’ details find their way to the page again, much to the disdain of my rather sensitive stomach. Seriously, I don’t need to hear what the male prisoners do to one another when their together. At night. *shudders*).
I would not recommend this book to anyone really. While I didn’t hate it, I didn’t particularly like it either. While his writing style is more adjusted to children, the subject matter is definitely adult, essentially isolating this book from serious readers. Don’t waste your time.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini takes place in Afghanistan in a span of the past 30 years. It spans over the Russian take-over of Afghanistan, to the Taliban revolution, to American interference in the new millennia. There are two separate stories. One about a young girl named Mariam whose father sends her away to a forced marriage to live in Kabul. Mariam the only bastard child of her fathers eight kids and he is embarrassed of her.
The second story takes place when Mariam is an adult but the focus of the book goes towards a young girl who lives in Kabul named Laila. When war is heavy in Kabul, and their family is just about to leave for Pakistan, a tragic occurrence happens that leaves Laila by herself. She is saved by Mariam and her demeaning husband, Rasheed, where only more troubles come. A Thousand Splendid Suns, although fiction, is filled with historical fact. Hosseini incorporates the history of Afghanistan in great detail, including times and dates of coups, names of those in power, and basically what life would have been like in Afghanistan during times of war. There’s violence, misery, and abuse, and because of the character development, when a character you care for struggles, you feel it.
*******************************************************
A Thousand Splendid Suns is an intriguing novel that shows another dimension into the lives of women who lived in Afghanistan over the past twenty years. The book starts off in the 1970’s following one character on her journey to find out the history behind her parent’s relationship. It then develops to include another character whose family and friends are the center of her life, and what happened when war is found on her doorstep. This book is full of unexpected surprises and a strong emotional connection with the characters. I found that there was a lull in the plot during the middle fifty or so pages, but it was all necessary information that helped build the significance of more monumental moments.
If you are interested with feminism in the Middle Eastern culture, A Thousand Splendid Suns is the book for you. There is an air of mystery when the characters try to develop who they are while trying to not interfere with demeaning and controlling husband. If you are interested in a happy ending, this is also the book for you. Even thought the women in this book are put down time after time, the main characters learn to survive and become the strongest people they can be.
I recently finished the book Upstate, by Kalisha Buckhanon, and was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. In this book, a seventeen year old, troubled teen from Harlem, Anthony, finds himself in an extremely undesirable position. Accused and convicted for the murder of his father, he is sentenced to spend what should have been the best ten years of his life behind bars. Through this hardship, he keeps close contact with his girl friend, Natasha, through various letters to and from each other. Upstate explores the ultimate test of commitment. Their love for one another is tested daily as they attempt to maintain the closeness of the relationship they had grown fond of. With Natasha’s life moving forward and Anthony’s in a stand still, they fight to maintain the connection they have grown accustomed to.
Upstate brings you through their sorrows and triumphs, one letter at a time. The style in which this book is written in allows you to really connect with the characters. Written in solely letters and the typical Harlem argot, readers subconsciously are able to relate and have an understanding of each character’s distant personally, dialect, and train of thought. Each letter inspired and dictated by the intensity of both the situation and the emotions that it brings, I found myself relating and caring about each character. With questions and situations presented by both sides of the relationship, you will find yourself turning the pages quickly to discover more and more about their lives, and what will become of them. Although you probably will not relate to a life in a penitentiary or living on welfare, a connection will be established with the universal emotions brought about in relationships, commitment, and the never ending task of growing up.
I highly recommend reading this book. It’s style and plot is much different than most books I have read, and I thoroughly enjoyed straying from the traditional style of books read in school. Readers do not need to worry about depicting underlying meanings or hidden messages, or even understanding the plot of the story. The story does contain much depth and a very powerful message, but also is a great source for the pure enjoyment of reading.
Red Scarf Girl is a story told by Ji-li, a twelve year old girl who experiences the affects of China’s Cultural Revolution. At first it appears to offer many opportunities for Ji-li, until a background check reveals her dead Grandfather used to be a landlord. After that Ji-li and her family are labeled a threat to the success of the Cultural Revolution. Throughout the book she struggles with fitting in with those who view her as a lower class as well as being happy for who she is and where she came from.
While the author wrote the book as an adult, her writing style for the book makes it appear like the journal of a twelve year old. Due to this fact, it is evident that she intended her audience to be in the sixth and seventh grade. Yet at the same time, the reader, regardless of age, can feel the fear she experiences while her house is being searched and the arrest of her father. It is a wonderful book to read in order to gain small knowledge about the Cultural Revolution and how it greatly affects the life of a child.
I am America (and so can you) is a modern satire written by Stephen Colbert touching on many current and controversial events. This book is written from the view point of Stephen’s ultra-conservative character on Comedy Central’s the Colbert Report. Colbert tells us of his radical views of homosexuality, sports, science, and many other topics, all of which form a perfect mix of hilarity and offensive views.
Its no secret, this book wasn’t really written by someone who actually believes this, and it wasnt written by someone who just thinks this is amusing. Stephen Colbert and all the creative minds behind his character have found some idiosyncrasies with modern life and they point them out by exaggerating them. By blowing right-wing antics far out of proportion, it both serves to amuse and to inform.
Overall, this book was easy to read, consistently light hearted and very amusing (for a teenaged guy). This book is a must read for any fan of Colbert’s show, and good book for everyone else looking for a different sort of book to read.
**************************************
I thought that I Am America (And So Can You!), by Stephen Colbert, was a great book. Each page had numerous funny jokes. The chapters consisted of Stephen Colbert’s opinions on many different topics, some including religion, family, sports, homosexuals, and the media. The book was so funny it made me want to keep reading the next chapter. Although Stephen Colbert’s views are very humorous, they are also very logical. I really enjoyed reading his book and I suggest it to anyone who wants a funny, enjoyable, and not too long read.
The author who brought you New York Times Bestseller Twilight Saga, now brings you The Host on May 6th, 2008. 
The Wishsong of Shannara by Terry Brooks
