Book Critique

I thought that, as I am scrabbling to think of things to blog about... :)  I would tell you what I thought of some books I have read over the last few days.


The first on my list would definitely be The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico.  If you have not read this book and you have the opportunity to read it, please do so.  It is only a short story (I read it in less than an hour) but it is so sweet and defines metaphorically the meaning of true love and true sacrifice.  I loved it.

I also recently read Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity by Robert Cwiklik.  It was kind of interesting to see what kind of background Albert had, but other than that, I didn't particularly enjoy this one.  It was written for an audience of about twelve years of age, and I felt some things were rather poorly put to try and sooth 'sticky topics', particularly when we got to World War Two.  For one thing, Cwiklik tried to justify the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan.  He said that unless it had been done, thousands of American and Japanese soldiers would have died.  I find this to be a poor excuse.  For one thing, soldiers know that when they sign that paper, they may not return home again.  The Japanese killed by the bombs were innocent civilians - men, women and children - who had no say in the War but who suffered the consequences there of.  The affects of the radium are still lingering today.  You didn't have to be alive to suffer from it today.
The other thing that got me about Cwiklik's book was the way he continually referred to Hitler and the Nazis as madmen.  If Hitler was something, it wasn't mad or crazy.  Cruel, heartless, wicked, hateful and blood-thirsty, yes - but he was not mad.  He was very crafty, strategical and clever.  Not mad.

Currently, I am reading Tom Appleby - Convict Boy by Jackie French.  I don't like all of French's writings.  Some of them can be positively, downright weird.  But Tom Appleby is a really good book.  As the title implys, Tom Appleby is a convict boy who is sent to Australia on the First Fleet and starts a new life there.  One thing I do appreciate about Jackie French is the way she describes things "as is".  Some parts of the book make me physically cringe while reading.  She is colourful in her descriptions, but doesn't try to lace them up at all.  It was as it was.

These Few Lines by Graham Seal is a non-fictional account of William and Myra Sykes who were torn apart when William was charged with poaching and sent to Swan River for life.  The book contains letters that passed between Myra and William (mainly Myra - William wasn't exactly an affectionate husband and didn't write more than two or three letters to his wife).  The poor woman's hope is to be able to scrape up enough coins to transport herself and her four children to join William in Australia.  He doesn't do anything to assist her.

Well, that sums up my reading, although I have read a few other books, these ewre the main ones.  I am having to re-train myself for the Summer Reading Competition the library holds annually.  We have to time all our reading, two hours for a ticket.  At the end of the competition, all the tickets are put in a box and drawn out to find a selected number of winners.  I think I have about 5 hours so far.  :)

God bless you all.