All Old Users – Page 12

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

May 30, 2014 by All Old Users

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell is a well-beloved book and seen as an integral part to American literature. The book is essentially a coming-of-age novel and one that tells mainly of survival. The rather lengthy novel begins with Scarlett O’Hara at the age of 15 and carries her through many trials and tribulations such as loss of love, war, death, poverty, hunger and sometimes simply bad luck. With the American Civil War and Reconstruction of the South as the backdrop, the novel appeals to wide audience as it contains themes of romance, drama, comedy, suspense, history and adventure.

I both read the novel and saw the movie for the first time when I was a young teenager. I have seen the movie a number of times since then (although not in over ten years) but I have not read the book since then. My initial thoughts are that the book was much better than I remembered and the movie was not quite as good as I remembered it being. Both the movie and the book are quite long and I have had this 48-hour book siting in my library for at least a year and a half and have only now gotten up the courage to tackle it. The movie is 4 hours long and includes an intermission. I remember that I went to see the movie with a friend who had never seen it before and during the intermission we walked out to the lobby and she said, “œWell, that was a great movie.” Both my mom and I just stared at her because we didn’t know how to tell her that there were two more hours to watch.

Land of the Blue Burqas by Kate McCord

May 29, 2014 by All Old Users

Kate McCord is the pseudonym of the author of In The Land of Blue Burqas, a memoir of her five years in Afghanistan. McCord chronicles her experiences detailing what it’s like for a foreigner, specifically a foreign woman to live and work for an NGO in Afghanistan. Her stories are enthralling and even a bit frightening. This book unlike anything I’ve read before; this is an incredibly comprehensive, insightful and relevant book on learning and understanding Afghan culture through Western eyes.

The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith

May 16, 2014 by All Old Users

The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith, a story written in 1956 primarily for children, is about a robbery of 15 Dalmatian puppies that results in a good deal of adventure. While written for children, the novel contains rather severe storylines where one puppy is seemingly stillborn then survives, a wet nurse puppy is needed for the puppies to survive and the plans are that the puppies be killed and skinned so they can be made into fur coats. The most endearing part of the story is the personality and intelligence that is given to the animals in the story. In the end it is the fact that we have animals caring for other animals and their pets (i.e. owners) that makes this a fun story to listen to.

According to Wikipedia, Dodie Smith states that she always hoped that Disney would make her book into a movie, which it was in 1961 only 5 years after the release of the novel. While the 1961 animated movie does maintain some of the main points of the story, the story is certainly reworked so that it more appropriate for children and the silver screen. I wonder why Smith made her story as dark as it was if she was genuinely hoping for it to be made into an animated movie. As Smith is a British writer and Disney is an American company, it could be that Smith sincerely thought that her novel was appropriate as many children’s stories, especially those originating in Europe, are often quite a bit darker.

The Battle for the Beginning: The Bible on Creation and the Fall of Adam by John MacArthur

May 12, 2014 by All Old Users

John MacArthur’s reasoning in The Battle for the Beginning is simple: a straightforward, “œliteral” reading of the Genesis creation text, considered solely on its own merits and unencumbered by modern evolutionary scientific theory (and, by extension, philosophical naturalism), clearly and reasonably describes a period of six, 24-hour days. As such, the earth and all its inhabitants, animals and humans, were created within one solar week. He walks carefully through the text and explains what happened on each day, how it happened (to the extent that he can exegete and extrapolate), and why evolutionary science does not explain the facts of creation.

Along the way MacArthur critiques some scientific principles that legitimately need challenging, such as uniformitarianism, the assumption that natural processes have always operated in the ways we observe today (which is neither measurable nor observable). His approach of setting Scripture as the primary guide to his understanding and letting the chips fall where they may is admirable, and I affirm the principle in general. MacArthur also does a fantastic job explaining the destructive effects of philosophical naturalism, which often goes hand in hand with the methodological naturalism of evolutionary science. However”¦

Darwin’s Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design by Stephen C Meyer

May 5, 2014 by All Old Users

A devastating critique of Darwinian and neo-Darwinian theories of life’s origins, and a rigorous defense of Intelligent Design as a legitimate and compelling scientific theory. Stephen Meyer is a philosopher of science, and he ably traced the discovery of DNA and its contemporary challenges in his previous book, Signature in the Cell.

Now, in Darwin’s Doubt, Meyer takes on the fossil record in the “œCambrian Explosion” and details the attempts by evolutionists to account for it. As it turns out, Charles Darwin himself recognized that the fossil record exposed a potentially fatal weakness in his new theory of natural selection, but one he assumed (not unreasonably at the time) that science, given enough time (pun intended), would fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, as our understanding of biology and genetics has increased exponentially over the last 150 years (and especially since the 1960s), the difficulties for Darwin’s theory have only gotten worse.

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

April 25, 2014 by All Old Users

The Remains of the Day is a very well known British novel by Japanese-born British novelist, Kazuo Ishiguro. The novel is a first person narrative coming from the voice of an accomplished butler, Stevens, in post-war England. Stevens goes on a much deserved “œmotoring trip” and as he makes his way around the country side of Great Britain he takes the time to think back over his career as butler at Darlington Hall. Stevens is very matter of fact as he describes his life as a butler, his duties, and his relationships with his staff and his employer. As the reader hears more and more, we discover that Stevens has perhaps taken his duties and loyalties as butler so seriously that he has missed out on a more fulfilling life, a life of love and devotion to someone other than his employer.

In reading about Ishiguro’s background, I have learned that Ishiguro experienced an especially unique upbringing, as England was all that he knew as home since his family moved to Great Britain when he was 5, and yet he grew up in a Japanese speaking home in order to keep his Japanese culture in tact. While I haven’t read his first two novels, Ishiguro states that his image of Japan that appears in the novels comes strictly from his imagination and how it had been described by his parents. While I would perhaps state that no remnants of his Japanese culture appear in The Remains of the Day, it seems that his tendency to write from the flawed first-person perspective, which is apparently a repeated theme throughout many of his works, is seen as more typical of Japanese influence then British.

Paper Towns by John Green

April 18, 2014 by All Old Users

Paper Towns is the third novel by the increasingly popular young adult novelist, John Green. The book is about a graduating senior in high school, Quentin Jacobson, and his strange and compelling relationship with his neighbor, Margot Roth Spiegelman. As young children, the two came across a divorced man who had committed suicide. While they never spent much time together after that, the event created an unspoken bond.

One night their senior year, Margot gets “œQ” to drive her around while she seeks revenge against those who had wronged her. They have a wild and crazy night together and then the next day she disappears. Margot leaves small clues for Q to find her. For the remainder of the book, he searches for her by following her cryptic clues and doing some soul searching in the meantime.

Divergent by Veronica Roth (Movie and Book Review)

April 11, 2014 by All Old Users

Divergent by Veronica Roth is a novel set in post-modern America where as a result of war the city of Chicago and its population has been spilt into 5 factions. The idea is that these factions, which are chosen based on an individual’s personality, live separately but use their talents and gifts for the greater good of society.

The Errudite faction values knowledge and learning so their role is to innovate, teach, study and learn. The Abdegation are a selfless faction and so take the role as public servants by running the government. The Candor faction upholds truth, reason and justice so they serve as law. The Amnity are a kind faction that have the role of caring for the earth and providing the people with food. The Dauntless faction are seen as brave and fearless so they are the protectors of the city.

The main character, Beatrice, discovers that she does not fit into any particular faction and is therefore: Divergent. She chooses dauntless to the dismay of her Abdegation family. She learns quickly after she joins dauntless that everything is not what it seems and life gets dangerous for her, those around her, and her family that she has left behind.

The Devil Walks in Mattingly by Billy Coffey

April 8, 2014 by All Old Users

Bookwi.se want to welcome a new contributing reviewer, Allen Madding. Mattingly, Virginia Sheriff Jake Barnett, his wife Kate, and Taylor Hathcock have spent twenty years wrought with guilt for their roles in the death of Phillip McBride. While his death was ruled a suicide, these three people know better and each would say they killed … Read more

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

March 21, 2014 by All Old Users

Howl’s Moving Castle is a fantasy novel written by Diana Wynne Jones. The story is about a young girl who lives in a world where magic, which is a very real aspect of life, can be taught, learned, possessed and used to one’s advantage and the good or ill will of others. Sophie crosses paths with the evil and powerful Witch of the Waste and is cursed so that she suddenly progresses to the age of 90. She then runs away from her town and ends up living in the magical moving castle that belongs to Howl, another magician who is less feared but just as powerful as the Witch of the Waste.

In the story, we find that even witches and magicians are human with human faults and human desires. Their ability to practice magic does not necessarily set them apart from others but it merely helps to make up who they are, similar to an accent or a personality trait. The story is about how Sophie tries to break her own curse while attempting to help and interact with the others around her, magical or otherwise.