Alex's Review: Atonement by Ian McEwan

Reader's Name :: Alex
Grade: 12
Book Title: Atonement
Author: Ian McEwan

I picked up Atonement because of the film, which is an absolutely gorgeous creation, and I had heard the novel was just as lovely. I hadn’t heard wrong. Naturally, the novel gives more detail than the film, therefore drawing one in even more. The conveyed visuals were stunning and eloquent, and each character really had a ‘voice’ of their own. McEwan wrote from three very different standpoints – the young Briony, then the older Robbie and Cecilia – and each of their stories was just as deep and touching as the last.
Atonement, for those that aren’t aware, is the story of a young girl, Briony Tallis, in England in 1939, who witnesses and experiences some displays of love between her sister Cecilia and their servant boy, Robbie. Briony is young, but thinks she is older and more aware of everything than she truly is, has an affection for stories, and a little jealous too – all which cause her to commit an act of accidental cruelty that puts both Robbie and Cecilia on the path of destruction. It’s a story hard to explain simply, and if you read the novel, you’ll understand perfectly.
As McEwan tells the story in different time periods, from each characters' point of view, and even from different stages of Briony's life, he weaves it all together with an underlying tone of not just regret and sadness and love, but honest suspense. I loved his knack of giving only ONE side of a story, and then several chapters later, you realize you/that character had interpreted everything wrong. It was incredibly clever and life-like, and really just written in a different way than things I've read before.
I can’t do much more than say this book was beautiful, and absolutely heart-wrenching. I’d recommend it to anyone, purely because I enjoyed it so much. It’s so incredibly moving and fantastically written; so real, and easy to connect with. I could hardly put it down, even knowing what happens, thanks to the film. And without a doubt, I will be reading it again.

Why I picked the book up:: I had just watched the film again, and really wanted to try the novel.

Why I finished it:: Partially because I wound up using it for a class assignment, mostly because there was no reason not to.

I'd give this book to:: Everyone. Except someone just looking for a 'fun read'.

My rating for this book:: ***** It was amazing!

Dark Tower: The Gunslinger

Name: Eric

Grade: 12

Title: Dark Tower: The Gunslinger

Author: Stephen King

Stephen King is considered the greatest horror writer of all time; the Dark Tower series is his masterpiece, starting with The Gunslinger.

The Gunslinger is a story first and foremost about love, life, and the meaning of both of them. It a story of a man, of a boy, and their journey. It is of a tower. It is this kind of vagueness and interpretation that makes The Gunslinger a masterpiece.

The Gunslinger's main character is Roland, a gunslinger from the land of Gilead, his world's version of Camelot, and is a descendant of Arthur Eld, his world's version of King Arthur. Roland is in pursuit of the man in black, a mysterious, magical figure who Roland has a deep-seated hatred for. Along the way, Roland meets Jake Chambers, a boy lost in a world not quite his own.

Roland tracks the man in black across a great desert, in pursuit of revenge, but also as merely a step toward his larger goal: ascending the steps of the Dark Tower, the very center of all worlds, and meeting whatever inhabits the top floor. Along the way he is hounded by starvation, fatigue, religious zealots, demons, goblins, and spirits, all under the influence of the Crimson King, who works against Roland.

This is a book "not for the faint of heart", to use a cliché expression. It is very adult in nature, but not to an extent that takes away from the book; it is all necessary, for it adds to the characters and the realism of the story. Any reader who is a fan of Stephen King, fantasies, sci-fi, or even just epic story lines should invest their time in the first novel of the Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger.

Why I picked up the book: A family member recommended it to me, and I had previously read Stephen Kings works and liked them immensely.

Why I finished it: It is quite honestly one of the greatest books I have ever read; the immenseness of the story is indescribable. On top of that, it’s all part of a much bigger story!

I'd give this book to: Anyone interested in Stephen King, and anyone looking for more substance to their fictional library. Any fool can write a fictional story; few can write the universe that King has composed.

My Rating for this book: *****

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Name: Caitlin

Grade: 12+

Title: The Metamorphosis

Author: Franz Kafka

Imagine that on one average, should be normal day, you woke up only to find that you have been transformed into a giant bug.

Does that freak you out? Because that is exactly what happens to Gregor Samsa in The Metamorphosis. Gregor wakes up and finds himself turned into a huge, ugly bug, only to the dismay of his family as well as himself. The story of The Metamorphosis is considered one of the greatest horror stories ever written- and for good reason. The idea of waking up as a ginormous bug is very unsettling, but the way Kafka writes it makes it even more so; the way people react to Gregor's bug form is very strange. Not only does Gregor himself not seem to care, but his family doesn't freak out and yell or cry or scream. They just kind of hide him away in his room and shove food through his door, trying to avoid seeing him at all costs. Eventually, Gregor's father snaps and pelts his unfortunate, bugly body with apples so hard that one stays stuck in Gregor's back.

The story line of the Metamorphosis is not by itself so horrifying; in fact, looking at it now, the whole story is a bout a giant bug living in a room by itself. But, the psychological horror that Kafka provides when he describes the characters that inhabit the story is very effective in terrifying his readers. The way the characters behave as if nothing very strange or tragic has happened is amazing; they automatically assume that the bug is Gregor and that the only thing they can do about the situation is to lock him up and hide him away, as if they never loved Gregor at all. Personally, I ended up not so much sympathizing with Gregor, but feeling really, really bad for him because no one, including Gregor himself, cared about whether or not he lived or died. In fact, everyone wants him dead. That fact is so chilling to realize while reading this story. Kafka's unrealistic response to such a strange situation is awful. Describing why exactly this story is so haunting is almost impossible for me to put into words. Really, reading it is the only way to understand why the book is something that you can never forget.

Why I picked up the book: It had a neat cover and I have always been meaning to read it.

Why I finished it: I had to. It was hard to put down, even though at times I really wanted to.

I'd give this book to: Anyone looking to be scared, but scared in a way that stays with them whenever they think about it, not just scared in the way people get from watching a horror movie. This book is down right disturbing.

My Rating for this book: *****

The Saga of Larten Crepsley: Palace of the Damned

Name: Serina

Grade: College

Title: The Saga of Larten Crepsley: Palace of the Damned

Author: Darren Shan

After his ill-fated voyage on a blood bathed passenger ship, the vampire Larten Crepsley has lost all will to live through his immortal life. Burdened with a young child from one of the dead crew, he wanders a wasteland of glaciers and searing snow, looking for a suitable place to lay the both of them down to rest in an icy death. After a violent confrontation with a polar bear, Larten is determined to find a cave, so that at least the baby's remains will not be desecrated by scavengers. He nearly loses hope of finding a suitable tomb before he spots flashes of yellow and green in the distance, nearly invisible through the whirling snow. At a loss of anything else to do, Larten follows the phantom, not knowing if it is a guiding spirit or just a trick of his weary mind. The colors in the white lead him to a large cavern, where he discovers glimmering crystals and coffins of ice. Leaving the still wriggling baby on top of one of the frozen tombs, Larten submits himself to a more lowly death by deciding to jump down a crevice deep in the cave. He takes a moment to remember all his misdeeds and all who have suffered because of him before leaping from the edge. In mid-fall, Larten sickeningly realizes that he has so much to live for and that he isn't ready to die, but is too late to grab onto anything. However, destiny seems to have other plans for the vampire when its hand reaches out to clasp his coat before he can fall to his untimely demise...

I picked this book up because I love Darren Shan's books.

I finished this book because it was fast paced and totally sucked me in.

I'd give this book to any Cirque du Freak fan that wants more.

Rating: ****

I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

You may or may not believe in aliens or that life exists on other planets. But what if I told you there are those living among you that are not of this world? Unless we told you, you would never know we weren't human. We look just like you, talk just like you, but have amazing superhero powers, which we try to hide. I am one of nine who were sent to Earth from Lorien, in an attempt to save our planet and our people. But they followed us. They have captured and killed number One, Two, and Three.

I Am Number Four.

Why I picked the book up: NCPL is partnering with Kelly Walsh for their One Book One School. They are reading IA#4, and we will be doing a Read It! See It! movie night in December.

Why I finished it: It is a super fast read.

I'd give it to: readers who want lots of action and a book that reads like a movie, especially boys.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Name: Caitlin

Grade: 12+

Title: Brave New World

Author: Aldous Huxley

October is an important month for me. My friends and I all seem to share October as our birth months, but most importantly October means my favorite holiday: Halloween. So, to celebrate October all month I read books that are terrifying in different ways. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is terrifying, but not the kind of terrifying one usually associates with Halloween. Brave New World is a classic dystopian read, meaning that it's a story about an anti-utopian society.

This anti-utopian book opens up with a very detailed and thought out description of a "hatchery." Hatcheries in Brave New World are where people are "born." Actually, they're not really born at all- they're created. Artificial wombs hold embryos at bay while their fates are decided and determined by a class system. Some people are born Epsilons, the lowest rung on the ladder, and some are born as Alphas. Epsilons are fed alcohol during different stage of development; they're created to be mentally retarded. Epsilons do the dirty work like working in factories, Alphas do the fun stuff like ruling the planet.

Having thoroughly been shocked and disgusted by the description of hatcheries, Huxley then leads the reader to a less disgusting, but all together more disturbing world. Outside of the hatcheries, people are ignorant; more ignorant that probably anyone reading this knows; the scariest part is, they don't care that they're ignorant. They spend all of their time taking a drug, Soma, to make them happy, partying and being very, very, promiscuous. They are taught from birth that everyone belongs to everyone and for that reason, it's perfectly fine to have hundreds of sexual partners-in fact it's encouraged.

At this point in the story, the reader has met Lenina, a beautiful girl who is very much a part of Brave New World's society. Lenina is a foil to two characters in the book, the first being Bernard.

Bernard is different; he's an alpha who isn't tall or handsome, he spends time alone, and detests soma. He spends a lot of his time pining after beautiful Lenina, which, eventually leads to a trip to a sort of Indian reservation. There, Lenina and Bernard meet John, a savage. John is not a Brave New Worlder- he was born on the reservation and has a love for Shakespeare and a dislike of soma.

Bernard, for his own personal and vengeful reasons, takes John the Savage back to his home town. While John is there, he causes havvoc and madness as he himself falls deeper and deeper into the need to disassociate himself from the Brave New Worlders he finds so disgusting. Eventually, John cracks and tries to save the brave new Worlders, but to no avail.

As society remains, John finds himself cracking under the pressure of trying to save himself and the people, leading to an ending that leaves the reader feeling almost as fearful as John himself was...

The themes and ideas in Brave new World were fantastic- I can't talk enough about them. This book was brilliantly written and terrifying. It made me think about how our society works and about how correct Huxley really might be. Whether you reads this book for school or on your own, make sure you pay attention because if you do, you'll take so much away from it. It's really astounding how relevant this book still is today.


Why I picked up this book: I actually read it in my English class, even though I was planning on reading it myself back in the day.

Why I finished it: It was really good and though-provoking.

I'd give this book to: Anyone looking for a slightly disturbing read, or anyone that's into dystopian fiction. It's a classic.

My Rating for this book: *****