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Release Date: 2010-08-24
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| Yeah, not too thrilled with Mockingjay **spoilers**I LOVED the first two books. Absolutely loved. I pre-ordered Mockingjay and waited in anticipation for this book to arrive in the mail. I tore into it the second it arrived, and I was just flat out disappointed.
First of all, in the first two books there is much human emotion, connection between the characters, evolving relationships. I felt like there was NONE of that in this book. It was nothing but endless wars and bombs and fighting and planning to fight, and strategy, and filming propos... It was like... allrighttt enough already this book needs more depth!
The only human connection in the book happened with the reunion of Finnick and Annie, it was such a great thing to happen and then Finnick dies by being beheaded by the mutts. Nothing more is said about him. He had such a prominent role in Katniss's life, helping her in her times of sorrow, and by having her back in war, and then he dies, and nothing at all is said. There's no explanation of how Annie took it or how Katniss felt, nothing.
It's within the last 20 pages or so that the book actually picked up to where I actually started to take a liking to it and then the last 3 pages was more or less the author saying, "Well, the book needs to end ... soooo Prim dies, Gale moves, Katniss marries/lives with Peeta, 15 years pass, they have two kids, the end."
There was absolutely no reason for Prim to be killed off either. Was there a shock value Collins was going for? I think so, but it didn't shock me, it totally missed the mark and fell flat. I didn't get the point. Most of her trust worthy friends had been killed, what was the reason for Prim being offed?
I also don't get how for the first two books there is such an intense love coming from Gale and he has such unrequited love, he shows her, and then at the end of this book where Katniss's sister is killed, her friends are dead, she's an emotional disaster, he just goes on with his new big shot job, moves to 2 and never returns. What the hell is that?
There's also no mention of Katniss ever seeing her mother again, so who knows if that even happened...
The ending was the biggest copout of life. There just wasn't much substance to this book at all in my opinion. Any number of things could have been done with the final book, and this whole "War is Bad!" message is sending was a bit over the top. We know war is bad, people die, families are torn apart, but it doesn't need to be shoved in our faces, especially as the final book in a trilogy. This book should have went out with a bang. Instead it just fizzled, sputtered, and died.
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Release Date: 1994-07-01
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| FascinatingThis autobiography provided an interesting look at a fascinating life. I came away from this book with a deep respect for the way Benjamin Franklin approached his life and sought to improve himself through hard work and careful study. What struck me the most was that he acknowledged shortcomings and made a deliberate effort to overcome them. As an example he recognized that being argumentative and forceful with people carried many long-term disadvantages. So he changed his methods and was better for it, both in terms of "winning" disputes and in developing lasting friendships. As an additional note, some would point out that Benjamin Franklin did not live up to his stated "life philosophy" and may even go as far to call him hypocritical. For me it doesn't matter so much whether or not he successfully lived up to his stated principles, rather what matters is that the principles are valid and a worthy goal for anyone to strive for.
In addition to the life, and life philosophy, of Benjamin Franklin, this book provided an interesting look into life in the 1700s British Colonies. Several things came out in the book that gave me pause. For example, I was not aware that boys were signed on as apprentices to a trade at such a young age (around 10 years old). Learning about the hardships of traveling from Boston, to New York, and on to Philadelphia was also interesting. Additionally thinking about the dangers involved in a sea voyage, from weather and pirates in particular, made me thankful of the ease and safety in which we travel now. In a similar vein, this book provides some great insights into the colonial politics of the time period. Even though it stops short of the American Revolution, the disputes between the colonies and England are clearly present and growing.
Again, this was a fascinating book. It had been on my to read list for some time and I regret that I had not picked it up sooner.
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Release Date: 2006-09-01
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| World War II Up Close And PersonalDespite the gloom and gore of wartime, this is an upbeat story. Told in first person, it puts the reader right there with Billy Boyle as he adjusts to being in the thick of things when he assumed, since General Eisenhower is his uncle, that he would have a nice safe desk job far from the front lines.
It's 1942 and the first American servicemen are beginning to show up in England, where they are received with mixed emotions. As Billy puts it, "I was one of the thousands from across the sea, easy with money, informal beyond the bounds of their polite society, a threat and a salvation all wrapped up in one."
He takes it all in stride, navigating the tricky shoals of military protocol with humor and a touch of American swagger. Much of the story takes place at Beardsley Hall, an old castle on the Suffolk Coast. When the last heir died in World War I, the government took charge of it and in 1940 granted it to King Haakon and his Norwegian government in exile. They're funded by the 8 tons of gold they smuggled out of Norway and stashed in American and Canadian banks.
Billy is briefed on Operation Jupiter, the underground's top secret plan to invade Norway and drive out the Nazis. He also learns there's a spy in their midst. When one of the king's top advisors is murdered Billy undertakes the investigation, his three years as a Boston cop making him more of a detective than anyone else in the group. An attempted murder and another murder follow. Billy bypasses official approval to carry out a bold plan for confronting the murderer
Benn brings it all alive on the page. Billy settles into his wartime role bolstered by what his father taught him about being a good cop. A neat twist at the end is based on an actual Allied plan for Norway.
A good war story is a romance in the classical meaning of the word. Quoting from Wikipedia: "... stories from the Middle Ages about marvelous adventures of a chivalrous, heroic knight errant ... who often goes on a quest. ... A related tradition comes down from Scandinavia in the form of epics, but the richest set of Germanic literature of Romance comes from Scandinavia in the form of the legendary sagas."
Billy Boyle may be a 20th century Boston cop but he is at heart that heroic knight errant on a quest - willing to face his own mortality in a quest for truth, a quest to bring a killer to justice, with global warfare as the backdrop.
Not for nothing does the author bring into the story The Edda, a poem from 13th Century Norse mythology:
"I know a hall whose doors face North on the Strand of Corpses far from the sun. Poison drips from lights in the roof; that building is woven of backs of snakes. There heavy streams must be waded through/by breakers of pledges and murderers."
There's also romance in a more contemporary vein. Emotional attachments in wartime are inevitable but iffy. For one of the characters who survives a bittersweet love affair, "what has been is past forgetting," to quote from an old Noel Coward song. Billy has an amorous adventure of his own, and in one especially poignant chapter he manages to remain a gentleman while in the arms of a grief-stricken woman whose husband is missing in action.
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