A Quiver Full of Arrows, by Jeffrey Archer
Posted on April 21, 2008
Filed Under Fiction Books, Jeffrey Archer, Short stories, book review | Leave a Comment
A Quiver Full of Arrows, from 1980, is an impressive collection of short stories, really a full Quiver.
The book consists of twelve assorted arrows (short stories)
into the quiver. Each arrow is sharp and leaves a meaningful impact on the reader.
The Chinese Statue is a story that features a Sir Alexander, a British Diplomat, who has a priceless statue of Emperor Kung. It is towards the end that we understand the statue is not worth anything, but despite that, it is still priceless. How? Read on!
One-night stand is hilarious, and so is The Luncheon . Overall, all the stories bring out different elements of human nature. They are well written and very entertaining!
Three of of the stories have been dramatised for the Anglia TV series Tales of the Unexpected. A Quiver Full of Arrows is a great collection of short stories, well worth your time!
No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy
Posted on April 13, 2008
Filed Under Cormac McCarthy, Excellent book, Fiction Books | Leave a Comment
No Country for Old Men is a novel by American author Cormac McCarthy, published in 2005. In 2007 it was released as a film, directed by the Cohen-brothers. The film has, so far, been winning four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
The action in the book is set along the United States–Mexico border in 1980. The starting point of the story is a drug deal in the desert that somehow went wrong. We never learn why this was the case, only that it did, and of its consequences.
At the scene of the failed drug deal, a Vietnam veteran, Llewellyn Moss, finds $2 million. Moss takes the money and runs, thus setting in motion a chain of events involving both the country sheriff, Bell, Anton Chigurh, a ruthless predator who really enjoys his work who is out to recover then money, and others.
Moss soon finds that he can’t hide from the killer that the dealers have sent after him. And Anton Chigurh is so bad, so bad, in fact, that even his employers are frantic to stop him when they realize the trouble they’ve set in motion. And Moss is in the thick of it, with no way to get out of the action. So he fights.
I think I liked No Country for Old Men. It is, of course, wonderfully written. It is written in a dense, enormously edited style for the most part. An sentences, spelling and sentence structure is used actively by McCarthy to convey a thick description of people and settings. That aspect of the book I loved.
But the book also has, at the same time, a cynical, distanced coldness to it that is, in a sense, frightening to read. It is describing heart shattering events, yet is chillingly distanced in its descriptions. Like others of McCarthy’s stories, this one too paints a dispiriting picture. However, like other of his books, Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and The Road, this book too, of course, is a best-seller.
Reading No Country for Old Men, I sympathized with sheriff Bell, who is losing any hope he has for humankind. He scowls and says, “I always thought when I got older that God would sort of come into my life in some way. He didn’t.” I do, of course, recommend the book. Highly, even. But it is a disturbing book to read, in all its strange beauty.
I do, of course, recommend No Country for Old Men. Highly, even. But it is a disturbing book to read, in all its strange beauty.
Other great books by Cormac McCarthy: The Road (Oprah’s Book Club)
Also, you can order the DVD from amazon as well: No Country for Old Men (DVD)
The Appeal, by John Grisham
Posted on April 5, 2008
Filed Under Crime Books, Excellent book, John Grisham, Thriller | 1 Comment
From The Appeal, Chapter 1: “The courtroom was in a state of high alert, as if bombs were coming and the sirens were wailing. Dozens of people milled about, or looked for seats, or chatted nervously with their eyes darting around. When Jared Kurtin and the defense army entered from a side door, everyone gawked as if he might know something they didn’t. Day after day for the past four months he had proven that he could see around corners, but at that moment his face revealed nothing.”
In a crowded courtroom in Mississippi, 
The company appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court, whose nine justices will one day either approve the verdict or reverse it.
Who are the nine? How will they vote? Very often, they return majority verdicts 5-4 in favor plaintiffs in cases against businesses. Can one be replaced before the case is ultimately decided to swing expected the vote around?
The chemical company is owned by a Wall Street predator named Carl Trudeau, and Mr. Trudeau is convinced the Court is not friendly enough. With judicial elections looming, he decides to try to purchase himself a seat on the Court. The cost is a few million dollars, a drop in the bucket for a billionaire like Mr. Trudeau.
Through an intricate web of conspiracy and deceit, his political operatives recruit a young, unsuspecting candidate, Ron Fisk. They finance him, manipulate him, market him, and mold him into a potential Supreme Court justice. Their very own Supreme Court justice.
The Appeal is a powerful, timely, and shocking story of political and legal intrigue, a story that will leave readers unable to think about our electoral process or judicial system in quite the same way ever again. Many believe politics to be rotten - is the legal system as bad? The Appeal is written by an author who believes it to be!
The Appeal is another great John Grisham book. Legal thrillers are what John Grisham excel at. The book has drive, it has twists, it shows knowledge about the legal process and the legal communities - trial lawyers, judges, special interest groups. And, as well, it raises important questions about the functioning of the legal system and the tradition of electing judges that still prevails in some states in the US.
It is a very worthwhile book to read. I enjoyed The Appeal a lot, and really recommend it!
Other interesting books by thriller-master John Grisham: The Street Lawyer
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize: Lars Saabye Christensen on the long list
Posted on March 24, 2008
Filed Under Lars Saabye Christensen, The World of Books | Leave a Comment
The long-list:
- Alaa Al-Aswany, The Yacoubian Building (translated by Humphrey Davies from the Arabic, and published by Fourth Estate)
- Bi Feiyu, The Moon Opera (Howard Goldblatt; Chinese; Telegram)
- Lars Saabye Christensen, The Model (Don Bartlett; Norwegian; Arcadia)
- Jenny Erpenbeck, The Book of Words (Susan Bernofsky; German; Portobello)
- Pawel Huelle, Castorp (Antonia Lloyd-Jones; Polish; Serpent’s Tail)
- Ismail Kadare, Agamemnon’s Daughter (David Bellos; French; Canongate)
- Sayed Kashua, Let It Be Morning (Miriam Shlesinger; Hebrew; Atlantic)
- Daniel Kehlmann, Measuring the World (Carol Brown Janeway; German; Quercus)
- Erwin Mortier, Shutterspeed (Ina Rilke; Dutch; Harvill Secker)
- Marlene van Niekerk, The Way of the Women (Michiel Heyns; Afrikaans; Little, Brown)
- Bengt Ohlsson, Gregorius (Silvester Mazzarella; Swedish; Portobello)
- Alan Pauls, The Past (Nick Caistor; Spanish; Harvill Secker)
- Peter Pist’anek, Rivers of Babylon (Peter Petro; Slovak; Garnett Press)
- Laura Restrepo, Delirium (Natasha Wimmer; Spanish; Harvill Secker)
- Yasmina Traboulsi, Bahia Blues (Polly McLean; French; Arcadia)
- Paul Verhaeghen, Omega Minor (the author; Dutch; Dalkey Archive Press)
- Enrique Vila-Matas, Montano (Jonathan Dunne; Spanish; Harvill Secker)
Sourse: The Independent
The winner will be announced in May.
The Shepherd, by Frederick Forsyth
Posted on March 23, 2008
Filed Under Frederick Forsyth, Thriller | Leave a Comment
Published in 1976, The Shepherd is a story seemingly based upon Forsyth’s own experiences as a RAF pilot. It is the story of a De Havilland Vampire pilot, going home on Christmas Eve 1957, whose aircraft suffers a complete electrical failure over the 
North Sea en route from Celle in northern Germany to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
Lost in fog and very low on fuel, the pilot is shepherded to a disused RAF dispersal field by the pilot of a De Havilland Mosquito fighter/bomber of World War II vintage, who has apparently been sent up to guide him in. However, the pilot of the Mosquito, it later turns out, has been missed for 14 years. He too disappeared on Christmas Eve!
The Shepherd is a very short story, a booklet rather than a full book. It is different from the other books by Forsyth, and really a rather delightful, amazing, and interesting little story.
See much more about Frederick Forsyth at leserglede.
The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger
Posted on March 23, 2008
Filed Under Fiction Books | Leave a Comment
In October 1991 the “perfect storm” — of the kind that occurs only once a 
The Perfect Storm, which has been #1 on the New York Times bestseller lists, tells the story of the six-man crew of the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat that tragically headed into the center of this hellish storm. It also reports on the sentiments and reactions of family, lovers, and friends in the small community where the crew members are from.
The Perfect Storm is an amazing read, masterfully written, and a truly gripping tale. One of the best sea stories ever! I really loved it!
Praise: “[A] white-knuckle chronicle… [A] TRUE ADVENTURE STORY.” — Newsweek
Fourth book by Stieg Larsson will not be published
Posted on March 19, 2008
Filed Under About authors, Stieg Larsson, The World of Books | Leave a Comment
The Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet today published an article that stated that the manuscript for Stieg Larsson’s fourth and unfinished book will neither be completed nor finished.
The family confirms that there exist a draft for a fourth book. Approximately 200 pages have been written. However, Stieg Larsson’s familily strongly feels that it would be inappropriate to have somebody else finish Stieg Larsson’s final work.
So, that seems to be it. No more wonderful Stieg Larsson books. We will have to make do with the wonderful books that he did manage to complete (reviews here).
Run, by Ann Patchett
Posted on March 15, 2008
Filed Under Ann Patchett, Fiction Books | Leave a Comment
Ann Patchett is a talented American story teller and writes beautifully. She is the author of, among other books, Bel Canto and the excellent and marvelous The Magician’s Assistant
This is a different, but equally interesting story. Since their mother’s death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving, possessive, and ambitious father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an
Set over a period of twenty-four hours, Run takes us from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard to a home for retired Catholic priests in downtown Boston. It shows us how worlds of privilege and poverty can coexist only blocks apart from each other, and how family can include people you’ve never even met.
As in her bestselling novel Bel Canto, Ann Patchett illustrates the humanity that connects disparate lives, weaving several stories into one, and by doing this, creating surprising and endlessly moving narrative. Suspenseful and stunningly executed, Run is ultimately a novel about secrets, duty, responsibility, and the lengths we will go to protect our children. A fabulous book, and one I am sure you will like as well.
Icon, by Frederick Forsyth
Posted on March 9, 2008
Filed Under Frederick Forsyth, Thriller | 1 Comment
The context for Frederick Forsyth’s Icon is post-Glasnost Russia. The country is in crisis, and a new post-Fascist political party emerges, with a new, strong presidential candidate. A highly popular and charismatic politician, victory was all but guaranteed for Komarov.
Then a secret document surfaces in the West. The document contains extremely very sensitive information regarding Komarov’s future policies as president, indicating some relatively problematic tactics: restoration of slave camps, creation of a one-party state, destruction of political opponents, invasion of neighboring republics, and genocide of Russia’s ethnic and religious minorities.
The West must do something. But what? And how? A game with high stakes, espionage, and intrigue is started. And the snowball turns and twists.
Icon is a wonderful read!
Icon is among Forsyth’s best. Definitely!
For reviews of all of Forsyth’s books, see Leserglede’s Forsyth-page!
Bestill Icon (på engelsk) fra Bokkilden for kr. 120,-
Antony and Cleopatra, by Colleen McCullough
Posted on March 6, 2008
Filed Under Colleen McCullough, Fiction Books, Historical Fiction | 2 Comments
I like the Masters of Rome by Colleen McCullough a lot, and have read all the books in the series. Therefore I have been looking forward to Antony and Cleopatra for a while.
This is the follow-up to The October Horse. After the death of Julius Caesar in 41 BC, Mark Antony, Caesar’s ambitious and brash cousin, and Octavian, Caesar’s adopted son and designated heir, agree to jointly administer the far-flung empire: Antony in the East and Octavian in the West. It’s not a happy, nor a very stable, arrangement.
Also in this book, Colleen McCullough turns her attention to the legendary romance of Antony and Cleopatra. The love affair between Mark Antony and Cleopatra is a strange story, in a sense a timeless tale of love, politics, and power. However, in McCullough’s version, it doesn’t really come off as a steaming hot affair, nor as a tale of Mark Antony the seducer, but much more as a story of the seduction of Mark Antony by a determined and strong-willed Cleopatra. Cleopatra has an agenda of her own: to replace Antony and ultimately Octavian with Caesarion, the son she had with Julius when he came courting. This is her motive for wanting to seduce Antony, and she succeeds!
Antony and Cleopatra is another good Masters of Rome entry. I enjoyed reading it. Of course! Colleen McCullough is, after all, a master storyteller. The history is thick with plots and intrigue, the battles are fierce, the characters are brash and haughty, and the female characters every bit as strong willed and determined as the male ones.
Overall, a wonderful set up for a great book. Nevertheless, I have to say that among the books in the Master of Rome series, this is the book I have liked the least. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reason, but there are at least two that comes to mind.
The first is has to do with the characters. Mark Antony and Octavian are simply not nearly as interesting as, say, Caesar and Sulla - neither in a historical perspective, nor as characters in this book. McCullough does not manage to makes these characters, or Cleopatra for that matter, really come alive. Antony is particular comes across as more or less stupid.
Secondly, the action moves too slow in this book, compared to the earlier books in the series, and the battles lack smartness and stuff that make me fascinated.
So, yeah, an ok read, but Antony and Cleopatra is definitely not up to my expectations this time!
