Books 7-10 plus 2 Extras
I am continuing to read from my list of classic and recommended books. I have finished books 7 through 10 on my list and also have read two extra books that I bought at Barnes & Noble. Both of these books were in the current Top 10 best sellers and were 30% off plus my B&N discount.
Let's look at what I have read lately:
#7 The Kite Runner
By Khaled Hosseini, this book was excellent and memorable. It was #37 on my original list but also showed up on other recommended lists. I moved it to #7 because I wanted to read it.
The book takes place in both Afghanistan/Pakistan before the wars (Russia, US, Taliban) including the fall of the Afghanistan's monarchy. The main character (Amir) moves to the US with his father, what most normal families in Afghanistan did if they could afford it. There is much discussion of classes among people in the country and how life was before and during the upheavals of war and religious zealots. There are some interesting twist and turns throughout the book. It reads as a biography of Amir and his family but it is a work of fiction.
To be honest, this book made me open my mind to Afghanistan and the regular people that were living there before the Taliban came in and sent them back a thousand years. Amir remembers as a child watching TV and going to the theater to see US-made movies with John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. They wore jeans and rode banana bikes and flew kites (the title). It is an very interesting story!
#8 The Man in the High Castle
By Philip K Dick, a replacement for the book that was originally #8 in my list but dropped to #10. I was having trouble finding #10 at the libraries in Melbourne so I decided I would read another of the books by the same author. The Man in the High Castle was available at the Eau Gallie Library.
Basically, the story is about an alternative ending to World War II where the victors were Germany and Japan. The book takes place in the US, where the country has been divided between the winners. It is an interesting look at what life would have been like if this had happened. West coast is Japanese run and East Coast is German. It was a fast read and very thought-provoking. It takes place in 1962, also the year it was written.
I see that there is an Amazon TV series that is currently streaming, roughly based on the book and its major concepts. I have not seen any of it so no comments about it. The fourth season is scheduled to start in November 2019.
#9 Anna Karenina
By Leo Tolstoy, is a true novel in a special class of writing. It is long, almost 800 pages, and it is divided into eight parts. It is easy to read, at least the English translation I borrowed from the local library. Some authors consider it the greatest novel ever written. It was first published in 1878, so it tells of a Russia when there were still Tsars, and the very elite rich, and the very poor peasants (working class). There are discussions of problems among the classes with mentions of communism, although it was not until 1917 that major changes occurred in the Russia government realm.When I borrowed the book from the Melbourne library, I asked the librarian if 3 weeks was all I got. He said “How about three years?” The book is very thick, thicker than War & Peace, another Tolstoy novel. I was able to finish it in 16 days. It is very interesting to read about a different time and place, and be transported back to that era. I highly recommend it!
#10 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
By Philip K Dick, was originally #8 on the list but moved down because I could not find it at the local libraries. I had to go out and buy it. The movie Bladerunner from 1982 is loosely based on this story. The book was published in 1968 and is suppose to take place in post-apocalyptic 1992 (later changed to 2021) after the World War Terminus. Due to nuclear fallout, most humans emigrate to other planets. There are a lot of differences between the book and the movie, and I think I actually enjoyed the movie more, although there is a better story about the animals in the book.
And of course the movie has the Tears in rain monologue, not included in the book. Who can forget Rutger Hauer as replicant Roy Batty say:
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”We lost Rutger Hauer back in July of 2019, I hope his last words were as glorious...
Extra #1 The Institute
This book takes place primarily at the Institute, a facility located in the woods of northern Maine, King's home state. Kids who have TP (telepathy) or TK (telekinesis) tendencies are kidnapped and brought to the government run Institute. Like most King novels, it is a story of good versus evil, but it is easy to get those sides mixed up. I heard they have already sold the movie rights so I can't wait for a TV series or movie. It was a great read!
Extra #2 The Testaments
I did not know until I started to read it that it was a sequel to A Handmaid's Tale. Told as testaments from three different girls/women, intermixed between chapters. Although nothing apparently is in common between the three at the beginning, the testaments and women become intertwined into a single story, still told from the perspective of each of the three. I won't ruin the ending but Atwood herself says it answers the questions people had about what happens to Gilead, the society where women have no rights except to bear children to the men in control. It must be good because I finished it in 5 days. She is a great writer as far as I am concerned.
Here is the current list of what comes next:
| BJ Rank | Book Title | First Name | Last Name |
| 11 | One Hundred Years of Solitude | Gabriel | Garcia Marquez |
| 12 | Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Mark | Twain |
| 13 | Pride and Prejudice | Jane | Austen |
| 14 | Grapes of Wrath | John | Steinbeck |
| 15 | Slaughterhouse-Five | Kurt | Vonnegut |
| 16 | Count of Monte Cristo | Alexandre | Dumas |
| 17 | The Secret History | Donna | Tartt |
| 18 | The Secret Garden | Frances Hodgson | Burnett |
| 19 | Cloud Atlas | David | Mitchell |
| 20 | For Whom the Bell Tolls | Ernest | Hemingway |
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