The Flame of Freedom

This book is about the struggle and life of the former prime minister of kenya Raila Odinga. The book started from his childhood in Maseno town in Kisumu. It quickly jumps forward when he decided to pursue his political career.
Raila odinga lost two presidential elections and is now probably going to run for is third. In 2007 he infamously ran for the presidential candidacy that led into the post election violence. This book talks about his struggle to reach to the top but according to him it was ruined by vote rigging in the kibaki election, though that was never found out. Also in the most recent election in 2013 he accused Uhuru Kenyatta of rigging but the supreme court said it was false allegations.

Here are a couple of novels I read recently:

Freedom is a kind of family saga, covering three generations in the USA from the 1960s to about 2008.  Walter is the slightly nerdy son of a beer-swilling motel owner whose room-mate at college, Richard, becomes a reluctantly successful rock star.  Walter's wife, Patty, finds it difficult to choose between him and Richard, and never really manages to do so.  Meanwhile, Walter works for an environmental organisation and tries to save a species of bird by destroying an entire mountain.

Our Ancestors by Italo Calvino contains three novellas.  My favourite is "The Baron in the Trees".  The twelve-year-old son of a baron hates being told what to do by his parents, runs outside, climbs a tree and declares he's never coming down.  He doesn't: he spends his entire life in the branches of the trees which are close enough to climb between, and numerous enough to cover most of northern Italy and southern France. He eats, sleeps, washes, goes to the toilet in the trees; he hunts for his food, and eventually organises battles and finds a girlfriend up there.    

Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

I saw the movie of The Memoirs of a Geisha and then read the book, and now just recently saw the movie again and read the book once more throughout the past weeks. Re-reading a book of so much emotion, the tales of raw seduction in Imperial Japan before the influence of the American soldiers that came after the war, and the bombings, has made me understand the importance of reading twice. When you first read a book, everything mesmerises you and you simply want to keep reading, to see what is going to happen, to see what insane thing is going to proceed the terrible event that just happened, or the  happy event, you want to know if it will be crushed. When you read the book a second time you see that you were actually missing out a lot, inferred statements, opinions that had a double meaning, moments that seemed trivial, unimportant, but in fact you were missing out on the entire weight of it altogether.

Chiyo's (who later becomes Sayuri, her geisha name) journey was the journey of many women throughout Japan that had the same fate, a beauty since she was a girl, she had the pressure of perfection thrust upon her after being sold by her own poverty stricken family, put into a job that required beauty, that required to be delicate, to learn from the women you would compete against, because you were competing for attention, for cravings, you would have to compete against the girl that was your friend as you grew up, and would need to be fine with her trying to ruin your reputation, to be better than her was the priority. 

I believe that each other character in the book represents a piece of Chiyo's character, split into pieces. Her mentor, Mameha, is Chiyo's kindness, her femininity, and the person that makes her find herself in the game of being a geisha. As her mentor, Mameha also became her mother, and therefore the missing feminine figure throughout Chiyo's childhood. Hatsumomo, the geisha that later becomes her greatest rival, the most jealous woman, and also the one that wants to ruin Chiyo, is the hate within Chiyo, the hate that could develop, but never does thankfully. Hatsumomo also represents Chiyo's pain, the pain of being separated from her sister, the competition between women, the sadness of not being able to be with the Chairman. The Chairman represents all that is good in Chiyo, her love, her beauty, her happiness, all that makes her the exquisite girl she is. 

The book is exquisite, and must be read by everyone, even men, due to the fact that they can learn a few things about the pressure of being perfect and how important it is to be beautiful, and the challenges women have to go through for men.

'Too Much Happiness' by Alice Munro

A novel I have recently finished reading is ‘Too Much Happiness’ by Alice Munro. The novel is divided into various little stories. The first is about a young wife and mother who is in unbearable pain after having lost her three children. In another, a young woman, impacted by an unusual yet humbling seduction, reacts in a clever fashion. The other stories uncover the problematic issues of a marriage, the traumatic cruelty of children, and how the distorted face of a boy leads him to good yet also bad things in his life.

In the long title story, we escort a late nineteenth-century Russian mathematician and émigré, Sophia Kovalevsky, on a winter journey taking her to Paris, Germany and Denmark, all the way from the Riviera, to visit her lover. In Denmark we accompany her to a decisive meeting with a local doctor, and from then on to Sweden where she goes to the only university existing in Europe at the time, willing to be employed as a female mathematician.

In this novel, Alice Munro delivers difficult events and emotions into stories that focus on the unreliable course in which men and women transcend what happens in their lives. Munro has a particular manner in which she roots her stories in the point of view of an individual character whose reflective tone is initially captivating to the reader. The author creates a connection between the reader and the protagonist, then throughout the action of the story, makes you wish you had withheld what you had thought of her before, due to the judgment you hold for her as the story developes.

Personally, I found this book incredibly beguiling and recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about deception and destruction.

Kant: Critique of Pure Reason

Kant's most famous book, that I'd been wanting to read for a long time. This is my first time reading a work by Kant, and I was surprised to find that it was (or at least what I have read so far was) much easier to understand than I'd expected, although I think that prior knowledge of his metaphysical philosophy is still required. 

  

The book is, however, by no means an easy read. Kant writes with less structure compared to Wittgenstein, and tends to say a lot to get a single idea across, unlike Nietzsche, the two philosophers whose works I have written about in earlier posts, making the book unnecessarily confusing. For example, he mentions that "we cannot have any external intuition of time" in §2 of Transcendental Aesthetic, and only explains why that was the case in § 7. 

Some say that he does this on purpose to make his readers think and to discourage stupid people from reading the book, so as to avoid being misunderstood. I myself am still towards the beginning of Transcendental Analytic (about a fifth into the book), and am reading another book (on which I will make another post soon) every few pages to give my eyes and brains rest. I must say that if I hadn't heard that Kant made the book so unclear on purpose, I would not have bothered reading his own works at all, as it is his ideas rather than his writing that are interesting. 

The ideas explored in the book, on the other hand, excite me as much as Wittgenstein's did when I was reading about him, and would definitely recommend everyone to take a look at them at some point. What I love about Kant, Descartes, Wittgenstein, along with other philosophers, is that they realise that we are limited, and although metaphysics is a subject with no practical use, awareness of one's restriction (and identification of it where possible) is a valuable lesson.

TL;DR Don't read the book because it explains things badly and his philosophy, which you really should check out, is explained in all corners of the Internet, as well  as in innumerable books in all the languages you can name.

"Phantom" by Jo Nesbo

During this holiday, I chose the novel "Phantom" by Jo Nesbo. This novel written by a Norwegian musician and writer, captivated my attention immediately but as I read further, I found myself even more entertained by this bizarre yet fascinating fictional story.

The story portrayed in the novel is written from many different viewpoints, allowing the reader to create a few perspectives of what is going on throughout the chapters. Phantom is the ninth instalment of this series however a crucial one because we learn more about the main character, Harry Hole, and become more attached to him. The story takes place in Oslo, Norway where Harry is undergoing a private investigation on a drug-related murder. This leads him deeper into the darker side of human kind where he becomes more aware of the drug addiction and production on the streets, gang wars, corruption and a dangerous, powerful Russian known as Dubai. This man is known as "a kind of phantom" because he is known amongst all those who are aware he exists, as a man impossible to catch, like the wind.

As a reader, there are certain times in the novel where I had had to put down the book before recontinuing because of the dark way in which Nesbo creates the atmosphere. From the desperate addicts mourning on the streets to the moments where gunshots push innocent men into their death beds.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading dark and intense novels. 

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

During this past vacation, I decided to read Purple Hibiscus. I had never heard anything about it, but several people recommended it to me, so I decided to give it a shot. All I can say is that this was not a bad decision at all.

At the beginning, I was not so sure about the book, and almost gave up on it, simply because it was moving very slowly. Thankfully, I decided to stick with it. As the pace of the book increased, I found myself more and more captivated by Kambili's story. This book is situated in Nigeria, the birthplace of the author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This is story of a young girl who comes from a very catholic family, with a very strict father. Her relationship with her father is full of respect, but extremely violent, and she suffers multiple physical punishments, along with her brother, Jaja. 

Go Ask Alice

I decided that I would quit Go Ask Alice, it was not written in my general style and I didn't really read it with pleasure. It was a good book, and lots of people recommend it, but Alice's extremely realistic teenage wonderland is something that not many of us want to relate to, but somehow understand.

Alice had this impressive way of connecting with the reader at the beginning so it was easy to get immersed in it, I had doubts about the book in the beginning, and it seems they were right, it's written in the blandness that usually only present day books are written, of course, not all books are masterpieces like Nineteen Eighty-Four, however, I expected a little more... detail? Depth? Or understanding from the writer in what Alice was really going through. The story is well planned out and structured, what happens to her is awful, but it just doesn't catch my attention with any inferred details, stressing moments, the sort of cliff hangers at the end of the chapter that make you catch your breath and what to immediately read more and find out more.

An example of a book that caught my attention in a really special way, and was written in the recent years is The Perks of being a Wallflower where it is written in diary form, and still conveys a deep message. (I am not saying that it was written in the perfection books in the olden days seem to have where they became masterpieces that students are taught in English class).

For short, I stopped reading Alice, and I'm in search for a book to my liking.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray is the story of a delicate and alluring young man named Dorian Gray. This story takes place in the late nineteenth century in London, England. The protagonist is young, wealthy, cultured and sensationally beautiful. He is an archetype of male youth and beauty. From his allurement and elegant innocence to his developing egoistic and self destructive behaviour, we go through a journey with this man whose moral exploitation eventually leads to his downfall. In this novel, Oscar Wilde exposes the vulnerability of beauty and self-love.

basil

I found the depiction of depravity in this novel very intriguing. Along with Oscar Wilde's refined style of writing and ability to describe beauty vividly, his ability to portray gruesome details throughout the book is astonishing.

Having read this book, it has been decided to be one of the most illustrative novels I have ever read. Every page of the book was transformed from words to images inside my mind. Wilde's use of imagery in this book is incredible.

Ethics: A Very Short Introduction

Again, a book from the Very Short Introductions series. Covering different threats to ethics, as well as some fundamental ethical ideas, Ethics: A Very Short Introduction by Simon Blackburn is a good starting point for anyone interested in ethics.

On the other hand, I found this book to be more biased than the others of the series that I have read, although this could well be because of my being more familiar with this subject more than with the others.

In this book, Simon Blackburn starts by dismissing ideas that threaten the value of ethics such as the need of a superior being, such as God, to set rules for ethics, or the idea that we have no free will, and therefore are not responsible for our actions. This step is essential for any book that attempts to explain the basics of ethics, and in his introduction, Blackburn uses arguments against these threats that were either not explained well or unconvincing. He also relies on circular justifications, dismissing the threats through the very fact that they were threats to ethics.

Blackburn always seems to be encouraging his readers to either support or oppose each ethical idea he is explaining throughout the whole book. Of course, there is nothing wrong with defending or disapproving of certain ideas. However, Blackburn mentions in the preface that his goal is to introduce readers to ethics without bias to allow them to make their own judgement. Ethics: A Very Short Introduction certainly serves as a good introduction to ethics, but fails to achieve the goal Blackburn set at the beginning of the book.

Go Ask Alice - Anonymous (*Beatrice Sparks*) (New Book not yet finished)

Just started the book, I had a few doubts about the book at the beginning, I am not really accustomed to real life experiences and all, therefore it was a new thing to 'dive into'.

The entire book is Alice's diary, and her entirely fluctuating emotions. The first few short entries into her Diary, starting from September are quite intense, they throw you into a teenage girls life as swiftly as being one yourself. Alice is insecure, and very unhappy that a boy stood her up after asking her on a date, a boy that she was insanely in love with. She feels quite empty and hurt, and she needs to act blasé about everything that happened. The author, Beatrice Sparks, writes in the perfect way for the targeted audience: teenagers. Alice has a quite insane life and she cannot keep up with what is happening, until her dad gets a new job as Dean of Political Sciences in a different university. She plans on doing what every teenage girl wants to do when she has something worthwhile to start anew, she goes on a diet. Quite funny how exact the author catches every single teenage girl and her wishes to be a 'supermodelesque' beauty with perfect clothes, perfect skin and an amazing body. All to impress some guy that they hope will not break their heart like the previous one. The book seems interesting so far, nothing to say about it in the negative side, but the first few pages run quickly and so you get immersed in them quickly.

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is a classic that most people must read, due to its classical and transient way of writing.

I shall not write a summary about it, because, if searched for it can be easily found, however, I would like to explain the points that I liked about the way the book was written, and the points I did not enjoy as much about the book.

To ensure I was convinced about my opinion, I chose to read select chapters throughout the book and see what they made me feel or think, hence i took note of the feelings that were conveyed and the things i disliked about the text.
The points that are positive about Jane Eyre are the following: Charlotte Brontë's elaborate way of developing characters is a flowing trip that you enjoy, and as it keeps progressing, the discovery of new hidden secrets of each character is a 'game' worth participating in constantly. Now what I do also love is the way Brontë connects us to Jane as a part of the book; 'Dear reader', 'my dearest reader you would understand'. She includes the reader amazingly  and makes the reader feel part of it in such a way that the reader feels that they have embarked the journey with Jane in her mind, along with her feelings, her likes and her dislikes. The whole book is a trip through the lanes in horse carriages, governess rules, servants, house rules, children and romance in the way that it was before. I have never been fond of romance novels, never really liked the whole cheesy aspect to it and the unrealistic notions that there always is a happy ending no matter what. However, the way Brontë wrote it, it was pretty exaggerated on the 'in love' side of it, but not enough for me to put the book down.

Certain dislikes I have had about the book are not really connected to the way it was written, other than the 'cheesy love story and searching for the Great Perhaps' part of the book, I enjoyed Brontë's flowing writing and very inclusive prose. What I really did not like was the development of Jane... It seems that Brontë created a girl that she wishes she could be, a sort of fictional alternative self that she seems more impressed about, a quite unrealistic one as well. What I am technically doing is trashing on the main character and heroin of many women's dreams... Yes indeed, Jane is the portrayal of innocence, patience and understanding on a new level that not many of us can relate to, or even want to relate to. The fact that I dislike her, and her choices, just made me read the book with a different perspective and less of the naïvety many have read it with. It is an exceptional book, yet one that I must not have the level of maturity or understanding, or liking to read in such a way for it to capture my attention further than simply wanting to know "Does she finally end up with the man she has always wanted?" Or "Does Jane die getting killed by the mentally ill, actual, but not so actual wife of Lord Rochester?" The book is a twist of charisma and confusion all knotted together in a very well organised mess. I guess we could say that I did not put up with the feminine invention of the whole love story.

This is why I do not like women being authors, (not meant in an offensive way I know many female writers that are

For short, I am not really sure if I like the book or not, but seeing as I would not be willing to read it again it explains itself... Do not let my opinion get in the way of you reading it, like I said, it's a classic that most need to read, and many enjoy and have enjoyed it.

Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction

A relatively well done short introduction to Political Philosophy; concise, condensed and compelling. David Miller takes a position in the contemporary debates of the field, and despite a considerable bias, successfully presents arguments to an acceptable degree of fairness. It is an enjoyable and enriching read for anybody interested in the Engineering of Society, Social Justice and/or Democracy. The only thing I would reproach is that there were passages that were unnecessarily simplified, as well as occasional ambiguities, that limited the clarity of certain domains such as that of social psychology.

"Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller

A book I have recently read is “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller. This novel, written in the 1940s, is separated into two acts and a requiem. The main character is an old salesman called Willy Loman. As we progress into the book, we learn more about his family background; his wife Linda, and two sons, Biff and Happy. Struggling financially, Willy attempts suicide more than once leaving his wife in a traumatic state where she ends up blaming her two sons for the unhappiness of her husband. The Loman family seems to be breaking apart; Willy is not an extremely popular man, Biff sees through his family’s lies and wants to be a better man than his father, however, Happy’s father is his role model for the future. In the final scene, Linda, sobbing, still under the delusion that her husband was a well-liked salesman, wonders why no one came to his funeral. 

The main themes portrayed in this novel are Dreams, Hopes and Plans as oppose to Lies and Deceit. The image of Willy is one of a dreamer. He dreams of material success and freedom. He is utterly unable to distinguish his wild hopes from rational realities in the present. Although Happy and Linda are also extremely optimistic, they are able to maintain distinguish between hopes and reality.

On the other hand, the Lowman’s are also extremely self-deceptive, blinding themselves from reality. Willy convinces himself that he is well liked and successful and that his sons are destined for greatness. Unable to cope with the reality, he abandos it, stepping into his own vivid fantasy world, becoming suicidal. Linda and Happy also have an illusion that their family are going to become a success. Biff is the only character who sees from another perspective, recognizing that he and his family members are consistently deceiving each other and he fights to escape the constant cycle of family lies.

Personally, I found this book incredibly interesting because of how different this family is amongst others. Despite being fiction, everything seems incredibly realistic. I enjoyed how Miller was able to contrast the deception of the family with the success in a perfect manner.

Notes from the Underground

I enjoyed this book very much. The book comes in two parts, and while the second part is packed with dry humour, the first part is the perfect textbook to becoming vain enough to feel contempt even towards your own self, and a step-by-step guide to existentialism and finding pleasure in shame and pain, and denying it in all "consciousness that falls to educated individuals of the 19th century." I found the whole book very humorous, and interesting both in a philosophical and a psychological way.

Reading this book for the first time, I burst out laughing every few pages, highlighting this witty phrase and that, but looking through the book a second time, I couldn't help but sympathise with the narrator, which made me realise that in the playful parts there was always a suffocating sadness, mortification and solitude on the narrator's part, intensified unnecessarily by the amusement experienced by the reader as a result of the narrator's unpleasant feelings. While desperate to explain his thoughts to his readers, show himself to be superior and be recognised for his intelligence, throughout the whole book, the narrator is ashamed of being read and suffers from the feeling of a constant need justify himself (ladies, if you happen to be looking for a man with a cute character...). These feelings of the narrator spoke to me deeply, and I am still very much touched by this book.

Definitely a must-read; I am also looking forward to reading more of Dostoevsky's works.

The 'Thursday Next' Series

Over the winter break, I read Jasper Fforde's 'Thursday Next' series, and I loved it. The books aren't a heavy piece of English literature; they aren't books where you need to analyse every sentence for hidden foreshadows or look in the dictionary every few pages to find the meaning of certain words or phrases that you didn't previously understand. It is a series in which you can sit down, relax, and let the author take you on the most unconventional journey seen in English fiction. 

These books cannot be read by any simple, uneducated and unread person. The reader needs to have read significant works of English fiction, and even at times some ancient mythology, to understand the references and jokes, and to thoroughly enjoy the books. 

Never judge a book by its cover. Or by the first few chapters. I emphasize this phrase if you intend on beginning this series. The cover and the first few chapters of the first book may strike you as childish, junior make-believe, and unappealing; but if you continue reading on, you understand that the book is an absolutely wonderful read. 

The author, Jasper Fforde, keeps this book incredibly fast-paced, and it hooks the reader in almost instantaneously. Make sure you have time on your hands when you begin reading this series, for you won't put it down until you've gotten utterly sick of it. I told Mr. Bérubé that I was bored, and I needed something that would keep me interested; he checked the first book out for me, The Eyre Affair, and told me to read the first few chapters. I read up to chapter 5, then I went back to the library the next day and checked out the next 6 books to the series. I read the whole series in about 10 days over the winter break. I could not put the books down. 

This series is incredibly original, silly, fast-paced and absurd. I recommend this series to anyone who doesn't usually enjoy reading (because they will after this series), and anyone who has trouble focusing on one thing happening at a time. Some of the best reviews for this book so far are: 

"The reader catapulted in and out of truth and imagination on a hectic, humorous and neatly constructed chase" The Times 

"Forget the rules of time, space and reality; just sit back and enjoy the adventure" The Daily Telegraph 

"'The Eyre Affair' is a silly book for smart people" Independent

Wittgenstein / Schopenhauer: A Very Short Introduction

An amazing series. Both books explained the two philosophers' works as thoroughly as an introductory book possibly could, especially the one on Wittgenstein by A.C. Grayling.

The series is made up of small, compact books that can be hidden in any bag, allowing the reader to pick it up during spare times of any duration. As there isn't very much to say about the books themselves, I will focus on the philosophies covered by the books.

Wittgenstein's philosophy fascinated me. The book divided his philosophy largely in two sections: his early philosophy, carefully established through logic, analysing the relationship between language and the world, and his later one, starting more from the base of language and metaphysics and pointing out the almost unnoticeable flaws in his earlier philosophy.

On the other hand, Grayling's criticism of Wittgenstein's philosophy, found at the end of the book, was slightly disappointing in that it sounded overly pretentious, as though he was criticising for the sake of criticising, although it is very possible that I imagined it. 

Schopenhauer's philosophy was less interesting for me, and just as confusing as, if not more confusing than Wittgenstein's. I picked up the book in the first place because Schopenhauer was Wittgenstein's biggest influence. It was a very bad idea, as it made me work backwards in time, but fortunately I had some basic knowledge on Kant, who influenced Schopenhauer greatly -- too much, even.

It was this that disappointed me: it felt like Schopenhauer had taken Kant's metaphysics, gave them a different name, and added some nonsense to it. It reminded me of the quote by Samuel Johnson: "Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good." My opinion could, however, be a result of an incomplete understanding of Schopenhauer's thoughts. 

Overall, I enjoy reading books of this series and very much recommend them, although I wouldn't particularly recommend these two, as the series covers a wide range of topics. 

Chess Story by Stefan Zweig

Psychology, Chess and Nazism; three themes Stefan Zweig intricately and elegantly weaves only days before he and his wife commit suicide in 1942, in a short, captivating and compelling novella entitled Chess Story. I appreciated this book as it is a one-idea book, it is intriguing, immediate and thought-provoking. I adored the world depicted; cold, austere and calculating, and was mesmerized by certain passages, particularly as we see the protagonist's salvation develop into a dark, detrimental addiction. This book is an extended allegory, Nazism is portrayed in the mind of a logic lover. I admire this approach.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I am currently in the middle of Pride and Prejudice. This book is very much one of the classics that, in my opinion, should be read at least once. 

What pushed me to first read this book was that my sister watched the movie and absolutely adored it. I got online and read a couple reviews, and everyone said that they love it. So, I decided to read it. 

I am nearly halfway through this book, and I must admit, I don't feel that the book is going anywhere. It seems that maybe there is a chance that something might happen between Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley, and we obviously know that something will happen between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. I just wish that, maybe, Jane Austen had not been so descriptive, and had sped up the plot a bit. However, I will soon reach the middle of the book, and I am optimistic that it will pick up it's pace, and that the story will finally be able to proceed. 

Animal Farm by George Orwell

I recently finished reading Animal Farm. I started it because we are currently reading Nineteen Eighty Four in class. 

The story of this book takes place in an imaginary farm in England. Both the time period and place are very  vague, so as to allow a bit of freedom as to when this story could have happened. This book s written from the point of view of the animals on this farm. It tries to show how even good intentions can lead someone on to become power hungry, and a dictator. 

The book starts off with the animals rebelling agains their owner, mr. Jones. Since this is their revolution, they have put the smartest animals in charge : the pigs. The animals come up with seven commandments that all animals on the farm should follow, and everything goes smoothly. 

However, it is not ment to last. After a couple of years of their happiness, the pigs start to gain more and more control, turning people against each other, and slightly hanging, and bending the rules, until everything is in complete turmoil. 

I really liked this book because it was a quick read, but very interesting. It is believed that the main theme of this book is the Russian Revolution, however, no one can be sure. If you have studied history, you can clearly notice where the author is making comparisons between the Russian Revolution and the workings of Animal Farm. 

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

 

I have just started this book, but I can say that it has already proven to be a very emotional and captivating book. This book takes place in Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia. It starts off in Mission Hospital, after the death of an Indian woman, during the birth of her twin boys. 

I cannot say much else about this book, considering the fact that I am only on the second chapter, but since I have now visited Ethiopia, I feel that I can relate what I saw there to what is happening in the book. 

Maina Wanjigi: Shepherd boy in pursuit of a virtue

This book shows the life of the former minister and member of parliament Hon. Maina Wanjigi. To me this book means a lot because it shows where i came from and how my grandfather lived his life. He came from living in a small home in a small village of wahundura to now living in Karen with his own farm. the book starts with a very harsh time in kenyas history the period before independence where things were harsh for the black kenyans, a prime example from the book is when Maina's father was killed by the colonial officers and his mother put in jail by suspicion of cooperation with the Mau Mau, which was like the resistance against the british. Maina goes on to study in agriculture and goes on to study economics in stanford. The next step for him was into politics when be came on to become the member of parliament for kamukunji constituency and later the minister for agriculture under Jomo Kenyattas government. Reading this book really changed what I thought of my grandfather it made me understand about him and all the great achievements he has earned.
                   

 

"Women In Love" by D. H. Lawrence

The book which grasped my attention this term is "Women In Love. This novel by D. H. Lawrence, first published in 1920, speaks about the destructive human passion, reflecting on the impact of Lawrence of World War I. The story takes place in the Midlands of England in the 1910s and the reader is introduced two main characters, Ursula who is a teacher and Gudrun who is an artist. The major themes portrayed in this novel are marriage, the triangle of desire, life and art. Ursula and Gudrun are portrayed as independent women who, although are not from the upper class, meet two men of who are of social superiority, and who pursue them into marriage and defy their social norms. 

I enjoyed reading this book due to D. H. Lawrence's style of writing and unique way of interpreting each and every character.

"The Fault in Our Stars" - John Green

The Fault in Our Stars is a beautiful book, with a heart-breaking story that dives you through hundreds of emotions at a time. The main character of the book is called Hazel-Grace Lancaster, she has cancer, and from the beginning of the book, we can see that she has accepted the fact that her cancer is terminal, and forever is not an option.

Her mother forced her to go to a Cancer Support group, which was supposed to make her feel like she was not alone. But Hazel hated them, because she knew that secretly all the kids at the peer meetings were competing with each other, and she hated the idea that they all had to make these sad stories so that they feel like they have it worse than the rest of them. Hazel's only friend there is a guy called Isaac that loses his eyesight later on to cancer.

Through Isaac, Hazel meets Augustus, one of Isaac's best friend's that had cancer, yet he got rid of it.

Unfortunately I cannot tell you many things about the book because there would be far too many spoilers. I recommend the book to everyone that has wants an eye-opening experience alongside the characters.

Green yet again writes a compelling story, creating a character that seems strongly researched and thought of, planned through and created step-by-step. He displays a cancer patient's pains through a different, care-free perfection, despite all the problems, he shows that cancer patients are not really depressed truly, they try to make the best of life no matter whatever they have, and this book displays it strongly.

Looking For Alaska - John Green

Looking For Alaska by John Green is a book that portrays teenage life in depth, it passes through the emotional processes of a teenager, the adventures, the common problems and how many teenagers feel while they are going through the high school experience.


We dive into the book by being introduced to Miles Halter, a teenage boy that did not really have a wonderful middle school experience and cannot wait to go to Culver Creek Highschool; a boarding school that his father previously went to. Miles has an interesting 'hobby' so to say, he loves reading biographies and knowing people's last words before death, he has memorised hundreds of last words. I believe that Miles has a sort of fascination with the reality of death, and how people truly show who they are in the end.
His parents wanted to organise a goodbye party for him as he was preparing to leave Florida, however, only two people showed up, making the even awkward, hence, making his parents wonder if Miles was leaving due to social anxiety, or depression.
After the two people departed, his parents asked him why he wanted to leave, Miles returned with a book by Joe Meno, where he hi lighted that the character was in search for his great perhaps. That was what Miles was looking for, his own Great Perhaps, and that was why Miles Halter was moving from Florida to Culver Creek, Alabama, he wanted to escape his terrible, lonely life in Florida, and have a new beginning.

As Miles sets up his room, he meets his roommate Chip Martin, nicknamed the Colonel; he is an arrogant, very intelligent, yet stocky teenager that is a naturally born leader, always ready to stand up for his friends. The Colonel drags along Miles to buy cigarettes from Alaska, a beautiful, curvy-bodied girl, that loves books, smokes, drinks and enjoys being a rebel. Takumi, their friend is another person that Miles begins to get along with. Miles begins to enjoy the presence of his new friends. However, one night, while Miles was sleeping in his boxers, a group of boys came and took Miles to the pond, taped him, and then taped his mouth.
This was meant to be the initiation, a new kid simply had to be thrown in the pond, but this was a sort of revenge against the Colonel, which the "Weekday Warriors" (or the rich children of the school) blamed the Colonel for two of their friends being kicked out. One of them being Alaska's roommate.

Miles is a very skinny guy, however, the Colonel devises a nickname that is the complete opposite of how he looks; Pudge.

Now, the story continues with Miles discovering the different lives of teenagers, starts seeing the differences between all the students, the deep and interesting notions of Religion Studies, and soon enough he begins falling in love with Alaska. Of course, he thinks that he's the only one, yet Alaska is such a bubbly character, that believes in strong meanings and reading, a massive chain smoker that enjoys her wine.

Out of all the characters, you fall in love with Alaska, because she seems to understand everyone, in a way that everyone wanted to be understood, and they loved it. She has an uncanny knack of doing pranks with the Colonel and Takumi, and Miles soon joins in on them. However, despite all the things that most people would consider negative, she is a really smart girl, that 'tutored' people in McDonalds on how to pass their Calculus tests, and they always did.

The book is the one that started off John Green's fame, of course, these are not all books for guys, however, most people I know that have read his books have found themselves in one of the characters no matter what. It's impossible not to fall in love with Green's intelligent, complex and detailed writing that displays well studied and well thought-of characters. I love his books even if i was never a fan of cheesy little romances, but Green manages to create and destroy romances fast enough for you to feel the pain of the separation yourself. (Spoiler Sorry)

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

During the Christmas vacation, I re-read one of my all-time favourite books. This book, was Ender's Game. I re-read this book after having seen the movie, which in my opinion, did not stick to the book at all. I felt that I had to put the story straight in my mind, I couldn't let it get jumbled by the movie.

This book is the first of a series of five different books, of which I also read Speaker for the Dead.

I loved this book because, at the time when I first read it, it seemed as this far-off future, or invented land where there were extra-terrestrials who needed to be wiped out, that planet earth would soon be under the attack of the Buggers for the second time (or so the people thought).
However, what struck me the most, when I was re-reading this book, was the way that the author put so much importance on the children, how they are seen to be the only ones that can defend the earth from the oncoming onslaught. I really enjoyed the way that the author acknowledges the fact that children are very smart beings, that education can help us, but that it is not everything. The educated adults are dependent on the children, to save them.

Books...

"A book is the proof that humans are capable of working magic" - Carl Sagan

I have had quite the adventures over the past few weeks, I've lived through angry old poets, 16 year old mass murderers, human cockroaches and possibly life's biggest questions.

"The Pleasures Of The Damned" by Charles Bukowski - is a huge collection of poems he wrote from 1951 to 1993. It was definitely something different, very vulgar and graphic and most of them probably not age appropriate. He seems to me very much like a drunken old man, angry at himself just for the sake of being something and lived with the mind of a boy. He often made me very mad, some of the poetry which he writes seems only to be understood by him, at times I wonder if even he understands. However while I was lost in my occasional anger due to his vagueness I suddenly realized, if that was the reaction he was striving for, for if it was, he definitely succeeded. There where however a sufficient amount of poems, which were truly beautiful and alive.

"We Need To Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver - was absolutely epic. The whole story is told through letters that Eva sends to her husband Franklin. I found it a little hard to get into at first as this 'Eva' started to annoy me, however once I get about 100 pages into it, it was so absorbing I could not put it down. Eva writes about Kevin's upbringing, and his peculiar behavior as a child and teenager. She continuously refers to thursday, the reader already knows that something along the lines of murder is going to happen, and when it does, it is funnily enough put in such a blunt way. It is a very powerful plot, and even though I have not had a child that murdered half of his English class and his teacher (don't worry I won't kill you), I found the story very easy to relate with, on some weird level. I seriously recommend this books, however I am not sure if I want to read anything else by this author, for in a way I found that the plot of the story was more powerful than her writing.

After reading giraffe, and figured I should give Kafka a go, and so I did. I read a compilation of short stories by Kafka, and of course, Metamorphosis. I much say it was extremely likable, and very funny indeed. I found the story line very interesting, first thing you know a man wakes up, and then out of the blue, plot twist the mas is actually a cockroach! Hilarious and slightly pathetic! I look forward to read more of his works in the near future.

"The Stranger" by Albert Camus - a short, yet vastly compelling story. I loved the weirdness of the plot, and the concept of reacting differently to what society would think. The main character seemed a rather empty soul, even emotionless at times. Camus explores, the meaninglessness and worthlessness of human life. This book is really something special.

Another, very philosophical book, which I happened to read during the break was "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" By Milan Kundera. This was, a slap in the face really. The first thing that really struck me was the german proverb "Einmal ist Keinmal", meaning what happened only once may not have happened at all. By these words one of the main characters Tomas, wondered; if I only live once, then why live at all. Kundera explores the philosophy of lightness and weight throughout the book. He refers to lightness being the acceptance of the lack of meaningfulness in life, and living in the momentary beauty, the two characters, Tomas and Sabrina are characters of lightness. However Tereza, is defied by weight, for she cannot cope with the unbearable lightness of being. And Franz, defies all events in his life as heavy, therefore leading him to a quick and unnecessary death. This books, I must characterize as heavy, it was felt heavy in my hands and heavy to heart. I don't know whether I regret reading it or whether I appreciate it. I feel this was probably the wrong time to read it, as often what I read affect my mood and trail of thought (not that I am going to go all Kevin on my English class or anything). Maybe I'll read it again, when I'm a little wiser.

"The Diamond As Big As The Ritz" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

"The Diamond As Big As The Ritz" is a short story by novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. Revolving around themes such as wealth, visions of America, youth and religion, it is a gripping novel about a sixteen-year-old boy, John T. Unger, who discovers that his father is one of the wealthiest individuals in the world. The title of the novel refers to his father.

"Death Of A Salesman" by Arthur Miller

A dispirited yet interesting novel is the of Arthur Miller called "Death Of A Salesman". This book concentrates on the way of life according to the American Dream. Themes such as betrayal and abandonment are beautifully portrayed in this novel. After various events, we learn more about the  protagonist, Willst Loman, who is an old salesman and his family background including financial problems, suicide attempts and the unhappiness which revolves around the family.

I recommend this book to only a certain number of book due to it being very dismaying.

"The Catcher In The Rye" by J. D. Salinger

"The Catcher In The Rye", a novel by J. D. Salinger caught my attention because of the interesting themes represented throughout the book. One of them was growing up and the painfulness of it. The novel revolves around a young man, Holden Caulfield, and as we emerge ourselves further into the novel, we learn how the young character grows and matures. The protagonists main goal is to resist the process of being more mature as he fears change and complexity.

I recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in the darker motifs and themes in a book such as loneliness, deception, intimacy or even just relationships between individuals.