"Cosmpolis" by Don Delillo

Cosmopolis by Don Delillo is a book that I would never have imagined myself reading. However, after watching the movie, even though many have criticised it, I found it extremely intelligent and much more complicated then the already superficial and predictable movies in the present day.

After seeing the movie, I discovered that there was a book, and as in many cases the book is much better then the movie due to detail and more dialogue, there is much more depth and understanding of what the main character is going through.

The main character, Eric Packer a twenty-eight multibillionaire man that travels most of his time in his sleek white limo filled with the latest possible technology, all of them fitted to the shape of the limo. It is an entirely spacey car, bullet proof and very carefully cork-lined to keep the outside street sounds outside. The limo is a very important detail throughout the book because Eric Packer spends most of his time inside it.

He is visited by various employees that work for him, to which he discusses about the rise of the yen. He loses incredibly large amounts of money from himself and his clients as he bets against the currency. He has meetings with his wife, and some other women, showing the carefree life the young philanthropist leads. Throughout the book Eric's voyage is obstructed by traffic jams by a visit from the president through the city, as well as a massive anti-capitalist riot, that ends up redesigning his limo in propaganda graffiti art. The last of the traffic jams is the large funeral procession of a sufi rap star. (Presented in the film as K'naan the rapper in present day).

As he loses such large amounts of money, he starts relishing in this loss, and along the way on his final meeting with his wife, he makes sure that he loses part of her fortune as well, so that he makes sure that no one can ever say that his fall was stupid and unpredictable, that it could not have been caused by himself.

Eric is followed and then attacked by two stalkers, one of which is a professional "Pastry assassin" that throws a plate of whipped cream in his face. He is then attacked by a second one, who is a former employee of the business-man and dedicated his life to be the one true assassin of Packer, this being the last meaningful thing in his life. Packer's story ends radically after a very impressive end conversation with the attacker, where he is murdered.

This was a very interesting book, it was not filled with much action, but with engaging and intelligent conversations regarding the economy and the true meaning of present day capitalism. I found the book edgy, yet it showed a different side to present day society. Eric Packer is a peculiar character, an only child that matured far too early after his father's demise, his marriage being set up with another peculiar and insanely rich person. This strange edge created a capturing environment of the book.

Handmaid's Tale

Where I am reading now, Offred is recounting more stories of her past. She speaks of Moira, an old friend who underwent the same fate as she. However, when Offred was with Moira they were under the command of someone called Aunt Lydia. Moira was more rebellious and much more anxious and determined to escape their prison. Because talking and mingling was suspicious, the two friends would have to sneak in the bathroom and speak, but only for minutes. Moira then decided to fake ill by not taking her vitamins and developing Scurvy, she was found out and punished. It is not yet clear, but it sounds as though at some point Moira did leave. Offred remembers her but does not know of her whereabouts or even if she is still alive. - Beatrice de Vaulx

Darren Shan - Dark Calling

Im currently half way through Dark Calling which is the 9th book in its series. Dark Calling is a horror. This is the kind of book for people who are into supernatural, demons and magic. This is book can be utterly unputdownable as somethings constantly happening.There can be very gruesome parts where demons are split apart or eyeball are being eaten by deformed maggots, as Kernel and the disciples travel through the supernatural universe and the Human universe. Their aim is to protect the humans from demons coming and slaughtering everyone. This book can keep you interested throughout the whole time your reading it, and so do all the others in the series. Darren Shan has done a few different series, like the demonata series which is the one i'm currently reading and also the vampire series. Here is the blurb from Dark Calling "I know it's ridiculous. Lights can't whisper. But I swear i heard a voice calling to me. It wounded like static to begin with, but then it came into focus, a single word repeated over and over. Softly, Slyly, seductively, insistently. Come.... The disciples are being manipulated by beings older than time. Only Kernel Fleck knows that something is wrong. But he is in the grip of a creature who cares nothing for the fate of humanity. Voices are calling to him from the darkness and he's powerless to resist. Kernel has already been to hell and back. Now he's about to go further..." This book has a lot of suspense and is very interesting.

peeling back the mask part 2

in the first part of the book it describes why the tragic post election violence happened some people say the corruption of president Mwai Kibaki and others say that prime minister Raila Odinga was to confident to lose. In my opinion i think that Kibaki rigged the elections, because on the day after the votes were finished that is when it was supposed to be released but it took a whole week for them to be released. That is when the tension started building up and when the results were released 2 days after the violence started in my home ground Machakos the violence went into other rural towns and spread through most rural towns. weeks past and the two main partys each went on separate retreats ODM(orange democative movement, Raila) and PNU (Party of national union, Kibaki) to sort everything out but they ended up with nothing. The violence became to much for kenya to handle so then Kofi annan head of the united nations at the time came and sorted everything out and Raila was made the prime minister of kenya

                                                 DUBLINERS BY JAMES JOYCE
The Dubliners is a collection of 15 stories from 20th century irish middle class life by James Joyce. He took his city to the world for the first time when it was first published in 1914. The rich detail of irish life portraying ordinary, often defeated lives with realism. Mainly about social decline, sexual desire, corruption and personal failure.

Book to Read in Class

The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak, is one of my favorite books because of it's unique perspective on WWII and beautiful writing. The story takes place in a poor section of Germany where the inhabitants obey the rule of Hitler, but not out of respect, out of fear. The main character, Liesl, is a young girl who is struggling in this society of hidden truths and fascist rule. She lives with her foster parents; and once her foster father starts teaching her how to read, her life changes. I highly recommend anyone to read this book. It is full of history entwined with emotion and everyone who I know that has read it has loved it. This would be a good book to read in class because not only does it teach more about the Holocaust, Markus Zusak's writing style is breathtaking. He writes the book from the perspective of death and the whole story is written in a very poetic prose. I have read and reread this book a few times and love it every time. - Beatrice de Vaulx

City Of Fallen Angles

I have been advancing in the book 'City Of Fallen Angles' and it has become more interesting and gripping. The book is revealing more about the main characters and their actions. Some are becoming stranger and others are losing control of their well being. In this book, humans are not the only inhabitants on earth; there are shadow hunters as well as vampires. There are many unanswered questions and mysteries  yet to be solved which make it even more exciting to read on and find out.