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Book: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-ExuperyPosted by Staff on Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 at 7:42 PM  Title: The Little PrinceAuthor: Antoine de Saint-Exupery Genre(s): fantasy, fiction Summary: Imagine yourself lost in the desert, far from any habited place, and facing a blond little boy, out of nowhere. When the boy urges you to draw a sheep, you’re more than surprised! From then on, you only have one question: find out where this strange little man is from and get to know his story. Thus began a strange and poetic journey, filled with metaphors, described through the words of a “Little Prince ” who views our world in a brand new perspective, full of innocence, freshness and gravity. Soon, you discover strange planets, populated by businessmen, drinkers, vanity and lamplighters. From GoodReads, translated by Ans Rating: 9/10 stars Reviewer: Ans
Review: I first came across it in my French class, we were give new copies of Le Petit Prince and asked to read it over summer vacation. At first, I sarcastically thought to myself, “Oh great! Summer homework!” but I when I started reading it, I was taken aback by the beauty of not just the French language, but also the story. Of course, I am not recommending you to read it in French (because what good will it do you if you can’t even understand the language!) The novella is translated into more than 190 languages so take your pick.
It is a very simple, sweet novella, more focused on the meaning, significance of every detail and the characters rather than the plot. For some, it may be just too bizarre. As readers, we encounter inanimate objects that have feelings, narrow-minded adults who think they know everything, a prince who is idealistic, naive and quite mature, and a man who is a bit lost in his own life. Furthermore, the plotline does not follow a straight path nor a typical mountain shape (expostion –> climax –> resolution). The narrative takes us in a rather slow anticlimatic journey, experiencing an imaginary world in the eyes of the Little Prince.
All in all, if you read this with an adult mindset, who’s hoping for some profound, subtle, deep literature, you won’t find it. The novella is fictional, the places are imaginary, the characterizations are imaginary. It would be foolish to take everything seriously and claim “the characters are too unreal” or “the portrayal of so-and-so is not true”. The novella is childish, but I feel that it’s intentional. The sentiments of the novella is aimed to reach and touch the innocent, idealist we all used to be when we were younger.
For those who are older, it might come off as depressing. Maybe because we wish we had the naive child’s heart to believe the novella’s obvious, (perhaps even trite) philosophy. I personally liked all the metaphors (even if some say it’s half-hearted symbolism), little intriguing ideas and quotes, and the overall message the novella presents. It was simple, imaginative and very pretty with its poetic language. Whether it is your cup of tea, is your choosing. I only ask that you approach the story, open-minded and with your heart. “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
0 Comments » Book: The Trespass by Barbara EwingPosted by Staff on Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 at 1:24 AM 
Title: The Trespass
Review: I first picked up The Trespass when I was aimlessly browsing the library during the summer. After flipping through a few pages I wasn’t totally intrigued by it but decided to check it out since I had time to spare. I quickly found out that the book was well written and contains history that I find absolutely fantastic, being the history admirer that I am. The details within was the main thing that won me over though. Whether Ewing was describing the horrible stench while riding past the dying crowds or the vast countryside, it made the book a lot more interesting.
I admit, The Trespass was one of the first books that I’ve read that were not for Young Adults. I was so used to how quickly stories moved in YA novels that at first I felt this book was moving far too slow and didn’t have enough energy in the text that kept me wanting to turn the page. After the initial slow start, the book becomes very gripping and becomes a race of freedom or captivity. As I continued reading though, I discovered that the pacing of the book was actually perfect and goes hand in hand with the somber tone of the story.
Barbara Ewing spends a good amount of pages describing the times of Victorian London, she doesn’t dawdle on to make the novel a history textbook. The descriptions of the spread of cholera that you feel as if you were sitting behind a window and looking out at it all.
Although this novel had the typical stunningly beautiful heroine that attracted all men that looked upon her beauty, it managed to avoid becoming a romance novel, making it very refreshing. There were times that made me emphasize with Harriet, the protagonist of the novel, and there were times that had me pursing my lips and wrinkling my forehead in frustration at her. I believe a writer should always research before writing, and Ewing did a splendid job showing that she knew the history of London during that time period. She brings to light the constraints and restraints that were placed on women during the Victorian times and from there, created a character that I cared enough to feel sad for and be mad at. Personally, I enjoyed reading about some of the minor characters more than the main heroine of the story because the author did a wonderful job developing them.
While the book started off hauntingly slow, the build up to the climax definitely will keep you turning the pages, by the end it concludes with a satisfying ending that wraps up the story nicely. Even with the odd combinations of cholera, feminism, and others that I won’t spoil, Barbara Ewing was able to write a entertaining historical novel that is memorable.
7.5 out of 10 stars – Good; interesting historical novel that was well researched. The introduction starts out too slowly and becomes a bit boring.
0 Comments » Book: The Body at the Tower (The Agency #2) by Y.S. LeePosted by Staff on Tuesday, August 30th, 2011 at 6:27 PM 
Title: The Body at the Tower (The Agency #2)
Review: The Body at the Body continues several months after the events of A Spy in the House, in which James comes back from India and is slightly more brooding than before because of bad India weather or some other shenanigan of the sort and Mary becomes a gender bending espionage, except that didn’t go all too well because obviously, she is much too pretty to be mistaken for a boy.
This time around, the mystery was more difficult to follow along and not in a thorough, well-executed way. There was no room to predict what would happen next because the plot holes were so wide that you practically fell right through the mystery and are left in the dark, waiting for someone to come pull you out and explain to you what happened. I found myself losing track of who the suspects were because Mary just floats from people to people through a series of trial-and-errors in order to solve the mystery. Again, the clues are just FORTUITOUSLY convenient for Mary. There were no significant barriers hindering Mary from getting to her goal because everything was accessible to her at arm’s length – clues fall out of people’s pockets, people talk way too loud for their own good, so small wonder how she and James were able to solve the mystery. All they had to do was follow the trail of conveniently placed bread crumbs…
The biggest issue I noticed in this book was the anachronisms! I didn’t mind the dialogue so much in the first book, but as I was leafing through the pages of my library copy of A Body in the Tower, I realized that a lot of the dialogue and ideology are rather modern and unorthodox for the time period. The characters treat race, ethnicity, social hierarchy, and women’s rights with suspended disbelief so that half the time, it seemed as if none of these issues actually existed. Every now and then, you would catch a glimpse of those social barriers, but not enough for them to be influential as they should have been.
However, the figurative language in A Body in the Tower is much, much better. I was able to get the sense of a gritty and grimy setting, although the belfry revelation at the end was definitely a little confusing to sort out. What was supposed to be the climax of the story turned into a farrago of limbs flailing all over the page- a fight ensues, someone falls off of the belfry, somebody else falls off of the belfry presumably to their impending death, but wait- no, just kidding. No, they were just hanging off of the periphery of the belfry.
Bantering wasn’t as fun in this book, but it was nice to see Mary and James’ relationship gradually flesh out. I was satisfied with the ending. Honestly, The Agency/Mary Quinn series reminds me of one of those poorly written television shows that somehow manage to garner lots of viewers and make you into a bad TV addict, because even though the characters themselves carry so much potential and form lovely chemistry, this series has so many flaws BUT I CAN’T STOP READING ABOUT THEM, maybe because I’m already two books in too deep. Needless to say, I’m still going to rush out and borrow The Traitor in the Tunnel once it hits the shelves.
6 out of 10 stars – Decent; more substance than the first, but not by a long shot.
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