Just a heads-up to those interested; I posted a few new book reviews here on Good Reads. Including a couple of classics.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Another perfect novel, this one here. John Steinbeck had a way with words. The man just knew how to tell a story. The Grapes of Wrath paints a dark and gloomy picture of America during the Great Depression, when the Midwest became shadowed beneath a blanket of topsoil, blown away from fields of over-worked land. People went hungry, they died with their lungs filled with dirt that once provided sustenance, and families lost their land when the bank notes were due and money became scarce. It was a hard life for those who lived through this time.

Steinbeck captures the mood with his amazing talent. His use of metaphors and description wows even the most polished of authors all these years later. The characters and narration offer a rich taste of the struggle to live, to hold on to dignity in such undignified times. I highly recommend this novel to anybody who knows how to read.






View all my reviews


To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Brilliant! A perfect novel. Perfect. I won't go into details about this book's content. Most everybody on the planet has some sort of idea about its plot. I'll just say, this is one of the top five greatest novels ever written.

Harper Lee was correct in leaving off with this as her only literary contribution. How could she ever come close to Mockingbird's perfection a second time? A first novel that reaches this high in the stratosphere is impossible to follow. Sure, she could have released a string of really good novels, cashed a few more checks, and been content with her portfolio. But a book like Mockingbird comes only once in a generation. Rare is the author who accomplishes such a masterpiece. The narrative voice of young Scout is pure and brilliant. Impossible to duplicate, this voice. A second novel wouldn't have stood in the long shadow cast by this American classic.

With well over eighteen million copies sold, it's a safe bet Harper Lee has never gone hungry. If you're one of the handful of people around the world who has yet to read this perfect example of literature; what's the hold up? And the movie version of this story? Perfect.



View all my reviews