Karl's Reading List

Published by William Collins Sons & Co Ltd: London, 1982. This is the second Alistair MacLean book I've ever read, and is perhaps a little less thrilling than the first one . Set during WW2, we follow three mysterious Yugoslav nationals, led by Major Peter Petersen, whom are tasked by their German allies with carrying a message into Yugoslavia, as well as escorting some other individuals with them. Being written by a Scottish author, we assume that Petersen and his men probably aren't actually working with the Nazis - simply because that seems unlikely for the protagonists of such a novel - but we don't actually know that this is the case.  In fact, the most effective aspect of the book is the way in which any of the main characters could be working for either side. Are the brother and sister duo who at times try to send secret radio messages working for the Royalists or the resistance? Is the mysterious Italian, Giacomo, supporting the Yugoslavs or simply coming along ...

Published by Century/Random House: London, 2016. This is the first ever James Patterson book I've read, and I have some mixed thoughts. Firstly, the book is very easy to read. The chapters are short, the sentences are simple, and as a result, I flew through the book at pace. If this is what other Patterson books are like, then I can see why he would be a popular author to read. Secondly, being a co-written book, I am unsure how much of the plot and writing  is Patterson and how much is his collaborator. Apparently, Patterson has written over 200 books, but as many of them are co-written, it is likely that many of his co-writers do the heavy lifting. Thirdly, although the book is easy to read, I'm not sure I would call it 'well-written.' With the chapters being short - and with a lot of plot to get through - the book doesn't dwell very long on any given scene, meaning that the reader doesn't have a lot of time to emotionally invest in anything that is going on. W...

Published by Vintage Books: London, 2014. First published, in French, 2013.  Translated by Sam Taylor, 2014. One of those 'it is what it says on the tin' books, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an IKEA Wardrobe  also comes under the 'how much can we pack into a title' category, along with The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared - a book (also translated from another language) that I previously read, but long enough ago that I haven't yet reviewed it. Extraordinary Journey actually has quite a bit in common with 100 Year Old Man - both take their heroes on wide-ranging journeys, encouraging allies and enemies, going from place to place via unexpected and often humorous detours, and both have a romantic subplot gradually emerging.  The titular Fakir is Ajatashatru (the pronunciation of his name is one of the recurring jokes of the book) whom we meet as he arrives in France, hoping to buy a bed of nails from IKEA. Aja...

Published by Penguin Books: North Shore, NZ, 2004. This book tells the story of three Maori brothers, Pita, Rangi and Tu, who one by one join the Maori battalion and end up fighting in Egypt and Italy during World War 2. Tu, our narrator, is the youngest of the three, and the vast majority of the book is presented as his journal entries from the war, with an additional framing device being that he is handing these journal pages on to his niece and nephew in order for them to understand their father, Pita, more. While Tu's journal entries are obviously mostly focussed on his own experiences, other chapters are interspersed with the 'journal entries', telling Pita's story in a third-person narrative. It is a little confusing as to how these may or may not be being presented to Tu's nephew and niece, as if we are to take the narrative at face value all of these chapters should be Tu's journal, but obviously are not. However, putting that aside we get a good idea of...

Published by The Reprint Society: Suffolk, Great Britain, 1953 (1951). Translated from Italian by Una Vincenzo Troubridge. I didn't really know what I was getting into at the start of this book! A friend at church lent it to me (thanks Natalie!) saying she thought I'd enjoy it, so I had a read. I did enjoy it, but its an odd little thing. After a few short introductory stories told from the point of view of the (fictionalised?) author as a child or a young man, we are introduced to the Catholic priest Don Camillo and his 'little world' aka, the village of which he is priest. Don Camillo is an interesting figure. He is quick to anger, he is not above using threats or deception to get his own way, and he is a powerful fighter. He is also often in dialogue with 'the Lord above the altar' - an icon of Jesus who speaks to him as God. The fact that this is indeed the icon rather than merely 'God anywhere' is highlighted in a few stories, where the Lord's v...