Iqbal by Fancesco D'Adamo

Image taken from Merlin

This is probably one of the most influential books that has made an impact in my life, second only to Christobel Mattingley's No gun for Asmir. It is the ficitonalised account of Iqbal Masih, a child slave who escaped from his captors to become a crusader against child slavery, only to be murdered on Easter Sunday of 1995. He was about 13 years old.

I read the German translation of the original Italian text, but I do believe there is also an English translation out there somewhere; I just haven't found it yet. I've also seen a French translation somewhere online, so it has been translated into a number of languages, and is accessible in most parts of the world.

Francesco D'Adamo is a very good story-teller. Although he admits having never visited Pakistan or walked through the streets of Lahore, he describes the scenery as though he has been there before. His brilliant imagination allows us to think about what it would be like to live in child slavery, and what it would feel like to not know what freedom is. Often sad at times, the book stirs up our emotions, and leaves us questioning why child slavery still exists, and why so little has been done to stop it from continuing.

Overall, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in politics and human rights.

Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht

Image taken from mystudentstuff.co.uk

It is no secret to those who know me that Bertolt Brecht is one of my favourite playwrights of all time. I was extremely happy that I had the opportunity to study more on Brecht and his works this year at Uni in my 20th Century Theatre course. This play was the one we focused on in class and - like the other plays I have read from him - it is a REALLY good play!

The title gives away what the play is all about - it details the life of Galileo, as told through Brecht's "epic theatre" style. It talks about his scientific discoveries, the church's rejections to these new findings, and his "forced" recantation, in order to continue his work.

Like many of Brecht's plays, the play can be easily applied to a variety of contemporary themes. When it was first produced in the Zurich Shauspielhaus in 1938, the issue of "the need to smuggle the truth out of Nazi Germany" was embedded in the text (p. xiii). Later, when the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945, the interpretation of the play was changed to suit the new contemporary issue of the use of technology (pp. xiii). Reading through the play, I couldn't help but think of possible contemporary interpretations for today e.g. the media and how they distort truth, government corruption..... the list is endless.

This play is a DEFINITE must-read for Brecht fans everywhere!

Betrayal by Harold Pinter

Image taken from creativeloafing.com

This is a play I was introduced to when I was studying Experimentation in 20th Century Theatre at Uni. It is one of Harold Pinter's most famous plays, one that has won a Nobel literature prize.

It is the story about two lovers who meet years after they have broken up, and traces the events of how their affair took place and how they split up. The play does not reveal the events in chronological order; it starts from the "end" when the two lovers meet years later, to the beginning when they first meet each other on the woman's wedding night.

At first, I found this play to be quite boring. It's only when you see it acted out that you see how the text becomes interesting. There are a lot of pauses and repetitive phrases that make the play sound boring on the page. These techniques actually have a more interesting effect when they are performed.

A must-read play for anyone who's interested in 20th Century Theatre

(For Australian readers: Check out the Queensland Theatre Company website to make a booking for when they put on their production of "Betrayal" in October!)

Capricornia by Louis Nowra

Image taken from www.gazellebookservices.co.uk

This is another really good play I had the opportunity to learn about in my Australian Theatre course. It was written as part of Australia's bicentenial year celebrations, and is a stage adaptation of the novel of the same name, written by Xavier Herbert.

The story is about a young man named Norman Shillingsworth, who is raised by his uncle to believe that he is the son of a Javanese princess. The truth about his REAL family origins is discovered when he returns to visit and work for his uncle in Port Zodiac. Step by step, Norman learns more secrets about his family, and he struggles to come to terms with the seemingly never-ending new "revelations." During the course of the play he teams up with Tocky, a aborigine girl who is smitten by his good looks. Tragedy further unfolds when Tocky kills a man in self-defense, and Norman is blamed for the murder. There is action galore throughout the play, more than enough to keep readers (and audiences) on the edge of their seats.

Like the book, the play is very confronting, as it deals with a lot of uncomfortable issues. However, Nowra seems to tackle these issues with ease, and adds humour to the seriousness of the plot.

A definite read for those interested in reading a good Australian play.

The Witches by Roald Dahl

Image taken from geeksofdoom.com

As promised, I have finally gotten around to reviewing more of Roald Dahl's fantastic children's novels. This one is by far one of my absolute favourites from him, and it's the ONLY one where I have liked both the book AND the film...

The story is about a Boy and his Grandmother, who both experience a horrible tragedy when the Boy's parents die in a car accident. To comfort each other, the Grandmother tells the Boy bedtime stories to keep their minds occupied. A qualified "witchophile" (pp.34), she begins to give her grandson helpful hints on how to recognize a "real" witches and how to avoid them. This information will prove to be very useful to the Boy, when he almost meets a sticky end with a witch who tries to entice him to climb down his tree house and talk to him (pp. 41 - 54).

Due to the Grandmother's debilitating health, they spend the holidays in a hotel, where the Boy has a rather sticky encounter with a whole bunch of witches staying in the hotel, the most notorious one of all being their leader, the Grand High Witch (pp. 55 - 116). Unfortunately, the Boy is not so lucky to get away, as the formula the Grand High Witch has invented for the purpose of getting rid of all the children of England has turned him into a mouse. It is up to the Boy, his new-found friend Bruno, and his Grandmother, to save the day, before all the children of England come to the same sticky end...

Unlike the film version, starring Angelica Huston as the Grand High Witch, the book is a little more light-hearted. The film version - in my opinion - is slightly darker in terms of its content. Both are really good though, but I wouldn't recommend the film to any child under 6 years of age (seriously, there are some really creepy bits in it!) However, I would recommend the book to all age groups.

The Ghosts Trilogy by Janis Balodis

Image taken from australianplays.org

This is another set of plays that was introduced to us in our Australian Theatre Course. Although we only concentrated on the first installment in the Trilogy, "Too Young for Ghosts," I ended up reading the whole trilogy, and loved it!

The plays detail the lives and loves of a group of Latvian immigrants who come to Australia to start a new life. We learn of their struggles in adapting to a new land, people and culture, and we learn of their affairs and misgivings. In the later two installments, we hear of their children and about their experiences with the language/culture/generation gaps. There is another layer to the text, as Janis Balodis compares and contrasts the immigrants' struggles with the story of Leichardt and his journeys through Australia, adding interest to the performance text.

Balodis writes really well. Having been born of Latvian immigrants himself, he draws on personal experiences as inspiration for the text. He has now become one of my favourite Australian playwrights, now that I have sat down and studied these three plays.

At first, the text seems confusing, as the narrative jumps back and forth from the historical account of Leichardt and his travels with the journey of the immigrants. However, like The Time is Not Yet Ripe, the text becomes better understood once it staged and performed. Once that is done, the reader can better visualize how the story is played out.

Overall, this was a great read, and another definite recommend for those interested in studying Australian theatre.

The Time is Not Yet Ripe by Louis Esson

Image taken from australianplays.org

This is a comedy that was written in 1912 by a talented man by the name of Louis Esson. It was first performed in Melbourne at the Athenaeum Hall, and was well received on its opening night. I came across this play when I was studying it for the Australian Theatre course I am doing at the moment, and I quite enjoyed reading it.

The play details the story of Doris, the daughter of the Prime Minister, an active member of the Liberal Party. Doris is betrothed to a man named Sydney Barrett, a socialist who poses a threat to the Prime Minister's party. At first, her father does not approve of the marriage, but begins to soften in the end after his party wins again in the election.

While the written text does not appear to be comical at first, the comedy becomes more apparent when the play is actually staged. Our class found this out when we performed excerpts from the play in our tutorial class. It is indeed a well-written play, and one that is worth looking into if you are interested in learning about early Australian Theatre.

Genius Sqaud by Catherine Jinks

Image taken from www.allenandunwin.com

I managed to get myself a copy of the sequel to Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks, and I am just as impressed with the sequel as I was with the original!

The book begins with Cadel living in a foster home. He is still in contact with Sonja, and makes sure to visit her regularly. On one of these visits, both he and Sonja are approached by a guy named Trader who offers them the opportunity to join the Genius Squad, a team which has been hired to spy out all of the secret operations Cadel's "father" was involved in and expose them. This doesn't seem like a bad idea at first, until certain truths about the squad make it harder and harder for Cadel to place his faith in its members. And when Cadel finds out that Thaddeus Roth a.k.a. Prosper English has escaped from jail, his whole world is turned upside down even more....

Admittedly, the book has a bit of a slow to get into at first; the action does not come as immediately as the first book does. But if the reader is patient, he/she will see how Catherine Jinks sets the scenario up nicely. Once that is done, you're in for another bumpy ride!

It isn't every day one finds a novel as good as this, so I highly recommend this book, as well as the first book, to anybody who is interested in a good action-packed novel.

(P.S. Stay tuned for when I eventually read the third and final installment of the Genius Trilogy!!!)

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Image taken from bluemoviereviews.wordpress.com

I've been meaning to read this classic for a LONG time, and when I saw a copy of it at a very affordable discounted price, I couldn't resist buying it. The version I have bought is the New Puffin Classics version, which not only has the full story, but has an introduction by by editor Holly Black, and some additional information on the vampire myth at the back of the book. I would definitely recommend this version, if one wishes to study deeper into the historical and mythical context of the book.

The classic tale is of Jonathan Harker who, upon visiting Count Dracula in his Transylvanian home, discovers some horrible secrets about the Count. As the Count decides to make Harker's life a literal living hell by threatening the very people he holds dear, it's up to him and his new-found colleagues to stop the vampire before more unsuspecting victims fall prey to his menace.

What really bugs me is that of all the movie adaptations of the novel, why NOBODY has ever made a movie that depicts EXACTLY what happens in the book? The only adaptation that comes close is the one whose movie poster I used above, starring Anthony Hopkins and Wynona Ryder. The book is just as spine-chilling without having poetic license destroy it. Those who rely solely on the movie adaptations are truly missing out on something good here.

Bram Stoker tells the narrative in the form of relating letter/telegram correspondence between the main characters. I found this approach quite interesting and unique, and I couldn't help but drawing mental comparisons between the communication devices used in Stoker's day with the communication age of today. The hour by hour details in each of the letters reminded me of something we would see today as a blog entry or a FB/Twitter update... Could you imagine someone doing a contemporary adaptation of this film? Jonathan Harker's new status update: OMG! That creepy dude is scaling down the wall!..... But I digress..... It was an interesting comparison though....

Anyway, by all accounts, this is indeed a must-read for all classic horror fans out there.

(P.S. Watch this space for when I eventually read the official sequel just come out!!!)

The Blogging Revolution by Antony Loewenstein

Image taken from www.mup.com.au


Every now and then I find a work of non-fiction that takes my interest. This book I found inside the bookshop at my uni. I thought it would make an interesting read, seeing as I have (obviously) taken an interest in blogging myself, and wanted to know how useful blogging is. I was not disappointed with this read...

"The Blogging Revolution" details the author's journey into various countries such as Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc. and investigates how bloggers from these countries use their blogs to promote awareness of issues their governments do not wish the general public to know about. It is - as the back cover suggests - "a superb examination of the nature of repression in the twenty-first century and the power of brave individuals who overcome it."

The stories of these brave individuals and the sacrifices they make to have their stories made known to the world really impressed me, and made me think about the way I use my blog pages. It made me gain a deeper appreciation of the power of the written word, and of online communication. Some of these individuals' blog sites are listed at the back of the book for the reader to look up and follow, and I have added myself as a follower on some of them.

I can't impress strongly enough the impact this book as made in my thinking of how I share information online, and I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about blogging.