Jungla. - Reviews Feed

Religion for Atheists - Alain de Botton

Patrick — Sun, 06 May 2012 01:19:11 +0000

A simple premise: organised religion has many good ideas on leading a fruitful and happy life that can be stripped away and assimiliated into secular society. Alain explains how religious techniques and ideas like original sin and giving sermons can be comforting and useful for atheists. Its philosophy is simple to understand, and his choice of imagery is majestic.

2666 - Roberto Bolano

Patrick — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:33:29 +0000

Five short mystery novels in a single book, shifting between Western Europe and a Mexican border town. Bolano wanted each novel to stand alone, but his posthumous editors were reluctant to edit too viciously, and packaged it together. Pace slows to a repetitive crawl in the middle, but the final 300 pages will satisfy the reader by tying the narrative to the start again.

L’Armee des Ombres (Shadow Army) - Joseph Kessel

Patrick — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 07:20:16 +0000

Set in occupied France in ‘43, a writer involved in the French Resistance pulls together a series of desperate tales from the ‘shadow army’ fighting underground. Short set-pieces create a novel that follows a few key characters. Exceptionally poignant history of the bravery and losses of the few normal men and women forced into horror. Life was brutal, and more than any person should expect to have to take.

1Q84 (Books 1 and 2) - Haruki Murakami

Patrick — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:19:58 +0000

A mighty Japanese novel that steps between a gritty, real world of revenge and mistrust and a fantasy world of control and secrets. Although the size of the novel is intimidating, the corkscrew movement of the two protagonists’ stories keeps the writing fast, and as one plot dips, the other maintains the pace. It repeats itself a little, but I didn’t notice the writing too superfluous.

The Passage - Justin Cronin

Patrick — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:17:45 +0000

In zombie-vampire literature, Cronin mixes two genres that have been dead on both sides for a few years, but manages the unthinkable and creates an absorbing storyline based around a government experiment gone wrong. Imaginative set-pieces and ideas breathe life into the subject. At 900 pages the story develops at a perfect pace – anticipation is strong for the second in the series.

Eldorado - Laurent Gaudé

Patrick — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:13:03 +0000

Set in the waters between Libya and Italy, a busy stretch of ocean for a disillusioned coastguard captain fighting a growing influx of desperate immigrants. The author intertwines the tales of both the people taking the journey, and those paid to stop them. Intelligent commentary between the lines on the nature of illegal asylum and immigration, in a story which leads to a thought-provoking ending.

La Faim du Tigre (Hunger of the Tiger) - René Barjavel

Patrick — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:10:47 +0000

Broad philosophical work by a famed French writer. The author begins from the moment of conception, both of humanity and the universe, and the major questions we ask of life and our world. He wonders if we are no longer searching for answers to the questions that are important. Thoughtful, introspective piece of work from a writer towards the end of his career.

Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell

Patrick — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:39:13 +0000

Set on the streets of Paris and London as George Orwell wanders, a poor and lonely would-be journalist. It’s clear Orwell took many of his ideas on the subjugation of the masses by controlling powers from the experiences he saw amongst the homeless. Interesting and still provocative as he questions how society treats its poverty-stricken – and that only fortune creates the divide between rich and poor.

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

Patrick — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:40:22 +0000

It’s all about the motif and double meaning in this novella, set in the dark, scarcely untouched jungles in the heart of Colonial Africa. Characters struggling under startling brutality and greed clash against one another. It’s very unsettling, but it’s a must-read for Conrad’s philosophy on the nature of Man left alone, and of death.

Porteurs d'âmes - Pierre Bordage

Patrick — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:10:29 +0000

Science fiction fantasy with a touch of social comment, the story follows the lives of a clandestine girl living in desperate poverty and fear, a powerful and amoral secret fraternity determined to protect its secret, and a courageous detective investigating a series of brutal crimes. The story is compelling, running through the rainy streets and slums of Paris and its districts.

The Pearl - John Steinbeck

Patrick — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:35:32 +0000

Set in an indigenous fishing village at the turn of the century, this is a simply-structured tale of betrayal, fear, envy and hate. The plot moves like a melody to a vicious and abrupt finale. Only a short story, this is a fantastic example of the power of Steinbeck’s ability to describe and decipher the deepest human emotions.

Junky - William Seward Burroughs

Patrick — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:52:44 +0000

Junky is the uncompromising story of one man’s slide into heroin and alcohol addiction in the years circa WWII. This must count as one of the earliest misery memoirs to deal so openly with drug abuse, so it wins points for that. I’ve never read descriptions of weeping sores, yellow skin and infected, rotting arms written so poetically. The author is clear and unashamedly open with his life, which makes it a great read.

Le Petit Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Patrick — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:43:15 +0000

Set in the desert following a plane crash, this is the charming, hallucinatory account of a man considering his own place in the world. Long-recognised as a short work of philosophy on the nature of man’s desires, and our propensity to focus on petty or material things. A pleasure to read.

Status Anxiety - Alain de Botton

Patrick — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:49:59 +0000

The front cover sells itself as an insight into the modern day desire to compete with our neighbours, but the book spends most time focused on what triggered our developing obsession with status in our ancestry. The cultural need for status and items is intelligently dealt with, although it leans too heavily on organised religion as a possible antidote to rampant consumerism.

Inside the Kingdom - Robert Lacey

Patrick — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:48:01 +0000

Written by an investigative journalist whose reputation precedes him, this is his second report into the Wahhabi-dominated world of Saudi Arabia. Detailed explanations of life under Monarchist rule for the past 150 years are coloured by personal accounts from people involved or on the periphery of key events. Read for a stronger understanding of this opaque culture.

Silas Marner - George Eliot

Patrick — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:44:54 +0000

Set in 19th Century rural England, the twisting psychological tale of an outsider who settles on the outskirts of a small village. Written with a convincing moral conviction on the perils of loneliness and the emptiness of money, it is well conceived as a philosophical allegory.

Andromeda Strain - Michael Crichton

Patrick — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:40:24 +0000

Crichton is a master at building tension into what could be a dry, methodical scientific report. Set in 20th Century America, he takes another hypothetical horror – this time biochemical – and stretches it into a taut thriller. Runs with Crichton’s ongoing theme that when science is dominated by a callous and inhuman approach to discovery, bad things happen.

Sceptical Essays - Bertrand Russell

Patrick — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:37:16 +0000

Written in 1922, this is an exceptionally prescient conception of the world we live in now. Russell calls for more scepticism towards our financial and governmental institutions, school lessons on understanding and evaluating opinions rather than just digesting knowledge, and explains why our unconscious is more rational than our conscious being (and why we should listen to it more). Wise philosophy.

The Dip - Seth Godin

Patrick — Fri, 13 May 2011 12:52:12 +0000

The basic premise of The Dip is that there are some things worth sticking at and some that are better just to quit – Godin provides insights into how to decide whether to stick it out or not. It’s a light, easy read (only 76 pages), but he tends to repeat his arguments a few times. It’s motivational.

Kusanagi - Clem Chambers

Patrick — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:21:30 +0000

Once the story is set, the action gathers a quick pace and doesn’t slow. Action splits between Japan and London, and includes scenes towards the end that ache for the cinematic treatment. This is an entertaining, at times fantastical, financial thriller, written with an easy nature and lighthearted manner to keep the story ticking over.