Modern Fiction Books > H Modern Fiction Books

Advantages: Everything, a different perspective
Disadvantages: None.

...at its classy humour and the whimsical behavior of the autistic child, Christopher really brings the reality of life back to me again. It has an unusual mix of arcane characters, introduce the ideology of a down syndrome kid and how he is often left behind in the far corners of society. I purposely left space on the shelf exclusively for this book. It's amazing content and how Mark Haddon shows us the world in the eyes of Christopher is just mind-blowing ... Read review

Advantages: Descriptive, evocative, atmospheric.
Disadvantages: Languorous, overwritten, saaaaaad.

Shirley Hazzard's first novel The Transit of Venus won the National Book Critics' Circle Award in 1981, but like transits of Venus, there was a long wait before her next. More than two decades in fact, because this is it. "Twenty years in the writing," the blurb says, "The Great Fire is a triumphant novel of lives shadowed by war and redeemed by love." Hmmm. I first became interested in this book when I saw it on the shortlist for the Orange Prize, ...
...the title was the Second World War rather than the Great Fire of London, I wasn't in too much of a hurry to read it - being all warred out long ago. Then I thought, well, if Shirley Hazzard has spent twenty years writing it, surely I can spare a few hours to read it. I should have stuck with my first instinct. The central character, Aldred Leith, is uncomfortable with his status as a decorated war hero, and has nothing but a failed marriage to go ... Read review

Advantages: short chapters, addictive storyline
Disadvantages: can be jumpy at times, not the best book to put down

...good as eachother! It's a story about a family that has it's ups and downs like any other.... This book can be read by anyone! The characters maybe ordinary but isn't that what we all are? It makes you understand that we really don't know what goes on behind closed doors! There are lots of little secrets in this family and Haddon has managed to turn what could be a very plain story into a comedy. The basis of the story is on the whole family which ...
...deal with a marriage that the dad George isn't happy about, a homosexual son, difficult relationships, illness and coming to terms with getting old. The chapters are very small and changes from character to character frequently building up the thoughts and feelings off all family members. I really felt sorry for George in the novel, you can understand that he is worried about getting old and the thought of death which must cross everyones mind at ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to read, makes you think
Disadvantages: none

I as intrigued when I saw the film advertised, but I wanted to read the book first. And I found it absolutely brilliant. A skilled study into human psychology, and the way the mind works. Heller manages to bring across Barbara's loneliness excellently, and allows you to identify with what could otherwise be a blindly evil character. I often enjoy books which have an unreliable narrator, as it allows you to investigate and analyse the character, and ...
...this device extremely well, and there are so many facets to be explored. I enjoyed the book a lot more than the movie, partly because it's so much harder to pull off an unreliable narrator on screen, where we can actually see what is happening for ourselves, rather than in the book where we are forced to see through Barbara's eyes. A very good book, with an important theme which warrants discussing on its own behalf, but is then extended to become ... Read review

Advantages: Amazing insight into a different way of life
Disadvantages: Very sad in places

...places, sexy - but in a very subtle way - a way most writers fail to achieve, but in a way far more powerful than most other recounts. It is romantic but not gushy, and disasterous but not gory. It provides a valueable insight into foreign life, but it could easily be us, very unlike any other book I have ever read. Well worth reading, Hosseini has once again amazed the nation. You will not be dissapointed. ... Read review