Monday, July 14, 2008

Book Suggestions

Hi everyone!

I have just finished reading, "The Center of Everything"...I happened to log on last Friday and noticed that people had not only started reading but Erika had finished :0 I thought we were waiting...lol!!! It's all good though, I finished last night...I will post my comments shortly.

I wanted to give my book suggestions for the next novel...



(TWO GREAT NOVELS...Flowers for Algernon and The God of Small Things)


The God of Small Things By: Arundhati Roy -----

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

The story of the tragic decline of an Indian family whose members suffer the terrible consequences of forbidden love, The God of Small Things is set in the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India. Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family — their lonely, lovely mother, Ammu (who loves by night the man her children love by day), their blind grandmother, Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher), their enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grandaunt), and the ghost of an imperial entomologist's moth (with unusually dense dorsal tufts).

When their English cousin and her mother arrive on a Christmas visit, the twins learn that Things Can Change in a Day. That lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever. The brilliantly plotted story uncoils with an agonizing sense of foreboding and inevitability. Yet nothing prepares you for what lies at the heart of it.

Review:

"A novel of real ambition must invent its own language, and this one does.... A Tiger Woodsian debut." (-- John Updike, The New Yorker)

Synopsis:

"A banquet for all the senses", said "Newsweek" of this bestselling and Booker Prize-winning literary novel--a richly textured first book about the tragic decline of one family whose members suffer the terrible consequences of forbidden love.


Flowers for Algernon By: Danielle Keyes -----

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence-a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?

WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD AND THE NEBULA AWARD

The classic novel that inspired the Academy Award-winning movie Charly

Daniel Keyes, the author of eight books, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Brooklyn College. Professor emeritus at Ohio University, he lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

Synopsis:

Following his doctor's instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate "progris riports." He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can't even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving. Then, an operation turns him into a genius and introduces him to heartache.

Synopsis:

With more than five million copies sold, Flowers for Algernon is the beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance-until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?
An American classic that inspired the award-winning movie Charly, Flowers for Algernon now returns to Harcourt as a Harvest paperback.



I couldn't choose between the two but I figured two suggestions was better than none ;) Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,




4 comments:

Kim said...

"The God of Small Things" sounds like an interesting read, for sure. I actually read "Flowers for Algernon" for school (10th grade). So I know Laura did and Erika may have too since we all had the same teacher. I was not impacted by the book back then, but that doesn't mean anything! It could be a completely different experience if I read it again. Even though I loved reading back then too, I was often too caught up in my own world to give some books the proper attention. Ha

I'm down for whatever...

Erika said...

Yes, I already read that book, too. I would love to read it again or we could read "The God of Small Things." Let me know what you decide and I will get that book ASAP. Great choices, Nicole.

Nicole said...

Thanks for your the quick responses ladies!! I say we go for "The God of Small Things" since neither of you have read that already... I have the book already and I am ready to begin when you are :)

Kim said...

Sounds good! I will probably get it Tuesday.