Booklikes-opoly 2019 Edition

hosted by Moonlight Reader & Obsidian Blue

Roll #3 landed me on the Free Parking square, which meant I had to roll again; this subsequent roll gave me:

From the rules, "A 2 or a 3, sends you to the robot":

From my 10 options (above), the randomly generated number is:

which corresponds to:

Title: The Orkney Scroll

Author: Lyn Hamilton

# of Pages: 284

Value: $3.00 upon completion

Current Bank Balance: $31.00

Source/Cost: Personal Library/$0.00 (Smashwords freebie)

Date Acquired: Jul 2016

Book Description: Lara McClintoch’s professional pride is hurt when an antique cabinet she thought was genuine is deemed a fake. When the antique dealer who sold it for a million dollars is murdered and the money goes missing, Lara follows the forgery trail to Scotland’s Orkney Islands, once ruled by the Vikings. The place is pretty and the people kind, but Lara feels danger closing in on her.

Gone with the Wind is a masterpiece of creative writing on every level. In its 1400 pages (or 49 hours on audio) there is not a single wasted line or insignificant moment. From a purely technical perspective, it is awe-inducing how flawlessly Mitchell utilizes characterization, setting, research, conflict, point of view, narrative voice, symbolism, foreshadowing, allusion, and every other literary device in the handbook. Even more amazing, she can juggle all this and deliver a plot that is relentlessly enjoyable.

The closest novel I've read to this quality is Les Miserables, which was clearly the template for Gone with the Wind. In case there is any doubt, Melanie goes so far as to read directly from its pages during a moment of high tension. Even in Les Miserables, however, there are hundreds of pages of dully written history that is disjunctive and awkward in the flow of narration. Mitchell, following Hugo's formula, also includes segments of war history. Her historical segments work much better, however, because they are short and play a more direct role in the action. Les Miserables is commonly read in an abridged format, but it would be impossible to abridge Gone with the Wind. Every word has a purpose, everything a cause and reaction.

Writers seeking examples of superb characterization should also look no further. Scarlett, Rhett, Ashley and Melanie (among others) are so finely drawn as to boggle the mind. How is it possible for such flawed individuals to be so absorbing? How can fiction feel this real? Even stronger than each individual character is Mitchell's handling of relationships. The way these characters mold to one another, influence one another, speak in subtext and interact creates a world so vivid that real life begins to feel dull.

Despite its long-running popularity, I feel Gone with the Wind (the novel) is perhaps the most underrated classic of all time. There should be no contest. Any list of classic literature that doesn't include Gone with the Wind in the Top 10 is simply wrong. I suspect part of why it gets forgotten as a novel is the iconic movie. I'm so thankful to have mostly avoided the movie thus far, so I could fully enjoy the novel's many surprises on its own. For those who are already well-versed with the movie, I suspect the novel will still blow you away. I just can't imagine how they could efficiently cram 49 hours of book into a 4 hour movie.

Although it was intimidating to devote so much time to a behemoth like this, I never regretted it for a second. Gone with the Wind is one of those masterpieces that is an actual shame if you never get to it.

**SIDE NOTE: The unabridged audio version narrated by Linda Stephens is the best audio performance I've ever encountered. Her performance might very well have elevated my opinion of the novel. I recommend listening to it if you can.

Malcolm Bryce-Rutherford ,a very unpleasant and very sick man,has invited several guests,both family and,well not exactly, friends to his beautiful house on the French Riviera. He announces to his puzzled audience that he will draw up a different will every day. If he dies the person who is mentioned in that " daily" will inherit the whole estate. Of course there are risks,not in the first place for Mr. Malcolm himself but also for the beneficiary. If Malcolm dies he or she could become the number one suspect. Nobody has any doubt that a murder will be committed but the victim comes as a bit of a surprise,followed by another murder and some strange mishaps. Luckily the neighbour,a retired Scotland Yard man,is there to solve these crimes.

The story and setting(a weekend party in an isolated manor house)has strong links to Golden Age (and Agatha Christie ) mysteries. And it works up to a certain point but it is a tad long winded and the "denouement "(in real Poirot style,all the suspects in the drawing room)and the gathering of evidence leading to this great revelation is missing something. Very hard to say what exactly but there it is...

This book is Conroy’s fifth alternate history novel, yet in many respects it reads like his third one, 1945, given how much he borrows from it. Though the setting is different – with the premise being a clash between Soviet and American forces in Germany at the end of the Second World War in Europe – the elements are all too familiar to anyone who has read Conroy’s earlier work. As in the earlier novel, they will encounter green lieutenants, beleaguered but determined generals, men trapped behind the lines cooperating with OSS agents, a duplicitous Soviet Union, and a plucky man from Missouri attempting to address it all. Even the ending is essentially the same, though this is less of a surprise as all of Conroy’s novels seem to conclude with an “in-the-end-the-world-was-left-a-better-place” sort of wrapping up.

This is not to say that this is not an enjoyable book, as fans of Conroy’s alternate novels will find the author firing on every cylinder that he has within these pages. But it seems that with the fifth novel (and his third consecutive one set in the Second World War) Conroy’s creative well is running dry and he is beginning to recycle earlier ideas in a slightly refreshed setting. In his “Acknowledgments” section at the end of the book he expresses his hope that this will not be the last alternate history novel he writes; while I'm sure it wasn't, I hope that he put more time into giving readers something new and different, rather than just warming over his earlier work.

Robert Conroy’s latest book begins with a premise familiar to fans of alternate history: an extended attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 that not only cripples the U.S. Pacific Fleet, but destroys the fuel bunkers and drydocks as well.  Unable to maintain its fleet, the bulk of the U.S. Navy withdraws, leaving the Hawaiian Islands vulnerable to a hastily-assembled Japanese invasion.  Their forces quickly conquer the poorly defended island, but the Japanese soon find themselves facing an organized guerrilla movement and an angry America determined to take the islands back.

This is Conroy’s fourth alternate history novel, and its structure is similar to those of his earlier works.  The story is told through the experiences of a series of characters (most of them fictional), with events moving more rapidly towards what is nonetheless an outcome similar to that of the actual history.  It’s an entertaining book, yet one which suffers by comparison with Harry Turtledove’s “Days of Infamy” series, which developed a similar premise into a much richer portrait of a Japanese-occupied Hawaii.  Conroy posits a different set of events, but his characters are not as well developed and the pacing feels far more rushed, both of which cost his novel a degree of verisimilitude that is one of the great strengths of Turtledove’s work.

Ultimately, while not as good as his last novel, , Conroy’s book is a solid entry in the alternate history field, one that shares the strengths and weaknesses of his earlier novels.  Nitpickers will find a fair share of flaws, many of which are likely problems with editing rather than research and few of which detract from enjoying the work overall.  For its plot, Conroy’s postulations on events, and its satisfying conclusion, this is a book that fans of the genre will enjoy.