Jozef's Notes

Rating : 4 of 5 Stars

jiNGo – I thought, was a word that had no real meaning. However, the word is an actual one and was an apt title for the book’s story and the literal outcome.

‘Jingo’ by the way, (if you didn’t know already like me) means ‘a person who professes one’s patriotism loudly and excessively, favoring vigilant preparedness for war and aggressive foreign policy’ (dictionary.com). What a cool word this.

Okay, the war was imminent after all but the reason for conflict was less worth the effort than everyone made it out for. That’s the gist Terry Pratchett made with his usual suspects going about the war business with their typically expected attitude and skill in Ankh-Morpork. It was all very laughable and serious at the same time. I loved it!

Anyway, honestly, Jingo was the first Terry Pratchett book that I read (arrived late to his books). It’s been published for 12 years now, but although it was the 21^st addition to the ‘Discworld’ list and 4^th in the ‘City Watch’ series, I managed to get into the story with ease; and enjoyed it immensely. Pratchett is truly a fabulous fantasy story writer and his accolades and critical acclaim were well deserved I say. His humor added to his creativeness is among the best in the business – not to mention his clever simplicity and prose.

Anyhow now, there are umpteen books of Terry Pratchett to catch up on. I intend to do just that. Thus, it’s best then I end this review here and let you to it. We need to go source for his books you see, so better not tarry along here.

However, if you haven’t heard of Discworld, Ankh-Morpork, the City Watch, Samuel Vimes and everything and everyone else connected to them and the lot, I urge you to, “please acquaint yourself” as soon as you can. Not a moment’s delay sir and madam!

Though, you may have other important literature to study and read up on, but trust me you, do make Terry Pratchett’s works one of them - for a laugh that is. I on the other hand, sincerely hope to find all his books (in sunny Malaysia) without paying for shipping!

My other recent book reviews

• The Color of Magic – Terry Pratchett
• The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide – Douglas Adams

(Source: jworqprojeqs.com)

John Grisham was at his usual best and element with The Litigators. I admit I haven’t read much of his recent work lately but after, The Testament, The Partner & Runaway Jury, I’d put this book among my favourites of Grisham’s.

The trademark fast paced no-nonsense prose and plot making was all there. These were always the main draw, that I liked most about Grisham’s books and The Litigators literally drove home that fact ever so well again. His writing was also so snug, compact and intense. There were good humour thrown in and had all the right human vulnerabilities too. These factors made the story believable and kept me interested.

I also enjoyed that, this time around Grisham turned the legal wrangle by making the antagonist – Varrick Laboratories, get the last laugh in; although, they were not very clean to start with - nice idea and well delivered.

Anyway, like all my reviews, I will not reveal any more of the plot. Suffice to say, disgusting amount of millions (dollars) got thrown around as one large corporation with their hot-shot lawyers, ‘government interest’ consultants, scientific experts, thugs and what-not schemed and executed their defence against a potentially debilitating lawsuit. That was one part of the story.

Another side was where Grisham portrayed the good things that matter - Americans upholding the law, about corporate America with the need for it to stay humane and the often critiqued judiciary getting things right. At the end, the winner was the American legal system and the people who ran the righteous show - really. But The Litigators was also a book written to entertain and it did so aptly indeed.

Overall, this book was well worth my time (you can’t go wrong with John Grisham anyway). However, if I must gripe and complain, then it had to be on the many setbacks the plaintiffs and defendants faced pursuing their lawsuit. It wasn’t as severely felt by the reader (me) as it was for the book’s characters. It were all kind of too expertly and easily overcome by the respective recipients to my liking - I would’ve liked more intrigue, cunning and treachery to the lead up.

Nonetheless, The Litigators was a good book.  Your reading time won’t be wasted I assure you.

(Source: jworqprojeqs.com)

Title : The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide

Author : Douglas Adams

Genre : Sci-Fi Fiction

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

How do I describe a book of this size? It’s dense, it’s funny and it’s fictionally brilliant - more precisely; an absolute babble.

Everything about The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide (TUHG) commanded my attention. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to pay as much. I just bobbed and floated along wherever the story took me without knowing where and how I ended up there. In essence, that’s how you’d feel reading this monstrous sci-fi ‘literature’ - it’s that good; really!

TUHG is indeed a monster - a cosmic alien of a book that transcends multidimensional time travel capabilities and vaporizes all logic, in any way or form. Douglas Adams is either a genius or a madman with a bizarre demented imagination. Either way his TUHG was by far the most far-fetched and hideously hilarious inter-planetary composition I’ve ever come across.

DON’T PANIC; it’s by no means tedious or boring. The state of confusion and chaos that Adams promotes in TUHG is very much intentional mind you. He lets you tag along feeling inadequate and entrapped like Arthur Dent did but yet sustains and enthrall you to enjoy the ride all the same. Cool eh?

Anyway, this 815 paged (hard cover) book took me 50 days to finish. It’s a complete 5-novel, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe with an added 6^th as a bonus. The chapters are short (thank god) and really fast paced (freeeaoww!). It’s so fast that you zip between planets and time-dimensions like they were mere doors in a very large mansion – and you get lost.

And by the way, the story isn’t a real ‘hitchhiker’s guide’ in whatever form, as the title suggests; but only a perceived notion that it is (if you said: “Uh?” here; my answer is: “Exactly. See, I told you it was babble”).

It’s also then pointless for me to talk about the plot because there really isn’t one. However, first off, TUHG is very funny. I mean the humour here is celestial, dark and somewhat violent so to speak but still, very funny!

The book’s characters are also either quirky and smart or self-absorbed and ignorant or dumb and deluded. Not necessarily in that order and in TUHG that’s perfectly acceptable too. They (the characters) sort of just bounce in and out of these traits so much that, ultimately make them rather useless in the grand ‘universal’ scheme of things in the end – a state of matter that Douglas Adams so cleverly makes without contrite.

My last thought on TUHG is that, I liked it very much. That’s all I can say about that. It’s simply too complex to describe such bizarre work of fiction (this is a compliment). Sure, there are profound messages hidden and sublimely weaved scientific facts throughout the story (I think) but I didn’t really care much for those. I wanted to be entertained and TUHG did just that. No disappointments in that regard.

So, I recommend that you go read it yourself and if compelled, write your own review on this sci-fi mumbo-jumbo. It’d be fun!

“So long, and thanks for all the fish” as the dolphins said.

My other recent book reviews

• Father Frank - by Paul Burke
• The Historian - by Elisabeth Kostova
• Life of Pi - by Yann Martel

(Source: jworqprojeqs.com)