Daniel Gonzalez Gonzalez itibaren Ahlatlıçeşme Köyü, 43500 Ahlatlıçeşme Köyü/Simav/Kütahya, Türkiye itibaren Ahlatlıçeşme Köyü, 43500 Ahlatlıçeşme Köyü/Simav/Kütahya, Türkiye

Difficult to get into the way it drifts between the differnt stories towards the end I couldn't really be bothered

One of the most devastating novels I can remember reading. Catch 22 is a very funny book. This is awesome but devastating.

This unusual little book caught me completely by surprise - if I'd known how good McCullers was, I'd have picked her up a long time ago! In a nameless American town, deep in the empoverished South, four lives become intertwined thanks to a solitary mute, Mr Singer. There's little Mick, a tomboy about to enter puberty and abandon tree climbing for dresses, who enjoys visiting Mr Singer's room to play chess or just talk (he's a boarder in her home.) There's also Dr Copeland, the town's black doctor, who dreams of bringing revolution to America's race divisions and is uncomfortable with every white person apart from Mr Singer. The group is completed by Jake, an angry drunk also frustrated with the state of America, and Biff, the recently widowned owner of a local bar. These four characters are seduced by Mr Singer's silence - they believe he understands/cares for everything they tell him. They can be themselves because he doesn't judge. They project onto him the image of a person that doesn't exist. But who exactly is Mr Singer? From what I could read between the lines, he's a "queer" man that's had his heart broken by the sectioning of his friend Spiros. There's the Nazi's rise to power in the background as well as the struggles of American workers (whites and blacks brought together in their efforts to keep afloat, though it's clear who has the worse end of the stick). But it's also a coming-of-age story, a call to arms for bringing change to America and a portrait that captures the South's mood at the time. I suppose it's the kind of book read widely in American high schools because of its themes. It's one novel that everyone should read: in this period of economic crisis, it's more timely than ever.

I started reading Giles Blunt for his cop series set in North Bay because I used to live in North Bay. I started No Such Creature and it was a bit TOO realistic for me! After a couple of murders which had me almost in tears, I had to stop reading it. He write well and - unfortunately - I almost felt like I was there. It was hard to put the book down because I was very involved with the engaging protagonists. I'd recommend it highly if you are not prone to nightmares...