This volume contains two stories. The first, The Door In The Wall, is one of the most enchanting, mysterious, and heart-rending stories I've ever read, somehow dragging me through the sense of loss and longing that the main character experiences in a really vivid way. The second, A Slip Under The Microscope, actually seemed pretty dull and pointless. You can't win them all!
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Michael reviewed The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
Review of 'The Thirty-Nine Steps' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Unashamedly exciting, with a twist in every chapter and a thrilling chase running through the whole book. I'd read the next one, but it's about 5 times the length, and this was mainly good because of its brevity. The ending was a bit weak.
Michael reviewed Heavy Weather by P. G. Wodehouse
Review of 'Heavy Weather' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Standard Wodehouse. Definitely funny, sometimes making me laugh out loud, and with a style of prose that sets a beautiful scene as well. Not as good as its immediate precursor, Summer Lightning, nor as good as Leave It to Psmith, my favourite so far – but well worth reading nonetheless.
Michael reviewed Theodora by Stella Duffy
Review of 'Theodora' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
A story set in a much-forgotten but fascinating historical period, about a remarkable historical woman. The writing is often a bit weak, and the story sometimes focuses too much on the sexy bits and not enough on the historical setting. But it ends on a high, and the sequel promises to be a bit more my thing.
Michael reviewed Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License: www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/
One of the most influential political tracts …
Review of 'Communist Manifesto' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
The first chapter or two make a lot of sense, but it's all very abstract, and tries to convince readers by arguing against hopeless straw men that don't really get at the apparent flaws in communism. The section on socialist literature is baffling to me, with hardly any explanation of what they're talking about. However, it's very interesting when viewed as a historical document that perhaps profoundly affected the course of history.
Michael reviewed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter, #1)
Review of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Good characters and not a bad plot, but it's the tangible sense of escaping to a magical, hidden world that brings me back to the series again and again.
The illustrated edition is fun for a re-read, with a few stunning, lavish pictures with colours and a print quality I've never seen in a book before. But many of the pictures are more run-of-the-mill, and don't add much to the vivid picture Rowling builds up in the text.
Michael reviewed Something Fresh by P. G. Wodehouse
Review of 'Something Fresh' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Classic Wodehouse: beautiful language and rich detail tied into a really easy book with plenty of laughs. It's not up to the standard of the later Blandings books - perhaps he had to find his feet.
The Kindle edition is riddled with typos and other errors, which is pretty unacceptable, especially since they're charging money for a public domain work.
Michael reviewed Something fresh by P. G. Wodehouse (The collector's Wodehouse)
Review of 'Something fresh' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Classic Wodehouse, funny and at times beautiful. A great first entry in the Blandings series, which is the only series of his that I really like.
Michael reviewed Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Review of 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Simple and quite surprising. Nothing too amazing, but short enough that it's definitely worth the couple of hours that it takes to read. This is the "new complete edition", including the fourth part, which went unpublished for 44 years, and dramatically changes the overall message of the book.
Review of "The Emperor's Soul - The 10th Anniversary Special Edition" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Finally, a well-written fantasy book that's less than 600 pages and isn't part of a 13-volume series. The Emperor's Soul is intriguing and compelling, with characters I cared about, a system of magic based on consistent logic, and tension driven by people instead of external plot twists. And I was able to read it in about 4 hours and then go on with my life. Very refreshing.
Review of 'Sum' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Excellent bedtime reading, with each tale taking less than 5 minutes to read and each presenting a unique and interesting idea. None of the tales are grounded in any kind of reality, but many of them have stuck with me and made me think about life a little differently.
Michael reviewed Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Review of 'Heart Of Darkness' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Very dark and moody, and somewhat ahead of its time both in writing style and in its cynical disregard for the establishment. Heavy going, but very short and worth it.
Michael reviewed Conclave by Robert Harris
Review of 'Conclave' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Another "quiet thriller" like Harris's Cicero trilogy, with its many twists and turns driven by the characters, just as they should be. Takes a little while to get good, but after the first third, I was so compelled to keep reading that I finished the whole thing in a week, something I never do.