Book Reviews
Book Reviews of the Month!
Reading is such a passion for many staff and students at HPSC and this year we have had some superb book reviews published on Compass. Each week there is a book review to read by a staff member and a student! It is a great way to promote reading and for all of us to see what people are into! Hopefully, you might be inspired to check out a copy of a book review that you read!
Here are some of my favourite recent reviews from our talented students if you missed them! By the way, I am always looking for staff and student reviewers so if you want to contribute to the College Community and see your review published, please contact me! All student reviewers receive a Values Award and a special surprise from Mr. Cadbury, our sponsor!
Mr. Geoff Shinkfield
Book Review by Winudi Wimalasekere.
‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell:
‘Animal Farm’ is one of my favourite novels by George Orwell. Initially, the story seems to be about anthropomorphic animals but as the story progresses you see that the animals are metaphoric to humans and communism.
The story begins with the animals of the Manor Farm gathering in the huge barn for a meeting led by Old Major, a prize-winning hog. He tells them about a dream he had in which all animals coexist without being oppressed or controlled by humans. He informs the animals that they must work hard to create such a paradise, and he teaches them a song called "Beasts of England," in which he lyrically describes his dream vision. Major's vision is greeted with great excitement by the animals. Three younger pigs—Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer—formulate his major concepts into a philosophy called Animalism when he dies only three nights after the conference.
Soon, the pigs learn how to do human-like things and set principles for the animals to follow. In the beginning, the animals run the farm very well, bringing peace and harmony into life. Alas, that doesn’t last for long. Gradually, the composure and tranquillity of the farm mysteriously vanishes as some pigs grow a thirst for power and comfort. They start to be more humanoid, anticipating their own utopia. They walk on two legs, sleep in beds, and even have alcohol. Over time, the more the pigs become human-like the greedier they become. They have broken the rules of Animalism that they made themselves.
Orwell's ‘Animal Farm’ is a perfect piece of literature of human political allegory, depicting how craving for power ruins the peacefulness of human nature. ‘Animal Farm’ pivots on the Russian Revolution, and the story represents Russia and the Soviet Union under Communist Party rule. The novel, on the other hand, typifies any human society manipulated unscrupulously, regardless of democracy, liberalism, capitalism, socialism, fascism, or communism.
‘Animal Farm’ is an eye-opening book that trots out how distorted and hypocritical it can be if human nature goes astray. The pigs symbolize men, portraying humans’ greediness for power as pigs' greediness for food. The other animals such as the geese, sheep and dogs comply with the pigs’ laws unquestionably, believing that it is all for the betterment of the farm. This delineates how people in power manipulate citizens or voters ruthlessly, but shrewdly.
Thus, ‘Animal Farm’ talks about how jealousy, betrayal, hypocrisy, and anarchy are born due to hunger for power. There is a lot to absorb from this book hence, in my perspective, ‘Animal Farm’ is one of the best books that anyone could ever read.
Book Review by Abolfazl Moradi.
‘Crimson Hero’ by Mitsuba Takanashi:
‘Crimson Hero’ takes volleyball and bends it like Beckham in a story that pits traditional values against the love of the game. All that matters to 15-year-old Nobara Sumiyoshi is volleyball. She is an awesome volleyball player with big time ambitions. But sometimes it seems like a girl just cannot get a break in the competitive world of high school volleyball. She and her friends were challenged by the boys’ volleyball team to a match and that was scary considering how good the boys’ team were. All the girls had to do was to score just one point while the boys needed 20 points to win. The boys’ volleyball team was sure they were not going to lose so they told Nobara if she and her friends won, she could collect more players for her team, but if she lost, she had to quit trying to make a ‘girls volleyball club’. She agreed to this, and the day finally came. The boys’ volleyball team versus the girls’ team.
At first the boys started strongly by scoring one point after the other. It was so easy for them that they started playing around with the girls’ team. They were taller, stronger, could jump way higher and they had a lot of experience which gave them the advantage to almost win the game. After a few minutes, the scores were already 19 - 0. The boys’ volleyball team knew they were going to win so they just tried to play it cool. They were passing the ball around trying to make it seem like it was some random 10-year-old kids versus the volleyball championship team. At this point the girls team including Nobara were really embarrassed by the fact they couldn’t even score one point, but they didn’t give up hope. While the boys’ team were making fun of them for being bad at the game, Nobara and her teammates gave it one last shot. Nobara gave it her all as it was her dream to have her own high school volleyball team so when the ball came right at her, she didn’t dodge it like the other times. Even though she was really scared of the ball, she stood there and blocked it. Everyone including Nobara was shocked. The boys thought this was the end of the ‘girls volleyball team’. But they were wrong… In general, this is one of the best Manga books that I have ever read, and I just love everything about it. It may be a short series, only 20 volumes, but hey, I can’t complain. It’s an amazing story. Even though it was not a lot to read, it was the most interesting book for me. I absolutely loved it! The author, Mitsuba Takanashi, did well both writing and illustrating it. If you are into Anime and Manga, I highly recommend that you should read this because it definitely has the most interesting plot twists! However, I do not want to spoil this Manga for you, so I have not revealed the most interesting part. I will leave that for you to discover. You can either purchase the book or read the online Manga. This book is recommended for anyone who plays volleyball because I guarantee that you will love all the exciting volleyball scenes. Thanks for Reading my Book review of ‘Crimson Hero’!
Book Review by Lucy Chhour.
‘Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind’ by Yuval Noah Harari:
Yuval Noah Harari is an Israeli public intellectual, historian, and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Department of History. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, and 21 Lessons for the Twenty-First Century are among his popular science blockbusters.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is a book based on the evolution of homo sapiens. The book compares the past to the present and what homo sapiens had to undergo for us to be here now. The book talks about our mistakes and achievements, as well as explain our human nature.
We plod along unremarkably throughout the first half of human history, then undergo a series of revolutions. First, there was the "cognitive" revolution: some 70,000 years ago, we began to behave in considerably more inventive ways than previously, for reasons that are yet unknown, and we quickly expanded across the globe. Around 11,000 years ago, the agricultural revolution began, with growing numbers of people switching from foraging (hunting and gathering) to cultivation. Around 500 years ago, the "scientific revolution" began. It sets in motion the industrial revolution, which, in turn, sets in motion the information revolution, which sets in motion the biotechnology revolution, which is still in its infancy. Harari believes that the biotechnology revolution heralds the end of sapiens, with bioengineered post-humans, "amortal" cyborgs capable of living indefinitely, taking our place.
Yuval Noah Harari believes that none of these revolutions have changed the fundamental structure of our emotions and desires: "our eating habits, our conflicts, and our sexuality are all a result of the way our hunter-gatherer minds interact with our current post-industrial environment, with its mega-cities, aeroplanes, telephones, and computers... Our DNA still thinks we're in the savannah, even if we live in high-rise flats with overstuffed refrigerators." Cites a well-known example: our strong appetites for sugar and fat have resulted in the widespread availability of foods that are key causes of poor health.
Harari says that the Gilgamesh is "the leading project of the scientific revolution": "to offer humankind endless life" or "amorality." He feels optimistic about the project's eventual success. We may become frantic and incapacitating careful as immortals. Deaths of individuals we care about may become even more tragic. Even in heaven, we can become tired of everything under the sun.
Even if we ignore all of these factors, there's no certainty that amorality will make us happier. Harari focuses on well-known studies that reveals that a person's daily happiness has surprisingly little to do with their material circumstances. Money can certainly make a difference – but only when it allows us to escape poverty. Following that, greater money makes little or no difference. A lottery winner is undoubtedly buoyed by her good fortune, but after roughly 18 months, her average daily pleasure returns to its previous level.
Harari has mentioned other significant events, most notably the evolution of language: we have the ability to think clearly about abstract issues, collaborate in ever-larger groups, and, probably most importantly, gossip. There's the rise of religion, and polytheisms are gradually being supplanted by more or less toxic monotheism's. The growth of empires and trade, as well as the rise of capitalism, are all linked.
The books brings light to our ancestors’ past, what they had to go through for us to be here. While reading the book, I have found myself asking many questions, such as what would of happen if this have never happened or would it be different if we did that instead. The book leaves the reader with questions, as well as making the reader more optimistic for the future. The book talks about many different situations, giving the reader a variety of things to learn.
Even though the book is about the past it still shows relations to the present, how we aren’t that different from our ancestors as well as show us that our human nature hasn’t changed even after our environment has. I would recommend this book for a reader who enjoys or searching for a better understanding about humankind and evolution.
Book Review by Leighton Williams-Semisi.
‘Billy Summers’ by Stephen King:
Billy Summers is a story about survival and trauma. What we do to survive, how we cope with it, and who we truly are beneath the masks we put on for the world to see. This is a suspense thriller about what happens when a professional hit man suffers a moral crisis and transforms into an unlikely hero. It's a story about the decisions we make in life and the consequences of our actions, as they aren't always what we expect. This gripping novel stars one of King's most captivating and surprising duos Billy and Alice, who set out to avenge the actions of a truly horrible guy. It's a story about love, fate, and a complicated hero who has one last chance at redemption. Before going off in unforeseen directions, the novel tackles several serious themes. Billy Summers, a former sniper in the United States military, is regarded as one of the best hitmen in the criminal underground. Billy's moral compass dictates that he only accepts assignments if the target is a genuine bad guy, and he's been promised by Nick Majarian, someone whom Billy has previously worked with before, that after this last project, one that pays $500K up front and $1.5M when completed, he can retire. However, this is a difficult job, as Joel Allen, the intended target, is also a hit man. He is being held in a Los Angeles jail awaiting trial on charges of assault and attempted rape. He is also wanted in the area for murdering a man who had cheated him out of a large sum of money in a poker game. Joel’s lawyer has been stating that he has some important information that the cops need to negotiate a deal, and it appears that someone doesn't want him to talk, which is why Billy has been paid to take him out. The target is being taken from a jail to a courthouse, so Billy will be forced to endure the strike in broad daylight, in public. To blend in, Billy disguises himself as a writer named David Lockridge who is working on a tight deadline for a new book. He had been ordered by “his agent” to stay at the office, where he has a direct view of the courthouse, and write every day to achieve his deadline. Billy’s fake persona utilises his employment as a writer to work through childhood trauma and the tragedies he witnessed in the Military, but after taking the shot it causes Billy to hide because it started a Media frenzy.
The book turned unexpectedly sweet and peaceful after Alice appeared, at least for a while; Alice is a twenty-year-old girl who had been sexually assaulted and was found barely alive and half-drugged on the side of the road. She eventually falls in love with Billy and wants to be a part of his life, even after she knows what he did. In my opinion, their relationship was a little sketchy, but it certainly keeps you engaged in the book. Billy also learns during this time that he has a $6 million bounty on his head, knowing this the pair set off for Colorado but didn’t expect for something that they will be faced with a decision that will alter their lives forever…
Billy Summers is Stephen King's most recent venture into the world of crime and thriller writing. I was reminded of the novel 11/22/63, in which the time-traveling protagonist must create a new identity and fit in with a society to prevent the Kennedy assassination. Like Stephen King's 11/22/63, Billy Summers does an excellent job of building tension before the inevitable violence.
Billy Summers is one of Stephen King's best work since the end of his masterpiece Dark Tower trilogy, in my opinion, and while Billy Summers is unlikely to go down in history as one of his best works of fiction, it is a fantastic, highly enjoyable read from one of today's best authors. I would recommend this book for people who get fascinated by crime and noir fiction that wants to see drama unveil at every second.