2022 Catch-up Review: Cascade Reviews

Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow by Jerome K. Jerome
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I took my time over this book of essays, and I enjoyed them so much! There is nothing that Jerome writes that one cannot relate to, and he really does help one see the ridiculous in ordinary, everyday topics. I love how he laughs at himself, and there is always such a subtle thread of satire running through his essay, heavily cotton-wooled in fondness. There are, of course, his off-tangent forays into the poetical realm, and I loved them just as much -- perhaps even a little more than all his humour.

I know this is one set of essays I am going to be picking up again and again and again....I have done so, already!

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is heart-warming. The deep, gentle passion that it is written with spoke to me. A professor with his great love for mathematics passed on to a keenly sensitive and perceptive housekeeper and her son known as Root, throughout the novel, appealed to the teacher in me. This book if full of portions I would love to quote, and it opened up a world of mathematics to me that I have never experienced before. It is rare to find a teacher of maths who can bring out the mystery and beauty of number, and Ogawa did it so inspiringly in this novel.

Here, I am going to add a minor spoiler. The relationship between the three characters is so poignant. It took me awhile to understand how the detailed commentary of the baseball-play ranked so much importance along with the rest of the narrative. I believe, even now, I might not have understood it completely except that baseball was a common link between the professor, the housekeeper and Root, and also served as a stark reminder that the professor's memories were from before 1975, and he held none after that time.  

Escape From Java And Other Tales Of Danger by Ruskin Bond
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stories of ordinary children caught up in real-life traumatic incidents and overcoming odds with valour. Simple yet effective writing.

 

View all my reviews Golden Curse by M. Lynn
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I skimmed through this one very quickly. It started out with a promising enough premise, and the language was fairly decent. But the characterisation fell terribly flat, especially with regard to the main characters, Etta and Alex. There was no consistency in their personalities, and every time they were on the page -- which was most of the time -- it was like going on a see-saw.

The way the details of the plot went forward could have been way better as well. I felt like pieces of the plot were just being dropped out of the middle of nowhere, almost like the writer suddenly remembered, in order to move on to the next incident, a certain piece of information must be known first and so 'pop' here is some random bit of story being thrown at you!

I find I am not interested at all in what happens next.