Jin Inamiya Inamiya itibaren Yanıkköy Köyü, 35660 Yanıkköy Köyü/Menemen/İzmir, Türkiye
First off, I didn't realize this book was about the plague when I started it. So that was a bit of a rude awakening. Secondly, I had a very hard time believing that, in 1666 England, in a just barely post-Puritanical village, that any of the women could just up and sleep with multiple men, without being married, without terrible repercussions. *I* don't care who they slept with, it was just very unbelievable. Very. And the "surprise" personality revelation at the end did NOTHING for me.
I didn't want this book to end! Best book so far of 2011 - and now I have to wait for 2012 for the sequel :(
Intense. That's one word that can sum up this entire book. I've been a big fan of memoirs and other works portraying the struggles in war-torn West Africa for a while, but this is easily one of my favorites I've read. James Brabazon has a very easy writing style. There's a lot of information to take in, and a lot of names and places to remember, but he describes every encounter so accurately, you feel as if you are there. I don't find myself having to go back to figure out who's who and what's going on. I think my favorite aspect of this book isn't the humor that Mr. Brabazon infuses every so often, even in the most dire of situations, or the vivid - and almost always graphic and stomach-churning - descriptions of the conflicts the witnesses. It's the heart of his memoir - the unlikely friendship he struck up with his South African friend Nick du Toit - that makes this book a worthy read. They come together in the most unlikely of situations, and evade death several times over together, and the bond that forms between them is unreal. Even when Nick later finds himself in trouble, Brabazon has an internal war, having to choose between his duties as a journalist or his loyalty to his friend. It's a very humanizing conflict, even more so than the horrible war that scarred Liberia. This is a great read, but it's very intense. I had to walk away halfway-through, take a breather, read some chick lit, and then pick it back up again in order to finish it. This isn't casual reading at all. But if you want to appreciate what you truly have, delve deeper into a culture and conflict that is still largely unheard of on U.S. shores, and really understand what it's like to have a friendship that's truly larger than life, read this book. You won't be disappointed.
Love, love, LOVE this cartoon! Especially love Calvin's dad and his explanations!! Oh, and Hobbes when he gets on the subject of girls. <3