The President’s choice was written in 2005, by the well-known Norwegian author Anne Holt. Her book was translated to many languages, and among them, English.
The story takes place in Oslo, where the President of the United States is going to meet the King and Queen. Suddenly the president is kidnapped from her hotel room, and this is where it all starts. The Leader of the world is now gone, and the parade is going on with thousands of people on the spot. Nobody saw her disappear, nor what went down the minute she went missing. Days pass by, and no one seems to know anything .The Police, the FBI, the CIA are all over Oslo, without luck.
Anne Holt has so many details and plots going on at the same time. I really like the way she describes ways of breaking down an entire country without war. She mentions ways of doing it, like stopping the export of gasoline to the US, destroying their news channels, stop food supply from many angles of the world. She is more or less laying down her personal plan, where she crushes the perhaps most powerful country in the world. How will the United States look at Norway, when their leader is kidnapped in our country, on our National Day? What will the consequences be and will she ever be found?
The setting is what caught my attention, and makes the book one of my favorites. Holt makes the main plot so powerful when she connects it to the most patriotic setting of the year for hundreds and thousands of Norwegians. Personally, I like looking behind politics, the news and the propaganda to see what a country does not have. This is what she has done as well, by pointing out health and money as weaknesses, as well as the huge distances between the FBI, local police and the CIA. Everybody is doing something, but they are not properly connected. The author explains the simple facts of today’s bureaucracy.
The book itself is pretty realistic, as there is nothing that could not have happened in real life; although it would have been better if Hillary Clinton had won the election. In this novel, the president is a woman and not a man, which is revolutionary. After 43 male presidents, at the time the book was written, why did she pick the 44th to be a woman?
The genre of the book is thriller, as there is a nightmare going on in the Capitol City throughout the entire novel. This book was perfect to read right now around our National Day, but you could have read it any time of the year.
On a scale from 1 to 10, this one is a 9. It is a great book to read and it has got many different stories attached to it. The fate of a woman with world power is on the line. Will she ever appear on the tv-screens again, to greet her people? Will the bureaucracy ever gain its efficiency?
Ulrik Kruse
Thursday, June 4, 2009
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hoseini
The title refers to two of the characters in the novel which are Hassan and Amir. Hassan is a very good friend of Amir and Amir is the narrator of the story. It is a novel about friendship. The story takes place most of the time in Afghanistan but also in the United States: in San Fransisco, California, and in Pakistan.
The book is about how people can be good or bad at different times. The protagonists are two children who grow up together and have a strong relationship (best friends), both of them are from Afghanistan but they have a different background and story. The society changes both of the boys, how they live, the conflicts they face and thus their friendship.
You get to read what it was like living in Afghanistan before the big conflicts approximately 30 years ago. It opens your view and shows you what it was like to be an afghan.
The character I liked most was Hassan because he was Amir’s gentleman (servant) and he took care of stuff - if something bad happened to Amir, Hassan backed him up. Amir could trust him 100 per cent. And during the kite running competitions, Hassan always knew where the kite would fall down. Kite running is where two persons have a kite and they try to cut the rope against each other. The one that falls down has lost and will loose his kite. Kite running was an important part of the boys’ childhood, and this is also reflected in the title of the book. The title also refers to the kite as symbol of freedom.
I really enjoyed reading the book, it had some sad parts and some happy parts. The happy parts are at the beginning of the book, when Amir and Hassan are spending time together during the kite running tournament and the sad part is when something seriously wrong happens to Hassan, further out in the book.
I would recommend this book to people that are on the age 14 and above, because there are some strong parts in the book that may affect you. As I mentioned earlier I enjoyed the book and found it really interesting. I’ve also seen the movie and also recommend you to see it. However I find the book better because it’s more detailed.
Aleksander W. Hansen
The book is about how people can be good or bad at different times. The protagonists are two children who grow up together and have a strong relationship (best friends), both of them are from Afghanistan but they have a different background and story. The society changes both of the boys, how they live, the conflicts they face and thus their friendship.
You get to read what it was like living in Afghanistan before the big conflicts approximately 30 years ago. It opens your view and shows you what it was like to be an afghan.
The character I liked most was Hassan because he was Amir’s gentleman (servant) and he took care of stuff - if something bad happened to Amir, Hassan backed him up. Amir could trust him 100 per cent. And during the kite running competitions, Hassan always knew where the kite would fall down. Kite running is where two persons have a kite and they try to cut the rope against each other. The one that falls down has lost and will loose his kite. Kite running was an important part of the boys’ childhood, and this is also reflected in the title of the book. The title also refers to the kite as symbol of freedom.
I really enjoyed reading the book, it had some sad parts and some happy parts. The happy parts are at the beginning of the book, when Amir and Hassan are spending time together during the kite running tournament and the sad part is when something seriously wrong happens to Hassan, further out in the book.
I would recommend this book to people that are on the age 14 and above, because there are some strong parts in the book that may affect you. As I mentioned earlier I enjoyed the book and found it really interesting. I’ve also seen the movie and also recommend you to see it. However I find the book better because it’s more detailed.
Aleksander W. Hansen
Monday, May 25, 2009
Will they ever trust us again? By Michael Moore
Will they ever trust us again? Written by Michael Moore. Published by Simon & Schuster, October 2004. This book is a collection of personal letters from soldiers and their families to Michael Moore, letting out their true feelings about the war in Iraq.
The book is very emotional and personal in my opinion, but at the same time very intriguing and political. I found the book powerful and appealing. It explained so much, and at the same time confirmed my opinion on the Iraq war. Michael Moore put together personal letters from the ones that served in Iraq and their families. These are letters full of emotion that talk of patriotism and supporting the troops and a powerful sense of betrayal. I got a strong impression of many people from different backgrounds coming to the same conclusion about the wrongness of the Iraq war. The letters contained information from young men joining the military as a way to solve their economic problems at home, and at the same time being lied to by their militant recruiters. And also how the servicemen and women of the war felt betrayed and abandoned by their leader, the President and his government. I also got introduced to their thoughts and feelings when President Bush declared the war in Iraq as “mission accomplished”. Many explain how they were undertrained, underequipped and hopeless really, during the war. They felt disgusted by their current political leaders.
If you are interested in American politics or politics in general, you will find this book as one of the best there is. That was my reality. The reason is the mixture of the letters from the true people behind this useless war and Michael Moore’s political purpose and influence by publishing these letters. This book was his hope to maybe influencing the election in 2004, as a strong opponent to President Bush and his government.
The book is not written by Michael Moore, it is put together and published by him, but at the same time he organized it and guided us trough the experiences of the ones who wrote the letters. Moore’s own words and political agenda pop up every now and then, which doesn’t make the book very objective. But in my opinion this is not an ordinary book, it is a collection of real feelings by real people, and in that case it is not meant to be objective.
I really learned a lot from this book. The reason is that this isn’t any ordinary politically correct book from a political expert. The sources come from real people fighting for their country and lives on false premises. It makes it so emotional and real and is a must read documentary for any one closely familiar to the Iraq war, and by that I mean everybody.
Ajdin Delalovic
The book is very emotional and personal in my opinion, but at the same time very intriguing and political. I found the book powerful and appealing. It explained so much, and at the same time confirmed my opinion on the Iraq war. Michael Moore put together personal letters from the ones that served in Iraq and their families. These are letters full of emotion that talk of patriotism and supporting the troops and a powerful sense of betrayal. I got a strong impression of many people from different backgrounds coming to the same conclusion about the wrongness of the Iraq war. The letters contained information from young men joining the military as a way to solve their economic problems at home, and at the same time being lied to by their militant recruiters. And also how the servicemen and women of the war felt betrayed and abandoned by their leader, the President and his government. I also got introduced to their thoughts and feelings when President Bush declared the war in Iraq as “mission accomplished”. Many explain how they were undertrained, underequipped and hopeless really, during the war. They felt disgusted by their current political leaders.
If you are interested in American politics or politics in general, you will find this book as one of the best there is. That was my reality. The reason is the mixture of the letters from the true people behind this useless war and Michael Moore’s political purpose and influence by publishing these letters. This book was his hope to maybe influencing the election in 2004, as a strong opponent to President Bush and his government.
The book is not written by Michael Moore, it is put together and published by him, but at the same time he organized it and guided us trough the experiences of the ones who wrote the letters. Moore’s own words and political agenda pop up every now and then, which doesn’t make the book very objective. But in my opinion this is not an ordinary book, it is a collection of real feelings by real people, and in that case it is not meant to be objective.
I really learned a lot from this book. The reason is that this isn’t any ordinary politically correct book from a political expert. The sources come from real people fighting for their country and lives on false premises. It makes it so emotional and real and is a must read documentary for any one closely familiar to the Iraq war, and by that I mean everybody.
Ajdin Delalovic
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the last of the seven books in the series of Harry Potter, and came out on 21 July 2007. They are all written by the world famous writer J.K. Rowling.
The book takes place at Harry’s last year at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, however this year is different. Instead of returning to school, he leaves his home together with his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, with the commission to fight and end off the terrifying wizard, Lord Voldemort. Voldemort’s plan is to rule the world again, like he did seventeen years ago, when Harry was born. After Harry was the one to divest Voldemort’s powers, he has been known as the Boy-Who-Lived. The prophecy between him and Voldemort indicates that only one can live while the other must die. With this in mind, Harry knows that this will not be a joyful adventure.
For everyone who has followed Harry through his years at Hogwarts, this book is at least as exciting as the others. There are many things that are to be solved and found before Harry can meet Voldemort in their last duel, and the tension is high during the entire book. When you have first started to read, you will have to read until you have finished.
J.K. Rowling manages the unique balance of writing fantasy that is credible, but at the same time not too invented. When reading, you feel that you are a part of the book, and it is easy to identify yourself with the protagonist, even though you might have nothing in common. Those factors make the book extremely well written. The author writes with such an excitement, that it is never boring. This last book is full of secrets and answers to questions that have previously been unanswered.
I would recommend the book for everyone who likes fantasy, and for those who have read the other Harry Potter books. For those who are looking for a time with enjoyment, but do not know what to read, the Harry Potter series is a very thrilled way to start.
Ida Abrahamsen
The book takes place at Harry’s last year at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, however this year is different. Instead of returning to school, he leaves his home together with his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, with the commission to fight and end off the terrifying wizard, Lord Voldemort. Voldemort’s plan is to rule the world again, like he did seventeen years ago, when Harry was born. After Harry was the one to divest Voldemort’s powers, he has been known as the Boy-Who-Lived. The prophecy between him and Voldemort indicates that only one can live while the other must die. With this in mind, Harry knows that this will not be a joyful adventure.
For everyone who has followed Harry through his years at Hogwarts, this book is at least as exciting as the others. There are many things that are to be solved and found before Harry can meet Voldemort in their last duel, and the tension is high during the entire book. When you have first started to read, you will have to read until you have finished.
J.K. Rowling manages the unique balance of writing fantasy that is credible, but at the same time not too invented. When reading, you feel that you are a part of the book, and it is easy to identify yourself with the protagonist, even though you might have nothing in common. Those factors make the book extremely well written. The author writes with such an excitement, that it is never boring. This last book is full of secrets and answers to questions that have previously been unanswered.
I would recommend the book for everyone who likes fantasy, and for those who have read the other Harry Potter books. For those who are looking for a time with enjoyment, but do not know what to read, the Harry Potter series is a very thrilled way to start.
Ida Abrahamsen
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The famous and well-received novel Atonement is written by the recognized English author Ian McEwan. The book was published in 2001 and has since then received great acknowledgment from readers all around the world.
Atonement tells the story of three people’s lives and a happening that takes place in the 1930’s that changes everything. It’s a time constantly in alternation with a world war on its doorstep.
Briony Tallis is a very thoughtful child at the age of thirteen with love and fascination for stories and well-kept secrets. Her nine year older sister Cecilia is a much more pragmatic person with the sense for living in the moment. On a nice summer day in 1935 Briony witnesses an occurrence between Cecilia and the family friend Robbie Turner at the same age, both of them at the front of the garden fountain. What she sees and how she reacts to it will give serious consequences for all three of them in the future that comes. Soon a second world war will cause more trouble in their lives and Briony will painfully feel on her young body what responsibility and conscience are, a body that with the time becomes older and older, but still carries the weight of shame and bad conscience.
I loved and enjoyed reading the book Atonement very much and it was difficult to put it away when not reading it. I believe some of the reason why I liked the book so much was because of the writer, Ian McEwan’s, brilliant and wonderful way of writing; so deep, human, tender and wise. The author makes you feel you know the characters, and the time in which everything takes place is very interesting and entertaining in itself. I really liked the main characters; Briony, Robbie and Cecilia, all of them with beautiful personalities and with lives so strongly tied together.
The book has a combination of many genres; historical, romantic, crime, fiction and it is difficult to define the book with only one of the genres. The book is also a story of growing up and entering the adult world, not only the approval of becoming older but also the responsibility that lays in it and hides under the surface. Life is not a play with players that you can rule over and control, in the real world it has consequences and every human has its own life with their own dreams and needs.
The writer has devised the story so extremely well and with such an end that parts of the foregoing acts have to be seen with new eyes and understanding. There is not just one storyteller, the story is told by the main characters Briony, Robbie and Cecilia together and the reader get to know their deepest thoughts.
Some of “the riddle” with the book is to know what statements that are true and what are not. There is an all-knowing author as well, but he doesn’t reveal everything on his way and it secures the acts from above and the storyteller’s trustworthiness.The writer’s use of retrospectives, the travel in time, is effective and very good, and at the same time you get the story from different perspectives.
I believe it was a good and useful way to pass time to read Atonement, at least it was for me, because I felt like I got to learn three knew people to know; especially Briony and Robbie, and I felt like I got to experience another time and place with historical events. I learned a lot about life and how it suddenly can have its turns on you and that it sometimes can be very difficult to defend yourself against it to come. What I think was very interesting was how a person’s secrets, lies and personal needs can affect more than the liar/secrets keeper, but other people as well. Brionys way of thinking and acting becomes important to the reader to understand the whole story, and the author teaches us not to judge someone too early, not before we know the person and hers or his values in life.
I like the book as a whole and I wouldn’t think of taking away parts of it even if I could do so, it is perfect just the way it is, neither less nor more.
I would absolutely recommend the book, but it does not necessarily mean it will fit for everyone. The reason why I recommend it is because I first of all believe the book is heartbreaking and it deserves more people to read it, secondly because the author, Ian McEwan, has won many prizes for his literary work. The novel Atonement has even become a film and was to be seen in the cinemas in the autumn of 2007 (winter 2008 in Norway).
There is a human sorrow that has exited through all times; that you cannot take back the mistakes already done. A needed hope and profound wish for forgiveness or reconciliation can sometimes save a life.
May 2009 - Louise Totland
Atonement tells the story of three people’s lives and a happening that takes place in the 1930’s that changes everything. It’s a time constantly in alternation with a world war on its doorstep.
Briony Tallis is a very thoughtful child at the age of thirteen with love and fascination for stories and well-kept secrets. Her nine year older sister Cecilia is a much more pragmatic person with the sense for living in the moment. On a nice summer day in 1935 Briony witnesses an occurrence between Cecilia and the family friend Robbie Turner at the same age, both of them at the front of the garden fountain. What she sees and how she reacts to it will give serious consequences for all three of them in the future that comes. Soon a second world war will cause more trouble in their lives and Briony will painfully feel on her young body what responsibility and conscience are, a body that with the time becomes older and older, but still carries the weight of shame and bad conscience.
I loved and enjoyed reading the book Atonement very much and it was difficult to put it away when not reading it. I believe some of the reason why I liked the book so much was because of the writer, Ian McEwan’s, brilliant and wonderful way of writing; so deep, human, tender and wise. The author makes you feel you know the characters, and the time in which everything takes place is very interesting and entertaining in itself. I really liked the main characters; Briony, Robbie and Cecilia, all of them with beautiful personalities and with lives so strongly tied together.
The book has a combination of many genres; historical, romantic, crime, fiction and it is difficult to define the book with only one of the genres. The book is also a story of growing up and entering the adult world, not only the approval of becoming older but also the responsibility that lays in it and hides under the surface. Life is not a play with players that you can rule over and control, in the real world it has consequences and every human has its own life with their own dreams and needs.
The writer has devised the story so extremely well and with such an end that parts of the foregoing acts have to be seen with new eyes and understanding. There is not just one storyteller, the story is told by the main characters Briony, Robbie and Cecilia together and the reader get to know their deepest thoughts.
Some of “the riddle” with the book is to know what statements that are true and what are not. There is an all-knowing author as well, but he doesn’t reveal everything on his way and it secures the acts from above and the storyteller’s trustworthiness.The writer’s use of retrospectives, the travel in time, is effective and very good, and at the same time you get the story from different perspectives.
I believe it was a good and useful way to pass time to read Atonement, at least it was for me, because I felt like I got to learn three knew people to know; especially Briony and Robbie, and I felt like I got to experience another time and place with historical events. I learned a lot about life and how it suddenly can have its turns on you and that it sometimes can be very difficult to defend yourself against it to come. What I think was very interesting was how a person’s secrets, lies and personal needs can affect more than the liar/secrets keeper, but other people as well. Brionys way of thinking and acting becomes important to the reader to understand the whole story, and the author teaches us not to judge someone too early, not before we know the person and hers or his values in life.
I like the book as a whole and I wouldn’t think of taking away parts of it even if I could do so, it is perfect just the way it is, neither less nor more.
I would absolutely recommend the book, but it does not necessarily mean it will fit for everyone. The reason why I recommend it is because I first of all believe the book is heartbreaking and it deserves more people to read it, secondly because the author, Ian McEwan, has won many prizes for his literary work. The novel Atonement has even become a film and was to be seen in the cinemas in the autumn of 2007 (winter 2008 in Norway).
There is a human sorrow that has exited through all times; that you cannot take back the mistakes already done. A needed hope and profound wish for forgiveness or reconciliation can sometimes save a life.
May 2009 - Louise Totland
Monday, April 27, 2009
Invisible av Pete Hautman
Doug blir banket opp på skoleveien, og drømmejenta vil absolutt ikke vite av ham. Heldigvis har han modelljernbanen i kjelleren og vennskapet med skolens mest populære gutt, Andy. Men hvorfor blir foreldrene alltid så opprørt når Doug snakker om Andy? Etterhvert går det opp for leseren at Doug kanskje ikke forteller hele sannheten om forholdet mellom ham og bestevennen.
En sjokkerende og sørgelig historie om en ung gutt med store problemer.
Anbefalt av Marite Juul, bibliotekar Presterød ungdomsskole
En sjokkerende og sørgelig historie om en ung gutt med store problemer.
Anbefalt av Marite Juul, bibliotekar Presterød ungdomsskole
The Reluctant Fundamentalist av Moshin Hamid
“Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard. I am a lover of America….”
En amerikansk turist sitter på en kafé i Lahore og kommer i kontakt med en svært “muslimsk utseende mann”. Han setter seg ned og gir seg til å fortelle historien sin til turisten. Natten senker seg over dem og mørket og menneskene kommer tettere og tettere på dem.
Jeg følte meg som turisten, ble grepet av historien, og kjenner angsten over mørket som kommer, menneskene som etterhvert oppleves ukjente og truende, og sammen med fortellingen gir følelse av at alt kan skje...Hva blinker i mørket? En lighter eller et våpen?
En amerikansk turist sitter på en kafé i Lahore og kommer i kontakt med en svært “muslimsk utseende mann”. Han setter seg ned og gir seg til å fortelle historien sin til turisten. Natten senker seg over dem og mørket og menneskene kommer tettere og tettere på dem.
Jeg følte meg som turisten, ble grepet av historien, og kjenner angsten over mørket som kommer, menneskene som etterhvert oppleves ukjente og truende, og sammen med fortellingen gir følelse av at alt kan skje...Hva blinker i mørket? En lighter eller et våpen?
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