High Citadel
- Desmond Bagley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a wonderful action thriller, with a lot of tension and suspense. It is basically a fight-to-survival story of a set of improbable characters, thrown together by fate and conspiracy (my words sound like a cliche, even to me!). So yes, it is a common trope of this genre, yet when well done, these novels can be quite entertaining.
Here we have a small plane hijacked and crash-landed in the Andes, and the ill-equipped passengers must survive not only the extreme weather, but also an army unit intent on killing them.
I have read quite a few novels on this theme, but the relatively lower rating is not due to lack of novelty value. Its because I have read almost everything by Alistair Maclean, some of them multiple times, and Maclean is superb in both - gritty tales of extreme, nearly inhuman, nature conditions, as well as those of resourceful protagonists. This one was so reminiscent of Maclean's plots that the comparison became inevitable. It also had too much violence, and though it was unavoidable for the plot, I don't like this much of gore, even though it is tamer compared to the graphic violence of contemporary thrillers.
The Scarlet Pimpernel
- Emmuska Orczy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I remember reading this book twice earlier - the first time in my school library a long time ago. I recalled finding the story nice and entertaining. Sometime between then and now, thanks to the internet access and availability on the web, I was able to read it again, and still found it amusing. Since I did not remember much about the story, except the very basic plot line, I took the chance to buy an old print in excellent condition. As I held the book in my hands, I thought that the book I read in school must have been an abridged edition - my vague recollection is of a rather slim volume.
I still found the adventure readable and the story entertaining. However, my more mature outlook now discerns the shortcomings as well. I found the outlook in the story elitist and extremely racist. The loyalty towards the nobility, flawed as they are, is rather incomprehensible in these current times. I also observed that the author is quite prone to repetitions, so we encounter a number of "pretty Sally"s in the opening chapters, are told about the lazy eyes and inane laugh of Lord Blakney throughout the book and hear the exclamation "Odd's fish" a number of times in a single dialog exchange towards the end. An enjoyable time-pass read, and even though a bit dated, it hasn't aged badly.
The Dalai Lama's Cat
- David Michie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a sort of an introduction to Buddhism for beginners, and is a lovely and light read. It is indeed commendable that the author has found such a unique and interesting voice to relate the Buddhist philosophy, interwoven with the story of the eponymous cat. His Holiness's Cat is a lovable character, who has her own faults but owns up to them, and who narrates the story sometimes with grave insight and usually with humor.
I really liked the story, yet I only gave it 3 stars, because although I could enjoy it, I did not find it life-altering in the way people who recommended it on my reading group did. Perhaps I was not in the right frame of mind, or it was not the right time for me.
