"The Bible According to Spike Milligan is an irreverent but very funny spoof of The Old Testament in which, in his own inimitable fashion, Spike Milligan gives his version of the best known biblical stories.
In the Bible, according to Spike Milligan: "In the beginning God created the Heaven and Earth and darkness was upon the face of the deep; this was due to a malfunction at Lots Road Power Station...And God said 'Let there be light'."
A fun light hearted jab at religion that uses working class British humour that can have you cackling. Personally found it a bit if a slog after a while but that is just because the Bible is a little repetitive by nature.
Age Rating 14+. A lot of sex references and stoning and such.
"HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE
1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier.
Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.
SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH
It's a small story, about:
a girl
an accordionist
some fanatical Germans
a Jewish fist fighter
and quite a lot of thievery.
ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES"
This story is narrated by Death during World War II, and it is the story of a young German girl who comes of age during one of the most horrific times in recent history. Death has a personality. If something bad is about to happen, Death warns you ahead of time. Death is trying to understand the human race as much as the humans are. When "his" job becomes unbearable, he watches the color of the sky as he gathers the souls and carries them away. The descriptions of the sky are like nothing I've ever read.
The Book Thief is not one of those books you read compulsively, desperate to find out what’s on the next page. No. It is, in fact, better to read it slowly, in small doses, in a way that allows you to savour every word and absorb the power and the magic it contains. All the while, you know what’s going to happen. Death has no patience for mysteries. However, anticipation of the inevitable makes it even worse. My whole body was tingling with fear because I knew what was coming and I knew that it was only a matter of time.
Zusak found a way to give a fresh approach to a much-told story. He offered a glimpse at the other side of the coin. Really, should we feel sorry for the people hiding in a basement in Munich suburbs? Sure, bombs are falling on their heads, but most of them are members of the Nazi Party, willingly or reluctantly. Some of them truly think that Jews are no better than rats. Some, on the other hand, are hiding a Jew in their own basement. Some are just innocent children. But the more important question is, are we any better at all if we don’t feel compassion and sorrow? Death does a great job of asking all these questions in a calm, unobtrusive way.
The only small thing I had against this book is that the so called "Book Thief" only steals 3 to 4 books during the entire novel. I was expecting there to be a little more deviant thievery going on.
Age Rating 13+. A beautifully told story that can be understood by a younger audiences. Not gruesome but still heart rending at times.
"Ruth Young and her widowed mother, LuLing, have always had a tumultuous relationship. Now, before she succumbs to forgetfulness, LuLing gives Ruth some of her writings, which reveal a side of LuLing that Ruth has never known. . . .
In a remote mountain village where ghosts and tradition rule, LuLing grows up in the care of her mute Precious Auntie as the family endures a curse laid upon a relative known as the bonesetter. When headstrong LuLing rejects the marriage proposal of the coffinmaker, a shocking series of events are set in motion–all of which lead back to Ruth and LuLing in modern San Francisco. The truth that Ruth learns from her mother’s past will forever change her perception of family, love, and forgiveness."
I had mixed feelings about this book. The first part of the book, about Ruth's problems and LuLing's negative parenting, dragged for me. The second part, set in China, was exciting with wonderful characters--the bonesetter grandfather, the wicked relatives, LuLing's first love, the suicidal nursemaid. The short third part brought things together well, but seemed to promise an almost too rosy future.
Amy Tan has a way of getting inside mother daughter relationships that is startling. All of her novels explore the bond at both its best and worst. Part of what makes her stories so interesting is the clash of culture and of generational change which is so different to my own. The Bonesetters Daughter is probably the darkest of her novels, despite the (too) neat ending. The stories of the women are fascinating, though I had a hard time liking Ruth much which is probably unfair, I know all too well how difficult mother daughter relationships can be.
I found the description of China under Japanese occupation very interesting. Over all an interesting historical novel that could have had a few improvements. Age Rating 14+ suicide and attempted suicide is witnessed twice and rape is mentioned but not by name.
"Three Archangels...
Three Brothers...
One turned renegade
A sweeping epic of origins and mysteries, the fall of Lucifer tells a tale older than the universe itself. Set in opulent palaces and frightening hell worlds, this is a timeless saga of doubt, of demons and angelic warriors, of obsessive love and treason, and of an ancient evil that knows no bounds.
Soon the universe itself will be rocked by war...
A war between three angelic brothers...
A war fought for the greatest prize in the universe...
That war for the race of men."
Oh dear. With such an interesting premise I believed that the book would be a gripping read with an intense story line, after all the fall of Lucifer and his subsequent crowning as Satan is an interesting and emotional story. However this is not the case with this book. The story was repetitive to an almost childlike degree. The constant repetition of phrases such as 'a million million' and 'ten thousand, ten thousands' made the book almost impossible to read. Though there were some redeeming features such as making Lucifer jealous of the race of man, and portraying Heaven as an advanced scientific society, features which added a new twist to the tale it was a let down.
The description of heaven sounds like a shallow Paris Hilton acid trip. Diamonds and rubies and unicorns, oh my. Redundant prose, redundant descriptive paragraphs that repeat for no reason other than filler. ( I get it, heaven is diamond encrusted!) The angels have servants, who wants there to be servants in heaven and why do the angels have physical needs in an astral world? Lucifer is supposed to be this ancient being but comes off as a whiny teenager having a hissy fit. For the light bearing angel he sure comes off as a dimwit.
The dialogue was stilted and difficult to read. Hierarchy and nobility titles are vital in this heaven, so much so that every time a new character is introduced the author spends half a page enlisting his (and only "his", no women in Heaven as we all know)appellatives. All conversations in Heaven are based on very long and very formal greetings with no substance at all that gets irritating quickly.
What I did not learn from this book is how it was possible that Lucifer, the most beloved angel, the light bearer, perfect, loving and wise could become the personification of evil in the space of a fortnight. One day Lucifer is the epitome of goodness and a loyal servant to Jehovah than after Jehovah creates man he starts to behave as a capricious spoiled teenager who doesn't want to share his favourite toy. So much for a thousand years old angel. More strikingly is that no one, not even his beloved brothers really try to talk with him and reason with him. There are a couple of conversation which include a lot of "beloved brother" and no much else. There isn't a real analysis of the origin of evil, no in depth exploration of the complexity of Lucifer's betrayal which would have made this book an interesting read, only official formulas and dogma.
Overall a terribly boring and irritating read. I will definitely not be continuing the series. Age Rating 14+. Mentions of the fallen angels "lying" with human women to create Nephilim and so on. Normal biblical stuff.
"The Bible According to Spike Milligan is an irreverent but very funny spoof of The Old Testament in which, in his own inimitable fashion, Spike Milligan gives his version of the best known biblical stories.
