Weekly Book Review

��The Lie by O.H Bennet.

A moving contemporary tale of race relations and family. The books whole potential was depleted by the spotty grammar and sometimes downright atrocious sentence structure. The affect was also decreased by the distaste one felt for the main and supporting characters. Even though Bennet depicted a realist situation his characters acted in continuously unrealistic w*ys. His characters did not stay within their fictionally designated psychological realm. One minute a vicious hustler was beating his girlfriend, the next minute speaking in an intelligent manner about the role of life and memories. It would have been funny if it hadn't been such a pain to read. Though I give him props for trying, I wouldn't reccomend this book to read.


The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

Alive Sebold captured my heart after I read her first novel, The Lovely Bones, two years ago. It was the first contemporary book I'd I ever cried reading. In 'The Almost Moon', she shows again her natural talent for storytelling and depicting emotion. It tells the story of an artist model who kills her ailing demented mother on impulse. At first you think 'what a sicko!' Yet after you read and learn the worst Helen Knightly has to offer you begin to understand the strange psychologial ties this woman has, and the history of mental illness and self-violence that permeated her family. As you read you come to sympathize with almost everyone in the book, not by charity yet by simple human care. Sebold also portrays the brutality of a neighborhood which refuses to understand the implications of mental illness. This is in my opinion a wonderful book by a consistent and fresh writer. Her own personal tragedy and violation give her a view point that not many authors in the contemporary world of literature have. If you don't read this you at least must read 'The Lovely Bones'. It's one of the most amazing novels I've ever read.