Taylor's University Book Club

THE LAST WISH (The Witcher Series) 

 Review by Matthew Chong

 Author: Andrzej Sapkowski

 Genre: Fantasy fiction - Sword and sorcery 

 This is a very peculiar book. 

  It doesn’t feature a dashing hero who kills some
  warlord or gigantic dragon and lives happily ever
  after. The setting is based on medieval Poland
  (pre-gunpowder era) but unlike other fantasy worlds
  that makes everything look ideal and nice to live in
  (I’m looking at you Harry Potter) the universe here is a
  very troubled place which is actually based on our own reality!

Racism here is rampant. Humans are the top dogs while elves, dwarves and hobbits are low class individuals. You have kings with ambiguous personalities (one king has an incest problem) and political back-stabbers. There are even druids and mages who complain about ecological problems all the time (like environmentalists today). Poland author Sapkowski is a very sarcastic author and he’s very skillful at injecting the dark realities of our life in a fantasy setting. You will see many other references to our real world as you coast through the book.

The Last Wish is a pretty short book. To establish the universe to a new reader, it comes in the format of an anthology with the sequels being full fledged novels. The main character is Geralt of Rivia. the book takes place in a temple where Geralt is recovering from a near fatal injury and during the healing process, recounts past events of his life to his doctor. The past events are then written for our convenience in the form of short stories.

Geralt is a mercenary monster hunter called a “witcher”. Monster infestations grew worse after the wars, so some hunters took it upon themselves to experiment with poisons and magic to alter humans into biological killing machines. The death rate among candidates is very high, but those who survive become faster, stronger and resistant to special blends of performance enhancing drugs.

The witchers succeeded in reducing monster population but in peaceful times, the number of witchers are reducing due to low demand of their skills and also the fact that they are frowned upon by society. Geralt is arguably the most successful among witchers but the book depicts his struggles against the prejudice people have against his kind whilst trying to make a living, working for people who shun him and in a world that is slowly losing its need of witchers. Stuck in such a dark world, the reader can’t help but pity the situation Geralt is in.

The most interesting concept in the book however, is gray morality. Geralt is extremely cynical and views the world in shades of gray rather than black and white. Geralt is not a hero and is sometimes pushed into making immoral decisions to survive, choosing the lesser evil when the moral and ethical choice is not present. In contrast, Andrzej is very talented at writing chuckle-inducing dialogue that pokes fun at the ironies the world operates on (which is sometimes relate-able to real life).

From time to time, Andrzej lightens the mood with some comedy and it really helps because otherwise, this book can be extremely depressing. A short story involving Geralt brawling with a sand devil is extremely funny but doesn’t seem at odds with the dark mood of the story at all. Sapkowski is very talented at balancing the dark aspects with levity.

I don’t have much criticisms for this book but I might have to mention that due to its dark nature, the book is quite violent. Geralt is also quite a promiscuous guy so there are many references to his sexual activity with random women. Mature readers won’t have a problem but this is not a book you should lend to your 10-year-old cousin.

This is a VERY good book and I highly recommend it. Since it started out as a Polish book, it’s free from the evil influences of Hollywood in fiction today. Translation of the series is very slow but after you finish this book I have no doubt that you will want to grab the sequel The Blood of Elves right away. I’d write a review for that book if you guys are interested but I might have to re-read the book first.

Cheers.

Image source: http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n34/n174718.jpg

Here are the books which Ju Enn recently read:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: Bought in November 2010 in Popular Warehouse Sale in Summit. A pleasant surprise, because I just happened to be there, and found out there was a book sale! For half of normal retail price. I am halfway through the book, and am amazed at how different it is from the movie directed by Garth Jennings. But the satire, metaphorical language and humour are all still present. Try picturing a sci-fi book with inundated references as to how complicated and messed up our real world is. An imaginative book, that dares you to process information and dialogue on an intuitive level. And not to mention, with hilarious characters to tell help tell the story.  

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut: Bought in Popular Warehouse Sale, Summit as well. Loved Vonnegut’s most famous work, Cat’s Cradle, therefore was intrigued and wanted to read his second most famous work. To sum it up, it’s an anti-war book told in a language that is filled with dark humour. I like Vonnegut’s style of writing brief sentences and short paragraphs. Terse, yet impactful.  
 
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Laarson: One word: wow. If you are a mass communication student, you would be able to relate to this book. It’s a political and journalistic thriller. Centered around a quirky, unconventional female character. Reading it makes me feel so excited to know what is going to happen next. Quite the page turner. And I bought it from a sale that was held outside Taylor’s student life centre (I didn’t even know what event it was and who organized it, million apologies! It was sometime around October 2010 I think). 
 

by Ju Enn @juenn_ng

THE METAMORPHOSIS

Review by Loshana K. Shagar

  Author: Franz Kafka

  Genre: Horror

  Translated from the original German, this book is a    
  chilling yet thoughtful reflection on a regular man whose
  life changes all of a sudden.

  An ailing father, a mother and younger sister living in    
  squalid conditions force Gregor Samsa to work hard in a company for authorities with little regard for him. In the opening scene, Gregor wakes up late for work, and realizes he cannot get up as usual. Looking at himself, he sees a wide, flat body with many little brown limbs in place of his hands and legs.

While he struggles to get up, his family begin calling him in turn (since the door is locked), wondering what had happened to him. Gregor calls a reply, but the people outside cannot hear words, only small squeaks. The office manager appears at the house to ask after Gregor, and is told he does not want to come out of his room. As the manager knocks on the door, demanding answers to his questions, Gregor finally manages to heave himself off the bed and slowly prises the door open.

To their shock, they realize Gregor has turned into a large cockroach. Gregor does not understand how they feel, instead he tries to approach the manager and apologise for being late. The terrified manager flees the house, while the family is left in shock. The remainder of the story deals with what happens to Gregor and his family as they all ponder their future, uncertain what to do with a huge cockroach in the house.

Franz Kafka was the firstborn in a German-speaking Jewish-Czech family in 1833. His brothers died at infancy and sisters at concentration camps. His father Hermann was known as an ill-tempered tyrant with a high disregard for Franz’s interest in literature.

All his life, Franz tried to escape his father’s domineering personality. It is said Franz identified himself with Gregor Samsa in the story, and described himself as a cockroach in his father’s eyes, a vermin worth nothing. He had a string of relationships with women, none of which lasted long.

Maybe it was this close attachment Kafka had with the protagonist that made the story so poignant and interesting to read. It delves not only into the terrifying prospects of ordinary people having to live with a ‘horrible monster’ but also the feelings and emotions of both Gregor and his family members, unsure of what the future holds for them.

What is good about the Metamorphosis is that the story does not binge on horror/fright elements, but tells a simple, straightforward story and leaves the horror to our imagination. A must read for all you horror lovers out there.

Image source: http://behance.vo.llnwd.net