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The Hopkins Manuscript
The Hopkins Manuscript
R. C. Sherriff | 1939 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Powerfully moving, surprisingly obscure British SF novel. Eerily prescient in some ways: written in 1939 but set from 1945 onward, the story is told by Edgar Hopkins, a retired schoolteacher and champion poultry-breeder who is one of the first men in the country to learn of an impending cataclysm - the moon has been knocked from its orbit and will collide with the Earth in a matter of months. Hopkins' ability to tell the story is impaired by his own pompousness, powerful sense of self-regard and unerring ability to miss the significance of anything going on around him.

Initially it reads like a very black, absurdist comedy, but as the book progresses it becomes genuinely poignant and moving - almost a eulogy for an idea of England soon to be wiped away forever. I have no idea how much the author was motivated by fears of the coming Second World War, but its presence hangs inescapably over the book. The actual science in the book is rather risible, and (like much other mid-20th century British SF) the film also contains race-related elements that some modern readers could find problematic, but the core of the book remains as significant and thought-provoking as ever.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Kite Runner in Books

Jun 19, 2018  
The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini | 2003 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.5 (40 Ratings)
Book Rating
Moving and beautifully written
I can safely say that this is hands down the best book I’ve read so far this year. This book has been on my ‘to read’ list now for years, and I’ve never been moved to read it until now, mainly because I wasn’t sure it’d be my kind of story.... how wrong could I be.

This is possibly the most moving and beautifully written book I’ve read in a long time. The narration by the protagonist Amir is brilliantly done and it hooks you in from the very start. I was never bored for a second, whether reading about his childhood in Afghanistan or his later life in America and beyond. This is a heartwarming tale in parts, but for the most it is very sad and depressing and is a very good portrayal of war torn Afghanistan. I’ve never felt so moved to tears as I have when reading this book.The story itself too is not in the slightest bit predictable and to say I was surprised at the developments over the course of the book would be an understatement.

An amazing read and one that is sure to stick with me for some time.
  
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A Cupboard Full of Coats
A Cupboard Full of Coats
Yvvette Edwards | 2011 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I found this book very powerful and moving. It is a journey of a woman broken from traumatic events in her childhood and how the mysterious, enigmatic Lemon leads her on a journey towards healing and wholeness. This book is stark in its descriptions and joltingly shocking even though the plot holds a fatalistic inevitability.

At the beginning of the book Jinx is a hollow, cold, deeply scarred woman who lives a very isolated life unable to even form a relationship with her young son. She is unable to believe in and receive love from anyone after the emotional betrayal of her mother led to complete devastation in her teens.

Yet, then Lemon walks back into her life and, whilst at his own admission he is no saint, he leads he on a path to exorcise her guilt and discover redemption. Lemon is a fascinating character who has almost angelic qualities at times and his relationship with Jinx is full of mystery and is at times their scenes together are almost like a fable. And yet throughout the mystery the vivid descriptions and very raw, tangible emotions experienced by the two protagonists ground the story firmly within the realms of human experience, taking the reader on a moving journey of empathy and affinity.