What is the last book you read, and your rating?
- proudbookworm
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Re: What is the last book you read, and your rating?
- Manang Muyang
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- Subnavigation54
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- Redlegs
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But this political crime thriller, which describes the rapid downward spiral of the life of The Doll (real name Gina Davies), a Sydney pole dancer, has many excellent, high quality passages that can't fail to impress.
The Doll meets a man, Tariq, with whom she has a brief relationship. This man, a criminal for sure, is also suspected of being a terrorist, at a time when some unexploded bombs are found in Sydney. The Doll, unfortunately, was photographed entering a hotel with Tariq and is now also suspected of being an accomplice or a terrorist in her own right. She woke up one morning to find herself dubbed the Unknown Terrorist.
What Flanagan accomplished really well is his depiction of the decadent underworld of places like Kings Cross, made up of sex shows, dance clubs, drug addicts and dealers, prostitutes and pimps, criminals and exploiters of women and the generally downtrodden. There is only filth and degradation beneath the thin veneer of glamour.
Flanagan ruthlessly exposes the morally corrupt world of sensationalist journalism, where newspapers, TV stations and many of the people who work there are only concerned with what might bring them fame and fortune. They live by a maxim that never lets facts get in the way of a good story, or at least selectively use only the facts that suit a particular narrative. Never mind who might be hurt by such manipulation of truth.
There is also a clear disdain for governments and law enforcement personnel that exploit a situation to promote fear and uncertainty, and therefore seek to control, amongst the general population.
These excesses are what Flanagan exposes so expertly in this novel with his gift of observation, clear analysis and quality prose.
As a thriller, there are elements that didn't quite satisfy, there were some characters whose role was not quite clear or whose situations were never clearly resolved and some events described that didn't ring quite true.
Overall, I give it 4 stars out of 5, but there is better Flanagan to be had.
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
- Gravy
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What is grief, if not love persevering?
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- Manang Muyang
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- Czarmaine AM
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- jemgirl202
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- Cynamel1190
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5/5 an awesome read. It truly makes you think and very detailed like a movie playing on the pages. Definitely a tear jerker.
- hhriver
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Wonderful mental imagery and wonderful spook factor in my opinion.
- Manang Muyang
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I agree. Hope you have also read Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie. If not, do it!Cynamel1190 wrote:The last book I read was The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.
5/5 an awesome read. It truly makes you think and very detailed like a movie playing on the pages. Definitely a tear jerker.
- Fran
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When Margaret decides to proceed with her wedding, despite the serious mental health issues of her prospective husband, a chain of events is set in motion. Told from the viewpoints of Margaret and her three children this book is a vivid and deeply moving imagining of the impact mental health issues have on parent/child relationships and the demands and guilt it places on siblings.
I give it a 3/4* rating
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