Sunday, November 18, 2007

The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

Lovely to read again one of the best science fictions I know. Pretty sure I first read it in my teens. On the surface a superficial science fiction story about post atomic holocaust life with a simple and fast-moving story line. And pretty timeless in it's style. But full of observation about the way mankind behaves. short and sweet, my grubby orange and white penguin version, found through Readitswapit, originally cost 2 shillings and six pence!

Excellent and well worth the read. 10/10

On Beauty by Zadie Smith

Very enjoyable read. I liked it much better than The Autograph Man....more White Teeth standard. It's about two families who end up living in the same town in New England. They have very different outlooks on life and yet become very involved with each other. Both men lecture at the same university, so it deals with relationships between lecturers and students and the politics of running a university....hopefully not all entirely true.
8/10