Barb's Book Reviews: Review of "Red Rising: Red Rising Saga #1" by Pierce Brown

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Review of "Red Rising: Red Rising Saga #1" by Pierce Brown

In this sci-fi thriller, the first book of a trilogy, humans are divided into caste-like categories with the ruling "Golds" on top and the low-level "Reds" - essentially slaves - doing all the drudge work. Other color groups are artists, soldiers, law-enforcement personnel, pleasure givers, bureaucrats, and so on.
Darrow, a 16-year-old mine worker living in an underground colony on Mars, is a very low Red. The Reds - whose lives are generally short, hard, and hungry - are constantly bombarded with propaganda praising them for their help in terraforming Mars so that humans from an overpopulated Earth will have a place to live to in the future.

When Darrow and his young wife Eo run afoul of the law tragedy ensues and Darrow realizes that the Golds - concerned only with their own power and comfort - have been dishonest and manipulative. Encouraged by his dying wife Darrow becomes determined to get revenge and free the Reds. Helped by his uncle, Darrow falls in with a band of rebels who "transform" him to resemble a Gold. This allows Darrow to gain gain entrance into a selective academy that prepares Golds for the highest positions in society. This is no regular school however, and what follows is like a hyper version of 'The Hunger Games'.

The academy students are divided into 'houses' - mentored by praetors - that battle each other until one house is the winner. The whittling process takes many months during which the students try to demonstrate their intelligence and battle prowess in hopes of getting job offers from the most prominent Gold families. The students are forced to perform horrific deeds, which some do reluctantly and others revel in. Alliances form and fall apart, cheating occurs, and not everyone is who they seem.

Darrow is smart and capable but seems to be thwarted every time he's about to achieve an important goal. Thus he must learn to be cleverer, sneakier, and more politically astute than his rivals. In the course of the story Darrow evolves from a complacent teen to a warrior determined to get justice for the Reds. I liked the book and look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Rating; 3.5 stars

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Leading up to and during World War II, some Jewish children in Europe were hidden with Christian families, or in convents, or in monasteries, or in churches, etc., to protect the youngsters from the Nazis. The idea was for Jewish survivors to retrieve the children after the war. Author Jennifer Rosner, who did extensive research on the subject, and interviewed many people, addresses this topic in her fiction book 'Once We Were Home.' I heard Rosner speak about her novel, and she emphasized the difficult situations that sometimes arose from secreting Jewish children (which only saved a tiny percentage of Jewish kids, by the way). Some 'foster parents' came to love the children as their own and vice versa; some church organizations baptized the children and refused to return them; some Jewish kids came to think of themselves as Christian; etc. For the decimated Jewish population, getting these children back after the war was of paramount importance. Jewish survivors would use bribes, payoffs, lawsuits, or even kidnapping to bring the kids home. Some children were reunited with European families, and some were taken to Israel, to live on kibbutzim. Rosner, who has a Ph.D. in philosophy, observes there wasn't always a 'right thing to do,' as shown in this novel. ***** There are several 'displaced' characters in 'Once We Were Home.' Roger: During World War II, Roger is a smart, inquisitive French schoolboy living in the Convent Sainte Marie de Sion. Roger likes to write stories; enjoys sharing jokes and riddles with his best friend Henri; goes to prayer services morning and evening; attends the convent school; and has a favorite teacher, Sister Brigitte, who encourages Roger to ask questions. Roger's sponsor, a woman named Madame Mercier, tells Roger his Jewish parents took the 'wrong road' and arranges for the boy to be baptized. Roger doesn't comprehend what the 'wrong road' is and wonders about his Jewish family. When World War II is over, Roger's aunt wants him back. The church, determined to save Roger's soul, sends him on the run with a monk, who takes Roger over the snowy mountains (on foot) to Spain. Meanwhile, Roger's aunt petitions the church and the courts again and again and again......

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Author Colin Cotterill, a London-born Renaissance man who lives in Thailand, writes the award-winning Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery series. This book, a humorous suspense novel about two Bangkok movie buffs, is a nice departure for Cotterill. ***** Thirtysomething Bangkok residents Supot and Ali are friends whose prime interest in life is movies. Supot is a lackadaisical mailman and Ali - who's in the midst of writing a screenplay - owns a video rental shop in Bangkok. In Supot's spare time he 'works' (without pay) at Ali's video shop....if you can call it working. Usually Supot and Ali sit in the back of the shop watching and discussing films, about which they are VERY knowledgeable. The two pals extol the virtue of western cinema and western movie stars, and especially love legendary actresses like Marlene Dietrich. Conversely, Supot and Ali bemoan the lack of great Thai movies. The video shop gets about 3 to 4 customers on an average evening, and one night - when a nervous boy with a penciled on mustache comes in, and in a fake deep voice, says the men at his snooker club want a couple of sex films - Ali and Supot can barely contain their mirth. One day a homeless man called Woot comes by the video store with a box of old cassettes he 'found' (stole). Ali agrees to purchase the haul for a few Baht and he and Supot proceed to enjoy the movies. Then a miracle happens. One of the cassettes, a Thai film called 'Bangkok 2010' - which neither man has ever heard of - is SUPERB. It has a compelling storyline, great acting, high production values, and so on. Moreover Supot falls in love with the beautiful lead actress, whose name is Suriluk....and who plays a character called Suriluk......

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Many people think Misty Copeland, who became a principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre in 2015, was American's first Black ballerina. This is incorrect. In 1969, African American danseur Arthur Mitchell founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH), a company that featured Black ballet dancers. Misty Copeland Arthur Mitchell For many years, it was 'common knowledge' that Black dancers belonged in modern dance, not classical ballet. Mitchell explains, "I said to hell with that; I wasn't raised speaking Swahili or doing native dances. Why not classical ballet?" So Mitchell became a danseur in George Balanchine's New York City Ballet, and later founded DTH. Arthur Mitchell Arthur Mitchell instructing a ballerina Dance Theatre of Harlem DTH's five pioneer ballerinas were well known in their time, but subsequently faded from memory. Author Karen Valby, who's White, thought it was time to restore these women - whom she calls the Swans of Harlem - to their place in history. In an interview, Valby said, "Fundamentally, I consider this book a gift to my [adopted] daughters — young Black girls who are dancers themselves. They deserve to know about the Swans, and to feel surrounded by the power of example. Writing in this case felt like an act of mothering.”.....

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Holly Gibney was introduced to readers in Stephen King's 'Bill Hodges Trilogy' which begins with 'Mr. Mercedes.' In the trilogy, Bill Hodges is a retired police detective who investigates crimes with the help of an amateur team that includes Holly, a shy computer whiz; and Jerome Robinson, a bright young man headed for Harvard. Holly has now come into her own as an investigator, and she and ex-cop Pete Huntley run a private detective agency called 'Finders Keepers.' Holly also gets some part-time assistance from Jerome Robinson, who's now in college; and Jerome's sister Barbara, a student. The book 'Holly' is set in the middle of the Covid pandemic, at a time when most people are vaccinated, wear masks, avoid shaking hands, and so on. Holly is very meticulous about evading infection, and is extremely conscious that her business partner Pete is home with the coronavirus; and her mother, who refused to be vaccinated, died from the disease. Holly is grieving the loss of her mother, and dealing with surprising revelations that followed her mother's death, so she's planning to take a break from work. Then Holly gets a call from a woman called Penny Dahl. Penny says her daughter Bonnie Dahl, an assistant librarian at nearby Bell College, has disappeared. Penny is distraught, and wants to hire Finders Keepers to look for Bonnie.....

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Barbra Streisand - an American singer, actress, director and producer - is an extraordinary talent and one of the few EGOT winners (Emmy Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). In this memoir, which is almost 1000 pages long, Barbra details her life and career, and she deserves to win a writing award as well. I read the book and listened to the audiobook, excellently narrated by Barbra - which has the added treat of song clips. Barbra has sometimes been mischaracterized as being a difficult diva because she's a perfectionist who wants all the things she's involved with (albums, concerts, television specials, movies, tours, etc.) to be the best they can be. It seems evident this 'misunderstanding' is due to a woman succeeding in a man's world. As Streisand said in a 1992 speech: A man is commanding - a woman is demanding. A man is forceful - a woman is pushy. A man is uncompromising - a woman is a ball-breaker. A man is a perfectionist - a woman's a pain in the ass. He's assertive - she's aggressive. He strategizes - she manipulates. He shows leadership - she's controlling. He's committed - she's obsessed. He's persevering - she's relentless. He sticks to his guns - she's stubborn. If a man wants to get it right, he's looked up to and respected. If a woman wants to get it right, she's difficult and impossible. If he acts, produces, and directs, he's called multitalented. If she does the same thing, she's called vain and egotistical. And so on. Moreover, Barbra names names, calling out the professionals who gave her a hard time because of the 'boys club', and other people - journalists, fellow performers, movie crews, etc. - who maligned her because they wanted publicity, or were jealous or resentful......

Barb's Book Reviews

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Review of "Red Rising: Red Rising Saga #1" by Pierce Brown

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