books

Books I have finished:

Alchemist by Paulo Coello
This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasures found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
The novel begins with Edmond Dantès returning to Marseille, where he meets his family and friends. There, the reader learns that he is the ship's first mate, about to receive promotion to captaincy and also is on the verge of marrying a beautiful Catalan, Mercédès.
It is revealed that the previous captain Leclere, who was a staunch supporter of the now exiled Emperor Napoleon, charged Dantès on his deathbed to deliver a package to former Grand Marshall Maréchal Bertrand, who has been exiled to the isle of Elba. During his visit, he spoke to Napoleon himself, who asked him to deliver a confidential letter to a man in Paris for him.
However, the naive Dantès does not realize how his fortune affects those he considers friends. Danglars, the ship's chief of cargo who envies Edmond's promotion, and Fernand, who desires Mercédès, seek to expose Edmond as a Bonapartist agent; he is sent to the deputy public prosecutor and magistrate, Villefort. Though Villefort is at once sure of Edmond's innocence and is on the verge of setting him free, he discovers that the addressee is none other than his own father, Noirtier, a prominent Bonapartist. However, the son has denounced his father to improve his relations with the current royalist regime, and a resurgence of speculation about his true loyalties could irrevocably damage his career and prevent his imminent marriage to a well-known aristocratic family. In order to bury this secret Villefort sends Edmond to languish indefinitely in the infamous Château d'If.

Beloved by Toni Morrison
The book follows the story of Sethe and her daughter Denver as they try to rebuild their lives after having escaped from slavery. One day, a teenaged girl shows up at their house, saying that her name is "Beloved." Sethe comes to believe that the girl is another of her daughters, whom Sethe killed when she was only two years old to save her from a life of slavery, and whose tombstone reads "Beloved." Beloved's return consumes Sethe to the point where she ignores her other children and even her own needs, while Beloved becomes more and more demanding.
The novel follows in the tradition of slave narratives, but also confronts the more painful and taboo aspects of slavery, such as sexual abuse and violence. Morrison feels these issues were avoided in the traditional slave narratives. In the novel, Beloved, she explores the effects on the characters, Paul D and Sethe, of trying to repress - and then come to terms with - the painful memories of their past.

State of Fear by Michael Crichton
Like most of his novels it is a techno-thriller, this time concerning eco-terrorists who threaten the Earth. Unusual for a novel but common among Crichton's work, the book contains many graphs and footnotes as well as two appendices and a twenty page bibliography.
Crichton included a statement of his own views on global climate change at the end of the book, affirming that the world is heating up, but arguing that the causes, consequences and benefits or harms of this change are unknown. He warns both sides of the global warming debate against the politicization of science, and endorses the preservation of wilderness and the continuation of research into all aspects of the Earth's environment. Despite being fiction, the novel received the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) 2006 Journalism Award. AAPG Communications director Larry Nation told the New York Times, "It is fiction, but it has the absolute ring of truth." The presentation of this award has been criticized as a promotion of the politics of the oil industry, and for blurring the lines between fiction and journalism.

Mountains Beyond Mountains : The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World details Farmer's work in Haiti, Peru and Russia, as well as his efforts to balance clinical and academic responsibilties with having a family of his own.


"The bourgeoisie, by the rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immunity facilitated means of communication, draws all, even the most barbarous notions into civilization. The cheap prices of commodities are the heavy artillery with which it batters down all Chinese walls, with which it forces the barbarians intensely obstruct hatred of foreigners to capitate. It compels all nature, on pain of extinction to adapt the bourgeoisie made the production, it compels them to introduce what it calls civilization into their midst is to become bourgeoisie themselves. In one word, it creates a world after its own image."