The Blue Bear | Lynn Schooler

Through his life as a guide, Lynn Schooler offers to the reader an exceptional tour of Alaska: a state where nature is still the absolute master. The narration transports you literally, when Schooler explains what his job is all about.

Indeed, you’ll discover a man whom sometimes, makes you wish you had known him for his wide knowledge of the land and his charisma; some other times however, because of that same charisma, you cannot help and put yourself in the shoes of the tourists and other clients he is guiding. As a reader you are involved in every sensational sight he describes and in every feeling he shares… because, do not be fooled, this is no fiction!

His work will lead him to meet famous photographer Michio Hoshino. A true friendship is to be born between them. They will meet regularly for ten years. Each meeting will be one more step to the discovery of the wild region of Alaska and the beginning of an almost impossible quest : the one of the Blue Bear. This search will last for many years. The role that Michio Hoshino plays in Schooler’s life was probably enormous. As a photographer, he will teach not only the author, but the reader as well, how patience and stubbornness can give you the perfect photographic shot.

But more than this particular quest, the book is a photo album where pictures are words that transport you to the end of the world… If you are a true adventurer and exploring makes you tic, then perhaps you should consider reading this book. It might as well inspire you in more ways than you could ever anticipate.

Despite some interesting scientific aspects, that I barely understood, The Blue Bear shows life as it is and the importance of respecting it as such. Lynn Schooler’s book is a true inspiration for anyone who values Life in the large sense of the term. I know it was for me.

The Blue Bear is a wonderful journey in Alaska that I advise you to read without any delay…
I expect I’ll read it very soon again.

/Claire

Note: Written and published in 2005, edited by author in 2008.

The Taking | Dean R Koontz

Strange how things turn out sometimes… I discovered Dean R. Koontz last novel in London airport. However, I did not expect such anguish while reading it. I am not very fond of horror books… they give me as many nightmares as a movie would, only worse.As every terror book, The Taking (published in 2004) starts quietly though the suspense arrives pretty fast. Imagine a woman, who cannot sleep because of insomnia… alone downstairs while her husband is deeply asleep. My imagination ran probably faster than the events that would happen during the night… the rain… animals… and the fear that is settling down !

What on Earth is happening I wondered… You won’t find out until you finish the book I promise… Aliens invasion… holocaust of humanity…

Koontz’s novel, The Taking, is a brilliant horror thriller, quite bloody and sickening sometimes of course… But it will bring you far beyond what you could ever expect and imagine. Believe me, I would be really curious to know how many of you, after reading it, would ask themselves: could it really happen ? how long would I last on Earth if it did happen ? Is there anything today we can do to make sure that this kind of science-fiction never happens ?

Science-fiction, horror, thriller… you will never see humanity with the same eye. However, it is just a book and after a while your mind will become right again.

/Claire

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell meet Dracula…

This year I have read many great books, including the Harry Potter saga by J. K. Rowling (twice), but there are a couple that stand out. They are both the first book of their respective authors who are both women. Both of whom like to mix in an extensive way history with fiction. So much so that sometimes one wonders where and when one relays the other. Both authors make it so plausible by their story telling and the accuracy of their historical facts that sometimes one could ask oneself: “Indeed… what if that were true?”

Susanna Clarke wrote “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell” and to tell you the truth, the first time I opened that book, I was bored out of my skin… so was I the second time… but the third time, I was toast! I read it in a few weeks or maybe less. I dreamt about what would come next in the story and magic filled my dreams. It was not necessarily good magic, nor bad for that matter… it was weird! I liked all the characters in their complexity. Mr Norell was a cold but kind of cool antic-thinking chap and I really learnt to like him… I also learnt to dislike him very much. Jonathan Strange appears when my dislike of Norell begins… Who are those guys you may ask… they are magicians of course! Their fate will change the course of history or already has, whatever… Susanna Clarke writes in  sophisticated language and tells a story that leaves you want to read more.

I absolutely loved that book and you will too!

http://www.jonathanstrange.com/
Fantastic Fiction

Last week, I finished the revisited story/myth of Dracula. Many times I had to skip passages because I was scared! It is not a bloody book though, nor a horror one… but trust me when I tell you that Elizabeth Kostova has (the same way Susanna Clarke has, yet on another level) a story-telling gift that is going to keep you glued to your book until you are finished reading it. Very sophisticated writing as well, and amazingly documented, I travelled in Eastern Europe eagerly every evening. Fantastic book!

What is it about?
Well, without revealing too much, I can tell you that a teenage girl finds a weird sombre book in her father’s library, with a cash of letters… this discovery will lead her on her father’s footsteps and she will, page after page, go back in time and unravel very disturbing and morbid mysteries. No horror, just very Gothic… I cannot tell you more, I’m already afraid I told too much

I adore that book!

http://the-historian.net/
Fantastic Fiction

So if I was asked the eternal question of the “Desert Island” I would be very much in trouble… I could not pick one instead of the other… I guess I would bring them both (plus some others). See, that is terrible, I would be very upset if I had to choose.

/Claire