Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden

Rating: 7 out of 10
Summary: He was born Temujin, the son of a khan, raised in a clan of hunters migrating across the rugged steppe. Temujin’s young life was shaped by a series of brutal acts: the betrayal of his father by a neighboring tribe and the abandonment of his entire family, cruelly left to die on the harsh plain. But Temujin endured—and from that moment on, he was driven by a singular fury: to survive in the face of death, to kill before being killed, and to conquer enemies who could come without warning from beyond the horizon.

Through a series of courageous raids against the Tartars, Temujin’s legend grew. And so did the challenges he faced—from the machinations of a Chinese ambassador to the brutal abduction of his young wife, Borte. Blessed with ferocious courage, it was the young warrior’s ability to learn, to imagine, and to judge the hearts of others that propelled him to greater and greater power. Until Temujin was chasing a vision: to unite many tribes into one, to make the earth tremble under the hoofbeats of a thousand warhorses, to subject unknown nations and even empires to his will.

Commentary: I actually really enjoyed this novel. Good points: Great adventure and description of the setting and all the action. I learned a lot about traditional Mongolian life and culture. The characters were lively and all different.

I did some research on Genghis Khan after reading this novel (just wikipedia) and it seems it was pretty historically accurate. This man led a fascinating life–amazing. Makes me wish I were Mongolian. Interesting thing: Iggulden also wrote the recent bestseller, The Dangerous Book for Boys.

I’m not a huge fan of Iggulden’s style of writing–very sparse… which can be good sometimes, but just didn’t work for me here. I’m eagerly awaiting to read the next in the series.

Additional interesting note: New movie to see release in the U.S. on June 6th: Mongol. Looks alright from the trailer. http://www.mongolmovie.com/

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Rating: 5 out of 10
Summary: Salinger’s classic coming-of-age story portrays one young man’s funny and poignant experiences with life, love, and sex.

Commentary: Gosh I really don’t like modernist literature. Holden Caulfield means nothing to me.

The Jigsaw Woman by Kim Antieau

Rating: 6 out of 10
Summary: Antieau’s amorphous debut, having no truck with orthodox novelistic ambitions, takes the form of an extended feminist polemic. Keelie, still healing and unable to talk yet, awakens to the realization that she’s a composite of three distinct individuals, surgically fused together. Her head once belonged to drowned Anna, her body is that of poor murdered Bella, while her dancer’s legs derive from suicide Lee. Keelie has been created by Victor to be his lover, and she’s attended by timid medic Griffin, psychiatrist Hart, and Lilith, Victor’s deformed wife.

All of these people, as the young woman’s experiences unfold, are shown to be related by blood or marriage, through space and time. Indeed, Keelie relives something of the miserable lives and sad deaths of the women whose hybrid she is. But before long she’s seized by the death-goddess, Eriskegal, and commanded to remember everything.

Soon Keelie recalls a time in the South American rain forests around the advent of Columbus, where she and the others live in idyllic circumstances—until a ship bringing Victor’s brutal and domineering father arrives to kill or enslave them all. Later, in a prehistorical matriarchy beset by vicious patriarchal invaders, Keelie must persuade her warrior lover, Victor, to reject his father and his horrific conquests. Finally, as she remembers

Summary: I have a mixed opinion about this. The ideas were good, the progression was good, and the characters were all interesting, although I’m still not 100% sure about Victor yet (who was an obvious reference to Victor Frankenstein from Mary Shelley’s classic).

However it did get very preachy in certain areas, no subtlety at all. I alternately enjoyed and raised my eyebrows at the dialogue. Sometimes I liked Keelie’s spirit, but sometimes she bothered me as a character–again, too obvious, not very well fleshed out. The author was successful, in the end, of convincing me of the romance. Very sexual in some parts.

Very feminist. Great ideas, could have done with a little more work.