Titanic - Pick of the Month Book Review

Titanic - What Really Happened? by Samuel West Genres: History, Nonfiction

     I knew that the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic was in April, so I thought that this would be a great book to pick this month. Well, not all free books can be winners, I guess. I had been surprised to find that amazon no longer offered this book, but I suppose I can see why now.

     The story started out pretty good, with lots of stats and info for the boat and passengers. The author did a fairly good job of setting the scene and describing the boat, etc. He ended the first chapter with, "Brave attempts were made to stem the flow of the water, by pumping it out. Would it be enough?"

     Of course everyone knows what happened to the Titanic, so I doubt it is much of a plot spoiler to reveal that chapter 2 consisted of exactly two words, "It sank". I kid you not. This was followed by two more words, "The End".

     I'm not sure what Samuel West was playing at. I would like to give the benefit of doubt that he had truly meant to write a real book for the anniversary but ran out of time, or maybe that his first draft was accidentally published. Either way, I'm glad this book was free though it is doubtful that it was worth what I paid for it.

I give it 1 star.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe - Book Review

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Genres: Classic, Historical Fiction

     I am an eclectic reader. There aren't many books that I don't like, but this book I just could not get into at all. It was a chore to read and I felt that I was just plodding on to finish it. I was very tempted to not finish it at all.

     First of all, Robinson Crusoe is a preachy bible thumper, when it suits his purpose. He is quick to judge others, but doesn't hold himself to the same standards. At one point he stops and thinks that it just would not be Christian to slay the cannibalistic savages who have done no harm to him personally. That it is up to God to judge them. Yet later in the book, when different strangers approach, he and his group just starts killing them with no apparent confrontation to proceed this action. While I am not over religious, I don't mind the occasional theological reference or theory, but the apparent hypocrisy in this story just really chafed me.