Ivan Zorkic Zorkic itibaren Çayırlı Köyü, 44960 Çayırlı Köyü/Arguvan/Malatya, Türkiye itibaren Çayırlı Köyü, 44960 Çayırlı Köyü/Arguvan/Malatya, Türkiye

The violence of Africa, of life anywhere, is played out in this story of three very different girls who grow up in Kenya during the late 50's. A daddy's girl from England with political ties to Kenya; a daughter of conscientious doctors who come to help in a tiny village; a daughter of Boers making their own way in the world on a ranch after fleeing South Africa; these are the main characters. They grow up best friends and believe that will never end, but reality encroaches and the hardships of their lives, now so individual and independent of each other causes further misunderstandings and rifts. The heat of Kenya, its past, its politics and its future hangs heavy over this story. The violence of the Mau Mau rebellion is interwoven throughout.

I know Todd was enjoying the TV show, so thought I would check out this collection of the first eight chapters that spawned the series. While it is a false dichotymy to split the world into those who like zombie fiction/fim and those who don't; I would remain in the second camp. I don't find zombies all that fascinating in the pantheon of monsters, and the gratuitous gore that fills the films is what I used to think was the big draw for zombie fans. Taking desensitization to delight for some, but not me. This film has plenty of that ol' kill the brain, kill the beast imagery. And I could see how some of the survivalist appeal to how to live on the lam as the world devours itself. And I guess the "big" revelation here is that man is the monster himself, even without the contagion. The book seems to feed on hopelessness as much as flesh, and some sort of "Lord of the Flies" moves that yes sadly are behind the scenes of politics today. How uncivilized are you willing to be to save *your* civilization. Or maybe this is simply the biological imperative extended, and you have to kill all your rivals to secure your own survival. A little too bleak for me... It is telling that the oasis chosen in this installment is a prison, as opposed to an island (which is where I thought I'd make haste to, even before reading the boys "Robinson Crusoe" after this). I'd read more in this series, and I do recommend going slowly instead of burning through, but this was a mixed read for me at best. No big deal on the artwork either, closer to Mad than Swamp Thing in that realm.

John Grisham is a master story teller - I don't think much of his none fiction but he has mastered fiction.

I really like how this book matter-of-factly presents a two-dad penguin family as "just like all the other families," doing all the things that penguins do. It's all about what we have in common, folks, not what makes us different.