Iain Pears' "Stone's Fall" - review

After reading Pears' "An Instance of the Fingerpost" and liking it I decided to read next book I came across from this author and surely it was another quite remarkable piece of fiction.

The story in "Stone's Fall" spans time period of 40 years from 1860s till 1908. It is divided into three sections and goes backwards in time to tell the history behind the story of main characters.

Interestingly, when first part ended I thought book was finished because story came to some natural conclusion. But I was mistaken. To my surprise not even the second section of the book could truly explain the reasons behind the first section. Only after reading the 3rd section of the book and basically only reading the final pages one can realize how deep and unexpected way it is connected to the first pages. 

It is quite remarkable story. Moreover, writing style is so easy to follow. I liked both of his books I read. Highly talented writer.

posted by David Usharauli   

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Lem's "Solaris" remains true to its concept

I remember reading this famous book when I was teenager but could not recall much of it so I decided to re-read it. 

I got two impressions out of it: 

The first half is quite "scary" especially if you like to read books before going to sleep and it is dark around. 

The second half is incomprehensible. I did not understand it and lost interest. Thankfully it is a short novel so I finished it quickly.

In the end I will say that this novel copies its narrative and remains true to its core idea that people are not equipped [yet] to understand behavior of an alien life form. Unintended side effect of it is that reader will find herself/himself at a loss after reading this book.

posted by David Usharauli

     

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