Az Idegen Nyelvi Részleg könyvajánlója - 2008. június

Terry Pratchett: Interesting Times (A discworld novel)

Interesting Time is a fantasy, an installment of Terry Pratchett's famed 'Discworld's series. Pratchett is easily the genre's best satirist, creating a magnificant world that he describes as a flat, circular planet that rests on the back of four elephants, which in turn are standing on the back of a giant space travelling turtle.
This particular novel can be read as a stand-alone and with only the loss of missing a few references made in past novels. Pratchett centres his story arcs among a wide assortment of colorful, original characters, and in Interesting Times he returns us to a story of one of his best creations, Rincewind, possibly the worst wizard to ever live. This novel, like all the other installments in the series is full of unequaled word play, witty humor, and tremendous allegorical examples.

Nick Hornby: A Long Way Down

A dark comedy, playing off the themes of suicide, angst, depression and promiscuity. 
The story is written in the first-person narrative from the points of view of the four main characters, Martin, Maureen, Jess and JJ. These four strangers happen to meet on the roof of a high building called Topper's House in London on New Year's Eve, each with the intent of committing suicide. Their plans for death in solitude, however, are ruined when they meet. The novel recounts their misadventures as they decide to come down from the roof alive - however temporarily that may be.

Karen Joy Fowler: The Jane Austen Book Club

The Jane Austen Book Club, as the title suggests, centers around six members of a book club that discusses Jane Austen's novels. The book has six chapters, with each chapter having a different member of the group leading the discussion about one of Jane Austen's six novels (plot synopses of her novels are provided at the back of this book). The novels aren't as important as the book group, five women and one man, who all bring a different perspective to the group. As their own stories and interactions unravel, Karen Joy Fowler's novel illuminates the power and effect books have on all of our lives. The Jane Austen Book Club has received many glowing reviews with the New York Times saying, "On its surface,  the novel is a tidy number, a perfectly cut and polished little gem with just enough facets. But that's not the half of it. This exquisite novel is bigger and more ambitious than it appears. It's that rare book that reminds us what reading is all about."

Agatha Christie: The Mousetrap and Selected Plays

A selection of some of Agatha Christie's most famous and compelling plays. The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the English language, And Then There Were None, Appointment with Death and The Hollow.