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This is another treasure I unearthed in my local second hand bookshop. I must have been one of the few people not to have seen this movie and decided it best to read the book first. Now my only hope is that the movie lives up to the book.
This was one hell of a ride. When I first started the book the beginning chapters nearly bored me to sleep. The passages about the scenery and the river nearly had me shutting the book but not one to give up I persevered and I am glad I did.
Hawk-eye (no not the guy from MASH…but isn’t he named after this character?) is a white man who feels a stronger connection to his Mohican friends that to his Colonial American society. While hunting with his companions Chingachgook and Uncas they encounter an English party trying to make it to the safety of the English Fort. Deciding that this is no place for armatures, Hawk-eye and his Indian friends help to escort the party.
This turns out to be a perilous, sadistic road-trip that no one would willingly take. I tore the up pages, I could not read them quick enough. The flowing words and the heat of the battle urge you to read as fast as you can in order to find out what happens next.
Fast moving, bloody and adventurous this is definitely one for the guys and anyone that enjoys a true to life good versus evil story. It does have some horrific scenes but also some very touching ones. I found myself saddened at the decrease/ loss of Indian culture ended the book in tears. I am glad to have read this story. This should have been on the top 100.
Once again unfortunately this is not a book from my list. I found this book in a second hand shop for the bargain price of 1.50 Euro, cheaper than a cup of coffee. I have to say that is satisfied me for longer than a coffee.
Lila Mae Watson is the first black female elevator inspector in history. Not only is she black and female she is also an Intuitionist. In the elevator inspector trade there are two types Intuitionists who feel the problems without inspection and the Epiricists who believe a thorough inspection is the only way. There is a political war waging between these two disciplines and Lila as some how gotten herself in the middle of it.
Lila is an interesting character, she is quiet and dutiful but to me rather dull. Until an incident occurs for which she gets the blame then her life is turned upside and a little more exciting. I think if she hadn’t been caught up in the world of double crossing and suspicion she would have just melted in to the background without anyone knowing she existed.
This book is really unusal and surreal. I would never have thought about elevator or inspectors as the scenes and characters for a book. Now whenever I get into and elevator I think of the people behind it. The book has a Citizen Kane, Big Brother vibe about it and combined with the crampness and obsesivness of the elevators and inspectors this book leaves you with an uneasy sort of feeling.
I liked this book but at times I was not so much confused as mystified with how someone dreamed up the idea. It goes to show that eveyone has a story to tell and we just need to find how to do.
