meme: days 13 and 14

Day 13 → A fictional book
The Phantom Tollbooth. Norton Juster.
"It seems to me that almost everything is a waste of time," Milo remarks glumly. But his glumness soon turns to surprise when he finds in his bedroom an enormous package marked: 'One Genuine Turnpike Tollbooth'.
Having nothing better to do, Milo points his little car towards the strange land that lies beyond the Phantom Tollbooth- the Kingdm of Wisdom. And before he knows what he's doing, he volunteers to rescue the banished princesses, Rhyme and Reason, from their Castle in the Air. But the stairway to the Castle is guarded by fierce demons, and the road leading to it is full of extraordinary and unexpected hazards. Is Milo quick enough to leave the Demons of Ignorance behind and cunning enough to outwit- among others- the Terrible Trivium?
It's a kids book. It's a novel, for sure, but it's a kids book. But it's a fine kids book.
The humour is similar to Douglas Adams- that silly cleverness that draws you in and entertains like nothing else can- and Juster draws it out wonderfully. Despite the childish nature of the plot outline, the development is clever and witty and sometimes you can't help but think "how on earth did he come up with that idea?". The novel is almost a meta on itself- it uses rules and expectancies and breaks them down, throws them back in your face and then smirks at you. And it does this because it knows it can get away with being so ridculous, because the themes at it's core are just so darn real.


Day 14 → A non-fictional book
Getting It Right...or why the world is so monumentally screwed: The manipulation of History. Alexander Canduci.
My father used to work with Alex for a short time, and despite them both being in the psychology and mental health industry, Alex has a fascination with history. So he wrote a book about how the winners write history and left legacies. Like for example, the Romans were so epic and fantastic because they said so, and nobody was going to dispute that if they wanted to keep their right hand. Or their head.
And it might seems like a somewhat boring premise, that only history buffs will like this book- but it's not true. It's brilliant. It's amazingly clever and funny (oh my god, it's laugh out loud hilarious funny) and entertaining. It makes history fun. For example, Chapter Nine is titled : How To Conclude A Book When You Haven't Got The Faintest Idea What You Want To Say, Let Alone How To Say It, Though You Know It Must Contain The Word 'Antiquing'.
For a quick preview (okay, it's not that quick, but it is a preview!) click here