Alice Poon's Blog, page 16
September 3, 2014
Book Review - Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck
This is a riveting read and the author put forward an unbiased view of Cixi, the last Empress of China's Qing Dynasty, and her 47-year reign.
My review:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
August 26, 2014
August 18, 2014
Free Book Promotion - Fated and Fateless
I am pleased to announce that on the coming weekend, August 23 and 24, 2014, the KINDLE VERSION OF FATED AND FATELESS will be free to download from Amazon!
July 30, 2014
Book Review - Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
This book is probably not for everyone, especially not for the faint-hearted.
My Review:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
July 24, 2014
Book Review - Stone in a Landslide by Maria Barbal
This is one powerful little book that I would highly recommend to anybody who hasn't read it.
My review:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
July 22, 2014
Book Review - Pereira Declares: A Testimony
An absolutely enthralling read! A chilling reminder of the horrors of police state and government oppression.
My review:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
July 18, 2014
July 13, 2014
Book Review - Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I'm totally smitten with this novel and its author.
My 5-star review:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
July 3, 2014
Book Review - The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This is a work of elaborate research into and objective recount of the lives and fates of the six queens of Henry VIII. Although I had to struggle with the innumerable and often confusing names and titles of the gargantuan cast in the presentation, this didn't thwart my desire to get to the end.
The stories of the women themselves are poignant, if not upsetting (upsetting because they are not fictitious but real people). Their fates are a direct result of the times they lived in, which was probably one of the bloodiest reigns in English history, not to mention their ill luck of being tied in marital bond with, to say the least, a volatile and self-indulgent monarch who was obsessed with the issue of a male heir.
The author did a good job in explaining in detail the intricacies of European politics in that era: the unending strife between the Catholic and Protestant factions, the in-court rivalry between the consort-related nobility and the use of royal marriages for political ends. Highlighting such labyrinthine political background are the calculating and often deadly machinations by stakeholders behind a masquerade of civility and honor.
One gruesome detail of the narrative is the description of those monstrous capital punishments and tortures permitted under sixteenth century English law, which rival in cruelty with China's penal system in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.
Overall, the moral lesson that can be drawn from this historical account is perhaps that a ruler or political leader (man or woman) can never be trusted with having absolute, unchecked power over others.
