Jason Poon Poon itibaren Wolica, Polonia itibaren Wolica, Polonia

As a teenager, myself and a friend were obsessed with the film and we watched it at least once a week. I was intrigued to read the book. I did enjoy it, I definitely did. I knew pretty much what was going to happen and I already knew I would like the story. The characters I'm not so sure about. Lestat isn't hugely developed and I didn't really feel anything for Louis - he seemed a very bitter character and at times I just wanted to say to him to accept what he has become and do something productive or worthwhile or even just enjoyable. I did feel a bit for Claudia though, especially when she felt angry at her lack of ability to grow up and become a woman - I think this is an interesting concept.

“They did not look like snakes to me, or any other animal I knew of. I walked out onto the ledge stepping with care so as not to tread on the creatures, even if they were clearly long dead and not so much corporeal bodies but sketches in the rock. It was difficult to imagine them as alive once. They looked permanent, as if they’d always been in the stone.” Imagine a Jane Austen character discovers a monster fossilized in the cliffs by the beach. And to my mind, that is precisely what you get when you read Tracy Chevalier’s Remarkable Creatures. In addition to the fascinating story of real-life women blazing a trail in paleontology, the reader is also confronted with the social mores facing nineteenth century women. The narrator is first person, switching back and forth between two women of different classes, but whom become friends because of their passion for finding fossils. I’m a big fan of Tracy Chevalier. Her works of historical fiction never seem to disappoint, and Remarkable Creatures ranks right up there with her best.

Useful for understanding the negotiations process surrounding the end of white minority rule. Suprising at times and well documented. Provides useful insight concerning the charcter of Nelson Mandela and De Clerk. The question this entire book raised for me was: if they had known what was going to happen to South Africa, would they have made the settlement?