The Bookish Elf

Author: Dan Brown First Publication: 2000 Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Historical Fiction Language: English Setting: There are two major settings in Angels and Demons. The first is the Vatican and its surrounding sites of Catholic worship in Rome; the second is CERN, Located in Geneva, Switzerland,  a scientific counterpoint to the Vatican. Major Characters:  Vittoria Vetra, Robert Langdon, Maxmillan Kohler, Leonardo Vetra, Gunther Glick. Theme: Angels and Demons is built around a number of paired/opposed forces (Science Versus Faith, Passionate Dedication Versus Obsession, Public Versus Private)  that wind through the novel as they do human society and human history. Narrator:  Third-person omniscient. The narrator is reliable and trustworthy. The chapters shift focus from character to character, allowing the reader to see what multiple characters are doing at relatively the same time. Book Summary Angels & Demons brings an ancient...

Author: Dan Brown Publication: 2001 Genre: Mystery, Thriller Language: English Main Characters: Rachel Sexton, Michael Tolland, Thomas Sedgewick Sexton, Corky Marlinson, Zachary Herney, William Pickering Narrator: Narrator of the novel is third person and is narrated from the different perspectives of the various characters. Theme: Deception and the search for the truth is one of the main themes of the book. The title, Deception Point, even reinforces this. The main plot is hinged on a large-scale fraud designed to ensure NASA's future. The subplot of Senator Sexton accepting illegal campaign contributions is also about Sexton deceiving others, and throughout the novel, Sexton is described as a consummate liar. References to high tech military and intelligence equipment are also generally described as secret, and Pickering's concerns about security relate to keeping information from the public so as to protect national security. Plot Summary Decepti...

Author: Dan Brown Publication: 1998 Genre: Mystery, Techno-Thriller Language: English Main Characters: Susan Fletcher, David Becker, David Becker, Trevor Strathmore    Narrator: Multiple Third Person omniscient Narrator Theme:  National Security Vs Individual's Right to Privacy Plot Summary When the United States National Security Agency's code-breaking supercomputer TRANSLTR encounters a revolutionary new code—Digital Fortress—that it cannot break, Commander Trevor Strathmore calls in head cryptographer Susan Fletcher to crack it. She discovers that it was written by Ensei Tankado, a former NSA employee who became displeased with the NSA's intrusion into people's private lives. If the NSA doesn't reveal TRANSLTR to the public, Tankado intends to auction the code's algorithm on his website and have his partner, "North Dakota", release it for free if he dies, essentially holding the NSA hostage. The agency is determined to st...

To make a Book Club successful and growing, it is important to adhere certain rules and standards for behavior which prevents pointless arguments or even oblivious offences and helps to run Book Club more efficiently and smoothly. Most of the rules and standards are basic and common sense but it is necessary to remind rules frequently to all members of the club. It can be a diplomatic way to deal with one member who may be annoying other members or flouting certain rule and correct their behavior for future. Take some time when starting a book club to sit down and draw up a list of rules and standards of behavior which all starting members agree upon. It may seem a chore when all you want to do it get to the meaty literary discussions but it is well-worth the time and effort and will prevent a lot of time-wasting (and potential conflict) later from people arguing over how things should be done. Make sure that everyone is agreed on what is acceptable behavior within the club...

Born: June 22, 1964, in Exeter, New Hampshire, US. Dan Brown’s books are paramount encounter of excitement and ecstasy for the fan of secrets, codes, symbols and conspiracies. The books are set in 24 hours period story that swallow up the mind, soul and heart of the readers completely. A musician by profession, Dan Brown switched to the vocation of writing full-time later on. However, his move was just the perfect one as he mastered the skill that thriller-based novels demanded and went on to become one of the most celebrated writers of the genre. In his writing career, Brown has come up with classic novels some of which are ‘Angels & Demons’, ‘The Da Vinci Code’, ‘The Lost Symbol’ and ‘Inferno’. Amusingly, all the aforementioned novels have the same protagonist, Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbology expert. Additionally, they share historical themes and Christianity as motifs. Most of his works have garnered immense positive response from the public and the critics. Also,...

Born: November 8, 1900 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States Died:   August 16, 1949 (aged 48) Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia Childhood  & Early Life Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia on 08th  November 1900. Her family was wealthy and  politically prominent. Her father, Eugene Muse Mitchell, was an attorney, and her mother, Mary Isabel "May Belle" (or "Maybelle") Stephens, was a suffragist. She had two brothers, Russell Stephens Mitchell, who died in infancy in 1894, and Alexander Stephens Mitchell, born in 1896. Margaret Mitchell spent her early childhood on Jackson Hill, east of downtown Atlanta. Her family lived near her maternal grandmother, Annie Stephens. Margaret's relationship with her grandmother would become quarrelsome in later years as she entered adulthood. However, for Margaret, her grandmother was a great source of "eye-witness information" about the Civil War and Reconstruction in At...

Author:  Margaret Mitchell Genre: Romance, War, Historic Fiction First Publication: 1936 Language: English Tense: Past Setting Time: 1861-early 1870 (American Civil war to the reconstruction era) Setting Place: Tara (the O’Hara plantation in northern Georgia) & Atlanta. Protagonist: Scarlett O’Hara Major Characters: Scarlett O’Hara, Ashley Wilkes, Rhett Butler, Malanie, Mammy. Narrator: Third-Person, anonymous and omniscient narrator. Narrator have access to the thoughts, emotions and histories of all the characters and have deep knowledge to the circumstances and consequences of the events in the book. Review: I don’t know how to write review of a classic like Gone with the Wind. So I’ll just write my feelings and thoughts after reading this wonderful, shocking, engrossing, emotionally absorbing and at the same time  most tragic, infinitely disturbing and upsetting work of literature ever written. It’s a story of love and loss, peace and ...