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...

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 ...