Fantasy Adventure Stories - Book Report/Review Example

Life of Pi Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure story written by Canadian Yann Martel. Martel was born in Spain in 1963 and grew up in several places including Alaska, British Columbia, France and Mexico. He has spent a great chunk of his life traversing the globe in places such as Iran, Turkey, and India. The setting of the story is in India in the late 1990s. The author uses first person style of writing which adds credence to the story. Pi, in addition to being the protagonist, is also the narrator in the story. The reader understands the ideas expressed by the author through Pi’s point of view. The narrator is portrayed as a confident young man who, apart from his knowledge in zoology, is keen to learn more about religion. Having been raised up in Hinduism, he seeks to understand all that appertains to Christianity and Islamism. In the end all that mattered to him was his connection with God rather than arguments on what religion is right or wrong. Superficially, the antagonists in this story are Richard Parker and Nature. Pi’s trouble at sea begins with the challenge presented by the tiger and progresses to starvation. The real conflict that Pi faces is internal in nature. He struggles to remain strong in his faith, but at the same time he is compelled to kill and forego vegetarianism in order to live. In respect themes in the story, the author addresses aspects such as belief in God, Primacy of survival, storytelling, and pursuit of knowledge. I liked how the author used Pi to address the theme of religious intolerance. At the end, it was clear to me that what matters most is not the religion one belongs to but the personal relationship they have created with God. Nevertheless, the book seemed lengthy and boring especially when the author talked much about the nature-something which I disliked. The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini is the author of the novel The Kite Runner. Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965, Hosseini grew up in that place but later on relocated to Iran, Paris, France, and finally United States. The setting of the book is in multiple countries and spans over a couple of decades (1975-2001). However, the significant areas are affluent districts of Kabul, Afghanistan and the regions of California, U.S. The climatic seasons play a significant role with the spring denoting time to return to school, and winter, the kite running period. Hosseini uses simple vocabulary in a more focused way to convey the message. Amir is the protagonist in the story. The book gives an account of his childhood story in Afghanistan and how he commits detestable sin against Hassan, who is also his step brother. Later in the book, Amir makes a return to his homeland to atone for the sin he had committed by finding Sohrab, Hassan’s son, and taking him home. On the other hand, Assef is that antagonist in the story. He torments Amir and at some point goes on to attack and rape Hassan. He later joins Taliban so as to consolidate and propagate further his torturous activities. In addition, the sin Amir committed acts antagonistically to him and he has to atone for it before gaining his redemption. Several themes have been discussed in the novel and which include betrayal and redemption, forgiveness, love, social class and ethnic tensions, and the plight of immigrants. I like the emotions that the author elicits as he narrates about the raping of Hassan, Amir coming back to find Hassan has died, and later Amir learning that Hassan was his half-brother. Nonetheless, I disliked his initial portrayal of Amir in a bad light. How I wish Amir was a good person throughout the story. Snow Flower and the Secret Lisa See is a Chinese-American woman who authored award winning novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. She was born in Paris, France but later on moved to United States where she grew up in Lose Angeles. The setting of this story is in a remote 19th century China. The main protagonist in the story is Lily. At an old age of eighty years, Lily recounts her own story through writing. She talks about her milk years, hair-pinning days, and finally the rice-and-salt days. The other protagonist is the Snow Flower, who is Lily’s “old same” and their relationship is regarded as more valuable that even that between a husband and a wife. Unfortunate for them, their fates were not the same and these variation lead tragic end of their friendship. The revolution could be thought as the main antagonist in the story. The conflict arises due to discrepancies that existed in the friendship between Lily and Snow Flower. For instance, while Lily is on the rise, Snow Flower was on the decline a situation that really affected their friendship. Throughout the book, the main theme revolves around friendship. Lily and Snow Flower are great friends and the letters they write to each other serve to exemplify this theme. For instance, they liken their friendship to birds soaring together up in the sky. Other themes that are also evident include love, sorrows and pain. I particularly liked the manner in which the author uses first person narration to narrate this story of friendship. However, I disliked the fact that it appeared more of a fictional story that is less credible in the contemporary society. The Book Thief The Book Thief was authored by Australian novelist Markus Zusak. He was born in 1975 and has been raised up in Australia. The book has its setting in Germany in the midst of the Second World War. Liesel Meminger is the protagonist in story whose point of view depict her as the moral center. His father was killed because he sympathized with communist, and later on also lost her brother and mother. Undoubtedly, Liesel understands the pain of losing loved ones, and it is because of these experiences that she her actions and attitude towards other characters are informed by morality. On the other hand, the Nazi Party, and in particular Adolf Hitler, are the main antagonists in the story. This is because they are responsible for all killings and evil events that occurred in Germany at that time. The conflict in the story arise when Han, liesel father’s foster daughter, is against joining communist party, but will have to join sooner than later. Han is engulfed in a number of conflict with the Nazi party. According to her, Jews are like any other human beings and therefore deserve respect and dignity in the manner they are handled. However, the Nazi Party I which she works for holds a different opinion. The theme addressed in this book include death, importance of words and language, the theme of books, theme of stealing and giving, and the theme of color beauty, and ugliness. I like the story because it portrays the real historical events that happened in Germany during the era of Adolf Hitler. The writer choice of combining real events and real characters with fictional character makes the story even more credible. However, the language used was somehow complicated, something I disliked about the book. Conclusion Literature is a very powerful communication tool through which people address the different issues affecting the society as well as keep memory of important historical events. In the books reviewed above, it is evident that different themes have been addressed and which directly affect the current society. For instance, themes on religious tolerance, friendship, war, and forgiveness have been described. Therefore, writing books and stories is valuable to me as I can express my ideas to my readers while at the same time initiate a positive societal change. Works Cited Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Internet resource. Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Year of Publication. Print. See, Lisa. Snow flower and the secret fan. New York: Random House, Inc., 2005. Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Penguin Classics, 2004. Read More