Hurrah! I finished another English novel just now! This one is Jodi Picoult's The Tenth Circle. It's great! Very intriguing! This is the third Picoult's novel I have read. The first one I read is the Chinese edition of Nineteen Minutes, which is like an open door that leads me to Picoult's literary world. The story of Nineteen Minutes starts with a campus massacre that leads to a series of investigations that unravel layer by layer the causes or the motivations of the shooting. When I was reading this novel, I was amazed by not only the author's talent of weaving a complicated story but also her profound knowledge of pyschology. Reading her book, you can't take the side of any single character because there's neither genuine good guys nor villains. Picoult gives every character a chance to expose themselves, whether their dark sides or bright sides, to the readers. Likewise, you can not really sympathize with any one of the characters. The stories of Picoult's novels are always like a line of cause and effect. One event will inevitably lead to another, and another, and another. Every tragedy seems to have its roots. On the other hand, every tragedy in Picoult's world can be understood, yet can't always be explained because humans are a composition of half reason and half emotion, which is so real-life. And that's why I love reading her novels because I like reality, or more exactly, I like to see how artists depict reality. The second novel of Picoult's I read is My Sister's Keeper. Although the setting of this story is most likely in the future with a technology of cloning human beings, the way she tells the story is still realistic. I remembered I cried several times when I was reading the novel because I could feel the helplessness of each character that somehow caused them to make a cruel decision. Also, I could also feel the struggle in each character's mind between sacrificing others and self-sacrifice. The topic of this novel seems simpler and easier to understand than that of the Nineteen Minutes, which invovles such issues as bullying on campus, dysfunction of family as well as education system. The topic of My Sister's Keeper mainly surrounds an ethical issue--- whether one can decide another's right of living. And if I am to choose one of Picoult's novels for my students for their reading class, I will choose this one for the reason I just mentioned above--the topic is easier to discuss.
As for the latest one I just finished--The Tenth Circle, I might as well give my reviews next time because I am tired from squeezing those unfamiliar English words in my above reviews and I also need some time to digest the story.
And, and, I will have to find some time tomorrow to drop by the Caves Bookstore to purchase some new English novels for my game of "one novel, one piece of clothing"!
