Book Tamers| book reviews

“Don’t go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trace…” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

That is what entrepreneurs want most of the time, to leave a trace, to change something. And some of them succeed in ignoring obstacles, to accept getting injured by those left aside, to keep their vision and not to forget that, in fact, most of them are nothing more than dealers of hope, as Napoleon used to say.

They deliver hope, they help people to dream, and afterwards they just make their best in keeping their promises. By definitions, entrepreneurs create systems. On the other hand, managers are totally different. First of all, managers are recognized as specialists the moment they end their MBA, while entrepreneurs have a unique credit card: the amount of their achievements. Second of all, managers are leaders of an already existing system, but those systems were created by entrepreneurs.
It is not a management book

Manager, not MBAs is not a management book, but a deep analysis of the educational system that should form managers. Mintzberg harshly criticizes the system and through the whole book, he will systematically suppress this system, offering instead solutions and methods for transforming it into something decent. Why just decent?

It is because managers can’t be trained in classes. Mintzberg says these MBA classes are good (or they could be if they followed the structure he suggested) to improve managers, but these classes can’t transform a person who lacks the slightest experience into a guru.

And many of those who complete this kind of Master for Business Administration get started with a serious dose of unjustified arrogance. I recommend this book, with ironic warmth to these MBA students, totally unprepared for what is next. I met some of these people. They have the impression that taking some classes will transform them into managers which is totally wrong. Why?
Yes! Management is about people

It’s because management is not only about procedures, standards and rules. It is about people. And human relations, empathy and respect for your co-workers can’t be learnt from books and case studies. I find interesting the parallel between “being a manager” and “being an entrepreneur” and I could write, probably, tens of pages about it.

I will not do it now, but Mintzberg says something I agree with, I’m surprised with the clarity of the idea, especially because it comes from a person that can be considered more of a manager than an entrepreneur. He says that entrepreneurs tend to obsessively devote themselves to the companies where they work, to fields and people. This kind of commitment is necessary for creating something powerful.

In Manager, not MBAs, entrepreneurs are presented in antithesis with the MBA graduates that don’t attach themselves to the idea of a company that start from scratch. MBA graduates are those who dream to become multinational managers and are willing to give up that uncertainty thrill, the courageous madness for minor cares and, most probably, for a good night’s sleep.

I end now suggesting that you should skip the first part of this book, where Mintzberg takes us on a journey through management’s history, which can be pretty dull. Also, don’t forget that the whole book has the same structure of a MBA and even though there are little practical information about management, the utility of this kind of program is expressed very clearly.

Written by Andrei

Jeanette Winterson is one of the most important young voices of the contemporary British literature. Having a dazzling success with her first novel (Oranges are not the only fruit), with Written on the Body Winterson adds to postmodern literature some surprising and innovative procedures and gives us one of the most intense and thrilling love stories.

Narrator- no name, no age, no sex!

If during the first pages of the novel, I thought (probably as a victim of some prejudices) that the narrator is a man, later on I discovered that there no actual references to his age or sex. The person that tells her love life and the relationship with the beautiful Louise doesn’t leave a clue concerning his sexuality.

The procedure Winterson uses takes us into an androgyny world, where war between sexes becomes obsolete and lacks in importance. Unaltered is only the power of love and the sensuality of discovering the loved one physically.
The ambiguity of the narrator’s sex brings to the table the problem concerning a woman’s capacity of writing from the perspective of a man (and vice-versa) and also the reader’s ability of visualizing all love scenes without clearly having in mind the nature of the character.
The intense descriptive episodes, with abundant anatomical details, of intense color, become really important when the narrator’s sensorial experiences are not limited by the perspective of its own sexuality.
By this procedure, Winterson has gone into an unexplored and dangerous field. Although she managed to free her love story of the dull determination of a homosexual relationship, she confronted harsh critics from the lesbian community who accused her of failing to write a sincere novel about a love affair between two women.

Cliché free love

Love as a cliché appears obsessively on the whole novel.
Marriage as a cliché “of settling down” , having a satisfied (if not happy) family and leading a quiet and comfortable existence.
“I love you” are words with no originality, empty by repetition.
Beyond all these sentimental and social traps, Written on the Body is the novel of a freed love, of love as an exploration, as a discovery, as knowledge.
Lovers are not bound to do what they are expected to do, but they live their own feelings independently and intensely. A letter of farewell consisting of all the clichés of a traditional love comes as a painful reminder of the uniqueness of this novel.

A joy of the senses

Probably one of the most powerful love stories, Written on the Body is, as the author herself confessed, a discovery of the self through metaphors of lust and disease. It is an adultery seen from the perspective of one lover. It is love seen as Braille written on a body that could be seen only in a certain light, our own secret code; the burden of all lost and consumed loves. It is a novel that wishes to find out why love is measured only by its loss.

Written by Ama

This novel consists of hundreds of letters written by Vincent van Gogh to his brother, Theo. Short, touchy and sometimes painful, these notes are the only ones who can say anything about the painter’s life. Them and Irving Stone’s book, Lust for life, a biographical novel. Lust for life contains letters between van Gogh brothers and Stone added some fiction in order to explain his beliefs concerning what happened to Vincent.

Certainly, each and every one of us has heard about Vincent van Gogh, about his famous sunflowers and the cut of his own ear in order to give it to a prostitute. But that’s not all that can be said about the painter, about his tumultuous life, about the distress he went through in order to find some kind of balance and his place in this world.
The first time I took notice of Vincent was in Vincent and Theo, a movie about his life. And then I read this novel and tasted it page by page, in spite of the fact I don’t usually like biographies. And this is certainly because van Gogh’s life is so full of colour and so painful, in the same time, that you are just drawn into it.
Irving Stone took Vincent’s letters and built upon them the life of the impressionist painter. Thus, I found out that before becoming a painter, Vincent van Gogh was an art dealer and not anywhere, but at the Goupil Art Galleries, famous all around Europe, that his uncle owned. At 21, he falls in love for the first time with an English girl named Ursula, but the fact she doesn’t share his feelings makes him leave England for good.
He goes back to Holland to study theology. He will end up a preacher in Borinage, where miners work from dusk till dawn for a few pounds of charcoal. He is strongly touched by the harsh life and after sad events he will end up living the same miserable life as the mine workers. He will soon discover drawing and will start laying lines that will worth millions years after.
Theo puts an end to this extreme poverty and sends him back to Holland to get well. Vincent is misunderstood by his family but they can’t stop helping him. He falls in love with his cousin, Kay, but she will brutally reject him. For Vincent it is the beginning of a new depression, but he leaves Hague in order to learn from master Mauve (an alliance cousin) the art of painting. In Hague, he draws out of his imagination, and his paintings are always rejected.
He returns to the parochial house of his parents and will start to paint in colour for the first time, the models being peasants and weavers. In Nuenen he will paint his famous “Potato eaters”. He will be loved by a woman named Margot, an older woman but he will never have the same feelings for her. After fights with his family and with almost every peasant in Nuenen, he writes Theo to shelter him in Paris.
In France, Vincent van Gogh makes the acquaintance of impressionist painters like Seurat, Rousseau, Gaugain, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cezanne and others. And the color explosion he will encounter in their painting will decide him to change his palette and get rid of the Dutch influence. In Paris he will have to deal with another kind of life and for the first time he feels that his purpose is to paint. Moreover, exhausted from searching the perfect colour palette, Vincent decides to leave for Arles.
In Arles, thanks to the dazzling sun, Vincent was able to complete his style, painting his famous sunflowers, the starry nights and the self-portraits. He gets sick and he will need to be admitted into an asylum. The epilepsy attacks are rare, but violent. Theo’s decision to get him out of the hospital is done by leaving to Auvers. Here, Vincent will put an end to his life, shooting himself in the heart.
There is so much to say, so much about Vincent van Gogh’s life, and I don’t want to ruin everything for you, because you should find out for yourselves what this painter meant for our world. More than that, I have to tell the truth: only knowing this painter’s life, I could truly understand his painting and the drama he went through.
Reading Irving Stone, I got that this world is too big for understanding one man, I got that an artist is always a misfit. Vincent van Gogh’s life taught me what perseverance truly means and how hard it is to always start from scratch. I understood what being an artist means and that one has to be indifferent when judging the outside world.
I saw loneliness and an extraordinary soul revealing in Vincent van Gogh’s paintings. And I am so happy for reading this biographical novel, in which life is truly lived. It’s not entitled Lust for life for nothing!
Written by Cristina

Marketing in the public sector is a book that could really change a system, and Kotler explains from the very beginning about how solutions used in the private sector of the commercial societies could be applied in the public sector.

Of course, there are differences, of course that governmental organizations are most of the time monopoles while companies can’t afford ignoring competition, of course almost everywhere, when it comes to State shares, people frown and get uncomfortable while they are calmer when it comes to a commercial society, the reason being set loud and clear: gaining profit.

There is a certain fear (sometimes justified) of anything that relates to the State. We have the impression that we offer too much and we get too little, that politicians steal and that for them democracy means anything but taking responsibilities. But what the author is planning to do is not easy at all.

Kotler, the old revolutionary

If in the States or another country with a decent system of public administration, Kotler’s solutions would get some marketing prizes, in a developing country this would probably mean there will be a revolution and winning the elections 3 times in a row.

In all this madness named public administration, Kotler enters with an easiness that I honestly didn’t see in him. He is however a visionary, but one of whom one can’t say he made the transition from a black and white TV set to a color one.

He is the father of marketing as we know it today, but fathers become frequently too conservative and some of this conservatory spirit can be felt in Kotler’s writing. Reaffirming basic marketing ideas and adjusting them so that they could be used for the public sector, Kotler has that ‘80s feeling.
I have to admit an exceptional thing Kotler does: he understands the breaches in the system, the deficiencies in mentality that public clerks in America display and emphasizes the unlucky associations they make when it comes to marketing.

And actually the same level of shallowness is present when it comes when associating culture and marketing. To be more precise, there is a permanent swing between harsh ignorance ad insufficient efforts to judge a matter that we do not yet understand.

Written by Andrei

This is The U.S. after the terrible 9/11 2001. All the important governmental institutions are constantly working to prevent any new terrorist attacks. An extremely important information reaches the American administration lead by Jack Rutledge. From this moment on a top secret non-orthodox solution will be adopted. These are the ingredients of a good political thriller.

Mohammed bin Mohammed is an important part of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda which must perform a transaction which implies a nuclear weapon. The fear that the weapon will point the U.S. determines the Americans to kidnap the terrorist in order to stop the transaction and find out more information. Once kidnapped, Al-Qaeda members do the impossible to save him, including a surprise attack on Manhattan on the 4th of July.

The attack takes everyone by surprise and freezes any trace of traffic, making the authorities take care of the wounded, without taking in consideration the fact that that wasn’t the terrorists’ purpose. Abdul Ali, aka Ibrahim Rahman, manages to find out where Mohammed bin Mohammed is kept, with the help of an international spy. Armed to the teeth, he does everything in his power to find the terrorist.

On the other side, the president of the U.S. is dealing with the fury caused by the attack and the impossibility of being next to his daughter, wounded in the attack; all these while the authorities which had the president’s permission to kidnap Mohammed fight mightily to keep the secret and find out more information about Al-Qaeda. However, the outflow of information causes many questions to appear.

An agent of the National Security Department, Scott Harvath, who is actually one of the main characters, involuntarily becomes the one who will thrive to find out the truth. Putting together all the pieces one by one, he uncovers Abdul Ali’s plan, trying to stop him. Helping him there is a group of marines who will stand by him until the end.

Therefore, Scott Harvath sees himself forced to look for the needle in a haystack, blindfolded, not knowing any information about the attackers or their purpose, fighting in a wasted city with a group of terrorists. So that the suspense is even more, trying to keep the whole operation a secret, the authorities also start looking for the soldier.

Despite the American soldiers’ efforts, Mohammed bin Mohammed gets away. Will he be able to close the deal and point the nuclear weapon towards the United States? I will let you discover for yourselves, because this book deserves to be enjoyed page by page. And I am sure it will pleasantly surprise you.

What I found interesting in Brad Thor’s novel is that he doesn’t talk about the war in Iraq, the interaction between the two parts taking place on American territory. Besides this, Thor’s book gives relevant information concerning the governmental authorities which I didn’t know until now. What was most interesting was the reaction of the authorities in case of crisis, and the different plan of action of each national department. It’s like each institution is fighting to keep its autonomy without allowing another to find out its intentions, even though they are working towards the same goal. I think that by revealing this Brad Thor outlined a great truth about the U.S. institutions: they do not cooperate.

Brad Thor wrote Takedown in 2007 and I am glad I read it after such a short time. This is because Takedown is truly an interesting novel which captures one’s attention even from the first pages. Brad Thor knew how to graduate the intensity of the action so that the reader could sense the frustration and impotence of the characters, as well as the attackers’ rage. A really intense novel. I recommend this political thriller, a novel about the real United States, written from the perspective of a patriot who tries to remain objective.

Written by Cristina

When Nietzsche Wept made me wonder how much does a writer’s biography matter to what he writes. But a philosopher’s, a doctor’s- to what they do? I didn’t know that Irvin D. Yalom  is a famous psychiatrist until after I read the novel and my great expectations concerning a story placed at the boundary between reality and fiction weren’t met; after I labeled the book as a good topic used with clumsiness.

But the fact that the author is a psychiatrist explains many of the changes of style, also explains the fascination for some imposing portraits from the history of psychology (psychiatry in particular), the tendency to analyze the characters and to frame them, to reveal the human pattern. For this novel Yalom studied a few exciting possibilities, that Nietzsche, Freud and Breuer could at a given moment be met in the same context, and that the philosopher could have “healed” Breuer of his obsession for Ana O, while he himself is healed of headache and depression.

To consider this book a fictionalized biography seems too much. Yalom rather applies the probability theory on an indefinite field where characters we already know from other books are given a new identity. What is remarkable to this novel is the coherence and steadiness regarding the characters’ identity, given by their personal history, as Yalom sees it (and the way our own prejudices make us see it), by the lack of surprises of their built personality, by the expected ending. I appreciated the fact that within the history created by the author there are no hesitations, discrepancies or harshness. The events come one after another in a way that keeps the reader tensed, the conversations refer to both the genesis of psychoanalysis and Nietzsche’s writing and his portrait is convincing.

However, the way this dynamic history is written doesn’t meet a demanding reader’s expectations. At times arid, at times sentimentally-descriptive, the style tends to be an obstacle for the plot instead of normally describing it, emphasizing the circumstances in which the characters are put or the easiness of the conversations. And Viena’s portrayal at the end of the century is not even by far as lively as one would expect. Yalom could have used the topic Nietzsche at the therapist in a more ingenious way, with more boldness, resorting to the empirical less obviously.

Even if the cover states novel, I read it more like an irresolute account between fiction and biography, without the strength of a novel like Lord Nevermore, where there also appear real characters and events but in a strong, seducing assembly. However, I recommend the book to those who want to come close to Nietzsche’s philosophy or who are vaguely attracted to psychoanalysis and want to find a starting point. Also, I think it can be used as an intermediary reading between aesthetically demanding books or that require more effort.

Written by Mihaela

I don’t normally get fascinated with novels for kids, the Harry Potter type. But this time I made an exception and I’ve read Tunnels, an international bestseller, written by British authors Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams.

At first sight, there can be seen a pretty simple course of actions: Will Burrows, a fourteen-year old albino shares a common passion with his father, Dr. Burrows, for archeology and excavations. Soon, Dr. Burrows finds a secret that he’s determined to reveal and his disappearance makes Will follow his dad into the depths where he will find another civilization, completely different than the one he was used to. Thus, a series of secrets that were well guarded will be revealed to Will and to his friend, Chester, his companion in this adventure.

I was barely breathing while reading this book and this is only because of the unexpected events that occur to the two boys. Moreover, the manner this novel was conceived makes every reader to truly live every moment next to the characters. I think the British authors have borrowed a little bit something from Jules Verne’s style, especially when it is about going deep down the ground. No matter what, the novel is appreciated and seems follow Harry Potter, especially that there could be a second part due for 2008 and a screening for 2010.

Curiosity made me look for information concerning Tunnels and I discovered it was promoted by editor Barry Cunningham, i.e. the same person who discovered Harry Potter phenomenon. More than that, Tunnels became the number 1 book in Great Britain and it was translated in 40 languages. Children waited a long time for this novel, but actually adults, who love this kind of literature, were to.

As a whole, I loved the novel’s architecture and I was pleased with the meticulous description of every inch of the underworld. The novel was so well written that at one point, I had the impression of really seeing before me the Eternal City and the Collony. I guess there will be a terrific movie coming up.

More than that, before getting to know so much about Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams’s novel, I was kind of disappointed for the novel doesn’t really end up. But then I found out the reason Will and Chester go to the Underworld without knowing anything about their evolution…the reason is simple: there will be a sequel.

My favorite character is Will. Besides being the most important character in Tunnels, Will suffers an obvious mutation during all the things he’s going through. We can actually say that more he evolves, deeper he can reach in the underworld, as an initiation. While at the beginning of the novel, we are faced to a rather impatient and compulsive young man, by the end he gets more calculated and perseverant.

On the same time, something made me wondering: Chester is at the very beginning a close companion to Will, but after entering the underworld, he becomes only an auxiliary. But no matter what, by the end of the novel, nobody seems to have forgotten him, not Will anyway. They will both leave together, as they did at the beginning of their adventure.

I’m pretty sure everyone will enjoy this novel and that is also because it is easy to follow. And then, who does not get fascinated with secrets and mysteries? Moreover, the idea that there could be a whole different civilization under us leads to deep feelings, similar to those when imagining there is a world above us.

The eternal search of the unknown in the underground created a new character that wins ground against Harry Potter. If you’re sick and tired of big cities and their dust, the noise, the lights and traffic jams, there is for sure a certain calm you will find in this novel. Or is it? Will there be quiet and calm or an awesome ride with the characters through extraordinary events? Thus, I am recommending you an excellent novel- Tunnels, which will keep you fascinated because you will definitely enjoy the two boys’ adventure.

Written by Cristina

The Magic Toyshop is a descriptive novel rather than a dynamic one. So descriptive that I could say the minute descriptions spread on about half of it. The effect is a positive one though, and I would go even further, believing that it is the one expected by the author, but I will talk about this later.

Melanie’s life, the main character, seems taken from the Before and After column of a women’s magazine. Except that instead of the make-up session or the facial lifting there is her parents’ death. Before is a luxurious life, with daily bathing in hot water, perfumes, dresses and a beautiful house; an elegant mother, a little eccentric father, but reckless enough not to save any money for their children. A happy, careless life, which ends just about when Melanie was beginning to discover herself, at the age of 15. After is a life in a gruesome house, miserable, with a rusty boiler which is an adventure to turn on, with a little piece of home-made soap and fuggy air.

Things wouldn’t be so terrible, if the inhabitants didn’t make up a ”nuthouse”. The house belongs to her uncle, the owner of the toyshop, which he manufactures together with his apprentice. However, he is a terrifying presence, a violent and masterly man of whom everybody in the house is afraid and who has decided to erase from Melanie and her brother and little sister any resemblance to their father, whom he couldn’t stand. Aunt Maggie, who became mute her wedding day, and her brothers, Francie and Finn are the uncle’s puppets. They always obey him and are as odd as the rest of the house.

What becomes clear is that the three have a secret. As time goes by, the reader learns about them through Melanie’s eyes, who observes every detail, while they become close to her, Finn more than the other two. All these details make up an oppressive, overwhelming atmosphere, above which there stands the presence of the uncle, and as the pages become less, one can tell that the disaster is near. This is the effect I was talking about in the beginning. Looking from this perspective, all those descriptions are not as boring as one would expect.

The disaster occurs, the secret is revealed, but the ending is disarming. It is mute to the same extent to which the characters’ souls are explored. It is obvious that the only magic the toyshop ever made is forcing Melanie to become mature, but could this maturity already had turn into indifference?

Seeing Melanie’s terrified face expression, which pictures the apogee of the book, the moment when she plays Leda in her uncle’s sketch, I realize I have finally found a cover connected to the book. However, I cannot catch a glimpse of the resigned girl in the end. If only there had been another page…

Written by Raluca

Khaled Hosseini’s novel, recently adapted into a film of the same name, has all the ingredients of a bestseller: friendship, betrayal, salvation, exoticism, happy ending. They are all decently mingled with one another; however, there is nothing spectacular, on one hand, and on the other, there are also no illegible clichés.

Strictly referring to what it is told and not how it is told, The Kite Runner is a captivating novel: it takes you in the Afghanistan of the ’70s, calm, monumental, in the America of the immigrants, back into the new Afghanistan taken over by the Taliban, in an incredible rhythm, which sometimes seems to be out of the author’s control. It is an amazing story which leaves out its author, which is autogoverning, which, as in fairytales, is beyond credibility.

Amir, the insecure and coward hero of his own story, has the tone of the one that wants to make up for his mistakes: the fact that he betrayed Hassan, his childhood friend, is a burden that he carries with him all his life, until he finds a way to make it up for it. Also, he strongly wishes that his dad would be pleased with him, both during childhood and after they exile themselves to America. This is the world that Amir gets to know and it doesn’t matter that it is about the Kabul of his childhood, the Afghan community in America or the ruins of the city that he sees years after. Thus, even though the social-political context is mentioned, only history at a smaller scale is emphasized. The manner in which the characters are integrated in history has - nevertheless - a certain searched exotism, defending the occidental reader from too much horror and serving images that he’s already used to by the media.

Up to the end, the cliché can’t be avoided: the cliché is a concentrated form of truth, a sort of an instrument. However, it has to be noticed that the story has enough content to be self told: the character’s reflections and those of the author through the character can’t but disadvantage it.

Up till now, it is clear that the recipe for The Kite Runner is working between some limits: what is most important is the story- this is the most important principle. But for me and my personal way of evaluating a book, educated in the European kind of way, the story can’t be told just like that. If there was some subtlety, Khaled Hosseini would have extended the metaphor of the kites up to the one that could say that Afghanistan is controlled by some other states’ strings. With the help of this subtlety, he would have restrained Amir’s intellectualizations, so unreal in its dullness, too flashy if considering the bad times that he experiences.

In the end, I recommend this novel to those that want to be drawn into a tensioned and touching story, in a world that they got to know watching news on TV or movies. Amateurs that would wish to be thrilled could be dissapointed.

Written by Mihaela

In Atonement, Ian McEwan presents one of the most interesting love scenes I have read lately. His most recent novel evolves around the presentation of the first night in the life of a newly weds, in a conservative social context.

Although it is not a real novel, On Chesil Beach resembles a classic drama in five acts.
The story takes place in 1962, a period that is precursory to sexual revolution (a motive that will be very discussed along the book). Edward and Florence are two young people who get married and spend their first night together in a hotel in Dorset, somewhere on the English Channel.

They’re both virgins and they live the thrill of their first night in different ways: Edward’s shyness mingles with anticipation, whilst Florence lives a true inner drama, between happiness and disgust, being actually terrified with the little she knew about sex.
During this tensioned scene between the two, the reader gets acquainted with their past- their families, personalities, their plans and future hopes, their sensitivity, the lack of experience and ease, all these in a time when discussions about sexuality or sexual problems were practically impossible.

McEwan recreates the sexual tension perfectly, blending both past and present problems of the two: Edward’s anxiety of waiting and Florence’s fright concerning sexual intimacy. These unsaid problems will lead to an event that will change their relationship for good.

The geography of the Chesil Beach is characterized by a 25 kilometer land that time and sea have shaped in a certain way. Little rocks are polished and placed in an increasing way, depending on their size, along the 25 kilometer land, so that the beach is like a map of time. The local fishermen pride themselves with the capacity of identifying their exact location by looking only at the size and the form of the stones.

McEwan’s story sets the words as stones on a beach of time. The way the author makes the tension evolve is incredible, even when the whole drama is nothing more than a drama of unsaid words and fear of failure. The social context that influences the two characters’ life decisions is also described carefully and it is actually a good reason to read the book. On another hand, the purity and the exaggerated naivety of the characters, the microscopic structure of the story, and the light analysis of their personalities are not enough to create, in my opinion, a real novel.

As in Atonement, McEwan’s style is subtle, gently graded, with no peak of tension, and which in the end leaves a striking dramatic conclusion: the way a life can change is by doing nothing at all.

Written by: Alin