Three Books

On by Adam Roberts

On tells the story of Tighe who lives on the wall - a vertical world where people live on narrow shelves between the wall and empty sky. One day he falls off the wall and then begins to explore his weird world. Roberts has created an interesting environment for a story and created some interesting characters. The last two sections of the book are a little heavy with the explanation of how the world came to be but they are still easy to read. I had read 'Salt' by the same author and found the writing a bit stilted but the writing in 'On' was smooth.

Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

I bought this book today for $1.50 (the Dover Thrift Edition). I read it tonight and finished it. I wanted to read it because it was the basis for 'Apocalypse Now' and I liked that film. I found the story readable once I got used to Conrad's long winded style and the narrator's penchant for digression. When the narrator was describing things, as opposed to theorizing or pontificating, the story flowed smoothly. I could recognize the parts of the story that made it into 'Apocalypse Now' but the endings were different and this story wasn't as exciting. It was o.k. but I don't think I would recommend it unless someone wanted to read a character study.

The Phantom Of The Opera by Gaston Leroux

I bought this today but I haven't started it yet. I want to read some of the older classics in various fields and yet I don't want to stray too far from my favourite genres. I chose this book because I remember the film so well. This is one of those cases where my knowledge of a story is based solely on a film version. I haven't read the book before. Some stories, such as 'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein', I have both read the original and seen the film versions. Sometimes the book version is better.