Amnesia

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Amnesia by Peter Carey

amnesia

 

Summary

It was a spring evening in Washington DC; a chilly autumn morning in Melbourne; it was exactly 22.00 Greenwich Mean Time when a worm entered the computerised control systems of hundreds of Australian prisons and released the locks in many places of incarceration, some of which the hacker could not have known existed. Because Australian prison security was, in the year 2010, mostly designed and sold by American corporations the worm immediately infected 117 US federal correctional facilities, 1,700 prisons, and over 3,000 county jails. Wherever it went, it travelled underground, in darkness, like a bushfire burning in the roots of trees. Reaching its destinations it announced itself: THE CORPORATION IS UNDER OUR CONTROL. THE ANGEL DECLARES YOU FREE.’ Has a young Australian woman declared cyber war on the United States? Or was her Angel Worm intended only to open the prison doors of those unfortunates detained by Australia’s harsh immigration policies? Did America suffer collateral damage? Is she innocent? Can she be saved?

 

Comments

Several readers didn’t like many of the characters and found it difficult to continue reading. Continue reading →

2015 Summer Bookmarks are here!

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Looking for some reading inspiration for Summer? Why not check out one of our latest bookmarks here or pick one up at any Parramatta Library Branch. What’s your favourite? Crime/Thriller; Australian Authors; Steampunk; Horror; Historical fiction; Scandinavian Crime; Books to Screen; Fantasy; Science Fiction; or Romance.

What Maisie Knew

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What Maisie Knewwhat-maisie-knew-and-the-pupil by Henry James

Caught in the crossfire of her parents’ acrimonious divorce, witness to their battles, intrigues and affairs, neglected and exploited, Maisie is a child who knows too much about the world of adults. James’s portrait of a little girl who maintains her goodness and dignity in the face of the bitterness and profligacy of her warring parents is inspiring.

Group Comments

Most didn’t get past the preface. Those who did found lack of plot and character development. Characters were all horrible. Modern storyline, but still not liked. Sentences were long convoluted and hard to follow. The one person who did finish the book just wanted to know how it ended.

Read by The Second Tuesday Book Group

 

 

The girl on the train

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the-girl-on-the-trainThe girl on the train – Paula Hawkins

Summary
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life–as she sees it–is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

Comments
A book that really polarised our group, many finding it hard to empathise with the characters, however I found it simultaneously dark, depressing comedic. The central character seems hopeless, weak and an untrustworthy narrator. But once the other
characters start to reveal more of themselves it appears we can all be untrustworthy and flawed.

Read by – Reading Rocks Book Club