Amsterdam (Ian McEwan)

Amsterdam

Ian McEwan

Blurb: Old friends Clive Linley and Vernon Haliday meet outside a crematorium to pay their last respects to Molly Lane. Both had been her lovers before they reached their current eminence - as had Julian Garmony, Foreign Secretary, a man tipped to be the next prime minister. In the days that follow, the two friends will make a disastrous pact, the consequences of which nether could ever have foreseen.

ISBN: 9780099535133(Paperback)

Year: 1998

Publisher: Vintage Books

Pages: 178 (Fiction)

Links

1. Wikipedia page for the book

2. Buy from Amazon

3. Study guide for the book

4. Author's official page for the book

5. Review of the book

Disgrace (J.M. Coetzee)

Disgrace

J.M. Coetzee

Blurb: After an impulsive affair with a student, David Lurie is forced to resign from the University where he teaches poetry. He retreats to his daughter's isolated smallholding in the South African bush, where, for a time, the natural rhythms of the farm promise to harmonise his discordant life. But the balance of power in the country is shifting, and a savage attack is to bring into relief all the fault lines in his life.

ISBN: 9780099535140 (Paperback)

Year: 1999

Publisher: Vintage Books

Pages: 220 (Fiction)

Links

1. Wikipedia page for the novel

2. Wikipedia page for the film based on the novel

3. Review of the book

4. Reading guide for the book

5. Buy from Amazon

Up From Slavery (Booker T. Washington)

Up From Slavery

Booker T. Washington

Blurb: Born in Virginian slave hut, Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) rose to become the most influential spokesman for African-Americans of his day. In this eloquently written book, he describes events in a remarkable life that began in bondage and culminated in worldwide recognition for his many accomplishments. In simply written yet stirring passages, he tells of his impoverished childhood and youth, the unrelenting struggle for an education, early teaching assignments, his selection in 1881 to head Tuskegee Institute, and more.

A firm believer in the value of education as the best route to advancement, Washington disapproved of civil-rights agitation and in so doing earned the opposition of many black intellectuals. Yet, he is today regarded as a major figure in the struggle for equal rights, one who founded a number of organisations to further the cause and who worked tirelessly to educate and unite African-Americans.

ISBN: 9780486287386 (Paperback)

Year: 1901

Publisher: Dover Publications

Pages: 166 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Online edition of the book

2. Wikipedia page on Booker T. Washington

3. Study guide for the book

4. Buy from Amazon

5. Google books page

Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro)

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

Blurb: Driving around the country now, I still see things that will remind me of Hailsham...

As children, Ruth, Kathy and Tommy spend their childhood at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. As they grow into young adults, they find that they have to come to terms with the strength of the love they feel for each other, while preparing themselves for the haunting reality that awaits them.

Never Let Me Go is an unforgettable story of love, friendship and the fragility of life.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

ISBN: 9780571272129 (Paperback)

Year: 2005

Publisher: Faber and Faber

Pages: 282 (Fiction)

Links

1. Wikipedia page

2. Goodreads page

3. Film adaption page at IMDB

4. Author's page at Wikipedia

5. Review of the film