New book, again

After I finished my most recent novel, I decided that I wanted to shake things up a little bit. I wanted to read something new, something fresh. Instead of going to the library, I decided to read something that I already had. I looked at my bookshelf, and found an interesting book. "The Iceberg Hermit", by Arthur Roth. It seems to be an older book, and I don't typically read these types of books. But I decided to take a shot.

To tell you the truth, I don't exactly know why I chose to read this book. The cover picture isn't that great, and the title isn't that exciting. I read the back, and it states that the book is about a man named Allan, whose whaling ship crashes, and is forced to survive on an iceberg. This seems interesting enough, but when I learned that the events supposedly took place in the 1800's, I became a bit skeptical. I was pretty hesitant about whether or not reading this book would be a good idea. I read the first few pages, and it started out immediately with the life of Allan on the ship itself. I researched a bit about the author, Arthur Roth, and discovered that he passed away in 1999. The book itself was published in 1975, so it isn't exactly new. However, I've decided to take the plunge. In the past, I've read some pieces of classic literature, and found that I actually enjoy them. So right now, I'm hoping that I'm not wasting my time, and that I'll actually enjoy the book.

I finished my book

Surprisingly, over the course of one week, I finished the book that I was currently reading. I found myself becoming so totally engrossed in the book that I lost track of time, and read for hours. But putting that all aside, I feel it's necessary to give a book review, as well as explain the theme of the book that I just read.

Before I say anything else, I would just like to say that "Never Give Up", is one of the most haunting, inspiring, and uplifting stories that I have probably ever read. The book, as I said before, is about a young boy who finds himself in the midst of the Cambodian Revolution. The Cambodian army is deposed, and the country is in a state of martial law. Young Arn, is sent to a hard labor/ work camp, and is forced to act as a slave to the Khmer Rouge, who are the revolutionaries. Arn sees his friends dying every day from abuse, malnutrition, and hard labor, and is fighting to stay alive. He spends many years in the Camp, before he is liberated and sent to America. Some of the stories within the book are downright chilling. It tells of dead bodies being carelessly cast aside, and small children being killed. Although some of the details are a bit hard to stomach, they are all factual. I looked it up, and it turns out that every single event that happened in the book, actually happened in real life. It's kind of shocking and horrifying to witness the horrors that went on. What really impressed me though, was the authors ability to channel the emotions of a small child as he went through this ordeal. This book is an emotional roller coaster, and I could imagine myself in Arn's shoes every step of the way. The authors use of metaphors, and imagery is absolutely stunning. The syntax, diction, and word choice all perfectly complemented each other.


The theme of the book, is kind of ironically, to never give up. I found it kind of strange how the author actually chose to put the theme of the book as the title, but upon finishing the book, I found it a masterful choice. Overall, I really liked this book, and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.