Book review: A tribute to Heath Ledger - the illustrated biography by Chris Roberts

A Tribute To Heath Ledger: The Illustrated Biography - Chris Roberts

Synopsis:
This biography details the extremely short life of talented Australian actor Heath Ledger, who tragically died from a prescription drug overdose in January, 2008.
Printed alongside the lists of television and film roles that made Ledger famous are snippets of reviews, interspersed among the minutiae of his personal life.
This information is framed with a collection of photographs of the star taken from the paparazzi, press conferences, red carpets and the sets of his films.

What I gained from reading this book:
As an Australian who has followed Heath Ledger’s progression from small independent films to fame in Hollywood, I remember being deeply shocked when I saw the initial news reports about his death. I picked up this book more than a year after his death as a way of commemorating his brilliant life and as a way to learn more about him. Like River Phoenix, James Dean, and Marilyn Monroe before him, Heath Ledger’s life has been immortalised in film and his death serves as a reminder that no one is immune to death, no matter their age or success.

Positives:
This book showcases a varied assortment of photographs of Ledger: from early headshots to film and television stills, and from film premier photographs to paparazzi shots of him walking down the street with the various women of his life, including his daughter Matilda.

Negatives:
Although this book holds all the vital information about Ledger, it is nowhere near as comprehensive as you would expect, and you can’t help but get the feeling that this book was written quickly and rushed out in order to capitalise on the interest surrounding Ledger’s death. The book is filled with photographs of the star, most of which take up half of the page, if not the full page. It is also made obvious through the text that the author had never met Ledger and has never been in contact with his family, through the detached way in which the book is written. Instead, Roberts relies heavily on interviews and reviews from websites, newspapers and magazines to back up his claims. Despite this, the author definitely has strong research skills and wields the ability to piece together all the information he has collected, in order to produce a clear and coherent book about Ledger’s life.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Genre: Biography

Recommended for: Heath Ledger fans

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book review: July by Karen Roberts

July - Karen Roberts

Synopsis:
This novel, which is set in Sri Lanka, follows the lives of two young people, Priyanthi and Niranjan, as they grow up in the relatively peaceful suburb of Araliya Gardens, near Colombo. Living next door to each other, their families are friendly and extremely close to one another, despite the fact that Niranjan’s family are Christian Tamils, and considered a minority in the country, which is largely populated by the Sinhalese. When Priyanthi is thirteen, the two families go on a rare holiday to the sea. While Hemantha, Priyanthi’s protective older brother and Niranjan’s best friend, smokes cigarettes and tries to attract female tourists, Priyanthi and Niranjan form a special bond with a local man, Sena, who works among the coconut trees.

Through this bond with Sena, the two also create a bond with each other, which eventually grows into love. But despite the closeness between their families, they know that their relationship will not be tolerated due to a society that thrives on ethnic divisions.
One hot day in July, racism and prejudice in Sri Lanka reach boiling point, and the streets of Colombo erupt into violence. As frenzied mobs murder Tamils and burn and loot the city, Priyanthi and Niranjan’s secret love also comes under attack, and the hatred that storms the streets finds its way into their lives.

What I gained from reading this book:
This book serves to highlight the inanity of racism and prejudice. Throughout the novel, Roberts allows the reader to see people who are strongly opposed to having Tamils in Sri Lanka, those who are indifferent to the matter, and those who empathise with the Tamils but are too afraid to say anything in case of retribution.

Through the characters of Priyanthi and Niranjan, Roberts personalises the struggles that both the Sinhalese and Tamil people face in such a turbulent and ethnically divided society. She allows the reader to see the characters as human beings with their own hopes and dreams, rather than categorising them into religious or political groups, effectively making a connection for the reader with the character, and making the characters’ circumstances all the more heartbreaking. The fact that this civil unrest still continues in Sri Lanka, long after the book is set, makes the themes in this book even more confronting to anybody who reads it.

Positives:
This novel, while disturbing in its reality, also provides interesting views on the situation in Sri Lanka, and is beautifully written. I didn’t really know much about Sri Lanka before I read this book and it allowed me to learn about the culture and some of the history of the country while also telling a very moving human story.

Negatives:
Some of the descriptions of violence towards the end of the book can be disturbing and unsettling, so this book is probably not a good choice for those who have weak stomachs or who are unable to handle violence in any form.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Genre: Historical Romance

Recommended for: People who want to see a human perspective on the civil unrest in Sri Lanka. This novel could also be considered an alternative Romeo and Juliet story.