All Reviews by Rene Hasekamp
The Son of Tarzan
by Edgar Rice Burroughs
A refreshing return to the jungle,in the Tarzan Series. It is, however, Tarzan's son who enters the jungle, and appears to be a true son of his father.
The Forsyte Saga
by John Galsworthy
This is the best book ever written, in my humble opinion. The atmosphere of the old English families is brilliantly pictured. If you found both tv series based on these books more like a soap, then yu should read the books.
In these first parts of the Forsyte books the story is still very good. It becomes a bit less in the later books.
Is there anything more to be said? No. This is a must-read for everybody with a sense of literature.
The Woman in White
by Wilkie Collins
This is a great novel and certainly a must-read. It is a mystery novel you can't put down, because it never is clear where the story will go next.
The story is told by the main characters, in succession, which gives an extra dimension to the book.
Not for nothing (about) six movies, two tv miniseries and a musical (by Andrew Lloyd Webber) were made after this book. Sadly the best one (with Jenny Seagrove and Diana Quick) is not available on dvd. The rest is too much abridged. So, if you want the whole story, read the book. And read it again!
Middlemarch
by George Eliot
A classic novel. According to many readers the best novel ever written. Certainly one of the most famous novels in English literature.
It is set in the period when the industrial revulution started and it follows several characters with different backgrounds.
At times a bit slow, but a very good read.
The Circular Study
by Anna Katharine Green
Not as good as "The Leavenworth case" but still recommendable. For me the problem with this book was that the basis of the plot lies 30 years in the past, which interrupts the story too much.
Still a good read. Apparently inspired by Emile Gaboriau
Three Men and a Maid
by Robert Fraser
This is a good read. Although it looks as if almost everything is clear halfway the book, there still are some surprises near the end.
The Dark House
by George Manville Fenn
Although this is a pleasant read, the high expectations promised in the preface did not work out for me.
Monsieur Lecoq
by Emile Gaboriau
This is one of the earliest detective stories. It is well written and a good read, although the end looks more or less like a "deus ex machina" to me.
The bad news is, that you have to read the sequel "The Honor of the Name" to understand who did it and why!
Gaboriau can be regarded as the father of the modern detective novel, so you should read this anyway, if only for that reason, if you are interested in the genre.
The Honor of the Name
by Emile Gaboriau
This is the sequel to "Monsieur Lecoq", that reveals the "why" and "who" of what happened in Monsieur Lecoq. Although this is more a historical adventure than a detective novel, I found it a good read. I found it a bit longer than necessary.
In the last few pages the secrets of the plot in "Monsieur Lecoq" are revealed. The rest is history, but necessary to understand things.
The Mystery of Mary
by Grace Livingston Hill
Very good read. A man meets an unknown woman and wants to help her, though he does not know how and why. Then she disappears from his life and he starts to look for her and her past. Very well written.