Mark D. Diehl

Mark journeyed to South Korea to teach English to Korean students. He quickly fell in love with a teacher, and Korean, Jennifer. As a mixed-couple, the two were ostracized in public, forbidden to be together by the school, and forced to sneak around. When Jennifer's parents found out about their relationship, the situation quickly turned dangerous.

I found this book to be boring and off-putting. I quickly grew tired of Mark continually correcting the grammar and pronunciation of those around him. I know that he was a teacher, but this make the book move very slowly and make conversations almost painful. Mark seemed to have a hatred for the Korean people and a big problem with authority and respect. Overall, this book was a bust.… (plus d'informations)

In this fascinating memoir Mark Diehl describes his experience as an English teacher in a large South Korean city during the early 1990's. The cultural differences that he experienced to begin with were enormous, but then when he wanted to date a fellow teacher who happened to be Korean the obstacles seemed insurmountable. Jennifer, the young woman he fell in love with, was expected to follow every wish of her parents in order to promote their honor and status, and was indeed considered their property. The couple was treated with hostility by nearly everybody, and were in pretty continual danger. The true story of their efforts to escape from South Korea is exciting and suspenseful, every bit as much of a page turner as a fictional thriller.… (plus d'informations)

Have you ever considered the vast and increasing amount of power wielded by multinational corporations in our world today? Does it worry you? This book may convince you that it should.

In the dystopian world of “Seventeen,” the corporations have taken over completely. They no longer have to hide their machinations, their efforts to influence government and society. Their power is unquestionable and accepted, and they direct every aspect of human life. Corporate employees are considered very fortunate; their companies protect and provide for them, but in return, workers must completely relinquish control of their own lives. Should they fail to conform in every respect to their employers’ expectations, they may find themselves cast off, their security and comfort entirely stripped away, and chances of survival on their own are slim.

People without company jobs are relegated to the city’s squalid ghetto, known as the Zone, and it is here that much of the novel is set. It is a hopeless place, essentially forsaken by the corporate-controlled government, and inhabitants tend to be soon done in by violence, hunger, disease or exposure.

In the Zone lives a young woman named Eadie. While attempting to help a vagrant man called the Prophet, she is involved in a violent confrontation and draws the attention and wrath of a powerful enemy. The Prophet assures her that she is destined to be a leader, and his prediction seems to be coming true as she unwittingly begins to attract an unusual and variously skilled group of followers who help her evade capture. Eadie becomes increasingly convinced that she and her small army can change the world, and she incites a rebellion against the corporate establishment.

The plot is intense, fast-paced and original. The main characters are unique and engaging, and they very effectively embody the individualistic human qualities (courage, self-reliance, and compassion, for example) that the corporate culture strives to extinguish. “Seventeen” is an intelligent and entertaining read from beginning to end. And one should not fail to recognize that it’s also a warning: if corporate entities continue to grow stronger and more influential, the human race may face a bleak and frightening future.… (plus d'informations)

In reading Vida Nocturna, be prepared for a unique and emotionally intense literary experience.

The author employs a disjointed structure to give readers an unsteady and disconnected feeling, thereby instilling a sense of the main character’s state of mind. As the story jumps between past and present, between fantasy and reality, we are drawn ever deeper into Sara’s struggle to escape the fear and loneliness that threaten to consume her completely. Each carefully sequenced scene provides new perspective on the damaging psychological trauma she has endured. We cringe at the destructive choices she makes in her desperate search for something-- anything-- to fill the emptiness in her soul. Our feelings for her swing from profound sympathy to agonizing frustration and back again, never quite knowing where to settle. Even as she becomes more and more deeply immersed in the world of drugs and addiction, we can’t help but hold out more hope for her than she probably has ever had for herself.

As the darkest moments of Sara’s life are depicted, the writing is especially strong and strikingly visceral. The graphic and realistic detail with which her horrific experiences are described imparts a vivid impression that we are physically present witnesses, frozen and unable to look away.

It is a powerful novel. Sara’s story feels heartbreakingly real, and it is one you won’t forget anytime soon.… (plus d'informations)