A Great and Terrible Beauty

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book with a good cast of characters. Some of the characters were well developed others didn't have a big enough part in the story to justify further development.

The settings and locations are described in wonderful detail making it easy to go there with your imagination.

The plot has enough twists and surprises to keep it interesting.

In spite of all of this I only gave this book 3 stars. This is for two reasons:
1. The ending was rushed and not very convincing
2. There are parts of this book that are risqué but there is one part that is downright racy putting the book well beyond a PG-13 into a mild R rating. The worst part of this is that the racy scene did not add anything to the book at all. It only seems to be there to add some sexuality. Lame...

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Best Served Cold

Overall I liked this book, some parts of it are quite gory, others a bit steamy, and most of the book moves at a good clip. The problem I had with the book is that in the rather large middle of the book the story starts to become painful and pointless much like the pursuit of revenge. Is that an irony, or was this intended by the author?

Louis Pasteur by Pasteur Vallery-Radot

Part of the "A Great Life in Brief" series, this is an old book that I found in the library while looking for inspiring biographies. Written by the grandson of the great French chemist Louis Pasteur ( his daughter's son ) this is a very well written book after the first few of chapters; I'll explain shortly.

Printed in 1970, the copy I read definitely had an old bookshop feel and smell to it. The book starts off a little before Louis Pasteur's birth detailing the youth of his father a tanner and soldier. The first part of the book involves a lot of French history, and I was a little lost in the confusing details of the tumultuous latter half of the 18th century French history.

Once the narrative exits this era and focuses itself on Louis Pasteur it really hits it's stride and makes for a very interesting read. It details the education and rise of Louis Pasteur as a prominent scientist in France. Trained as a chemist who gained prominence with his study of crystalline structure of chemicals, Pasteur went on to make significant and world changing discoveries in the fields of fermentation, vinegar making, beer brewing, wine making, silkworm breeding, and of course infectious diseases. A man of total dedication, scientific integrity, utmost humility, and very little patience for scientist of his era who did not base their work and criticisms on rigorous and thorough scientific study, Pasteur was definitely an inspiring person.

If not this particular book, I would highly recommend reading some biography of Louis Pasteur for anyone interested in biographies. On the other hand, this book having been written by his grandson has a very personal feel to it, and I would recommend that you read this one even if you have read another biography of Louis Pasteur.

I'm sure you have heard of "Pasteurisation", if you had not made the connection to this great scientist, now you know!

VITAL STATS:
Title: Louis Pasteur A Great Life in Brief
Author: Pasteur Vallery-Radot
Foreword: Pasteur Vallery-Radot
Translator: Alfred Joseph (from French)
# Pages: 197
Published by: Alfred A Knopf Publisher (New York)
Year: 1970 (5th Printing)
L.C. Catalog #: 58-5828