Book Review ~~ The Golden Kite, The Silver Wind ~~

Today I read the story, “The Golden Kite, The Silver Wind,” by Ray Bradbury, which is about two towns and the symbolism in the shapes their city walls are built in. One town’s walls are built in the shape of an orange, while another town builds its walls in the shape of a pig that can eat the Town of the Orange. As a result, the town with walls shaped like an orange rebuilds its walls in the shape of a club to drive away the pig. The Town of the Pig then changes the shape of its city walls to resemble a fire that can burn the stick, and in response the other town changes its city walls’ shape to that of a lake. This continues for a great period of time, depriving both towns’ inhabitants of a chance to have fun and enjoy their lives and causing sickness and death. Both towns are cursed until, finally, the daughter of the first town’s emperor suggests that one town build its walls in the shape of a kite, while the other town’s walls are built in the shape of wind. The kite needs wind to fly, but the wind needs a kite to beautify its otherwise dull existence. Once this is done, both towns thrive, and the sickness stops. I would rate this story 9.7/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in reading a good short story about how cooperation is much better than argumentation.

Book Review ~~ What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! ~~

Recently, I read, “What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!” by Agatha Christie. The beginning of the story was interesting, though unusual, even for one of Christie’s murder mysteries. Mrs. McGillicuddy saw a tall, dark man strangling a woman as her train passed by a different train, where the murder occurred, and reported it to authorities — but the body wasn’t found! Eventually, her friend, Miss Marple, is informed of the problem and begins a search for the body. The exciting idea of a murder happening and the body not being found will interest you from the start, and by the time the body is found, you’ll have read enough of the book to keep you reading until the mystery is solved. I really enjoyed reading this story and learning about what the actual events of the crime. The killer’s identity was extremely surprising, and I greatly enjoyed reading about the actual motive of the crime, which was very different from what I suspected. I would rate it 9.4/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in a good story.