Brief Rhymed Reviews For Selected Books Poem by Poet Princealexander

Othello by William Shakespeare

The white on black, the black on white
Explosive mix it makes, so easy to ignite
By jealousy venom, inserted drop by drop into suspicious mind,
And vicious fantasies force fatal spring of hate to wind
And there you go... flame of rage
Burns out lives, while getting out of its mental cage
In black on white
Bard dared to write
About love, about race
About trust and its disgrace

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

In truth Clare Quilty
Was clearly guilty
While humble Humbert Humbert
Was fervently pervert
The issue to talk of
What told us Nabokov?

The Spanish Ballad (Raquel, the Jewess of Toledo)
by Lion Feuchtwanger

It's Spain's Toledo in Castile at times of Reconquest
The pic of history entails both love and war along with Jewish people drama zest
My fellow Jews, who are advisers to the kings - to you I issue my advise
Please read this book and hide your daughters from king's eyes
Or otherwise so much to your surprise
In vanity pursuit and lack of humbling you will find your own family demise

Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare

Two passions dwell in poet's heart
Two desperate obsessions are reflected through his art
Those are two characters from Shakespeare's poetry triangle:
The dark skinned lady and the man of fair skin
His charm is gentle and she's a striking beauty queen
Three lives, three loves in chains of jealousy are fatally entangled
Did two conspire secretly behind the poet's back
Betraying him two times, which caused his soul to wreck?

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Not lasting was this couple's tragic young romance
To taste the sweetness of each other love they lucky were just once
No matter how, no matter what to tell us meant poet
So many youngsters die too soon not having even that

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Immortal Prince keeps coming back to make us look in depth
What's better choice - to take the life 'as is' or challenge it by death
Each one finds answer on his own, decides it by thyself
But if you want Shakespeare's advise - take 'Hamlet' from bookshelf

Amok by Stefan Zweig

The life is burnt in Amok with the fierce fire passion
Emotions run on high, like live volcano at eruption
The spark of human tragedy and pain of soul's despair
Death, doom of suicide and fatal end of unrequited love affair

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Here's how the story lines eventually unravel
Three men (at least or rather three and half) and one Le Femme Fatal
From Paris to Pamplona in escape from boredom for the leisure travel
Where they all drink Pernod Absinthe until she meets the boy, who boldly fights the bull
Jake acts as liaison arranging Brett-bullfighter sex affair
Cohn beats the **** off Spanish boy, Mike keeps on drinking and pretends that he's cool and doesn't care

Hard to Be a God (The Noon Universe)
by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky

To those who read *that crappy SCI-FI jazz* in quest to run away
From grim reality of life - I must, in truth, to say
This piece is not, my friends, at all your regular fantastic tale
It is much deeper, it was written to unveil
How cruel, ignorant, barbaric we still are - at large, as Human Race
How progress strides its winding roads in slow, painful pace

Woe from Wit by Alexander Griboedov

So often and by many I've been told
That talk is silver while the silence has been made of pure gold
Like Chatsky I felt always free to speak my rebel's mind
No wonder that indeed I am 'the failing looser' in the eyes of all those quail Molchalin's kind
Being 'Chatsky' makes the life to be the real mess
It's 'Woe from Wit' when one just likes to serve without licking bosses's ***
The story is so true; it doesn't matter anyway, I must admit and say
Where, in what country Chatskys and Molchalins really live - it happens be the same for any country: Russia, France and even USA

Fear by Stefan Zweig

How husband usually reacts when he discovers that his wife on him is cheating?
Divorce, depression, suicide, the murder of the spouse, or just domestic cruel beating?
The husband in this story is described to be more shrewd and innovative...
What did he do? - please find the answer by yourself - I hope to read this piece I gave you plenty of incentives...

The burning secret by Stefan Zweig

The Jewish boy and his attractive mother were staying at health spa luxurious resort
She quickly has been put *on notice* by the baron - seducer, womanizer, love affair's hunter figure
In order to approach the woman he befriends her son - just to advance the purpose of his *sport*
The youngster is excited and accepts the baron's friendship with the vigor.

Then baron skillfully exploits devotion of young soul and gradually succeeds to charm the Jewish lady
But soon the boy begins suspecting baron's ploy
He realizes that the baron used his trust and friendship simply as decoy
In being abandoned, hurt by sudden friend's betrayal, boy's naive childhood ends and he was able to foresee to which direction mother's love affair's heading

Intuitively youngster feels that her infatuation with the baron is really a dangerous mistake
To stop his mother from her falling into baron's hands, the son decides to do whatever it will take
Being suddenly matured, acting smart and wise,
He wins the battle, saving mother while depriving the seducer of his clever, shrewd and cunning effort's prize.

Two Captains by Veniamin Kaverin

Across the distance and across the time, across the chain of generations
They were alike, true captains both in duty and in love - defending friends and fighting enemies without doubt and without hesitations
In spite of changes of regime and changes in the names of states, in spite of changes in the color of the banner
Brave men remain to be brave men, kind loving heart remains to be kind loving heart and decent manner still remains to be unchanging decent manner

The Snail on the Slope
by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky

In wilderness of vast unconquered forest, where nature still prevails
Out of reach, and not controlled by techno style civilization
Lies land with strange, mysterious society of powerful females
Who do not need the help of men and use Parthenogenesis for sexless procreation

The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights

As sun comes down in the valley, bound by the Tigris and Eufrat
Submerges into dark the capital of Muslim Khalifat
The night descends on tired from the heat old city of Baghdad
Where spears of high-rising minarets reflect moon's cold yet tender light
The freshness of the breeze brings comfort and the leisure of delight
Unfolding fairy tale, being told to Shahryar by smart Scheherazade
Inspired by the need of her life saving plight
Comes up the fantasy, entailed in every one (of 'Thousand And One') Arabian Night

Children of Captain Grant, Jules Verne

Lord Glenarvan, his new-wed wife, McNabb and Paganel agreed to go ahead
And sail on board the 'Duncan' yacht, to help the kids of captain Grant to find their missing Dad.
This quest lead them around the Globe in search of Scottish sailor.
They risked their lives so many times, yet kept their will and valor

They knew 'Britannia' shipwrecked at 37th parallel of south latitude
From Glasgow 'Duncan' put up sails to Chile's shore on route
Across the Andes they moved eastward, through snow and ice on foot
Though no trace of Grant was found there, they kept search attitude

Via Atlantic they've sailed away to 'down under' continent,
The land of rugged wilderness - with jumpy kangaroo and snappy crocodiles.
In false belief that captain's search comes near happy end,
To no use they have traversed few hundred humid, hot Australian miles

Being tricked by Ayrton, in his hope to seize the ship - with help of pirates band,
By hand of fate the travelers were sent to land on shore of distant New Zealand
Just to be captured by the tribe of violent Maori
But don't worry, since we all know 'a priori'

That in the middle of the book
To keep the readers stay on hook
No matter how things went bad
Main heroes never will be dead

And here we go, in the near escape
Our heroes noticed their yacht, miraculously anchored near cape
Where evil man has been disarmed and kept under arrest
With all the troubles put aside, good guys took time to rest

And finally, just passing by, on hardly noticed island
James Grant, alive and healthy, suddenly was found
The happy father reunited with his son and daughter
And yacht has rushed back home to dock at peaceful Scottish harbor water

This book was clearly my first admired boyhood's read
And it has planted in my brains romantic wisdom's seed -
About courage and Jule Verne's good cause adventure creed,
Without selfish treasure hunting weed - that spoiling purpose, driven by the greed.

The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

Good people together on island could thrive
Where single castaway just can hardly survive.
If we'll do the same on the planet called Earth
We'll build Paradise, where the living be worth.