[Luffy]

Mightier Than the Sword (The Clifton Chronicles #5)
by Jeffrey Archer - 3/5

It took me some time to realize about books what I had realized about movies some years before. I have to talk about that in my review. Firstly, I cannot enjoy the literary and the genre bending books that are heralded as true books and true art. Secondly, I'm finding it tougher to get good books that are serial, formulaic, addicting, cloying, unambitious, and illusory. I would have happily spent the rest of my life and spend 7 hours a day reading such books. Take the way Mightier than the Sword ended. it not only ended on a cliffhanger, but also revealed a double agent in the last line of the book. That takes talent to pull off, but to succeed with its readership, it has to give the illusion that the plot of the book is not a perfunctory retelling of its very predecessors.

It takes real skill to write a book such as this. Many literary artists cannot hatch a thriller or a mystery to save their lives. What I have believed, between Be Careful What You Wish For and Mightier than The Sword, was that there could be higher returns on investing in reading books, if you're a discerning, if not picky and fastidious, reader. Armed with this belief, I abandoned my comfort zone, my 'lieu de predilection', namely the cozy mystery genre, and went in search of books in other genres. What I had not noticed, was the reason for my cozy mysteries to being more and more disappointing to me, was the fact that simultaneously, all of them were nearing the 15th or 20th installments. And so an entire batch of authors was giving me work that was creatively bankrupt and sportively on the ropes.

Mightier than the Sword is the 5th book in a 7 book series. It did something that many readers will not like. It started with a bang and then nothing happened for a few chapters. This was something I could appreciate. The writing, to make use of a word that I used to employ a lot - but not so much these days - is crisp. But it's a bit all stale and as futile as a struggle to get rid of a straitjacket you're in. Fighting faint ennui is like fighting sleepiness while reading the knights' tournament results in Le Morte D'Arthur.

I guess you can debate that nothing is wrong with Mightier Than The Sword, given that I've rated it 3 stars. That I did. I always rate a book on the enjoyment - diminishing returns nonetheless - it procures me, and I like to be honest. But there are two things that frustrate me. a) It's as difficult for someone like me to write this book as easy as it was for Jeffrey Archer to. b) It could have been so much better, fresher, to do something slightly different, to tweak the usual twists in the book, without breaking in a sweat. That's what's deplorable. The writers always do the least possible bit of creative work. And...it's the only type of book that I can enjoy. Which is why as a reader I've decided that the crust I'm clutching is not buttered on any side, and I'm going to use my time more diversely, sometimes more creatively, than I do right now. I believe it will make of me a better person. And a better reader.