Is there anything more satisfyingthan a brilliant plot twist? A trulygreat one can make a work of fic-tion unforgettable, turning every-thing that you thought you knew
upside down. Sometimes they are achieved through an
unreliable narrator, others by a string of redherrings that trick you into reaching the wrong
conclusion. In crime thrillers, part of the fun istrying to work out how the story will end, with the
knowledge that you are likely to be tripped up before theresolution. But the best plot twists are when you least ex-pect them...
■ WILD AFRICA: RIVERS OF LIFE, AN-IMAL PLANET, 3.00 PM: In a regionwrenched between seasonal ex-tremes, the Luangwa River is a life-
1750: Tipu Sultan, the king of Mysore, was born.
1866: Howard University was founded(Washington, DC).
1873: Budapest was formed when therival cities of Buda and Pest were unit-ed to form the capital of Hungary.
1889: Edwin Hubble, Americanastronomer was born in Marshfield,Missouri.
1910: Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelistpassed away.
1959: UN adopted Universal Declaration of
Children’s Rights.
1969: The Nixon administration announced ahalt to residential use of the pesticide DDT as
part of a total phase out of the substance.
1986: Dr. Halfdan Maher, the directorof the World Health Organisation,announced the first coordinatedglobal effort to fight the diseaseAIDS.
2018: Actor Amitabh Bachchan confirmed he has paid off the debts of
1,398 farmers worth $560,000, amid the agricultural crisis.
line. However, it becomes a warzone when the waters dry out.
■ EARTH FILES, DISCOVERY SCIENCE,5.00 PM: The host follows a team ofexperts as they seek to unravelsome of the biggest mysteries onEarth ranging from plane crashesto ruined cities.
■ BATTLE OF THE BEASTS, NAT GEOWILD, 7.00 PM: The filmmaker ex-plores the lives of various animalsand learns about the strategies andskills they employ to either hunttheir preys and defend themselvesfrom predators.
■ CARS 3, MOVIES NOW, 3.05 PM:Lighting McQueen, a legendaryracer, is overcome by new genera-tion racers. He sets out to provethat he is the best racer in the worldwith the help of Cruz Ramirez.
■ CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTERSOLDIER, &FLIX, 6.15 PM: SteveRogers, along with Black Widowand Falcon, must uncover the se-crets hidden within S.H.I.E.L.Dwhile also battling a dangerous
MOVIES ON TVTELEVISION
THISDAY THAT
YEAR
MUST DOMUST SEENOVEMBER20, 2019
new enemy, the Winter Soldier.
■ SUPERMAN RETURNS, HBO, 8.00PM: Superman returns to Earth af-ter a long period of disappearance,only to learn that his former loverLois Lane has found a new partner.
1. In ‘The Hobbit’ is Bilbo a hobbit ora human?
2. In ‘Winnie the Pooh’ books, what isthe name of Roo’s mom?
3. Which book has the charactersAunt Spiker, and Aunt Sponge?
4. What kind of a creature isEragon in the ‘Inheritance Cycle’by Christopher Paolini?
5. Who briefly became head of‘Hogwarts in Harry Potter and theOrder of the Phoenix’ by JK Rowling?
6. What is the name of KatnissEverdeen’s younger sister in ‘TheHunger Games?’
THE TRIALS OF APOLLO by Rick RiordanAs punishment from hisfather, Zeus, Apollo isstripped of his godlypowers and sent to Earth
as a mortal named Lester. (Ages 10 to 14)
READING MUSTSTHIS WEEK’S
1
THE LAST KIDS ONEARTH by Max Brallier andDouglas HolgateJack and his friendsfight for their livesthrough a zombie
apocalypse. (Ages 8 to 12)
1
WINGS OF FIREby Tui T Sutherland Set in the dragon-inhabit-ed continents of Pyrrhiaand Pantala, five drag-onets (young dragons) aretasked with uniting seven
warring dragon tribes. (Ages 9 to 12)
1
FIVE FEET APARTby Rachael Lippincott Stella and Will – twoyoung patients afflictedwith cystic fibrosis – arein love, but they can’tget within five feet of
each other. (Ages 12 to 17)
1
THE FOUNTAINS OF SILENCE by Ruta SepetysThe book is about howAna and Daniel’sromance blooms amidturmoil during the fas-
cist rule of Spain in 1957. (Ages 12 to 17)NYT
1
03The
SHERLOCK HOLMESby Sir Arthur Conan Doyle(1893)
Fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s popu-lar detective stories were devastatedupon reading ‘The Adventure of theFinal Problem’, in which SherlockHolmes perishes after falling off a cliffwhile battling his greatest nemesis,Professor Moriarty. Readers were furi-ous, and wrote angry letters to ‘The Strand’ magazine, whichpublished the stories, threatening to cancel their subscrip-tions. Such was the uproar that Conan Doyle decided to con-cede, and publish ‘The Adventures of the Empty House’ in1903, in which he reveals that Holmes managed to survivethe Reichenbach Falls.
MY SISTER’S KEEPERby Jodi Picoult (2004)
This story is about 13-year-oldAnna, who takes her parents tocourt in order to win the rightto refuse to continue donatingorgans to her sick sister, Kate.While her parents try to painther as selfish, it emerges thatKate is the one urging Anna totake action. A tragic and crueltwist of fate takes place when,just as the judge has ruled inAnna’s favour, she is injured in a car accident with thelawyer who is given power of attorney. A doctor informsher parents that Anna is brain-dead before asking ifthey have considered organ donation. Anna’s lawyergives her permission before Anna’s lifesupport machine is switched off.
AND THEN THEREWERE NONEby Agatha Christie (1939)
It is impossible to read anAgatha Christie whodunit andnot be surprised – it’s never whoyou expect. This 1939 story hap-pens to be the world’s best-sell-ing mystery novel, and centres
on 10 strangersgathered on anisland off the coastof Devon, hosted bythe mysterious Mrand Mrs Owen. Aseach guest is killedoff, It appears thekiller will be thelast person standing(in this case Vera,who then kills her-self). But it turnsout that it was, infact, JusticeWargrave all along.How did he getaway with it?Simple. He faked hisown death!
THE TURN OF THE SCREWby Henry James (1898)
An unnamed governess narrates the strangeexperiences of seeing ghosts at Bly, a countryhouse in Essex, as she cares for two children,Miles and Flora, who are under the guardianshipof their uncle. Those ghosts turn out to be Ms
Jessel, the children’s last governess and Peter Quint,a former valet. Nobody seems to see the ghostsexcept the governess – or do they? Just as youexpect Miles to be released from a ghost’s control, asFlora was before him, he dies in the arms of the gov-erness. More than 100 years after the novel was firstpublished, readers still can’t decide whether theghosts were real, or if the governess was simply mad.
Here are some of ourfavourite literary plottwists. There are, ofcourse, major spoilers...you’ve been warned!
HARRY POTTER AND THEDEATHLY HALLOWSby JK Rowling (2007)
In the seventh and final ‘HarryPotter’ novel, readers discoverthat Professor Snape, one ofHarry’s lead tormentorsthroughout the series, hasbeen looking out for him allalong. After Snape’s dramaticdeath at the hands of the evilLord Voldemort, he uses magicto share his memories withHarry and reveal the truth. In a
heart-wrenching twist, it emerges that Snape not onlyloved Harry’s mother but agreed to watch over him atDumbledore’s request, and risk his life as a doubleagent pretending to serve Voldemort. THE INDEPENDENT
Books! Books! Books! There is no end to knowledge.All you need to do is flip through the pages to getthat extra dose of infotainment. So simply read on...
A study by NicholasChristenfeld and JonathanLeavitt (UC San Diego’s psy-chology department), published in thejournal ‘Psychological Science’, showedthat knowing the ending of a storybefore reading it does not hurt theexperience of the reader. Instead ithelps the reader enjoy the story more
WHAT IT’S ABOUT After the events of 50 years earlier,protocols were put in place to watchand prepare for the next time the mi-crobe made an appearance. With theoriginal team that battled the firstvisit of Andromeda having passedaway, scientists aren’t sure what to
expect when the microbefinally does reap-
pear. A droneuncovers a
strange anomalyin the Brazilianjungle and Pro-
ject Wildfire is re-activated. It ap-
pears the virus has come back, andit’s spreading rapidly.
A small team consistingof experts, militarypersonnel and the sonof one of the originalscientists proceeds touncover the truth andstop the threat. Unfor-tunately, the clock is tick-ing rapidly, and if theydon’t neutralise it in fivedays, it may be the end ofthe world.
WHY READ IT?The sequel has been written byDaniel H Wilson, who has crafted
many books about problem-atic issues surrounding ro-
botics and technology. Wil-son’s scientific skills and
background play perfectly into thenarrative. He’s able to con-vey complex scenariosand situations and makethem understandable tothe non-scientists –something the lateCrichton had a gift foras well.
Wilson’s stellarcast of charactersmakes the story morethan just a series ofevents; it’s a tale thatcarries weight.
The structure of the novel readsas if the reader has been granted ac-cess to a top-secret file that providesan overview of the incident, whichfollows the exact layout of Crichton’sclassic novel. Wilson invokes the bestof that story, and updates everythingwith terrific flair. AP
THE ANDROMEDA STRAINgets a deadly sequel
DON QUIXOTETHE INGENIOUS GENTLEMAN DON QUIXOTE OF LA MANCHAThe greatest character ever invented is a dreamer, a buffoonand an idiot. Don Quixote charged at windmills thinkingthat they were giants. His adventures always ended in dis-aster, he lost every battle. And yet is an inspiration for hebelieved that ‘if at first you don’t succeed, fail and fail again’.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication ofMichael Crichton’s ‘The Andromeda Strain,’ the author’sestate has published its sequel: ’The Andromeda Evolution’
WHO IS THAT HERO? Love Harry Potter, Ron and Hermoine, but haven’t heardof Don Quixote’s misadventures ? Here are a few fictionalcharacters who deserve a place in your library
SCOUT FINCH TO KILL A MOCKING-BIRDHer real name wasJean Louise but, evenat six years old, ScoutFinch did not care
about people telling her how to dressor be ladylike. Shewas a headstrong,inquisitive, bare-foot tomboy whotaught us aboutprejudice, inequal-ity and the impor-tance of being trueto yourself.
HUCKLEBERRYFINN ADVENTURES OF TOMSAWYERHuck is a rascal of“thirteen or fourteen”,
who flees his town to get away fromhis father. After ad-ventures on riversteamers, he helpsa runaway slave,Jim, get free. Thetwo teach us aboutliving a great life foryourself, instead ofpleasing everyone.
ANSWERS1. Hobbit2. Kanga3. ‘James and the Giant Peach’
by Roald Dahl 4. A dragon 5. Dolores Umbridge6. Primrose
BOOKS
