Review on the novel Playground of the Gods by Cathy Spellman

Review on the novel Playground of the Gods by Cathy Spellman Cathy Spellman's, The Playground of The Gods is an exuberant novel which deals with murder in a remote tropical paradise but can further be read as an illustration of man's ignorance and invasion of nature."Do it big, or stay in bed."( Larry Kelly). These are words that Thoros Gagarian lives by. He is one of the wealthiest men in the world and when picking his private paradise, only one place on earth could serve his needs and fantasies. This place is Mora Utu-The playground of the Gods-a green jewel in the placid blue expanse of the South Pacific, the most luxurious and seductive private preserve anywhere on the planet. Once his prized-possession has been found, Thoros immediately ships the island natives to a different island and brings in his construction crews to hurriedly build his paradise in order to have it ready for a celebratory visit by 12 of his close friends.Book coverIn the introduction to the story, Cathy Spellman makes clear the notion that the protagonist, Thoros Gag arian views himself as an indestructible god. Her descriptions of his haste purchase of his Island paradise shows a man for whom their is no boundaries. His arrogance is further displayed in his building of his compound.Spellman's voice of reason comes from a spiritual Mexican couple who are Thoros's servants. They not only warn but predict of many consequences to the ignorance to which nature is being shown. "Nature will not permit alteration on such a scale."(Emilio, 114).However, these warnings are ignored by the men who do not appreciate a bizarre servant couple speaking of things which money can't buy and power can't control. This is when Spellman's utilization of irony comes into the picture. A member of the party catches a tropical fever, yet he can't be...

A Childs Promise.

A Childs Promise. This Friday night seemed just like any other with Mom and I lounging on the sofa watching the Grand Ole Opry. I could feel the joy that the Opry brought to my mom just by the look in her eyes as she watched, listened, and sometimes sang. Well she hummed more than she sang but that was my mom's way of singing. As we watched her eyes would glow. Sometimes I would see a sparkle. As I watched her I knew what I had to do. I hugged my mom and said "Mother, when I'm all grown up I'm going to take you there". Mom hugged me in return and said, "I'm sure that you will".As I started dinner, I turned the radio on and to my surprise the station was doing a special on The Grand Ole Opry. This brought my childhood memories roaring back. The Grand Ole Opry played on the radio in the kitchen every evening as Mom cooked dinner.English: Grand Ole Opry House, in Nashville, TN. T...She would hum and I would ask her to dance (as I had seen my father do). She would accept, especially if it were a slow song . Mom said that when it came to fast dancing she was afraid that she would break something and that with nine children she needed every thing she had to keep up with us. We would dance and at the end I would bow and say "thank you madam", she would courtesy and off I would go. Then I remembered the promise that I had made to her so many years before. I had a plan.The following morning at work I put in for a week of vacation. Next came the wait for the approval. One day turned into the next, the next into the following. I...