Outside Reading: Book Review

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/books/review/Thernstrom-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&ref=books
"The Memory Palace" by Mira Bartok
By Melanie Thernstrom
Jan 10, 2011

Melanie Thernstrom uses many unique techniques to describe Bartok's new book, a book about her schizophrenic mother.  The description used in this book review makes the reader interested in reading "The Memory Palace," which is very impressive for a book review.  It almost takes the reader into the book, especially by the use of diction.
A main technique used in this book review is diction.  Thernstrom uses words such as "fable," "obsessions," and "striking" to allow the audience to feel the way that she read as she first read this book.
Another technique that is very helpful in this review is Thernstrom's use of direct quotes from the book.  A quote said by the mother, "Value your own mouth, hate privately, and pray for yourself.  When distressed, see if you can remember all the bones in the body.  Recite them alphabetically by name.  Stay calm and always watch you back" gives the reader some insight into the overall tone of this book.  This quote is scattered and confusing, which brings about the idea of an instable family, and makes the reader wonder how all of this will play into the daughter's life.
Thernstrom also brings many different outside facts into this review.  She points out the history of this story, and says that a negative of this book is that it does not delve into the science of the brain or of the mental disorder.
I saw a relationship between this book review and some of they essays that were found in the beginning of my copy of the "Death of a Salesman" play.  This is because of the mature level of diction used in both, as well as the general understanding of background information.
Some of the definate advantages of this review have already been mentioned, such as the diction and quotations, but I also appreciated the formal writing style and the inexplainable way of bringing the reader into the world of the book in a very short essay.  Even the best writings must have negatives, though, and this essay certainly did.  It did not touch upon very many negatives of this book, the only one that I saw was that it did not include scientific research.  I also prefer book reviews to be a little bit more opinionated rather than a simple summary of the book so that the reader can know what kind of reader the book appeals to.
Although there were negatives in this book, I believe that the writing style would work for an AP essay.  It is written very formally and maturely, and the positives very much outweight the negatives.