I'm not a huge fan of McEwan's so I had put off reading this book until my sister read it and enjoyed it. I have a commitment to reading all the Booker Prize winners and this was short so that also made it easier to start it.
I was surprised to find it much easier to read than
Atonement
, where I really bogged down in the initial chapters. It's a darkly comic novel about four men who've all been lovers or married to Molly Lane, who is recently deceased. The book starts out with her funeral, the interactions of the four men during it, and their thoughts on how much they all appreciated Molly.
We then go on to their professional lives. Clive is a composer, Vernon a newspaper editor, George (the husband) is on the board of that same paper, and Garmony is the Foreign Secretary. All of these men and their vocations intersect throughout the story. It was hilarious to hear how the men see and think about themselves. McEwan pokes fun of all these men and their professions, and even of fellow writers.
"He had a number of friends who played the genius card when it suited, failing to show up for this or that in the belief that whatever local upset it caused, it could only increase respect for the compelling nature of their high calling. These types-novelists were by far the worst-managed to convince friends and families that not only their working hours but every nap and stroll, every fit of silence, depression, or drunkenness, bore the exculpatory ticket of high intent. A mask for mediocrity, was Clive's view. He didn't doubt that the calling was high, but bad behavior was not a part of it. Perhaps every century there was an exception or two to be made. Beethoven, yes; Dylan Thomas, most certainly not."
I was enjoying the book for the most part when suddenly I saw what was coming at the end, and thought, "It's not really going to go there, is it?" It did go there. I put off reading the last 50 or so pages because I knew I wouldn't like the ending. Although, the sequences "in the haze of confusion" were quite funny. As was the modern duel.
I don't know. I guess I didn't like how
Atonement
began but appreciated how it ended, and with
Amsterdam
it was just the opposite. I liked the beginning and not the ending, though it did have its humor. I didn't like
On Chesil Beach
at all. Not sure I'll read another McEwan novel, but I was happy to check this one off my list.
I had always felt that the pages I left behind were a part of me. Normal people bring children into the world; we novelists bring books. We are condemned to put our whole lives into them, even though they hardly ever thank us for it. We are condemned to die in their pages and sometimes even to let our books be the ones who, in the end, will take our lives.
- Chapter 39
I read Carlos Ruiz Zafon's
Shadow of the Wind
almost three years ago, and while most everyone who's read that title raves about it, my opinion at the time was a little muted. It was definitely a page turner, but I had some misgivings about the manner in which the female characters were portrayed. So, I really wondered if
The Angel's Game
would have those same characteristics. Fortunately, I was happily surprised with this new book in that regard and can even say that I enjoyed
The Angel's Game
more than
The Shadow of the Wind
.
This book is sort of a prequel to
Shadow
in that the story occurs directly before it. However,
The Angel's Game
can be read on its own. You'll just enjoy it a bit more if you've already read
Shadow
. Conversely, you will also enjoy
The Shadow of the Wind
more if choose to read
The Angel's Game
first. There is a place that is enjoyed in both books:
My favourite place in the whole city was the Sempere & Sons bookshop on Calle Santa Ana. It smelt of old paper and dust and it was my sanctuary, my refuge. The bookseller would let me sit on a chair in a corner and read any book I liked to my heart's content.
- Chapter 5
This story is a bit gothic in mood, with books, religion, and violence thrown in for good measure. I enjoyed it and I also enjoyed some of the characters, particularly Isabella. After finishing the book, though, I was left wondering about the reliability of the main character's (Daniel Martin's) narration. The ending will definitely have you scratching your head as to what really happened in the story. That's not necessarily a bad thing as far as I'm concerned. I don't always have to have things neat and tidy at the end of the book, but I would have liked to read this one in a group to try and get a consensus on some of the plot details. Whether I ever make sense of this one or not, I'll look forward to Zafon's next release.
2009, 470 pp.
[Disclaimer: This copy was received from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program]
An Abundance of Katherines
by John Green was a Printz Honor Book for 2007. I listened to this on audio and while at first I didn't like the narrator, by the end of the book I felt he did a fine job.
First, the positives. This story was intelligent and funny and I laughed out loud several times. I loved all the math in the book (engineering geek that I am), and I wish I could have seen the equations on the actual pages instead of hearing them read. In fact, I would have gotten the book from my library for this purpose in addition to the audio, but it was already checked out. I will still probably do that at some point. I also liked the characters. Just like the book itself, they were intelligent and funny. And lastly, John Green is a good writer.
But....the content. The content, the content, the content. There is a lot of language. There are also a lot of substitutions for a certain word with 'fug' instead. An interesting sidenote is that apparently Norman Mailer was the inventor of this word. I'm no stranger to these substitutions, I thought it was kind of funny in
Battlestar Galactica
(frakkin Cyclons), but is it really appropriate in a young adult book? Do I think teenagers not use these words? No, I know they do. Did I read books as a teenager that used these words? Yes, I did. But, I sneaked them. Books that had 'content' were discouraged in my day, not encouraged. Now, any and all language and s*x is fine in teen books and even lauded. There is also a s*x scene described in Green's book that I found very inappropriate. Do I not know that some teens have s*x? No, of course I do. Did I not read
Forever
and
Wifey
in high school? Yes, of course I did. But again, it was not encouraged by my parents and librarians.
If you're still reading this far and have not given up in disgust by my old-fashioned ways, I will say it again: I thought
An Abundance of Katherines
was intelligent, funny, and well-written. I just won't be handing it over to my two teenage sons to read. If it weren't for the content, I would be giving this book a 4.5 rating, but as it is, it gets a 3.5 rating instead. (Ducks head anticipating the bashing I will receive.)
There was nobody else -- there never could be anybody else for me but you. I've loved you ever since that day you broke your slate over my head in school.
I'm so glad I'm finally getting around to reading this series. I enjoyed the first two Anne books, and this one was no exception. This one is about Anne's college years, her relationship with her friends Priscilla and Philippa, and also about her beaux Gilbert and Royal.
Spoilers ahead, but it probably doesn't matter as most of you have already read the book anyway...
Of course, how could she choose anyone BUT Gilbert? I do wonder why it took her so long to realize that. Besides their relationship, I enjoyed reading about Patty's Place, Davy's further development, and all the other girls' drama. I do think I enjoyed
Anne of Avonlea
just a bit more than this one, but I still fell in love with
Anne of the Island
as well. I probably won't get to the others in the series until next year, but I've enjoyed these first three books tremendously.
What a wonderful book! I enjoyed
Anne of Green Gables
, but I absolutely adored
Anne of Avonlea
. Now a schoolteacher, Anne is much admired by her students. I loved the sweet descriptions of Anne's pupils. I enjoyed meeting the new cast of characters as well: Mr. Harrison and his parrot, Miss Lavender and her lovely stone house, the twins Davy and Dora, and the motherless Paul Irving. I anxiously await
Anne of the Island
.
I listened to the CD read by Barbara Caruso. What an excellent narrator. I wouldn't hesitate at all to listen to one of her audiobooks again.
Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music, perhaps. . . perhaps. . .love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.
Then the veil dropped again; but the Anne who walked up the dark lane was not quite the same Anne who had driven gaily down it the evening before. The page of girlhood had been turned, as by an unseen finger, and the page of womanhood was before her with all its charm and mystery, its pain and gladness.
Starred Reviews: Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, and Kirkus
2008, 240 pp.
It's rare that a book gets starred reviews from all four major review publications. Was this book that good; does it really deserve that much attention? Yes, absolutely. I really, really loved it; so much, in fact, that I held off reading the last 20 pages or so for two days because I didn't want it to be over.
Psychoanalyst Leo Liebenstein thinks his wife Rema has disappeared. Not only that, but he believes she has been replaced by a simulcrum, someone who looks and acts (almost) exactly like her. Meanwhile, Harvey, one of Leo's mental patients (who believes he has the ability to control the weather) is also missing. Not buying in to the simulcrum's Rema-like performance, Leo goes to the ends of the earth to Buenos Aires and Patagonia to try to uncover the truth of what has happened to his wife.
I'll be the first to admit that although I enjoyed this book tremendously, it won't be to everyone's tastes. It's very quirky, very eccentric, but also intelligent and extremely funny. Much of what I found humorous in the novel was due to the fact that I went to Argentina in April, so I was able to get many of the inside jokes about dog poop in the streets,
mate tea
,
Alpha Wh*re Rays
, and many other references to Argentinian life. The author had been in South America for a year working on public health issues, so her writing comes from first hand experience in the region. There were, of course, also references to the (not so funny) "
Disappeared
."
This is Rivka Galchen's first novel, and I definitely will be anxiously awaiting whatever she comes up with next. Oh, and if her literary career doesn't work out (I have no doubt that it will), she can always fall back on her MD that she received from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Winner, 1998 Man Booker Prize
An Abundance of Katherines
by John Green was a Printz Honor Book for 2007. I listened to this on audio and while at first I didn't like the narrator, by the end of the book I felt he did a fine job.
Atmospheric Disturbances
