Member: emily_morine

I very much enjoyed and appreciated your long and thoughtful review of Mary Douglas' work on taboo and purity. If you don't know it yet, you might enjoy a work by the French psychoanalytical critic, Julia Kristeva, called "The Powers of Horror."

posted by corinneblackmer at 10:37 pm (EST) on Oct 4, 2011

Your review of the Ravishing of Lol Stein made me dig it out for a reread. I am now reading your other reviews for tips!

posted by FemmeNoiresque at 10:46 am (EST) on Jul 12, 2011

Your reviews are excellent.

posted by sorchah at 2:55 am (EST) on Jun 27, 2011

As it happens, Emily, I specialize in first person, nonfiction writing. Perhaps you might like one or another, or both, of my nonfiction novels, also called memoirs. The descriptions and LT reviews can be accessed from my author's page:

http://www.librarything.com/author/weissmanpeter

posted by copyedit52 at 8:03 pm (EST) on Apr 23, 2011

Interesting Stein review. I moved to Paris a couple of years back, and since then have been reading my way through the usual suspects, but I haven't got to this one yet.

If you're in the market for any recommendations, my favourite Paris book of all time -- and a neglected classic of its kind -- is [[Elliot Paul]]'s [The Last Time I Saw Paris], a sort of biography of a street -cum- memoir of Paris in the 1930s as war approached. I lived in that exact street when I first came out here, so it was of particular interest to me, but I think its qualities are pretty obvious. It was published in 1942, the same year as Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (my favourite book of the 20th century) -- there's something about that year that got people reflecting on Europe in such an interesting way. (Or maybe it's just because paper was in such short supply that they only published the good 'uns.)

posted by Widsith at 8:15 am (EST) on Apr 1, 2011

Christ, has no one else commented since I did last? This makes me look bad. All I wanted to say was that your review of Suite Française was typically excellent. Nice one.

posted by Widsith at 8:54 am (EST) on Jan 6, 2011

What a great review of Petrarch that was. I like a lot of yours, but that was a corker – thanks, and keep up the comments on your interesting library!

posted by Widsith at 3:37 pm (EST) on Sep 7, 2010

Thank you so much for your review of "Let the Great World Spin" - one of the few I've read which really gets at the problems of the book. This book irritated the hell out of me, partly for the reasons you've mentioned - the name dropping, using 1974 as a poorly researched backdrop for a preconceived project. The book is overbuilt - a lightweight that wants to be a heavyweight. Symbols galore, on every page, but no heart and soul - a project, not a novel.

posted by downstreamer at 11:46 am (EST) on Jul 17, 2010

I just wanted to say to you how much I enjoyed your review of "The Price of Salt." Perhaps I am not a particularly deep reader, though I am an avid one, and your review brought up a lot of points I hadn't thought of. When i was younger, I was Terese to more than one Carol, and so when I read the book I was thinking, yes, I get Terese, how will this end? And though the ending is not really "happy" except by contemporary standards, as you have pointed out, it seemed very real to me, very believable.

Have you ever read Ann Wadsworth's "Light, Coming Back"? If you liked TPOS, then I feel certain you would also enjoy "Light." In any case, it also involves a younger and older woman, but by the time I read it, my identification had changed, and I felt like I totally got the older character. Funny how time changes perspective.

There is also a novel by Sylvia Brownrigg, called "Pages For You" that deals with the same subject. I recommend it very highly.

Again, thanks for your insightful and enjoyable review of "The Price Of Salt"!

posted by fireblossom32 at 11:20 am (EST) on Jul 5, 2010

I too enjoyed your review of the Prince...Thanks for opening my eyes to the possibility that it's a work of satire. That's really interesting to think about!

posted by msjohns615 at 11:14 am (EST) on May 26, 2010

Thanks for your Machiavelli review. The Prince is one of my favourite books - I fell under its spell reading it for university. I had not encountered the interpretation of The Prince as satire. It certainly makes sense at a number of points. For all the satirical intent, he is also a keen observer of how to stay in power.

posted by Iacobus at 11:20 pm (EST) on Jan 14, 2010

outstanding review of Sea of Poppies--one of my top 5 books last year! -- Jenny in Atlanta

posted by GCPLreader at 9:04 am (EST) on Jan 9, 2010

Heheh, 'pile of poop' is definitely preferable. It's nice mixing the (low low LOW) lowbrow in with such a...professional (?) voice.

Say say! Would you be interested in joining a new group devoted entirely to the works of Faulkner (or possibly just southern gothic lit.)? EF and I are talking of starting an offshoot of the Salon with this in mind, and I'm sort of maybe hunting out for others interested to join in, so it's not a lonely wasteland of a group, just me talking to myself about Faulkner. I'm fresh, new to the world of Faulkner and s. gothic, starting what I'm lamely calling a Faulknerfest right now, reading through his entire oeuvre by publication date, hoping to research and understand completely every single one. Will be finishing up Mosquitoes tonight--which is surprisingly not that bad. Not great, very self-indulgent in an irritating way, but nowhere near the dogshit levels of Soldiers' Pay.

posted by rickybutler at 12:01 am (EST) on Nov 19, 2009

Nice Faulkner review. Gotta say, any review that uses the phrase "pile of poop" deserves props.

posted by rickybutler at 3:21 am (EST) on Nov 18, 2009

Thinking about thought provoking books, and the themes of Europe Central, have you read The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell?

posted by John at 6:48 pm (EST) on Oct 5, 2009

I recently read Europe Central and thought your review of it was excellent. I haven't done a review yet, but I thought you captured very well the book and what Vollmann was trying to do. That led me to your profile and your excellent review of Blood Meridian (which I have reviewed); I was also quite overhwelmed by Blood Meridian and I enjoyed very much your insights into the book. I look forward to reading more of your reviews.

posted by John at 6:17 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2009

I'm good for something in this world! Thanks, Emily of New Moon--and I really liked your "Proustian" review of The Magic Mountain. I just finished reading it in May and I already miss it up there.

posted by MeditationesMartini at 3:15 am (EST) on Aug 3, 2009

Just wanted to say thank you for your thoughtful and interesting review of Europe Central

posted by Auto_Da_Fe at 2:55 pm (EST) on May 24, 2009

Hi Emily - This is a random question, sorry. In your review of Evidence, by Mary Oliver, you were able to quote one of the poems with those varying indents, so that it looked the same on the screen, in your review, as it does in the book. I did mine that way, and it looks like that in the edit box, but when I save it, the posted version doesn't have those indents. My question is, how the heck do I enter those lines so the format in the review is the same as the format in the book? Thank you for any information you can provide to me!

Marie

posted by HeathMochaFrost at 9:09 am (EST) on May 12, 2009

Hi Emily,

Read your great review of Europe Central and just wanted to drop by and say hello. Vollmann is one of my fave writers. Wish more people read him.

Best,
Brent

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 1:13 am (EST) on May 11, 2009

Noticed that you liked The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in reviewing my new novel and posting your comments here (as well as on a few other book-related sites). I thought you might like my novel since it's been compared to that novel by a number of reviewers. I could e-mail you the novel in an e-book format if you'd like. Let me know if you're interested. Here's a link to a summary in case you're interested:

http://christophertusa.com/

Thanks,

Chris

posted by cmtusa at 1:40 pm (EST) on Apr 15, 2009

I enjoyed your comparison of For Whom the Bell Tolls and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Thanks for contributing at Books Compared. Things have been rather quiet there lately.

posted by margad at 2:30 pm (EST) on Jan 21, 2009

Fascinating library. And nice to see someone writing even longer reviews than mine!

posted by Widsith at 12:04 pm (EST) on Nov 23, 2008

Emily, hi drinking my Sunday morning coffee and exploring Library Thing website. I discovered that you live in Portland, Oregon as a fellow citizen of that great city I had to say hello. I hope you accept my offer of friendship. My quess is that you're not tone deaf.
Happy reading
Michael

posted by michaelbartley at 11:53 am (EST) on Dec 16, 2007

Emily,

thank you for your comments on the Lolita thread. They are well thought out and i think you are right on the mark.

David Perrings

posted by dperrings at 12:30 pm (EST) on Aug 16, 2007

Hey there Emily:

Writing reviews can be time-consuming, as I am a book reviewer as well. I don't know if it's my lack of imagination or simply that I get easily distracted by, well, other books and such. As long as model my life after Didon's searing quote, I'll do just fine.

And, yeah, why was Laura Bush wearing your underwear? I guffawed when reading that line.

posted by seemingmeaning at 11:33 am (EST) on Aug 3, 2007

Hi Emily,

Despite we share a small amount of books, I thoroughly enjoy reading your book reviews. Some pithy stuff you've got there!

posted by seemingmeaning at 8:54 pm (EST) on Aug 2, 2007

I'm glad to hear there is at least two of us who think The stranger is beautiful and not depressing!

posted by Nikkles at 3:21 pm (EST) on Apr 17, 2007

Thankyou for your kind comments, sweet "Ada" lover. It is a wonderfull book, but my reviews pale beside your more intelligent and eloquent ones. Would love to see your thoughts on our tragic lovers.

posted by ahystorian at 10:54 am (EST) on Apr 11, 2007

Welcome to Books Compared. I loved your review of Ishiguro's novels, which would be a great group posting as-is - though I hope you'll write a brand new one for us. Also loved your Yeats review. I adored Yeats when I was a teenager and had a couple of his poems memorized once upon a time. Nice to read your review and see so much in a brief passage that I was not capable of appreciating back then.

posted by margad at 11:28 pm (EST) on Apr 2, 2007

Thank you. I only wish I had read Woolf's essay in my twenties instead of forties - although it may not have had such an impact on me then.

posted by kjforester at 9:08 am (EST) on Mar 26, 2007

@ggchickapee: Wouldn't you like to know! Or maybe that's the lie...

posted by emily_morine at 2:36 am (EST) on Mar 8, 2007

What wonderful reviews you write! I just read through them. You are a lovely writer.

posted by Doulton at 12:53 am (EST) on Mar 8, 2007

Why was Laura Bush wearing your underwear?

posted by RoseCityReader at 4:32 pm (EST) on Mar 7, 2007

Congratulations on the beautiful review that Mrs. Dalloway fully deserves - Karlus

posted by Karlus at 9:36 am (EST) on Oct 26, 2006