girlunderglass stares out from her display case II

well...I've decided to join this group as well. I started on the 50 book challenge group since I read approximately one book a week...but then thought something along the lines of "The more the merrier", and joined.

I started January 1st - I'll be copying my first reviews and then post new ones along the way.

Rating system:
★ - hated it (lousy)
★★ - it was OK, I suppose (mediocre)
★★★ - enjoyed it (good)
★★★★ - loved it! (very good)
★★★★★ - all-time favorite (amazing)

BOOKS READ:
(clicking on the titles leads to the individual messages where I posted the reviews, NOT to the work itself on LT. A big thank you to Shewhowearsred for explaining the HTML codes)

January:

1. The Secret History by Donna Tartt ★★★★ (msg #2)
2. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling ★★★★ (msg #4)
3. The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi ★★★1/2 (msg #6)
4. Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille ★★★ (msg #12)
5. Book Lust by Nancy Pearl ★★★★ (msg #20)
6. Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg ★★★1/2 (msg #25)
7. Pinter in Play by Susan Hollis Merritt ★★★ (msg #34)
8. Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler ★★★ (msg #42)
9. Eva Luna by Isabel Allende ★★★★ (msg #45)

February:
10. The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories by Rudyard Kipling ★★ (msg #65)
11. The Theatre of the Absurd by Martin Esslin ★★★1/2 (msg #81)
12. I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb ★★★★★ (msg #96)
13. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer ★★1/2 (msg #119)
14. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells ★★★ (msg #154)
15. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon ★★★1/2 (msg #176)
16. Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying by Roald Dahl ★★★ (msg #199)

March (my Month of the Firsts)
17. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin ★★★★1/2 (msg #205)
18. Enter Jeeves: 15 Early Stories by P.G. Wodehouse ★★★ (msg #220)
19. Haiku by Basho Matsuo ★★★1/2 (msg #239)
20. Emma by Jane Austen ★★★★ (msg #285)
21. Jazz by Toni Morrison ★★★1/2 SECOND THREAD (HERE)

Hello group!
*timidly*

1. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Rating: ★★★★
Tags: 1990s, fiction, U.S.A.

First book I read this year. I was going to spend the holidays in Venice and Milan so I wanted a book that I could get lost in for the trip. This book was a recommendation and a very good one, at that. I thought it would last me for the whole trip, as it looked quite big, but it was impossible to put down. The plot centers around six students at a small college in Vermont - six students that committed a murder, that is. Don't worry, I haven't spoiled anything, the murder is revealed in the opening pages of the novel, although little else is. The motivation for it and the effect it has on everyone involved you find out throughout the novel. This is not a mystery/detective novel though. For starters, we know from the beginning who the killers are. And also, the story is not just based on plot. Ultimately, the book is powerful because of its brilliant characters. The Secret History explores their motives, their actions, their feelings, their peculiarities - but not quite so much as to make you feel you know them; they remain unpredictable, yet believable, until the end. It's an engaging read and I would really recommend it.

*waves*

Welcome to the group!

2. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
Rating: ★★★★
Tags: 2000s, fiction, children's lit, fantasy, U.K.

This was a Christmas present - and of course anyone who knows me can assert that anything Potter-related would make me very happy. Each story is accompanied by commentary supposedly written by Dumbledore - and used by Rowling to send some messages of her own, and to take a few stabs at all those self-righteous morons who keep trying to get Harry Potter out of school libraries. This commentary is, in most cases, a lot more interesting than the fairy tales themselves, which seem to be targeted at a younger audience (well, they are fairy tales, after all). This book is a great treat for anyone that loves HP (myself included), although probably not a great way to initiate someone into Harry's world. You get the main idea - buy it for your Potterhead friends, not for your aunt Jenny who hasn't read a word of Rowling before.

thank you Cal!! I've been watching it for a while but didn't think I would read 75 books... but I guess it doesn't really matter - I love the rating/reviewing/talking about books part :D

3. The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
Rating: ★★★1/2
Tags: 1990s, fiction, postcolonial lit, Pakistan, U.K.

This is probably my first dab at what is generally being termed "post-colonial" writing. Karim, whose father is an Indian and his mother an Englishwoman, longs to escape the suburbs that shaped his childhood and go to London. And that he does, in the meantime attempting to rise up the social ladder, witnessing the rise of Punk and living London in the seventies, coping with his family's breakup, struggling with his own issues, and trying to understand the sociopolitical situation in England. But mostly, young Karim is looking for an identity, looking for a place where he can fit in all of this. Louis Menand once said about Holden Caulfield (The Catcher in the Rye) that "he never lets anything stand by itself. He always tells you what to think. He has everyone pegged... He seems (and this is why his character can be so addictive) to have something that few people ever consistently attain: an attitude toward life." In this sense, Karim is the anti-Holden: an attitude towards life is what he most wants, yet he doesn't know how to go about developing one; he never tells you what to think about any situation; he hasn't figured out who the people around him are - if they are enemies or friends; and he still has a long way to go until he figures out who he himself is. I have heard some rumors however that the beauty lies in the journey...(?)

While reading 75 books is a great goal, we enjoy the talk and the recommendations of everyone here. Prepare for your TBR pile to take over.

I'm definitely expecting another huge pile of books added to my TBR - and don't mind in the least. My only problem is I can't borrow books from the library so if I want to read them I have to buy/mooch them. My Bookmooch wishlist seems to be getting bigger and bigger and I find I'm checking my gmail every hour or so to see if I got any "A book on your wishlist is now available at BookMooch" mails.

Hi girlunderglass, and welcome!

Also loved The Secret History, but The Buddha of Suburbia even more so - there was a very good TV adaptation of it years ago with Naveen Andrews and Harish Patel - I think it's on DVD now...

Have you read The Little Friend? I started reading it after I read The Secret History but started to get put off by the storyline - I keep meaning to begin it again (and probably shall do this year), but would be interested in other's opinions...

hey flissp! I'm gonna look for that TV adaptation! This week I downloaded "My Beautiful Laundrette" - Hanif Kureishi wrote the screenplay for that movie and it's supposed to be really good. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1987, for (guess what?) Best Original Screenplay. I'm waiting for the weekend to watch it.

Re The Little Friend - no, I haven't read it, though I own it and plan to start it soon. I've seen wildly varying reviews of it - some people loved it and some hated it. Also, Nancy Pearl (whose Book Lust I read the other day) mentions it as one of her favorite books. So I'm definitely intrigued!

Welcome to the group, girl!

Thanks alcottacre! I just want to say that your thread has added MANY books to my to-be-read!

And now book number...


4. Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille
Tags: 1920s, fiction, surrealist, erotica, France
Rating: ★★★

This is a very short book divided in two parts: the first is basically the account of two teenagers' sexual lives. The sex scenes are very graphic and at times very disturbing; Bataille uses certain recurring symbols throughout the story (egg=>eyeball=>testicles etc) and , in the second part of the novella, he explains how these symbols came to be fixed in his mind, and how they ended up being distorted so wildly by his imagination. This brief explanation is equally disturbing, if not more so, than the story he previously concocted. Fortunately, this edition included two essays in addition to the story, one of which tried to explain the metaphor of the eye (enabling readers to take a peek at the workings behind the curtain, and thus acknowledge Bataille's merit) and another one, equally interesting, discussing pornography as a form of art. All in all, it was interesting to read a genre that isn't really what I usually go for - not sure if I will pick other books by him any time soon, though.

Just wait. You ain't even begun to add to your TBR pile! 8^}

Oh, and The Secret History looks pretty good!

Love those little boxes :) So glad you got two right off the bat that you really enjoyed!

#10 I loved My Beautiful Laundrette even more than the Buddha... adaptation - it's one of my favourite films - very touching - I definitely recommend it. Don't expect it to be too action-ful though...

flissp--not to hijack girl's thread, but I noticed that you mentioned The Little Friend. Girl and I discussed this on her old book thread. Would love to talk to someone about it. Feel free to drop by!

*flissp - nice! I'm happy to hear that, can't wait to watch the movie now! I saw that the movie lost the Original Screenplay Award to "Hannah and Her Sisters", so I thought, since it's one of the few Allen movies I haven't seen , that I'd watch them together. It's gonna be a great movie night :D

*suslyn - thanks! I saw on another thread that you're living in Bucharest? I'm actually half-Romanian myself but (possibly because I grew up in a small town in Transylvania, far from those intimidating apartment buildings and - to me - that equally frightening concentration of people) I have a strong dislike for the capital. My current location - Athens, Greece - is no less terrifying, so I'm hoping when I relocate it will be in a smaller town. Big cities freak me out. Especially big cities with no green spaces (like Athens).

*drneutron - the answer is on your thread!

>17 girlunderglass: Ooh somebody to have coffee with when/if we get to Athens :) I sooo understand about big cities. Happily we live on the outskirts of Bucharest and have a big field with grouse next door. I look at it several times a day when I'm out on my balcony. And it is fun to be on a street where you have semis (big trucks) and horse-drawn carriages both go by :)

We lived in the western suburbs on Paris for 5 years. This is much better here. A short drive and we're in green :) Must say we've loved, absolutely adored, our trips into the countryside. Where in Transylvania? Our favorite stop was Viscri (a world heritage site), but maybe that's not Transylvania? Off the main road between Brasov & Sigisoara.

Coffee! Athens! Yes! Are you planning a trip?
Hmmm I've never heard of Viscri but my town is higher up than both Brasov and Sighisoara. It's a town called Tarnaveni, close to Targu-Mures, Cluj and Sibiu but smaller than those (pop: 25000). I visit every year/2 years or so, usually in the summer. (winter in Romania, compared to Greece is damn cold - although on the other hand, there is snow there, while we never get snow in Athens)

5. Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl
Tags: 2000s, non-fiction, U.S.A.
Rating: ★★★★

An Amazon order I'd made containing this book just got delivered yesterday. I was done with it in a single day. Of course, this isn't one of those books that you read once. It's one of those books that you go back to again and again, for consultation. I was hesitant to buy any "books about books" in the beginning because I was worried that my taste wouldn't coincide with the author's and it would be a waste of money, but I needn't have worried. Pearl's recommended reads are so diverse that it is IMPOSSIBLE not to find something that you'll be interested in. (If you have expertise in matters of law you can draft a legal document that attests the validity of the previous statement and holds me responsible if the book doesn't deliver what I promised - I will sign it in a second.) Book Lust doesn't have a specific reader in mind, it's for all ages and all tastes. The book has separate categories for different regions (from Japan to New Mexico and everything in between), different time periods (Vietnam, WWI&WWII, 100 Great Reads for Every Decade etc) and different genres (ALL genres, from epistolary novels to cyberpunk). The best part was that it wasn't just a list of novels - almost every book has a brief description that makes you aware of the subject and themes of the book, without giving too much away (1001 Books you Must Read Before You Die spoiled some books' ending for me). Some of my favorite categories were "Aging", "Companion Reads", "Girls Coming of Age", "Spies and Spymasters" "Three-Hanky Reads", "My Own Private Dui" and, of course, "Too Good to Miss". There are only two negative things I have to say about the book: a) it makes you sadly aware of the fact that you will never be able to read everything that you wan to because there's just too much out there; and b) it will add a very frightening amount of books to my TBR pile. Oh well.

Welcome, girlunderglass! I really enjoyed your reviews. A good start on the year.

You mean you haven't been able to convince your Aunt Jenny to read Harry Potter yet?! :-)

Thanks, musicmom!
haha, unfortunately I don't have an aunt Jenny - my mom was an only child - I wish I did though. If I did, I would definitely make her read the whole series!

Hello girlunder glass! Great thread, and neat name. I've enjoyed all your reviews here, and agree with the ones you've written of books I've read. What kinds of books do you think you'll be reading this year? Not looking for a definite list, but what genres are you into these days? I'll definitely be following your thread.

#12: I hope you continue to add from my thread and I know I will from yours!

6. Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
Tags: 1990s, fiction, mystery & crime, ecofiction, Denmark
Rating: ★★★1/2 or ★★★★ (cannot decide, don't make me!)

This book was a weird mixture...parts amazing and parts indifferent.* I'm sure I'm not the first to observe that this novel doesn't feel at all like a detective/mystery novel. It's too insightful, too observant, too honest, too deep to be just that. Plus, the protagonist is one of the most fascinating women I've read about in a long time. So why not an even higher rating? Well, there were various things that bothered me - little things, yet things that poked and poked at me until they annoyed the hell out of me. Things like the mechanic - Smilla's love interest - who I thought shouldn't have been in the book in the first place. (IMO, Hoeg should've either left out the "love story" all together or drawn a more sympathetic/interesting character.) Or like most of the different characters on the boat who, in their majority, were more like stereotyped caricatures representing a universe united against Smilla. Like the fact that I wouldn't have cared less if the murdered kid had turned out to be eaten by Bigfoot - and the identity of the murderer surely should be of interest in a mystery novel, no? Hoeg was a sailor, a fencer and a mountaineer before he was a writer, so it's not surprising that he is at his best when he writes about the things that interest him most. The best parts of the book are those where Smilla reminisces about her childhood, talks about her love of ice and her passion for both nature and science, and describes the world and people around her. The worst parts are those where the novel purported to be a romance book, a detective novel, or a thriller. I still recommend this book - don't think for a moment that it's boring or bad - it just isn't what it claims to be.

Quote:
"I can't imagine that anything like the Christian image of hell actually exists. But lately I've been wondering about the ancient Greenlandic realm of the dead. If you consider all the unpleasantness you encounter while you're alive, it seems improbable that it would all come to an end simply because you're dead.

tiny little SPOILER (I don't think I'm giving away too much)
*I have seen various reviews here on LT (notably TadAD's) that expressed dislike for the last part of the book. I want to make clear that I don't think the last part of the novel was much worse than the others. The good parts and bad parts were all mixed together, for me. The slightly over-the-top ending didn't annoy me, as it didn't seem impossible. Since Smilla's worldview was so grounded in science and we get reminders of her expertise so many times throughout the book, I felt like just the fact that she accepted what was happening as possible was proof enough that it could happen - if that makes sense. We got hints that something BIG was gonna happen all over the book, so it didn't come as a surprise.

>23 LisaMorr: Lisa, what I plan to read is, well...things I wouldn't normally go for. I don't usually mysteries, yet I have already read two this year (Secret History and Smilla) and really enjoyed them! Also, as you might have read above, I said about Buddha of Suburbia that it was my first dab at post-colonial literature. Then right after that I read Story of th Eye, certainly the first time I had read a book tagged "erotica" :) I just want to try out different genres that I haven't given a chance yet - I'm thinking some sci-fi, some graphic novels, historical fiction, maybe some non-fiction (which I almost NEVER read)... but of course in between I'll have my usual dose of modern/postmodern classics (I want to read Huxley and Eggers this year). Sounds like a good plan?

Sounds interesting - it will be neat to see what you think about some of these new-to-you genres.

Welcome to the 75 books group. :) Not to put you on overload, but there's also a 999 challenge . . . and a paranormal 999 challenge . . . and probably a few more I'm not aware of. Happy reading!

>27 LisaMorr: thanks! I can't wait!
>28 saraslibrary: Sadly, Sara, I am aware of that fact. However, I have decided to focus on these two threads I have going so that I can have time to enjoy them, I don't want posting to become a chore. Maybe I'll try that next year?

Currently reading:
Pinter in Play: Critical Strategies and the Plays of Harold Pinter

Currently listening to:
Mein Kampf, on audiobook. This very charming British fellow impersonating Hitler - he sounds very solemn and grand. It's fun :D Of course, Hitler's arguments are, for most of the time, ridiculous - can't wait to review.

Pinter, eh? Love Pinter, though haven't seen anything of his on stage in quite awhile. Curious to see if "critical strategies" refers to staging or ?

It refers to theoretical approaches to Pinter's work, mostly - Merritt is trying to prove that the critics that have written books on Pinter don't really start from observing and analyzing Pinter's plays, but rather, they just try to integrate Pinter into the trends in criticism at the time Thus, postmodern critics will go for a postmodern interpretation, feminists for a feminist one etcetera . I'm doing a paper on Pinter, for my "Theory and Criticism of Theater" class, so I'm reading tons of books on the subject at the moment... I started the paper in November and then the bastard *forgive me the use of this word I mean it in the best possible way* went and died on me.

"I started the paper in November and then the bastard *forgive me the use of this word I mean it in the best possible way* went and died on me." Ha!

Methinks, Merritt may be on to something--and not just about Pinter. What degree are you working towards?

Yes, I also think Merritt is onto something theaelizabet! Her book is the one I'm using most for my paper, though I am trying not to use her ideas too much. The degree would be in English Literature. Thanks for dropping by :)

7. Pinter in Play: Critical Strategies and the Plays of Harold Pinter by Susan Hollis Merrit
Tags: 1990s, non-fiction, literary criticism, U.K.
Rating: ★★★

Susan Hollis Merritt makes an argument for "greater cooperation and collaboration among critics and for relating the strategies used by individual Pinter critics to tendencies in recent literary and critical theory." The book is well-written and well-documented, and the arguments she puts forth make perfect sense. However, I do not think it is a book I would read "for pleasure" - to plough through it requires a certain amount of determination that, had I not been in the middle of a research on Pinter, I would not have managed. I cannot say I loved reading it, though I cannot say that it felt like a chore, either. Merritt, in my opinion, possesses the ability to impress the Pinter scholar, but she does not have the literary talent necessary to keep the common reader interested. At the moment, I myself am somewhere in between.

*edited for excessive use of italics - I must find a way to stop making that mistake in the html code

Hello! I have restricted myself to reading all posts just once a week as it was getting unmanageable... which is a shame as I have missed following along with your first posts. I'm one of the (I think smaller) group that really liked The Little Friend, and would recommend it. But am aware that many more people seem to have hated it than loved it....

Thanks for dropping by Flossie and, actually, I AM planning to read The Little Friend so it's good to know there's at least one person out there that loved it :) I didn't get the impression that people hated it - just that they were perplexed by it, or maybe hated the ending, which of course made me even more intrigued! It will probably be a while before I start it however, as I have some books that have been begging to be read for a while now - e.g. The Kite Runner and Twilight , both discussed ad nauseam here on LT :D

Did I miss it when you said what you're studying? If so would you repeat? If not ... um, what are you studying? :)

You missed it - post 33! The exact translation from the Greek would be "English Language and Literature" - basically we do both Linguistics and Literature for two years and then another two years in whatever we decide to major in. I chose (SHOCK!) literature. One year to go...

sorry about that :) Congrats on nearing the finish line!

> 29

I also have the audiobook of Mein Kampf! I have read this book before, in the '80s, but plan to get reacquainted with it sometime this year as I plan to read his second book, Hitler's Second Book: The Unpublished Sequel to Mein Kampf and would like to see how they compare side-by-side.

I recently also acquired Hitler's Table Talk , which are transcripts of Hitler's conversations (or perhaps more accurately, monologues) at his HQ from July 1941 to November 1944, as secretly recorded under Martin Bormann's instructions. It makes a great companion volume to the one's listed above.

>39 suslyn: Susan, no problem + thanks!
>40 petermc: I'm glad I listened to Mein Kampf but I don't think I could stand trying the second part. From what I read about it, Hitler just doesn't think he was convincing enough in the first book so he's just trying harder on the second one. Hitler's Table Talk however sounds great! Tell me if it's worth reading after you finish it!

I'll probably post the review for Mein Kampf today. I also hope to finish Eva Luna tonight, which I'm absolutely loving!

8. Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
Tags: 1920s, non-fiction, autobiography, political theory, Germany
Rating: ★★★

How do you rate a book like this? Do you rate it according to literary merit, according to how influential or important it is, according to how much you "enjoyed" it, according to how fascinating the subject, or according to the validity of the opinions voiced in it? Obviously I do not agree with the opinions the man voices, nor do I think the arguments he puts forth are valid. If the book is an attempt to justify himself, he fails. If it's an attempt to convert people to his way of thinking, he fails again. But that doesn't mean I'm not glad I listened to his arguments, nor does it mean that I didn't find the book interesting. In the first part of the book, when he is talking about his childhood and teenage years, Hitler seems like an educated and rational man: he adores books, believes firmly in the power of education, has a passion for history and geography, and his biggest ambition is to become a painter or an architect (!). Not only that, but he dismisses antisemitic theories "on grounds of human tolerance" and believes everyone should have a right to practice whatever religion they want to. His explanation of the reasons that compelled him to make his "greatest transformation of all" - his conversion to antisemitism - is ludicrous, at best. (Jews smell bad? 90% of artists he dislikes are Jews? Jews have formed a conspiracy to control all the newspapers? and nonsense like that) From that point onwards, the book becomes an outlet for his hatred towards Jews and for expressing his dreams of the expansion of Germany. The book is two-thirds tedious and one-third interesting, two-thirds nonsensical and one-third rational. My rating is based purely on enjoyment (and I DID enjoy it), although I do not think that is fair. My conclusion would be the following: even though a big part of it drags on and even though no one in his right mind could justify Hitler based on this book, I do believe everyone should read it, so that they can understand better one of the people that changed the history of the world.

That's a really good review, girl. I finished up Rise and Fall of the Third Reich in December and have been contemplating picking up Mein Kampf one of these days. I definitely will do so.

thanks Lisa! Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - nope, doesn't ring a bell. *proceeds to quickly look for your review of aforementioned book*

9. Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
Tags: 1980s, fiction, magical realism, Chile
Rating: ★★★★

This was my introduction to Allende - I haven't read The House of the Spirits, which seems to be the most famous of her works. I'll spare you the agony of reading the whole paragraph and just say from starters that I loved the book. The novel follows Eva and Rolf's journey from childhood to adulthood in alternating chapters: one for the girl, one for the boy. It is implied from the beginning that circumstances will bring these two together, though at first it is difficult to see how that might happen, as they lead very different lives in different corners of the world. Allende is a brilliant storyteller, managing to blend myth, history, politics and magical realism into her novel seemingly effortlessly. I'm not sure if the novel could be called historical fiction (help anyone?) but the tumultuous political background of Latin America is certainly used creatively by the author to influence the lives of her characters. (Wikipedia informs me that "while the country's political history, traced through several decades of the mid-20th century, bears many similarities to Chile -the author's original nationality- the geography and social context of the story depict a society more similar to Venezuela.") The story does not get boring for a second and you will find yourself racing through chapters in anticipation of Eva and Rolf's foreshadowed encounter. There is only one chapter that I disliked in the book, which seemed to me just wrong, so if any of you have read or are planning to read the book I would love to discuss it with someone. Still, this one works its way easily into my "recommended reads" category.

*Edit: Eva Luna is, in the book, famous for her storytelling - the most prominent of her talents. I found that Allende has written another book called The Stories of Eva Luna containing 10 short stories supposedly written by Eva. Cannot wait to get my hands on that!

#45 g-u-g

What a great review! I'm ashamed to admit I have never read anything by Isabel Allende, but this Eva Luna tempts me. I just can't figure out where to put it in my 999. But it's going on my TBR list.

I've never read anything by Allende before either, but I found one of her novels, Ines of My Soul on sale for $8, and bought it - I cannot resist any book that is under the $10 mark! If I like it, then I will add Eva Luna to my TBR too!

thanks, MusicMom! It's definitely worth it: perhaps I would recommend it a little more heartily for readers of the female persuasion, as it is very easy to identify with Eva. Allende, many times in the book, describes and criticizes the gender inequality in South America and does a great job depicting through Eva's life the difficulty of being a woman in a male-dominated society. Of course the story is set in the 50s through 70s from what it seems, but these issues are still present in many parts of the world, so her criticism is definitely still valid. Hmm...I looked at your categories...tough choice. Maybe your classics category - as, I suppose it's a classic of Latin America. Or maybe your Because I Want to... Still, if you don't have a chance to read it this year (I know how hard it is to pick a book over another) just keep it in mind for next year :)

Hey Cait! I try REALLY hard not to buy books anymore, especially since I've joined Bookmooch. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you look at it) there is only one used bookstore in English where I live, and it's pretty crappy...but whenever I travel abroad it's pretty much impossible to resist used books' prices! I feel you :)

I can't tell you how relieved I am to see that so many others haven't read any Allende yet. Your review of Eva Luna is terrific, as usual. I have House of Spirits on hand, so I guess I'll start with that, though your take on Eva Luna tempts me.

thanks so much theaelizabet! :) I'm curious to hear your thoughts on House of the Spirits, if you do read it! It seems to be more famous than Eva Luna - I read the reviews of Eva Luna on LT and almost every single one was comparing it to HOTS. Unfortunately, since I have SO many authors I haven't read, it takes me some time to get back to an author, even if I did enjoy their book - it just seems that I've wasting my time a bit, kind of like "there are SO many authors you haven't given a chance yet and you're gonna read the same author AGAIN???". I know it's wrong, and that's some consolation to me.

Several years ago I read Daughter of Fortune by Allende. I can't remember why because it isn't something I would have normally been drawn to, but I do remember that I could not put it down, and have a mental 4stars in my memory bank. Don't remember enough to write a review, but I can say I'd not be embarrassed to recommend. I do also remember that I thought it well written.

>47 Cait86:: isn't Ines of My Soul her memoir of her daughter..? I may have misremembered that though.

>53 FlossieT: - I think Paula is Allende's novel that concerns her daughter, but I could be wrong - I just read a quick overview of it on Wikipedia, so it might be incorrect info. Maybe someone else knows?

>53 FlossieT: Ines of My Soul is not the memoir of her daughter, Wiki says Allende tells the story of Ines Suarez, who was apparently the first Spanish woman to arrive in Chile. I have no idea which one is the memoir, though. (don't feel like reading the summaries of all her novels right now :)

#54: Yes, Paula is the book Allende wrote about her daughter.

#52: I have Daughter of Fortune home from the library now. I hope it is a good as you remember. It will be the first fiction book of Allende's that I have read.

Hi!
I have Eva Luna and/or The House of Spirits on my reading list for this year, too. I have never read a book from Allende before, although I always wanted too. Your review makes it seem like a very interesting read, and there's a high probability that I will go with Eva Luna first!

Strangely, I had never heard of Mein Kampf before. I am now very curious about it. I think it's important, in order to understand how history really happened, to read from more than one side of the battle. I will definitely add this book to my TBR pile!

Thanks kittykay, happy to know you're gonna try those two out! I usually let a year or so pass before I try anything by the same author again (unless we're talking about a series, of course), but when I decide to read sth by Allende again I'm pretty sure I'll go for The House of the Spirits, as I've seen a lot of favorable reviews on that one as well.

Now that I have gotten Hitler's perspective on things, I would like to read a biography of Hitler, written from a more objective point of view (as much as that is possible)... I have no idea where to start, as I don't usually read biographies (and non-fiction in general) but I'm looking around.

Edit: pass not ass :)

> 58

There are many bio's of Hitler, but widely considered as one of the best is the two volume set by Ian Kershaw, entitled Hitler: 1889-1936: Hubris and Hitler: 1936-1945: Nemesis. I've read both and highly recommend them, but it's a lot of reading, so you could try his recently released one volume edition, which is half the size (at approx. 1000 pages), Hitler: A Biography. It is abridged, but one of the main reasons for the reduction in size is due to fact he has not included many of the endnotes which are mainly of interest to the serious student of Hitler.

John Toland and Joachim C. Fest have also written excellent bio's, and I would recommend that you browse through each to see whose writing style you prefer.

If you are interested in reading further, you might also like to consider the following books that look at Hitler before his rise to power. The first two were written by friends of his during this early period.

The Young Hitler I Knew by August Kubizek
Hitler: The Missing Years by Ernst Hanfstaengl
Hitler in Vienna by J. Sydney Jones

I hope this helps.

Edited - Touchstones, and adding further information!

thanks so much Peter! I will look for it!

Currently reading:
· The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories by Rudyard Kipling
· The Theatre of the Absurd by Martin Esslin

Read the Theatre of the Absurd years ago. I'll be interested to read what you think. Recently, in another group, we paid ample (and deserved) homage to Beckett, but I remember thinking at the time that it had been years since I had read anything by Ionesco. I pulled my Pinter plays out and reread some of them at the time of his death. Your list is always so interesting!

Have added some details to my post in #59 :)

>61 theaelizabet:: thanks theaelizabet! I have a book with three of Ionesco's plays at home but I still haven't read any of them, unfortunately. I'm pretty sure I will this year, though! Homage to Beckett? That sounds interesting - in what group?

>62 petermc:: WOW! Again, thanks - actually I'm even more interested in the ones you added now. I think I mentioned somewhere above that I enjoyed reading about Hitler's pre-antisemitic period more, it was interesting to note the change that occurred later. It does get boring (not to mention insulting) reading just about how much Jews are awful and stinky etc etc So the three books you listed just now sound right up my alley, thanks! (I will peak through the biography you mentioned as well if I find it, though I don't particularly feel like getting nto a book of those dimensions right now :P )

I like the sound of Eva Luna, good review - will have to be added to my TBR pile!

thanks a lot flissp -
and now onto book no. 10!



10. The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Tags: 1880s, fiction, short stories, U.K., India
Rating: ★★

The Man Who Would Be king and Other Stories wasn't really my cup of tea. The book contains five short stories, each quite different from the other: you will find amongst them a Poe-esque thriller, a love story between a British soldier and an Indian woman, and a picaresque tale set in Afghanistan. Having never read anything by Kipling before and having heard his name mentioned repeatedly, I was expecting something more. Granted this is still the 19th century - so maybe I'm overlooking the fact that some techniques which today seem old and dated might have been considered innovative then. Still, from the point of view of a modern reader, this book didn't have much to give me. I had heard that Kipling is deeply associated with British colonialism, but somehow expected his views to be more subtle. The extremely racist descriptions of Indians and other colonized people is, frankly, very insulting - even while acknowledging as I do that that sort of attitude was almost universal at the time. One could argue that the descriptions of the locals are provided by fictional characters and not by Kipling himself and that perhaps Kipling is just an apt historian documenting his contemporaries' views on colonialism. Even if that were the case - which I doubt - the fact remains that none of the five stories in this collection manage to escape the portrayal of the British protagonist as infinitely superior to the native inhabitants whose land he has invaded. The only story of the five included that I can truly say I enjoyed was Wee Willie Winkie, not that it managed to change my overall opinion on the book. Perhaps a reason one should read this is to get an idea of colonization in the 19th century through the perspective of the settlers. Still, there are better books out there on the subject.

I'm starting I Know This Much Is True today - so its 888 pages should keep me busy for a while...

I've had the same problems with the somewhat limited Kipling that I've read. That said, The Man Who Would Be King was made into an excellent movie in the 1960's, with Sean Connery.

I've recently purchased Confessions of a Thug by Philip Meadows Taylor, described as a crime novel written by a former 19th century British official in India. This book was apparently a great bestseller, and was based on true events. I'm interested to see how it might compare to Kipling.

What have you read by Kipling? I've heard a lot of good things about Kim so if I decide to give him another chance I'll probably try that one, as The Man Who Would Be King certainly fell short of my expectations.
Interesting title, re the Philip Meadows Taylor book :) I will be interested in your observations, do you plan to read it soon?

>65 girlunderglass:: I think that those who attempt to defend Kipling's writings by saying that the racist comments come from the mouths of fictional characters are advancing a pretty weak argument. I say this even though Kipling is one of my favorite authors—I consider The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories one of his "just fair" works, but The Jungle Books (especially Vol. 2), Kim and Puck of Pook's Hill are some of my favorite books.

I think your post raises an interesting discussion point: should a work be read with the sensibilities of the reader, or with the sensibilities of the author, or some combination of the two? From the perspective of his time and background, there was nothing wrong with Kipling's viewpoints...as unpleasantly paternalistic as they may appear now. But, then again, some of Austen's views on women would not fare well under the same criteria, nor Shakespeare's on just about any facet of society, etc.

I'm not sure exactly what I think on this. For Kipling, I'm able to suspend moral indignation when reading the books and just enjoy his stories. Yet, I have trouble with Hemingway because I cannot do the same thing.

Perhaps, in the end, it just boils down to what you had in your first sentence: is the book one's "cup of tea" or not? If you like the stories, perhaps it's easier to put oneself into the author's frame of reference.

What do you think?

Back to Isabel Allende ...
I adore her writing. The first one I read was Portrait in Sepia which got me going on all the others. So far I have read Portrait in Sepia, Eva Luna, Ines of My Soul, Zorro and Daughter of Fortune. I may be missing one in there. I have a couple sitting at home in my tbr, House of Spirits and the sequel to Eva Luna (I can't recall the title at the moment).

When I first picked up Portrait in Sepia, I was a little concerned that I would not like it. I had never read much about South America, nor was I really interested. Allende just brought it to life. Now I can't get enough. Now that I am thinking about it, House of Spirits will be my next book.

I was a theatre major in college so I read quite a bit of theatre of the absurd. It was one of my favorite types of plays back then. I was actually in Exit the King. I honestly do not remember what it was about other than time. Esslin's Theatre of the Absurd is very good if you want info about the genre. I really enjoyed reading it. In fact, I read it on my own and not for class. There is a good one-act by Beckett called Play (Touchstone doesn't work. It is in a book of 8 plays of his but can not remember the exact title.) that I really liked at the time too. You may also want to try The Madman and the Nun by Sanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz. For something more modern, you may want to try Edmond by David Mamet. It is absurd, but with a realistic story line. I understand that is counterintuitive, but I can't explain it any other way.

I am having trouble with the touchstones on a few of these.

#67 girlunderglass--I read Kim and really did not like it. I read parts of The Jungle Book with my kids and we all enjoyed that. Told you my experience with Kipling was limited:).

I don't usually plan my reading out too far in advance, but I'll probably read Confessions of a Thug in the next few months. I'll try to remember to let you know, but my memory isn't what it used to be:).

#68 TadAD

"Perhaps, in the end, it just boils down to what you had in your first sentence: is the book one's "cup of tea" or not? If you like the stories, perhaps it's easier to put oneself into the author's frame of reference."

I think that is probably very true. If we are enjoying the story and the writing and get into the flow it's easier to ignore things that you don't agree with. It's also that way with people, too, don't you think? You will overlook attitudes and words of friends that might highly offend you if exhibited by someone you didn't care for.

>68 TadAD: TadAD, I can't stay that I've encountered this problem repeatedly, (I tend to read more modern writers and so blatantly racist views are more frowned upon the closer we get to our era) so I don't know if generally I am able to ignore attitudes that I disapprove of if the story is gripping enough. In Kipling's case, I didn't much care for the stories either, so it was easy to isolate my feeling of indignation and make it the base for my review. I don't think it was the only thing that I disliked in the book - I also wasn't impressed with the stories one bit. While I didn't think they were necessarily bad, I also didn't find anything that made me think "Wow! That's cool/interesting/sweet/touching!". According to my rating system two stars means something like "it was ok...I guess" - denoting it was mediocre in my opinion but not necessarily awful. Maybe I should try the Jungle Books instead, but then again, maybe Kipling is just not for me.

Funny you should mention Hemingway: I am aware of his reputation, yet I haven't encountered anything that bothered me in his stories. I have only read two of his shorter works - The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Old Man and the Sea - the former of which I didn't enjoy and the latter I did quite a lot. At the time I read Snows of Kilimanjaro I was 16 (?) and I wasn't aware of any misogynistic views in the text (although I do remember that the protagonist blames a woman for all his failures in life), but I still didn't like it. Of course, it is possible that the process we mentioned above also works in reverse: meaning that it is possible that subconsciously I did register the sexist attitudes imbued in the story and my liking of it was influenced by that - but I just didn't consciously realize that this was the true reason I didn't like it. I'm getting too psychoanalytical now so I am going to stop.

>72 MusicMom41: Musicmom, I loved your comparison of books with people. I think in a way you're totally right - we do make excuses for our friends and forgive them things that we wouldn't if they were strangers, just like with books. But, on the other hand, sometimes we are a little more strict with our friends than with some random acquaintance simply because we expect more from them. It is the same with our favorite writers: sometimes we judge a book they've written more harshly than we judge a book written by a writer we read for the first time just because we expect more. Instead of judging how a book/story by Salinger, for example, (who is one of my favorites) compares to other books and other writers, I always judge it against Salinger's previous work, and if it doesn't compare I am disappointed. I sometimes feel guilty about it, as I'm not sure if it's really fair...

Edited: spelling

>73 girlunderglass:: On the Kipling front, he may not be for you. However, if you're going to try another one, I'd suggest you give the second part of The Jungle Books (the non-Mowgli stories) a try. If you read "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" and don't like it, you've invested very little time. If you do like it, you can explore onward from there.

The Old Man and the Sea was the first Hemingway I read and I enjoyed it a lot. I thought I had found another read-everything author. However, then I tried A Farewell to Arms during college days and didn't enjoy it. Same with The Sun Also Rises. There's a bit of misogyny, a lot of macho and a few other things that just kept bothering me. However, was it because I'm not wild about his prose or vice-versa? I'm not sure.

My intention has always been to re-try one of his books in later life and see how it fares. Since later life is arriving swiftly, perhaps I'll do it one of these years.

>74 TadAD: I agree with you on Hemingway. I just didn't like his prose. I read A Farewell to Arms, because everyone lauded it as a 'classic' and I disliked it intensely. I'm not sure whether I would read any others of his. Perhaps this was a bad one to start with?

>71 arubabookwoman: arubabookwoman - since both you and tadAD like The Jungle Books more than Kim, I'll make sure that it is the one I read when I decide it's time to give Kipling another chance (note: when not if). I will make sure to check your thread regularly so I don't miss Confessions of a Thug!

>69 jmaloney17:, 70 thanks soooooo much jmaloney for your recommendations!!! I will make sure to check them out as soon as I have some time! Before I read any other playwright concerned with the theatre of the absurd, however, I want to read some Ionesco in the near future. Considering that he's half-Romanian just like myself, that he's quite well-known, that he's been sitting on one of my shelves for ages and that I tend to like almost any absurdist play, it's pretty embarrassing that I've never read anything by him. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the House of the Spirits - is it definitive then, you are reading that one next?

Yes, I started The House of the Spirits at lunch today. Well I tried to start it until the elder gentleman sitting next to me at lunch decided I was the perfect person to talk to. Ergh. So my usual 50 minutes of reading was more like 7 minutes of interupted reading. I am now on page 2.

#77: I am sure that something good awaits you, especially since you gave up your valuable reading time to talk to a lonely elderly gentleman.

>74 TadAD: "was it because I'm not wild about his prose or vice-versa?
Oh, the eternal question: what came first, the chicken or the egg? Did I listen to pop because I was miserable or was I miserable because I listened to pop? Etcetera. I think it goes both ways.

>77 jmaloney17:, 78 Now that you've got a surplus of karma, jmaloney, maybe you can send some my way. Mail it or something. Put it in a big shiny box and make sure to mark it as "fragile". Because mine sure is. (Yesterday my mom asked me to help her make a cheesecake and I declined in favor of I Know This Much Is True. It's happened many times with books)

On Kipling, I'm really enjoying Puck of Pook's Hill but haven't read anything else by him, except Jungle Book when I was a kid (too long ago -- remember nothing).

I can identify with your comments on racism (which I haven't been bothered with in Puck) when I went back to re-read my childhood favorites in Burroughs Tarzan series. I got rid of all of them. A rare move for me and one I don't regret, except in that the stories were spoiled for my adult self.

Susan, I'm making a mental note not to read the Tarzan books. It might spoil the Disney cartoons and the videogames for me! :)

The Theatre of the Absurd ! Finally, another book! And here I have to admit that, for some reason, writing reviews of non-fiction works - especially works that I have to read for my paper - fells more like a chore and less of a fun thing to do. So I finished this book some days ago but kept putting off writing about it...



11. The Theatre of the Absurd by Martin Esslin
Tags: 1960s, literary theory, theatre, non-fiction, U.K.
Rating: ★★★1/2

This is obviously an essential read for anyone with an interest in theatre: a book that has managed to remain as influential and as fresh as it was when it was published in the 60s. Esslin can easily brag of having been there first. Before everyone started jumping on the "absurd" bandwagon he wrote a whole book devoted to the subject. Hell, even the name "Theatre of the Absurd" was coined by him.* Part of the reason why the book hasn't lost its appeal is, I think, the fact that it is very accessible. You don't need to know much about the subject in order to understand Esslin's views. It offers a basic understanding of the works of playwrights typically associated with the theatre of the absurd, such as Beckett, Pinter, Ionesco, Adamov, Genet, Albee, etcetera. The book does not overwhelm with details, nor does it delve deeply into each play. Esslin prefers to merely touch upon each work only as much as it is necessary in order to draw comparisons that will make it as easily for us as possible to find the common theme and to solve the "puzzle" of the play. I found this book very interesting, though didn't exactly love it. I admit to enjoying reading the works of the playwrights mentioned a great deal more, but with the help of this book I now understand them better. If you plan to do an extensive read of any of the playwrights mentioned above, The Theatre of the Absurd will definitely enhance your experience.

*Incidentally, I've always found Esslin's wikipedia entry very depressing. It starts like this: "Martin Julius Esslin (June 6, 1918–February 24, 2002) was a Hungarian-born English producer and script writer, journalist, adaptor and translator, critic, academic scholar and professor of drama, best known for coining the term "Theatre of the Absurd" in his work of that name." You spend your whole life doing all those things and you're "best known" for naming something? Say you're a writer/scientist/scholar/biologist, you work hard all your life, your try to make scientific discoveries, you try to be a good writer, you try your best to be a good parent, you're kind to people - you make a difference in some people's lives. And then one day you go "when that bird flaps its wings it sounds like a faint hum! Hmmm... Hum. Bird. Hum. Bird. Hummingbird!!!" and that's what you're known for in the future! Fifty years from now there's someone saying "...isn't he/she the one that thought of the name for hummingbird?" Talk about the absurdity of life.

I've probably scared most of my visitors away now.
Sorry about the rant!!!

Terrific review of Esslin's book. My copy is still tucked away in some box in the garage. I'm not sure I want to reread this book, but your review does make me want to reread the plays.

#81 great review! ...and know what you mean about the name thing ;)

Thanks both of you!
Theaelizabet - I plan to read some absurdist plays but not this month as my reading is already planned - I'm thinking next month probably.
Flissp, bless you for getting the name thing - I am not alone!!! :)

- A little progress tracking -

Books read so far:
♦ 10 books + 1 audiobook
♦ 7 fiction + 4 non-fiction

Currently reading:
♦ I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
(This book is just FANTASTIC so far)

Currently listening to (audiobook):
♦ Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying by Roald Dahl
(Just started this. There has been a revival of interest in Dahl lately on LT, but I didn't feel in the mood for his children's fiction so I opted for one of his short-stories-for-adults collections)

girlunderglass...I've avoided reading Wally Lamb's books for fear they were too depressing. But, given your comments regarding I Know this Much is True, looks like I'll have to reconsider. I'll be interested in learning what you think when you are finished.

thanks for reconsidering, Whisper :) It's 100% worth it! I still have a while to go before reviewing it though... I'll probably finish the Roald Dahl audiobook first!

girlunderglass...I just finished another Dahl book today. I'm trying to read as many of his as possible.

I wasn't a huge fan of She's Come Undone, but I've heard so many good things about I Know This Much Is True lately that I think I'm going to have to give it a chance.

Thanks for the review of The Secret History. It's on my ever-growing pile of books at home, but maybe I'll move it a little closer to the top. :)

well...I haven't read as much as I've wanted to this week. Still working on the Lamb book and still loving it.

Whisper - I'm really enjoying the Dahl audiobook as well!

Alynnk - I'll probably let my boyfriend read She's Come Undone first, so I can get another opinion before I venture into it. Plus I like to take breaks between reading books of the same author, so it'll be a while before I even consider it. I'm certainly intrigued though, especially ever since Smiler69 said (over at my 50 book challenge thread) that she ended up throwing it away before she finished it because she just couldn't stand it. Now why would I wanna read that, you ask. Because it takes a book of a certain caliber to provoke a reaction that strong. :)

So I decided to put some book pictures on my profile to make it a little more colourful :) Take a look.

Great pics, g-u-g!

looks good Eliza!
maybe I should clean-up, re-arrange and add some to my profile page too, you sure inspire me.
Anita

Thanks so much both of you!

Little update: I just finished I Know This Much Is True and all I can say is: "Wow!"
Review coming up tomorrow, as I just don't have the energy for it now - that book is so draining.

I love the photos! Makes me want to go out and do something creative with my camera. Or not. (Looks at her TBR pile.) Glad to see someone else likes the Emily the Strange books.

girlunderglass...
I am the adviser of a college newspaper and yearbook. How I wish the students who pull together these publications were as artistically talented as you!

Thanks for your great review of your recent read.

12. I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
Tags: 1980s, fiction, U.S.A.
Rating: ★★★★★

I don't know what I can say about this book that will make you go and read it NOW. I wish you would just go and read it because I said so, but that's not how these things work. So I'll start by stating boldly that I haven't read anything this good in a very long time. Although I'm not sure it's the best way to go with this one, let me lay out the plot for you a bit. I Know This Much Is True is essentially the story of two brothers: Dominick - our protagonist and narrator - and Thomas, his schizophrenic identical twin. They do not know who their real father is and their stepfather is...well...let's just say he's not a role model. Their family history is a big mystery. And their lives are pretty much as f***ed up as they can get. Sounds like a big cliché? If only all books were such stunning and heartbreaking clichés. Like all amazing works of literature, I Know This Much Is True contains little glimpses of life itself, scattered all over the place. Reading the words on every page feels a bit like sucking on your favorite lollipop - you just have to stop every now and then, the better to savour its taste. Me, I paused a bit after each paragraph. As soon as I started it I knew it would be one of those books...the ones you're sad to say goodbye to, the ones you want to keep reading forever. The storytelling is fantastic, nothing overdone, but nothing understated either. The plot is compelling and believable, the conclusion is realistic yet extremely touching, and the characters simply steal your heart. Not one person feels secondary in this book; everyone has a role, everyone has a story, there are no peripheral "flat" characters that are just there to fill a void. The book manages to discuss and explore religion, racism, identity, education, politics, war, parentage, jealousy, immigration, history, and pretty much everything in between. Also, bonus points go to the writer for the effort he has put into researching the issues that the book explores: Lamb has evidently done his homework on schizophrenia, on twin brothers. on the Italian immigration to America, on psychoanalysis, on the history and geography of the area where he places his characters and weaves his story. Like many reviewers of this book have done before me, I urge you not to be put off by its size. Believe me, as soon as you start reading it, you will want it to be long. There are about 5 novels that can brag about having made me cry. This is one of them.

Opening sentence: "On the afternoon of October 12, 1990, my twin brother Thomas entered the Three Rivers, Connecticut Public Library, retreated to one of the rear study carrels, and prayed to God the sacrifice he was about to commit would be deemed acceptable."

wow, great review Eliza!
My library has the book (Dutch translation), so I hope to read it soon.
Anita

I have to admit to intensely disliking I Know This Much is True so I have been surprised at its popularity and the fact so many people are saying its a must read. I tried it for about 100 pages and then put it on bookmooch!

I hope its gone to a home who likes it better than I did. I was just tediously bored by it all.

>98 lunacat: *shocked beyond words!!*
It's funny, the will-you-like-it bar is VERY sure that I probably won't like it. Maybe you should have continued beyond the 100 pages? Or maybe we just don't have similar tastes. I had the impression of it being one of those I-bet-even-my-grandma-would-like-this books. For everybody. But I guess there's no such think as a "universal" book. Even Harry Potter has haters out there *shock!* :) Oh, and I do tend to love depressing books. Nothing higher in my esteem than a book that will make me cry (and if it makes me cry and think like this one...well...:D)

>97 FAMeulstee: I really hope you do read it soon! Actually ever since I read it I keep telling people (online and not) about it and keep getting "oh yeah that's one of my favorites" reactions. And I'm just sitting there wondering: "Well why have you never MENTIONED it before???" I feel like there's been a conspiracy to keep this book from me and I finally managed to get to it. And I'm so glad I did!

Edit: that spell-check is useless

#99

I love depressing books as well but like I said..........was just totally bored by it! And I didn't think much of the main character or the story being told. I found myself yawning quite a lot, although it was good when I needed to get to sleep.

But like you said, not everyone likes every book. The will-you-like-it bar was very sure that I wouldn't like it and it was right.

Oh, I posted the book today so hopefully it will arrive soon.

Hey gug! I didn't want to say anything until you had finished I Know This Much is True, but I read Lamb's first book, She's Come Undone, at a friend's insistence, back when it first came out. I thought it was... okay. Enjoyed it, but nothing grabbed me enough to make me think I would read anything about Lamb again. Your review, however, makes me think I might at least give this book a look. And someone else here on LT said some really interesting and positive things about Couldn't Keep It to Myself: Wally Lamb and the Women of York Correctional Institution. So, you just never know. Great review in any case. I always like reading about someone's amazing experience with a book.

>96 girlunderglass: That's such a glowing review that I have to give Lamb another shot. :)

edited to fix wonky html tags.

>100 lunacat: I hope it goes to someone who will love it!

>101 theaelizabet: Oh darn. Did I tell you I just mooched that one? Don't worry though, I'm already inclined to like Lamb from the one I've just read, and we can't all like the same books can we? I want to read all of his books now - I don't think he's written too many, something like 4 or 5. Should not be too hard. I'm glad you enjoyed the review, I also love reading positive reviews rather more than negative ones :)

>102 ladydzura: Yay! I've just proselytized someone! :D

Oh, by the way, I've actually started reading...
*drum rollllllllllllllllllllllll*
Twilight !
Yes. I've decided to follow the hype rather than go against it. However, I did stick a Harry Potter bookmark in the book. I feared that if I didn't I would have recurring nightmares of a crazy, shoeless, dirty-haired J.K. Rowling chasing me in the streets and yelling "BETRAYAL!! BETRAYAAAAL!!!"

Your review of I Know This Much is True makes me want to give it another shot as well. I tried it when it first came out because I loved She's Come Undone, but my copy found its way to BookMooch as well.

I also have debated forever over Eva Luna and I think I may give that a shot also.

Great reviews!

#103

I don't think there is a rule that says if you like Twilight, it automatically means you have strayed from the Harry Potter path!! I felt similar to you but now I've read Twilight I'm quietly trying to dissuade myself from buying the next one. *sigh*

>104 browngirl: I think ESPECIALLY if you've read another of Lamb's books and loved it you should give it another chance. Run to your Bookmooch and remove it from your inventory and read it! :) And then you can list it again! :D

>105 lunacat: I've downloaded the audiobooks for the next ones just in case I find myself wanting to go on. I thought in the beginning it had more in common with HP, which is why I was a bit afraid, but the more I read it the more I see there really is no comparison. And I had no idea that she's already 16 when the first one starts, I thought she'd be younger! I'm enjoying it so far - although I have come across some lines that made me feel embarrassed that she actually wrote that (particularly some of Edward's lines, were just like "tell me he did not just say that!") I can't see any readers of the male persuasion liking this.

Edit: 17! She's 17! I might've been a little like pathetic when it came to boys myself around 14 -15. but not at 17! She's acting like she's 12.

I'm just catching up reading some of the 75 threads. I read around 50 to 100 posts a day so that shows how far behind I am. Nice range of books you've got going here. When I see your user name I always think of the short story by Elizabeth Hand called Cleopatra Brimstone.

The Secret History is one of my all time favourite books. Utterley brilliant and impossible to put down. What a contrast The Little Friend was. The opening chapters are slow and plodding and the storyline is unpleasant and not particularly gripping. I can hardly believe it is by the same author.

>107 VisibleGhost: Thanks! I've never heard of that story actually, should I seek it out?

>108 Annef12: I've heard many contrasting opinions regarding The Little Friend - some people have advised me against it, some people liked parts of it, and {Nancy Pearl} says it's one of her favorite books. I have no idea what to expect. I have I huge hardcover copy waiting for me whenever I decide to take the plunge. I'm not sure when that will be, though.

#106: I've read the first two Twilight books and don't feel too terribly guilty for reading them. I love vampires, so what the hey? :) And I do know what you mean about how sexually--maybe just romantically, in this case--immature Bella is. I think that has a lot to do with the author, who I believe is Mormon. They're usually the sort who hold out till marriage. (I was raised Mormon, so I know how a little backwards it sounds.) And no, I can't imagine any (straight) guy admitting he's read the Twilight series. :D Still, they're fun books, and I'll probably keep reading them. I just wish they weren't so freakin' long.

>106 girlunderglass:, 110

My male cousin is 14 and halfway through book three. He rolls his eyes at the mushier bits, but in general, seems to be enjoying the series. Enough to make it to book three, at least. :)

I've read the entire series, and found it to be nice, fluffy brain candy -- not a bad way to pass some time.

#111: I stand corrected. :) That's cool, because I was really wondering if any guys had read the series.

Well, I read the first one, and I'm a straight guy. However, I can't say I cared much for it, so I won't be reading the "series".

Yeah, you probably won't be missing much. I doubt it'll ever reach the whatever-number Books You Must Read Before You Die list, but it passes the time. Thanks for at least admitting to reading it. :)

Well, I don't see any "admitting" aspect about it. It's a popular book that everybody seems to be reading; I tried it; it's not for me. I wouldn't have found half the books I love if I hadn't tried something new.

109 girlunderglass- I tend to forget short stories not too long after I've read them but Cleopatra Brimstone is one that's stuck in my memory. It's rather haunting. The story is in one of her collections (can't remember which one) and is in several anthologies so it's not too difficult to track down should you decide to read it.

>106 girlunderglass: Sara, yeah, that would explain part of it. Although it doesn't explain why Bella is so obedient to Edward. She does whatever he asks, has no will of her own with him, it's pathetic. Plus, I know that teenage love can be quite obsessive, but WHO in the history of teenage girls EVER confesses it??? That's even more pathetic. I quote:

(Edward) "You're intoxicated by my very presence." He was grinning that playful smirk again.
(Bella) "I can't argue with that", I sighed.

Come on, girl!

I AM reading it, and maybe I will continue with the series, but I am very aware of Meyer's writing, which sometimes I find ridiculous and sometimes insulting. I suspect one of the reasons it gets on my nerves is because I can (almost) identify with Bella in certain parts of the book - not as I am now but as I felt as a teenager - and it's very scary to think that most girls act like that at some point because it truly is pathetic. I think it's a very sexist book in many ways - ironically, towards women, even though the protagonist AND writer are women. I can elaborate on this A LOT, believe me, but it'll take forever. And I'm sleepy :) Maybe I'll save it for the review. (?)

LOL! I forgot how cheesy it could be. And yeah, I don't know why she was so obedient. Maybe because he was a vampire? I have no clue on that one.

I could relate a little with Bella, and liked that she was a total klutz and average looking (probably something the author wanted readers to relate with as well); but what was the attraction for Edward? I never really understand why he fell for her other than she's forbidden?

And yes, I can see the sexism in it. I'm not sure if that's just how Stephenie Meyer writes or if it's for this story.

13. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Tags: 2000s, fantasy, YA, U.S.A.
Rating: ★★1/2

I don't usually make pro/con lists with books, instead basing my reviews on a sort of general feeling I get from reading them. I do however, have some sort of mental pro/con list where Twilight is concerned. I will start with the bad things. Meyer is not a good writer. That much is transparent from the very first pages. Not only that, but she appears to be very delusional/ignorant where relationships are concerned, at least for her age. Either that, or she's did the best she could to describe the behaviour of an idiotic teenage girl who is in desperate need of a shrink (note: not of an average teenage girl) in the hope that there are enough of those around the world to make Twilight a best-seller. Poor Bella tells Edward things like "You're driving me crazy" and "You're good at everything you do",and "You're doing it again...dazzling me", and "Look at me, I'm absolutely ordinary...and look at you!" and that her favorite gemstone is topaz because "It's the color of your eyes today" for Christ's sake. Raise your hand if you ever told that to the teenage boy/girl you had a crush on. That's what I thought. And here you thought I was being harsh on Meyer. Also, apart from the fact that it's corny and unrealistic, with some of the most vomit-inducing dialogues ever, the book is absolutely sexist: Bella obeys Edward in everything he says, she cannot live without him, she is totally helpless and he has to save her all the time, she is oh-so-fragile, she cries all the time, she cooks for her dad and goes shopping with her girlfriends but abandons everything to be with Edward etcetera. Because that's what women do, of course. Please. Give me Hermione over that pathetic self-pitying, obsessed, insecure girl anytime.

And since I mentioned Harry Potter I have to say this. I didn't want to make any comparisons between Meyer and Rowling, because it's kind of mean towards Meyer, but I couldn't help but note a very obvious thing. One of the very best things about the Harry Potter books is that Rowling touches upon some serious subjects (like slavery, racism, class differences, corruption, politics, family values, etcetera) always within the context of the story, cleverly imbuing the books with her own opinions without allowing the reader to glimpse her own authorial voice beneath the characters' beliefs. She does not have to resort to cheap declarations and definitions of her beliefs. Imagine if, instead of trying to illustrate slavery and oppresion through house-elves, or racism through the prejudice against "Mudbloods" she had just made Harry say "Slavery is very very bad and unjust. So is racism." That's what it felt like sometimes reading some of the words Meyer put in her characters' mouths. For example, take Meyer's opinion the origins of our humans/the Universe (remember Sarah Palin anyone?) :

Edward: "Well, where did you come from? Evolution? Creation? Couldn't we have evolved in the same way as other species, predator and prey? Or, if you don't believe that this whole world could have just happened on its own, which is hard for me to accept myself, is it so hard to believe that the same force that created the delicate angelfish with the shark, the baby seal and the killer whale, could create both our kinds together?"

Or take her transparent opinions on pre-marital sex:

"I'm curious now, though," he said, his voice light again. "Have you ever...?" He trailed off suggestively.
"Of course not." I flushed. "I told you I've never felt like this about anyone before, not even close"
"I know. It's just that I know other people's thoughts. I know love and lust don't always keep the same company."
"They do for me" (...)
"That's nice. We have one thing in common, at least." He sounded satisfied

Now I'm sorry but is that the best she could do? Ignoring the fact that I disagree with her opinions, it's pretty pathetic the way she tries and fails to make it sound like the characters' opinions instead of her own. It is perhaps one of the reasons why Edward never seems believable. If this is the way teenage girls will imagine the "perfect" man from now on, I really pity them, and hold Meyer responsible for making them believe a man who is obsessive, arrogant, aggressive, sexist, violent, and creepy, who demands obedience and uses physical force (even if he says it's for good), who clearly does not understand the concept of privacy and is a stalker to boot, is actually DESIRABLE. As far as I can see, the only qualities of Edward's mentioned throughout the book are that he's unbelievably beautiful, he's "muscular" and powerful, and he is oh so "perfect" and good at everything he does. (i.e. only physical traits) Oh yeah and that he has enough self-restraint not to eat Bella. A keeper this one, huh?

If the book had continued with the ridiculous corny conversations between Edward and Bella, the rating would have been much lower. However, it picked up towards the end and the last quarter of the book was actually fun. (after James and the Cullens came into the picture) So I'll mention some pros as well to justify my rating: very easy to read, not tiring, not intellectually demanding, suspenseful in its last half, quite fun in places, and I enjoyed the moments with the Cullens all together. After finishing the book I actually wanted to find out what happens next - though more to the Cullens as a family, not to Edward and Bella - so I suppose that's a pro as well. The book felt very girly and I think I would've enjoyed it much better as a delusional and/or daydreaming teenager - and with all my cynicism taken away from me.

Sorry to all the fans out there, if I've insulted you in any way, I would love to hear your thoughts on this, and if you disagree with my criticism I'd love to hear why.

Hey girlunderglass - nice review/rant about Twilight! :) I will add in my two sense, as someone who has read the entire series twice, but who, like you, absolutely worships the Harry Potter books.

So, I agree with all of what you say. Meyer is a poor writer, and her dialogue is cringe-worthy to say the least. Edward does control Bella, and Bella does have incredibly low self esteem.

That said, I did read the series a second time, so I obviously feel that it has some worth. First, I just think that it is a good story. The plots are exciting and they pull you forward. Yes, they are formulaic, but so are a lot of really amazing books. Also, like you noted, they are very easy to read, and require very little deep thought - they are book-candy.

I believe that there are two different types of Young Adult fiction - books that are written for YA audiences but also for the mind of an adult, and books that are written with the YA brain in mind. Twilight is the second. When you read it, you need to approach it as a 15 year old girl. When you read Harry Potter, you can be your adult self, but when you read Twilight, you need to think like a teen. You can't read into it, or try to analyse it, or find deep themes in it - they do not exist. However, you can have a fun couple of hours reading.

Also, the character of Edward would be perfect to a 15 year old girl (My apologies to any 15 year old girls who do not fit this stereotype. I taught a grade 10 English class last semester as part of my teachers' college program, and every girl in that class had read, or was reading, at least one of Meyer's books.). Yes, we see him as controlling, sexist, etc., but I don't think they would. To my students, Edward is gorgeous, intelligent, a talented musician, etc. Most importantly, this wonderful person loves a totally normal, everyday girl. Bella is not a model, she is not a genius, she is just a regular person. To teenagers who are struggling in a media world of perfect people, seeing a normal girl catching the attention of an Edward is definitely appealing.

Anyway, like I said, I don't in any way think that Meyer is a very good author, and your comparison with JKR is dead on, particularly when it comes to tough subjects. Harry Potter may be a YA book, but it really is just as deep as adult novels. Twilight, on the other hand, is not.

As for reading the others in the series, they are more of the same, and Bella is so pathetic in New Moon that I think you would really be driven crazy by her! :P

And....end rant - thanks for letting me post this ridiculously long message!!

Cait, as a fellow-ranter, I salute you! I love rants, so don't apologize ;)

You said: When you read it, you need to approach it as a 15 year old girl. When you read Harry Potter, you can be your adult self, but when you read Twilight, you need to think like a teen. You can't read into it, or try to analyse it, or find deep themes in it - they do not exist. However, you can have a fun couple of hours reading

You know perhaps that is my problem, that I cannot approach it as a 15-year old. Although I'm only 20 so 15 is not that far away. However, I want to say that I don't think the average 15-year old acts quite as mindlessly as Bella does, or that she would say all those corny things to someone she likes. Maybe she would think some of them, but not say them. Then again, perhaps we've hit on exactly what the attraction is for teenage girls - perhaps they would like a world where they can say all those embarrassing things they're thinking without having the boy laugh at them. Not only that, but the boy will overcompensate by saying even MORE than the girl (Edward has even cornier lines, if possible). My problem is I don't know how girls can think that those dialogues are actually believable and most of all desirable. Do you really want someone to tell you ALL THE FRIGGIN' TIME how good you smell?? And do you really want someone as overprotective and obsessed as Edward? Isn't it a bit creepy? The whole stalking her and reading her friends' thoughts to see what she said about him thing??? Do you really WANT that? (I don't mean you personally I mean it as a generalization) I know what you mean about how teenage girls would see him (protective, talented musician, good-looking, and most importantly different, out of the ordinary ) but that rather scares me because I don't understand why.

Also, I don't think Bella is supposed to be average-looking. She's just supposed to think she is, she is just insecure. Meyer hasn't said anything about her that isn't good, no characteristic that isn't pleasant or pretty. In fact, when she was being insecure, she had Edward tell her something like "You haven't seen the minds of all the boys in school when you first showed up - you don't know what they were all thinking" (paraphrasing here) - implying of course that they were all thinking how hot she was. That doesn't really happen when you're average-looking.

I'm ranting again. Oh boy. Well I just want to add that I might even read the rest to know what happens (not now, maybe at some point in the future) so I guess the story does keep you interesting like you said. I'm glad there are other things happening in the books beside E&B because that would get unbearable. :)

I have been adding a few stars and have decided to add you to my list of favorites. You've read some intersting stuff. I enjoyed I Know This Much is True enormously when I read it a few years back and appreciated your enthusiasm. Look forward to more. Did I read right, that you are in Greece? I love LT's ability to connect us book lovers to so many far reaching places.

>122 blackdogbooks: Thanks, I've been following your thread as well ;)
Yes, you read that correctly, I AM located in Greece. I totally agree that one of the best things about LT is you can get acquainted to people - and books - from all over the world! I'll be looking forward to hearing your takes on what I read!

I want to say thanks anyone that's given my Twilight review a thumbs-up (if any of you are watching this thread) and made it get on Hot Reviews, I was so happy to see it :D

I'm currently in the middle of:
♦ The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
♦ Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying by Roald Dahl (audiobook)

#123: I wish I could take credit for that, but I have no idea what Hot Reviews are. Congrats, though. :)

Sara , they appear on your home page somewhere - it's the reviews on LT with the most thumbs-up (per week, I think?). On a book's page (e.g. if you click on any book ) it shows reviews of it as well and you can give thumbs up to the ones you like. :)

I learn something new everyday! I did not know about the thumbs up feature on reviews.

Congratulations to you!

#125: Oh, that! (smacks forehead) Thanks for reminding me. I usually don't scroll that far down my Home page, so I rarely read the reviews. But now I see yours. Cool.

#126: Nice, huh? I've clicked on the thumbs-up for several reviews, but had no idea what it was for.

Glad you've learned something new, Whisper!

Sara, you can change the way your homepage looks, and put whatever features you're interested in most on top. That's what I did with Hot Reviews, I've put it on top on the right, it would have been pretty difficult to miss. (according to studies the human eye usually looks first to the right in a magazine or a newspaper, so I guess that also applies to webpages? )

Hey again - I just about died laughing as I read your response to my rant - my family probably thinks I am crazy, laughing at a computer screen :)

You are right re: Bella's looks. She is actually supposed to be pretty, and what I should have said would be that teens would appreciate that a girl who thinks she is average looking can attract a "perfect" boy.

Approaching a book from the viewpoint of an adolescent can be difficult (and I am only 22, so I am not really any farther from 15 than you!), especially once you have taken some university English classes - you just never look at a book in the same way again. I haven't decided if that is a good thing or not... sometimes I wish I could just READ, and not worry about themes or literary devices, or critical theory, or subliminal messages, etc. My brain is just too over-analytical! I think that is why I try to read YA books every so often - they give my brain a chance to breathe :)

On a totally unrelated note, I got the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows audiobook for Christmas, and am listening to it for the second time already - they are about to sneak into the MOM - it's amazing really, how much you can love a series of novels. I just never get tired of them! I thought you would understand my obsession - my HP-ridiculing friends certainly don't!

#129: It's amazing really, how much you can love a series of novels.

Cait, while I do not feel that way about the Harry Potter books, I do feel that way about some of my other book series (the 'In Death' series by J.D. Robb comes immediately to mind), so I completely understand. One of the reasons I love books is that they are like old friends waiting to revisit you every time you pick them up.

Interesting pictures on your profile page. DId you take them or are you the subject? I especially liked how the pictures feature reading and books. Very clever.

Interested on your take with War of the Worlds. I have been reading a lot of classics which have been made into various TV or movies over the years, Frankenstein Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, etc. I read The Time Machine and really enjoyed it; like the others I mentioned, the story was so much more interesting and suprising.

>129 Cait86: Cait, I certainly get you about HP :) And I have the same problem with my friends, most of them just make fun of the series, though it's usually people who never read anything anyway, so I try not to take their opinions too seriously. I DID however manage to make my boyfriend read the whole series and he quite liked them. He didn't reach the degree of obsession I did though - I think I started reading them at pretty much the perfect age: (started them at 13, finished the last one at 20) I was young enough for the books to make a lasting impression and for me to identify with the characters, but old enough to get the subtler themes and character development. Also, I got the chance to analyze, speculate, think and re-think about the books endlessly because of the long wait between them. Have you ever listened to Mugglecast? That was pretty much a weekly activity for me all these years , I was so sad when they stopped the podcasts :(

"Approaching a book from the viewpoint of an adolescent can be difficult (and I am only 22, so I am not really any farther from 15 than you!), especially once you have taken some university English classes - you just never look at a book in the same way again." So true.

>130 alcottacre: Never heard of the "In Death" series, Stasia. I haven't read many series at all, now that I come to think about it. I'm not sure why... Are there many books in the series? What kind of series is it? (Mystery/fantasy/romance/sci-fi etc)

>131 blackdogbooks: Thanks, I took all the pictures except one. What happens is I usually take pictures of the book covers that LT doesn't have so I can upload them, and then I get inspired by the books and how pretty they look. That explains the rather large number of reading pictures I've taken. Oh, and of course, when I go on trips I tend to take pictures of everything so the books I have with me also make it into the shots. Re The War of the Worlds, when I started reading it I hadn't realized it was so old... I would have guessed 1940s or something like that...and then I saw 1890something and was really impressed. The book doesn't feel old at all! I haven't read The Time Machine, this is my first Wells - I'll let you know what I think of it when I'm done. Unfortunately, tomorrow I have an exam in Cultural Theory, and will be having other ones as well in the next weeks so I won't have that much time to read anything except textbooks.

Before I read Harry Potter series, I too was quite cynical about it (and I confess I was also amongst those who ridicule people who love HP). One day, I saw Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in a friend's room, someone I regard highly in his choice of books and he recommended and loaned his copy to me. Now, I definitely like the series (though still not obsessed and still would refuse to put it in the same category as LOTR) and myself recommend them to anyone how hasn't read them.

The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine are the only two H. G. Wells books I have read and liked them both, I have The Island of Doctor Moreau and The Invisible Man in my this year's TBR list.

Hey Piyush,

If you want, you could put of one of the Wells titles until October. I will put one of them in the Halloween reading stack and we can read together.

Do you guys do anything approaching Halloweed in India?

Hi Mac,

Halloween is celebrated in some pockets of the country and the awareness as such amongst non-Christians is very low (unlike Christmas which is quite well known).

I can definitely put either or both of the titles till Halloween. I really enjoyed your Halloween readings last year and a few of those have made into my TBR list for this year, Frankenstein, The Exorcist amongst them. If you have your Halloween list for this year ready, do post it, any titles I want to read this year amongst them, I will put off till October.

I hope you enjoy The War of the Worlds. This book has a firm place in my personal top 5. You should listen to the Jeff Wayne musical version too (if you haven't already) - great fun!

Hmm... I started War of the Worlds after the film remake came out, and for some reason or other, never finished it (or at least I gather as much by the bookmark halfway through). That's another one of those books that I need to get around to finishing in the near future, since I know I enjoyed the amount I read...

I'd also like to listen to the famous Orson Welles rendition, (which by the way, was supposed to be as a Halloween special, since you mentioned it) but I can't seem to find it anywhere :(

Tell you what, Piyush......I ahve been loosely gathering a list for Halloween and I will put it on my profile page soon and you can take a look. One of your reads is actually on it, Woman in White. I know it's not the typical horror fare but I usually have good hauntings, mysteries, scifi, and the like on the list for October also. Give me a few days and I'll have something up.

#138 gug! I go away for a few days and all heck breaks loose here! For the famous broadcast try: http://www.mercurytheatre.info/ Scroll down a bit and download the original broadcast. And for an interesting take on the whole thing: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2008/03/07

>140 theaelizabet: that's the way I feel! some kinds of discussion going on here. Good stuff. :)

Glad you're enjoying the discussions everyone - theaelizabet, thanks for the links! And blackdogbooks I'll be checking your profile for the list!
I'm studying tons for my exams so don't have much time to read these days... but I'm learning some pretty interesting stuff, so what the heck? It's still reading!

Hey there girlunderglass! I'm planning on adding my thumbs up to your review. I could practically hear your voice in my head with the emphasis on this or that - just a great review. You've convinced me that I don't need to read any Twilight books. And that's a good thing - there are too many great reads out there, and I won't live forever.

Do they celebrate Halloween in Greece? I seem to be taking a poll. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays!!!!

Ditto here, blackdogbooks. I think most countries have something similar to it, but I don't know about Greece. I'm interested to know.

Good evening dear fellow Halloween lovers!
I'm not exactly sure why, but I do love Halloween. I think I have as many halloween decorations as Christmas ornaments.

we don't celebrate Halloween but something similar to it...more like a carnival :) We don't go to people's houses to trick or treat but we dress up and go out into the streets (think something like what goes on every year at Rio de Janeiro although on a smaller scale). It's always January through February, especially the end of February. The biggest one in Greece is at Patras - you can read more about the Patras carnival here , it's quite famous, I think. Anyway, I wrote it on the Kitchen somewhere but we plan to have a LOST-themed party this weekend, in honor of the carnival, and we're dressing up as characters from the show. However, because my boyfriend is half-American we DID celebrate Halloween the past two years, got a pumpkin and everything... I LOVE dressing up in different costumes (especially spooky ones) so count me in as a Halloween (and Carnival) lover! :D Greece is pretty big on Carnival celebrations and Easter ones, but they're lousy at Christmas celebrations and New Year's ones, which is why I tend to spend them somewhere else.... ANy other holidays we haven't mentioned? :P

thanks for the link re. Patras. I learn something new every day here on LT. This looks and sounds like a fun event.

gug, I have a Halloweed/October reading list up on the profile. Enjoy. If you decide to read any of them in October, let me know and we can coordinate the reading!

>132 girlunderglass:: Oh yes, I listen to Mugglecast. Not every week, but pretty often. Sometimes I waited until they typed up the shows and read them instead - takes less time, but then you miss the antics of the hosts. Mugglenet is a great website - it was better when the books were still coming out because then there were editorials and theories to read, but I love reading the movie updates!

Good luck with your exams!

#147 - sounds like fun - hope you have (had?) a fantastic party! I've always been a bit sad that since leaving university, Halloween has seemed to have disappeared off the calendar (I don't even really get trick-or-treaters where I live)...

sorry for not posting any review is a long time everyone. I've been SO busy what with studying and our LOST party that I haven't had any time for reading. I am absolutely exhausted and really hope this week will be a little less crazy and more relaxed.

blackdogbooks, count me in for the Halloween reading - although it is a tad early :)

Happy reading to you all!
I cannot wait to graduate and start working. At least I'll have something to show for my effort. (yes, I know, I say that now...)

Yes, it is a tad early......that's why I was curious about the posts encouraging me to put my list together. But I have had several responses to the list already (scratches his head). So, I am going to keep track of who wants to do the read together and then, as we get closer, put an order together that serves everyones interest.

14. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Tags: 1890s, fiction, sci-fi, U.K.
Rating: ★★★

One of the books that set the foundation for subsequent science-fiction novels, War of the Worlds is a tale of a Martian invasion of Earth. The book is split into two sections, the first titled The Coming of the Martians and the second The Earth Under the Martians. For a book that is only 200 pages long, it took me a long time to get into it. All throughout the first part of the novel I kept thinking "yes, okay, the Martians are frightening and literally bloodthirsty, the protagonist has been separated from his wife and home and the whole of England is being destroyed, but why don't I care?" It seemed to me that Wells never makes you feel anything for the protagonist, nor his brother, who features prominently in the story and whose "adventures" bored me to death. It is also perhaps a mark of of the age I grew up in that I didn't even wince while reading the same gory descriptions of disembodied human parts, burning buildings and cadavers that shocked Wells's readers in the 19th century.

However, after reading half of the novel I finally stopped expecting character development and stopped hoping the protagonist's ordeal would move me. For I realized that the narrator is not, in fact, the real protagonist of this book. The real protagonist here is the whole of humanity and Wells is excellent at exposing and ridiculing the folly of the human race. For me, The War of the Worlds is best read as a satire on Victorian culture. First of all Wells critiques imperialism and colonialism in a very poignant way. Thus, the same British Empire that is constantly invading other countries is now being invaded by a more powerful race that merely wants to expand its territory and pays no regard to human lives. The invasion literature of the time that wants Britain attacked by a foreign force (typically Germany) is also ridiculed when Britain is in fact attacked by aliens. Furthermore, Wells mocks his contemporaries for still clinging obsessively to religion, after proofs to the contrary offered by Darwin's theories and by the (then) recent developments in geology, anthropology, astronomy and other sciences. In the book, a clergyman who considers the coming of the Martians to be the biblical Armageddon and prays for God to save humanity is presented as mentally disturbed and is, eventually, punished for his outdated views. Wells' message is more than obvious. The Martians are never presented as mysterious, supernatural beings that no one understands. In fact the detailed description of their anatomy and their possible evolution process was, in my opinion, one of the most interesting parts of the novel. Never before have the words "science-fiction" been more aptly used to describe a book. The War of the Worlds is exactly that - a book in which all the ideas are based on actual scientific theories enriched by Wells's imagination.

Conclusion? The second part is much better than the first one; once you accept that you're not gonna care whether the narrator reunites with his wife or not and instead try to observe how the entire human race reacts to the invasion, the book can only get better.

My thoughts about the book were very much like yours when I read it last year. I was at one point thinking of giving up reading the book after a very un-engaging start (glad I didn't do it). I finally rated it three and a half stars, an additional half star as a tribute to H. G. Wells's creativity in so clearly depicting the machines so early in 19th century!

Thanks for the welcome message on my 75 Challenge! I enjoyed your review of Twilight, it makes me even more apprehensive to read it (I promised a friend I would). I'm still trying to figure out the concept of why an immortal being would want to spend eternity in high school... Because there's so much to learn? Because it's such a fun place? Blah.

Otherwise, I did enjoy The Secret History as well - that seems to be our only connecting book. I liked how you only see the story unfold from the narrator's point of view and how delusional he could be about himself and the relationships of his friends.

Hi there :) I just left a message, but don't think I'm stalking you, just wanted to come check out your list and my, what a list it is.

After reading your review for Smilla, I think we actually liked it more equally than you would think. I may have expressed myself slight unbalanced in my review...I tend to do that when I think I'm going on for too long and haven't gotten to the bad parts yet. I completely agree with you that the mechanic was truly unnecessary and the "murderer" should have been more integral to a book that claimed to be a murder mystery. But I think the character of Smilla was so overwhelming (in a good way) to me, that I wrote about that and forgot to write about the rest :)

I've been really wanting to read A Secret History for awhile now, but I haven't been able to mooch a copy...I'll have to put it on my TO BUY pile, your review makes me want to read it, as I love characters. If a book has good characters, I'm drawn in. If I want to throttle them by the 3rd chapter...not so much! (Sorry for hijacking back!)

>155 PiyushC: Yes, actually, I was between 3 and 3 and a half stars myself. I ultimately decided on three because for me 4 means I loved it, so that would make three and a half almost loved it. Which I didn't. I merely liked it. I'm overanalizing again. Annoying tendency of mine, sorry. But yes, machines! 19th century! I was quite impressed with that myself.

>156 Cauterize: Haha that's a valid question. I guess it's because since he looks 17 people would wonder why he's not going to school? Believe me that would be the least of your problems with the book! Now re The Secret History I was very surprised towards the end when we get glimpses of how his "friends" see him, and it's very different from how he sees himself. I'm trying new genres that I haven't read before this year so - who knows? - we might find other books we have in common as well :)

>157 Ambrosia4: I get that quite a lot as well...sometimes after I write a review I have this feeling that I haven't pinpointed exactly how I felt about it. And then I read someone else's review and go "that's what it felt like" and feel thoroughly annoyed at myself for not expressing myself properly. But I'm getting better at just accepting that everyone notices different things in a book, and everyone is best at expressing a particular side of it. That's why I love reading multiple reviews of a book after I've written one myself. It puts the book into perspective :) Oh, and I'm also a characters' person. If the book has both plot and nice character development that's great, but if I have to pick one of the two I go for characters. I hate "flat" characters, and I hate stereotyped ones even more. A complicated plot/storyline is just the icing on the cake for me. One of my favorite writers ever is J.D. Salinger, and nothing much ever happens in his books. It's just the characters that make them so special. Did I mention I also have another annoying tendency - to elaborate?

#157 and 158, please tell us more about that!

>159 blackdogbooks: touché!

>158 girlunderglass: See, I like your elaborations, because they remind me of myself when I get all excited about something and ramble and can't shut up about it. I do it all the time, but I'm kind of self-conscious about it, so it takes me forever-and-a-day to write my reviews sometimes, because I put a whole bunch of stuff in and then take it out because I don't think that anyone will actually care to read it.

My message was not left to imply that I don't enjoy your ramblings also.....That's what these places are for. So, what do you think about.................?

>161 ladydzura: That's what I think too (that noone will actually care to read it) but surprisingly there always IS someone. And also, I love other people's ramblings so I guess it makes sense I'm not the only one that does. (if you feel like ranting I will definitely read it, since I'm following your thread so at least you're sure to have one person doing it :) )

>162 blackdogbooks: hehe I didn't take what you said as a bad thing don't worry! :)

I've finished Over to You and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time but because of a very busy weekend (best friend's birthday, grandmother's birthday, me & my boyfriend's 2-year anniversary and his departure for Spain) I didn't have time to write any reviews. I will rectify that as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, I want to try something different in March.
Since it's the first month of spring - regeneration, birth, bloom and all that - I decided to only read authors that are new to me during this month. But not anynew authors. Well-known or important authors that I really should have read (at least one book by them) but somehow never got around to. I plan to read my first ever Jane Austen, Terry Pratchett, P.G. Wodehouse and maybe Ursula K. Le Guin. I will probably add some more authors along the way. There it is: my plan. I hereby declare March Month of the Firsts. If anyone should care to join me in my project you are more than welcome :D

Which Austen is it going to be? I read my first last year Emma and enjoyed it a great deal. This month, Pride and Prejudice for me.

Emma it is! (It's the only one of Austen's that I own a copy of :P)

I noticed that you said you moved you "Hot Reviews" portion of your home page. How did you do that?

on your homepage, right next to your username there's a "Customize this page" link. You click on it. And the little boxes are not only tickable (i.e. you can disable or enable some functions on your homepage) but they are also draggable! (i.e. you can decide which function goes where) Just drag the box that says Hot Reviews where you want it and that's it :D

Thanks!!!!!!

>165 girlunderglass:: I'll probably do my year's second Austen in March: Persuasion.

> 163

If you are planning to read P.G. Wodehouse, may I recommend the Jeeves & Wooster series - Wodehouse at his very best! I've added a link to the list of books in published order below, as I found that although the books may be read independently of each other, it does help to read them in order as the author is wont to reference people and events as detailed in his earlier books. Don't feel compelled to start with the short stories however, the first novel Thank You, Jeeves (1934) is fine.

The list also notes the differences between UK and US titles, which can be a little confusing.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_by_P._G._Wodehouse#Jeeves

>158 girlunderglass:: LOL, I'm trying to branch out my genres as well. I worry that everyone sees my list and thinks I'm crazy-obsessed with romance novels. I just want to count everything I plow through towards my total :) Romance just tends to bookend whatever non-romance book I'm reading.

Actually, looking at your #163...I just started The Left Hand of Darkness because I can't believe I had never heard of Ursula K. Le Guin back when I read a ton of SF. If you pick that book, I'd love to hear your opinions! I read my first Austen last year and I found The Annotated Pride and Prejudice (link done manually -touchstone won't work) explaining for us late-comers.

Edited to fix the link

>169 TadAD: What was your first one? And, most importantly, did you enjoy it?

>170 petermc: Thanks so much for the list...the thing is, however, I plan to read those books that I already own. So my first one will be Enter Jeeves: 15 Early Stories. But that's okay, if I like it, I'll be sure to put Thank You Jeeves high on my wishlist of books-to-buy :)

>171 Cauterize: YES! That is the one I will read :) I've never been a science-fiction fan but, like we were both saying, branching out has never done anyone any harm and I've heard a lot of praise for this woman here on LT. I think I might start my month with The Left Hand of Darkness too - in which case we'll be reading it almost simultaneously :D I do have an exam on Wednesday though so I have strict rules about not reading anything except textbooks the day prior to my exam - because if I do I find my mind keeps wandering back to the story instead of staying focused on the study material...

>172 girlunderglass:: I'm reading two Austens a year. Last year I read Pride and Prejudice and Emma. In January of this year I read Sense and Sensibility—Persuasion will be my second.

I have enjoyed them all so far. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite, followed closely by Emma. Sense and Sensibility was good but I didn't care for the main character quite as much as I did in the other two, so I would put it a notch down.

ETA: You might want to find a copy of What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool. It's a well-written guide to 19th century life that explains a lot of things you'll encounter in the books. It's interesting enough that I read the entire thing on its own.

I think I will look for What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew. I am obsessed with that period of British history. Thanks Tad.

What Jane Austen Ate... sounds interesting - shall have to look it up...

I'm so envious of you being right at the beginning with Jane Austen - I've run out now, so can only sate my Austen-thirst by re-reading... My favourite is Persuasion, but Pride and Prejudice comes a close second...

Thanks for the recommendation TadAD!
And now for some due February reviews.




15. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Tags: 2000s, fiction, mystery & crime, U.K.
Rating: ★★★1/2

" Mrs. Peters's husband is a vicar called the Reverend Peters, and he comes to our school sometime to talk to us, and I asked him where heaven was, and he said, "It's not in our universe. It's a different kind of place altogether." The Reverend Peters makes a funny ticking noise sometimes with his tongue when he is thinking. And he smokes cigarettes and you can smell them on his breath and I don't like this.
I said that there wasn't anything outside the universe and there wasn't another kind of place altogether. Except that there might be if you went through a black hole, but a black hole is what is called a singularity, which means it is impossible to find out what is on the other side because the gravity of a black hole is so big that even electromagnetic waves like light can't get out of it, and electromagnetic waves are how we get information about things that are far away. And if heaven was on the other side of a black hole, people would have to be fired into space on rockets to get there and they aren't or people would notice.
I think people believe in heaven because they don't like the idea of dying, because they won't to carry on living and don't like the idea that other people will move into their house and put their things into the rubbish."

Meet 15-year old Christopher Boone, a kid with Asperger's Syndrome whose dream is to become an astronaut. Christopher likes maths and science and puzzles. And he also likes animals. So when his neighbour's dog is killed he goes on a quest to find out who did it. It's hard being a detective when you have difficulties communicating with people, and a dozen other "behavioral problems" but Christopher does it anyway; and when he finds out who the murderer is, the revelations that follow turn his world upside down.

That's pretty much the storyline. I had no idea what rating I would give the book. While I was reading it I knew I was enjoying it very much: Christopher's little rants about maths puzzles, about the universe, about the inexplicable behaviour of his fellow humans, and about himself are lovely. Even now I find myself thinking about them and quoting them very often. But at the same time I didn't get the feeling that I was reading a great book. I think that has a lot to do with the writing. In Haddon's attempt to portray Christopher as realistically as possible, he makes him employ a simple, logical, undemanding and unsentimental language - which is indeed very effective in creating the impression that we're actually in Christopher's head. The problem with this, however, is that even after having read the book I still can't tell if Haddon is a good or a bad writer. On the one hand I cannot say the writing is beautiful - sometimes the book feels like reading a science book and sometimes like a teenager's diary. On the other hand, that is after all, the effect the author was trying to create: that the novel is written by a science-obsessed teenager with certain behavioral issues who views the world very logically. I must say I would be very curious to read something else by Haddon, if only to see how his writing differs from this book. That said, I did enjoy this one quite a bit and I think it is definitely worth the very short time it will take you to read it.



You can also read the book online here.

Great review, GUG. I thought much the same about the book. I did think that he did a good job 'getting into the head' of Aspergers. I have to wonder that he has personal (?family) with this disorder, as he does have big insight into their 'interior world'.

I know that Nick Hornby has a kid with Autism, but he has not written about it yet.

The stats show that the highest risk profession is Engineers and that it increases with increased paternal age - so perhaps that explains the recent higher incidence with later childbearing.

Thanks for the great reveiws! I loved Mark Haddon's book. I also second the recommendation regarding What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew...It is worth the read!

Hello. I'm enjoying your reviews. I wish I could articulate my thoughts about books so clearly.

If you liked the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time you might like some of Temple Grandin's books. She's an Autistic woman who has grown up and become one of the world's leading experts on livestock. They're nonfiction, so take it or leave it. Animals in Translation is a great book, where she talks about her mind, the human mind, and the minds of animals. It's really illuminating.

A couple of things: The first time I read Emma, I loved it. It was my first Austen, and somehow I had completely missed the fact that it's the basis for the the movie "Clueless" -- the entire time I was reading it, I couldn't believe how similar they were. And then this huge lightbulb went off, and then I felt ridiculous. After Emma, I read Pride and Prejudice, which is, to this day, one of my favorite books ever. (Just how favorite? I have a website -- I suppose you could call it a blog, but I hate that word, so I don't) and the name of it comes from one of my favorite P&P quotes.) After P&P I tried Sense and Sensibility but just couldn't get into it -- like Tad said, I just didn't like the main character as much. Eventually I made my way back to Emma and didn't like it nearly as much as I did the first time around. Maybe P&P just spoiled me?

What Terry Pratchett are you going to read? I have a couple of his that I was given as gifts years ago but have never gotten around to.

As for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I totally agree with you. While I enjoyed the heck out of it, the writing style was so different that I couldn't tell if I actually liked it. If that makes sense.

A good first Pratchett is Good Omens, written with Neil Gaiman, or maybe one of the Science of Discworld Books.

I love the Disc, but a lot of them are riffing on fantasy tropes. Good Omens is set in the modern day and a bit more accessable to asomeone who might not be a huge fan of the genre.

Thanks all for your nice words re the reviews and for the recommendations, I will make sure to do some more "investigating" on the books you mentioned!

>180 ladydzura:: "As for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (...) while I enjoyed the heck out of it, the writing style was so different that I couldn't tell if I actually liked it. If that makes sense"
It makes perfect sense. That's exactly what I was trying to express in my review.

My Pratchett read is going to be The Colour of Magic as I've mooched it and I'm waiting for it to arrive. I've also mooched Good Omens and should get that this month I think but I don't want to read a co-written work as my first Pratchett. I want to be able to discern - or at least try to - which bits are Gaimanesque and which Pratchettesque when I read it :)

So far I have these planned for March, my Month of the Firsts (I never get tired of saying that!):

♦ The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
♦ Emma by Jane Austen
♦ Enter Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
♦ Jazz by Toni Morrison
♦ The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, which I've already started and am enjoying very much so far!

I will maybe add some more, depending on how much time my exams will leave me with.

I want to join in on your Month of Firsts but I'm sure I'll never be able to stick to just first reads! I have my first Gaiman read coming up-- The Graveyard Book-- and Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights because I haven't read either Bronte sister. I also plan to pop my long-overdue Austen cherry by reading Emma this month just as soon as my copy gets here from BookMooch. If any of these books is as good as the hype, I'll never be able to refrain from reading more! I've already sort of cheated... Coraline is already ordered and on its way. Damn The Book Depository for free shipping to Australia! How dare they launch a multinational conspiracy to empty my bank accounts!

#173 Tad

Thanks for reminding me of What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew! I was given that book as a gift a while back and I haven't read it yet. It will go beautifully into my Books about Books and Authors category and I'm sure to love it because those are two of my favorite authors.

In reading Jane Austen--when you get to Northanger Abbey you need to be aware that this is a "spoof" of the Gothic novel (such as Ann Ward Radcliffe wrote) that were popular at that time. If you keep that in mind, it is a very amusing book--but not her usual "comedy of manners."

>182 girlunderglass: 'Month of the Firsts' -- first time reads? I went back to see if you defined it more, but I didn't find it. I assumed so because of msg 183...

So far this year out of 41 books I've had 3 re-reads. But I must say the regencies hardly count as 'books' (with one re-read); 25 or so would probably be a more fair number for the total :)

Susan - I explain it all in msg 163!
I mean I will only read writers by whom I've never read ANY books - mostly writers that everyone's raving about or that are considered "classics" but that I've always for some reason managed to avoid. :)

>Musicmom...I'm not sure if I'll get to Northanger Abbey. Let's see if I like Emma first!

>shewhowearsred Hey that sounds great! That's already 4 writers you've never read (Gaiman, C.Bronte, E.Bronte, Austen)! :D Re "The Book Depository" I've looked on their website many times and - can you believe it? - never ordered anything? I'm resisting the conspiracy!! :) Haven't read the Graveyard Book, but I have read two others by him and I must say his stories are quite peculiar - they have this certain vibe characteristic of him. Don't know how to describe it really. I guess what I'm trying to say is that he definitely has his own particular voice and style. I'm curious to read your reviews because I think I'd find it very hard to rate and/or review his books.

I love your list for March, you've got some pretty good books in there. I would definitely say don't read Northanger Abbey unless you have read some of the gothic novels that it spoofs. I don't like that gothic type genre and so really didn't like Northanger Abbey and would have given up on it if it hadn't been an audiobook.

Hi Eliza, Emma was my first Jane Austen too and it was a fascinating read, the characters specifically were very strong and well plotted and the story wasn't too hung up on the lead character, Emma. Hopefully, you would like it too, I also plan to start with P.G.Wodehouse and Terry Pratchett this year, would be interested therefore in your views about them.

>186 girlunderglass: Thx for the update. While it's too late for the month to be entirely that way for me (I'm on my second re-read, 4th of the year), I'll see if I can't do, at the very least, Last of the Mohicans by Cooper. If I pick up any more firsts, I'll let you know :)

just wanted to pipe in and say that if you don't enjoy Colour of Magic, don't give up on Terry Pratchett - while it's a good point to start, being the first Discworld and all, I'd say it's one of his less universally loved books...

Re Good Omens, totally agree with your separate author point - it is a real mish-mash of the two authors. It was the first book I read by/with Neil Gaiman and the funny thing is that, re-reading it (it is great), after lots of Gaiman's stuff, my opinion over whose idea was which almost completely reversed...

GUG: what flissp says :)

(I love love love Good Omens. I forgot to take my beloved and battered copy with me when I went to see Pratchett in Edinburgh last year, so obviously I had to rush to Waterstone's and, um, buy another just so I could get it signed....)

Hi, I just came by this website by accident today! What a thrill! The Secret History is one of my favorite novels of all time, but The Little Friend was a disappointment. I just couldn't get into it...glad I'm not the only one! It might be easier if I had somone to communicate with while attempting to read it again. I am definitely going to grab The Buddha of Suburbia, thanks for the recommendation. Girlunderglass, you have a terrific list and I will definitely adopt some of these to my 2009 TBR list.
Thanks everyone!

#191 Rachel - I love that story! ...I have to confess, I've never quite forgiven a certain mate of mine, who I lent my original copy and then lost it - I'll not be lending her any more books ;) - so, of course, I had to go and get a replacement... Got it signed by both of them now :)

GUG, hope you enjoy Jazz. I read it last year. I have slowly been reading Morisson's work. Every novel, I say to myself, I'm not going to like this one, and then I end up enjoying it a great deal. She is an unusual and powerful writer and often evokes strong reactions. Jazz is an unusual one to start with but a good one.

I tried to read Beloved by Toni Morrison, because I've heard she's such a wonderful writer, but I just couldn't get past the first few pages. It just didn't interest me, which was a shame.

>195 shewhowearsred:: Nikki, I'd endorse giving it another try later! The first time I tried to read Beloved, I couldn't get past 50 pages. I came back to it 6 months later, and found that not only did those 50 flow more easily, I also could move beyond them, and I'd now count it amongst my favourite books - incredibly powerful. The cryptic ghosty stuff near the beginning is a bit hard to really engage with though.

Rachael, you've just saved Beloved from BookMooch! I'll give it another go. I really do want to like it and finally understand what everyone is always going on about!

>197 shewhowearsred:: some people really do seem to dislike it.... but I'd definitely give it one more try before you add it to your inventory. Mind you, I am a bit of a Morrison nut (did a dissertation on her as part of my finals). I haven't read A Mercy yet, but that's only because I'm "saving it up" :)

This review is due from February! (Yes, I know, it's just that I've been so busy with studying. The good news is that my last exam is on Friday and from then on I'll be able to spend more time reading and reviewing and reading other people's threads - yay!)



16. Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying by Roald Dahl
Tags: 1940s, short stories, U.K.
Rating: ★★★

This is one of Dahl's earliest short story collections - and even if you hadn't read that on a site somewhere or in this review you would have realized it yourself. Dahl is still experimenting with writing: he knows what he wants to narrate and why he wants people to hear his stories, but it is blatantly obvious that he doesn't yet know how to do so; he is searching for the form and writing style that would best fit his purpose. That is by no means saying that the writing is bad. It is merely a beginner's writing who doesn't trust his own skills yet - an extremely talented beginner's, for sure, but a beginner's nonetheless. Dahl draws from his experience as a pilot during WWII and sets his stories mostly in places he actually served and fought in - mainly Egypt and Greece - and the descriptions of the setting, of the locals and their lives have the ring of authenticity. Moreover, his portrayals of his compatriots and the fragments of conversation going on between them are funny and sometimes moving at the same time. So what is the problem? There is the fact that certain scenes seem to repeat themselves over and over in the various stories; some expressions and words are constantly used in similar situations, as if the writer doesn't not dare to stray from the reality of what happened in the least, does not dare trust his imagination. Dahl hadn't discovered yet that single most handy of devices that would make his children's stories so unique and beloved all over the world: invention. If the words that are available to you are not enough to say what you want them to say, just make up your own words. In Over To You he seems to make do with what's handed to him. Still, the collection is an interesting read indeed, if only because it shows a different aspect of Dahl's writing and personality. Because it shows us that the man who needs to take refuge in children's stories, imaginary worlds and fairy tales is a man shaped and scarred by his experiences during the war.

Thanks very much for this review. February was my Roald Dahl month and I read many of his books. I know there still are more and I didn't know of this one. I'm heading to the library later today for this one!

96: I picked I Know This Much Is True up in highschool after reading She's Come Undone and enjoying it. I enjoyed She's Come Undone, but I was stunned by I Know This Much Is True. I COULD NOT put it down. I stayed up all night reading a couple days in a row, and took it to every class with me to get a few paragraphs in here and there while teachers weren't looking. One of my teachers noticed how tired I looked and asked if everything was ok at home! (luckily, she was my English teacher so she got it when I told her that I was just reading a *really* good book). Anyway, I think your review is spot-on.

I was anxious to get my hands on The Hour I First Believed when it came out, but was a little disappointed with it in the end. Certainly, there were many parts that I thought were really good, and the book as a whole was quite entertaining, but I didn't feel like Lamb had managed another gem. It's hard to put my finger on. Maybe it's that I found the book a little cluttered, or that it contained too many thematic threads and characters. Not sure, it may just be a question of personal taste.

Does anyone care to share their opinions of The Hour I First Believed? On its own or as it compares with Lamb's other books? Forgive me if this has already been addressed... I haven't made it through the whole discussion history yet :)

Congrats on finishing your exams!

I finished Left Hand of Darkness... haven't quite figured out what I'm going to rate it. Tt's hard because I don't know what to say about it; I'm letting it stew in my brain for awhile. So many underlying themes she packed in there to think about...

Whisper, you're very welcome!

Nursejane - I wish I could say more on the subject but I haven't read any other books by Lamb so I don't know how they compare to IKTMIT. I really hope that I didn't just get lucky and picked his best, because I really really want to love his other ones as well. I have She's Come Undone waiting on a bookshelf but I'm kind of saving it for...uhm..later :) So you think I Know This Much Is True is the better of the two?

Cauterize, I mean NEXT Friday, unfortunately, so I'm not quite done yet. I haven't finished Left Hand yet but usually when I read a book I get some ideas as to what I might write in my review. Not this time. Like you, I haven't got a clue.
I'm reading it really slowly for some reason but I'm enjoying it tremendously. :)

Quick update: the book titles in my first post - where I track my progress - now link to the messages in this thread where the specific books have been reviewed. A big big big THANKS! to Shewhowearsred for posting the HTML codes on her thread - this system is so much better than what I used to have!

17. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Tags: 1960s, fiction, sci-fi, U.S.A.
Rating: ★★★★1/2

"Our entire pattern of socio-sexual interaction is non-existent here.(...) There is no division of humanity into strong and weak halves, protected/protective. One is respected and judged only as a human being. You cannot cast a Gethenian into the role of Man or Woman, while adopting towards "him" a corresponding role dependent on your expectations of the interactions between persons of the same or opposite sex. It is an appalling experience for a Terran..."

Genry is sent to the planet called Gethen as an envoy, his mission being to further the cause of the Ekumen - an alliance of various planets, including Earth, that would like to count Gethen amongst its members. He is sent there alone so as to prevent Gethenians from seeing him as a threat, and so he can explain to them the benefits they would experience if they were to be part of the Union: benefits economic, scientific, medicinal, political and, of course, cultural. His mission, however, is complicated by many factors. For one thing, Genry is considered a "pervert" because he is not androgynous and because his sexual potency is not limited to a few days per month - he is in constant "kemmer". For another, while his reproductive system is considered abnormal, such cases have been known to exist on Gethen and so many do not believe that he comes from another planet, having never seen an "alien" before. In fact, no birds or any sort of winged animals exist on Gethen and therefore, not only do they not believe it is possible to build spaceships, but they think it impossible to fly at all. "How could it ever occur to a sane man that he could fly?", asks one Gethenian. Further complications arise when political considerations get in the way of the mission; when leaders that are suppose to care for the general good of all mankind, are too blinded by personal interests and territorial disputes to see the bigger picture.

Because of the ambiguous sexuality of the Gethenians, who are potentially both Man and Woman, the novel is often seen as a study on gender and sexuality. It is true that by using an alienating device (no pun intended) to great effect, Le Guin makes us reconsider gender roles. She manages to explore the way in which such a trivial factor as sex can determine our entire roles in society and shape out behaviour patterns that we follow through life. But The Left Hand of Darkness amounts to so much more than gender study. There are so many layers of meaning! Le Guin creates a whole world filled with the myths, legends, religions, popular beliefs and traditions of a rich and complex society. Many of these are interspersed throughout the book not necessarily to advance the story but, it seems, for the single purpose of enriching our experience. The ideologies and unspoken rules of behaviour that surface through the Gethenians' speech and through their actions make it possible for us to see their true nature. We recognize that the inhabitants of this cold planet (nicknamed "Winter" by Earthlings) are so very different, yet at the same time so similar to us; that they are unmistakably human. Le Guin does not only teach us about gender, but also about friendship and trust, about politics, about tradition, about respect, about patriotism and about bigotry, about lies and truth, about ambiguity, about the acceptance of the Other, whether that Other is of a different gender, or of a different colour; whether that Other is merely an inhabitant of a different country, or whether he is a strange black alien who is considered a pervert because he "must carry always his sexual organ outside himself" . The truth is I haven't read many science-fiction novels, but it doesn't take an expert to tell that this is one of the best.

Wonderful review! I've never read anything by Ursula K. Le Guin, but I've wanted to. I think I'll start with this one. Thanks for the recommendation.

Great review!

thank you both! I'm not usually big on sci-fi, but this one was wonderful! So far, it's my second favorite of the year, after I Know This Much Is True :)

Wow, I've never read any Le Guin, but I always thought she was just another fantasy author. My partner has her Earthsea Quartet, which I mean to read sometime this month (in time for your Months of the Firsts!). I didn't even know she wrote sci-fi, much less sci-fi with gender themes. Great review! I think I'll bump up the Earthsea Quartet on my TBR list.

Ohh-- forgot to say you're welcome for the HTML codes. Yours look great! Glad to have helped.

>209 shewhowearsred:: shewhowearsred

"I didn't even know she wrote sci-fi..."

There have only been 18 novels that have won both of science fiction's big awards, the Hugo and the Nebula, and only three authors (I think) have done it more than once. Le Guin was one with The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed. She's also got maybe seven or so other science fiction books, some of them quite good.

She's definitely a science fiction presence in addition to being a well-regarded fantasy author. Definitely try both genres of her work.

Yes, Le Guin is definitely known for sci-fi and fantasy...at least that's the impression I got from everyone even before I read any of her books.

Currently reading:
Enter Jeeves: 15 Early Stories ! Continuing my MOTF* with my first Wodehouse :D

*Month of the Firsts. Duh. Where have you been??

Congratulations for the "Hot Review"! We have 3 75ers on the hot review list today! Your review is a great one. I've got that book on my list to read for 999 this year. I think I will put it up higher!

Congrats for the hot review today, GunderG. Consider yourself thumbed! I read that book donkey's years ago and you've made me want to reread it.

LOL! Nice choice of words there, tiffin (re: thumbed). And congrats from me, too, girl.

Yes, congratulations on the hot review.

You guys, this is the third time you've gotten me there (HR) - thanks sooooo much :)

Wonderful review of The Left Hand of Darkness!

ELiza - you are our resident celebrity! Well done....

18. Enter Jeeves: 15 Early Stories by P.G. Wodehouse
Tags: 1910s, fiction, short stories, humour
Rating: ★★★

Well, my first Wodehouse has come and gone and, to be honest, I'm a bit disappointed. Not that I didn't like his style or sense of humour, but I'd heard so many good things about him here on LT that I can't help feeling that I've somehow missed something. Like the Universe has conspired to keep me from enjoying a perfectly good author. I enjoyed some parts of the book and it definitely had its funny moments. But, overall, the short stories were repetitive, both thematically and stylistically and included way too many one-dimensional characters, including the protagonists. The Wooster and Jeeves stories? Rich and idle Englishman's uncle/aunt threatens to cut his allowance if the fella' doesn't meet a particular request of said aunt or uncle's. He asks for help from another rich and idle gentleman, Bertie Wooster. His butler, Jeeves usually comes up with a plan and solves the problem. In exchange, Bertie gets rid of a particular clothing item that offends Jeeves's exquisite taste. Once it's an ugly suit, in another story, it's a moustache (okay, not a clothing item), in a different one a pair of socks. The Reggie Pepper stories? Almost the same plot, except this time he solves his friends' problems on his own, without any butler being dragged in. It's like the novelist is writing the same narrative over and over again. Of course, this is some of Wodehouse's earliest stuff we're talking about, so I'd say some faults are excusable to a certain degree. It's certainly not unusual for an author, especially a young one, to write the same story again and again until he perfects it. If the author later gains fame, all the variations of those stories are almost sure to find some greedy bastard willing to publish them. And I wish they wouldn't. Just because some authors' fans would even read their shopping lists, doesn't mean they should be given the chance to. If I wasn't so obsessed about finishing all books started if it kills me, I would've probably stopped midway through. And would've probably enjoyed the book more if I had. After a while, however, it felt extremely tiring reading almost identical plots narrated using an almost identical choice of words. I realize this was probably not the ideal Wodehouse to start with, so I'm not giving up on the chap just yet. Next time I'll try one of his novels - not least because it's trickier to find the same story ad nauseam in novel form :)

So, to conclude -
Didn't like: repetitive storylines, repetitive choice of words, one-dimensional characters, too high expectations that weren't met

Liked: witty, funny parts, very characteristic vocabulary and style (the words "chap" , "chump", "rummy", the adding of "-what?" after every sentence and the expression "wasn't it Shakespeare or some other smart chap that said..." are now part of my vocabulary. If I ever wanna do a Wodehouse imitation, I'll be able to pull it off now :P)

A good honest review, GUG (pronounced Goog?). I've read two Wooster and Jeeves books and I wasn't impressed. *LTers start thowing "stuff" at me*

BTW, are you running two threads, or three, or what? You have me confused.

heh, I just started on the 50 Challenge Group and then moved it over to the 75 but kept the previous one too. I didn't really know how these things work, it's my first year with LT. If I do the challenge next year as well, I certainly won't have two threads again, it is kind of confusing.

And all this Gug thing is getting ridiculous. :) Let's see...
I'm Eliza, nice to meetcha Charlie!
*blushes*
*extends hand*

Charmed, I'm sure. *shakes hand and bows, asks Eliza to help me back to an upright position*

Just a suggestion, but why not post to this thread only and let the other one die out. Perhaps a re-direct from the 50 to this thread would help.

*helping you up again*
I'm really considering it... might be a smart move. It's just that I love all the conversations I've had on that thread as well and would feel a bit sad letting it go :)

I like GUG as in jug. It has a certain ring to it.

I should think your friends will follow you to this thread, and the other one will be preserved because LT doesn't delete much of anything--including stolen reviews that have been flagged since 2006.

Thanks for the review of Enter Jeeves, Eliza! This is one that I won't be reading for a change - normally your books go straight to my TBR list. Hope your next read is better - what's next on your MOTF?

>225 lunacat: Well, thanks! You can still call me Gug if you prefer it to Eliza. I was reading it more as Goog- and it reminded me of Google :)

>226 BrainFlakes: Tell me about it! I've been flagging away as well and have never seen anything deleted. Though I mostly flag blue flags...it's not that I know which reviews are copied from somewhere else so I flag those that are simply NOT reviews at all. And you'd be surprised how many people review books with "18:00 Pm. Started. 27feb 2008. Hdc."

>227 Cait86: Hey Cait! Next up Emma. Very excited about my first Austen :) But, judging after what happened with Wodehouse, I should lower my expectations a bit? Although at least I've heard that Emma is a good one to start with, not something I can say for Enter Jeeves...

> 220

Congrats! You have hit upon one fundamental problem with the works of Wodehouse, they are unrelentingly repetitive and the stories are so predictable - Wooster (or friend there of) gets entangled in a messy affair of the heart (which Wooster generally exacerbates), and the cool-headed Jeeves (an expert in the human condition) is called upon to extricate said cad or generally put things right!

However, there is a certain old-world charm to the characters and the locations that has a universal appeal - something that creates a yearning for the 'good old days', of a simpler time, of lost innocence.

I must admit I enjoy them regardless of their obvious faults, and for what they are - escapes from the everyday that don't tax the mind and where good always triumphs!

Thanks for the review :)

Hey again - well, I love Austen, so I would say keep your hopes high, though I have never read Emma. My favourite is Pride and Prejudice, which is one of my top 5 favourite books of all time. Emma is on my list for this year.

Peter, I did enjoy the book but I think I might've enjoyed a novel even more so I'll make sure to try one of those as well. Your description of the plot is totally on target, half the stories I read were like that. The other ones were like I described in my review, with friends of Wooster's afraid their relatives are gonna disinherit them. In other words, matters of the hearts were replaced, or combined with, matters of the pocket. Wait - you mean the opposite: Wooster gets into messy affair of the heart and then superbutler Jeeves helps him out, I think!

Also, I know these are humourous books and we can't get too attached to the peripheral characters or we wouldn't be able to laugh at their misfortunes...but I really didn't like how superficial all "love-stories" were and how quickly the "chaps" got over their girlfriends/fiancees/wives and how, in fact, all of them were "better off without her". Call me a feminist. :)

What I loved most was the vocabulary and the way he uses it to create funny dialogue. I swear the first time he used "invertebrate" as an insult I was laughing for 5 minutes! Also, I'm a bit bummed that both my boyfriend and my best friend are currently out of the country so I haven't had the chance to bug anyone yet with "Wodehouse speech" (except people on LT) but I'm going to annoy the hell out of them when I see them hehe -what? :D

You caught my deliberate mistake - Congratulations again! *wink*

Sorry, I got my characters all mixed up! I've amended the post appropriately. And, yes - the language is wonderful.

(Oh, and I do a agree about the superficiality of these chaps - hence my use of "cad". Despicable!)

Eliza--

I enjoy P. G. Wodehouse but I find he works better in small doses and I have to be in a somewhat frivolous mood. I've read a couple of his novels and enjoyed them--good "beach reading". I own two collections of his short stories, one of Jeeves and Wooster and the other a mixture of many of his stories. I haven't read any for quite a while, but when I do get in the mood I usually use them for "bedtime" reading and read only one or at most two of them.

I recently read Three Men in a Boat which reminded me somewhat of Wodehouse--but I thought it was even funnier. It's episodic so it also makes good night time reading. I posted a review if you are interested. In addition to the humor there were also some musings with more substance and some great descriptions such as you would find in an excellent travel book--it is a trip by row boat down the Thames in the late 19th century. I really loved that book!

>232 petermc: Shhh! Your brand new baby might hear the inapropriate language you use sir :) *double wink* :D Thought of any names yet?

>233 MusicMom41: I do enjoy light & fluffy, it just needs to be combined with something "heavier" too and maybe more spaced out. I read this one like a novel and, in retrospect, I shouldn't have because it was short stories. Next time, Carolyn, I'll follow your advice and read one/two stories at a time before bed. Now I'm heading over to your thread to read your review!

> 234 - The name will be "Rafe". This is an alternative spelling to "Ralph", capturing my preferred pronunciation; and by breaking with the traditional spelling, symbolizes a new generation. There are also other symbolic connections with my great-grandfather.

>235 petermc: Whoa, interesting to say the least! It sounds very Italian - don't force him to be a painter if he doesn't want to, man!

Carolyn, I just realized (by reading it again) that I'd already read your review of Three Men in a Boat! The book is has a safe place close to the top of my TBR Tower, and might just climb a few steps up the ladder ;)

peter

That is the pronunciation of the name used by Ralph Vaughn Williams--maybe he'll be a composer! :-) (But not if he doesn't want to!)

Eliza--

I hope you enjoy it--even if only half as much as I did , you will find it diverting!

I agree with your thoughts about the repetitiveness of the Wodehouse stories. I think I said in my review that I kept thinking if only the characters were HONEST with each other (because there was always some deception involved) they wouldn't get themselves into these messes - but then we wouldn't have a story, would we???

I did however, find myself laughing out loud once or twice...which was bad because I was listening to a Wodehouse audio book while I was at work!

19. Haiku (Penguin Classics 60s) by Basho Matsuo
Tags: 1690s, poetry, haiku, Japan
Rating: ★★★1/2

I was going to start Emma last night but I couldn't resist reading this tiny little book in between. This is a double-first for me, as it's not only my first one by Basho, but also my first haiku book in general. Sure, I'd read some haikus here and there, but always on the Internet and never on paper. So this was long overdue. I finished it in something like 10 minutes, but then returned to it and read some of the poems all over again, to better appreciate them. The imagery is just fantastic; there are predominantly themes of nature, but nature almost as an expression of the emotional world of the poet, and of humans in general. The book is quintessentially Japanese, with mentions of mount Fiji, Chuang Tzu, Buddha, sake, samurais and haikus, and many descriptions of beautiful cherry blossoms. I cannot begin to imagine how different these haikus are read in the original. Sadly, Japanese is not a language I speak and, though I particularly dislike any kind of poetry in translation, I had to make do. Luckily, the translation felt very natural and I enjoyed the haikus a great deal - some more than others, of course. I guess a complaint I have is that this collection was way too short, but then what would you expect from a 60page pocket-book?

"If I'd the knack
I'd sing like
cherry flakes falling."

"Wake, butterfly-
it's late, we've miles
to go together."

"Come, see real
flowers
of this painful world."

"Friends part
forever - wild geese
lost in a cloud."

"Summer grasses
all that remains
of soldiers' dreams."

And my personal favorite...

"Another haiku?
yet more cherry blossoms -
not my face."

I followed you to your new thread. You have one of the most interesting reviews section of the LT members I follow. Keep it up!!

I truly discovered haiku last year and at one point amused myself stringing haikus together to tell my stories in my blog posts. I didn't know I enjoyed writing haikus until I started doing it! I've been wanting to read Basho, other than on screen I mean, and this little book sounds like a great intro. Might you be making it available on BM soon? If so, I would be a taker.

I've followed you here now... I don't understand why you were keeping two threads up all this time either. Hope you don't forget us slackers over at 50 books though!

Third one to follow you here now. I will still be trying for 50 this year maybe I will try for 75 next year.

Oh I'm so glad you came you guys!!
And thanks so much Squeaky for what you said :)
I'm not even sure I'll make it to 75, but I'm pretty sure I'll pass 50, so why not?

>241 Smiler69: Smiler, I plan to keep the book, sorry. I only really give away books I have duplicates of...or that I REALLY NEVER plan on reading again. I'm awful, I keep everything. Even if I've borrowed a book from someone and read it I still need to have it in my library!

>238 BookAngel_a: amwmsw: I think the same thing, not just with certain books, but also with most TV shows I watch. Secrets are essential, if characters would tell each other everything when they found out about it, there would be no mystery, no puzzle to solve, no romantic misunderstandings, no challenges for the heroes to prove themselves in...etc. Think CSI, Dexter, X-files, LOST, Desperate Housewives, HOUSE, Grey's Anatomy....blah blah blah where would they all be without secrets? ;)

I'm glad you decided to non-replicate your threads.

And writing haiku is good for the soul.

I am the same way with my books. I like to own all the books I read. I haven't borrowed books from the library because I am afraid that I will forget to return them. I very rarely give my books away unless they are duplicates or I just don't care for it (which is very rare).

Same here, Crazy. I have books on my bookshelves that I've hated so much that I didn't even finish (very rare as I hate not finishing sth I've started)...I keep them just in case I decide to give them another chance someday :) One of those books is The Adventures of Augie March - I've heard so many good things about it but couldn't even make it to page 100.

I agree, I think thats why I don't like library books. What if I really like it and want to reread it immediatly as I do some books? Or just want it sitting on my shelf looking at me? I can't do that with a library book.

I also like to have a wide choice in what I'm going to read next and library books would probably have to go back before I'd read them all. And then........well, that would be very bad.

Hi GUG and others(sc,c4r), wow 75 books, maybe I will be here next year. I will see how I do on the 50 book challenge since this is my first time at this. Having one thread makes more sense then haveing the two.

Another follower from the 50 Book group :) I always enjoy your reviews, so will definitely continue to keep up with what you're reading!

Hey Eliza,
I followed you here from the 50 book challenge thread, too. I wanted to echo your thoughts on Wodehouse (even though I am a bit late.) I just read My Man Jeeves and was remarkably underwhelmed!
And to agree with MusicMom, I read Three Men In A Boat, also British and from the late 19th century, but much more humorous and enjoyable.
Glad you posted a link to this thread from the other... I didn't want to miss any of the reviews!!

Eliza

Is that yet another book on the "hot Review" list? My goodness, you are setting a high standard! Good job!

blackdogbooks also has a "hot review" right now. 75ers are doing well! :-)

Congratulations for another great review!

I've been out of town for a week, loved your Left Hand of Darkness review... really cool since you focused on certain themes, and I found some of the other ones captured my attention more - hopefully I can put that review up soon rather than later. And funny enough, I had picked up a Wodehouse at the bookstore as part of your March of Firsts project. I got Thank You, Jeeves and hope to get to it soon. Right now I'm reading The Handmaid's Tale since I've never read Atwood either.

247 Or just want it sitting on my shelf looking at me?
haha exactly! I'm a bit of a maniac when it comes to organizing books, I actually have my books all alphabetically on my shelves...sometimes I mess them up a bit and then revert to normal (yes, I know - freak). I like to look at them often, even when I'm not trying to pick what to read next...it's oddly comforting :)

248 Hi Heidi...I guess it does make more sense. I was just worried I won't have all of you guys from the 50 group to discuss books with anymore :)

249 wuieeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

250 Just left a comment on your thread. Plan to definitely read Three Men in a Boat after all the good recommendations!

251,252 Yeah, that's odd. I still don't know how a review can be "Hot" with only two thumbs-up...weird system they've got. I don't think that one was particularly well-written though, it was kind of meh. Oh well. I'm not ungrateful! :)

253 There you go! Finally a Jeeves novel, everyone's been reading short stories lately on various threads (including mine) - can't wait to see what you think! Oh also, coincidentally, I just mooched The Handmaid's Tale too, my first Atwood just like yours :)

#239 - Book 19: Like you, I also dislike poetry in translation, and that is especially true of Haiku. As you know, Japanese is a language that uses a combination of Chinese (Kanji) and Japanese characters (Katakana and Hiragana), and the Chinese characters may have several (or more) different readings (Chinese readings: On-yomi, and Japanese readings: Kun-yomi) which Haiku writers use to their advantage, just as we use puns, to give Haiku subtle variations in meaning - virtually impossible to translate unless the writer provides a different translation that captures each variation. In the excellent book, Essential Haiku (Essential Poets), the editor Robert Hass discusses some of these issues.

Also, I feel something more is lost in Haiku translations - namely, the simplicity and brevity of the (sometimes loosely followed) 5-7-5 syllabic structure which is unique to Japanese. Eiko Yachimoto, a Haiku translator, wrote in Simply Haiku (October 2003, Volume 1, Number 4) - available on the internet - that she is unable to translate the following Haiku to her satisfaction...

"I love one haiku of an Edo master so dearly and yet I still can not find a matching English poetic voice to this:

sakaya inete (6)
toufuya inete (7)
sayoshigure (5)

our sake man has fallen asleep
our tofu man also fallen asleep
softly falling winter night rain"

The numbers in brackets denote the number of Japanese syllables which (if you are interested) are:

sa-ka-ya i-ne-te
to-u-fu-ya i-ne-te
sa-yo-shi-gu-re

Consider that next to her (IMHO - exaggerated) translation.

As a point of interest, the word "inete" is not used in modern Japanese. I ran this past several Japanese friends today and not one could tell me the meaning (until one of them spent 10 minutes scouring the internet)!

Fortunately, having been living in Japan for 9 years now, I've become a little conversant in the language and can appreciate most Haiku in its original form, in which it is truly beautiful.

Thanks for the great review. Sorry for rambling...

petermc - thanks for such an interesting discussion on Haiku. I am aware that subtleties and the music of language can be lost in translation. Your explanation is revealing.

#255: yet another example of why I love LT

#254 so pleased that someone else is as obsessive about bookcases as me! i have a major dilemma at the moment in that i've run out of bookcase space, so can't re-sort my books, because there's nowhere for a great big pile of them to go - it's gnawing away at me!!

I just finished Twilight -- which I enjoyed more than I expected to. It's the literary equivalent of popcorn. The terrible writing and atrocious dialog were always there, but I got sucked into the story enough that I could, for the most part, get past it. Still, I didn't enjoy it half as much as your review -- I wanted to say thanks again (I commented the first time over on the 50-Book Challenge before I read the book).

I see that you are in Greece -- beautiful place! Do you read Greek Literature? My brother-in-law gave me a copy of Red Dyed Hair for Christmas -- it's one of his, and my husband's favorite books. I'm hoping the English translation is good. Are there any Greek books you can recommend? We try to get some when we're over there (Cyprus), but it's hard to know what's good. Thanks!

#255 petermc

re Haiku discussion

"Sorry for rambling..."

There are many people on LT and on this thread who love poetry. Your Haiku discussion was extremely informative and interesting--definitely not rambling!

This is one of the little "treasures" we share with each other that enriches our reading--thank you!

Hi, Eliza!
Just wanted to stop by your 75 book challenge thread. Hope you have a great day! :)
--BJ

I'll be interested on your take on Emma -- tried a re-read of that recently but just couldn't go there this time. She really annoyed me. However, I do love others... P&P, S&S, Mansfield Park...

I did one first which, I think, meets your challenge this month: Robinson Cruse, and boy howdy! am I glad I did :)

Ciao Eliza!

I'll be interested on your take on Emma -- tried a re-read of that recently but just couldn't go there this time. She really annoyed me. However, I do love others... P&P, S&S, Mansfield Park...

I did one first which, I think, meets your challenge this month: Robinson Crusoe, and boy howdy! am I glad I did :)

Ciao Eliza!

I've also followed across from the 50 book group, and it was worth it for that discourse on Haiku. I love LT.

>255 petermc: everyone else has said it too, but thanks so much for that! I really enjoyed it!

>258 flissp: I have exactly the same problem!

>259 AMQS: Thanks so much! Yes, Greece. Let's see. I do read some Greek literature, though not nearly as much as you would expect given that I live in the country. That probably has something to do with the fact that I'm studying English, so what with all the books we're assigned to read for the courses and what with my own reading getting in the way...Greek authors are a bit left out sometimes. I do have a couple of favorites, however, I'll leave you a msg with a little list as soon as I find some time. I'm in a bit of a hurry right now (see end of this msg)

>261 billiejean: Thanks for dropping by BJ!

>263 suslyn: I'm enjoying the book, though I can't say I love her very much. My favorite character so far is George Knightley :)

>264 bencritchley: Thank youuu! Good to see you here!

Ok, so I'm leaving for Spain in a few hours, yay! I'm flying to Santiago de Compostela (famous pilgrimage destination) where I will find my boyfriend and then we'll spend three weeks at his brother's place in the nearby Cambados. I'm very very excited :D
Long hours at the airport await me (I have to change flights and wait a couple of hours in between) so more Emma for me tonight. I haven't been reading much lately what with all the preparations and stuff. But I'm thoroughly enjoying what I've read so far.

Happy reading everyone! I'll be taking my laptop with me so I'll still be able to check LT hehe :P

Have a great trip, Eliza, and let us know when you arrive safely! Read a lot on the plane because I have a feeling that you won't get much reading done after you get there. :-D

Ooohh I'm jealous - Spain is on my must-see list - have a fantastic time!

Oh Compostela, neato, GunderG...get your cockle shell!

I am glad to know that I am not the only one who wasn't enthralled with the Jeeves stories! Maybe I would have had better luck reading the, but I tried audio and had to stop after the first disc. Have fun on your trip!

Message #176
Eliza/GUG - really enjoyed your review of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Thank you for sharing the online book link!

Have a fantastic time in Spain - I'm looking out the window at pouring rain at the moment, so I'm very jealous!

Have a great trip Eliza!!

Thanks, thanks , thanks everyone!
I am having a really good time. We spent two days in Santiago de Compostela and, as you would expect we did much exploring of the city so I did not get very far with Emma. We did, however, find this lovely park where I could read for an hour or so:



The plot originally belonged to the old convent of Santo Domingo de Bonaval (founded circa 1200s!). In 1837 however, a law was passed that caused many properties that belonged to the Catholic Church to be transferred to the state. The land was afterwards used as a cemetery - "the original structure was partly modified by the addition of powerful mortuary pieces - niches - constructed at the turn of the nineteenth century." After the cemetery was closed the property suffered progressive deterioration from 1960 onward. "The abundance of springs ruined the outbuildings, the fountains, the paths, the walls, and the cemetery. The property became a garbage dump, sheds were built for workshops, and overgrown vegetation covered the splendid niche structures." All that until the municipality finally decided to convert it into a public park. It's really a wonderful place, the convent is still there and in one part of the park you can see the niches where the graves used to be, inside the walls surrounding it. We had wonderful spring weather and the whole thing was full of beautiful flowers and trees and lovely shady paths and places where you can sit and relax and read. Here are some more pics:



Oh, and yes, tiffin we saw those walking stick with the shell-symbol everywhere but I did not buy one. We also saw a bunch of real pilgrims who, unlike us, did not fly there but actually walked the whole way. Pretty neat :)

Gorgeous pics, girl! Thanks for sharing with us. :)

incredible! Thanks for sharing the stories and the photos!

Ahhh, Spring!!! It's fifty degrees F in DC and overcast. We hope to see the sun soon. I went to Barcelona several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were plenty of parks there as well, and much to reflect on.

Beautiful, GunderG. Enjoy every lucky minute of it!

Thanks for sharing the fabulous photos, Eliza!

I'm jellus.

...me too - even more than I was before!

Eliza

thanks for sharing your trip with us--being an "armchair traveler" (or is that "computer traveler?") is better than not traveling at all! :-) Loved your description--the pictures meant more that way. I have always wanted to go to Spain.

"being an "armchair traveler" (or is that "computer traveler?") is better than not traveling at all! :-) "

Yep, that's what I thought too, hence my desire to share the pictures and story of the park - glad you guys (and girls) enjoyed them!

Also some good news: I finally had some reading done and managed to finish Emma today so I'll probably post my review of it tomorrow!

Your pics make me want to just pack a suitcase and go. AND I'm jealous that you get to sight-see AND post great pics AND do some reading AND have time to write reviews. I have no idea how you do it all, but it's impressive. I'm just jealous period. There.

Anything with brightly colored flowers and sun makes me envious, as I sit and looking out the window here at snow! Looks like a lovely trip.

20. Emma by Jane Austen
Tags: 1810s, romance, regency, U.K.
Rating: ★★★★

Here's what Ralph Waldo Emerson had to say about Jane Austen's novels:

"I am at a loss to understand why people hold Miss Austen's novels at so high a rate, which seem to me vulgar in tone, sterile in artistic invention, imprisoned in their wretched conventions of English society, without genius, wit, or knowledge of the world. Never was life so pinched and narrow. (...) All that interests in any character is this: has he or she the money to marry with? (...) Suicide is more respectable."

If truth be told I have to agree with a great deal of what Mr. Emerson says. I believe that, while desiring to criticize Gregorian society, Austen does not manage to escape some of its conventions. The obsession with love affairs, money, class, and etiquette is present, just as you would expect it to be, and can get boring at times. And as much as Austen's heroine, Emma, appears to be ahead of her times, she still gives voice to the sexual, racial and social taboos and prejudices of her time. A couple of Gypsy children "terrorize" miss Smith by repeatedly asking her for money and the brave Frank Churchill comes to her "rescue". Emma is offended that the Coles, some neighbours who are merely merchants and have no titles or social status should invite them to their house. How dare they?? I could find many faults with the novel. Many moments where I thought "No! She didn't just say that!" But then I still need to explain the fact that I really really enjoyed it. And how can I do that if I'm constantly criticizing it?

The thing is, I couldn't have picked a better time for this novel. Lazy spring days away from home, with nothing to do but entertain myself. That's when everyone should read Emma. Don't do it the disservice of reading it at your busiest. It's not a book that will draw you in immediately, nor a book that will have you frantically turning pages to see what happens. I dare say that, if you don't read it at the proper time, you might even mistake it for an extremely boring book. But that's exactly what Emma is not. What it is, is a book that has to be savoured slowly, calmly; a book that makes you follow its own pace. If one is to get attached to Austen's characters and their little (and highly exclusive) world, time and leisure are necessary ingredients. Once you've secured those ingredients, you might just start noticing the author's wit, her incredibly detailed and observing descriptions of the countryside, the insight she provides into her character's heads - even if it is only "aristocratic" heads we're talking about, not our mere mortal ones.

Austen does one more gracious thing for her readers. She saves her love affairs from being sugar-coated, sappy clichés by inventing a little device of her own: quickly changing the subject. No fortunate event or happy occurrence is left there for the reader to dwell on. As soon as something good happens, Austen immediately counterbalances its effect with a comic line, or a mean comment, or a rather unwelcome piece of news. Perhaps this is what I loved most about the author's writing. No affairs are devoid of the ridiculous, no relationships idealized, no characters left uncriticized. Love confessions are met with scorn and snobbery, weddings are overshadowed by gossip about the bride or the mantelpiece. Austen mocks every single person in her book. And what about the ending? Will Austen allow her protagonist to live happily-ever-after and offer speeches about "true love"? Well I obviously won't tell you that but...

"Mrs. Elton, from the particulars detailed by her husband, thought it all extremely shabby, and very inferior to her own—a most pitiful business!—Selina would stare when she heard of it'"

(That, folks, is a quote from the very last page of the book! Gossip vs Love = 3 - Nil)

Excellent review, GUG.

I think your comments on the counterbalancing of events rings true. I have read all the Austen novels several times - loved them all.

Just read Georgette Heyer and one of her regency romances, after reading the cover that she is a good substitute for Austen. I could not figure out why it was not the same until I read your comments here. She is not of the same calibre and does not give the reader the same depth of character building, contradictions, human foibles, etc. Heyer does not manage it, Austen does.

To be fair, Heyer is not trying to be Jane Austen. I think whoever wrote the cover blurb is very misleading. Austen is a woman of her time, commenting on the social structure around her. Heyer is recreating that society, usually at a higher social class level, as a milieu for creating charming farces and romances with a knack for characterization and seeing the ridiculous in situations. The book you just read, kiwidoc, A Civil Contract, is an atypical Heyer in that it specifically goes against an essential romance trope. More I cannot say without spoilers, but you know what it is if you have read it. When I read this as a young woman, I hated it because of this. Now, I appreciate it. But what Heyer did was take the "stock" romance and then in different books, take each of those assumptions and turn them on their heads. Add to this the delicious characters she creates in addition to the two main protagonists, and we have the reason she has such passionate fans. But, as an Austen fan as well, no one who knows both well would consider either a substitute for the other. Their books just happen to be set in the same historical period (well, some of them, for Heyer).

roincats - you are absolutely right about making a falacious comparison between two very different writers - I should have had a more open minded when reading Heyer. Blurbs are often designed to pull a reader in, rather than accurately representing the writer.

I do not mean to denigrate Heyer as I did like her book and thought her period research was excellent. It was a four star read (Austen is a five for me). I can recommend it; perhaps reading some others of her books might help me to make a more balanced opinion - so I will do so ASAP.

Interesting review, gug. I've been looking forward to your thoughts on it since this one is my favourite Austen and we seem to have some similar tastes. I'm glad you ended up enjoying it and appreciating Austen's wit in spite of its faults. I think your comments were spot-on, for the most part although I can't say I totally agree with the Emerson quote. And you are right about the timing...I find that I most enjoy Austen novels in the bath :)

I'm glad you're having such a great trip, too! Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing.

>289 spacepotatoes: Indeed Emerson was a bit cruel. I do not completely agree with him, but part of that quote is quite truthful. You should hear what Mark Twain has to say on the subject, he's even more harsh than Emerson:

"Jane Austen's books, too, are absent from this library. Just that one omission alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn't a book in it."

Ouch.

I wonder what it is that they both hated so much in Austen. Emerson is more explicit than Twain, I'll give him that; I'd love to hear Twain's reasoning as well.

GunderG, I think the very Georgian England class consciousness in JA's novels would have grated against the very American sensibilities of both Twain and Emerson. They were very much of the new world; she was very much of the old.

>290 girlunderglass:: "I'd love to hear Twain's reasoning as well.

Here's an essay on the topic that a friend pointed out to me when I happened to mention Twain and Austen in the same list of authors I enjoyed.

Tad, that was hilariously funny. Thanks!

"...and I'm not feeling too well myself." hehehe

ETA: so he might have enjoyed Austen after all...we'll never really know.

Congratulations on your "Hot Review" for Emma, found on today's home page. It really is well written and thought provoking!

Both you and Cait86 received Hot Review's today!

That was yet another superb review. You almost almost got me to set aside my reservations about Jane Austen and consider making some room on my tbr for her. To be very honest, I don't remember ever reading anything by her, and if I have it was probably in high school and I probably hated the experience and swore I would never read her again, because for some reason I always bristle at the very mention of her name. Indeed, I had to laugh out loud at Mark Twain’s comment which I remember reading somewhere else and having laughed at it then too thinking those were my thoughts exactly. I suppose as you suggest that one must truly be in the proper frame of mind to fully appreciate her novels and though I happen to have plenty of time on my hands, I have such a strong prejudice against her that I decided back in January that I wouldn't even attempt reading any of her novels this year. I have plenty of other literary challenges in store instead but someday, I promise I will try to give Miss Jane Austen a fair chance. In the meantime, I feel like I've just read Emma vicariously through you and for some reason, can't push away the impression that your review was infinitely more pleasurable to read than the actual book itself. But again, I will do my best to surmount my cynicism until I've read something of hers of my own volition. Who knows? I may turn out to be one of her ardent defenders. Not bloody likely, but one never does know.

Great review on Emma, and congrats on another Hot Review! I haven't read this one yet, I've only read P&P and S&S (I didn't like S&S so much). I haven't been able to decide between Persuasion or Emma for my next one and I think this review tipped it in favour of the latter.

My problem with the Emerson quote is that he says Austen books are "without wit". I mean, come on.... no wit?? The other criticisms have something more to stand on.

BTW, nice pictures! I really liked them because I have only seen the standard tourist places of Barcelona and Madrid.

Another "kudos" on your Emma review! I am listening to Sense and Sensibilty now (at 32) after having read it thirteen years ago (at 19) and I'm not liking it nearly as much as I remembered. I MUCH more identify with Eleanor and find several scenes rather tedious. Plus.....there is too much similarity between this novel and Pride and Prejudice. Anyway...I'm rambling on!

Nice review Eliza! I'm glad you enjoyed your first Austen - Emma is one that I haven't read yet, though I have started it several times. I think you were right, it needs to be read when you have the time to enjoy it, definitely not in the middle of a school year! I think I will save it for the summer.

Emerson's quote is really harsh, though. The comment about life being "pinched and narrow" is accurate, but not in the derisive way that he means it. Austen knew that the life of the upper-middle class was limited, that "All that interests in any character is this: has he or she the money to marry with?" But that was her point - she wanted to draw attention to how class-conscious her society was, and how ridiculously important marital connections were. It isn't as though she agreed with the ideas of her society; her works are totally a form of satire. I have never read anything by Emerson, and this quote alone may cause me to never read his essays or poems - imagine not seeing wit in Jane Austen!

Glass
Girl,

So, not bad for a completely new author, as I believe Emma was part of your month of completely new things. I did not read that one until very recently myself. I might note that some of your distaste for the characters and social values may have been exactly what Austen intended. As I read the book, I put it firmly in the category of social commentary. It's hard to determine whether the satire shows through more now than it would have then or vice versa. There is a subtlety to so much of what's happening in the interactions between her characters that is offset by the largely and loudly drawn melodramatic characters.

I will be reading Pride and Prejudice sometime this week, as I am about to finish a book of dog stories from James Heriot. Check in at my thread in a week or so and lets talk some more about Austen!

>291 tiffin: I think that's definitely part of the reason.

>292 TadAD: Thanks so much for that link, I really enjoyed it! Plus, great site overall, there are a lot of interesting articles there. (Currently reading: An Appreciation of Alice Munro by Margaret Atwood :D)

>294 Whisper1:, 295, 296, 297, 298 thanks so much for your kind words. Like Cauterize pointed out, my only problem with Emerson's quote lies in his failure to recognize Austen's wit. I pretty much agree with (or can see why the man would consider Austen's books) "vulgar in tone, sterile in artistic invention, imprisoned in their wretched conventions of English society, without knowledge of the world." What I mean to say is, one could consider the class awareness and the constant talk about money "vulgar". As for "sterile in artistic invention", certainly I don't believe Austen is an innovator. She merely does what others have done before her better, more poignantly, and more convincingly. But I completely disagree with Emerson when he says her novels are "without genius, or wit". That's where he fails to recognize her merit, IMHO. One does not need to find new grammatical structures, experiment with different points of view or think out new philosophies of life to be a brilliant writer. (In other words we don't need another Cummings, another Faulkner, or another Emerson). "Artistic invention", as Emerson calls it, would make Austen a pioneer, yes, but not necessarily a good writer. Emerson should realize that she is one of the most talented in her tradition, that she is best at what she does.

Cait, I've thoroughly enjoyed what I've read by the man so don't dismiss him just because of this quote.

>299 blackdogbooks: One of my "problems" in reading the book is that I couldn't quite figure out when Austen was done being sarcastic. I don't think everything she wrote was a mockery towards her society. A great deal of it, yes, but certainly she didn't manage to escape all the conventions of her time! Something like that would be quite impossible, I think. The scene with the gypsy beggars, for example. It's obvious that she was mocking her characters for exaggerating in their reactions and being all melodramatic about it when nothing really happened to them. BUT despite all that, Austen still keeps the racist stereotype of the Gypsy beggars. So while we have class awareness in her novels, what about her race sensibilities? I think readers and scholars today might be inclined to see too much irony and satire in her novels and that makes them idolize her. Of course I believe that she was very forward-thinking as a person living and writing at the end of the 18th century. But she was still a woman of her time. However you look at it, you're still going to find things in her novels which we might, today, consider "politically incorrect", at least.

Sorry for the rants. Continuing Month of the Firsts with my first novel by Toni Morrison, "Jazz". I'm almost in the middle of it now and my first thoughts are: what a unique authorial voice!

>273 girlunderglass:: Santiago de Compostela makes me think of a very entertaining book by Tim Moore I read a few years back: Spanish Steps, about his attempt to follow most of the pilgrim trail in the company of an intransigent Spanish donkey...

Glad you've had a good time.

edit to add: Just noticed you're reading Jazz too - fab book :) I love Toni Morrison.

It appears you hit the jackpot with your review of Emma and the discussion it set off. I may be male (correction—I am male), but I loved P&P. Austen does that to people, I think: her writing is either a love or hate relationship with few in the middle.

I think the same thing can be said about Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre—it never fails to provoke a long discussion.

Thanks for the wonderful Austen discussions - many many discerning and perceptive thoughts. I always find it maddening when readers are unable to find depth or even humor in Austen (surely Mr. Emerson was having REALLY bad day when he said that) and conversely love it when there is meaningful conversation about her works. Not everyone need agree she was perfection, but her characterizations and social commentary alone give her works weight as serious literature.

I appreciate what her nephew wrote about her works and often think it is a good summation of her storytelling......

"They {her novels} certainly were not written to support any theory or inculcate any particular moral, except indeed that great moral which is to be equally gathered from an observation of the course of actual life - namely, the superiority of high over low principles, and of greatness over littleness of mind."

>302 BrainFlakes:: I was reading an article last week (can't think where now, I can't find it on the Grauniad site so I must have got it off Twitter....) about how Jane Austen used to be considered a "men's writer" - Dr Johnson et al were huge fans, and she only came to be popular with women much later on. Wish I could find the link now as it was a really interesting insight into the period.

#300: I love all this Jane Austen talk - there are a lot of great ideas and opinions flying here!

Personally, I think Austen was innovative - she was a driving force in the shift from the Gothic novel to realism, and she helped legitimize the novel in general, which was thought of as a trashy genre at the time. Plus, she popularized free indirect speech, which melds the third-person and the first-person narrator together. I think being a female writer in her time, especially one who so openly critiqued her own society, makes her groundbreaking as well.

This is why I love LT - different opinions, different likes and dislikes - it is all so fun!

Oh, and I won't discount Emerson! You know, Charlotte Bronte didn't like Austen either - she thought Pride and Prejudice was "...a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but... no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck."

Some good pearls of wit and wisdom being dropped here. Cait, well said. Orangeena, excellent quotation. #300, GunderG, that was an astute observation. She WAS very much of her time and yet she was possessed of the ability to step back from it and plant her tongue firmly in her cheek about it. Best of all, and bless her for it, not only was she wickedly observant, she was (and still is, to this reader) very funny about it.

ETfix a verb tense.

Re Jane Austen--years ago I read Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen by Fay Weldon. This is a "novel" in the form of letters from a writer to her young ("green spiky hair") niece who complains about having to read Jane Austen. The book is witty, informative and entertaining, and discusses not only Austen, but many other authors and genres. It is very short, and can probably be read in an evening by most 75'ers. With all this discussion of Austen I was going to pick up my copy to read again, but I can't find it :( . I know it's around here somewhere though.

>307 arubabookwoman: That sounds like a great book, ABW. I'm adding it to my Book List right now.

I'm so glad you liked Emma! One of my own favorites! And such beautiful pictures of Spain...you're making me envious, so very very envious.

I agree with you about when it's best to read Austen - in the lazy spring days. I've always thought maybe that was Emerson and Twain's problem, they HAD no lazy days :)

I'm simply stopping by to say how much I'm enjoying the wonderful intelligent exchange regarding Jane Austen,Emerson, Twain, etc.

I'm very glad you joined the 75 challenge group. You are a wonderful addition!

Hi Eliza, I really enjoyed your review of Emma, brilliant written as usual and very well summed up.

You seemed to write what I thought but didn't have the words to express. Definitely Austen is witty, and definitely she is a genius, and very much a representative of her time and social status (I'm guess, it's like I was there!).

I also agree that she could be considered boring if not in the right frame of mind. I don't feel I was, and have to admit to throwing the book across the room and shouting obscenities at it; it dragged and I was so relieved to finish it. I think I had Austen-overlead after recently finishing Pride and Prejudice, and I'm really going to lay off her for a while. Mansfield Park in particular looks long and not in a good way.

I look forward to continuing to follow your thread.

Oh and btw, I loved your photos of Spain too. I love Spain but have never been to the North (only Barcelona which doesn't count).

#285 Emma review

Congratulations, Eliza -- you "score" again. This is on the "hot review" list--although I'm so late getting to your thread this week, you probably have already been notified.

I also loved your review and your assessment of Austen. However, you don't have to have lazy spring days with nothing to do in order to enjoy it. I first read it when I was in the hospital awaiting an operation for a condition that the doctors suspected was going to be terminal. Since that was in 1982, they obviously miscalculated. :-) Amazingly, I had no trouble concentrating on the book and the story has been emblazoned in my mind ever since--it's another book I read every few years.

#287 roni

What a great comparison of two great and very influential writers. They each need to be appreciated on their own terms for maximum enjoyment and you did a superb job of explaining them.

Austen is an "magnificent main course" and Heyer is "delectable dessert" and the best meals have both, imo.

Emma just doesn't do it for me, but I love some of the others :) Persuasion comes to mind...

>307 arubabookwoman: ABW, picked up Letters to Alice on first reading Jane Austen at my neighborhood library today--looking forward to it. Thanks for the referral.

>313 MusicMom41: Thanks, Carolyn!

Yep, Letters to Alice on first reading Jane Austen sounds like one for me to add to the pile!

#292 TadAD, another thanks for the link to a fascinating article! I've never read and Mark Twain for one reason or another - I've been thinking I should add him to the pile this year...

I love Jane Austen, so this has been an interesting discussion! GUG, your comments about the gypsies, I'll agree with - but then, I suppose, it was a different time (I'm not saying her apparent prejudices were right) - I'm sure that there are things that the most highly enlightened people take for granted in this day and age, which, a century later, we will be frowned upon for. The change in attitudes over time is even more apparent in
Mansfield Park, which was something I had a problem with when I first read it - second time round I 'got it' much better, but it's still my least favourite...

flissp

Mark Twain is an incredible writer and he was quite a character. Most people know him because of Huckleberry Finn but his later works, in my opinion, were the best. May I recommend Letters from the Earth and The Mysterious Stranger.

He was quite acerbic in his portrayal of human nature in these books. Actually, I believe his daughter Clara tried to stop the printing of these two works.

After reading his books and studying his life, I still learned something by surprise when reading a Joyce Carol Oates book last year.

It seems in Twain would be perceived as a dirty ole man. Here is the reference:

http://rbhardy3rd.blogspot.com/2007/09/research-journal-mark-twains-angelfish.ht...

Thanks for all the comments and links and lovely input from everyone. I just wanna ask something kind of unrelated.

Is there a specific number of messages that a thread is supposed to have? Because I've seen that everyone is starting new threads when they get "too long". What's too long? And is this thread loading slowly for anyone?

In another words, should I start a new one?
Is there some sort of "policy" that this group has regarding this question?

I plan to start a new thread when I hit 300-ish messages or 37 books, whichever comes first. The numbers are somewhat arbitrary - 37 books is halfway to my goal, 300 is just what I expect to be near when I hit the 37-ish mark. Either way, I expect three threads if I follow through with the scenario. Mileage may vary for chattier or less chatty threads.

#318 I think it's purely objective - if people complain your thread is taking too long to load (lots of pics) etc. Up to you really! :)

Edited to add - managed to post at the same time as drneutron & thanks for the recommendations Whisper!

Well, considering this is the last day of March, and thus the end of the first quarter of my reading year, I thought it might be a good idea to start a new one here. And, thus, have a thread for each quarter - four threads for the whole year. It's somewhat comforting to know that I won't be the only one to have to start new threads and that some 75ers are already on their 3rd thread - usually those with the most popular threads - Stasia, Linda etc :D

This is becoming a VERY popular place to hang out, too, Eliza. I have you marked so if you change threads, I will be following you around!!

(Some people have dial-up, etc, which is much slower to load).

NEW THREAD HERE. (and brand-new review of Jazz there that's waiting to be read :P)
Come on over. :)

Q1 recap (January-Frebruary-March):

January:

1. The Secret History by Donna Tartt ★★★★ (msg #2)
2. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling ★★★★ (msg #4)
3. The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi ★★★1/2 (msg #6)
4. Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille ★★★ (msg #12)
5. Book Lust by Nancy Pearl ★★★★ (msg #20)
6. Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg ★★★1/2 (msg #25)
7. Pinter in Play by Susan Hollis Merritt ★★★ (msg #34)
8. Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler ★★★ (msg #42)
9. Eva Luna by Isabel Allende ★★★★ (msg #45)

February:
10. The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories by Rudyard Kipling ★★ (msg #65)
11. The Theatre of the Absurd by Martin Esslin ★★★1/2 (msg #81)
12. I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb ★★★★★ (msg #96)
13. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer ★★1/2 (msg #119)
14. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells ★★★ (msg #154)
15. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon ★★★1/2 (msg #176)
16. Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying by Roald Dahl ★★★ (msg #199)

March (my Month of the Firsts)
17. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin ★★★★1/2 (msg #205)
18. Enter Jeeves: 15 Early Stories by P.G. Wodehouse ★★★ (msg #220)
19. Haiku by Basho Matsuo ★★★1/2 (msg #239)
20. Emma by Jane Austen ★★★★ (msg #285)
21. Jazz by Toni Morrison ★★★1/2 SECOND THREAD (HERE)