girlunderglass - the 3rd thread

new thread, I bet you were getting tired of 300+ messages loading.

Previous threads:
Books 20-29
http://www.librarything.com/topic/61389
Books 1-20
http://www.librarything.com/topic/55773

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

BOOKS READ SO FAR: 49

August
49. My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok ★★★★
48. Night by Elie Wiesel ★★★1/2
47. Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart ★★★★
46. The Cow Who Fell In the Canal by Phyllis Krasilovsky ★★★

July
45. 500 Essential Graphic Novels: The Ultimate Guide by Gene Kannenberg ★★★★1/2
44. The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket ★★★
43. The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket ★★★1/2
42. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare ★★★★
41. V V (Viva) by E.E. Cummings ★★★

June
40. Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom by Tricia Hedge ★★1/2
39. As You Like It by William Shakespeare ★★★
38. Othello by William Shakespeare ★★★1/2
37. Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill ★1/2
36. Our Town by Thornton Wilder ★★★★
35. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell ★★★1/2
34. The Apple: New Crimson Petal Stories by Michel Faber ★★★★
33. Watchmen by Alan Moore ★★★★★ (here)

May
32. Tender Is the Night by F.Scott Fitzgerald ★★★ (here)
31. Quicksand by Nella Larsen ★★★★ (here)
30. Nostalgia by Mircea Cartarescu ★★★★ (here)
29. Federico García Lorca Para Niños by F.G. Lorca ★★★
28. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber ★★★★1/2

April
27. Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers ★★★
26. The Way Men Act by Elinor Lipman ★★★1/2
25. Virtual Light by William Gibson ★★1/2
24. Idoru by William Gibson ★★★★
23. El Clavo Y Otros Relatos by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón ★★1/2
22. Retal by Fernando Fernán Gómez ★★★1/2

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

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

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

30. Nostalgia by Mircea Cartarescu
Tags: 1990s, fiction, postmodern, Romania
Rating: ★★★★

This train ride is bleak. I'm high up in the air and I can see ..why, I can see the whole of the world, it seems. But it just doesn't feel exciting, not yet, but I'm still loving it, this feeling like I'm spying on something, seeing something I shouldn't be able to see at all. It feels more like a ride underground than on top of the world - it's so gray right now, if you know what I mean. The train moves slowly upwards, all sound is extinguished and there is no breath of wind to cool off the T-shirt stuck to my sweaty skin. No, there's something wrong - this doesn't feel like an amusement park. Everything is just too weird and slo-whoa! What just happened there? What? Who said that?

Oh, it's You. I wasn't sure if you were going to show up. Some writers do, you know, but others find it intrusive. But you want to guide me. You're telling me to prepare myself. Prepare myself because the ride is going to begin and then it's going to drive me crazy - wit pleasure, with sadness, with nostalgia, you don't know. Can't tell. It's up to me. You tell me you will try to show, try to make me understand. But you have tears in your eyes. "You would like to turn the reader's heart inside out" - you growl - "and what does he do? At three he's done with your book, at four he takes up another - no matter how great the book you placed in his hands."The sign ahead says "First Chapter: The Roulette Player" and the train keeps moving. Slow. Chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug. And then I see it. I see that the train has reached its peak going upwards and that in one blink of an eye it will start speeding downwards, laughing and choo-chooing and acting all crazy - a long mad worm doing somersaults through the air - but it still takes me by surprise when it does. I didn't think it would happen this way, like this, so wild-wild-wild and oh my God it feels wonderful! And even when it slows down - every time it slows down and I start getting bored - I think of you, and I remember what you said. What you said about wanting to rip my heart out and I feel guilty for pages I'm skimming, even skipping, for the pages slipping away, getting me closer to the end of the book. I've enjoyed the ride but you haven't done it yet, no, and you so wanted to and just when I think "it's too late, it's almost three o'clock" the last sign comes up ahead announcing the last chapter "The Architect". And I give into it one more time and this time - yes! - this time you rip my heart out with one quick move, one quick final story about the creation of the Universe, a sci-fi story as weird and unlikely as it is wonderful. And man, I'm so glad you had a chance to do it because it's almost four now - time for a new book.

Doing the same as you, posting so you don't go missing. Don't think your latest book sounds my kind of thing though!

Wow! Your latest book sounds amazing - I hope I can get my hands on it :)

Great review too!

#2. Between the book cover and your eerie, creative review, I'm going back to bed now and have some good old-fashioned nightmares. Thanks, friend.

I've got you starred again.

howdy

#4, #5: It is indeed a weird book. Not sure if it's short stories or a novel yet. A review I read said it's "less a novel-in-stories and more a collection, less a collection than an Easterly dictionary of illegal dreams". And the writer himself said that while the stories seem to be about totally different people & situations, they are all connected on a deeper level - he said this is a Book in the old sense of the word. I'm not sure yet. There definitely are some connections between stories but... well, just keep in mind that it is written in a postmodern style and has a lot of weird sci-fi, fantasy elements when you least expect it. But it's a book that takes you by surprise constantly and I like that. Happy nightmares, Charlie!

#3,4,5,6,7: Good to see you all here, glad you found me again :) *waves and grins broadly*

wow.. that is the best review I have ever read...

Hi, Eliza!
Interesting review! Sounds like it is worth a look. Have a great day!
--BJ

Your review seems to have left Emma speechless. Good one, GunderG!

Eliza
I'm sure you are headed for yet another "hot review."
Your insights are incredible!

girlunderglass, I got dizzy while reading your latest review, feel off of my chair and concussed myself. After several thousand dollars of emergency room diagnostics, it was determined that 167 frontal neo-cortex synapses misfired causing the said dizziness and my hippocampus is no longer sea-horse shaped. It looks like a frightened defensive hedgehog. I am now taking it easy in a 'review recovery' room with nice pastel colors and munching on morphine muffins.

VisibleGhost...
You made me laugh right out loud!
Thanks!
"Morphine muffins?" Where can I get some of those?

Can I order "Chocolate Morphine muffins" instead?? :D And Costco-size it, please!

thanks!!! 167 frontal neo-cortex synapses?? Wow! I am ever so proud!
I'll try to tone it down a bit next time maybe ;)

Yeah, aim for 159 synapses instead. Just to be on the safe side.

You're all mad! :-)

Well, I had to have something to post so the thread would stay on my radar, and that seemed as good a statement as any...

>18 lunacat:: 159 sounds feasible; I shall do my best!

>19 elliepotten: I would have gone with "Off with her head!" - more attention-grabbing ;) (But "You're all mad!" is probably more accurate heh)

That lad on the cover of the book looks like he could do with a morphine muffin.

I don't know...................."Off with her head!" could be more accurate? Surely it is entirely dependent on what the situation is at that precise time in the space time continuum and whether...........

oh......morphine muffins? I needs.........

If I eat enough morphine muffins, can I stay comatose for a week or so? I need to catch up on my sleep!

VisibleGhost;
#14
I don't believe I have met you yet---but you made me belly laugh out loud so hard I had to change my socks!~! (not a good thing) **sigh**
belva

Eliza;
A very original review. I appreciated all you put into that one. Once again you have astounded us with your brilliance!~!
No, really, great review.
And how many people can get 23 posts out of 1?
I can only think of 1.
gug--you must really get our minds twirling.
belva

Your review is so clever, I want to read the book, even though I don't want to read it. Clever comments too. LOL.

I love your review! I'll have to check out this book.

Thanks thanks thanks again folks! (nannybebette you are too sweet :) ) I am currently reading Tender is the Night - should be done with it tonight, and I will spend the rest of the week reading watchmen. So I then see the movie. And finally satisfy my curiosity about a big blue something that was mentioned on my previous thread as featuring prominently in the movie. (wtf??! really. I'm curious.)

Have a nice reading week everyone!

#29 - I've been reading The Watchmen off an on for a couple weeks now. So far, the movie and the graphic novel are pretty much the same.

What everyone said about incredibly creative review. Plus I'm jealous of your beta-testing :) How's it looking so far?

>30 London_StJ:: Started it today, so I'll be able to tell for myself now - yay!

>31 FlossieT:: Flossie and anyone else interested in this - the beta-testing is going very very well. All the collections work perfectly fine and they are look very very pretty. It is very easy to move from one collection to another using power edit or tags. The only collection that's having some issues right now is Currently Reading but they are working on that. Don't be jealous though - all the books we assign to collections in beta-mode will not stay like that and we'll have to do it all over again when the Real Collections ® come :) (which is why I'm tagging all my books with "unread" or "unowned" or "wishlist" so I can move them all together very easily into the specific collections when the time comes)

#32 - I'm starting to get really excited about this Collections thing! Has anyone else noticed the little changes LT is making every few days? The ones I noticed lately are the Common Knowledge links on our profiles, and, when you go to a book page, under the LT Recommends heading, if you have one of the recommended books in your library, then it has the little green checkmark next to it.

#33: Yes I love all the little changes as well! Particularly love the Series one in Statistics/Common Knowledge/Series - where you can see which books of each series you have AND which ones you're missing (you used to be only able to see the ones you have).

On a completely different note, reading acrackedportrat's review of Catcher in the Rye (it was on Hot Reviews today) has finally inspired me to write my own, which was long overdue. I have read the book many times but all before I joined LT and so there was never a review. I wrote one today, and you can read it here:

http://www.librarything.com/review/37104210

Even though I'm not counting the book towards my 75 since I didn't read it now, I would love to hear your thoughts on it - as always. Thanks for taking the time to read it!

I also have overdue reviews of Tender is the Night and Quicksand which I will write tonight/tomorrow depending on my review-writing mood :)

Hmmm that must be what I'm lacking... a 'review-writing mood'. ;->

Hi Eliza - I'll be very interested in your review of Tender is the Night - I didn't get on with it at all, but I've a suspicion that that may have been because I was reading it in very small dribs and drabs...

>34 girlunderglass:: I loved Nella Larsen's Passing. It's a very interesting look at racism within the black community as some are light enough to "pass" into the white world, if they're willing to cut all ties to their former communities. I liked Quicksand also, but Passing is my favorite.

36, 37: actually I just realized that the two books (which I accidentally read one after another) were in fact so well-matched! Not only they were both written during roughly the same period (Quicksand was published in 1928, Tender Is the Night in 1932) but they are also both autobiographical to a great degree. And, as books that draw so much from the personal lives of the writers, they make the contrast between Nella Larsen's reality and Fitzgerald's reality even more poignant. There is Helga Crane, the protagonist of Quicksand (whose life is based on Larsen herself) a black woman trying all her life -and ultimately failing - to escape racial and sexual prejudice. And then imagine the Divers (reflecting the Fitzgeralds' marriage and lifestyle) during the same period - Harlem Renaissance - livin' the high life in Europe, spending huge amounts of money and travelling through France, Switzerland, Italy etc. (True, the novel is still depressing because there is a schizophrenic wife involved, but still.) ΅What's even more interesting is that Helga Crane in Quicksand actually goes to Europe and for a while experiences the same life that the Divers are trapped in - but ultimately decides to return to Harlem. The comparison is very fascinating, I can tell you. :)

What a neat quirk of fate!

Ah, I love serendipitous reading like that - it happened to me with Towards Another Summer and The Road - not at all similar stories, but both books read like a train of subconscious thought and worked very well together...

Sounds like you're enjoying Tender is the Night more than I did then!

31. Quicksand by Nella Larsen
Tags: 1920s, fiction, U.S.A., African-American
Rating: ★★★★

Sometime during the past week I happened to be sitting in a very stuffy classroom - first heatwave of the summer lurking outside the air-conditioned building - listening to a very boring lecture on Eugene O'Neil's "Mourning Becomes Electra". ("Yes, you seeee children, Orin feels verrry verrry geeltee beecoz hee thinks hee eez reesponseebell for...") Ten minutes into the class, I'm ready to die my hair black, cut my veins and re-read Bell Jar. Fortunately I notice that the girl sitting next to me has a copy of of one of those huge Norton Anthologies - possibly to use in another class. So I think "surely, there must be something better than this to read in there!" and beg her to lent me that book in the same tone I would beg an axe-carrying mass-murderer to spare my life.

The first think that caught my attention - I was looking for full-length texts, not those useless chopped up texts the Nortons are full of - was Nella Larsen's "Quicksand". So I read the biography of the author first, to prolong the time I didn't have to hear all about Orin and Lavinia, and then proceeded to read the text. I had read about half of it before the teacher dismissed us and the girl asked me for her book back, and then I went home and read the rest of it. The novella, at only 80 (small-print) pages offers much more food for thought than its size would suggest. Larsen touches upon questions of racial and sexual identity, and discusses sensuality, love, religious belief, discrimination, the desirability of uniformity or diversity, belonging, motherhood, marriage, happiness, womanhood, money - discusses them in earnest, using her own experiences to make the novel and its protagonist as real as possible. Our heroine Helga Crane shares a lot with her creator, Larsen. They both had a white mother and a coloured father, they both lived in Denmark for some years, they both worked at rich black schools and ended up very disappointed in the education provided for coloured people, they both had to deal with marital and economical issues. They both struggled to find a place in the American society of the 1920s and 1930s. And neither of them, it seems, ever found it. After her divorce was completed, Nella Larsen stopped writing completely, turned her back on the critics who acclaimed her work and the literary circles where she was admired, and was reported as being depressed and possibly on drugs. She never wrote another word again and spent the rest of her life avoiding contact with friends and acquaintances. As for Helga Crane... her "ending" is not quite as conclusive - it is perhaps more subtle. But it is no less heartbreaking.

My favourite parts of the book were not, in the end, the ones that dealt with racial identity - although one could argue that the issue of racial identity is such an intrinsic part of the novel that you cannot separate it from the text. What I loved most was, on the one hand, the descriptions of the stages of Helga's relationship with religion; and on the other hand her attempts, through whatever means she had at hand, to capture that elusive thing called "happiness", attempts that never quite succeeded.

So: short novella, and definitely worth a read.

I took a break from a stress filled day at work of editing and proofing yearbook pages and I checked your thread to find a hilarious post that made me laugh right out loud and it somehow brought a spot of joy to my day...
Thanks!

gug;

31. Quicksand by Nella Larsen

Once again you have done it. Absolutely bowled me over with another great review!~! It was very thought provoking and made me not only want to read the book but to immediately find everything that I could get my hands on about the author.
Well done my dear!~! I see another "hot review" here.
belva

Thanks, Linda, glad I could brighten your day :)

Belva, thank you as well and if you want to find everything you can get your hands on by Larsen it shouldn't be very difficult, given the fact that she has only written two novellas and three short stories! :) I plan to read all of them myself - it should take about the time it usually takes me to read a medium-sized novel. Sometimes I love those authors (with a small literary "ouvre") because it just feels so good to say "I've read EVERYTHING he/she's ever written" :P On the other hand, if you end up liking the author a lot it's sad when they don't have more books out.

I understand that feeling!

Great review - and definitely sounds worth reading - I shall add it to the list!

Great (and guffaw inducing) review! Makes me want to go back and reread it!

gug :
Re: Nella Larson, have you read anything more about her? She, herself, sound very interesting to me. I think I will go google her and see what I find.
catcha later,
belva

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nella_Larsen

Just in case you are interested. bye

I don't know why I haven't posted anything on LT for so long... I guess it's all this heat - makes it difficult to sit in front of one's computer for long stretches of time (long enough to write a review, for example) :) This one's a due review for the month of May. Difficult-to-rate book.



32. Tender Is the Night by F.Scott Fitzgerald
Tags: 1930s, fiction, U.S.A.
Rating: ★★★

Read this last month and found I kept postponing the moment I had to review it because I didn't know what to write about it. Let me start by saying that there are two editions of Tender Is the Night: the book was originally published as a narrative with a non-linear sequence of events, but an edition issued after Fitzgerald's death was restructured - based on the writer's own notes - so that the events are recounted in the order in which they happen. The one I read was the latter. I don't know whether it is because of this re-arranging of events in a chronological order that I found the first third-or-so of the book particularly tiresome. The plot wasn't going anywhere, the characters were not particularly engaging at best - downright dull at worst - and I was particularly annoyed with Fitzgerald's writing style. I felt that he kept hinting at some life-altering truth beneath his words but he just won't get it out in the open and be done with it. He kept tantalizing the reader: overanalyzing, it seemed, the surface of the matter when he could have gotten to its rotten core in no time.

Having decided I will not give up on the novel yet, I persevered until it started to grow on me. Not in the sense of some sort of love or emotional bond being born, but in the sense of a delicate, deeper sense of appreciation. Having finished the book and looking back on it...I never did get to love the Divers. But had I given up on it halfway through I would still think, for example, that Dick Diver is a boring stereotype. Now I know him to be none other than Dick Diver: ambitious psychiatrist, drunkard, troublemaker, self-obsessed, disturbed, pitiable, enviable, talented, kind, mean, manipulative, money-loving, selfless, caring, insightful - and a hundred other things at once. I know Nicole to be Nicole and Rosemary to be Rosemary. And I do feel I'm a slightly better person for having gotten to know them; for experiencing the complex relationships, the subtle characterizations, the conflicting feelings, the underlying melancholy of the book. I still don't love any of the characters; but wouldn't dream of saying they are dull. I still don't like Fitzgerald's writing style; but wouldn't dream of saying it is bad. I'm still not sure I like this book; but wouldn't dream of saying I wish I hadn't read it.

I agree with you about Fitzgerald, you know his style is beautiful writing, but I find something off putting and his characterizations definitely leave much to be desired. At the same time, I always feel like a better person after finishing one of his books :) Your review is so well written!

Aha, the old ambivalent F. Scott response, GunderG. hehe

ha! I had no idea this is a typical Fitzgerlad response - at least I shall be more prepared in the future if I decide to tackle another one of his books :)

oh what a relief! i thought i was alone in my ambivalence! everyone i know seems to think it's fantastic... that said, I found the same as you Eliza - as I read further, I did get more involved...

I am so glad that I found you again.. great thread going on here :)

nice thread gpoing on here. might i be so curious as to ask how you do the stars in your reviews?

fengor, I just copy-paste them over and over again. Feel free to copy them from my thread if you like them :)

Alas, you are not alone flissp! Have you read The Great gtasby ? I'm thinking of giving that one a try as well (not in the immediate future though) - apparently it's more accessible. Although it's kind of annoying that the ending has been spoiled for me. Ah well.

Mckait glad you found me again :D

Gatsby is the only Fitzgerald I've read and I had the same reaction to that one as you had to this one...it's touted as The Great American Novel but I honestly didn't get it. It's a good story, sure, but I still don't get what all the fuss is about it.

Nope, I've not read that yet either - but also have it lined up to try at some point. I've also got a short story called The Crack-Up lined up...

...and I hate it when you find out the ending before reading the book - it's why I've given up reading book blurbs - too often, they give something crucial away...

I'm with you, spacespuds. I've read Gatsby twice at different times in my life and I still don't "get it." Because of that I've avoided Fitzgerald's other work and most likely will continue to.

#56/58: I am on the 'I don't get Gatsby' wagon as well. It has been touted as the Great American Novel for so long, I felt like I had to read it, and then when I did, I did not care for it. I have never bothered reading anything else of his.

In his own time, Gatsby wasn't considered all that great. I had to read it in high school, which of course comes with the analysis and the discussion and all that. I didn't hate it, but I definitely was more interested in Steinbeck and Hemingway.

It's supposed to reflect on the American Dream, but really, I think there are better representations of that concept than Fitzgerald's books.

Thanks for the debate - and the review - at least now I know what to expect as I was planning on tackling my first Fitzgerald sometime soon. Perhaps I'll refrain from taking one on holiday in case I find it too troublesome for such lazy days...

eughhh nooo Ellie definitely NOT a holiday book :) Sitting on a beach reading Fitzgerald would be a total nightmare, your brain would probably start hurting in the first 10 min (and possibly the brains of those around you just because they are in the proximity of the book) haha. I was debating what books I should take on holiday as well - I was thinking a big long book with a good plot and preferably suspense. Now I just have to find that book! (but first I have a month of exams and reading Shakespeare and that drag Eugene O'Neill so I keep telling my brain not to switch onto holiday-mode yet - it's not paying any attention to what I'm telling it though)

Messages 56 to 60: Whoa! Overwhelming response against The Great Gatsby. Who would have thought Fitzgerald was so unpopular with the LT crowd?

Well, I'll be sitting in a cottage in the Cotswolds actually - possibly in the rain - but point taken! I have to go through my library and start narrowing my choices down - I can pack really quickly but then I spend WAY too long choosing books and end up running late!

#63 ah, but the sun has just come out ;) Oooh, I'm envious, that sounds like a lovely holiday!

33. Watchmen by Alan Moore
Tags: 1980s, fiction, graphic novel, U.S.A.
Rating: ★★★★★

Ahem. Let's see. First I will draw your attention to the fact that I have bugged almost all members of this challenge (if not individually, then certainly through my thread) to read my favourite books. Take for example, Franny and Zooey - I have talked on and on about it. Yet, I have yet to write a review about that book. Why? Simply because I cannot say everything I want to say about it in one review. I cannot possibly enumerate all the reasons why I love it in 10 lines. I don't want to write a paragraph about it, I want to write essays, I want to write books. This is why I'm not going to write a review about Watchmen. Moore said this is a comic book designed to be read "four or five times," with some links and allusions only becoming apparent to the reader after several readings." And that is what I'm going to do because the man was so right. There is just SO much to it, I cannot even begin to analyze it. Call me a snob and an ignoramus but I never knew comic books can be so complex. It's really incredible how much work has gone into this and how many layers of meaning there are. It's not just the plot telling a story, it's the structure, the colours, the images, the symbols, the songs (yes there are songs), the articles (yes, there are articles - including one from an ornithological newspaper!), the writing (a lot of Watchmen is an imaginary book - no images - which is supposed to be one of the characters' memoir), the subtle references, the little attachments (old "photographs", receipts, fragments of diaries or letters), the political and historical setting, the social commentary, the Tales of the Black Freighter (another comic within Watchmen)...etc. It's frankly amazing. I'm very new to this. I don't really read comic strips - never have, not even as a kid. But if I knew there were some this good out there, I would have started reading them earlier. (A review that mirrors my feelings in this respect and that made me chuckle a few times can be found here!)

Meanwhile, I will leave you with this little description from Wikipedia - just in case you aren't convinced yet: "Moore used the story as a means to reflect contemporary anxieties and to critique the superhero concept. Watchmen takes place in an alternate history United States where superheroes emerged in the 1940s and 1960s, helping the United States to win the Vietnam War. The country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, freelance costumed vigilantes have been outlawed and most costumed superheroes are in retirement or working for the government. The story focuses on the personal development and struggles of the protagonists as an investigation into the murder of a government sponsored superhero pulls them out of retirement. Creatively, the focus of Watchmen is on its structure. Gibbons used a nine-panel grid layout throughout the series and added recurring symbols such as a blood-stained smiley. All but the last issue feature supplemental fictional documents that add to the series' backstory, and the narrative is intertwined with that of another story, a fictional pirate comic titled Tales of the Black Freighter, which one of the characters reads. "

And a little note re the film: Moore's vision was that of an unfilmable graphic novel - ""What I'd like to explore is the areas that comics succeed in where no other media is capable of operating" - , and actually stressed the differences between comics and film in Watchmen. Having now seen how that vision developed and having experienced its richness and complexity, I very much doubt, no matter how much effort might go into the film or how good the director might be, that it is possible to capture something like Watchmen on screen. But I shall watch the movie soon and see for myself.

>33 Cait86:. I had a very similar reaction to Watchmen in that I had never read comics/graphic novels before picking up Watchmen. I was blown away by the complexity of such a vision and in awe of anyone who could create such a world and such an unusual twist on the idea of "superhero." I've been steadily reading more graphic novels since then and I continue to be very pleasantly surprised by what I find. I now wish that there had been a comic books store in my tiny town while I was growing up because I could have been a diehard fan.

If you haven't read Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series, I think you would really enjoy it as well. Gaiman's created his own mythology around the character of Dream and his siblings, and the books have so many allusions to other mythologies, comic books, and literature (one storyline is an entire homage to A Midsummer Night's Dream. I also enjoyed his Marvel 1602 as it was fun to see him place these popular superheroes in Elizabethan times.

Watchmen didn't really captivate me, but your reaction is on-par with everyone else in my corner of the universe. I'm glad you found it so fulfilling!

#65: I read Watchmen last year, Eliza, and my succinct, one-word review was 'Wow'. I am glad that you think it is 'amazing' as well!

Would any of you say that Watchmen was a good book/graphic novel to take on holiday? I'm going away in 4 days for a week on a beach and am plotting what to take with me. This sounded like maybe I'd enjoy it but I don't know if I'd be able to concentrate on it at home.

#69: To my mind, no, but that's just me. When I go to the beach, I want light reads and I just think Watchmen is too heavy for that. Like I said, that's just me though.

naah I don't know Luna...I'd take something more relaxing and less demanding than Watchmen. a) It's not exactly cheerful stuff, we're talking about a dystopia here and b) it's pretty intellectually-demanding, and I never want to read too intellectual stuff on holiday - especially not when I'm frying on the beach. The heat tends to slow down my mental processes :) I know you might imagine it's gonna be good fun as a comic book (at least that's what I thought) but there aren't many POWs and OUCHes and BOOMs - a lot of the "action" in the book is not physical but political, if you want to put it like that. And politics + holidays don't go too well together IMHO.

Makes sense, I'll avoid it for the holiday then!

I'm concerned that I'm taking a lot of 'heavy' books with me. Not necessarily heavy in topic but big so they will keep me going. I may have to rethink my pile drastically *sigh*

#72: Look at the bright side - if you take lightweight books on holiday and run out, you have a perfectly legitimate excuse for buying more books :)

#73

Usually this would be great but I'm not counting on finding anything I'm really wanting to read in a resort in Turkey, from experience of resorts I would think that it is mostly crime/thrillers and romance. We are walking distance to the town/city but I'm cautious that there would be an bookshop selling books in english that I would enjoy.

#74: Good point. I had not realized you were going so far from home.

Turkey! Okay now I'm jealous. Greece is right next to Turkey and I've never been there, and you are going all the way from the UK. My hat's off to you :)

#76

Thanks. As I wrote that, I suddenly thought how close I would be to you (compared to where I am now!) and was wondering if you'd ever been. I am definitely planning on visiting Athens at some point in the future as it looks wonderful (the touristy historical bits I mean lol) so would be nice to meet up and be shown the good bits! I could offer books from UK in exchange lol

I've done a fair bit of travelling in my 23 years (Mongolia, China, South Korea, Tunisia, USA, Dominican Republic, Italy) and France, Belgium and Germany on school trips so Turkey doesn't feel that big a deal!

Just looking forward to a week reading on the beach with no worries. A bit of sight seeing, some swimming in a warm sea and all inclusive food and drink. Can't wait!

...and it leaves you with that uncomfortable "oh" feeling at the end, where you need to go and find something mindless and happy to cheer yourself up!

Eliza, I didn't find myself completely carried away by Watchmen as you clearly were, but the funny thing about it is that since reading it, I've continued to think about it and it's definitely grown in my mind.

Bearing this in mind, I enjoyed the film quite a bit (I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been sooooo long), as I spotted more things that I'd forgotten about or missed the first time round. In my opinion, it's mostly pretty accurate to the book, but there are a couple of glaring differences - the superheroes do appear to have super human strength, for example (I don't know why they did that) and the comic-within-a-comic is cut completely (a very good thing, or the film would have lasted all day!). You also don't leave the cinema feeling quite so bleak as they kind of wash over the last comic book frame - it is there, it's just kind of pushed under the carpet.

All this said, I've a suspicion that true fanatical lovers of the comic may have a problem with the film.

...oooh and what snat said about Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. Like you, I've never really been a comic reader, but some time after American Gods came out, I ran out of books by Gaiman to read, so I gave the first one a go, not sure what to expect. Love them. It's a 10 book series, so there are highs and lows, but it's another one that has many levels - and the good bits are really good! I was less of a fan of Marvel 1602, but that's probably because I lack the comics background. On the other hand, some of his one offs like Black Orchid and Harlequin Valentine in particular are also great...

oops, 6 whole messages posted while i was writing that one!

you kidding? I wold love to meet you! :)

Wow - pretty impressive!! I love travelling and I've done a lot f it but I'm sad to say all my trips have been somewhere in Europe - mostly because of how much more expensive it is to travel anywhere else. I'm hoping someday we won't have to pay 1000 euros to fly to the States, for example.

Cait86 here on the 75 thread is also a big travel-lover - now if only we had tons of money we could just meet in a totally random place of the world anytime, lay on a beach, sip cocktails and talk about books :)

oh we're all posting at the same time , I'm all confused :)
So msg. 80 was in reply to lunacat.

now flissp! I kept hearing from a lot of people before I read the comic (and now you too) that the ending is depressing. Was I the only one that didn't think so? I don't know. Because it really didn't feel depressing to me. It felt...appropriate. *twisted smile* ;)

ETA: also I'm really wondering how they did all the different things - the articles, the songs, the diary pieces, Veidt's receipts etc in the movie. Did they just leave it all out except for the main story? Because they seem pretty untranslateable in film.

Oh and the Tales of the Black Freighter is a separate 20min animation on the Watchmen DVD. I have watched THAT even though not Watchmen and really liked it. It was even spookier than in the book.

Wow, what a lovely thought. We could have a 75ers retreat house, on a beach somewhere with a town in walking distance but not too many people around. And good bookshops. And a good bar for those cocktails.....

Dammit, when am I going to marry that millionaire!

And nope, not kidding, I love travelling and live about 45mins away from an airport with airlines that do very cheap flights to places like Athens. Having someone to meet there is a real kick up my backside to make me do it! Hopefully will happen in the next year or so, even if its just for a long weekend. I hate going too long without going abroad and I didn't go anyway last year so I'm trying to make up for it now.

82: "cool beans" as a lot of people here on LT say :D That would be great!

Man, did I blow it!~! (not really....but) my first husband made his 1st million before he hit 52 and retired at 57, but he was violent with me and really, (I mean really) lousy in the sack. My 2nd (& current) was working in a logging mill when we met, the sex was GREAT, he didn't have a pot to piss in, was still living with his folks and he quit his job less that a week after we started "making it". Said he couldn't stay up all night and then work all day, so he had to make a choice. Lucky me, I won and supported him for the first 12 years of our marriage. But, like I said, the sex was great!~!~
So--------lunacat, you can have the millionaire, (he isn't mean any more but is prolly still a lousy lay) and buy the LT vacation villa where we can all gather annually, tip a few and talk about good books, I will keep the sex god (who does support his family now & is snoring on the couch even as we speak) and see you all once a year.
How does that sound?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm?
belva

I was on the so-so train for Watchmen. The only character I really liked was Rorschach. I think part of my problem is that I don't like edge-of-nuclear-annihilation Cold War stories.

I was in Athens a few years back and I really loved it. All the places I wanted to go was in walking distance so we never had to take the subway or ride cabs. We also knew a local who took us to Psirri where we got piss drunk and smoked hookahs. Athenians are my kind of people as they seem really easy-going and they like to stay up late. I remember going home at 5 am and there were still middle-aged people carousing (I'm not insulting middle-aged people but you gotta admit that's late for them to be out partying).

If I had to pick a place for LTers to meet, it would be Portland so we could go to Powell's and drink all the city's microbrews. Otherwise... London? So we can swoon in the Reading Room at the British Museum? And then go shopping at Topshop? (I die in Topshop)

msg.85: oooh I die in Topshop as well - It's so annoying that we don't have it here. But hey, until last year we didn't have H&M either - at least now there's that. I'm so tired of Zara. :)

Rorschach was my favourite character as well - he is amazing! So funny & tragic at the same time!

msg.84: Belva dammit you should have stuck with the millionaire -now we would've been chilling on a beacch in the Carribean!! (just kidding of course, sounds like a good deal you've got there) But yeah, wouldn't it be great if we LT members could actually have an actual physical book club once a month every time in a different place?? *daydreaming* And Cauterize, I've never been to Portlaaaaaaaaaand :(

Maybe we should all pool our money together and buy our own island . . . I can chip in at least $2.

>87 alcottacre:: It's not a tropical island, Stasia, but it does get quite sunny and warm and it is an island. You're welcome to visit any time.

Ooooh, it's so lovely!

The former is absolutely heavenly!~! Bring on the Mai Tais. Never had one in my life. Are they any good?

The latter brings to mind Alaska (southeastern) and someplace I would love to be every day of the year. It you get to call that home, you are one lucky dog!~! Just beautiful. So, are the kings running and how are the halibut this year?

That looks like Ontario to me. ;)

I will see alcottacre's $2 and raise $2.50!! We will get that island in no time!!! (passing hat to next LT'r)

I will see Alcottacre's $2.00 and TheBoltChick's $2.50 and raise $3.00.

"We will get that island in no time!!!"

ditto BoltChick!~!

(passing hat to next LT'r)

>92 tiffin: That's exactly what I thought! It looks like one of the many islands of Georgian Bay.

Count me in for $3.50 :)

woo hoo chiming in with 4 - But wait! We haven't decided where we want the island to be yet! There must be bookshops there!

Tad you are one lucky bastard!

#96: If we all bring books, we can have a major swapathon, Eliza!

97: we'll probably spend Eternity swapping books and admire each other's books and we'll never read anything at all...

But we will have such fun swapping and admiring . . .

>92 tiffin:, 95:

Tui called it. Of course, she had an edge as she knew we had a cabin there! :-)

Spacepotatoes...close...it's the French River, which empties into Georgian Bay.

I'm serious that anyone can stop by if we're up there.

ETA: By the way, I'm leaving so many books there that we've started a Cottagers Library fir the cabins in the area.

Right on!~! I've a fiver and change to add!
>#98
"we'll probably spend Eternity swapping books and admire each other's books and we'll never read anything at all... "

must be heaven.

You people are evil! Now I'm dreaming of an island where we can all sit around all day and read and swap and discuss and and and...

The pictures didn't help rein in my imagination much.

Eliza - I agree with you, the ending of Watchmen didn't seem depressing to me. The word appropriate works for me. I guess I even thought it was somewhat realistic (not in the monstery sense, but in the humans will be their own downfall if we're not careful sense).

I'd love to hear what you think of the movie, I haven't seen it yet, but have been told by other readers it was amazing.

>48 girlunderglass: Re: Tender is the Night review

Eliza, as you well know, it's been awhile since I've visited here (or anywhere else for that matter), so I found jumping in to the general conversation too daunting. However, I was glad to see you had reviewed Tender is the Night since I purchased the book recently and was looking forward to reading it. If I were to base myself on your review, I might well put the book far down my tbr pile except for the fact that I read The Great Gatsby for the first time last year—after having seen the movie countless times—and absolutely loved it, characters, story, style and all. Based on that I had high expectations for TITN but your review helps put things in perspective and lower my expectations, which should in the end lead me to an even greater enjoyment of this book! Or not. I guess I’ll find out soon enough...

I'll chip in $10 toward the purchase of the island and I'll bring the wine..

Hhhmmm, why don't I bring the gin?

I'm packing up my books as we speak....
don't leave without posting island location. ;-)

I propose that we purchase two islands, one in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern. That way we get maximum sun.

Aw, if only we had had this conversation last week - I was just in the Peterborough area this weekend, and I just could have continued on up to your place, Tad! LOL

I like the way you think Diane - how practical to have two islands!!

I agree Cait86.
We can stash Richard on one and the rest of us can party on the other. hee hee!~!
belva

I am sorry. I do continue to forget the sensitivity training I was put through. Please forgive.

brilliant idea, dianestm! Why didn't we think of this before? One island will hold our massive shelves of books - it will look like a labyrynth made completely out of bookshelves, all the streets will have been formed according to how we placed said shelves. The other island is where we actually do the reading, throw tea parties and have picnics. This one will be full of comfy armchairs and chaise longues and nice little reading sots in the most unexpected places :)

The bad thing is if one island is in the northern hemisphere and the other in the southern, we will spend all of our time traveling between the two and still not getting any reading done!

Well if we have the money to buy the islands I'm sure we can add some private planes to that ;D

Or private yachts . . .

>108 Cait86:: Cait, Did you wave to tiffin? She's near there.

Oh, that's right, I knew Tui lived near Peterborough - we could have had an LT party :)

Just a little reminder to myself -

Pending reviews:
♠ The Apple: New Crimson Petal Stories by Michel Faber
♠ Othello by William Shakespeare

I'm starting exams next week though (exam period will last three weeks) so I'm not sure when I will have the time to review them. Hopefully sometime in between studying.

Good luck with those exams, GunderG. I know how intense and airless the next three weeks will seem. But at the end, there will be that wonderful burst of freedom, however temporary, when you can laze, read what you want and just be for a bit.

Yep, good luck with the exams - hope all goes well!

Good luck, Eliza!

Best of luck to you, Eliza!

Good luck on your exams - not that you need it of course! :)

Good luck on your exams. I know you'll do great.

girlunderglass;
The very best of luck to you Eliza. I know you will do great!~!


glitter-graphics.com

We'll be here waiting to hear how you've done.
belva

Message 109
I laughed right out loud! Seriously though, I would want to be on the island with Richard.

Eliza
Good luck with the exams!

Eliza - Good luck with exams! Maybe when you are done, you can come visit the LT island to recover.

Thank you all so much for the good luck wishes - you are amazing :) With such encouragement, I am bound to do well!

I'll add my good wishes to the pile then, throw a bit more GOOD LUCK into the mix!

Me too! Good Luck with your exams.

Good luck from a fellow exam taker! I always figure the more best wishes the merrier :)

One thing I realized after visiting this thread is that I have to read and watch Watchmen.

If I start saving $10k an year, I will be able to save up a mn in just another 100 years, so see you guys on that island in 2109, someone start working on the bookshops and the cocktail bar in the meantime while I go back to work :(

And last but not the least, best of luck for your exams, Eliza!

Good luck from me too :)

I am still drooling over the cabin.. So its Yours Tad?

>132 mckait:: Yes :-)

There's a family cabin a couple islands away that was simply getting too crowded between the sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, what have you...so my wife and I bought the land and built this in 1999.

jealous, jealous, jealous!

wow and wow.. so beautiful!

any more pics Tad?

Tad, that cabin is gorgeous. What a get-away!

Tad,
it is absolutely idyllic. Your family must love to spend time there. It looks so serene.
belva

Sooooooooooo folks.
I haven't posted in a very, VERY long time. June was Exam Month for me and July was my birthday and many other things. There has also been a lot of trip-planning for the summer as I'm going on a huge trip through Europe, basically starting in the East (Romania) and ending up West (The Netherlands). That means I will probably be away from LT for a while longer, unfortunately. Fortunately though, it doesn't mean I'm not reading. Nor that I am giving up on the challenge. I should become a full-time obsessive LTer again sometime in September. Until then, I will continue to update this thread with my reads from my trip (and probably include a thing or two related to my trip). If you thing that's not too boring, you're welcome to drop by and say hi and offer information/stories/advice for this young traveller :)

In the meantime, here are my June reads (most of which I had to read for class & exams):

34. The Apple: New Crimson Petal Stories by Michel Faber ★★★★
I cannot get enough of Faber's characters. If he wrote 10 more books about Sugar, William, Agnes, and their world I would read them all. My favourite of the book's short stories was the last one, titled "A Mighty Horde of Women in Very Big Hats". The 60-page story manages to do for me what history books have failed to: it makes me visualize the whole stretch of time from the Victorian era to the Edwardian one. Faber makes you grasp the historical realities of the time in one quick gulp, a feat not even Dickens accomplishes. The man is an extremely talented writer and I will definitely look for more of his novels. (I recently read another one of his short stories, which I also loved, called "Vanilla-bright like Eminem". And yes, of course I only read it because its title intrigued me.)

35. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell ★★★1/2
Read it in a very short time - I had to skip and skim pages in order to get the gist of it in time for my exam. Wouldn't feel comfortable writing a review of it after such a reading. Enjoyed it, though.

36. Our Town by Thornton Wilder ★★★★
Apparently this is very famous in the States and kids read it in highschool there. It's easy to see why. It's very American, and very representative of a particular era in American history - in a way. On the other hand, it's also got some very universal themes and some pretty innovative techniques which make it timeless. The book feels very Carpe Diem-ish, it's sort of like Dead Poets' Society play equivalent. It makes you want to go run around in rye fields while whistling to the tune of "Don't Worry, Be Happy". Which is not a bad thing, at all.

37. Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill ★
Ewww. Bliahh yukk oh no kill me now arghhh. Did I mention ewwww? Depressing. Boring. Unoriginal. Dated. Sheer agony.

38. Othello by William Shakespeare ★★★1/2
Enjoyed much more than I would have expected. The only play of Shakespeare's I had read before was Romeo and Juliet and I was much too young to appreciate his writing. Plus, I didn't understand a lot of his vocabulary then. This time, there were notes, footnotes, explanations, word meaning and everything else you might need. His characters are extremely complex and I understand now what all the "fuss" is about.

39. As You Like It by William Shakespeare ★★★
Enjoyed this a little less than Othello. Still, reading and studying Shakespeare was something new for me and a very fascinating experience, at that. I feel a better person :)

40. Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom by Tricia Hedge
This qualifies as a textbook so I'm not rating it. But it took so long to read that I am definitely counting it. And I am SO glad to be able to read what I want to from now on. Time to pick my holiday-reads for the summer!

Hi Eliza! I meant to send you a message before now, I can only find my ancient copy of The Mouse on Wall Street...care to have that?

Reading plays is my idea of hell. Mourning Becomes Electra was one play that made me ask for death, too. I wasn't a very good drama fag, I guess. I liked doing props for my high school's shows. And the actors, of course.

Welcome back, girlunderglass! So, do we get to see your report card? Your trip sounds wonderful, and I'll certainly be interested to hear about the places you visit (and the books you read).

I don't know if this is an option for you, but I recently purchased a Toshiba nb205 netbook (mini-laptop), mainly to take with me on my upcoming trip to Europe. It's much more portable than my regular laptop, and only cost $350 USD.

I'm happy to see you enjoyed Shakespeare! Othello is one of my favorite plays, and there are some interesting film versions out there. Now I have an itch to go back and reread Much Ado About Nothing.

Glad to see you back, some of us were wondering where you'd gone! Sounds busy but hopefully the travelligng will give you a lot of enjoyment.

139: Richard dear, yes, I would care for that very much, thank you! The only problem is that I'm going to be away for quite a while so there would be noone at my place to pick it up - maybe I'll remind you in September if you still have it ;)

thank you for the welcome backs! My boyfriend plans to bring his laptop with so I will have a chance to do a little LTing as well.

I did enjoy Othello Shakespeare, but I enjoyed The Merchant of Venice even more! read that one just recently in July) - also saw the 2004 film version with Al Pacino, who, as usual, was very good playing his part (Shylock). Much Ado About Nothing huh? Never read that one...

I simply love travelling. Apart from the whole seeing new things + places (which is amazing) I just love that you can get away from everything - and read as much as you want!

wheeeeee
I'm off to start packing now!

Hey, good to hear from you again! So, is this an all-planned-out kind of trip, or a hop-on-a-train-whenever-you-feel-like-it kind of trip? Do you have an itinerary? I can't wait to hear all about it!!

Hooray, you made it through your exams and are free, free, free (for a while). I hope your travels are fun and full of wonder, GunderG. Good to 'see' you again.

Welcome back Ms. Eliza!

I will make sure you know when I have finished up Tender is the Night, whether you can respond right away or not. We're all glad to hear from you.

@138, Eliza, that sound good, travelling through Europe! Don't forget to visit the wonderfull city of Delft in the Netherlands. Although Amsterdam is beautiful (I should go there more often and start to visit it as a tourist instead of a shopper or for a business meeting...), Delft is more cozy (yes, as an inhabitant I'm pre-occupied ;) ).

Enjoy your trip!

It will be partially planned-out and partially hop-on-a-train-whenever-you-feel-like-it :) Meaning we have half of the trip planned out but we also have two weeks between the Czech Republic and Belgium that we don't know where we're gonna be. We're thinking camping somewhere near a river/sea/swimming pool because we want to swim (a summer is not a summer to a Greek unless there's swimming involved).

boekenwijs: In the Netherlands we're also visiting Apeldoorn - at least I think that's how you spell it - and Bredevoort, which is apparently some sort of booktown, kind of like Ham-on-Rye and Redu, but not as well known. Have you been there? Is it worth a trip? We could go to Redu instead maybe if it's not that great. Don't know yet. Oooh I'm so excited!!

Hi GUG! glad to see you again :)

My friend is in the Czech Republic right now.. visiting her hometown and family ..
Have loads of fun!

Welcome back Eliza. Sorry you'll be temporarily deserting us again so soon, but your summer travels sound wonderful. I'm very envious--have a great time!

>143 girlunderglass: Eliza, September it is! I'll have to calendar it or there will be no way I'll remember.

Happy travels to you and Mr. Man.

All good wishes for a wonderful time away!

Welcome back, Eliza!
I had to agree with you about Mourning Becomes Electra... I am not sure why I even finished it years ago. I certainly hope you find many more enjoyable books while you are on vacation. It sounds like a wonderful trip to be taking. I will be watching your thread for any updates as you have them.
Have a great time!
Dana

@148, Eliza, Apeldoorn is quite okay, although the city itself is not so special. But there is one of the royal palaces nearby (never been there, but it seems to be cool) and the surrounding area (the Veluwe) is among the most special places of nature in the Netherlands.

I've heard about Bredevoort, but to be honest, I needed to google it. I've never been there.

When you're around on the first Sunday of August (2nd I believe), one of Europes largest bookmarkets will be in Deventer (the city is located next to Apeldoorn). Most of the books are Dutch, but English books can be found as well quite good.

Aw, I come back to LT only to find you leaving again! It sounds like you have an amazing summer planned, though, have a fantastic trip. Travel safe and happy reading as you go :)

I found reading Mourning Becomes Electra tedious as well, but then discovered a film version starring, of all people, Rosalind Russell as Lavinia, with Michael Redgrave and Kirk Douglas(?!) as well as Raymond Massey. It's still long, but far more comprehensible. It's available on DVD.

Wow, I fall off the map for a bit and miss out on discussions about graphic novels (also a relatively recent "discovery" in my reading repertoire; *highly* recommend Maus), buying islands and book swapping, Shakespeare (Taming of the Shrew is really interesting to read from a 20th/21st century perspective), exams (hope they went well!), and Euro travels. That'll teach me!

And Watchmen has so been put on my list. Sounds fantastic.

Little trip update
I just loved this place:

(Museum of Steam Locomotives - Sibiu, Transylvania, Romania)







The weather while we were there was very changeable and the rain was starting and stopping all of a sudden; it added so much to the atmosphere of the place. Beautiful!

I love the photos! Thanks for posting them.

ditto what Darryl said.

Love the pictures!

Beautiful, gug! There's so many lovely things to see all over the country. Are you going to be near Odorhei? I visited there for the first time in May and it was beautiful, lots of Szekely history in that area too if you are interested in any of that.

Thanks for sharing the pictures, Eliza!

Great pictures!!

That is awesome. Love the pics!~!
It looks as though they take wonderful care of the locomotives.
Thank you for sharing with us.
belva

Hi Eliza - belated happy birthday to another July person - and WOO! to the end of exams and being able to read what you like!

Love the photos - they feel all Thomas the Tank Enginey :)

I can't recall if you've read any books by Elizabeth Gaskell other than Mary Barton, because if you enjoyed that and haven't, I'd like to heartily recommend her work in general (one of my favourite authors), but particularly North and South and Wives and Daughters?

Have fantastic travels and keep posting the pics!

Love the trains, Eliza. Is that you between two engines?

Yes, Happy Belated to you Eliza!

oooh thanks for the Happy Birthdays! Yes, that's me between the two trains. We are having an amazing trip - we're currently in Heidelberg, Germany where we're staying in a camping by a river and there's Aaaaall the time in the world for reading and just walking by the river and riding bikes. It's amazing! I feel so very lucky.

I've passed some great bookstores on the way here some of which I plan to show you just so you're aware of them in case you pass through the countries they're in, because they're GREAT! I can't upload pics right now but as soon as I can I will do that.

Just finished Ellie Wiesel's Night and currently reading Chaim Potok's My Name is Asher Lev - as you can see I'm going through a Jewish phase. Seeing Auschwitz and Birkenau can do that to you.

I just finished Potok's The Chosen a couple of weeks ago and have The Promise home from the library now. My Name is Asher Lev will be next on the agenda. I will be interested in seeing your thoughts on it.

Happy travels!

Hi Eliza, wow, I missed your posts in July cause I was out of touch down in Mexico. Your European adventure sounds awesome. Wonderful pics from Romania. I have distant relatives there and it would be great to visit at some point.
Isn't is great to travel and read!! Did you select your books before you left, is it a time consuming choice or do you just stuff them in you bag and take off?
Happy birthday and happy trails!

Ah, Carmenere - you've hit the nail on the head with the question about choosing books for the holidays! For me it's such a time-consuming affair. I go through my library and make a list of contenders a couple of weeks before, then narrow them down steadily... Then a day or two before the trip I pick the shortlist off the shelves, take a look at each one and try to whittle it down again... NOT an easy task when it comes to my TBR pile, but when you're off on holiday for one week only, it pays to choose wisely! :-D

Ellie, I think choosing which books to take are half the fun of going on a trip!

Hell yeah - I'd rather spend two weeks deliciously perusing 'n' choosing my books, then five minutes throwing socks and suncream in a bag, than the other way round!

Yes please to the holiday bookshops!

I actually only chose one book to take with because I had all these trips planned to these amazing bookshops I'd heard of - so I thought I'd have a chance to pick sonething up there ;)

#176: I could not do only 1 book! What if I hated the one I chose? I would have to have at least 2, lol.

well I picked about 20 at the various bookshops on the road so had plenty to choose from! :D

Cool beans! What did you get?

I know you're not there but I hope the wildfires in Athens aren't affecting either where you live, or any of your friends or family

oh yes - ditto

ditto the ditto.

I hope your house and environment is fine.

Silly me, being concerned with what books you bought when there are fires going on in Greece! I hope everything is OK with you and yours, Eliza.

I cannot believe I lost your thread. GUG. So have spend an amused gobsmacked time updating myself to your reads. Who needs books when they can read your reviews!

Hope your exams were successful.

Interested to hear how you found the Potok books.

Thank you so much for your concern everyone. I am fine and so is my family and house - the fires were on the opposite side of Athens to where I live. I am so behind my reviews that I have the whole months of July and August to account for, so I'll be posting some mini-reviews instead (as opposed to my usual intimidating two-three paragraphs long ones).



45. 500 Essential Graphic Novels: The Ultimate Guide by Gene Kannenberg ★★★★1/2
I might be a sucker. It might be just the combination of pretty images, nice formatting, and the fact that this is a reference book about books that got me. The result is I'm giving this 4-and-a-half stars. It's the perfect coffee-table book, a delight to flip through and a great source of information. The only problem is now I want to buy at least 20 graphic novels. And, unfortunately, they're more expensive than books and you can't really find second-hand copies that easily. *sigh*



44. The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket ★★★
Nice, quick, entertaining summer read.



43. The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket ★★★1/2
I think this was a delightful book, a word which here means "it was even better than the previous one, partly because I've stopped expecting rational plots and am starting to really enjoy this series"



42. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare ★★★★
This is my favourite Shakespeare from what I've read so far (Romeo & Juliet, As You Like It, and Othello). Although the story itself is not original, Shakespeare has added so much depth to the characters and it is that which makes the book great. You're never quite sure who to hate, who to love and you can never quite tell if Shakespeare himself was a racist bastard or an incredibly forward-minded fellow.

(P.S. Although the movie doesn't compare with the book and frankly, is a bit odd at times, Al Pacino does a really good job as the 2004 movie version of Shylock.)



41. VV (Viva) by E.E. Cummings ★★★
I'm a huge fan of E.E.Cummings. The words coming out of that man's pen and the way he uses language can stun you. However, truth be told, he's not the easiest or the most consistent of poets. Sometimes his poems can be a little, well, tricky - ranging from difficult to I-feel-like-I'm-reading-Ulysses to pure Nonsensical. This collection, containing "some of his earliest and most experimental poems" has rather too much of the nonsensical.

Example:
"at
which(shal)lpounceupcrackw(ill)jumps
of
THuNdeRB
loSSo!M iN
-visiblya mongban(gedfrag-
ment ssky?wha tm)eani ngl(essNessUn
rolli)ngl yS troll s(who leO v erd)oma insCol

Lide.!high
n , o ;w:
theraIncomIng"

However, to justify my rating, there are also a few lovely little poems in this book, like "a clown's smirk in the skull of a baboon", "you", "it)It will it", "the first president to be loved by his", etcetera. ( incidentally, "etcetera" is one of Cummings's best poems IMO, but not part of this collection).

Some of my favourite lines:

"Rain is no respecter of persons
Snow doesn't give a soft white damn Whom it touches"

"for only Nobody knows
where truth grows why
birds fly and
especially who the moon is"

and of course the much-quoted (by Tennessee Williams and Woody Allen, amongst others)
"Nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands"

Nice reviews again, Eliza! *Stasia skulking off to find a copy of the graphic novel book*

Glad to know you and your family are fine.

#187 Ditto!

#185 Yes, "experimental" would be one word for that e. e. cummings poem!!

Love your Reptile Room description ;) - I read/listened my way through all the Lemony Snicket books last year - they get even sillier/better as they go along. I'm not usually an audiobook person, but Tim Curry reads (most of) them and does an extremely good job. Great fun.

Hello Eliza.
I just wanted to pop over and play catch up here. I also am waaaay behind on my reviews as I am so busy attempting to catch up on threads from my own holiday and also to finish my 999 challenge. Just 1 1/2 books to go and I have until the 9th, so I will make it. But I have at least 8 books to review and I think I will follow your example and just do quickeys on all of them. Sounds good to me and you did an excellent job on yours.
will catch you later my dear.
hugs,
belva

Loved your cummings slice-and-dice.

Hi Eliza! If you're looking for graphic novels, maybe you should check your libraries? I just found the section in mine, so my upcoming reviews will be graphic novel heavy because I started reading Sandman and anything else that seems interesting.

191: I don't really use libraries because they only have books in Greek while I read mostly in English :(

I must say it's so nice to come back after all this time and still have people checking my thread, so thanks for dropping by guys! :D

Okay so, as promised, the first of my "Amazing Bookshops I Visited During My Trip - That You Should Definitely Go To If You Have a Chance!" posts (rather long and awkward description, but there you go - I just woke up.

This is Budapest's fantastic Red Bus bookshop.



(Me browsing)


The prices are great (everything 3 to 5 euros!) and the selection is quite incredible - it's impossible to leave the shop without taking at least a handful of books with you. And that's exactly what I did, having picked up:
♦ Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov
♦ The Fahrenheit Twins by Michel Faber
♦ Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez
♦ 1700: Scenes From London Life by Maureen Weller (currently reading)
♦ Night by Elie Wiesel
♦ Chess Story by Stefan Zweig

and an incredible find, an absolutely stunning copy of Katherine Mansfield's Selected Stories, hardcover, with a cover so beautiful that it made me want to start sobbing all over it when I saw it. But what's really special about the book is it has an introduction and commentary in Russian (!) and was apparently printed in Moscow, in 1959 (can you see me jumping up and down like an overexcited chihuahua??), by FOREIGN LANGUAGES PUBLISHING HOUSE, which is why the stories themselves are in English. Needless to say, this was a very successful bookstore-trip for me!

Next up, Prague's "The Globe" is not so much about finding tons of books but more about atmosphere. Very chilled out, with a nice selection of American magazines and newspapers, great food and ads for book clubs and cinema nights everywhere, it's a great hangout for book-and-art lovers.



I did pick up Chris Stewart's Driving Over Lemons here, which I greatly enjoyed (review to come later).

Great pictures, Eliza, thanks for sharing them.

I read Weller's book a couple of years ago. I hope you enjoy it. I thought it very interesting.

Oh, I love this! "The Globe" looks perfect, and your descriptions are wonderful. More, please!

This is great! And especially exciting for me is that I can actually go to at least one of the stores you mention - the Red Bus in Budapest is going on my list of MUST SEE places the next time we go back.

195: here's an address and phone for you spacepotatoes:

V. Budapest, 14. Semmelweis utca
Telephone : +36 (06)1 - 337 7453

Opening hours:
Monday-Friday:
11.00 - 18.00
Saturday:
10.00 - 14.00
Sunday: Closed

194: More is coming soon!

193: I'm finding it very very interesting as well. Especially the parts about diseases, medicine, personal hygiene etc in 17th-18th century London. It's all so deliciously disgusting :)

Wonderful pics! Thank you. Wouldn't a website of bookstore pics be great?! Who wants to start it?

I love the Globe's table area. Those windows...! More soon, not someday, right Eliza?

>197 dihiba: dihiba, what an interesting advertising bonanza. Betcha you could make a few dollars with that idea.

How fabulous to find such a gem of a bookstore. I love the look of both places - what elegant buildings. I would die to go to Prague.

Chess Story is a really good book and not that available - Eliza - great find.

Eliza, you and your thread are such delights. Sparkling reviews, photos of book shops, sobbing over beautiful covers - what more could a body ask?

>196 girlunderglass: Thanks! I will have to write that down somewhere I won't lose it!

>197 dihiba: There are a few flickr groups devoted to bookstore pics. Maybe you should contribute your pictures to one of these, Eliza?

Bookstores: http://www.flickr.com/groups/98307578@N00/
The world's most beautiful bookstores: http://www.flickr.com/groups/712136@N21/

and just for fun -
Cats: In the Library & the Bookstore : http://www.flickr.com/groups/82113032@N00/

Another person here having fun looking at pictures and hearing what you have to say about them.

Ditto what they said!

Welcome back Eliza. Sounds like you had a super summer. I love the pictures and stories about the bookstores you found. Keep them coming.

ditto ditto ditto - love to see the bookstores

May I just say (ahead of time) that The Cow Who Fell in the Canal was one of my favourite books when I was little!! We didn't have a copy by my grandparents did and I would demand it read to me about 20 times a day, every time we saw them (which was a lot).

46. The Cow Who Fell In the Canal by Phyllis Krasilovsky ★★★
Cute little children's book - and reading it while in Amsterdam made the descriptions of the markets, canals and buildings even more vivid.



47. Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart ★★★★
The statement Chris Stewart is making with this book can be summarized thus: "I was once the drummer of Genesis but gave up the rock'n'roll lifestyle to become a farmer and lead a quiet but much more fulfilling life in the Spanish countryside". As statements go, this is not particularly deep or thought provoking but you would be wrong to think that the simplicity of the book should be considered a fault. The writing style fits the book like a glove: simple and straightforward language is used to show the appeal of the "simple country life". The memoir is for some reason described as "travel literature" by most everyone, which is perplexing since, well, there isn't much traveling done in it exempting, of course, The Big Move. Instead, Driving Over Lemons describes the efforts of a family to adjust to a country and lifestyle very much different to their previous London-based, career-focused existence. The appeal of reading this sort of memoir is obvious - I mean, come on, who hasn't at some point wanted to just leave the city, get a house in a remote village somewhere, get some sheep and horses and devote all their time to reading and learning how to grow vegetables? Not many people end up doing it. It's only natural then that many of those will want to read about the real practical issues: the difficulties, the language barrier, the living conditions etc. (So they can then console themselves for not doing it by thinking: "Ha! I knew it wasn't so ideal as everyone makes it out to be!") Some will be interested in another aspect of living in what is more or less an isolated place: what does one do for entertainment? How do the Stewarts manage to fill their days? For those readers, you'll be happy to know that the descriptions of the little daily activities that consume the villagers' time in the Alpujarras is what the book does best. As boring as it might sound, it was simply a delight to read about things like food-foraging and bird-breeding. Yet another group will be fascinated by the social aspect of the move: how are the estranjeros welcomed by the locals, how do they manage to fit into their new community? Whichever you're interested in, there is no doubt this makes for an entertaining read.

One little caveat: the book is not devoid of its faults. For me, it was the last quarter of the book that started making me annoyed with Stewart. The memoir seems to then suddenly shift from a more pragmatic, albeit idealized at times worldview, to a sentimental and romantic one that gets on your nerves after a while. That's when you can't help but think "I know you're happy and all that, but I really don't want to hear about the joys of fatherhood, okay?? Just stick to the story! I want to hear about the fauna!" (and that last sentence is not something one thinks every day) Even with that warning in mind, I still consider it a worthwhile read and, if nothing life-altering, at least a most enjoyable way to pass an afternoon.

Oh, and the decision has been made:
"I'm gonna move to the country so I can see the stars, the heavenly stars, the heavenly stars..."

>207 girlunderglass:: Driving Over Lemons sounds interesting. I'm not wild about folks who get sentimental on their journeys...but I do like travel books.

Lovely review, Eliza!

I thought the estate agent who uttered the line, "We drive over lemons" was the funniest character he described. Great review!

Since you stopped by my thread today, I thought I'd find yours and drop by, too.

VERY NICE! :)

A marvelous assortment of books. And I love the photos you posted!

Excellent review gug;
It did it's job. Made me want to read the book and also get a copy to send to my daughter who is a big Genesis fan.
hugs,
belva

Might have to bump that one up the TBR pile for one of these wintery days... Great review!

Lucky me! I got to watch my mom make that switch to the countryside, and then go through having cows and goats to finally planting a small blueberry farm. Loved the product (hundreds of pounds of best tasting blueberries--nothing like what you get in the stores), but also learned second-hand how much work it was, how stressful to always be looking for workers, and how tied-down you are. Oh, and not to mention how you don't know the price you're going to get for your berries until after the season is over! No thanks!

Wow, Eliza! Your review of Driving Over Lemons is a Hot Review! Congratulations!

Congratulations on the Hot Review!

Ditto here gug!~!
Way to go girl!~!
love,
belva

Congrats on the Hot Review!

Your bookstore pics are fabulous. I can sit and stare at them over and over again. The books seem to whisper, 'pst, over here, look at me' 'no, check me out, gently caress my binding' 'hey, you over there, come and flip thru my yellowed pages'. Bla, bla, bla until you can't take anymore and heave your armful of books onto the counter and whip out your wallet. Only, perhaps to come back again tomorrow.

PS. luv that hat!

The books here at Book End have a tendency to do that too... which is probably how so many of them have sneaked into my bag and are now piled haphazardly in my living room! 'Tis a terrible curse for those who hear the siren call of the whispering pages even before we have crossed the threshold of the bookstore...

214: you are SO lucky, bonniebooks. I hope you know just how lucky! I would love to do that, and I've decided I'm gonna give it a try at some point. The good thing is I'm still very young, so I have time :)

219, 220: oooh the book whispering!! the horror of it! in fact, in some of the bookshops it wasn't mere whispering, it was more like they were lasso-ing me towards them :) Needless to say, I was powerless to resist.

Since you have enjoyed them so much, more pics for you guys (there you go Richard, soon not someday). Another two bookshops, one in Prague and one in Amsterdam.

Shakespeare and Sons is a place I would probably visit all the time if I lived in Prague. The cozy armchairs all over the place are perfect for sitting and enjoying a good book and the wooden shelfs combined with the stone basement make for a lovely atmosphere. There is a very good selection of English books and also a comics/graphic novels section. The only thing I wasn't thrilled about - and the reason I didn't buy any books there - is that the stock is mostly comprised of new books and there are few old/second-hand ones. Nevertheless, it was definitely worth a visit. Pictures:





If Shakespeare and Sons wasn't big on used material, Book Exchange in Amsterdam is second-hand-book Heaven. There are four (yes, four!) floors full of mixed used and new books - mostly used - that will make sure you never want to leave the place. If you plan a visit make sure you have plenty of time at your disposal because you will so need it. I'll say one thing: there's a whole floor with only sci-fi and crime books. The prices can be really good (around 3euros) and also higher (up to 7 euros) so it's up to you to discover the bargains. The good thing is you can pretty much find anything you want here. I picked up:
♦ Shardik by Richard Adams
♦ Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
♦ The Seasons of Beento Blackbird by Akosua Busia
♦ What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
♦ Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein
♦ In Search of Salinger by Ian Hamilton
♦ Blott on the Landscape by Tom Sharpe (which seems to be autographed by the author)
♦ Red Pony by John Steinbeck
♦ Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger (which I already had, of course, but the cover was so pretty)

and my favourite find, Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie which had inside a cut-off page from Time magazine dated 1962 (!!). The page had on the one side a review of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (hence the original owner's idea to slip it into the book, I suppose). But on the other side (and this is where I scream!) there's a best sellers' list from 1962 which has Franny and Zooey as number one bestseller at the time. Now some of you might know that F&Z is one of my favourite books ever so can understand how happy I was when I saw that. I'm SO going to frame the page and put it on my wall :)

Pictures:


I only have one more bookshop left from my trip, but that is possibly the most beautiful bookshop I have ever visited in my life so I'm keeping the best for last. I hope I've made some of you curious! :D

Great pictures! Book Exchange is single-handedly moving Amsterdam up on my list of places to visit.

And I am definitely curious about the most beautiful bookshop ever - post those pics soon please! :)

Yes, don't make us wait too long!

If you have other photos of nice cafes, I'd like to see those, too.

More excellent photos! Your traveling companion must be a photographer.

Anxiously awaiting the "most beautiful bookshop I have ever visited in my life..." .

Ahh, I can live vicariously............

Perhaps one day...........but hopefully not while I've been banned from acquiring books!

So when's the Big Reveal?!? C'mon, at least tell us the name, location, and hours of the beautiful bookshop in question! (Phone and internet info helpful, not required.)

Very much enjoying the bookshop pics and shall definitely be aiming to check out that one in Romania when I finally make it there (and may just have to go back to Prague for the Shakespeare and Sons)!

Actually, I found a wonderful bookshop in Rome that I'd recommend to you all too - I didn't take any photos, but I'll look it up again soon and post the address. Very friendly people, large collection (although it was all new - no second hand) - seemed to be particularly good for Childrens books...

223: cafes huh? I'll take a look, although if I do find them I'll send them to you personally so as not to bother anyone that's not interested in seeing them.

224: he has indeed studied a bit of photography and takes wonderful pictures :)

226: well, it's in Poland. That's all I'm saying!

look what I scanned:

Love the scan! Look at all of those classic on and off Broadway plays! I doubt that TIME still has bestseller lists; but, the 1962 books seem more substantial than the ones on the current New York Times or USA Today bestseller lists.

I'm enjoying the bookshop pictures too! One of my favourite bookshops is in Poland and I'm wondering whether it's the same one...

Ohh wonderful shop.....cannot wait to see the last one.

>221 girlunderglass: oh... I LOVE those pictures. And possibly the hand-drawn map best of all. Does make me sad that I never made it to Paperback Exchange in Florence when we were there last summer (husband correctly pointed out that it would cost us more in draconian budget airline extra-baggage fees to get home all the books I would inevitably buy than we could justify even if I did save money - which I wouldn't have done given it was Florence and the pound was busy accelerating downwards against the euro).

I also think the phrase "book whispering" is an excellent coinage and one I intend to employ in future: I like the powerlessness-to-resist in the purchaser that it implies.

232: Ah, but you see Easyjet has a (stupid but occasionally useful) policy that says your handbag can be literally as heavy as you want as long as you can lift it by yourself without assistance. So instead of putting the books in my suitcase - for which you have to pay extra if it's over 20kg - I stuck most of them in my schoolbag. About 20 of them, that is - no mean feat, and I was staggering under the weight, but at least I didn't have to pay extra. And I couldn't have paid extra because I was broke after all the bookshopping :)

>233 girlunderglass: that'll be it then: we went Ryanair, who are Totally Evil and make you measure your hand baggage in that little box AND weigh it if it looks bulky.

I've never flown Ryanair but have heard only bad things. My boyfriend keeps insisting he will never fly Ryanair "on principle" because they are so evil and the only way they make flights cheaper is by making people more and more uncomfortable - I'm not sure if that's an objective view though :)

I think he's absolutely correct. Unfortunately, they fly to a lot of places from our nearest airport (Stansted). I'd trade off the evil of Ryanair against the evil of traffic jams on the M25 getting to Heathrow...

What Rachel said! ;)

Ryanair are sadly very useful spawn-of-the-devil

#236

This is where Luton come in........I would NEVER fly Ryanair. I just couldn't bring myself to give them my hard earned monies.

Glad you found me again!! I'll forgive you; especially since I've been following your busy adventures and know that you've had a lot on your mind. I showed the pictures of the bookshops to my wife and she decided I need to start keeping a log of bookstores around the world just in case we travel overseas! We were both a little envious, I must say.

>238 lunacat: I just couldn't bear the drive to Luton.... I really really really really hate driving. And the trains are hopeless - too many changes.

There was a great quote in the Guardian recently from someone (possibly Charlie Brooker) about Ryanair being like smoking: it feels so dirty, but you just can't help yourself. (Or something like that. My usual OCD need to get the quote "just right" fails me suddenly.)

GUG,

As promised, Tales of Mystery and Horror Halloween Thread. So, come give me a little input about the order of reading, if you want. The list is posted on the first message.

Everyone is welcome. If you know someone else who is interested, pass along the link.

Looking forward to this.

BDB

48. Night by Elie Wiesel
Tags: 1950s, autobiography, non-fiction, Jewish lit, Holocaust
Rating: ★★★1/2

I find I cannot review this book. After all, how do you "review" someone's experiences in concentration camps? "Horrifying", "tragic", I guess. "Powerful" also. I read this right after I visited the "museum" of Auschwitz and Birkenau so its impact was tenfold increased: I had seen both the deathcamps he was describing. The rating is purely for literary merit. Although I'm not sure this even matters, in this case.



49. My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Tags: 1970s, fiction, Jewish lit, U.S.A., bildungsroman
Rating: ★★★★

A book I finished practically in a sitting, My Name Is Asher Lev is best described as "strangely compelling". I use those words because, in a way, you know exactly what is going to happen. You have the setting: Brooklyn circa 1950s-1960s. You have the main characters: a Jewish boy with an incredible talent at drawing and painting (Asher), the spiritual leader of the fictional "Ladover" Jewish community (the Rebbe), the boy's father (who is extremely religious and works for the Rebbe), the boy's mother (who is trapped between her husband and her son), and Jacob Cahn: a consecrated artist, teacher and inspiration to the boy. You even have the most important single event of the book - the painting of the Brooklyn Crucifixions - offered to you as an appetizer right there on the first page! "My name is Asher Lev, the Asher Lev, about whom you have read in newspapers and magazines, about whom you talk so much at your dinner affairs and cocktail parties, the notorious and legendary Lev of the Brooklyn Crucifixion." . You also have the main conflict of the story presented immediately after: "I am an observant Jew. Yes, of course, observant Jews do not paint crucifixions, As a matter of fact, observant Jews do not paint at all - in the way that I am painting." So you pretty much know what's going to happen, right? You've seen it all before, one's battle to reconcile his needs, desires and quest for happiness with his religious beliefs, the clash between the forward-thinking pioneer and his baffled, close-minded peers, the conflict between the individual and the community. It's not new. So why is it you feel this compelling urge to just keep. on. reading. ? When writers and playwrights first started making use of the findings of psychology in order to give their characters more depth, Strindberg accurately observed that this was indeed what the modern public demanded: "what interests people most nowadays is the psychological action; our inveterately curious souls are no longer content to see a thing happen; we want to see how it happens.” And this is exactly the case with Asher Lev: we know mostly what is going to happen, but we want to see how and most importantly why it happens.

Another thing about the novel is that the whole thing was impeccably done: the characters believing, the historical and religious aspects fascinating, the drama not overdone. And most impressively of all, Asher's struggles as an artist, his descriptions of the drawing process and his attempts to understand, study and replicate famous artists, paintings and movements, all sounded realistic, true. So true in fact that I found I subconsciously kept trying to find flaws within Asher's personality. Potok's attempt to make Asher think, behave and talk not like a writer - not like Potok himself - but like a painter was truly flawless. As it turns out, there was a reason for this. Potok is an artist as well and he has actually painted one of the two Brooklyn Crucifixions described in the book! If I'd known this as well as the fact that Potok considers Asher Lev to be the one character that most resembles himself, I might've not marveled so much at how real the character of Lev was, how real his fears, his worries, his selfishness, his talent, his inner conflicts. I also found out after finishing the novel that Potok was (or had been) a Rebbe in real life. This was eye-opening: imagine taking the main conflicting forces of the book, represented by the Rebbe (and one could say the father) on one side and Asher on the other and fusing the two sides into the character of Chaim Potok himself! It is no wonder the man has created such a moving, realistic and, yes, strangely compelling book.

a passage I found very interesting - the last sentence in particular: "He had seen the sketchbook filled with drawings of Jesus and nudes. (...) I had never before seen him in such a rage. My drawings had touched something fundamental to his being. He kept talking about my drawings of 'that man'. He would not pronounce the name. Did I know how much Jewish blood had been spilled because of that man? Did I know how many Jews had been killed in the name of that man during the Crusades? Did I know that the reason Hitler had been able to slaughter six million Jews without too much complaint from the world was that for two thousand years the world had been taught that Jews, not Romans, had killed that man?"

Thumbs up for Asher Lev. Very good review Eliza.

>242 girlunderglass:: Have you tried other Potok? Asher Lev is probably his best, but there are several that are very good.

Fantastic review, Eliza. You really captured the book. I read it years ago, in the late '70s and I have never forgotten what a powerful book it was. I read many other novels by Potok then also and I agree with Tad--they are definitely worth reading but Asher Lev is the one you will always remember.

I have not read Asher Lev yet, but I will be getting to it soon. Thanks for the review, Eliza.

It was my first Potok, and a good choice it seems. I will be starting a new thread today as this one is getting way too long. Will post a link once I've done it, of course :)

>247 girlunderglass:: Maybe try The Chosen. It's the one I remember most after My Name is Asher Lev.

I've read most of Potok's books and loved them all, but all so long ago. I'll second Tad's reco for The Chosen, I love the movie as well.

the new thread is here, come on over and tell me more about Potok :)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/73211