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1blackdogbooks
Welcome to the doghouse!!!
Blackdogbooks' Chapter 1 thread is here.
2010 completed list:
32. The Dark River by John Twelve Hawkes
31. The Traveler by John Twelve Hawkes
30. I'd Know You Anywhere by Larua Lippman
29. Limitations by Scott Turow
28. Unclean Spirits by M.L.N. Hanover
27. In the Company of Angels by Thomas E. Kennedy
26. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
25. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
24. All That Follows by Jim Crace
23. Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman
22. Beautiful Maria of My Soul by Oscar Hijuelos
21. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
20. The Quickening by Michelle Hoover
19. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
19.Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley
18. Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
17. The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever
16. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
15. Nostromo by Joseph Conrad
12-14. A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell
11. Under the Dome by Stephen King
10. The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen
9. Wake Up Dead by Roger Smith
8. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
7. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
6. Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson
5. A Convenient Spy by Dan Stober and Ian Hoffman
4. The Creed of Violence by Boston Teran
3. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston
2. Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathaniel West
1. Then Came the Evening by Brian Hart
Blackdogbooks' Chapter 1 thread is here.
2010 completed list:
32. The Dark River by John Twelve Hawkes
31. The Traveler by John Twelve Hawkes
30. I'd Know You Anywhere by Larua Lippman
29. Limitations by Scott Turow
28. Unclean Spirits by M.L.N. Hanover
27. In the Company of Angels by Thomas E. Kennedy
26. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
25. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
24. All That Follows by Jim Crace
23. Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman
22. Beautiful Maria of My Soul by Oscar Hijuelos
21. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
20. The Quickening by Michelle Hoover
19. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
19.
18. Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
17. The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever
16. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
15. Nostromo by Joseph Conrad
12-14. A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell
11. Under the Dome by Stephen King
10. The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen
9. Wake Up Dead by Roger Smith
8. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
7. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
6. Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson
5. A Convenient Spy by Dan Stober and Ian Hoffman
4. The Creed of Violence by Boston Teran
3. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston
2. Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathaniel West
1. Then Came the Evening by Brian Hart
2blackdogbooks
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
The 2010 75'er Halloween Reading Stack
Carrie by Stephen King
The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas
From a Whisper to A Scream Charles de Lint
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Henlein
Galilee by Clive Barker
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Postman by David Brin
The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton
The Collector by John Fowles
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen
The 2010 75'er Halloween Reading Stack
Carrie by Stephen King
The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas
From a Whisper to A Scream Charles de Lint
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Henlein
Galilee by Clive Barker
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Postman by David Brin
The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton
The Collector by John Fowles
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen
3blackdogbooks
Books #12-14, A Dance to the Music of Time, 1st Movement by Anthony Powell
My Review on the book's home page:
Anthony Powell’s comic satire makes a tedious start with its first movement. The introduction of the four principal characters, around whom this twelve book series revolves, leaves little to recommend the later movements.
Jenkins, our narrator, provides color commentary on his schoolmates and young friends Stringham, Templer, and Widmerpool. Each occupies a slightly different station in a rigid social hierarchy that is driven largely by family wealth, or the lack of it. Stringham and Templer, both from upper-middle class families come across as lazy and bored with life. Widmerpool, a Machiavellian social-climber with a masochist’s capacity for effort but no inherent ability, is the most interesting of the four. Jenkins describes him as “forever floundering towards the tape in races never won” and “a kind of embodiment of thankless labor and unsatisfied ambition.” But, toward the end of the third book in the movement, through sheer will, Widmerpool has begun to inch his way up the ladder, and his is keenly position to break out. In the same time, Stringham and Templer have wasted much of their personal live’s capital, either in self-indulgence or in blind ambition. Hopelessly enamored of the lives of his two more affluent friends, Jenkins maintains a sort of disdainful curiosity about Widmerpoo, and passes most of the three books confused, whipped to and fro by the events around him, never able to comprehend in the moment.
Powell’s writing is first-class, the language rich and colorful. But the story and the characters left me wanting more. I admit this is likely just a personal preference, but I like strong characters. The people in Powell’s book are shallow, weak people. They are not thinly drawn characters; they are just feeble. The repetitive and endless detail regarding seating arrangements at parties, pointless arguments, and perceived social wrongs, paints a picture of a people constantly bashing their heads on the glass ceilings of the next social strata, desperately convinced of their superiority and their entitlement to move up in the food chain.
And, by the way, nothing really happens. Save for a tennis match between two Swedes, a car wreck, a political march, and some unusual party behavior, Powell never allows Jenkins, our narrator, to see anything happen. He learns of most of the important events in the character’s lives second-hand, through conversations, usually at a party.
The books seem to have been intended as a comic satire on English society. I would much rather have spent my time reading a Dickens or an Austen.
3 bones!!!
My Review on the book's home page:
Anthony Powell’s comic satire makes a tedious start with its first movement. The introduction of the four principal characters, around whom this twelve book series revolves, leaves little to recommend the later movements.
Jenkins, our narrator, provides color commentary on his schoolmates and young friends Stringham, Templer, and Widmerpool. Each occupies a slightly different station in a rigid social hierarchy that is driven largely by family wealth, or the lack of it. Stringham and Templer, both from upper-middle class families come across as lazy and bored with life. Widmerpool, a Machiavellian social-climber with a masochist’s capacity for effort but no inherent ability, is the most interesting of the four. Jenkins describes him as “forever floundering towards the tape in races never won” and “a kind of embodiment of thankless labor and unsatisfied ambition.” But, toward the end of the third book in the movement, through sheer will, Widmerpool has begun to inch his way up the ladder, and his is keenly position to break out. In the same time, Stringham and Templer have wasted much of their personal live’s capital, either in self-indulgence or in blind ambition. Hopelessly enamored of the lives of his two more affluent friends, Jenkins maintains a sort of disdainful curiosity about Widmerpoo, and passes most of the three books confused, whipped to and fro by the events around him, never able to comprehend in the moment.
Powell’s writing is first-class, the language rich and colorful. But the story and the characters left me wanting more. I admit this is likely just a personal preference, but I like strong characters. The people in Powell’s book are shallow, weak people. They are not thinly drawn characters; they are just feeble. The repetitive and endless detail regarding seating arrangements at parties, pointless arguments, and perceived social wrongs, paints a picture of a people constantly bashing their heads on the glass ceilings of the next social strata, desperately convinced of their superiority and their entitlement to move up in the food chain.
And, by the way, nothing really happens. Save for a tennis match between two Swedes, a car wreck, a political march, and some unusual party behavior, Powell never allows Jenkins, our narrator, to see anything happen. He learns of most of the important events in the character’s lives second-hand, through conversations, usually at a party.
The books seem to have been intended as a comic satire on English society. I would much rather have spent my time reading a Dickens or an Austen.
3 bones!!!
4alcottacre
#3: Too bad about that one. I rather thought that was a book I would enjoy. I may give it a try down the line, but not any time soon.
I hope you enjoy your next read more, Mac!
I hope you enjoy your next read more, Mac!
5msf59
Hi Mac- Welcome to Thread 2! I hope to join you on the Halloween Read! I've only read Carrie and the Erik Larsen so far!
6_Zoe_
Ooh, the Halloween list! I missed out on that last year and have regretted it ever since. When do you start reading them?
7TadAD
Hi Mac,
That's an even more aggressive reading stack than last year's! Fortunately, I've already read a number of them and can skip along. ;-D
That's an even more aggressive reading stack than last year's! Fortunately, I've already read a number of them and can skip along. ;-D
8blackdogbooks
With the halloween stack, I am trying to reach out across a broad spectrum of spooky, alieny, and creepy. So, if agressive, I hope it is also diverse and inviting.
We will start reading around September 15, as last year. In no particular order, though an order presented itself last year and probably will again. I'll probably start the thread on September 1.
Everyone is welcome, obviously.
We will start reading around September 15, as last year. In no particular order, though an order presented itself last year and probably will again. I'll probably start the thread on September 1.
Everyone is welcome, obviously.
9ronincats
It looks like a good, eclectic group, Mac. I do NOT read horror, nor am I particularly into spooky or getting scared, but even I would not at all mind re-reading The Puppet Masters, The Postman or The War of the Worlds.
One of the scariest books I have read, and still loved, is The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs. I would love to have true fans of horror read it and let me know if they find it not only eerie but also scary. And I suggest it for your list.
One of the scariest books I have read, and still loved, is The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs. I would love to have true fans of horror read it and let me know if they find it not only eerie but also scary. And I suggest it for your list.
10MusicMom41
BDB
Thanks for the "link" so I could find you after being "offline" for nearly a week. And thanks for the Halloween list. I may start early this year so I can get more of them read. I hope I can find the Wilkie Collins book--I like him and that is one I didn't know about.
Thanks for the "link" so I could find you after being "offline" for nearly a week. And thanks for the Halloween list. I may start early this year so I can get more of them read. I hope I can find the Wilkie Collins book--I like him and that is one I didn't know about.
12justchris
I hope to join the Halloween read this year. I've already read a couple on the list, long wanted to read 2-3 more, and look forward to the others I know nothing about.
13blackdogbooks
Glad to see every one weighing in on the Halloween titles, and glad that they are meeting with approval.
Ronincats, I'll keep a look out for that title and see if I can pick it up and give you an opinion.
Ronincats, I'll keep a look out for that title and see if I can pick it up and give you an opinion.
14dk_phoenix
I think I'm going to try and join in on some of the Halloween reads this year! I've not read any of Stephen King's fiction before, and for some reason I never finished War of the Worlds, so those two will be on my pile for sure...
15blackdogbooks
Book #15, Nostromo by Joseph Conrad
My Review on the book's home page:
Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo is a novel for the ages, premonitory and haunting. Though written at the turn of the twentieth century, the blistering account of a small, South American country stumbling toward political and economic identity accurately forecasts a full century of human civilization.
Nostromo provides the heart of Conrad’s story in tragic Greek fashion. As civil war erupts in the region, the stevedore is drawn into a revolution. Gould, an Englishman raised in the country, chooses Nostromo to hide silver from his mine before marauding forces can steal it. Worshipped by all for his moral certainty and physical mettle, Nostromo seems the perfect choice to protect the silver, and, with it, the hope of the rebellion. But the treasure poisons all who touch it, even Nostromo.
A dark fatalism permeates the story, a feeling that governance is predestined toward corruption and failure, that men are, as Conrad puts it, “short-sighted in good and evil.” Though he promises himself differently, Gould is consumed by the silver mine, just as his father and grandfather before him were. He proclaims, “…I pin my faith to material interests. Only let the material interests get a firm footing, and they are bound to impose the conditions on which alone they can continue to exist. … A better justice will come afterwards.” So, Gould bribes and manipulates in order to maintain the mine, and the wealth feeds on itself in an endless cycle.
Even in his distaste for materialism, Conrad still sees man as bound by a fatal destiny. “In our activity alone do we find the sustaining illusion of an independent existence as against the whole scheme of things of which we form a helpless part.” And, even as he chastises imperialists and dictators with his story, he has little hope that alternative political efforts will make a difference. “There is a curse of futility upon our character; Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, chivalry and materialism, high sounding sentiment and a supine morality, violent efforts for an idea and a sullen acquiescence in every form of corruption. We convulsed a continent for our independence only to become the passive prey of a democratic parody, the helpless victims of scoundrels and cutthroats, our institutions a mockery, our laws a farce…” Such a description accurately captures our own political and social history in the United States, certainly in the last century.
Conrad sets a majestic and powerful landscape against all of the futile efforts of his characters. Large mountains, capped with an ever-present crown of snow, loom over the follies below. The sun, dripping with yellow heat, illuminates without partiality. Jungles and oceans persist, undaunted by the events that play out in or upon them. The message is clear: Do what you will; only the earth and sky will remain.
For all of its darkness, the book beautifully captures the challenges of civilization, and champions individual moral choices, the simple pleasures of life, and the value of work for its own sake.
4 bones!!!!
My Review on the book's home page:
Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo is a novel for the ages, premonitory and haunting. Though written at the turn of the twentieth century, the blistering account of a small, South American country stumbling toward political and economic identity accurately forecasts a full century of human civilization.
Nostromo provides the heart of Conrad’s story in tragic Greek fashion. As civil war erupts in the region, the stevedore is drawn into a revolution. Gould, an Englishman raised in the country, chooses Nostromo to hide silver from his mine before marauding forces can steal it. Worshipped by all for his moral certainty and physical mettle, Nostromo seems the perfect choice to protect the silver, and, with it, the hope of the rebellion. But the treasure poisons all who touch it, even Nostromo.
A dark fatalism permeates the story, a feeling that governance is predestined toward corruption and failure, that men are, as Conrad puts it, “short-sighted in good and evil.” Though he promises himself differently, Gould is consumed by the silver mine, just as his father and grandfather before him were. He proclaims, “…I pin my faith to material interests. Only let the material interests get a firm footing, and they are bound to impose the conditions on which alone they can continue to exist. … A better justice will come afterwards.” So, Gould bribes and manipulates in order to maintain the mine, and the wealth feeds on itself in an endless cycle.
Even in his distaste for materialism, Conrad still sees man as bound by a fatal destiny. “In our activity alone do we find the sustaining illusion of an independent existence as against the whole scheme of things of which we form a helpless part.” And, even as he chastises imperialists and dictators with his story, he has little hope that alternative political efforts will make a difference. “There is a curse of futility upon our character; Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, chivalry and materialism, high sounding sentiment and a supine morality, violent efforts for an idea and a sullen acquiescence in every form of corruption. We convulsed a continent for our independence only to become the passive prey of a democratic parody, the helpless victims of scoundrels and cutthroats, our institutions a mockery, our laws a farce…” Such a description accurately captures our own political and social history in the United States, certainly in the last century.
Conrad sets a majestic and powerful landscape against all of the futile efforts of his characters. Large mountains, capped with an ever-present crown of snow, loom over the follies below. The sun, dripping with yellow heat, illuminates without partiality. Jungles and oceans persist, undaunted by the events that play out in or upon them. The message is clear: Do what you will; only the earth and sky will remain.
For all of its darkness, the book beautifully captures the challenges of civilization, and champions individual moral choices, the simple pleasures of life, and the value of work for its own sake.
4 bones!!!!
16MusicMom41
I only "skimmed" your review because I haven't read the book yet. I own it and I was planning to read my first Joseph Conrad this year (I own 3 of his) -- your review has persuaded me to make that a top priority.
17PiyushC
#15 I am still a long way from finishing Nostromo, not my fault that I get easily distracted by other books!
18alcottacre
#15: Great review, Mac. I have never read that one, so I guess I better get moving.
20blackdogbooks
Thanks, everyone.
Nostromo is a great book. I would have rated it higher but the first section is a little difficult to get through because of Conrad's changing viewpoints and shifting in the time line. BUt stick with it, the last 3/4 of the book made up for the tough beginning.
Piyus, of course it's not your fault; it's all the pretty books.
Nostromo is a great book. I would have rated it higher but the first section is a little difficult to get through because of Conrad's changing viewpoints and shifting in the time line. BUt stick with it, the last 3/4 of the book made up for the tough beginning.
Piyus, of course it's not your fault; it's all the pretty books.
21beeg
Your Halloween list is great, I've read all but three, so at least I'll be able to join in for a short while - thanks blackdog :)
22London_StJ
I am still trying to catch up with my favorite threads, and I popped on today to see the Halloween list! Fantastic! I'm really looking forward to September. Thanks for organizing it yet again!
23blackdogbooks
Will be glad to have you both along!
24AndreaBurke
I'll definitely be in for the Halloween list, but I'm going to start early so I'll have time to read them all- thanks for putting it together!
25tymfos
I'll do some of the Halloween list, for sure!
I already read The Haunting of Hill House -- and since I had to get it through Inter-library loan, I probably won't read it again.
Some of the others look very interesting, indeed . . .
I already read The Haunting of Hill House -- and since I had to get it through Inter-library loan, I probably won't read it again.
Some of the others look very interesting, indeed . . .
26tloeffler
Love the Halloween List! Several of them are in the TBR stacks, so I can get those out of the way. Some I would never choose to read on my own, but I will do it and take one for the team! Thanks, Mac!
27Whisper1
I am brain dead from end of semester details. Help please! Is a Halloween list posted already? If so, can you please supply the link?
Thanks Mac!
Thanks Mac!
28blackdogbooks
Book #16 The Edith Wharton Omnibus - The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
My Review on the book's home page:
Like many disaffected classic readers of the movie-generation, I derived the sum total of my knowledge on Edith Wharton, and her novel The Age of Innocence, through a Martin Scorsese film. Perhaps expecting grime and grit, a la Taxi Driver or Mean Streets, I eagerly paid for a ticket and a package of Gummi Bears. Rather than street-hardened toughs, edgy and unfiltered, the screen literally danced with prim fops and bodiced prudes. The melodrama that played out on the screen eviscerated Wharton’s original story of calculated social obeisance and self-mutilating compromise.
Set in the Manhattan of the late 1800s, The Age of Innocence examines the social structure of a culture in flux. Newland Archer, a young man at the leading edge of a strict, rule-oriented social system, finds his world on a kilter when Ellen Olenska arrives. Olenska flees a philandering husband in Europe, and arrives without any understanding of the carefully orchestrated customs that govern society in her new home. Though engaged to May, Olenska’s cousin, Newland is smitten with the free-thinking and independent European. The battle between revered custom and heart-felt emotion is the battle for Newland’s soul.
Scorsese’s Newland is emotional and tearful. But Wharton, in Newland, drew an imminently masculine character. He grapples for control through the practice of social custom and acquiesces in all matters of emotion. Rather than cast off the burdens of expectations, he marries May, knowing that she “represented peace, stability, comradeship, and the steady sense of an unescable duty.” Only at the end of his life does Newland realize that he had missed “the flower of life.” Looking back over the days of his youth in comparison to the life his son has begun to lead, he envies the young man who maintains “the facility and self-confidence that came of looking at fate not as a master but as an equal.” To be fair to Scorsese, and Daniel Day Lewis, the actor who portrayed Newland, the emotion of Newland’s screen character grew from the brilliant inner dialogue Wharton penned for Newland. In private, Newland gives rein to the feelings of his heart and to the idea of challenging the social mores of the time, while, in public, brutally suppressing any thought of challenging his predestined fate. Scorsese and Lewis would have been hard pressed to translate the repressive high-wire act that Wharton manages on paper.
Like the repressed society at its heart, The Age of Innocence throbs with a vitality that are belied by appearances. Wharton’s careful and colorful prose veil a brutal, if bloodless, story of compromise and regret.
A favorite for the year.
5 bones!!!!!
My Review on the book's home page:
Like many disaffected classic readers of the movie-generation, I derived the sum total of my knowledge on Edith Wharton, and her novel The Age of Innocence, through a Martin Scorsese film. Perhaps expecting grime and grit, a la Taxi Driver or Mean Streets, I eagerly paid for a ticket and a package of Gummi Bears. Rather than street-hardened toughs, edgy and unfiltered, the screen literally danced with prim fops and bodiced prudes. The melodrama that played out on the screen eviscerated Wharton’s original story of calculated social obeisance and self-mutilating compromise.
Set in the Manhattan of the late 1800s, The Age of Innocence examines the social structure of a culture in flux. Newland Archer, a young man at the leading edge of a strict, rule-oriented social system, finds his world on a kilter when Ellen Olenska arrives. Olenska flees a philandering husband in Europe, and arrives without any understanding of the carefully orchestrated customs that govern society in her new home. Though engaged to May, Olenska’s cousin, Newland is smitten with the free-thinking and independent European. The battle between revered custom and heart-felt emotion is the battle for Newland’s soul.
Scorsese’s Newland is emotional and tearful. But Wharton, in Newland, drew an imminently masculine character. He grapples for control through the practice of social custom and acquiesces in all matters of emotion. Rather than cast off the burdens of expectations, he marries May, knowing that she “represented peace, stability, comradeship, and the steady sense of an unescable duty.” Only at the end of his life does Newland realize that he had missed “the flower of life.” Looking back over the days of his youth in comparison to the life his son has begun to lead, he envies the young man who maintains “the facility and self-confidence that came of looking at fate not as a master but as an equal.” To be fair to Scorsese, and Daniel Day Lewis, the actor who portrayed Newland, the emotion of Newland’s screen character grew from the brilliant inner dialogue Wharton penned for Newland. In private, Newland gives rein to the feelings of his heart and to the idea of challenging the social mores of the time, while, in public, brutally suppressing any thought of challenging his predestined fate. Scorsese and Lewis would have been hard pressed to translate the repressive high-wire act that Wharton manages on paper.
Like the repressed society at its heart, The Age of Innocence throbs with a vitality that are belied by appearances. Wharton’s careful and colorful prose veil a brutal, if bloodless, story of compromise and regret.
A favorite for the year.
5 bones!!!!!
29Whisper1
Five bones is a very high rating for you. What a wonderful review.
Thumbs up from me.
And, I found the Halloween list. I'll participate this year.
Thanks for orchestrating this!
Thumbs up from me.
And, I found the Halloween list. I'll participate this year.
Thanks for orchestrating this!
30msf59
Mac- Excellent review! I read this back before I saw the film version. The book was amazing and the film was pretty darn good too!
31alcottacre
I really need to do a re-read of The Age of Innocence. Thanks for the reminder, Mac!
As always, great review.
As always, great review.
32blackdogbooks
Thanks everyone.
33Apolline
Nice review Mac! Putting The Age of Innocence to my tbr pile:)
34elkiedee
I must reread this and read some of her other work. I found the DVD at a bargain price a few months ago too - must watch that.
35flissp
BDB, great review of The Age of Innocence - I've seen the film, but I've never read any Edith Wharton - I'm clearly going to have to rectify this... I tried to thumb your review, but can't seem to find it (your link doesn't work for me)...
37jadebird
What a sleek and compelling review of Wharton’s Age of Innocence. Bravo!
As to the Halloween list., I’ll try Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters. I wouldn’t have thought of it if you hadn’t have mentioned it. Thanks. :)
Glad to see Brin’s The Postman and H.G.’s War of the Worlds on your classic list. Have you ever tried Sax Rohmer’s The Day the World Ended or Hambley’s Those Who Hunt the Night?
As to the Halloween list., I’ll try Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters. I wouldn’t have thought of it if you hadn’t have mentioned it. Thanks. :)
Glad to see Brin’s The Postman and H.G.’s War of the Worlds on your classic list. Have you ever tried Sax Rohmer’s The Day the World Ended or Hambley’s Those Who Hunt the Night?
38blackdogbooks
jadebird, thanks.....And neither title you suggest is familiar to me. Thanks for the recommendations; good for next years list and beyond!
flissp, thanks.....definitely should read Age of Innocence.
flissp, thanks.....definitely should read Age of Innocence.
39ronincats
Those Who Hunt the Night is excellent!
40blackdogbooks
Book #17, The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever
My Review on the book's home page:
John Cheever’s The Wapshot Chronicle recounts the lives of one family in the small Massachusetts town of St. Botolphs. Leander Wapshot’s sons are forced to go out into the world and make their fortune, hoping to prove themselves worthy of their prudish and eccentric aunt, Cousin Honora, the center of the family’s wealth. Coverly travels to Washington, DC, and Moses to New York by train, where they find careers and establish families of their own.
Though the tale might seem pastoral or mundane, Cheever peppers it with colorful characters, like Uncle Peepee Marshmallow, the family nudist, and with outlandish turns in the narrative, like Moses’ naked trek across a castle roof to find his fiancé’s bedroom. There are few dull moments in the story, and when you’ve completed the novel, you feel like an honorary citizen of St. Botolphs and an honorary member of the Wapshot clan.
The book bears a strong resemblance to a favorite book of mine, Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. Both are rooted in a keen understanding of the subtleties of small town life and the unusual human foibles in such a place. Anderson’s book offers a more sweeping look at the fabric of the community under study, as Cheever tends to focus more on the Wapshots than St. Botolphs.
Cheever’s prose is first-rate, if not as compelling as Anderson’s. Though, Cheever does stand out in one peculiar way. I’ve never read a book quite so descriptive in the areas sound and smell. After reading certain passages, I could smell the mildew and salt in the air and could hear the bronze bell sounding through the town square. It reminded me of Hemingway’s unique and special ability to translate taste into a narrative.
This book was a bit of a surprise to me, and I’d recommend it to anyone.
Four bones!!!!
My Review on the book's home page:
John Cheever’s The Wapshot Chronicle recounts the lives of one family in the small Massachusetts town of St. Botolphs. Leander Wapshot’s sons are forced to go out into the world and make their fortune, hoping to prove themselves worthy of their prudish and eccentric aunt, Cousin Honora, the center of the family’s wealth. Coverly travels to Washington, DC, and Moses to New York by train, where they find careers and establish families of their own.
Though the tale might seem pastoral or mundane, Cheever peppers it with colorful characters, like Uncle Peepee Marshmallow, the family nudist, and with outlandish turns in the narrative, like Moses’ naked trek across a castle roof to find his fiancé’s bedroom. There are few dull moments in the story, and when you’ve completed the novel, you feel like an honorary citizen of St. Botolphs and an honorary member of the Wapshot clan.
The book bears a strong resemblance to a favorite book of mine, Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. Both are rooted in a keen understanding of the subtleties of small town life and the unusual human foibles in such a place. Anderson’s book offers a more sweeping look at the fabric of the community under study, as Cheever tends to focus more on the Wapshots than St. Botolphs.
Cheever’s prose is first-rate, if not as compelling as Anderson’s. Though, Cheever does stand out in one peculiar way. I’ve never read a book quite so descriptive in the areas sound and smell. After reading certain passages, I could smell the mildew and salt in the air and could hear the bronze bell sounding through the town square. It reminded me of Hemingway’s unique and special ability to translate taste into a narrative.
This book was a bit of a surprise to me, and I’d recommend it to anyone.
Four bones!!!!
41alcottacre
#40: I will have to give that one a try. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Mac!
42blackdogbooks
Sure, always happy to help.
43TadAD
>28 blackdogbooks:: I started The Age of Innocence and then left the book in a restaurant. I need to pick up copy and give another go. Actually, since I'm guessing it's public domain, maybe Gutenberg will have it for free.
As for the Cheever...I've read some of his short stories and enjoyed them quite a bit. I'll have to try The Wapshot Chronicle and, I think, it has a sequel.
As for the Cheever...I've read some of his short stories and enjoyed them quite a bit. I'll have to try The Wapshot Chronicle and, I think, it has a sequel.
44blackdogbooks
The sequel is The Wapshot Scandal, though I don't have a copy of that one. Hopefully, whatever soul picks up your lost book will appreciate it.
45blackdogbooks
Book #18, Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
My Review on the book's home page:
“’You speak in riddles, Zuleika.’
‘…The reason why there were no undergraduates in the Hall to-night is that they were all dead.’
‘Dead?’ he gasped. ‘Dead? It is disgraceful that I was not told. What did they die of?’
‘Of me.’
‘Of you?’
‘Yes. I am an epidemic, gand-papa….’”
Now, close your eyes and picture Tina Fey as Zuelika Dobson, the heroine of this little melodrama, and John Cleese as her grandfather, the Warden. With that vision, you’ll have the right frame of mind to settle down and read this cardboard-cutout send up of love and romance literature.
What often tickles the funny bone about television and movie productions like Saturday Night Live and Monty Python is their embrace of stereotypes. The characters in the skits and movies are almost always an over-the-top version of a stereotype, played painfully straight. Every character in Beerbohm’s book, and, indeed, the story itself, is constructed in just such a way.
Zuleika Dobson, a preternaturally beautiful young woman, goes for a holiday at Oxford, where her grandfather, the Warden, is a university administrator. The Duke of Dorset, an aloof peacock with an overstuffed ego attending college there, immediately falls in love with Zuelika, but can’t be seen to exhibit his feelings. Zuleika, blissfully confident in her beauty’s enchanting power, is bored with the opposite sex, except for those members of it who won’t pay her any attention. So, she falls in love with the Duke. When he expresses his amorous feelings, of course, she rejects him. The pair two-step around each other, exchanging the lead a number of times, depending on who’s in love and who’s disdainful of the other’s love.
The supporting players, as in any good SNL or Python romp, are colorful enough to steal any scene. For example, there are a collection of statues of Roman emperors in a field that many of the characters walk through. They look out on the happenings around them and comment. And there are ghosts romping about, desperate to play a part in life again, but settling for looking down their noses at the foolish humans. The Pythonesque feeling of such scenes is overwhelming.
Zuleika Dobson was tiresome and predictable with all of the cardboard cutout characters. There was no third dimension to any of them; they never act against their well-established type. The reason that SNL and Python remain funny is that they are able to play the gags to the end in a few minutes, and a novel length gag just doesn’t work. Beerbohm could have cut this down to a short story of just a few pages and it might have remained funny.
2 bones!!
My Review on the book's home page:
“’You speak in riddles, Zuleika.’
‘…The reason why there were no undergraduates in the Hall to-night is that they were all dead.’
‘Dead?’ he gasped. ‘Dead? It is disgraceful that I was not told. What did they die of?’
‘Of me.’
‘Of you?’
‘Yes. I am an epidemic, gand-papa….’”
Now, close your eyes and picture Tina Fey as Zuelika Dobson, the heroine of this little melodrama, and John Cleese as her grandfather, the Warden. With that vision, you’ll have the right frame of mind to settle down and read this cardboard-cutout send up of love and romance literature.
What often tickles the funny bone about television and movie productions like Saturday Night Live and Monty Python is their embrace of stereotypes. The characters in the skits and movies are almost always an over-the-top version of a stereotype, played painfully straight. Every character in Beerbohm’s book, and, indeed, the story itself, is constructed in just such a way.
Zuleika Dobson, a preternaturally beautiful young woman, goes for a holiday at Oxford, where her grandfather, the Warden, is a university administrator. The Duke of Dorset, an aloof peacock with an overstuffed ego attending college there, immediately falls in love with Zuelika, but can’t be seen to exhibit his feelings. Zuleika, blissfully confident in her beauty’s enchanting power, is bored with the opposite sex, except for those members of it who won’t pay her any attention. So, she falls in love with the Duke. When he expresses his amorous feelings, of course, she rejects him. The pair two-step around each other, exchanging the lead a number of times, depending on who’s in love and who’s disdainful of the other’s love.
The supporting players, as in any good SNL or Python romp, are colorful enough to steal any scene. For example, there are a collection of statues of Roman emperors in a field that many of the characters walk through. They look out on the happenings around them and comment. And there are ghosts romping about, desperate to play a part in life again, but settling for looking down their noses at the foolish humans. The Pythonesque feeling of such scenes is overwhelming.
Zuleika Dobson was tiresome and predictable with all of the cardboard cutout characters. There was no third dimension to any of them; they never act against their well-established type. The reason that SNL and Python remain funny is that they are able to play the gags to the end in a few minutes, and a novel length gag just doesn’t work. Beerbohm could have cut this down to a short story of just a few pages and it might have remained funny.
2 bones!!
46alcottacre
Too bad about that one, Mac. I expected more from Beerbohm.
Nice review as usual!
Nice review as usual!
47blackdogbooks
Thanks, Miss Alcott.
48alcottacre
Well, between you and Piyush, I am completely confused about whether or not to read the book. I guess I will have to read it just to find out who I agree with!
50blackdogbooks
Miss Alcott, don't know what to tell you....certainly my problems with the book were more the concept and the story than how well written the book was. I didn't find it devoid of value altogether, just personally not my cup a' joe.
And thanks also to you, Apolline.....things are fine, outside of having too little time to read and write. Jobs are such a burden!
And thanks also to you, Apolline.....things are fine, outside of having too little time to read and write. Jobs are such a burden!
51Apolline
Life would be really good if books could be a first priority:) But I guess we have to live a little too. Hopefully you will have time to relax with a book over the summer. Are you planning a holiday?
52blackdogbooks
The first attempt at Book #19 was a wash. No matter how much I'd hoped to like Point Counter Point, it was a miserable disappointment. I am a huge fan of Brave New World and expected a great read. But the book reminded me far too much of A Dance to the Music of Time, with a bunch of whining, sarcastic, know-it-all, look-down-ther-nose characters. And very little happened in the 100 odd pages I read, other than they were all talking to one another and feeling holier than the other characters at a party. It's been banned from the library and I'm on to The Moviegoer which has started well.
53AndreaBurke
Mac, I rented the Moviegoer last week and hope to get to it soon. Hope you (and I) like it and hope you are doing well!
54alcottacre
#52: Sorry to hear you did not like the Huxley book, Mac. I have had Point Counter Point in the BlackHole for a while now. I guess it can stay there a while longer.
I hope you enjoy The Moviegoer more. I enjoyed it when I read it several years ago.
I hope you enjoy The Moviegoer more. I enjoyed it when I read it several years ago.
55blackdogbooks
Thanks guys. Glad to see a couple of you still hanging around here. About halfway through The Moviegoer and it's a lot of fun.
58Apolline
#55: Well Mac, we'll be around, better get used to it. Is work still interfering with your reading and writing? Hope things loosen up soon:)
59blackdogbooks
Roni, I can always can't on you being in the shadows, and glad of it.
Tad, thanks for the vote of solidarity on the Huxley. Sometimes I worry that I am not being fair or that I'm just in the wrong mood. So, it's nice to see someone else had a similar reaction.
Apolline, My evenings are just more jam-packed trying to get in a little of both. Nothing a bunch of others aren't experiencing, I'd venture. It's jsut going to be a busy summer. What about you? New job interfering with reading and writing?
Tad, thanks for the vote of solidarity on the Huxley. Sometimes I worry that I am not being fair or that I'm just in the wrong mood. So, it's nice to see someone else had a similar reaction.
Apolline, My evenings are just more jam-packed trying to get in a little of both. Nothing a bunch of others aren't experiencing, I'd venture. It's jsut going to be a busy summer. What about you? New job interfering with reading and writing?
60blackdogbooks
Book # 19, The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
My Review on the book's home page:
My thoughts ran back to a recent viewing of the movie adaptation of E.M. Forster’s A Room with a View while reading The Moviegoer. As Lucy Honeychurch and her aunt settled into their room, having swapped with George Emerson and his father, they find a painting hanging backwards on the wall with a large question mark scrawled on the backing. George’s father later explains that George is always asking the ‘eternal why.’ Walker Percy placed us as readers firmly in the mind of such a searcher in The Moviegoer.
John “Binx” Bollinger’s head swims with despair and angst and those thoughts cascade through the pages of the novel as he narrates his days. From his dalliances with his secretaries to his proposal to a drug-addled, suicidal girlfriend, Binx stumbles through life, more focused on an internal panorama, fueled by movies, than real human connection.
The line in Percy’s story between dark, cynical humor and sadness is blurry. Whether to chuckle or recoil at Binx’ life poses a difficultly for the reader. But whichever course you take, the novel is a lively read. The only true downside is the 1950’s movie and personality references which may be lost on all but the diehard movie fan.
4 bones!!!!
My Review on the book's home page:
My thoughts ran back to a recent viewing of the movie adaptation of E.M. Forster’s A Room with a View while reading The Moviegoer. As Lucy Honeychurch and her aunt settled into their room, having swapped with George Emerson and his father, they find a painting hanging backwards on the wall with a large question mark scrawled on the backing. George’s father later explains that George is always asking the ‘eternal why.’ Walker Percy placed us as readers firmly in the mind of such a searcher in The Moviegoer.
John “Binx” Bollinger’s head swims with despair and angst and those thoughts cascade through the pages of the novel as he narrates his days. From his dalliances with his secretaries to his proposal to a drug-addled, suicidal girlfriend, Binx stumbles through life, more focused on an internal panorama, fueled by movies, than real human connection.
The line in Percy’s story between dark, cynical humor and sadness is blurry. Whether to chuckle or recoil at Binx’ life poses a difficultly for the reader. But whichever course you take, the novel is a lively read. The only true downside is the 1950’s movie and personality references which may be lost on all but the diehard movie fan.
4 bones!!!!
61alcottacre
#60: Nice review, Mac. I am glad you ended up liking that one!
62blackdogbooks
Thanks, Ms Alcott. You are one of the faithful few.
63msf59
Mac- Good review, sir! I read this many years ago but I don't remember much about it! I do own it though, so maybe I'm due a re-read!
64AndreaBurke
nice review- thanks for not giving anything away. Moviegoer is sitting on my bed side table just waiting for me to begin! What's up next for you?
65alcottacre
Are you planning to read any more of Percy's books, Mac? I have had The Thanatos Syndrome in the BlackHole forever now, but still have not gotten it read.
BTW - Lanterns on the Levee by his uncle, William Percy is worth a read too.
BTW - Lanterns on the Levee by his uncle, William Percy is worth a read too.
66blackdogbooks
Ms. Acre, Probably not right away, but that's only because I have so many other reading plans.
For example, last night the wife and I watched a PBS program on Wallace Stegner. Quite a voice in the literary and conservation worlds. The passages read by the narrator were wonderful and made me want to abandon my newly formed TBR Stack in favor of everything he's written.
But, I am sticking to plan. I have several ER books that have started trickling in. And to answer Ms. Burke's question, I am starting with The Quickening written by LT Author Michelle Hoover, who is also the founder and organizer of the LT Group Midwest Writers and Readers. Looking forward to that. Then on to The Mambo Kings and the newly minted Beautiful Maria of My Soul for another ER read.
For example, last night the wife and I watched a PBS program on Wallace Stegner. Quite a voice in the literary and conservation worlds. The passages read by the narrator were wonderful and made me want to abandon my newly formed TBR Stack in favor of everything he's written.
But, I am sticking to plan. I have several ER books that have started trickling in. And to answer Ms. Burke's question, I am starting with The Quickening written by LT Author Michelle Hoover, who is also the founder and organizer of the LT Group Midwest Writers and Readers. Looking forward to that. Then on to The Mambo Kings and the newly minted Beautiful Maria of My Soul for another ER read.
67porch_reader
Mac - I picked up The Mambo Kings at a used bookstore a few months ago, but haven't read it yet. When I read a review of Beautiful Maria of My Soul, I thought I should pull it out. I'll be interested to hear what you think of both of them!
68alcottacre
#66: I have read several of Stegner's books, both fiction and nonfiction, and they are all very good to excellent. I hope you get to read some of his in the near future, Mac. I do not think you will be disappointed.
We are planning a group read of his Big Rock Candy Mountain some time this fall if you care to join us.
We are planning a group read of his Big Rock Candy Mountain some time this fall if you care to join us.
69blackdogbooks
One of my reviews for an ARC, The Creed of Violence, was posted on a book blog today. It shows up here http://luxuryreading.com/thecreedofviolence/
I posted it here on LT at the turn of the new year and listed it as a favorite read for the year.
My Review on the book's home page.
I posted it here on LT at the turn of the new year and listed it as a favorite read for the year.
My Review on the book's home page.
70PiyushC
Congratulations Mac! And a very nice review indeed, convinced me at least to add the book to my TBR!
72blackdogbooks
Thanks guys! I wrote that one so long ago and she just decided to post it. I'd kinda forgotten about it.
73blackdogbooks
Book #20, The Quickening by Michelle Hoover
ER Book
My Review on the book's home page:
The Quickening reads like a prayer or a meditation.
Enidina Current and Mary Morrow couldn’t be more different. Enidina, a stout, scrapping woman, seems to have grown directly out of the rich soil of the farm, her legs rooting her to the nurture and goodness of the earth. The fragile Mary, though, seems constantly in danger of breaking against either the hard land or the people who make their lives from it. The hardscrabble and lonely life of a Midwestern farm in the early 1900’s requires these two opposites to cling to each other for survival and sanity. Their dark destinies spring out of the land like two shoots from a common root, twisting and pushing one against the other.
Hoover has crafted a soft-spoken, deceptively powerful tale with her debut novel, The Quickening. The elegance and directness of her writing barely conceal the erupting souls of her characters.
A favorite for the year!
5 bones!!!!!
ER Book
My Review on the book's home page:
The Quickening reads like a prayer or a meditation.
Enidina Current and Mary Morrow couldn’t be more different. Enidina, a stout, scrapping woman, seems to have grown directly out of the rich soil of the farm, her legs rooting her to the nurture and goodness of the earth. The fragile Mary, though, seems constantly in danger of breaking against either the hard land or the people who make their lives from it. The hardscrabble and lonely life of a Midwestern farm in the early 1900’s requires these two opposites to cling to each other for survival and sanity. Their dark destinies spring out of the land like two shoots from a common root, twisting and pushing one against the other.
Hoover has crafted a soft-spoken, deceptively powerful tale with her debut novel, The Quickening. The elegance and directness of her writing barely conceal the erupting souls of her characters.
A favorite for the year!
5 bones!!!!!
74TadAD
>73 blackdogbooks::
Mac, your link to your review is bad. You've put the URL for this thread in instead of the review.
I've added this to the Wishlist.
Mac, your link to your review is bad. You've put the URL for this thread in instead of the review.
I've added this to the Wishlist.
75cushlareads
I'm getting pickier about what I add to my LT wishlist, but both the John Cheever book and Winesburg, Ohio have just gone onto it...thanks! (I'm about 6 weeks late to the party.)
76Donna828
>73 blackdogbooks:: I saw The Quickening recommended on the Tattered Cover site. I can't wait to read it now after your glowing review, Mac. I love meditative books!
77msf59
Mac- Good review! The Quickening sounds compelling! I have a rec for you too, check out So Cold the River. I'm nearly finished with it and it might be right up your alley.
78blackdogbooks
Thanks everyone.
It's never too late, cmt.
I'll check out that recommendation mr. mark.
Tad, thanks for the head's up on the URL. I think I have it fixed.
It's never too late, cmt.
I'll check out that recommendation mr. mark.
Tad, thanks for the head's up on the URL. I think I have it fixed.
79alcottacre
I put The Quickening in the BlackHole due to another glowing review here in the group. After you review, I am absolutely going to have to get my hands on a copy. Great job as usual, Mac!
80Whisper1
Mac
I also posted this message on my thread and the thread of those with hot reviews:
Quick...go to the hot reviews and you will see that of the ten reviews, our group is 10/10. Every hot review this morning is from a member of our 75 challenge group. I'm not sure, but I think this is a first for us.
The hot reviews are
lindsacl
Mrstreme
Mckait
sjmccreary
elliepotten
donna828
msf59
blackdogbooks
brenzi
and me
What a hoot!
I also posted this message on my thread and the thread of those with hot reviews:
Quick...go to the hot reviews and you will see that of the ten reviews, our group is 10/10. Every hot review this morning is from a member of our 75 challenge group. I'm not sure, but I think this is a first for us.
The hot reviews are
lindsacl
Mrstreme
Mckait
sjmccreary
elliepotten
donna828
msf59
blackdogbooks
brenzi
and me
What a hoot!
81Apolline
#69 Congratulations Mac:) and with the hot review too!
#80 Nice going guys! Congrats to all:)
#80 Nice going guys! Congrats to all:)
82blackdogbooks
That's cool!
83MusicMom41
Mac--I'm finally catching up! Great reviews!
Age of Innocence is one of my top "lifetime" reads--glad you liked it, too.
Nostromo and Moviegoer are going on the short shelf--I need to read a Conrad and I've liked the other Walker Percy novels I've read. I'll be looking for The Quickening. My library doesn't have it but I wonder if I can get it for my Nook?
I really have to be cautious when I read your thread. It I'm not careful I'll be so "booked up" I won't have time for the Halloween reads! :-D
Age of Innocence is one of my top "lifetime" reads--glad you liked it, too.
Nostromo and Moviegoer are going on the short shelf--I need to read a Conrad and I've liked the other Walker Percy novels I've read. I'll be looking for The Quickening. My library doesn't have it but I wonder if I can get it for my Nook?
I really have to be cautious when I read your thread. It I'm not careful I'll be so "booked up" I won't have time for the Halloween reads! :-D
84blackdogbooks
As to The Quickening and the Nook, I know for a fact that Michelle Hoover would be happy to field such a question. Just leave her a message on her profile or over at the Midwest Writers/Readers Group. She's very friendly!
85MichelleHoover
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the great feedback on The Quickening. I do hope you like it and let me know your response. It is available for the Nook. Just go on the Barnes & Noble site and click "e-edition." Well, at least I'm assuming that's the same as the Nook.
I'll also have a Q & A group beginning on the 19th for about a week. I love answering people's questions and responding to their readings, so feel free to join.
Thanks for all the great feedback on The Quickening. I do hope you like it and let me know your response. It is available for the Nook. Just go on the Barnes & Noble site and click "e-edition." Well, at least I'm assuming that's the same as the Nook.
I'll also have a Q & A group beginning on the 19th for about a week. I love answering people's questions and responding to their readings, so feel free to join.
86MusicMom41
The Quickening is available for the Nook--it is on my wish list and will be my next down load as soon as I finish the two I'm reading now. I'm looking forward to it. For the last 15 years I've been living in a farm community in California and have become very interested in that kind of life. Both sets of my grandparents did some farming in Oregon and in California to supplement their other income (or maybe it was the other way around?) in the late 19th to mid 20th century but I lived all over the world (Coast Guard brat) so never really got a chance to observe that life first hand until now.
87blackdogbooks
Book #21, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
Fiction
Pulitzer Prize Winner
My Review on the book's home page:
I love all things Cuban. Let’s start there. I love the rhythm-heavy music, Afro-Latin mixes pounded out on congas and pianos and drums, overlaid with whispy flutes, screaming horns, and tinny guitars. As I write, I’m listening to Poncho Sanchez’ “El Sabroson” and Tito Puente’s “Cha Cha Cha.” I love the food, a salty-sweet explosion of starchy plantains and black beans and spicy chorizo. I love the oily, slightly nutty and piquant tobacco leaves rolled into long Churchill cigars, bluish smoke churning off of the lit end. I dream about the wet, tropical heat produced as the equatorial sun broils the moisture out of the salty, green ocean. The passion and mysteriousness of Hemingway’s island, frozen in time since the 1950s, inspires a wistfulness that is difficult to explain in a gringo.
So, it’s no surprise that, on the twentieth anniversary of the original publication, and in the lime-light of the publication of a spin-off book Beautiful Maria of My Soul, I picked up The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos. The story follows Cesar and Nestor Castillo, brothers and musicos, as they make their way from a tiny, rural Cuban province to Havana, Miami, and, finally, New York. Cesar pours out memories of the journey as he drinks himself to death one night in a seedy motel. The Mambo King, worn out from a passionate life, gives little voice to regret or the possibility that he missed something, save a greater portion of fame and wealth. But, even in his liquor oiled revelry, a sadness pulses in time with the music from the old 78s he plays.
The novel jumps with all things Cuban, the food, the island culture, the people, and, most of all, the music. Though I could never be considered an expert, this book comes as close to capturing the flavor and feel of Cuba as any fiction I’ve read, swinging its hips in a mambo-crazed urgency one minute and crooning the next, like one of Nestor and Cesar’s boleros or cancions. The reminiscent quality of Cesar’s account, reliable or not, blankets the story in a sepia-tinged nostalgia.
My primary quibble with the novel is that Hijuelos may have occasionally crossed the line into melodrama or pulp by infusing his characters with such unrestrained and broad passion,. When Maria, the love of Nestor’s soul and the inspiration for The Mambo Kings’ greatest recording, walks down the streets of Havana, the whistles and stares and buckets of drool are so thick that you think you’re in some kind of a 1950s Hollywood romp. Maria and all of the other women in the book are so beautiful that they don’t seem real. The men in the book, Cesar and Nestor included, are so handsome and dapper that they could have stepped off of a movie screen. And the copious sex all of these people have, described by Hijuelos in detail rich enough to make a Penthouse Letters editor blush, is preposterous.
On the issue of the sex, Hijuelos personally defends himself in the spin-off book just published, Beautiful Maria of My Soul, as he ends up as a character in his own novel. Explaining to another character why there was so much raunchy sex in the first book, he says that the sex was meant “as a kind of music, like saxophones playing during a recording.” Any jazz lover understands that a riff on a theme can’t be so repetitive or over-the-top or foreign to the theme as to smother it or cheapen it. And that’s what the sex in The Mambo Kings is, off-key and tiresome. By page 100, we get that Cesar is sexually well-endowed, we don’t need another thirty or so women to have their eyes pop out at the sight.
Outside of the over-the top sexuality, The Mambo Kings hits all of the right notes. That includes the indelibly subtle theme that Cesar, and all the rest, are doing the best they can in the world. They love as they know love and live as they know how to live. Sometimes the result is a little melancholy; sometimes it’s beautiful and vibrant. But, even to a gringo’s eyes, it’s always very Cuban.
4 bones!!!!
Fiction
Pulitzer Prize Winner
My Review on the book's home page:
I love all things Cuban. Let’s start there. I love the rhythm-heavy music, Afro-Latin mixes pounded out on congas and pianos and drums, overlaid with whispy flutes, screaming horns, and tinny guitars. As I write, I’m listening to Poncho Sanchez’ “El Sabroson” and Tito Puente’s “Cha Cha Cha.” I love the food, a salty-sweet explosion of starchy plantains and black beans and spicy chorizo. I love the oily, slightly nutty and piquant tobacco leaves rolled into long Churchill cigars, bluish smoke churning off of the lit end. I dream about the wet, tropical heat produced as the equatorial sun broils the moisture out of the salty, green ocean. The passion and mysteriousness of Hemingway’s island, frozen in time since the 1950s, inspires a wistfulness that is difficult to explain in a gringo.
So, it’s no surprise that, on the twentieth anniversary of the original publication, and in the lime-light of the publication of a spin-off book Beautiful Maria of My Soul, I picked up The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos. The story follows Cesar and Nestor Castillo, brothers and musicos, as they make their way from a tiny, rural Cuban province to Havana, Miami, and, finally, New York. Cesar pours out memories of the journey as he drinks himself to death one night in a seedy motel. The Mambo King, worn out from a passionate life, gives little voice to regret or the possibility that he missed something, save a greater portion of fame and wealth. But, even in his liquor oiled revelry, a sadness pulses in time with the music from the old 78s he plays.
The novel jumps with all things Cuban, the food, the island culture, the people, and, most of all, the music. Though I could never be considered an expert, this book comes as close to capturing the flavor and feel of Cuba as any fiction I’ve read, swinging its hips in a mambo-crazed urgency one minute and crooning the next, like one of Nestor and Cesar’s boleros or cancions. The reminiscent quality of Cesar’s account, reliable or not, blankets the story in a sepia-tinged nostalgia.
My primary quibble with the novel is that Hijuelos may have occasionally crossed the line into melodrama or pulp by infusing his characters with such unrestrained and broad passion,. When Maria, the love of Nestor’s soul and the inspiration for The Mambo Kings’ greatest recording, walks down the streets of Havana, the whistles and stares and buckets of drool are so thick that you think you’re in some kind of a 1950s Hollywood romp. Maria and all of the other women in the book are so beautiful that they don’t seem real. The men in the book, Cesar and Nestor included, are so handsome and dapper that they could have stepped off of a movie screen. And the copious sex all of these people have, described by Hijuelos in detail rich enough to make a Penthouse Letters editor blush, is preposterous.
On the issue of the sex, Hijuelos personally defends himself in the spin-off book just published, Beautiful Maria of My Soul, as he ends up as a character in his own novel. Explaining to another character why there was so much raunchy sex in the first book, he says that the sex was meant “as a kind of music, like saxophones playing during a recording.” Any jazz lover understands that a riff on a theme can’t be so repetitive or over-the-top or foreign to the theme as to smother it or cheapen it. And that’s what the sex in The Mambo Kings is, off-key and tiresome. By page 100, we get that Cesar is sexually well-endowed, we don’t need another thirty or so women to have their eyes pop out at the sight.
Outside of the over-the top sexuality, The Mambo Kings hits all of the right notes. That includes the indelibly subtle theme that Cesar, and all the rest, are doing the best they can in the world. They love as they know love and live as they know how to live. Sometimes the result is a little melancholy; sometimes it’s beautiful and vibrant. But, even to a gringo’s eyes, it’s always very Cuban.
4 bones!!!!
88blackdogbooks
Book #22, Beautiful Maria of My Soul by Oscar Hijuelos
Fiction
ER Book
My Review on the book's home page:
In Oscar Hijuelos’ Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Maria Garcia is a haunting obsession for Nestor Castillo. The loss of Maria’s love darkens his life near to the point of hopelessness. In his malaise, he compulsively writes and re-writes a bolero, or cancion, inspired by the torment and ecstasy that entered his life with Maria and the sadness of her final, bitter goodbye.
In the newest story from Hijuelos, Beautiful Maria of My Soul, he returns to Cuba to give full voice to Maria and her story. The book begins with her journey out of a humble, rural valle for the bright lights and endless opportunities of Havana. With no money and no skills, Maria soon begins dancing in seedy clubs to trade on the only thing she thinks she possesses of any value, her beauty. After dancing and modeling her way to the top of the Havana night club scene, and falling in with a gangster boyfriend, she meets Nestor. Her love affair with Nestor, as told from her side this time, is more heart-breaking for its complexity of feeling. In the original story, Maria was a mysterious and maddening presence in Nestor’s life, unknowable and ruthless when she casting off a sweet, simple love. In her own re-telling of the story, Maria is confused and frightened. For all of her beauty and sexual power over men, she has great difficulty separating the look of true love in a man from obsession or manipulation, and even less of an understanding for her emotions.
The same over-the-top sexual escapades are on exhibit here, just as they were in the original Mambo Kings. But this time, Hijuelos softens his pulpish, unrealistic descriptions in the cast of characters. There are more naturally defined people here, more people who feel like they might exist somewhere outside of an alcohol-fueled, ego-puffed reminiscence. Maria’s daughter, Teresita, named for a sister she lost to epilepsy as a child, is the most real and interesting character of all of them. Without the pin-up-type looks and sensibilities of her mother, her earthy beauty is defined more by intelligence and character and natural appearance. With Teresita’s arrival in the last section of the book, Hijuelos gives rein to an honest realism that, for me, was the only missing ingredient in the Mambo Kings’ story.
Hijuelos success with Beautiful Maria of My Soul is that he was able to create a stand alone story while still elaborating on his earlier story in an interesting and creative way, much like a jazz song’s riffs are improvised from a central theme of a few notes.
4 bones!!!!
Fiction
ER Book
My Review on the book's home page:
In Oscar Hijuelos’ Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Maria Garcia is a haunting obsession for Nestor Castillo. The loss of Maria’s love darkens his life near to the point of hopelessness. In his malaise, he compulsively writes and re-writes a bolero, or cancion, inspired by the torment and ecstasy that entered his life with Maria and the sadness of her final, bitter goodbye.
In the newest story from Hijuelos, Beautiful Maria of My Soul, he returns to Cuba to give full voice to Maria and her story. The book begins with her journey out of a humble, rural valle for the bright lights and endless opportunities of Havana. With no money and no skills, Maria soon begins dancing in seedy clubs to trade on the only thing she thinks she possesses of any value, her beauty. After dancing and modeling her way to the top of the Havana night club scene, and falling in with a gangster boyfriend, she meets Nestor. Her love affair with Nestor, as told from her side this time, is more heart-breaking for its complexity of feeling. In the original story, Maria was a mysterious and maddening presence in Nestor’s life, unknowable and ruthless when she casting off a sweet, simple love. In her own re-telling of the story, Maria is confused and frightened. For all of her beauty and sexual power over men, she has great difficulty separating the look of true love in a man from obsession or manipulation, and even less of an understanding for her emotions.
The same over-the-top sexual escapades are on exhibit here, just as they were in the original Mambo Kings. But this time, Hijuelos softens his pulpish, unrealistic descriptions in the cast of characters. There are more naturally defined people here, more people who feel like they might exist somewhere outside of an alcohol-fueled, ego-puffed reminiscence. Maria’s daughter, Teresita, named for a sister she lost to epilepsy as a child, is the most real and interesting character of all of them. Without the pin-up-type looks and sensibilities of her mother, her earthy beauty is defined more by intelligence and character and natural appearance. With Teresita’s arrival in the last section of the book, Hijuelos gives rein to an honest realism that, for me, was the only missing ingredient in the Mambo Kings’ story.
Hijuelos success with Beautiful Maria of My Soul is that he was able to create a stand alone story while still elaborating on his earlier story in an interesting and creative way, much like a jazz song’s riffs are improvised from a central theme of a few notes.
4 bones!!!!
89alcottacre
#87/88: I know I have had The Mambo Kings in the BlackHole ever since I saw the recommendation in Book Lust, but I have never heard of Beautiful Maria of My Soul, so I am adding that one too.
Thanks for the reviews, Mac!
Thanks for the reviews, Mac!
92avatiakh
I love your reviews and have had The Mambo Kings in my tbr since I saw the movie long ago, I also have the movie soundtrack mainly for the Beautiful Maria of my soul song. I have a Poncho Sanchez cd around somewhere too - I'll have to have a listen now.
Adding Beautiful Maria of my soul to my wishlist.
Adding Beautiful Maria of my soul to my wishlist.
93TadAD
> Hi Mac. Only a couple minutes for LT stuff this morning but your reviews of the two Hijuelos books left me intrigued. I'm not sure if I'd like them or not, which is good enough reason to try the first one. I'll try The Mambo Kings even though it sounds like Beautiful Maria of My Soul is the better of the two.
94blackdogbooks
Thanks to all for the comments.
avatiakh, the movie version of the song and the book version are very different. The book version of the song is much more bitter and angry.
Tad, yeah, I liked them more simply because of the Cuban angle, any other book, outside of a rare few, would have gotten fewer bones. But you should give the first one a try.
avatiakh, the movie version of the song and the book version are very different. The book version of the song is much more bitter and angry.
Tad, yeah, I liked them more simply because of the Cuban angle, any other book, outside of a rare few, would have gotten fewer bones. But you should give the first one a try.
95blackdogbooks
Book #23, Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman
Fiction
ARC
My Review on the book's home page:
Carol Goodman’s mysteries always march to a different beat. The murder is usually shrouded in decades or more of history, hidden in folktales or wrapped in uncertain family legacies. The detective, always a female, is usually more likely to carry art or writing supplies than a gun, and never sets out to solve a crime. She usually only hopes to shed light on some arcane and overlooked area of art or literature, like stained glass, the subject of The Drowning Tree, or folklore and fairytales, like her newest, Arcadia Falls.
In Arcadia Falls, Meg Rosenthal accepts a teaching position at the Arcadia Falls boarding school, primarily a school for the arts, when her husband dies unexpectedly and leaves her with more liabilities than assets. She and her teenage daughter, Sally, move into a cottage on the grounds of the school that once housed the school’s benefactor, Vera Beech, and her companion, Lily Eberhardt. On the night before school starts, one of the brightest students falls off a cliff and dies in the midst of an annual school rite. On the same night, Meg finds Lily Eberhardt’s lost journal, hidden in a secret compartment in the cottage. When she begins to read Lily’s story, she finds that the death of the student is intertwined with the mystery of Lily’s own death decades before.
Goodman is a master story teller, weaving several narratives into own whole. She’s also a wonderful writer, brushing the story onto the pages with a richness more commonly found in literary efforts. The result is a complex and satisfying read, compelling in a page-turning sort of way, while still firmly grounded in the classical world.
The principal weakness of the story is Goodman’s need to answer all of the questions before the last page and reward the heroine for her courage and persistence. The more I read, the more I appreciate ambiguity and realism. Life never answers all of the questions and rarely rewards the deserving in the way that most modern-day fiction does in the last fifty pages of a book. The stories that are most compelling to me are the ones that don’t have happy endings and don’t have the Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot reveal to uncover the murderer. The first three quarters of Goodman’s book are ambiguous and dark, in the way that most of our lives are. The characters are never laid bare and their actions don’t always make perfect sense. But in the last fifty pages or so, Goodman contorts the narrative to the point of breaking in an effort to put everything in order. Messy seems better, more interesting.
Arcadia Falls is a good story and a good read, even if it’s a bit too orderly in the end.
Four bones!!!!
Fiction
ARC
My Review on the book's home page:
Carol Goodman’s mysteries always march to a different beat. The murder is usually shrouded in decades or more of history, hidden in folktales or wrapped in uncertain family legacies. The detective, always a female, is usually more likely to carry art or writing supplies than a gun, and never sets out to solve a crime. She usually only hopes to shed light on some arcane and overlooked area of art or literature, like stained glass, the subject of The Drowning Tree, or folklore and fairytales, like her newest, Arcadia Falls.
In Arcadia Falls, Meg Rosenthal accepts a teaching position at the Arcadia Falls boarding school, primarily a school for the arts, when her husband dies unexpectedly and leaves her with more liabilities than assets. She and her teenage daughter, Sally, move into a cottage on the grounds of the school that once housed the school’s benefactor, Vera Beech, and her companion, Lily Eberhardt. On the night before school starts, one of the brightest students falls off a cliff and dies in the midst of an annual school rite. On the same night, Meg finds Lily Eberhardt’s lost journal, hidden in a secret compartment in the cottage. When she begins to read Lily’s story, she finds that the death of the student is intertwined with the mystery of Lily’s own death decades before.
Goodman is a master story teller, weaving several narratives into own whole. She’s also a wonderful writer, brushing the story onto the pages with a richness more commonly found in literary efforts. The result is a complex and satisfying read, compelling in a page-turning sort of way, while still firmly grounded in the classical world.
The principal weakness of the story is Goodman’s need to answer all of the questions before the last page and reward the heroine for her courage and persistence. The more I read, the more I appreciate ambiguity and realism. Life never answers all of the questions and rarely rewards the deserving in the way that most modern-day fiction does in the last fifty pages of a book. The stories that are most compelling to me are the ones that don’t have happy endings and don’t have the Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot reveal to uncover the murderer. The first three quarters of Goodman’s book are ambiguous and dark, in the way that most of our lives are. The characters are never laid bare and their actions don’t always make perfect sense. But in the last fifty pages or so, Goodman contorts the narrative to the point of breaking in an effort to put everything in order. Messy seems better, more interesting.
Arcadia Falls is a good story and a good read, even if it’s a bit too orderly in the end.
Four bones!!!!
96blackdogbooks
Gonna be traveling for a bit for work......taking lots of books. In fact, I am driving down to my biggest weakness used book store with four paper boxes full of trades, hoping to hit a jackpot on books I've been looking for. But I'm also taking some reading. If I can get the reviews posted while I'm gone I will. If not, the handfull who still sniff around here will just have to wait.
97TadAD
>95 blackdogbooks:: That sounds just quirky enough to appeal to me. Since I have Amazon open in another tab, I shall promptly order something by her.
99alcottacre
#95: Nice review, Mac. Safe travels!
100Donna828
Just sniffing around here waiting to see what marvelous "new" used books Mac finds. I wouldn't mind looking through those four boxes of books to trade before he lets them go.
I read Mambo Kings ages ago. I can't even remember if I liked it or not! But I do love the title Beautiful Maria of my Soul so onto the wishlist it goes.
I read Mambo Kings ages ago. I can't even remember if I liked it or not! But I do love the title Beautiful Maria of my Soul so onto the wishlist it goes.
102flissp
Well, you've succeeded in getting me to add a mystery to my wishlist, which is fairly unusual ;o)
Enjoy your book browsing!
Enjoy your book browsing!
103blackdogbooks
Brief touch and go between trips. Finished a couple of books (All that Follows and Eat, Pray, Love) and owe reviews.
On the book front, four boxes out and one box in, with a lot of credit remaining at the store for future trips.
Glad I could intrigue you tow, Piyush and fliss, to try Goodman. She's one of the favorites in our house.
On the book front, four boxes out and one box in, with a lot of credit remaining at the store for future trips.
Glad I could intrigue you tow, Piyush and fliss, to try Goodman. She's one of the favorites in our house.
104alcottacre
I hope you are having a great vacation, Mac! Thanks for popping in to let us know what is going on.
105blackdogbooks
Still haven't gone wheels up on the second trip, but it's no vacation.....all work and no play, ya know.
On the hall for the book store:
Illusions by Richard Bach
American Woman by Susan Choi
South of Broad by Pat Conroy
Shadow of Thunder by Max Evans
The Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy
The Night Villa by Carol Goodman
The Other by David Guterson
A Heinlein Trilogy, including The Puppet Masters, The Door Into Summer and Double Star
The Tie that Binds by Kent Haruf
Our House in the Last World by Oscar Hijuelos
A Simple Habana Melody by Oscar Hijuelos
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
The Outcast by Sadie Jones
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
Savage Garden by Mark Mills
Dictation by Cynthia Ozick
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
A Short History of a Small Place by T.R. Pearson
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
Incident at Twenty-Mile by Trevanian
On the hall for the book store:
Illusions by Richard Bach
American Woman by Susan Choi
South of Broad by Pat Conroy
Shadow of Thunder by Max Evans
The Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy
The Night Villa by Carol Goodman
The Other by David Guterson
A Heinlein Trilogy, including The Puppet Masters, The Door Into Summer and Double Star
The Tie that Binds by Kent Haruf
Our House in the Last World by Oscar Hijuelos
A Simple Habana Melody by Oscar Hijuelos
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
The Outcast by Sadie Jones
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
Savage Garden by Mark Mills
Dictation by Cynthia Ozick
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
A Short History of a Small Place by T.R. Pearson
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
Incident at Twenty-Mile by Trevanian
107alcottacre
Sorry, Mac, I thought you were vacationing, not working. Ah, well. Great haul of books any way!
108rainpebble
Hey there B.D.B. Is the "doghouse" really yours?
I love your shelving!~! Wonderful.
How have you been? Hope you are having a great year of reading. I have read some really good stuff this year, just not an awful lot of it. I miss all of my L.T. friends and so I am going back to a regular thread as well for next year.
Good to "see" you.
hugs,
belva
I love your shelving!~! Wonderful.
How have you been? Hope you are having a great year of reading. I have read some really good stuff this year, just not an awful lot of it. I miss all of my L.T. friends and so I am going back to a regular thread as well for next year.
Good to "see" you.
hugs,
belva
109torontoc
Looking at your book list of #105
I really liked
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones and that first story in Dictation by Cynthia Ozick.
I really liked
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones and that first story in Dictation by Cynthia Ozick.
110blackdogbooks
I'm back and still haven't finished the two reviews I owe. Into The Woman in White right now, a left over from last years Halloween list and enjoying it. Just got another early reviewer in the mail and one selected and on the way. Too many of those things this year, but the quality has improved.
Thanks for all the comments while I was away, folks.
Torontoc, I'm quite sure those two you mentioned were recommendations from you.
Reviews this weekend, hopefully.
Thanks for all the comments while I was away, folks.
Torontoc, I'm quite sure those two you mentioned were recommendations from you.
Reviews this weekend, hopefully.
111blackdogbooks
Book #24, All That Follows by Jim Crace
ER Book
Fiction
My Review on the book's home page:
Charles Mingus, the “Angry Man of Jazz,” represents all of the jazz musician’s difficulties in reaching the mainstream music lover. Standing large and wild-haired, clutching and pawing at his bass, Mingus rarely struck the expected note, the note that seemed to follow logically. Severely discordant and angry, his compositions seemed designed to put the teeth on edge. And yet, even in the midst of a furious riff, one of his musical pieces could quickly transcend into aching blues or a sweet swing.
Jim Crace’s new novel, All That Follows, owes much to the Mingus avant garde attitude, though Crace left no pleasing respites from the discordance and anger in his book.
In the near-future of 2024, England and the world are divided more sharply along racial and socio-economic lines. Life plays out more interactively and more realistically on televisions and other personal electronic devices than in the fresh air of the real world. Leonard Lessing, an aging jazz musician on the eve of his 50th birthday, has surrendered to his failing body and the ennui of his life. During a late-night binge of television news, Leonard recognizes a man who is holding hostages in a quiet suburban neighborhood as an old acquaintance from his earlier, wilder days. Desperate to infuse his life with a measure of those crazy, youthful days, he attempts to insert himself into the hostage crisis and conspires to stage another kidnapping designed to create an exit strategy for the man. But Leonard never manages to overcome his more pedestrian and cowardly nature, and he fails to do much of anything except complain and daydream about the past.
Crace’s hero, though Leonard can hardly be called such, is unlikable and unredeemable. Yet, in the end, he is redeemed, as Crace heavy-handedly manipulates the other characters in the story into liking him again. There is no real movement in Leonard, no real growth or self-introspective change; there are only the silly choices he makes and the unlikely, if lucky, consequences with which Crace rewards him. Crace’s characters seem unmoored and adrift, without connection to the world and people around them. For example, Max, the hostage taker and Leonard’s friend, is mere wisp of a character. His motivations in the hostage taking, and in an earlier playful terrorist act, are brushed over so lightly that the story falls flat. It is not clear if Max was meant as a mindless agent of chaos, but with so little detail and character development he ends up only a catalyst for interludes into Leonard’s wistful yearnings for a heroic and crazy youth; yearnings that are obviously based on false memories or false emotional shadows of the past. The best you can do gum these characters; there is nothing to sink your teeth into.
There are flashes of writing in the book that come from a deservedly prize-winning author. Sadly, those flashes are single notes in an otherwise chaotic and discordant composition. Find a Mingus recording and listen to that instead.
I already traded this one away.
2 bones!!
ER Book
Fiction
My Review on the book's home page:
Charles Mingus, the “Angry Man of Jazz,” represents all of the jazz musician’s difficulties in reaching the mainstream music lover. Standing large and wild-haired, clutching and pawing at his bass, Mingus rarely struck the expected note, the note that seemed to follow logically. Severely discordant and angry, his compositions seemed designed to put the teeth on edge. And yet, even in the midst of a furious riff, one of his musical pieces could quickly transcend into aching blues or a sweet swing.
Jim Crace’s new novel, All That Follows, owes much to the Mingus avant garde attitude, though Crace left no pleasing respites from the discordance and anger in his book.
In the near-future of 2024, England and the world are divided more sharply along racial and socio-economic lines. Life plays out more interactively and more realistically on televisions and other personal electronic devices than in the fresh air of the real world. Leonard Lessing, an aging jazz musician on the eve of his 50th birthday, has surrendered to his failing body and the ennui of his life. During a late-night binge of television news, Leonard recognizes a man who is holding hostages in a quiet suburban neighborhood as an old acquaintance from his earlier, wilder days. Desperate to infuse his life with a measure of those crazy, youthful days, he attempts to insert himself into the hostage crisis and conspires to stage another kidnapping designed to create an exit strategy for the man. But Leonard never manages to overcome his more pedestrian and cowardly nature, and he fails to do much of anything except complain and daydream about the past.
Crace’s hero, though Leonard can hardly be called such, is unlikable and unredeemable. Yet, in the end, he is redeemed, as Crace heavy-handedly manipulates the other characters in the story into liking him again. There is no real movement in Leonard, no real growth or self-introspective change; there are only the silly choices he makes and the unlikely, if lucky, consequences with which Crace rewards him. Crace’s characters seem unmoored and adrift, without connection to the world and people around them. For example, Max, the hostage taker and Leonard’s friend, is mere wisp of a character. His motivations in the hostage taking, and in an earlier playful terrorist act, are brushed over so lightly that the story falls flat. It is not clear if Max was meant as a mindless agent of chaos, but with so little detail and character development he ends up only a catalyst for interludes into Leonard’s wistful yearnings for a heroic and crazy youth; yearnings that are obviously based on false memories or false emotional shadows of the past. The best you can do gum these characters; there is nothing to sink your teeth into.
There are flashes of writing in the book that come from a deservedly prize-winning author. Sadly, those flashes are single notes in an otherwise chaotic and discordant composition. Find a Mingus recording and listen to that instead.
I already traded this one away.
2 bones!!
112jadebird
Great reviews, of course. Waiting for your opinion of The Woman in White...
113alcottacre
#111: Nice review as always, Mac, but I think I will be skipping that one.
115beeg
I have Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman I'm so pleased you turned me on to her - thanks Blackdog!
116flissp
Great review - sounds like you were pretty disgusted by that book! I'll take your advice... ;o)
117TadAD
>111 blackdogbooks:: For some reason, my eye read the author as Jim Croce and I was sitting there thinking, "Isn't he dead?"
118blackdogbooks
Hey, Thanks everyone for the comments.
Jim Croce, novelist from the ether!
Jim Croce, novelist from the ether!
119Landshark5
Maybe he did put time in a bottle.
121TadAD
>119 Landshark5:: :-D
122blackdogbooks
Book #25, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Non-Fiction
My Review on the book's home page:
“People universally tend to think of happiness as a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you’re fortunate enough. But that’s not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don’t, you will leak away your innate contentment. It’s easy enough to pray when you’re in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.”
I rarely quote books for reviews, but then I rarely find a book so well encapsulated in one simple passage. Gilbert, in her memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, taps into the angst and spiritual disconnectedness that plagues modern-day generations. Psychotherapy and pharmacological psychology have proliferated to the point that you’re the exceptoin if you’re not medicated or if your therapist is not your best friend. Self-help books crowd the shelves of bookstores and media networks fall over themselves to air the next self-help doctor. Meanwhile, people seem unhappier and more lost than ever.
Gilbert, in the midst of a failing marriage and a near-nervous breakdown, prostrate in the dark of night on the cold tiles of a suburban bathroom, called out to God and prayed for maybe the first time in her life. Then, she set out to rearrange the priorities in her life, translating an already successful writing career into a book deal. The idea was for her to travel to Italy, India, and Bali and examine her life in the context of what these drastically unique cultures had to offer in the arena of self-realization and spiritual awareness.
Much of the criticism of Eat, Pray, Love has focused on a characterization of Gilbert’s memoir as so much whining and self-indulgence. But Gilbert is nothing if not self-immolating and self-deprecating. She writes about her thoughts and feelings with a raw honesty that is both refreshing and piercing. Whatever she is, she is not indulgent. Let’s face it, I know that in the throes of my own doubts and fears, the last thing I’d do would be to start trying new things. Most of us do the opposite, falling directly back into old and negative behavior, believing that this time the result will be different. And if we ever branch out, the effort is usually half-hearted toe-dipping at best.
Gilbert, on the other hand, seems to be a truly open-minded and open-hearted soul. Her year long search for more balance and contentment in life is an honest secular treatment of a concept expressed by Solomon in Ecclesiastes: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men without which they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” The disconnectedness of modern-day life from the spiritual side of our beings suffocates the potential for contentment and growth. Gilbert’s memoir is a rare look into the natural, innate yearning for the spiritual and the all various physical forms it might take.
On a separate note, the movie opened in wide-release yesterday out and it is complete with a big-name star, Julia Roberts, and the largest marketing effort since Star Wars. Somehow, Gilbert sold out a little here, allowing corporate media to careen down a materialistic rabbit hole, even though Gilbert’s message is decidedly anti-materialistic. But she did have a book deal in the beginning, a deal which allowed her to go on a journey not available to most. If the media moguls missed the point, that doesn’t mean we have to buy into it.
So, read the book. Maybe even go see the movie if you're curious about the book and don’t want to invest too much time. But give Eat, Pray, Love a chance. And if you do, open your mind and your heart just a little to the spiritual. You don’t have to travel around the world or mediate for hours on end in a cave. Just open yourself up a little to the possibilities of the soul.
A favorite for the year
5 bones!!!!!
123ronincats
Great review, as usual, Mac.
You know, it doesn't have to be pictures of kids. Gardens, beaches, bookshelves, pets--they all work!!
You know, it doesn't have to be pictures of kids. Gardens, beaches, bookshelves, pets--they all work!!
124msf59
Mac -Great review! I know opinion is divided here on LT but I was one of the ones who enjoyed it. Actually, I listened to it on audio, read by Gilbert and her voice was perfect. The film has been getting tepid reviews but I still might end up seeing it!
125porch_reader
Mac - Your review makes me want to re-read Eat, Pray, Love! It never hurts to be reminded that happiness needs to be searched for sometimes!
126alcottacre
I was also one of the people who enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love so I am glad to see it has found another fan. Great review again, Mac!
127blackdogbooks
Thanks everyone. I had quite a bit of editing to do and I've changed the errors I found in the review. It makes me think I loaded an unedited version or didn't save my edits before I loaded it. You guys are very forgiving.
128TadAD
A good review, Mac. I think you liked Eat, Pray, Love more than I did—I really enjoyed "Eat", but "Pray" and "Love" were a slow decline for me toward the end of the book. I felt that it lost a lot of the warmth and immediacy that made the first part so good. Oh well, different strokes...
129Donna828
I've read Eat, Pray, Love -- twice. Once for me and once for a book group. I agree with so many things in your review. The book was fine, but I do question her motives. Instead of a journey of self-discovery, she was on a journey to fulfill a book contract. Something wrong with that picture!
130blackdogbooks
Tad, I think Love was probably my least favorite seciton of the book; there was a feeling that she fell back into her negative patterns of life again in some ways. But I really enjoyed Pray. I am not Bhuddist in any way, but there was some wonderful insights into the spiritual in that section of the book that are universal, I think.
Donna, The idea that she conformed her book contract to what she wanted to do didn't bother me. I felt like it was one of those things that lined up for her in her journey toward a little self-realization. Now, the movie is a whole different story, with all of its marketing. But I didn't get the feeling that she was deeply involved in the making of the movie or the marketing of it. In any case, that seemed a little bit of a sell-out.
Donna, The idea that she conformed her book contract to what she wanted to do didn't bother me. I felt like it was one of those things that lined up for her in her journey toward a little self-realization. Now, the movie is a whole different story, with all of its marketing. But I didn't get the feeling that she was deeply involved in the making of the movie or the marketing of it. In any case, that seemed a little bit of a sell-out.
131Donna828
>130 blackdogbooks:: Mac, I'm trying to adopt your attitude. I think I've been married to a cynic for too long (42 years), and it's rubbing off on me. :-)
Somehow the idea of the movie doesn't bother me as much. Go figure. I think Julia Roberts will be good in that role and, yes, I probably will go see it when I get the opportunity.
I hope I didn't imply that I didn't like the book. I gave it 4 stars -- and I kept it in my permanent collection, although, I think reading it two times will suffice.
Somehow the idea of the movie doesn't bother me as much. Go figure. I think Julia Roberts will be good in that role and, yes, I probably will go see it when I get the opportunity.
I hope I didn't imply that I didn't like the book. I gave it 4 stars -- and I kept it in my permanent collection, although, I think reading it two times will suffice.
132blackdogbooks
No, I recall your thoughts about the book, so I knew you liked it. And on the subject of cynics, you'd be surprised a just how cynical I am! My job sort of requires it or at least reinforces it.
The movie was pretty good, though there was some added material that made me wonder about its origins, especially as it relates to Gilbert's husband.
The movie was pretty good, though there was some added material that made me wonder about its origins, especially as it relates to Gilbert's husband.
133blackdogbooks
Book #26, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Classic, Mystery
My Review on the book's home page:
Detective and mystery fiction is one of the mainstays of the modern publishing world. From Hammet and Spillane’s hard-boiled streets to the blood-inked, stainless steel of Cornwell’s autopsy suites to the marble and mahogany of Turow and Grisham’s courtrooms, the genre has many faces. But Wilkie Collins’ gothic classic The Woman in White may well be one of the purest mystery novels ever penned. Devoid of today’s hype, bloody gore, and explosive plot elements, Collins’ mystery is stripped bare, down to the basic level of emotion and motivation.
In the foggy, early-morning hours, a mysterious woman, dressed completely in ghostly white garb, startles Walter Hartright from behind as he walks a deserted road on the outskirts of London. The woman offers only the most cryptic answers for her late night appearance. After Hartright secures safe transport for the striking woman, constabulary officials appear, hoping to re-capture a woman dressed in white who has absconded from a local mental facility. This brief, chance encounter forever alters Hartright’s life, as he continues to stumble into the mysterious woman’s life and eventually finds himself gumshoeing a murder and a conspiracy that may ruin his life.
The beauty of Collins’ mystery, one of the earliest detective-type mysteries, is his faithfulness to the real art of investigations, the art of the interview. In today’s CSI-obsessed world, people expect scientific evidence to sort out every mystery. The truth, as Collins knows, is that mysteries are solved by talking to people and puzzling together all of the information provided by witnesses. And not just the witnesses who were in a position to personally view some piece of the crime, but also the witnesses on the fringes of the story, the ones who, through their day-to-day existence, happened to come into contact with the subjects at a time when their guard was down, or the witnesses in the dark past of the subjects who hold secrets long buried. While Collins was clearly writing a gothic and romantic story, he still managed to capture a sense of reality that is all too often missing in the modern-day detective and mystery fiction.
Collins writes very much in the same style as did his friend and contemporary Charles Dickens. His characters and plot are detailed and complex but easy to digest, allowing the reader to engage on multiple levels.
On balance, The Woman in White is much more a gothic romance than an attempt at realism in fiction. Collins still writes to the sensational and romantic elements of his day. But the details of the mystery and the investigation infuse credibility and urgency to a story that would otherwise have been run of the mill.
4 ½ bones!!!!
Classic, Mystery
My Review on the book's home page:
Detective and mystery fiction is one of the mainstays of the modern publishing world. From Hammet and Spillane’s hard-boiled streets to the blood-inked, stainless steel of Cornwell’s autopsy suites to the marble and mahogany of Turow and Grisham’s courtrooms, the genre has many faces. But Wilkie Collins’ gothic classic The Woman in White may well be one of the purest mystery novels ever penned. Devoid of today’s hype, bloody gore, and explosive plot elements, Collins’ mystery is stripped bare, down to the basic level of emotion and motivation.
In the foggy, early-morning hours, a mysterious woman, dressed completely in ghostly white garb, startles Walter Hartright from behind as he walks a deserted road on the outskirts of London. The woman offers only the most cryptic answers for her late night appearance. After Hartright secures safe transport for the striking woman, constabulary officials appear, hoping to re-capture a woman dressed in white who has absconded from a local mental facility. This brief, chance encounter forever alters Hartright’s life, as he continues to stumble into the mysterious woman’s life and eventually finds himself gumshoeing a murder and a conspiracy that may ruin his life.
The beauty of Collins’ mystery, one of the earliest detective-type mysteries, is his faithfulness to the real art of investigations, the art of the interview. In today’s CSI-obsessed world, people expect scientific evidence to sort out every mystery. The truth, as Collins knows, is that mysteries are solved by talking to people and puzzling together all of the information provided by witnesses. And not just the witnesses who were in a position to personally view some piece of the crime, but also the witnesses on the fringes of the story, the ones who, through their day-to-day existence, happened to come into contact with the subjects at a time when their guard was down, or the witnesses in the dark past of the subjects who hold secrets long buried. While Collins was clearly writing a gothic and romantic story, he still managed to capture a sense of reality that is all too often missing in the modern-day detective and mystery fiction.
Collins writes very much in the same style as did his friend and contemporary Charles Dickens. His characters and plot are detailed and complex but easy to digest, allowing the reader to engage on multiple levels.
On balance, The Woman in White is much more a gothic romance than an attempt at realism in fiction. Collins still writes to the sensational and romantic elements of his day. But the details of the mystery and the investigation infuse credibility and urgency to a story that would otherwise have been run of the mill.
4 ½ bones!!!!
134blackdogbooks
Book #27, In the Company of Angels by Thomas E. Kennedy
Fiction,
ER Book
My Review on the book's home page:
A good deal of human interaction centers on power. We attempt to control everything around us, including our loved ones, not realizing what an enormous, if subtle, toll the effort takes, both on us and on those who are the focus of our manipulations and power plays. Thomas E. Kennedy, in his award-winning novel In the Company of Angels, examines the human inclination to control and its logical mirror, the yearning for true freedom.
For teaching and encouraging free thought, Bernardo Greene suffered unthinkable torture at the hands of government officials in his mother country in South America. Broken in body and spirit, he travels to Copenhagen for treatment upon his release. Taking long walks and solitary meals to compliment his therapy, he meets Michela Ibsen. Michela is a survivor in every sense of the word, having suffered through an alcoholic father, an abusive husband, and the suicide of her daughter. The two find in each other kindred spirits, longing for the freedom to redefine their lives on their own terms, to experience life through a prism of something other than pain and fear.
In the Company of Angels is a sad book, primarily for its plain honesty about the nature of human cruelty borne from fear and self-doubt. Kennedy tries to sprinkle in enough hope to make the experience worth the effort, but there are long, dark stretches that are difficult to bear. In the hands of a less poetic or less idealistic person, the result would be a devastating read. But Kennedy casts his troubled characters together, giving them all the opportunity to find healing and hope in one another.
A difficult but powerful read. Kennedy is an author who deserves more attention than he appears to have gotten. Luckily, the international publishing world recognized his talent.
4 bones!!!!
Fiction,
ER Book
My Review on the book's home page:
A good deal of human interaction centers on power. We attempt to control everything around us, including our loved ones, not realizing what an enormous, if subtle, toll the effort takes, both on us and on those who are the focus of our manipulations and power plays. Thomas E. Kennedy, in his award-winning novel In the Company of Angels, examines the human inclination to control and its logical mirror, the yearning for true freedom.
For teaching and encouraging free thought, Bernardo Greene suffered unthinkable torture at the hands of government officials in his mother country in South America. Broken in body and spirit, he travels to Copenhagen for treatment upon his release. Taking long walks and solitary meals to compliment his therapy, he meets Michela Ibsen. Michela is a survivor in every sense of the word, having suffered through an alcoholic father, an abusive husband, and the suicide of her daughter. The two find in each other kindred spirits, longing for the freedom to redefine their lives on their own terms, to experience life through a prism of something other than pain and fear.
In the Company of Angels is a sad book, primarily for its plain honesty about the nature of human cruelty borne from fear and self-doubt. Kennedy tries to sprinkle in enough hope to make the experience worth the effort, but there are long, dark stretches that are difficult to bear. In the hands of a less poetic or less idealistic person, the result would be a devastating read. But Kennedy casts his troubled characters together, giving them all the opportunity to find healing and hope in one another.
A difficult but powerful read. Kennedy is an author who deserves more attention than he appears to have gotten. Luckily, the international publishing world recognized his talent.
4 bones!!!!
135blackdogbooks
Book #28, Unclean Spirits by M.L.N. Hanover
Fiction
Urban Fantasy
My Review on the book's home page:
Fantasy, in whatever nook or cranny, is a difficult genre to create because of the difficulty in striking a good balance between exposition and suspense. Every fantasy story introduces us to a new world and a new civilization. (Sorry, I just finished watching Star Trek.) In order to understand and connect with the characters and the world, the writer has to give the reader some basic information about how this new world operates and how the people who populate it interact with one another. Vomiting out such a cold description at the outset of a story tends to be off-putting. So, most good fantasy fiction drops the reader into the middle and explains what is necessary while on the ride. But drop too few details into the story, and the reader is left cold and unable to engage. M.L.N. Hanover’s first novel, Unclean Spirits never strikes that vital balance.
Jayné has come to Denver to execute her uncle’s last will and testament. She finds that he’s left her a fortune and properties around the world. But he’s also left her his life-long mission of destroying The Invisible College, a group of evil wizards bent on breaking down the barriers between the world we know and the world that exists underneath. Jayné joins her uncle’s band of eccentric warriors to fight the forces of evil with magic and élan.
Hanover has all of the right elements but they are too loosely fitted together. Starting appropriately in the midst of the action, with the murder of Jayné’s uncle, there is too little explanation for how this new world is different from the world we know. As the story progresses, Hanover focuses too much on Jayné and her difficulties assimilating her new knowledge and powers and too little time constructing the battle lines between the forces of good and evil. While it’s clear that the Invisible College are the bad guys, Hanover doesn’t spend enough time explaining why.
I wanted to like this book, principally because it was written by a local author and I always like to see locals succeed. There is nothing dislike, really. The book was a passable, readable story. There’s just not enough to draw me in for the two promised follow-on installments.
2 ½ bones!!
Fiction
Urban Fantasy
My Review on the book's home page:
Fantasy, in whatever nook or cranny, is a difficult genre to create because of the difficulty in striking a good balance between exposition and suspense. Every fantasy story introduces us to a new world and a new civilization. (Sorry, I just finished watching Star Trek.) In order to understand and connect with the characters and the world, the writer has to give the reader some basic information about how this new world operates and how the people who populate it interact with one another. Vomiting out such a cold description at the outset of a story tends to be off-putting. So, most good fantasy fiction drops the reader into the middle and explains what is necessary while on the ride. But drop too few details into the story, and the reader is left cold and unable to engage. M.L.N. Hanover’s first novel, Unclean Spirits never strikes that vital balance.
Jayné has come to Denver to execute her uncle’s last will and testament. She finds that he’s left her a fortune and properties around the world. But he’s also left her his life-long mission of destroying The Invisible College, a group of evil wizards bent on breaking down the barriers between the world we know and the world that exists underneath. Jayné joins her uncle’s band of eccentric warriors to fight the forces of evil with magic and élan.
Hanover has all of the right elements but they are too loosely fitted together. Starting appropriately in the midst of the action, with the murder of Jayné’s uncle, there is too little explanation for how this new world is different from the world we know. As the story progresses, Hanover focuses too much on Jayné and her difficulties assimilating her new knowledge and powers and too little time constructing the battle lines between the forces of good and evil. While it’s clear that the Invisible College are the bad guys, Hanover doesn’t spend enough time explaining why.
I wanted to like this book, principally because it was written by a local author and I always like to see locals succeed. There is nothing dislike, really. The book was a passable, readable story. There’s just not enough to draw me in for the two promised follow-on installments.
2 ½ bones!!
136London_StJ
Oh, what a wonderful review. I never did finish The Woman in White, but now I really want to return to it...
137blackdogbooks
Thanks, Luxx! It's worth the read!
Gotta a few more to post here.
Gotta a few more to post here.
138blackdogbooks
Book #29, Limitations by Scott Turow
Fiction
Legal Thriller/Crime Fiction
My Review on the book's home page:
With Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow perfected the genre of legal-thrillers. Part of Turow’s appeal, which is evident in his novel Limitations, is his ability to plumb the depths of the soul, to define the outer edges of human capability and motivation.
George Mason, a member of the Court of Appeals, is having difficulty deciding a brutal rape case before him on appeal. Whether the difficulty stems from his wife’s failing health, the threatening emails that he’s receiving, or some dark secret from his past is unclear. What is clear, though, is that George has begun to doubt himself, to doubt his ability and his right to stand in judgment.
Limitations is a masterpiece of the mundane. There is little in the way of crime scene forensic miracles or thrilling and explosive chases or courtroom high-jinx. Rather, Turow sheds a light on the real work of criminal investigators and judges, who are all focused on the minute, if boring, details of every-day life. What emerges is a beautiful picture of the artificial, but necessary, nature of modern justice.
A favorite for the year!
5 bones!!!!!
Fiction
Legal Thriller/Crime Fiction
My Review on the book's home page:
With Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow perfected the genre of legal-thrillers. Part of Turow’s appeal, which is evident in his novel Limitations, is his ability to plumb the depths of the soul, to define the outer edges of human capability and motivation.
George Mason, a member of the Court of Appeals, is having difficulty deciding a brutal rape case before him on appeal. Whether the difficulty stems from his wife’s failing health, the threatening emails that he’s receiving, or some dark secret from his past is unclear. What is clear, though, is that George has begun to doubt himself, to doubt his ability and his right to stand in judgment.
Limitations is a masterpiece of the mundane. There is little in the way of crime scene forensic miracles or thrilling and explosive chases or courtroom high-jinx. Rather, Turow sheds a light on the real work of criminal investigators and judges, who are all focused on the minute, if boring, details of every-day life. What emerges is a beautiful picture of the artificial, but necessary, nature of modern justice.
A favorite for the year!
5 bones!!!!!
139blackdogbooks
Book #30, I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman
Fiction
Crime Fiction
ER Book
My Review on the book's home page:
Laura Lippman’s newest novel, I’d Know You Anywhere, stretched my boundaries of suspendable disbelief. A lot of crime and thriller fiction these days tries to ground itself in reality but still manages to miss the mark by a good bit. The problem is the attempt at mirroring reality while still trying to create a sensational and page-turning experience.
Eliza Benedict was the last of Walter Bowman’s victims, or the first, depending on how you look at it. Walter never let any of his other victims, except Eliza, live after he raped them. Eliza changes her name and moves on with her life, at least she appears to. Twenty years later, Eliza receives a letter from Walter who is awaiting his execution. Eliza begins a correspondence with Walter, over the mail and the telephone, culminating in a final face-to-face visit, as she tries to make sense of how she survived.
Lippman has done a disservice to crime victims with this novel. The idea that the best way to handle a murderer and rapist is to give him what he wants is a huge mistake. Lippman sets her plot up in a way that makes Eliza’s choice to correspond with her attacker seem reasoned and logical when it is least reasonable option. I won’t quibble with folks who’d argue that there are other women who might make the same choice, but such an argument only proves my point about what a disservice Lippman has done with this novel.
The final offense (BEWARE A SPOILER) is that Lippman ends her novel with a final magnanimous confession from a man she has given all of the stereotypical sociopathic characteristics.
If you read this one, you’re really going to have to turn your mind completely off.
1 ½ bones!
Fiction
Crime Fiction
ER Book
My Review on the book's home page:
Laura Lippman’s newest novel, I’d Know You Anywhere, stretched my boundaries of suspendable disbelief. A lot of crime and thriller fiction these days tries to ground itself in reality but still manages to miss the mark by a good bit. The problem is the attempt at mirroring reality while still trying to create a sensational and page-turning experience.
Eliza Benedict was the last of Walter Bowman’s victims, or the first, depending on how you look at it. Walter never let any of his other victims, except Eliza, live after he raped them. Eliza changes her name and moves on with her life, at least she appears to. Twenty years later, Eliza receives a letter from Walter who is awaiting his execution. Eliza begins a correspondence with Walter, over the mail and the telephone, culminating in a final face-to-face visit, as she tries to make sense of how she survived.
Lippman has done a disservice to crime victims with this novel. The idea that the best way to handle a murderer and rapist is to give him what he wants is a huge mistake. Lippman sets her plot up in a way that makes Eliza’s choice to correspond with her attacker seem reasoned and logical when it is least reasonable option. I won’t quibble with folks who’d argue that there are other women who might make the same choice, but such an argument only proves my point about what a disservice Lippman has done with this novel.
The final offense (BEWARE A SPOILER) is that Lippman ends her novel with a final magnanimous confession from a man she has given all of the stereotypical sociopathic characteristics.
If you read this one, you’re really going to have to turn your mind completely off.
1 ½ bones!
140ronincats
What a variety you've been reading, Mac!! And I really like your reviews--without reprising the story, they give me the information I need to know to decide if it is a book I would enjoy reading, plus they are enjoyable reading in themselves.
141London_StJ
Oh my. Well, I'm glad you had two much better reads before I'd Know You Anywhere, and I hope your next one is more successful!
142alcottacre
#133: I have been wanting to read The Woman in White for a while now. I best bump it up the stack some.
#134: Adding In the Company of Angels to the BlackHole.
#135/139: Skipping those two, although I am sorry to hear that about the Lippman book as I have enjoyed hers in the past.
#138: I guess I need to give Turow a try some time and that sounds a good place to start although I really do not care for court room dramas.
Great reviews as usual, Mac!
#134: Adding In the Company of Angels to the BlackHole.
#135/139: Skipping those two, although I am sorry to hear that about the Lippman book as I have enjoyed hers in the past.
#138: I guess I need to give Turow a try some time and that sounds a good place to start although I really do not care for court room dramas.
Great reviews as usual, Mac!
143PiyushC
#133 Glad to see you liked The Woman in White as much as I did. I am still waiting for you to plan the Jane Austen read for the year, preferably Pride and Prejudice as we had discussed last year I think.
144TadAD
>135 blackdogbooks:: I usually like urban fantasy but Unclean Spirits sounds like something to avoid. I need more Windlings and de Lints!
I've never read anything by Turow. I read a little Grisham but didn't go wild for his stuff, so didn't really get into the groove of legal thrillers. It sounds like Presumed Innocent is the one to start with.
I've never read anything by Turow. I read a little Grisham but didn't go wild for his stuff, so didn't really get into the groove of legal thrillers. It sounds like Presumed Innocent is the one to start with.
145blackdogbooks
Thanks for all the comments!
Piyush, I don't know if I'm going to get to an Austen or a Dickens this year as I'd hoped. But in any case, I've already read Pride and Prejudice. The next one I was going to try and read was Sense and Sensibility.
Tad, I am both a Grisham and a Turow fan but they are very different, as you will see. Grisham is much more of a broad story teller, short on details and long on the overall story, which are usualy basic morality type tales. Turow, on the other hand, is much more character driven and is a much more detail oriented guy. Presumed Innocent is a classic and well worth your time, I think.
Piyush, I don't know if I'm going to get to an Austen or a Dickens this year as I'd hoped. But in any case, I've already read Pride and Prejudice. The next one I was going to try and read was Sense and Sensibility.
Tad, I am both a Grisham and a Turow fan but they are very different, as you will see. Grisham is much more of a broad story teller, short on details and long on the overall story, which are usualy basic morality type tales. Turow, on the other hand, is much more character driven and is a much more detail oriented guy. Presumed Innocent is a classic and well worth your time, I think.
146jadebird
Great reviews! Must get Woman In White.
147BookAngel_a
I have to re-read The Woman in White. I remember that I loved it but I've forgotten the details.
148rocketjk
Greetings! I just found your thread and saw that you'd read and enjoyed The Moviegoer. I read that book about 25 years ago, when I was living in Gentilly, which is the New Orleans neighborhood described in the book. I haven't read all of Percy, but what I've read I've liked a lot. I also highly recommend his book, The Second Coming. Best, Jerry
149arubabookwoman
Hey Rocketjk--I lived in Lake Vista 25 years ago (just around the corner from Gentilly). I read The Moviegoer in college in the late 60's and all the New Orleans references were interesting--but much more serious than Confederacy of Dunces.
150blackdogbooks
ANNOUNCING THIS YEAR'S Halloween Read.
The link to the thread is here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/98082&newpost=1#lastmsg
I will be finishing up a couple of books and then starting in about a week. Please join us.
The link to the thread is here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/98082&newpost=1#lastmsg
I will be finishing up a couple of books and then starting in about a week. Please join us.
151blackdogbooks
Book #31, The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks
Urban Fantasy and Science Fiction
This is a re-read for me. Here is the orginal review I wrote....
I read this book because of a review or its inclusion on a list of best somewhere and was completely surprised. I didn't know anything about the book or the author.
This is a great debut science fiction work, though some have speculated that Twelve Hawks is a psuedonym for an established author. Whatever the case, this novel does a wonderful job of establishing a new timeline of history, a new cultural reality, and a new set of races/ethnic identities. Very often, such attempts end up weak and thready. But this one doesn't try to do too much and succeeds nicely in establishing a framework to tell a dystopian story.
The story is a kinda of a Jason Bourne meets The Matrix meets Orwell mix. The dystopian features, however, seem very plausible and realisitic (adding to the charm of the companion website also).
All in all this was a great read and a fun one, too. I was hard pressed to wait for the sequel which is now out and I have reviewed also.
5 bones !!!!!
Urban Fantasy and Science Fiction
This is a re-read for me. Here is the orginal review I wrote....
I read this book because of a review or its inclusion on a list of best somewhere and was completely surprised. I didn't know anything about the book or the author.
This is a great debut science fiction work, though some have speculated that Twelve Hawks is a psuedonym for an established author. Whatever the case, this novel does a wonderful job of establishing a new timeline of history, a new cultural reality, and a new set of races/ethnic identities. Very often, such attempts end up weak and thready. But this one doesn't try to do too much and succeeds nicely in establishing a framework to tell a dystopian story.
The story is a kinda of a Jason Bourne meets The Matrix meets Orwell mix. The dystopian features, however, seem very plausible and realisitic (adding to the charm of the companion website also).
All in all this was a great read and a fun one, too. I was hard pressed to wait for the sequel which is now out and I have reviewed also.
5 bones !!!!!
152blackdogbooks
When I finish reading The Traveler trilogy, I will be moving on to Halloween reading and that thread will replace my dedicated reading thread. So. if you want to know what I'm reading, look for the Halloween thread.
153TadAD
>151 blackdogbooks:: I placed the Twelve Hawks books on my list some time ago (perhaps in response to a post of yours??) and just haven't gotten around them. Since I've been noticing that there's little SF on my pile lately, I should find the first one and get it in house.
154Whisper1
Mac
Happy Sunday to you. You are reading some great books. And, as usual, your reviews are wonderful.
I'm in the minority camp regarding Eat, Love, Pray. I remember thinking that it seemed very self absorbed.
Happy Sunday to you. You are reading some great books. And, as usual, your reviews are wonderful.
I'm in the minority camp regarding Eat, Love, Pray. I remember thinking that it seemed very self absorbed.
155alcottacre
#151: Since I already have that one in the BlackHole, Mac, it was probably on your recommendation. Guess I really should track down a copy!
156blackdogbooks
Book #32, The Dark River by John Twelve Hawkes
Urban Fantasy and Science Fiction
I was surprised to see in my tags that I read these books some two or three years ago. They seemed very fresh in my mind and I've been waiting for a chance to re-read the first two and jump into the last of the trilogy. The re-read has not been tiresome or boring in any way. I'm devouring the books much as I did the first time and they're every bit as exciting. I will do a proper review of the whole series when I finish the last book. I higly recommend these books.
Urban Fantasy and Science Fiction
I was surprised to see in my tags that I read these books some two or three years ago. They seemed very fresh in my mind and I've been waiting for a chance to re-read the first two and jump into the last of the trilogy. The re-read has not been tiresome or boring in any way. I'm devouring the books much as I did the first time and they're every bit as exciting. I will do a proper review of the whole series when I finish the last book. I higly recommend these books.
157alcottacre
#156: Mac, you might be interested in this: http://www.regal-literary.com/summergiveaway/twelvehawks/jth2.html
John Twelve Hawks is giving away signed copies of the trilogy to the lucky winners.
John Twelve Hawks is giving away signed copies of the trilogy to the lucky winners.
158blackdogbooks
Book #33, The Golden City by John Twelve Hawks
Fiction
Science Fiction/Urban Fantasy/Action
My Review on the book's home page:
How do you give up something that has completely captured your imagination? How do you move on from something that has filled your thoughts and immersed you in a new and exciting world? The problem is the same for readers and authors alike, for the addiction of reading is no different from the addiction of writing. And in the reluctance to let go of a story, many sequels and series ending editions suffer, both in the creation and in the consumption. So, I can’t honestly say whether I was disappointed in John Twelve Hawks’ final edition of the Fourth Realm Trilogy, The Golden City, because the book didn’t live up to the earlier installments or because I realized that the story was over.
A war rages for control of the Fourth Realm, the world as you and I know it. On one side, the Brethren, a shadowy conspiracy of the rich and powerful, seek to turn the world into a virtual prison where everyone is controlled by the belief that their every move and thought is monitored. The resistance is led by a Gabriel Corrigan, a Traveler who can release the Light from his body and travel to other parallel realms. Protected by Harlequins, a ninja-like society of warriors, Gabriel inspires those who live off-the-grid to fight the Brethren’s Vast Machine of computers, high-tech surveillance, and mercenaries. But Gabriel must also fight more than just the Brethren, because his brother Michael Corrigan, who is also a Traveler, controls the Brethren using knowledge gained from visits to other realms.
Twelve Hawks’ books are a mix of Jason Bourne action and Charles DeLint urban fantasy with a healthy dose of Huxley’s New World or Atwood’s Gilead. All three books, including this last installment, offer excitement and honest human drama. Twelve Hawks writes with more literary authority and originality than most modern-day thriller authors, and deftly balances a broad mixture of genres. The books are engaging and the story enveloping.
The only complaint to lodge is that Twelve Hawks sometimes seems rushed to get to the end of the book. There are sections of each book where he could linger to further develop a world or a character but he rushes on, either at the behest of some evil editor or for fear of losing his pace. Whatever the reason, fans of this series would have allowed, and perhaps enjoyed, a more leisurely and detailed story. The final blow was that Twelve Hawks christened The Golden City as the final installment in the trilogy. So, with the last page looming, every new world and character seemed too slightly drawn. In the end, I just didn’t want to believe that the story was coming to an end.
I can’t recommend these books highly enough. The first, The Traveler, was a favorite for the year two years ago. And The Golden City, even though I must forgive Twelve Hawks for bringing an end to the story, is a favorite for this year.
5 bones!!!!!
Fiction
Science Fiction/Urban Fantasy/Action
My Review on the book's home page:
How do you give up something that has completely captured your imagination? How do you move on from something that has filled your thoughts and immersed you in a new and exciting world? The problem is the same for readers and authors alike, for the addiction of reading is no different from the addiction of writing. And in the reluctance to let go of a story, many sequels and series ending editions suffer, both in the creation and in the consumption. So, I can’t honestly say whether I was disappointed in John Twelve Hawks’ final edition of the Fourth Realm Trilogy, The Golden City, because the book didn’t live up to the earlier installments or because I realized that the story was over.
A war rages for control of the Fourth Realm, the world as you and I know it. On one side, the Brethren, a shadowy conspiracy of the rich and powerful, seek to turn the world into a virtual prison where everyone is controlled by the belief that their every move and thought is monitored. The resistance is led by a Gabriel Corrigan, a Traveler who can release the Light from his body and travel to other parallel realms. Protected by Harlequins, a ninja-like society of warriors, Gabriel inspires those who live off-the-grid to fight the Brethren’s Vast Machine of computers, high-tech surveillance, and mercenaries. But Gabriel must also fight more than just the Brethren, because his brother Michael Corrigan, who is also a Traveler, controls the Brethren using knowledge gained from visits to other realms.
Twelve Hawks’ books are a mix of Jason Bourne action and Charles DeLint urban fantasy with a healthy dose of Huxley’s New World or Atwood’s Gilead. All three books, including this last installment, offer excitement and honest human drama. Twelve Hawks writes with more literary authority and originality than most modern-day thriller authors, and deftly balances a broad mixture of genres. The books are engaging and the story enveloping.
The only complaint to lodge is that Twelve Hawks sometimes seems rushed to get to the end of the book. There are sections of each book where he could linger to further develop a world or a character but he rushes on, either at the behest of some evil editor or for fear of losing his pace. Whatever the reason, fans of this series would have allowed, and perhaps enjoyed, a more leisurely and detailed story. The final blow was that Twelve Hawks christened The Golden City as the final installment in the trilogy. So, with the last page looming, every new world and character seemed too slightly drawn. In the end, I just didn’t want to believe that the story was coming to an end.
I can’t recommend these books highly enough. The first, The Traveler, was a favorite for the year two years ago. And The Golden City, even though I must forgive Twelve Hawks for bringing an end to the story, is a favorite for this year.
5 bones!!!!!
159alcottacre
#158: Yep, I really need to read that trilogy!
160ronincats
Okay, Mac, they are going into my wishlist. I've never heard of them--just tells you that the field of fantasy is way too large these days.
161blackdogbooks
I'd say they are light on the fantasy, as Hawks really is trying to stretch over several different genres. But I thought each piece he included from different genres fit well and was engaging.
162ronincats
The local library has all of them, so I've put them on my wishlist and will try them out somewhere down the line.
163blackdogbooks
Above, at the first post on the thread, you can see the wall of fiction in our house. The largest part of the library is the fiction, of course, though there are three other smaller bookshelves in that same large room that have some of the wife's home and style books, reference books, poetry, and baseball non-fiction. Then, in my "office" I have the rest of the non-fiction and true crime. All-in-all, I've been hovering at about 1400 books for about the last year or so.
After much discussion, we have decided to redesign the dining room, which is rarely dined in, into a library, complete with floor-to-ceiling, custom-built shelves on three of the four walls. It will about double the space we have for books. I will then re-combine the books in one location, with some of the titles continuing to reside in the "office". We are very excited about this re-design. I will take some before pictures soon and post them for all to see and then keep everyone posted as we slowly move through the process.
After much discussion, we have decided to redesign the dining room, which is rarely dined in, into a library, complete with floor-to-ceiling, custom-built shelves on three of the four walls. It will about double the space we have for books. I will then re-combine the books in one location, with some of the titles continuing to reside in the "office". We are very excited about this re-design. I will take some before pictures soon and post them for all to see and then keep everyone posted as we slowly move through the process.
164drneutron
Very cool! Our dining room turned into a quilting room for the wife, but I got an office out of the deal. But certainly not as nice as your library sounds!
165BookAngel_a
163- Wow, that sounds wonderful!
166klobrien2
163: Sounds like a dream come true. (I'm furnishing the room in my mind--a couple of very comfy easy chairs, excellent reading lights--would you happen to have a fireplace in that room?)
Congratulations, and have fun!
Karen O.
Congratulations, and have fun!
Karen O.
169blackdogbooks
Alas, the fireplace is in the room where my reading chair currently resides. you can just see it in the photo above.
170alcottacre
I wonder if I convince my husband to convert my dining room into an additional book room . . .
172blackdogbooks
I couldn't watch the game sitting, I had to pace for the last 6 innings. Too bad really. The Padres played so well all year. Now you can root for us!
174blackdogbooks
THE GIANTS WIN THE PENANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENANT! THE GIANTS WIN WIN THE PENANT!
176alcottacre
Congrats, Mac! I am hoping that it is a great World Series.
177BookAngel_a
Congrats to you and the Giants. :)
178blackdogbooks
Truth be told, I was a supreme wreck most of Saturday, as I was certain they would blow it somehow. And all through the game, I believe I was holding my breath. My wife wondered what had happened to me, I was so quiet.
Congratulations are due to the team, as all I did was watch and agonzie. I am just happy to have a winning team to cheer on this year.
Congratulations are due to the team, as all I did was watch and agonzie. I am just happy to have a winning team to cheer on this year.
