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Shelly Sanders
is now following Suzanne's reviews
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"Love your books...very similar to mine!
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" Chuck wrote: "JF did a collcool review of one of Alice Munro's in which he nominated her for the Noble Prize... NY Review Times Book Review ?"
I'll loo...more
Chuck wrote: "JF did a collcool review of one of Alice Munro's in which he nominated her for the Noble Prize... NY Review Times Book Review ?"
I'll look it up; I'm in awe of Franzen's ability to create such intriguing characters. He is a gifted writer.(less)
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Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie Review by Shelly Sanders
Let me begin by saying that I started and finished this book in one week. Not much of an accomplishment for a small volume, but quite a feat for one that spans five hundred and thirty-...more
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie Review by Shelly Sanders
Let me begin by saying that I started and finished this book in one week. Not much of an accomplishment for a small volume, but quite a feat for one that spans five hundred and thirty-two pages. As with Massie’s new release, Catherine the Great, I could not put Nicholas and Alexandra down, for this would mean leaving the tumultuous yet fascinating period in Russia that led to a seminal political and cultural shift. The book begins in 1894, during the final year of Alexander III’s reign as Tsar. Russia was a vast land of extremes, with some living well in cities while greater numbers spent their days in poverty-stricken villages. But they had one thing in common at the time—a steadfast love and respect for the Tsar, “the Batiushka-Tsar, the Father of the Russian people. “It is very high up to God! It is very far to the Tsar!” said the Russian proverb. If only we could get to the Tsar and tell him, our troubles would be at an end—so runs the plot of a hundred Russian fairy tales.” This was the world Nicholas II entered with his new wife, Alexandra Fedorovna, in 1894, upon the unexpected death of his father. This was the way things had been since 1547, when Ivan the Terrible was crowned as Tsar of Russia. Yet in just twenty three years of rule by Nicholas II, the entire Tsar establishment fell in disgrace. Using letters and diary entries, Massie shows precisely how the autocracy crumbled. We see clearly that he loved Alexandra and that she loved him. In his diary, Nicholas wrote: “At the same time that He has sent me irreparable grief (the death of his father), God has given me a happiness of which I never dared to dream, in giving me Alix.” In fact, Massie has so eloquently humanized Nicholas, that I couldn’t help but like him as a person. He may not have been a strong, efficient leader, but there is no doubt he adored his wife and children. While it’s common knowledge that Nicholas’ son, Alexis, was a hemophiliac, Massey carefully shows how this condition helped bring about the fall of the Tsar’s reign. There was no cure and no relief when Alexis bled, but Rasputin, a Siberian peasant who claimed he had spiritual power, was somehow able to appear at the height of Alexis’ discomfort, and announce that the boy would survive. On at least three occasions, Alexis improved significantly the day after Rasputin had visited. “It was the boy’s illness that brought Rasputin to the palace,” writes Sir Bernard Pares. “What was the nature of Rasputin’s influence in the family circle?” Pares goes on to ask. “The foundation of it all was that he could undoubtedly bring relief to the boy, and of this there was no question whatsoever.” To Alexandra, Rasputin was a miracle-worker who could do no wrong. Harmless at first, but increasingly dangerous as Rasputin began to advise Alexandra on affairs of the state. While Russia was at war, she told Nicholas who to fire or hire depending on whether the person liked Rasputin. Nicholas did not always listen, but he often bowed under his wife’s pressure and made poor decisions that had a traumatic effect on his country. It is this chain of events—Alexis’ hemophilia, Rasputin’s inexplicable ability to heal him, Alexandra’s growing reliance on Rasputin, and the Tsar’s desire to make his wife happy by following her wishes—that, based on Massie’s compelling research, the people lost faith in the Tsar and turned on him with such ferocity. Even though I knew how the story of Nicholas and Alexandra ended, it was the details in between the pages, their lives and the lives of the Russian people that captivated me so strongly. Now, I feel as if I understand the historical period better, as if I have actually stepped foot in Russia, as if I might have liked Nicholas and Alexandra.(less)
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The subtlelty of Helwig's writing makes this a beautiful read, with seamless transitions from the paranoia of the aftermath of 9-11, to the fear of upcoming health crises, to the complicated love between two scarred individuals.
Helwig's poetic exper...more
The subtlelty of Helwig's writing makes this a beautiful read, with seamless transitions from the paranoia of the aftermath of 9-11, to the fear of upcoming health crises, to the complicated love between two scarred individuals.
Helwig's poetic expertise was an essential element of this novel; her well-chosen words paint vivid scenes and depict the nuances of her characters, making the setting and people real and intriguing.
"Even the homeless and the outcasts travel downwards when they can, into the ravines that slice around and under the streets, where the rivers, the Don and the Humber and their tributaries, carve into the heart of the city; they build homes out of tents and slabs of metal siding, decorate them with bicycle wheels and dolls on strings and boxes of discarded books, with ribbons and mittens, and huddle in the cold beside the thin water."
I fell for Alex's vulnerability right away; the thought of going blind terrifies me so I empathized strongly with his fears and inability to become close to anybody. His paranoia is real, whereas the paranoia of city residents is based on a faint possibility. The irony is that Alex is calm, accepting of his fate, while others, fearing terrorist attacks daily, over-react and take an excess of precautions.
When Derek, a homeless schizophrenic character is introduced, images of the many homeless I've walked past flashed through my mind. Derek made me think about how each one holds a story, a reason for their fall from "normal" society. Derek is truly the heart of the story, showing us how close we all are to falling down, how mental disease can take our lives away, remove us from our families and homes.
"None of this represents the truth of Derek's existence, his passions and his miseries, the battles he wages all alone against pains and fears and the forces of universal gravitation. The raw courage that is rewuired of him every day. His hard-won choice to continue living, when so many possibilities to stop are offered at every hand...None of this represents Derek's soul, scraped bloody, howling, fighting always to hang on, a solitary superhuman ordeal, unacknowledges by the world, unrewarded."
Girls Fall Down will make you think; it will make you feel; it will make you question your own purpose. And the characters will remain within you for a very long time.(less)
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