<![CDATA[A Very Long Engagement]]>

false <![CDATA[A Very Long Engagement]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176058624m/588002.jpg 588002 25 January 1917: five French soldiers are marched to their own front lines where they will be tossed out into no man's land with their hands tied behind their backs and left for the Germans to shoot. They were, in civilian life, variously a pimp, a mechanic, a farmer, a carpenter, and a fisherman; now they are condemned because each had sought to leave the war by shooting himself in the hand. Taken to a godforsaken trench nicknamed Bingo Crépuscule, the five are reluctantly sent out into the darkness; days later, five bodies are recovered and the families are notified, merely, that the men died in the line of duty. August 1919: Mathilde Donnay receives a letter from a dying man. In it, the former soldier tells her that he met her beloved fiancé, the fisherman Manech, shortly before he died. Mathilde goes to meet Sergeant Daniel Esperanza at his hospital and there hears the story of the execution. She also receives a package with a photograph of the men and copies of their last letters. As Mathilde reads and rereads the letters and goes over Esperanza's tale, she begins to suspect that perhaps the story didn't end quite so neatly. And so begins her very long investigation into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the deaths of five condemned prisoners--one of whom, at least, might not really be dead. In Mathilde Donnay, Sebastien Japrisot has created one of the most compelling and delightful heroines in modern fiction. Though confined to a wheelchair since childhood, "Mathilde has other lives, varied and quite beautiful ones." She paints, cares for her pets, enjoys a rich fantasy life, and is relentless in her search for the truth about Manech's death. But she is by no means the only vibrant personality leaping off Japrisot's pages. This author has a remarkable ability to draw even minor characters in three dimensions with economy and wit. Take Mathilde's mother, for instance, caught in mid-card game: "At bridge, manille, bezique, Mama is a dirty rotten swine. Not only is she an ace with the pasteboards, but she throws her opponents off their mettle by insulting or making fun of them." And even the characters we meet only through other people's memories--the condemned men--are so fully realized that you find yourself torn over which one you hope may have survived. As Mathilde comes ever closer to solving the mystery of what happened at Bingo Crépuscule that January morning in 1917, Sebastien Japrisot proves himself a master storyteller and A Very Long Engagement a near perfect novel. --Alix Wilber 950142 1993 A Very Long Engagement total:803|5:239|4:315|3:192|2:38|1:19| 803 3126 1197 108 3 2 false false Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2002 Thu Aug 14 10:29:26 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 14 10:31:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 08:41:14 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 10 17:05:34 -0700 2008
January 1917: five French soldiers are marched to their own front lines where they will be tossed out into no man's land with their hands tied behind their backs and left for the Germans to shoot. They were, in civilian life, variously a pimp, a mechanic, a farmer, a c...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 19 00:54:23 -0800 2007 Sun Mar 01 09:27:07 -0800 2009 characters, a good mystery, plus an interwoven
love story.

I learned a lot about WWI in France, about France
during that time period, and about French geography.

What is remarkable about this novel is the way that...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jun 13 13:12:46 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 13:13:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Feb 05 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sun May 10 19:20:07 -0700 2009 Sun May 10 19:28:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 20:00:04 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 20:12:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Apr 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 10:39:42 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 25 09:34:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 18:04:28 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 19:51:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 20:09:36 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 06:54:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Aug 20 06:05:04 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 06:11:34 -0700 2009
The Book is Better Than The Movie

"Riveting...a fierce, elliptical novel that's both a gripping psychological thriller and highly moving meditation on the emotional consequence of war." - The New York Times

France. Wor...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Oct 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 02:24:10 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 01 00:57:07 -0700 2009
Another book to remind us that war is not an answer and human resiliance amazing.

Finishing this book is satisfying however it takes a while to get there. You need to be careful to pick up all the clues from various angle...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Feb 02 16:30:26 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 16:30:26 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Dec 15 12:34:17 -0800 2008 Tue Sep 08 13:26:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri May 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 05 17:57:11 -0700 2008 Sat May 09 07:34:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon Sep 07 07:35:03 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 07 07:35:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 17 07:14:12 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 25 07:03:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Apr 18 06:13:22 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 06:16:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jun 11 19:35:04 -0700 2009 Tue May 19 18:32:31 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 19:35:04 -0700 2009
The beginning is a bit slow but once you learn the characters and start piecing together the puzzle pieces you're entrenched with the soldie...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jun 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 21:59:49 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 22:01:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 19:40:30 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 19:43:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=588002