jzhunagev's comments (member since Nov 10, 2008)

jzhunagev's comments from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die group.

Thanks for the feedback about The Winner Stands Alone... I guess I'll have to go and see for meself if I'll like this books like the ones I've read previously...
It proved just one thing: different folks of different strokes have different tastes... LOLz... :D

Merima wrote: "This is one of the greatest writers of all time. I loved The Alchemist of course, but The Zahir is definitely worth of mentioning. Seems like everything he writes turns into pearls of wisdom."

Couldn't agree more with you. Had you read his latest? The Winner Stands Alone?

Sowmya wrote: "jzhunagev wrote: "But The Alchemist is a very good book to initiate one to the philosophies of Paulo Coelho..."

I hadn't read that one. Just finished it and its really good. I love st..."

I'm glad you liked it too Sowmya! Another Coelho fan on the loose...

But The Alchemist is a very good book to initiate one to the philosophies of Paulo Coelho...

I think better start with Robinson Crusoe first, since part of it is the subject of the novel... methinks...

It affected me the same way you did Alicia...

Tom wrote: "jzhunagev wrote: "I'm sort of a newbie here and I think this the first post that I'd made in this group. Anyway here are my cents worth of thought on "The Reader" (by the way, this is the review I ..."

I think Hanna did... Near the end she said that she was visited by the dead in her cell..

Hey... How come no one mentioned about L. Ron Hubbard here... Battlefield Earth is super...
not for the feint of heart to tackle such a long book..

Guys, do you think that one of the possibilities that Coelho may not win a Nobel is that his novels are that simplistic and doesn't have that much literary merit in it?

I think Lynn it would be great if you start with The Alchemist.

Any Paulo Coelho fans in this group?
I'm been reading for a while now some of Coelho's internationally acclaimed books, most notable of this (and the one I truly love and liked the most is The Alchemist).
I would just like to know the opinion of those who have read some of Coelho's works, if this author deserves to win a Nobel Prize in Literature...
What's your take on this...?

I'm sort of a newbie here and I think this the first post that I'd made in this group. Anyway here are my cents worth of thought on "The Reader" (by the way, this is the review I posted when I had read the book):

There are some books you know will stay with you forever, and Bernhard Schlink's The Reader is definitely one of them. It has been highly critically acclaimed, winning the Boston Book Review's Fisk Fiction Prize, and it deserves all the praise it has received.

The Holocaust is a difficult, though much covered, subject matter, and this novel has a sure touch and an appealing lack of judgment with it. The story begins in the world of almost-childhood of fifteen-year-old Michael Berg, recovering from a summer of hepatitis, begins a relationship with Hanna, a much older woman he meets by chance. The first part of the novel, untouched by the shadow of the recent war or Germany's disturbed and dangerous past, deals with Michael and Hanna's burgeoning relationship, and the little fears and worries that can make up one big problem. Eventually, as we know it must, their relationship ends and Hanna moves away.

When the book moves on to the second part, the tone has changed considerably. Michael, now a law student, attends the trial of female Nazi war criminals. To his shock, one of them is Hanna, who had been a camp guard at Auschwitz. I won't say more for fear of spoiling it for you, but the Holocaust is seriously considered in the light of philosophy and moral responsibility. There is an attitude that one becomes numb to the horror of it all if too exposed to it, and this book does not go into ghastly detail, but rather examines even more painful details: who was to blame, how do we live with the suffering, how can one atone, and most of all, what is the next generation to do?

It also looks at what it means to love someone, how much we can accept of them and how blind we can be to those we love. Love, guilt and betrayal feature prominently in this novel.

In many ways Hanna was innocent, and yet it becomes apparent that she lived every day with terrible guilt; Michael was a victim of her actions, and yet he too is guilty by association. The reader of the title is Michael, who read to Hanna during the early part of the relationship; the reader is Hanna, alone in prison occupying herself by learning about the experiences of camp inmates. The reader is selected individuals in the camps who read aloud to Hanna, and may have died because of it. But most of all, the reader is ourselves; the title points the finger at us, because now we have the knowledge, what should we do with it? If all it takes for evil to prevail is for the good to remain silent, then how innocent are any of us? And how can we deal with the subsequent guilt? There are so many layers to this subtly complex novel that having just finished it, I have to start it again. The transforming power of words is negated by their ultimate futility, and actions in this novel speak deafeningly loud.

If we have a responsibility towards the past, to learn from it, and I believe we do, then this book will help us to go some way towards fulfilling it.

Can I make a suggestion?
Why wasn't Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand included in the list.
Considering that the two books is a monster read when you've yourself in a very philosophical mood..

Good day to all!!
Apparently, I'm a newbie here.
I've been in this bargain bookstore and I saw this book that kind of spoke to me with its picturesque cover. The book I'm talking 'bout is "The Olive Readers" by Christine Aziz. The book is actually a virtual unknown to me until I bought it that day.
So anyone here had heard of this book? Could you please somehow shed me some light and inform me, yet not to the point that your views contains spoilers--maybe just snippets.
Thanks..
My warm regards and happy reading.. ^_^