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June 16
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Eilene
gave
 
to:
Marie Antoinette: The Journey (Paperback)
by Antonia Fraser
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my rating:
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recommended for: people who like history
read in June, 2007
Eilene said:
"This book was pretty interesting, although I thought it was sympathetic to Antoinette. Not that she isn't a sympathetic victim of history, but the book didn't paint a portrait of the desperation of the women who really started the revolution. Despi...more
This book was pretty interesting, although I thought it was sympathetic to Antoinette. Not that she isn't a sympathetic victim of history, but the book didn't paint a portrait of the desperation of the women who really started the revolution. Despite that quibble, Fraser is a tireless researcher so I believe her when she debunks many of the myths surrounding Antoinette. She never told anyone to have a piece of cake, and in fact, was more a victim of history than a major actor in it. I am, however, afraid to see what Sophia Coppola did to these facts in a movie. I'm afraid she may have set it to questionable 80's pop....less
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April 28
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Eilene
gave
to:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
by J.K. Rowling
bookshelves:
toptenofalltime
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my rating:
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recommended for: people who need faith in humanity
read in July, 2007
Eilene said:
"So, I think I am a little nostalgic about this whole Harry Potter experience at this point, which may have clouded my judgment. It is difficult to keep a cool analytical eye on literary qualifications when I am so attached to the characters.
This...more
So, I think I am a little nostalgic about this whole Harry Potter experience at this point, which may have clouded my judgment. It is difficult to keep a cool analytical eye on literary qualifications when I am so attached to the characters.
This is an interesting phenomena to consider, because I don't think it is just how the characters are portrayed in the books, but the hype combined with the film makes everyone feel like they have something invested in Harry, everyone loves the little boy who grew up without love. And adding to that is that Potter is a literary phenomena in a world where all of the things that are designated "phenomena" are usually Paris Hilton infused, reality-tv, did OJ do it crap. So when I see children decked out in wizard robes, when I see teenagers doing the same thing, when I see college students sporting t-shirts that say "The best ten years of my life have included Harry Potter," I am happy, thinking that at last, there is something in this world that everyone seems to like that I also like. Its a small thing, but it is a type of connection that I treasure, when it seems like so much of the world is against what I care about.
But that aside, the book. I want to say this includes discussion of the ending, which I want to warn people about so I don't inadvertently destroy expectations.
And the ending is the most important part of the book--as far as Harry Potter is concerned, as it is the end. Harry Potter's fate--defeating Voldemort and living a long and happy and positively eventful life.
I am of two minds about this choice of ending.
On one hand, Rowling pulled her punches. She let Harry live and had to resort to complicated plotwork to explain and justify her choice. It weakens the book, I think its fair to say.
On another level, it was totally the right thing to do. For all the reasons I've listed above, because Harry has become this great symbol of good and positive things and because so many people care about him--Rowling had a greater responsibility to give Harry the happy ending that everyone who has read the books wanted for him.
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August 16
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Eilene
gave
to:
The Keep (Hardcover)
by Jennifer Egan
bookshelves:
notbadnotbadatall
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: people who like to be surprised
read in August, 2007
Eilene said:
"Egan writes about a place that seems magical. She keeps the setting fuzzy, its a castle in a country that isn't identified, although it all sounds vaguely East European. The really great part about this book is the story--it took me a bit to figure...more
Egan writes about a place that seems magical. She keeps the setting fuzzy, its a castle in a country that isn't identified, although it all sounds vaguely East European. The really great part about this book is the story--it took me a bit to figure out who the main character actually was, and the disjointed narrative is really refreshing because it isn't obviously intended to replicate a Tarantino movie. A great read, I highly suggest it....less
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New comment on Meaghan's review of
The Age of Innocence
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New comment on Meaghan's review of
The Rule of Four
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July 25
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Eilene
gave
to:
The Drowning Tree: A Novel (Paperback)
by Carol Goodman (Goodreads author!)
bookshelves:
fondmemories
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: people who like myths
read in March, 2006
Eilene said:
"Once again, Goodman delivers with a fabulous setting seemingly drawn from her own imagination. I would wager that Goodman has spent time in upstate New York, because she writes of the place as if she knows it, as if she has thought it was beautiful ...more
Once again, Goodman delivers with a fabulous setting seemingly drawn from her own imagination. I would wager that Goodman has spent time in upstate New York, because she writes of the place as if she knows it, as if she has thought it was beautiful for a long time. And it sounds amazing, her descriptions make me want to visit so much more than any of those "Discover (insert state here)" commercials I see on television.
The Drowning Tree also has that element of myth woven into the story. The backstory of the myths Goldman brings into her novels are sometimes the most creative parts of them. I would love to know if she plots it all out ahead of time or if she just allows the pieces to fall into step with each other.
This book suffers from the same weaknesses as the others--weak, single dimension characters (who, in this instance, have improbable jobs--like there is enough business in a small, up-state New York town to support a stained glass restorer, I mean, come on and on that note, I would kill, with a lack of concience, for a job like Jane has in the Lake of Dead Languages but instead I wait tables and hope to land a receptionist gig at my husband's university but I'm going to let THAT go). And once again, Goodman should really let go of the first person narration. It betrays her, it shows her to be a little too in her characters and I can't help but think that she is on some level, her main characters. Which should give me hope for my own writing, because I think all young writers struggle with that, its hard to get out of yourself, its hard to not write with you as the star. But, I will continue to be excited when I see Carol Goodman has a new book out, because as long as you avoid them in mass quantities they are, in fact, quite good....less
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Eilene
gave
to:
Seduction of Water (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
by Carol Goodman (Goodreads author!)
bookshelves:
fondmemories
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my rating:
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recommended for: people who like good settings
read in January, 2006
Eilene said:
"The best thing this book has going for it is an impressive, haunting setting. If Upstate New York is really as hauntingly beautiful as this book suggests, if there are truly these abandoned buildings buried in the forest than I want to go there, bef...more
The best thing this book has going for it is an impressive, haunting setting. If Upstate New York is really as hauntingly beautiful as this book suggests, if there are truly these abandoned buildings buried in the forest than I want to go there, before I go anywhere else.
See my reviews for the Lake of Dead Languages, because many of the same complaints apply. I like Goodman, but her books seem to be the same--especially her main characters. Sure, they have different names and usually are struggling with different circumstances, but her reliance on the first person leaves me struggling to distinguish one from the other.
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Eilene
gave
to:
The Lake of Dead Languages (Paperback)
by Carol Goodman (Goodreads author!)
bookshelves:
notbadnotbadatall
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: people who like Latin
read in November, 2005
Eilene said:
"This is a great book. A complex story with a decent amount of plot development. Not a situation where there is too much plot, but enough and the questions are answered in an appropriate way.
Fabulous setting, which I think is one of the most imp...more
This is a great book. A complex story with a decent amount of plot development. Not a situation where there is too much plot, but enough and the questions are answered in an appropriate way.
Fabulous setting, which I think is one of the most important elements of a great story. But this is a setting that is both beautiful and haunting, the type of place I would love to spend a winter, reading inside by the fire wrapped in an afghan listening to the wind whistling outside--its Heart Lake in upstate New York, with the three sisters in the lake, home to a boarding school beleagured by the legend of the three Crevecoeur sisters who died, drowning in the lake. Of course the female students at the school follow in their footsteps. The story follows Jane, recently seperated from her husband and returned to the school, where she was part of a group of students, two of which killed themselves. Her students begin to demonstrate alarming suicidal tendencies and when her old journal surfaces mysteries are revealed about what happened then, and what is happening now.
My only complaint is the first person narrative can get grating, which is the only thing that makes me put this book down. Adding to this complaint is the relative innanity of the characters--they are all on the surface, no dimension, no depth. They play their parts and go through the motions, but I am not convinced they are real. And when this book is read in conjunction with The Seduction of Water and The Drowning Tree, they all begin to seem similiar, the same, and that is a shame, because read a certain distance apart they are quite enjoyable. ...less
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July 23
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New comment on Meaghan's review of
Gone with the Wind
(see all 3 comments)
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July 19
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Eilene
gave
to:
A Thousand Acres: A Novel (Paperback)
by Jane Smiley
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: people who like shakespeare
read in July, 2007
Eilene said:
"This was a good read, a nice re-imagining of King Lear that is oddly sympathetic to the sisters. I like re-tellings of Shakespeare, so this was right up my alley. I think it is a testament to the richness of his work that it translates so well to d...more
This was a good read, a nice re-imagining of King Lear that is oddly sympathetic to the sisters. I like re-tellings of Shakespeare, so this was right up my alley. I think it is a testament to the richness of his work that it translates so well to different times and places.
I thought the choice of narrator was interesting--the eldest daughter, when the middle daughter seems more diabolical, and it would be interesting to get inside her head. I guess she seems more diabolical externally, so being in her head would make you sympathetic to her, and therefore she is less of a bad guy.
Lear was always sympathetic, you got the impression he cared about his daughters and was honestly hurt by their treatment of him. Not the case in this novel--he is villianized in the worst way, which makes it hard to feel bad when he deginerates. ...less
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