bookshelves: currently-reading
]]>
"I almost half way through and I'm a little disappointed, not in the story, but in the writing style that tells everything, shows nothing. "
]]>
This compelling Victorian saga brings together two men. The first, Kit St. Denys (starts off as Jack Rourke), grew to the doorstep of manhood as a gutter rat in the slums of London. He suffered from poverty, a weakling brother, a prostitute mother, and a brutally abusive father. The one silver lining in his life was, by luck, that he established a connection with the theater, and began an acting career that would eventually lead to fame and riches, but only after Kit’s mother leaves them, his brother dies at the hand of his father, and Kit stabs his father in a vicious fight. To hide Kit from the law, a rich theater owner adopts him and changes his identity.
The other man, Nicholas Stuart, was destined to follow in the footsteps of his father, a poor village doctor. Nicholas however, runs off to study at the university, and becomes a highly qualified surgeon, respected by peers. He opens a clinic for London’s poor and lives a frugal, passionless life, until the day he accompanies friends to the theater and sees Kit St. Denys on stage. Nicholas is entranced by Kit, and when an act of luck brings him to Kit’s dressing room after the play, the two men are enchanted by each other in such strong terms that their budding love transcends time, distance, and a host of obstacles.
Narrated in the manner of a 19th century novel – primarily told, not shown – the characters are kept at a slight distance from the reader. But this didn’t keep me from caring about the characters. The protagonists are complex, flawed and completely sympathetic. Indeed, I wanted more. There were several secondary characters that I would have like to have seen expanded, and even with the two lovers, there were episodes in their lives that could have benefited by drilling to a deeper understanding.
In keeping with a historical novel told in the 19th century manner, there are no detailed descriptions of sex. I found that refreshing, and there certainly was no need for it. Kit and Nicholas’s love and need for each other was the focus, not what went on behind the bedroom door. Still it was a passionately told love affair.
Although I am, admittedly, not a huge fan of historical fiction, I found The Phoenix a satisfying read. Beyond the normal romance plot twists, is the convincing story of two men in turmoil, and their only chance for survival is to cling to each other, which of course is not always the case. The many varied plot twists kept me turning pages while pulling for both protagonists. There were times when I felt the storyline was too predictable, and there were certain elements about the ending that were disturbing, but that did not detract from my enjoyment of this story. I have no reservation in recommending this book to anyone.
]]>
Gary Gray has a huge problem. On the one hand he’s young and black, a devout Christian, husband and father; on the other hand he’s secretly gay. His is the story of a black Christian bouncing between desire and belief, between love for his family and his worship of other men. Gary struggles for years to hold his life together with his dark secret always threatening to destroy his fragile world, but then what he believes is a clean way out presents itself – a way to slip away from his life and be someone completely different, with a new set of rules and where his gayness is no longer an issue. But of course, there is never an easy way out of big problems, and Gary must eventually face society, his family, himself, and his God.
I found few positive aspects to this story. I generally enjoy stories that pit lifestyle against religious beliefs, and I commend James Hannaham for tackling such a difficult subject. And although I didn’t care for the characters, any of them, they were all very unique, which was somewhat refreshing. I like characters with flaws, as long as their balanced with positives. What I enjoyed most was that the author has a clean, easy-to-read writing style. The book is written in the first person, so we get every detail of what goes through Gary’s dysfunctional head.
I had two very major problems with this novel. First, the author never gave me any reason to pull for the narrator. I found the main character, Gary Gray, nauseously pious at times, a raving hypocrite other times, and a sniveling fool most of the time, which these days makes him a candidate for high office in the Republican Party. My point is, since I found absolutely nothing appealing about him, I had nothing to pull for. I didn’t care what happened to him, which made for a dull read. And let me point out here that other readers, particularly Christians, could very well see many positive aspects to the characters. It was purely a personal distaste for the characters, all of them, that made me not care for the story.
My second major issue was that it all too often bogged down in numerous details that didn’t seem to add to the plot, character development, or enjoyment of the reader. I felt this was a three-hundred-page story that could have been a much stronger hundred-page story.
As stated above, I generally enjoy stories that pit religion against lifestyle, so I came to this novel with high expectations, hoping that it would ignite my imagination and tickle my intellect. But sadly, I didn’t feel a spark of anything except disappointment. This is not a story that I can honestly recommend.
]]>
A beautifully writen story about a company of Japanese soldiers in Burma at the close of WWII. To keep their morale high, they sang and played insturments, and the main insturment was a homemade harp. It is a charming story of bravery and companionship, and also a comment on the ugliness of war. I highly recommend it for its charming story and beautifully written prose. ]]>
Alan
said "yes" to attending the event: Authors and Readers Weekend .
date: July 24, 2009 12:00AM
location: Hosted by Carol Lynne @ Residence Inn Kansas City/Olathe , Olathe , KS, The United States
description: Carol Lynne's Authors and Readers Weekend
July 24 - 26, 2009
Olathe, KS
Come join Carol Lynne and several of your favorite authors for a weekend of fun. We don't have anything big and exciting planned, just a peaceful time of laughter, talking and meeting new friends.
Authors tentatively set to join us are: Claire Thompson, Amanda Young, Brynn Paulin, Kaenar Langford, Cindy Spencer-Pape, Brownwyn
Green, Dakota Rebel and hopefully several more.
Hope...more
Alan said: Yes, I would love to attend and aparticipate ]]>
Hi Carol. Thanks for the kind words for Island Song. I re-read it last week for the first time in a year. It was also the first time I had ever read it without an eye to improve the story or the prose. I read for the pure enjoyment of it, and I very much enjoyed it. I love that story. I'm very happy you enjoyed it also. ]]>