Asa - G�teborg, Sweden (334 books)

Asa marked as to-read:

The Mill on the Floss
by George Eliot

My rating:

Asa marked as to-read:

Girl with Green Eyes
by Edna O'Brien

My rating:

Asa marked as to-read:

The Country Girls
by Edna O'Brien

My rating:

Asa gave

to:

The Enchanted Wanderer by Nikolai Leskov

The Enchanted Wanderer: Selected Tales (Modern Library Classics)
by Nikolai Leskov

My rating:

Asa gave

to:

Franny and Zooey
by J.D. Salinger

read in January, 2012

My rating:

There are some books that are just easy to read, smooth and with nothing sticking out - they're interesting enough, the language is smooth, but there's nothing in them that demand concentration or is so gripping that you just have to keep reading. Th...more

Asa gave

to:

Her Lover (Belle Du Seigneur) by Albert Cohen

Her Lover (Belle Du Seigneur) (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Albert Cohen

read in January, 2012

My rating:

I had two problems with this book: it was too long (800 pages) and I got frustrated at all the things the author didn't do, that he only mentioned or didn't get to at all. Cohen writes about this great passionate affair between Solal and Ariane, and ...moreI had two problems with this book: it was too long (800 pages) and I got frustrated at all the things the author didn't do, that he only mentioned or didn't get to at all. Cohen writes about this great passionate affair between Solal and Ariane, and to make things interesting it's Europe in the 1930s, Solal is Jewish and Ariane is married and Protestant. During the book Solas loses his job and his French citizenship because he wanted the League of Nations, that he worked for, to help the Jews in Germany, and when Ariane leaves her husband he tries to kill himself, and she's shunned by her family and everyone she knew.

These things are only mentioned, sometimes long after they happened, because Solal and Ariane are trapped in this relationship where they can't leave each other and neither of them dares to show their true faces. Ariane is fixated on everything remaining beautiful and perfect, like it felt when they first fell in love, so the relationship is never allowed to really evolve and both of them do ridiculous things to keep up a facade. The feel of the book becomes claustrophobic, and the second half of the book details their attempts not to let the other know how bored they've become with each other, because they have no outside connections and nowhere to go. Solas tries to get his citizenship and his job back and fails, and never dares to tell Ariane what has happened and why they can't make friends with anyone. Ariane tries to entertain Solas with travels and romantic scenes and music and literature, which Solal only pretends to enjoy for her sake.

Both characters became very annoying after a while, but the one that I had the most problems with was Solal. He predicts how their affair is going to go from the start, and he sees how bored they've both become by the static nature of their relationship, but he never does anything to change it. He keeps this huge secret from Ariane, and then ridicules her by imagining how much happier she would be married to someone else and playing along with society's games when he's the one that made her leave her husband without giving her all the facts. Near the end, and I'm never quite sure how much is theatrics and how much he really feels, Araine confesses that she had a lover before him and Solal enacts these grand jealous scenes and tortures Ariane despite the fact that he's had a number of affairs both before and after her. He claims it's to keep her interested and that she subconsciously confessed to force him to these scenes, but then he makes a habit of reading her mind and predicting what she's going to say and feel. Solal also has a bad case of the Madonna/whore complex, where he feels that women are these higher creatures that shouldn't sully themselves with the animals that men are, and despises Ariane for wanting him to desire her and for dressing everything up to make this more romantic.

Ariane isn't perfect, she's a spoiled woman of good family, she doesn't deal well with things being less than perfect, and she runs away and abandons everyone without considering the consequences when Solal beckons, but I still feel sorry for her because it always feels to me that Solal is pulling her strings while she's kept in the dark.

Despite all of these problems, I enjoyed parts of the book - the author was very good about describing the kind of feeling you get when you're first in love, how nothing that isn't connected to the person you love feels real, how anticipation is almost better than the real thing, and the stupid things you do and say while in this state of mind. There are also interesting things in the second half of the book, where Solal from time to time has to face the rising antisemitism that is everywhere around him, and that he's somewhat protected from because he's rich and because he doesn't look or dress like a stereotypical Jew. It's still in isolation though, because he never makes any attempt to connect with either his family or any other Jewish people. All in all, an interesting book in parts.(less)

Asa gave

to:

Alias Grace
by Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author)

read in January, 2012

My rating:

Asa gave

to:

The Woman in White (Wordsworth Collection)
by Wilkie Collins

read in December, 2011

My rating:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Asa made a comment in the group Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die — Which LIST book did you just start? topic

"I've started rereading Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White because I read it years ago and couldn't really remember anything about it except that I did...more"

Asa made a comment in the group Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die — Which LIST book did you just finish? topic

"Finished Brett Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero a few days ago. Not bad, but didn't work for me."

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Asa marked as to-read: The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot	My rating:
Feb 04, 2012 12:42am
Asa marked as to-read: Girl with Green Eyes by Edna O'Brien	My rating:
Feb 04, 2012 12:34am
Asa marked as to-read: The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien	My rating:
Feb 04, 2012 12:32am
Asa gave to: The Enchanted Wanderer: Selected Tales (Modern Library Classics) by Nikolai Leskov	My rating:
Feb 04, 2012 12:31am
Asa gave to: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger read in January, 2012	My rating:
There are some books that are just easy to read, smooth and with nothing sticking out - they're interesting enough, the language is smooth, but there's nothing in them that demand concentration or is so gripping that you just have to keep reading. Th...more
Feb 04, 2012 12:06am · see review
Asa gave to: Her Lover (Belle Du Seigneur) (Penguin Modern Classics) by Albert Cohen read in January, 2012	My rating:
I had two problems with this book: it was too long (800 pages) and I got frustrated at all the things the author didn't do, that he only mentioned or didn't get to at all. Cohen writes about this great passionate affair between Solal and Ariane, and ...more
Jan 29, 2012 12:34am · see review
Asa gave to: Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author) read in January, 2012	My rating:
Jan 28, 2012 02:32am
Asa gave to: The Woman in White (Wordsworth Collection) by Wilkie Collins read in December, 2011	My rating:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Jan 09, 2012 01:47am · see review
Asa made a comment in the group Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die — Which LIST book did you just start? topic "I've started rereading Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White because I read it years ago and couldn't really remember anything about it except that I did...more"
Dec 10, 2011 12:39am
Asa made a comment in the group Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die — Which LIST book did you just finish? topic "Finished Brett Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero a few days ago. Not bad, but didn't work for me."
Dec 10, 2011 12:37am

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