bookshelves: to-read
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This book pissed me off. I originally found it at The Armadillo's Pillow, a tiny used bookstore in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. I saw the title, and read the description, and seeing as I'm usually interested in this type of fantasy, I picked it up for $2.50. I'm glad I didn't pay any more for it.
The story starts out awesome. A Cabalist (which, on it's own, a cabal just means a secret sect, but after reading the book I think this is supposed to be a lame parallel of Kabbalah) scientist sits at his window looking through a telescope doing some sort of intricate calculations, waiting for a star to appear. Then, the whole world begins to shift apart- the sun comes up and sinks several times, the ground shakes, and dogs and horses begin to go insane and attack the people of London.
Sounds amazing, right? It all goes downhill from there.
The writing style of the book take a little getting used to. It's appropriate enough at the beginning of the book, but the grandiose sentences and strange grammar of the characters grows thin pretty quickly. It's not done with any sort of nuance or delicacy, either. It becomes very forced and not at all fun to read.
The characters have absolutely no depth. We're suppose to sympathize with the scientist's maid, Agetta, but I just wanted to smack her for being such a whiny, stupid brat. The scientist, Blake, is a blustering idiot who goes around declaring grand things and for some reason is convinced that the only way to convince people the world is ending is to get it published in the newspaper. I found myself rooting for the villains of the story rather than the main characters, because I was hoping that they'd put a quick end to them sooner or later.
It was such a disappointment. The first chapter is amazing. It sucked me in, and that's why I bought the damn book. But the rest of the book fails to live up to that great chapter, and you'll find yourself at the end, staring at the page, and saying wait- that's it? We don't even get a grand goddamn finale after suffering though all of that?
Save yourself some money, don't buy this book from any bookstore, even used. Hell, don't even get it from the library. You'll just find yourself swearing at it every few pages. ]]>
The Cardinal Sins is a story of two Irish American men who grew up in Chicago and became priests for two very different reasons. One, simply to serve his community, the other after a purported vision of the Virgin Mary told him it was the only way to purge himself of his inner demons. One, Father Kevin, serves as a parish priest his entire life. The other, Father Patrick, rises in the ranks of the Catholic hierarchy to eventually become the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago. Although Kevin may be a wiser and better priest, he spends his entire life "tipping rebounds," or covering for Father Patrick's various mistakes and solving his problems. The novel offers a very detailed look into the lives of Catholic priests and their shockingly complex lives and duties within the church. As a Lutheran, I honestly had no idea how many different titles priests could have within the church. To any non-Catholic, it's a great insight into a altogether different world. It's practically a parallel monarchy, one I had no idea how large the scope of. It's also a great read, with intrigue, mystery, and surprisingly, romance. I picked up the hardcover edition for $2 at a Goodwill store- the best $2 by far I've spent lately. ]]>
bookshelves: to-read
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Jaci
took the never-ending book quiz.
| questions answered: | 17 |
| correct: | 17 (100.0%) |
| skipped: | 0 |
| best streak: | 17 |
| questions added: | 0 |
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