Alee
added a quote:
"My husband and I have never considered divorce... murder sometimes, but never divorce.
" — Joyce Brothers
"My husband and I have never considered divorce... murder sometimes, but never divorce.
" — Joyce Brothers
Alee
added a quote:
"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent" — Victor hugo
"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent" — Victor hugo
Alee
added a quote:
"Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music." — George Carlin
"Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music." — George Carlin
The Folded World is the story of Alice, a bookish loner, and Charlie, an idealist who wants more than anything to "do good" with his life. They meet by chance and fall in love almost overnight. Charlie becomes a social worker and takes his career very seriously. Alice spends nearly all of her time caring for their young twin daughters. As the demands of their daily lives begin to pull them away from one another, the book takes a surprising turn. I don't want to give too much away, but as the title suggests, people's lives become connected in unexpected ways. The book is honest about how things rarely turn out the way we expect them to, but it still ends on a hopeful note. The overall tone seems to suggest that the "folds" we cannot foresee in our lives often have the most lasting positive impacts. ]]>
I just finished reading Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall. This isn't a book I would necessarily normally choose. To be honest, I only had five minutes to run to the library so I just grabbed a few things without looking a whole lot. However, I did like the story quite a bit. Some of the descriptions are a little rough, but if you are interested in dystopian societies and want to take a good look at a frighteningly plausible future, then this is definitely your book.
Daughters of the North is set in the near-future in the northern UK. Due to climate change, flooding, and other unexplained problems, the government and society as we know it have collapsed. Restoration efforts make little progress, and drastic measures are taken to prolong the power of the Authority, or the makeshift government.
Sister, the main character of the story, decides to leave the cramped quarters and hopeless life she has been forced to live. Without telling her husband she bravely escapes and makes her way to Carhullan, an all-female community run by Jackie Nixon. Once there she suffers greatly but learns a lot about her strengths.
I don't want to give too much away, but the story's ending seemed abrupt. The final lines offer hope, but leave a lot of questions unanswered. ]]>
bookshelves: currently-reading
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The Things They Carried is definitely one of those books I've wanted to read forever but never got around to. I decided to use it as my book from the 1001 books to read list for FBC.
I don't usually like books about war. This novel was an exception. What I liked most was the structure. The way Tim O'Brien told short stories with a mixture of historical truth and fabricated details to recreate the experiences of soldiers in Vietnam was very interesting. I thought at first that his decision to include things that did not happen would take away from the stories, but it turned out to be quite the opposite.
The book was really heavy, but stories about war generally are. I read quite a bit of historical fiction and The Things They Carried ranks among my favorites. Whether you're a fan of war literature or not, I suggest reading it. ]]>