|
June 13
|
|
Lisa
gave
 
to:
Keep the Aspidistra Flying (Penguin Modern Classics)
by George Orwell
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Lisa said:
"Probably not as good as other Orwell novels (like 1984 or Burmese Days) but really cool satire-type thing. That's the thing--you never really know who the satire is actually addressed to in this novel. It makes you hate the stupid plant that the prot...more
Probably not as good as other Orwell novels (like 1984 or Burmese Days) but really cool satire-type thing. That's the thing--you never really know who the satire is actually addressed to in this novel. It makes you hate the stupid plant that the protagonist keeps talking about, however...and I'm sure the plant would be fine on its own......less
"
|
|
Lisa
gave
to:
Main Street (Modern Library (Paperback))
by Sinclair Lewis
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in June, 2008
Lisa said:
"actually really good, although I didn't think it would be...I'm reading an edition from something like 70 years ago, so the commentary/margin notes aren't terribly helpful. If you've read Sister Carrie, this is like the opposite premise; i.e., instea...more
actually really good, although I didn't think it would be...I'm reading an edition from something like 70 years ago, so the commentary/margin notes aren't terribly helpful. If you've read Sister Carrie, this is like the opposite premise; i.e., instead of small town girl goes to the city, it's big city girl goes to the small town ("Gopher Prairie..." ...less
"
|
|
February 18
|
|
Lisa
gave
to:
The Quiet American (Paperback)
by Graham Greene
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in February, 2008
Lisa said:
"one of greene's best books
"
|
|
Lisa
gave
to:
Gone, Baby, Gone (Mass Market Paperback)
by Dennis Lehane
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in February, 2008
Lisa said:
"it's good--but the movie is actually better.
"
|
|
February 01
|
|
Lisa
gave
to:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Hardcover)
by Junot Díaz
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Lisa said:
"Best novel I've read in a while.
"
|
|
December 03, 2007
|
|
|
|
December 01, 2007
|
|
Lisa
gave
to:
No Country for Old Men (Paperback)
by Cormac McCarthy
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Lisa said:
"I read this book right after reading Free Food for Millionaires, oddly enough--and, even though I thought I'd prefer FFFM, I actually liked No Country for Old Men a lot. Definitely worth reading--AND seeing the Coen brothers' movie.
"
|
|
Lisa
gave
to:
Free Food for Millionaires (Hardcover)
by Min Jin Lee
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
recommended for: anyone without a sense of humor
read in December, 2007
Lisa said:
"finished this book--and, I think I finished it just so I could be really thorough in any descriptions of why I disliked it so much. Min Lee is writing in one of my favorite genres--something like the upward mobility/bildungsroman for the scholarship ...more
finished this book--and, I think I finished it just so I could be really thorough in any descriptions of why I disliked it so much. Min Lee is writing in one of my favorite genres--something like the upward mobility/bildungsroman for the scholarship student, but that's about all that I find to recommend this book.
If I had to sum up quickly--this book takes itself REALLY seriously, and is INTENSELY UNHUMOROUS. Not that she has to be funny, necessarily, but this is also a book that meditates upon the problem of debt (student loan, credit card, etc.) among college-educated 20-30 somethings. Since I know debt intimately, I think you have to approach it with at least SOMETHING LIKE a sense of humor. I mean, as anyone with rolling credit card debt knows, there is something pathetically funny about continuing to pay for food and clothes that you bought, consumed, and most likely gave away, years ago. But everything debt-related that happens to this protagonist is a surprising, horrible shock to her--she, like the novel, has NO sense of humor; she's smart, and therefore automatically assumes that life post-college should come much more easily. When it doesn't, she's surprised, over and over again--and one would think that she'd get the hang of things sooner, lose the smart-girl sense of entitlement (we all have to lose it at some point) and recognize, as everyone who went to college in the '90s knows, that GPA is not directly proportional to post-college income.
Also, this book has what I will call a really moronic "porn ex machina"--if you get to the last few pages, you have that in store for you. ...less
"
|
|
November 15, 2007
|
|
Lisa
gave
to:
The Volcano Lover: A Romance (Paperback)
by Susan Sontag
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Lisa said:
"
I read this book while in Naples (it's set in Naples, late-18th-early 19th century). I think it's probably Susan Sontag's best novel. But then I don't really like her novels normally...[random trivia:]--Susan Sontag's novels come up in the movie &q...more
I read this book while in Naples (it's set in Naples, late-18th-early 19th century). I think it's probably Susan Sontag's best novel. But then I don't really like her novels normally...[random trivia:]--Susan Sontag's novels come up in the movie "Bull Durham" (Kevin Costner--or "Crash"--doesn't like them, either...)...less
"
|
|
September 11, 2007
|
|
Lisa
gave
to:
Never Let Me Go (Paperback)
by Kazuo Ishiguro
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Lisa said:
"
I don't think there's any such thing as a bad Ishiguro novel--and I say this as someone trying desperately to get an edited collection of essays on him published. You'd think, with all the potential difficulties associated with that kind of work, I...more
I don't think there's any such thing as a bad Ishiguro novel--and I say this as someone trying desperately to get an edited collection of essays on him published. You'd think, with all the potential difficulties associated with that kind of work, I'd lose interest in him--but he's easily one of the best people writing in English today.
I won't give away the plot spoilers, as you'll figure them out pretty quickly. ...less
"
|
