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January 08
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Lissa
gave
 
to:
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Mass Market Paperback)
by Douglas Adams
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my rating:
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Lissa said:
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has long been on my shelf of "frequent re-reads". So, for my 50th book of the year, I picked up Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, the first book of Douglas Adams' less well-known series. I use th...more
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has long been on my shelf of "frequent re-reads". So, for my 50th book of the year, I picked up Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, the first book of Douglas Adams' less well-known series. I use the word series loosely, as there are only two books. Adams left a third book, Salmon of Doubt unfinished at the time of his death.
The plot of this book is convoluted at best, but I'm going to try and describe it. The book starts with a series of unrelated events: an electric monk on a horse going through a door in a desert; a young woman going on a date; a young computer programmer having dinner with an old college professor. As the book goes on, these threads start to come together when a side-character is murdered. At that point, Dirk Gently (finder of missing cats and saver of the world) enters the picture to solve the crime using the interconnectedness of all things. Are you confused yet? You should be, because I was. Through a series of strange plot twists, including a time paradox, all things are resolved. To say anything about the plot twists would be to give too much away, so I'll have to leave you with just these things.
The only - the ONLY - reason this book works at all is because Douglas Adams is so clever. His satire of academics and computer programmers is dead on. A lot of the dialogue is really snappy, which is partially why his books lend themselves so well to radio shows and other serials. On the downside, I found the character of Dirk Gently to be irritating instead of endearing. Many of his monologues seemed to be an excuse for Douglas to show off just how freakin' clever he is - which turned me off, as a reader. The ending of the book seemed sort of slapped together as all of the pieces conveniently fall into place within a space of thirty pages.
If you like Douglas Adams' humor, and you've got nothing better to read, go ahead and pick up this book. But I wouldn't go looking for it....less
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Lissa
gave
to:
Things Fall Apart (Paperback)
by Chinua Achebe
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my rating:
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Lissa said:
"When I was going through high school, there was an upheaval in the California english curriculum. There was a back lash against the traditional reading lists packed with traditional classics (all written by dead old white men) and the introduction of...more
When I was going through high school, there was an upheaval in the California english curriculum. There was a back lash against the traditional reading lists packed with traditional classics (all written by dead old white men) and the introduction of a curriculum packed with contemporary literature punctuated by the occasional Shakespearean play. Thus while I never read Great Expectations or Heart of Darkness, I did read The Handmaid's Tale (by Margaret Atwood), Woman Warrior (by Maxine Hong Kingston) and Beloved (by Toni Morrison). Surprisingly, Things Fall Apart fell between the cracks and became a casualty of a fluctuating curriculum, despite its being written by a Nigerian man. Therefore, this is my first time reading this very interesting novel.
Things Fall Apart is mainly about Okonkwo, one of the leaders of the Umuafia tribe that is part of the Ibo culture in Nigeria. Okonkwo is a classic hero with a tragic flaw - his desire to be unlike his father. So, while he has the admirable traits of being a self-made man who works hard for his life, he also rules his family with a proverbial heavy hand. The first two thirds of the book show an unflinching picture of what tribal life is like. While there is a great emphasis put on the role of traditions and family, there is also a realistic portrayal of the more violent side of tribal life. The last third of the book deals with the arrival of the colonialists and how they change the traditional tribal life. Okonkwo gets caught in the middle of a shifting world and his tragic flaw ultimately leads to his tragic end.
This book is told in a very spare style, more like a fable than a story. However, the spare style is still sufficient to paint a rich picture of Ibo tribal life. This book is also an excellent commentary on the problems and pitfalls with colonialism in Africa and how even good deeds can be undone by religious zealotry. A really good read, and I'm quite sure I would have enjoyed it in high school as well....less
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Lissa
gave
to:
Switcheroo: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
by Olivia Goldsmith
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my rating:
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Lissa said:
" I don't know if it's that I've gotten older, more cynical and more discriminating or if Olivia Goldsmith's writing has fallen down a very slippery slope into the worst kind of chicklit possible. I'd like to think it's the latter as I remember liking...more
I don't know if it's that I've gotten older, more cynical and more discriminating or if Olivia Goldsmith's writing has fallen down a very slippery slope into the worst kind of chicklit possible. I'd like to think it's the latter as I remember liking The First Wives Club very much when it first came out, as well as Flavor of the Month. So, it was actually with anticipation that I dove into Switcheroo, a book I found collecting dust in our garage.
The plot is a simple one. Sylvie, a successful, forty-year old woman discovers her husband is having an affair with a younger woman. Upon confronting her, she discovers that the younger woman (Marla) is a dead-ringer for a younger version of her. Marla wants to be married and Sylvie wants the romance back. So off the go for a little bit of plastic surgery so they can switch places for two weeks - Marla to secure Bob as her husband, and Sylvie to get back at him.
The premise of this book is awful and ridiculous. It's poorly written. It re-treads themes from her earlier book (plastic surgery to get ahead, husbands having affairs with younger woman) but without any of the subversive aspects that made them better than simple chicklit. This book has the odious character of Sylvie's mother who tells her she'll never find someone better than Bob and not to make waves about his affair. Cheating is seen as an inevitablity in this book, as is the wife's forgiveness. The only wife that didn't forgive her husband for cheating is painted as a shrewish woman that no one could possibly love.
And surprise, surprise - all the women (except the shrew) find their happy endings though not necessarily in the expected way... oh wait, all of the ending was expected for me. I do not recommend this book....less
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Lissa
gave
to:
Caliban's Hour (Paperback)
by Tad Williams
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my rating:
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Lissa said:
"In the tradition of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is Dead, this book is a re-telling of Shakespeare by a minor character. In this case, it is a retelling of The Tempest by the Shakespearean sidenote of Caliban, part of the comic relief in The Tempest....more
In the tradition of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is Dead, this book is a re-telling of Shakespeare by a minor character. In this case, it is a retelling of The Tempest by the Shakespearean sidenote of Caliban, part of the comic relief in The Tempest. The book opens with a confrontation between Caliban and a now-middle-aged Miranda in her castle in Naples. He threatens to kill her after he spends one hour telling him his full story and explaining how she and her father ruined his life. Caliban tells her in his own words about his early childhood on the island with his mother, Sycorax, and describes the arrival of Prospero and Miranda and how their appearance changed his life.
Williams takes Caliban from being the butt of a joke to a thinking, feeling human being who was deeply wronged by the two protagonists of The Tempest. Williams prose is rich and detailed enough to satisfy most readers and in the end, he presents Shakespeare's version with this brief line: We arrived at the house on the hillside at least, to discover the game was played, the story told, and we three by comic afterthoughts..
People familiar with the story would probably appreciate this book more than those with no prior knowledge of The Tempest. ...less
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New comment on Lissa's review of
Peter and the Starcatchers
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September 28
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Lissa
gave
to:
My Sister's Keeper (Paperback)
by Jodi Picoult
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my rating:
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Lissa
gave
to:
Trail of Feathers: In Search of the Birdmen of Peru (Paperback)
by Tahir Shah
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Lissa
gave
to:
Sorcerer's Apprentice (Paperback)
by Tahir Shah
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my rating:
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Lissa
gave
to:
North and South (Penguin Popular Classics)
by Elizabeth Gaskell
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