by David Mitchell
What I read was pretty enticing, but for one reason or another I set it down for something else and haven't returned, yet. ]]>
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]>
]]>
]]>
This novel is about a town organized almost exclusively around sex and violence, but through a growing prosperity is suddenly having to reconsider this fundamental structure and become 'civilized'. The plot teeters back and forth between the town's upcoming election and the romance between a poor woman and a rich man. In both circumstances, there is a direct conflict between what is and what, inevitably, will be.
Phoenix-like, the couple loves, then hates, then loves again. The idea seems to be that the core of something, whether it is a person or a town, is unalterable. It can be gussied up, but will eventually re-emerge as raw and dirty as it began, only to be gussied up once more.
Stimulating and titillating; rhythmic and poetic. Timeless, etc. A good book. ]]>
by Philip Pullman
I love this series. ]]>
Tempest
read and liked
will's
review of The Razor's Edge:
"Maugham does the rare thing of combining exuberance and sensitivity, seriousness and flippancy. The book moves swiftly and pleasurably, and yet at the end leaves you feeling that somthing heavy and significant has been left in your hands. Then it lea...more "
"Maugham does the rare thing of combining exuberance and sensitivity, seriousness and flippancy. The book moves swiftly and pleasurably, and yet at the end leaves you feeling that somthing heavy and significant has been left in your hands. Then it lea...more "
Tempest
read and liked
will's
review of The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake:
"Stark and crushing, and more than anything beautiful. The best American short shories I've read (sorry, Salinger). "
"Stark and crushing, and more than anything beautiful. The best American short shories I've read (sorry, Salinger). "