|
August 05
|
|
Jane
read and liked
Lara's
review of The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2):
"My impression of this one mirrors many of the reviews I've read:
The first section with Billy and the wolf is stunning and surely among the best descriptions of man's relationship with the wild in literature.
The middle section meanders. I fel...more
My impression of this one mirrors many of the reviews I've read:
The first section with Billy and the wolf is stunning and surely among the best descriptions of man's relationship with the wild in literature.
The middle section meanders. I felt I needed a map to keep track of the brothers' wanderings in and out of Mexico, and many of their encounters with minor characters were unsatisfying. It was difficult to believe Boyd's connection with "the girl" when she wasn't even given a name.
The final third picks up and the end...well, the injured horse, the tarp full of bones, the broken cowboy weeping in the road, the beauty and the brutality...this is what McCarthy is famous for. ...less
"
|
|
Jane
read and liked
Jenny's
review of The Crossing (Border Trilogy, Vol 2):
"This was a fairly bleak read, the story of this boy's life as he journeys in and out of Mexico and New Mexico. But I walked away with a pretty Zen feeling, reminded that life has ups and downs and all sorts of surprise consequences, some good and so...more
This was a fairly bleak read, the story of this boy's life as he journeys in and out of Mexico and New Mexico. But I walked away with a pretty Zen feeling, reminded that life has ups and downs and all sorts of surprise consequences, some good and some bad. It reminded me of my favorite quote from the Tao te Ching, "Things arise and she lets them come, things disappear and she lets them go." As he travels, he listens to older people share their thoughts on life, and here's my favorite part of the book, about being an orphan, from p 134: "He told the boy that although he was huerfano still he must cease his wanderings and make for himself some place in the world because to wander in this way would become for him a passion and by this passion he would become estranged from men and so ultimately from himself. He said that the world could only be known as it existed in men's hearts. For while it seemed a place which contained men it was in reality a place contained within them and therefore to know it one must look there and come to know those hearts and to do this one must live with men and not simply pass among them. He said that while the huerfano might feel that he no longer belonged among men he must set this feeling aside for he contained within him a largeness of spirit which men could see and that men would wish to know him and that the world would need him even as he needed the world for they were one." Which I think speaks to the wanderer in each of us. ...less
"
|
|
August 04
|
|
Jane
read and liked
Chris's
review of Twilight (Twilight Series, Book 1):
"I actually had to give this book three separate reviews by three sides of my personality. My three-star rating is the median of the three:
Review 1, by My Inner Fifteen Year Old Girl (5 stars):
Bella is smart, funny, well-read, pretty and ...more
I actually had to give this book three separate reviews by three sides of my personality. My three-star rating is the median of the three:
Review 1, by My Inner Fifteen Year Old Girl (5 stars):
Bella is smart, funny, well-read, pretty and yet misunderstood by most of her peers (just like me). Then she meets a cool, hot guy who turns out to be a good vampire, and he can do really cool things, like run fast and stop cars with his hands, but he's still sweet and wonderful. It's ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy -- what's not to like? Meyers can make your heart speed up with some of the tense, tortured "we must be together/no, what if i hurt you" pg-13 erotica.
Review 2, by My Fan of YA Lit (3 Stars):
Meyers can tell a pretty good story, when she lets herself actually tell it -- the book starts out well, and would have been a bit more interesting if I hadn't known he was a vampire all along. Then it slows down during the long "getting to know you" dialogue exchanges between Edward and Bella -- there's no plot, just back-story and exposition disguised as conversations, and far too many "I can't be with you, I don't want to hurt you!" "But I love you, I don't care about danger!" back-and-forths. When the evil vamps show up, however, the story kicks back in and the end is quite exciting. When Meyers isn't dwelling on how perfectly angelic Edward is (again!) she can get the pages turning. Since there are A LOT of pages to turn, I wish she would have infused that urgency into the story more often. While abandoning most of the conventional cliches of vampire-lore (stakes, sunlight, garlic, coffins) she keeps all the modern-vamp-romance cliches (alabaster skin, good hair, expensive taste in clothes, tragically distant), and adds a few of her own unfortunate twists (vampires avoid the sun because it makes them sparkle, the good-vamp clan play some extreme version of baseball in a scene that was far too Quidich-y for my taste). Too many cliches or trying to hard to be original -- somehow both criticisms are accurate.
Review 3, by My Inner Feminist (1 Star):
Meyers describes Bella as being strong, brave, and independent, but then shows her as a spineless, cowering victim who needs to be saved by her violently jealous and over-protective boyfriend. She constantly goes on and on about how Edward is perfect at everything and how he's so gorgeous and she is so unworthy of him, how he's so strong and he protects her. In fact, she never gives any reason for liking him other than how hot he is, but that's fair because Edward never gives a reason for liking her other than she smells good. He is frustrated that Bella is the only person whose thoughts he can't read, so he eavesdrops on her friends minds to find out what they talk about, he follows her whenever she leaves her house, and he secretly camps outside her room when she sleeps - that doesn't sound sweet, it sounds creepy. If girls want a romantic, conflicted vampire/human romance, they should go watch the firs three seasons of Buffy -- not only is there the dark, mysterious, conflicted vampire, but the girl he's in love with can kick some serious ass all on her own....less
"
|
|
July 07
|
|
Jane
installed the Goodreads Facebook Application 
|
|
May 04
|
|
Jane
added:
The Kite Runner (Paperback)
by Khaled Hosseini
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
|
|
July 25
|
|
Jane
gave
to:
The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol (Paperback)
by Nikolai V. Gogol
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
|
|
July 17
|
|
Jane
added:
Anna Karenina (Modern Library Classics)
by Leo Tolstoy
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in August, 2007
Jane said:
"Oh my God! this book is so long! I mean, I've read some long ones in my day, but I really hope I don't run out of momentum with this one. Very good, though. Tolstory is an amazing writer in his own way.
"
|
|
June 03
|
|
Jane
added:
Living to Tell the Tale (Vintage International)
by Gabriel García Márquez
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in June, 2008
|
|
July 12
|
|
Jane
gave
to:
A Room of One's Own (Paperback)
by Virginia Woolf
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Jane said:
"Of the two Woolf novels I've read (Mrs. Dalloway & To the Lighthouse [the latter was back in the day]) I'm not all that impressed with her fiction, though I can see why people like her. This, however, was a different matter. It was a good read ...more
Of the two Woolf novels I've read (Mrs. Dalloway & To the Lighthouse [the latter was back in the day]) I'm not all that impressed with her fiction, though I can see why people like her. This, however, was a different matter. It was a good read for people who like to write. (As for others, I can't vouch for that.) Something I could read over and over again....less
"
|
|
Jane
gave
to:
The Shadow of the Wind (Paperback)
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Jane said:
"The best read I've had all year. The story is humorous, hearbreaking, and dreadfully tragic. Some very memorable characters, such as Fermin and Fumero. I reccommend reading it when you have nothing else to do, because you will want to forget about...more
The best read I've had all year. The story is humorous, hearbreaking, and dreadfully tragic. Some very memorable characters, such as Fermin and Fumero. I reccommend reading it when you have nothing else to do, because you will want to forget about all your other obligations in life....less
"
|
