false 13 117 110 true 5847163 read 2 true 1525594 currently-reading 5 true 1525593 to-read 1 false 5558217 gathering-dust http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79750939 Moral Disorder: and Other Stories (Hardcover) by Margaret Atwood
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78058580 to: Middlesex (Paperback) by Jeffrey Eugenides
If you had told me, before I started, how much I would laugh and enjoy myself while reading a book about a hemaphrodite by the author of The Virgin Suicides (a quiet, depressing story about suicide), I would have been shocked. Earthy and pungent, catty and kind, this is a book full of humor and grand gestures. And because it's about three generations in a Greek family, it's got more outrageous neurotics than you can shake a stick at.

I've come to the conclusion recently that some books are meant to be read and some are meant to be heard. Something weighty or ephemeral is probably best left to reading, where you can linger over every sentence or word. Some, though, have too much voice, too much character, too much humor to lay on the page. And that's where a great audiobook reader comes in. This book has one. Listening to him get wound up, telling the tales of the book, delivering the punchlines with force and verve, truly was a great experience. I felt like I was part of this crazy family.

I'm not going to say anything about the plot, as each character is rich in life and humor and secrets. Suffice it to say, by the end, you know this family and accept them for who the were, who they are, and the choices that led them from one to the other.

Truly a wonderful book. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63877297 to: The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth' Children #1) by Jean M. Auel
I don't normally talk to people on the subway (what with having my nose in a book most times), but I struck up a conversation with a girl who was reading Clan of the Cave Bear. I asked her what she thought, and she replied, "It's pretty good, but boy does it make me hate men."

So, with a review like that, how could I not read it?

The story of a homosapien girl who loses her parents and gets adopted by a clan of cromagnum (is that the right spelling or term?) people. Over time she is accepted by the clan, despite her differences, and finds her way as medicine woman. That's about it for the plot of this long book.

Mostly, it is about the wild setting, herbs used by the clan, and the ways that homosapiens are steadily replacing their evolutionary cousins. And while that was really interesting, I didn't feel a whole lot of pull or demands on my attention. Too much was said, while too little was shown or done. And with so little for the characters to do, they became sort of one-note.

Ultimately, I'd say read this if you have an interest in the setting, but sort of forget the rest.

And yeah, the girl was right - you won't find too much to like about the men in this book. They act like cavemen. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73877717 to: The Hound of the Baskervilles (Mass Market Paperback) by Arthur Conan Doyle
Set before Sherlock Holmes' death at the waterfalls, this novel-length story has been one of the most enjoyable that I've read. Given more room to explore the characters' quirks, rather than just focusing on plot, Doyle reminds us why the arrogant Holmes and loyal Watson are just so much fun to spend time with. Combined with a pretty good mystery (though most people probably already know the solution), this would be a great read even for a non-Holmes enthusiast. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45567902 to: The Given Day: A Novel (Hardcover) by Dennis Lehane
Of the books I have read, Dennis LeHane has written one masterpiece (the gritty Mystic River), one page-turning thriller (Shutter Island), and a youthful mess (A Drink Before Dying). He was also part of the amazing writing room that crafted The Wire, the best cop show ever put on the air. So, it goes without saying that he knows how to write. That's why it is such a shame to say this...

The Given Day is awful.

It creaks under the weight of IMPORTANTANCE, as we follow a Boston Irish cop deal with every important event and person in the city leading up to the great police strike in the late 1910s. LeHane twists his characters all over the place to make sure they interact with everyone from Calvin Coolidge to Babe Ruth to Italian anarchist terrorists.

There's so much plot, and so little of it is relevant to anything else. And the characters, with so much to do for no apparent reason become paper-thin cliches. Because this book aspires to historical epic, every bit of dialogue is loaded with important messages from the heart and mind. Unfortunately, that never feels real, and we never care about who these characters are.

Now imagine dealing with that for 700 pages. Better yet, don't. Skip this one. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/70319145 to: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Paperback) by Betty Smith
Thed more I read of classic "girls' books," like Louisa May Alcott, the Anne of Green Gables stories, and this, the more I become convinced that some of the best literature in the world was written for girls. This is an honest and true story about life in 1910s Brooklyn. I can't recomend it high enough. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63877237 to: The Knox Brothers (Paperback) by Penelope Fitzgerald
I love Penelope Fitzgerald's novels, but this biography of her father and three uncles was too dry and too uninformative of why they were famous enough to justify a biography in the first place. Pass. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/70317573 to: Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure (Hardcover) by Michael Chabon
In the afterward to this small book, Chabon explains two relevant pieces of information that would have been nice to know before I had picked it up. The first is that while he in no way wants to disparage his previous mature work, like Wonder Boys, about modern Americans and their middle class problems, he's not really interested in writing that sort of book anymore. He wants adventure, and considering the path since Kavalier and Clay, through the Yiddish Policeman's Union, I guess that's been kind of obvious. However, these later novels, though acclaimed, seemed lacking to me. I miss stories like Wonder Boys, with characters who felt real and relevant. Also, Chabon isn't a natural adventure writer as his verbose descriptions get in the way of the action. So, Chabon has been getting to be less of a draw for me, as he's gone down the adventure story-writing path.

The second fact is that he initially wanted to name this book "Jews with Swords." Set a loooong time ago, this book deals with a wandering European Jew teamed up with an African Jew descended from Solomon, and their journeys and battles in the Middle East, fighting for and against bands of other Jews. I have no idea of the historical accuracy, and I'm sure there is quite a bit, but the story didn't feel like accuracy was the main goal. Instead it felt like the goal was to salvage the Jewish reputation, to make young Jews be more proud of their adventuring heritage. A fine goal, if a little limiting for the audience.

I am hit-or-miss on stories by ethnic writers writing about their ethnicities. Sometimes I feel like a tourist, where I enjoy seeing another perspective. And sometimes I just feel like an outsider, where it's clear the author doesn't give a shit about what I get out of it. This is a case where I felt like Chabon, who as he's gotten older has become more conscious of his Jewish heritage, and has young children, maybe who he inteded this story for, left me feeling like an outsider. As the coincidences of Jew meeting Jew, going to a Jewish city, fighting for a Jewish kingdom compiled, I just lost my suspension of disbelief.

So, I may hold off on the next Chabon, but look back on his older work. That's the road I'd rather travel. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68971479 to: What Was Lost (Paperback) by Catherine O'Flynn
There is a sadness that pervades every corner of this book, from the little girl detective, to the record store manager to the night-time security guard, who patrols the empty stretches of a suburban mall. How all of these characters come together lies at the heart of the engaging, if sometimes forgotten, mystery to the novel.

Too often the novel would rather explore the souless consumer-mentality of the British mall, which is the setting for almost all of the story. It's kind of like a British Kevin Smith movie by way of Russel Banks. While funny in parts, it soon disolves back into sadness.

It was a wonderful read, I just could have done with a little more hope. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68971143 to: The Turn of the Screw (Penguin Popular Classics) by Henry James
The was a rather simple horror story about two ghosts haunting the governess and her charges at a remote estate. While an interesting little story, it was bloated by overwriting common to the period. How many words does it really take to say that one woman is nervous? Apparently to James, that can only be measured in pages. Groan.

Skip this one and go read Jane Eyre. ]]>