shayna read and liked Natalia's review of The Portrait of a Lady:

"Ugh.


If I could describe this book in one word it would be "Laborious."

If I were allowed more space, which apparently I am, I would go on to say that in addition to being deathly slow and horrifically boring it...more Ugh.


If I could describe this book in one word it would be "Laborious."

If I were allowed more space, which apparently I am, I would go on to say that in addition to being deathly slow and horrifically boring it is also a little brilliant, a little impressive, and, if you have the patience to look for it, more than a little interesting.

There's a LOT in here. James wanted this novel to be the antidote to the Jane Austen romance. He wanted to show life as it is- money as a burden, marriage as a trap, and people as egotistic, petty, manipulative, and kind.

If I told you how disappointing the ending is, though, you wouldn't want to read it, so I won't mention that.

If you have the patience, it's worth reading, but not unless you read it closely. I recommend a Norton Critical Edition. (less) "

shayna read and liked Colin's review of She's Come Undone:

"Yes. I hated this book. I read it about ten years ago, and it pissed me off. To this day I refer to it as "that goddamn whale book." What repelled me then is that the main character, a fat girl, bonds with a real fucking whale and it's supp...more Yes. I hated this book. I read it about ten years ago, and it pissed me off. To this day I refer to it as "that goddamn whale book." What repelled me then is that the main character, a fat girl, bonds with a real fucking whale and it's supposed to be Deep and Meaningful. "Yes, Mr. Whale. I am a fat girl. I, too, am a whale. We understand one another." Please. Try harder, Wally. Also, the fat girl hates herself so has a creepily awkward lesbian hookup with a janitor and subsequently kills said janitor's fish. I read that part as weird homophobic classist shit, at least back then, and that's the impression that will stand, because I'm never reading it again.

I don't know why everyone was beside themselves about Lamb as a man writing a female POV, either. Who fucken cares? How come no one makes a huge fuss like that when a woman writes a male POV? This book is so annoying. Argh. (less) "

shayna read and liked Alan's review of Women in Film Noir:

"This is one of my wife's books from a course she took in the 80s (so an earlier edition). The essays in it are sometimes academic & stuffy - 'What my analysis attempts to describe is the ideological effect of the structural interaction between the tw...more This is one of my wife's books from a course she took in the 80s (so an earlier edition). The essays in it are sometimes academic & stuffy - 'What my analysis attempts to describe is the ideological effect of the structural interaction between the two apparently contradictory film making traditions..' - ugh! - and sometimes are interesting - the one on the absence of family in film noir I found quite interesting. So three stars for the text. What gives it the extra star are the wonderful stills from many films showing, amongst others, Rita Hayworth in Gilda and the Lady from Shanghai, Gaby Rodgers in Kiss me Deadly, Ava Gardner in The Killers, Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Grahame in The Big Heat, Barbara Stanwyk in Double Indemnity, and, especially, Jane Greer in Out of the Past. (less) "