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April 20
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polly
gave
 
to:
Homework: A Novel (Paperback)
by Margot Livesey
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in April, 2008
polly said:
"This is a much earlier book than Eva... and that really shows. The language is equally as clean and crisp, though less lyrical. It is engaging--very detailed about mundane things, which is appealing and should lead to deeper characters (though in t...more
This is a much earlier book than Eva... and that really shows. The language is equally as clean and crisp, though less lyrical. It is engaging--very detailed about mundane things, which is appealing and should lead to deeper characters (though in this case, I don't think it did). Mostly I felt like nothing presented in the first chapter deepened throughout the novel. The narrator has the potential to be more unreliable than she turns out being (though she is certainly complex in that she does a lot of really stupid things), and the child has the potential to be much more sympathetic than she turns out being. I kept reading, having had so much success with Eva, hoping that the book wasn't going where I thought it was going. Unfortunately, it did exactly what I'd hoped it wouldn't do. There was a gun on the mantel, so to speak, from the beginning, and it went off in much the way I expected it to, which was a real disappointment. I found myself unmoved by the end, which felt like a rehash of the first chapter. (I hate to give anything I actually get through less than three stars because I put so many awful books down. This had some potential but missed the mark somehow.) ...less
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polly
gave
to:
Eva Moves the Furniture: A Novel (Paperback)
by Margot Livesey
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in January, 2008
polly said:
"I was really moved by this novel. I worried when I began it--the language seemed plain (though I now realize that was really working in its favor, and it has just enough lyricism) and the characters sometimes seemed too good or too easy or something...more
I was really moved by this novel. I worried when I began it--the language seemed plain (though I now realize that was really working in its favor, and it has just enough lyricism) and the characters sometimes seemed too good or too easy or something. But these issues faded the further in I got. And the ending moved me very deeply. I've also felt this way about a short story I read of hers--that at first it seemed simple, but emotionally it reached such a deep (and in that case devastating) place. She's doing something here I don't often see. It takes you by surprise. ...less
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polly
gave
to:
Old School (Paperback)
by Tobias Wolff
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in April, 2008
polly said:
"This is a joy--funny, sardonic, and what a story. It has this bizarre movement at the end that I had to question, but decided it ended up giving the book more dimension. Among the absurd things that posturing young writers think, there are actually...more
This is a joy--funny, sardonic, and what a story. It has this bizarre movement at the end that I had to question, but decided it ended up giving the book more dimension. Among the absurd things that posturing young writers think, there are actually some beautifully written reflections on writing, what it is, where if it fits, how it happens, how it doesn't....less
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January 16
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polly
gave
to:
The Sandglass (Hardcover)
by Romesh Gunesekera
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in January, 2007
polly said:
"I was skeptical of the shifting voices in this but decided at the end that he'd pulled it off well. Post colonialization forms the backdrop to this novel, as with most of his work. I like Reef better--the language is more imagistic. But this novel...more
I was skeptical of the shifting voices in this but decided at the end that he'd pulled it off well. Post colonialization forms the backdrop to this novel, as with most of his work. I like Reef better--the language is more imagistic. But this novel surprised me. It sneaks up on you, and the language, though not as imagistic, is still beautiful. ...less
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polly
gave
to:
Magic for Beginners (Paperback)
by Kelly Link
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in December, 2007
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polly
gave
to:
Being Dead: A Novel (Paperback)
by Jim Crace
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in January, 2008
polly said:
"Quiet, moving, great language, can't believe he pulls this off, but that's how I always feel about Crace
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polly
gave
to:
The Year of Magical Thinking (Paperback)
by Joan Didion
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in April, 2007
polly said:
"Accurate, smart, moving
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November 05
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polly
gave
to:
Housekeeping: A Novel (Paperback)
by Marilynne Robinson
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in January, 1994
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May 10
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polly
gave
to:
Salka Valka (Textbook Binding)
by Halldór Kiljan Laxness
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in January, 2000
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polly
gave
to:
Independent People (Paperback)
by Halldór Kiljan Laxness
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in January, 2000
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