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September 24
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Fran
gave
 
to:
Skin Tight (Paperback)
by Carl Hiaasen
bookshelves:
mysteries
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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recommended to Fran by:
found it cheap at a charity shop
recommended for: mystery fans, Hiaasen fans
read in September, 2008
Fran said:
"This was an earlier Hiaasen that I had missed before, and it was in a double volume with "Sick Puppy". This is not as silly or goofy as some of his latter books, although it still has its share of off-beat characters, like terrible plastic...more
This was an earlier Hiaasen that I had missed before, and it was in a double volume with "Sick Puppy". This is not as silly or goofy as some of his latter books, although it still has its share of off-beat characters, like terrible plastic surgeons with tree-trimmer brothers, Geraldo Rivera look-alikes, etc. Since it isn't quite so "out there", I liked it better than some Hiaasen. Another quick, easy read....less
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Fran
gave
to:
Sick Puppy/Skin Tight Duo (Spl)
by Carl Hiaasen
bookshelves:
mysteries
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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recommended to Fran by:
found it in a charity shop
recommended for: Carl Hiaasen fans
read in September, 2008
Fran said:
"Entertaining and far out like all Carl Hiaasen books are. One-eyed Governor of Florida and millionaire environmentalist Twilly Spree are in this one, as are a lot of other crazy, good or evil, absurd Hiaasen characters. Funny, but with a message; a...more
Entertaining and far out like all Carl Hiaasen books are. One-eyed Governor of Florida and millionaire environmentalist Twilly Spree are in this one, as are a lot of other crazy, good or evil, absurd Hiaasen characters. Funny, but with a message; and an enjoyable, quick read....less
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Fran
gave
to:
The Case of the Chinese Boxes (Hardcover)
by Marele Day
bookshelves:
mysteries
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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recommended to Fran by:
saw it in a charity shop when I had nothing to read
recommended for: people desparate for something to read
read in September, 2008
Fran said:
"My first Australian mystery. Not horrible, but not great by any means.
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Fran made a comment in the group Nonfiction Boot Camp—Backsliding topic:
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Fran made a comment in the group Nonfiction Boot Camp—Shakespeare plays/films you've seen...and loved or hated topic:
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Fran made a comment in the group Nonfiction Boot Camp—Travel writing suggestions for October topic:
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September 03
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Fran
gave
to:
The Control of Nature (Paperback)
by John McPhee
bookshelves:
non-fiction--biography,
non-fiction-boot-camp
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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recommended to Fran by:
saw it at my library
recommended for: anyone who likes science or fascinating non-fiction
read in September, 2008
Fran said:
"As a former Earth Science teacher I found this book terrific! If I had been a complete lay person though, I think it might have been somewhat daunting. It is basically three books in one; each with the thesis that Man Vs. Nature is a drastically un...more
As a former Earth Science teacher I found this book terrific! If I had been a complete lay person though, I think it might have been somewhat daunting. It is basically three books in one; each with the thesis that Man Vs. Nature is a drastically unbalanced contest. The issue of flood control, levees, Atchafalaya/Mississippi, etc. along the Gulf Coast is covered first. This is an old book, pre-Katrina, and I was reading it as Hurricane Gustav threatened that area. I wished he had written a post-Katrina edition. I also wished for an index in the back, and wished I was traveling with a dictionary! But the stories themselves are wonderful, even when the language or technical explanations get a little confusing!
The second part involves another thing I used to talk about in Earth Science, the battle between an important Icelandic fishing harbor and an explosive volcano. Again, I knew a little about this case, but the "inside scoop" was fascinating. It puts Iceland high on my list of places I would like to visit!
The third part was the part I was least familiar with, and thus, the part that I found most interesting. With Los Angeles growing exponentially, houses are now right up in the mountains. McPhee explains exactly how and why wildfires, heavy rains, and steep slope equals disaster for Southern California. The entire book raises and re-raises the issue: Is it right for tax payers/ government entities to spend millions upon millions to finance the poor (or at least questionable) decisions of the few? If you are at all interested in science, I highly recommend this book even with its failings!...less
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September 02
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New comment on Punk's review of
The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel
(see all 2 comments)
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Fran
read and liked
Punk's
review of The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel:
"Mystery. This was going to get four stars, right up until twenty pages from the end, at which point it seriously pissed me off.
Augustus Landor, retired New York constable, recounts his involvement in a murder investigation that takes place at Wes...more
Mystery. This was going to get four stars, right up until twenty pages from the end, at which point it seriously pissed me off.
Augustus Landor, retired New York constable, recounts his involvement in a murder investigation that takes place at West Point in 1830. Guest starring Edgar Allan Poe. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 387 pages of this novel. It's a nice little mystery with a hint of the supernatural and lots of cold West Point atmosphere. Bayard is an engaging writer. His prose is clear and simple, with frequent moments of wonderfulness, and the story progresses at a good clip, revealing clues and hidden allegiances as it builds up a great friendship between Landor and Poe. Poe actually did spend a few months as a West Point cadet, that much is true, but his character could have been any pale, self-aggrandizing, heartbroken, slacker-intellectual; there's really nothing about the book or Poe that requires his presence. I liked this Poe a lot, but, beyond the bare details, I saw little to connect him to the Poe that history left us.
Okay, so that's the first 387 pages, then on page 388, there's a Surprise Twist, and I got all riled up and started accusing Bayard of wasting my time. The way the story is written leaves no room for this kind of obfuscation and the narrative doesn't even attempt to justify it. It pissed me off and completely took away from my enjoyment of the book. I'm not against a fabulous surprise ending, but this was done badly and with no textual support.
This is getting three stars and a big stink-eye....less
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Fran
read and liked
Kristen's
review of The Road:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
The father and son both remain unnamed and without age, and are suffering from starvation, the suicide of a wife and mother, and winter’s frigid weather. They embark on a journey to reach the southeastern United States in order to have a chance at life in a warm climate, with the knowledge that they may not be able to survive the winter. The father is devoted to keeping his son safe from attack and somewhat adequately nourished, while trying to avoid thoughts of his wife’s death that seem to haunt both him and the son throughout the story. They find abandoned carts and houses full of food; but some of the time they do not find these things without consequence. Human remains are scattered all over the landscape, and the child has seen so much more than any adult in our world has ever witnessed. Despite having a childhood tainted with such gruesomeness, the son seems to be certain there exists some kind of ethical humanity beyond the melancholic road they are traveling.
As a student with grammatical and mechanical rules embedded into my brain, I couldn’t help but cringe at the run-on, punctuation-less sentences; but as a lover of words and the power that they hold, I put my years of English class knowledge behind me and embraced the fantastic imagery. The world McCarthy creates is so dreary that when he refers to “dead limbs” in the woods, one cannot be sure whether he means broken tree branches or human extremities. He paints such a dull, gloomy life that even the snowflakes, one of nature’s most beautiful and intricate creations, are gray from the ash covering the earth.
McCarthy makes us wonder what our own lives would be like post-apocalypse. He forces us to question ourselves: Would I be able to survive? Would I have the strength to bear all the things they have endured? There are no laws, no rules to live by, no sense of order in that world. There only true form of currency is the heartache those who are still alive feel for their past, present, and future.
At first, I thought the only shortcoming of this novel lay in the conversation between father and son. The age of the son is unknown; however, it is a common conception that he is six to eight years old. Repetitive and monotonous, I initially considered the dialogue hard to accept as realistic between a father and a child of that age. The more I thought about it, the more I came to believe that the exchanges of words were a mere representation of the world they lived in, which is exactly that: repetitive and monotonous. I suppose in a life after the apocalypse, there is nothing left to say. All the stories have been told, all questions have been asked, all memories have been recalled.
McCarthy’s writing in The Road only has one downside, his choice of words create graphic and disturbing images and thoughts in your mind. He describes a house filled with human bodies, both dead and barely alive, kept hostage by cannibalistic maniacs. He goes into great detail about the bodies strewn about, burned alive in their final resting place. Though his imagery bordered terrifying at times, the thing that upset me the most was the colossal fear and desperation that lead the father to hand his son a pistol and tell him to commit suicide if the bad guys found him. “If they find you you are going to have to do it. Do you understand? Shh. No crying. Do you hear me? You know how to do it. You put it in your mouth and point up. Do it quick and hard. Stop crying. Do you understand?” The idea of that tore through me; I couldn’t wrap my mind around such a horrific experience, for a child!
For a novel in which nothing major occurs or gets accomplished, The Road has a stunning way of keeping the reader engaged. It is simply a story of a journey for a father and son who are just trying to stay alive. Cormac McCarthy truly has a gift of language, and creates a world for the reader he or she never would have imagined previously. The fluidity of words makes for a graceful storytelling of the unconscionable. While The Road offers a dark, gloomy post-apocalyptic tale that is nothing short of depressing, the beautiful vocabulary and imagery are what makes it so difficult to put down. I recommend this novel to those who are intrigued by language, and take time to think about life in ways they have never before.
~ wrote this for class
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Nonfiction Boot Camp
— 18 members
— last activity 12 hours, 39 min ago
Fran-