Deedee’s Comments (group member since Aug 04, 2010)

Deedee’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Task 10.7 - Rebekah's task - Ex-pat experience:
Read a book in which the main character lives in a country other than his/her native country, and experiences a different culture than that with which s/he is natively familiar.

I wasn’t sure this one fit 10.7 so I asked in the help thread and Rebekah said it did so here it is:

We Need New Names (2013) by NoViolet Bulawayo (Hardcover, 298 pages)
Shortlist 2013 Booker Prize
Review: I picked up this book because it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. The author was born and raised in Zimbabwe, and now lives in America. The first-person narrator of the novel was born and raised in Zimbabwe, and now lives in America (write what you know). The writing style reads as if the young girl was sitting in the chair across from you, talking about her life (making this novel a good choice for audiobook). She lives with a family friend “Mother of Bones”, and spends her days with a group (gang?) of kids aged 10-12. Between normal childhood playing, the kids observe the upheaval in Zimbabwe that the adults are causing. The second half of the novel, our narrator is sent to Michigan in America to live with her aunt. This was a very absorbing read, well told and insightful. My main criticism is that the author includes several passages of explicit and exploitive sexuality, which I didn’t think was necessary, and which I found pushed me out of the narrative. Maybe the author felt she had to include sex scenes to get published? Recommended for those who like literary fiction.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20

Grand Total: 160 + 20 = 180

Rebekah wrote: "It works, DeeDee. I wonder what is the story behind the author's name?"

I did also. wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NoViolet... says that NoViolet Bulawayo is the pen name of Elizabeth Zandile Tshele. Maybe "NoViolet" was her nickname in Zimbabwe?

I'm wondering if We Need New Names fits this task. This 2013 Booker Prize Shortlisted novel was written by NoViolet Bulawayo who was "born and raised in Zimbabwe and now lives in the United States". Like the author, the narrator of this novel was born in Zimbabwe. During the first half of the novel the narrator lives in Zimbabwe; during the second half of the novel she lives in America.

Task 20.8 - Kate's Task:
In honor of Stephen King's birthday, read a book with a non-human MAJOR character.

Four Past Midnight (1990) by Stephen King (Hardcover, 1st, 779 pages)
Most popular edition: Four Past Midnight (Paperback, 930 pages)
Review: This book contains 4 novellas (or short novels), each story in which something unexpected happens to time; and, each story containing action taken by a non-human being. All four stories are easy to visualize and can be made into scary movies. The two longer stories were made into movies:

The Langoliers: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112040/?...
Secret Window, Secret Garden: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363988/

Stephen King’s prose is direct and straightforward, easy to read and understand. He makes it look easy to write such prose (in reality, it is quite difficult to do so). I thought the first story was the best one. The third story was saved by being set in a 1980s style library. The fourth story (involving a Polaroid camera) felt very padded – cut out 1/3rd and the story would have read quicker without losing any detail. Recommended for reading on the beach or the airplane (well, The Langoliers is set on an airplane, so maybe not the first of the four stories, but the other three would do nicely.)

+20 Task
+10 Review
+20 Jumbo 900-999 Pages

Task Total: 20 + 10 + 20 = 50

Grand Total: 110 + 50 = 160

Task 20.6 Author influenced by Proust

Message 3 of the help thread lists Iris Murdoch as having been influenced by Proust.


Iris Murdoch
Born: in Dublin, Ireland On: July 15, 1919
Died: February 08, 1999

The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch
Review:The focus of this novel is on the mid-life crisis of a middle¬-aged “housemaster” at a Boy’s Boarding School (located 20 miles south of London). His marriage is routine (rather than romantic), and his position at the school is secure and unchaning. Then ….. a beautiful young woman, a professional portrait painter, arrives to paint the portrait of the recently-retired Headmaster. Our hero notices her, and the novel unwinds from there. Murdoch spends the bulk of the novel analyzing the interior life of her major characters. The reader feels as though s/he really *knows* these characters by the end of the novel. Murdoch later novels won the Booker Prize, James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Whitbread Literary Award for Fiction. Recommended to fans of “literary fiction”.

+20 Task
+15 Combo (10.6 author died; 20.2 author alive 1909-1922; 20.5 novel about artist)
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 15 + 10 = 45

Grand Total: 65 + 45= 110

Task 20.2 - Read a book written by an author alive between 1909 and 1922.

Eudora Welty:
Born: in Jackson, Mississippi, The United States : on April 13, 1909
Died: July 23, 2001

The Optimist's Daughter (1972) by Eudora Welty
1973 Winner: Pulitzer Prize for fiction
Review:This short novel was written in sparse prose. I’ve found that sparse prose only works for me if I can mentally fill in the parts of the prose that are not explicitly stated. (I have the same attitude when it comes to poetry.) While I was not raised in the south, I have family members who were, and I’ve absorbed enough “southerness” to pick up what Ms. Welty was communicating with her sparse prose. (example: when a southerner says “bless your heart” it is condescension not piety). The difference in manners between the Judge’s second wife and the friends of his (late) first wife is explored, and the idea that both sides believe themselves to be superior to the other side is demonstrated to amusing affect. I always enjoy a puzzler book when I can decode what it is *really* saying, so I enjoyed this one. It won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, probably because the judges of the award could decode the book as well. Recommended for fans of southern literature.

+20 Task
+05 Combo (10.6 Died before September 1, 2013)
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 05 + 10 = 35

Grand Total: 30 + 35 = 65

Task 20.8 - Kate's Task:
In honor of Stephen King's birthday, read a book with a non-human MAJOR character.

First sentence on goodreads description: “How can a sexy marketing manager join forces with an Alpha Centauri male in Armani ….” After you read the first chapter of the book, you realize the “Alpha Centauri male” is an alien being; that he is the guy who is the heroine’s love interest; and, that he is the man being kissed on the cover!


Touched by an Alien (Katherine "Kitty" Katt #1) (2010) by Gini Koch (Mass Market Paperback, 389 pages)
Review: I try and review books on the basis of: was the book interesting; and, did the book achieve what it set out to do. (No 1 *s to Harlequin romances for not being deep and philosophical like The Brothers Karamazov, or 1 * to Terry Pratchett’s novels for being “unrealistic”.) What Touched by an Alien wants to be is a humorous, joke-filled book. Some of the jokes are funny (but most of the jokes are not). The plot was clearly inspired by Will Smith’s movie Men in Black. (The same way Leslie Nielsen’s “Airplane” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080339/ was inspired by Arthur Hailey's Airport.) The plot holes in the novel are large enough to drive a Mack Truck through – the author will go for the joke over plot consistency every time. To spice things up, throughout the novel, every now and then an R-rated romance sequence is described. For action fans, every now and then there are action sequences (complete with jokes). Here’s an example from later in the novel:

(middle of action sequence)
“Jerry? Do you play volleyball shirtless?”
“Only with the ladies.”
“Works for me.”

There is a gay male character. You know he is gay because he calls everyone “girlfriend”.

Overall, I didn’t care for the novel, and I won’t be reading the sequels.

+20 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 00 + 30 = 30

20.9 Baseball Diamond
Read a book by an author who was born in one of these top Diamond producing countries: Russia, Canada, Botswana, Angola, South Africa, Nambia, Australia, Congo, Lesotho, Sierra Leone

Guy Gavriel Kay was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada

Under Heaven (Under Heaven #1) (2010) by Guy Gavriel Kay (Hardcover, 573 pages)
Locus Award Nominee for Best Fantasy Novel (2011), World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel (2011), Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Adult Literature (2011), Sunburst Award for Adult (2011), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fantasy (2010)

+20 Task
+10 Combo: (10.4 U’s: Guy, 20.8 ensemble)
+05 Points: 500-699 Pages

Task Total: 20 + 10+ 05 = 35

Grand Total: 485 + 35 = 520

20.2 General Manager
Read a book by one of these Global Thinkers (either 2005 or 2008 list)

#29 on 2005 list: Mario Vargas Llosa

Death in the Andes (1993) by Mario Vargas Llosa, (Translator: Edith Grossman)
Most popular edition has 322 pages.

+20 Task
+10 Combo (20.6 popular edition pagecount has a 2 & 3; 20.8 ensemble)

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 455 + 30 = 485

20.8 Baseball Team
Read a novel that is told through the eyes of more than two characters and has more than 9 named characters.

A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire #5) (2011) by George R.R. Martin (Hardcover, 1017 pages)


+20 Task
+25 Points: 1000+ Pages

Task Total: 20 + 25 = 45

Grand Total: 410 + 45 = 455

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 580 Deedee wrote: "20.6 MLB 32 Teams
Read a book that the page count includes both a 3 and a 2 (GR most popular English language print edition).

The Illusion of Murder (Nellie Bly #2) (2011)..."

Sounds good. So I'm at 385 points, and now:

20.8 Baseball Team
Read a novel that is told through the eyes of more than two characters and has more than 9 named characters.

Monk's Hood (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #3) (1980) by Ellis Peters (Hardcover, 224 pages)
Told through: Brother Cadfael; also, through the eyes of 14-year old Edwin
Named Characters: Brother Cadfael, Brother Mark (Cadfael’s assistant), Prior Richard, Brother Jerome (Richard’s assistant), the ailing elderly Welsh monk Brother Rhys; Mrs. Bonel, her 14-year-old son Edwin, her 12-year-old nephew Edwy, her son-in-law Martin Bellecote, her maid Aldith, her manservant Aelfric; and others

+20 Task
+05 Oldies (5 points (1938-1988) )

Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 385 + 25 = 410

20.6 MLB 32 Teams
Read a book that the page count includes both a 3 and a 2 (GR most popular English language print edition).

The Illusion of Murder (Nellie Bly #2) (2011) by Carol McCleary (Hardcover, 352 pages)

+20 Task
+05 Combo (10.4 U’s: Murder)

Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 370 + 25 = 395

20.8 Baseball Team
Read a novel that is told through the eyes of more than two characters and has more than 9 named characters.

Dombey and Son (1848) by Charles Dickens (Paperback, Penguin Classics, 992 pages)
(the most popular version has 880 pages)

+20 Task
+05 Combo (#10.2 Victorians! bookshelf)
+15 points :151 to 250 years old: (1763-1862)
+15 points :800-899 Pages

Task Total: 20 + 05 + 15 + 15 = 55

Grand Total: 315 + 55 = 370

20.8 Baseball Team
Read a novel that is told through the eyes of more than two characters and has more than 9 named characters.

The Venetian Mask (1992) by Rosalind Laker
Told through the eyes of (mainly): heroine Marietta, Frenchman Alix, her best friend Elena
Named characters include: heroine Marietta, her best friend Elena, noted singr Arianna, Arianna’s fiance Signor Savoni, Venetian nobleman Domenico Torrisi, Venetian nobleman Celano, Frenchman Alix, his friend Frenchman Henri, their tutor Frenchman Jules, teenaged widow Frenchwoman Louise d’Oinveille


+20 Task

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 295 + 20 = 315

Fantasy & Science fiction
Edwin A. Abbott - 1838 - 1926 - Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Alfred Bester 1913 - 1987
James Blish 1921 - 1975
Lord Dunsany 1878 - 1957
Carol Emshwiller 1921 - still alive!
Charles L. Harness 1915 - 2005
Zenna Henderson 1917 - 1983
Damon Knight 1922 - 2002
Henry Kuttner 1915 - 1958
C.L. Moore 1911 - 1987
Edgar Pangborn 1909 - 1976
Frederik Pohl 1919 - still alive!
James H. Schmitz 1911 - 1981
Tolkien, J.R.R. 1892 - 1973
Jack Vance 1916 - 2013

Fiction
Max Beerbohm - 1882 - 1956 (Zuleika Dobson & others)
Erskine Caldwell 1903 - 1987
Anatole France 1844 - 1924 (The Gods Will Have Blood aka The Gods Are Athirst on the 20.5 list)
Zane Grey 1872 - 1939
Arthur Hailey 1920 - 2004 Airport & others
Georgette Heyer 1902 - 1974
Rosalind Laker 1921 - 2012
Sinclair Lewis 1885 - 1951
Anya Seton 1904 - 1990
Rosemary Sutcliff 1920 - 1992
Frank Yerby 1916 - 1991

Non-fiction
Esther Forbes 1891 - 1967 (Pulitzer Prize in History 1943 for Paul Revere and the World He Lived In)

20.5 Play by Play announcer
Read a book by an author that has earned a living as a journalist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Gai...
(thanks Katy for the link!)

The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013) by Neil Gaiman

+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.3 – “Ocean”)

Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 270 + 25 = 295

20.6 MLB 32 Teams
Read a book that the page count includes both a 3 and a 2 (GR most popular English language print edition).

324 pages

My Jane Austen Summer: A Season in Mansfield Park (2011) by Cindy Jones (Paperback, 324 pages) (most popular edition)

+20 Task
+05 Combo: (10.4 U’s: Summer)

Task Total: 20 + 05 = 25

Grand Total: 245 + 25 = 270

20.8 Baseball Team
Read a novel that is told through the eyes of more than two characters and has more than 9 named characters.

Carnival of Saints (1994) by George Herman

+20 Task

Task Total: 20

Grand Total: 225 + 20 = 245

20.6 MLB 32 Teams
Read a book that the page count includes both a 3 and a 2 (GR most popular English language print edition).

326 pages

River of Dust (1996) by Alexander Jablokov (Mass Market Paperback, 326 pages) (most popular edition)

+20 Task
+10 Combo: (10.3: “river” // 10.4 U’s: Dust)

Task Total: 20 + 10 = 30

Grand Total: 195 + 30 = 225

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Deedee wrote: "Meir Shalev is "a columnist for the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth" but it appears that his primary occupation is novelist. Would he count as a journalist for 20.5? Thanks"

No, sor..."

Oh, OK, I though Yedioth Ahronoth was a newspaper.