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Read Harder Challenge Plans: 2016
By Book Riot · 284 posts · 3115 views
By Book Riot · 284 posts · 3115 views
last updated Dec 19, 2017 10:57AM
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By Book Riot · 9 posts · 3392 views
last updated Jan 19, 2016 06:00AM
What Members Thought
I tore through this book. It's absolutely beautiful. It seemed like it could have been gimmicky--a novel told in iambic pentameter? A novel that switches between character' stories telling the story of how they love, dishonor, marry, die, cherish, or perish. Instead, the beautifully written story bends genres in the way only a talented author can, without the reader taking note. The characters were so poignant, the plot twists lovely, the pain and joy of being human so apparent. I wish this book
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I never even met David Rakoff and sometimes out of the blue I still feel really sad that he died. TOO SOON :'(
Anyway, I'm not a devotee of poetry by any means, and there are few circumstances under which I'd pick up a novel written entirely in rhyming couplets. But "David Rakoff's last book" is one of those circumstances, and I loved it. A bit of this was in the Frenemies episode of This American Life ( http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio... )--the Scorpion and the Tortois story, which I love ...more
Anyway, I'm not a devotee of poetry by any means, and there are few circumstances under which I'd pick up a novel written entirely in rhyming couplets. But "David Rakoff's last book" is one of those circumstances, and I loved it. A bit of this was in the Frenemies episode of This American Life ( http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio... )--the Scorpion and the Tortois story, which I love ...more
It seemed like audio would be the best way to navigate this little book of interwoven, rhyming stories. Hearing Rakoff's battered voice reading his own verse feels so personal. In his last moments, he is defiant, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant. An incredible performance, really.
This is so short and still so moving. I read in some other reviews here that the illustrations that accompany the text are wonderful, so I'm going to seek those out now. What a great way to finish out my reading ...more
This is so short and still so moving. I read in some other reviews here that the illustrations that accompany the text are wonderful, so I'm going to seek those out now. What a great way to finish out my reading ...more
This novel written in verse is a fast read; I thought the rhyming would seem cutesy and gimmicky, but it was a good story that kept my attention. The author died young a few years ago, and I couldn't stop thinking about that fact while I read this book. it also made me want to go back and read more Calvin Trillin!
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Lovely book, intertwined stories about the push-pull of life. Scorpion and the tortoise.
Jul 08, 2013
gwen g
marked it as to-read
Jul 11, 2013
Laura
marked it as to-read
Jul 22, 2013
Arianna
marked it as to-read
Jul 23, 2013
Natalie
marked it as to-read
Aug 30, 2013
Holly
marked it as to-read
Mar 09, 2015
Megan
marked it as to-read
