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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
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Bionic Jean
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Oct 07, 2013 01:55AM
Me too Pink!
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I've finished a couple of days ago The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and I have to say that I really liked it - not a 5-stars like but definetly a 4. My main problem with it is that I cannot understand what Charlie has from a medical point of view, so I am not fully able to picture him during his interactions with the other kids at school.
Jean wrote: "Me too Pink!"Yes, definitely, you should both read it!!
Elisa wrote: "I've finished a couple of days ago The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and I have to say that I really liked it - not a 5-stars like but definetly a 4. My main problem with it is that I cannot underst..."I liked it, but it bothered me that it wasn't clear what was wrong with him. I kept thinking - how is he allowed to drive a car??
Shirley wrote: "Elisa wrote: "I've finished a couple of days ago The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and I have to say that I really liked it - not a 5-stars like but definetly a 4. My main problem with it is that I ..."Exactly my point Shirley! I mean, sometimes he seems absolutely normal, and then you get episodes of complete insanity which would normally lead to be institutionalized. Also, I do not really know the US high school microenvironment, but I tend to doubt that: a) seniors would befriend a freshman that occasionally starts crying in public for no reason
b) students would not tremendously tease him instead of simply ignore him
Elisa wrote: "Shirley wrote: "Elisa wrote: "I've finished a couple of days ago The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and I have to say that I really liked it - not a 5-stars like but definetly a 4. My main problem wi..."We discussed this in my book club. I, and a few others, thought that he was autistic. But once you get to the end and realize what had happened to him as a small child, I felt like maybe it was more a case of PTSD. I liked Charlie better in the movie because he seemed a lot more mature.
I found Charlie a bit annoying because I didn't understand his diagnosis. I think the idea of PTSD is good but it still doesn't quite sit right with me. I never quite understood why the older kids would hang out with him and also why his school hadn't really picked up on his problems. I didn't like the book that much but I might watch the film to see if I enjoy it more
Heather wrote: "I found Charlie a bit annoying because I didn't understand his diagnosis. I think the idea of PTSD is good but it still doesn't quite sit right with me. I never quite understood why the older kids ..."I think I will also try the film - the book didn't "sit right" with me either.
I haven't read the book but did enjoy the film of The perks of being a wallflower. I will probably read it next year though.
I wasn't so keen on The Perks of Being a Wallflower for all the reasons you've mentioned above!
It's nice to hear that so many of you shared my doubts about the Perks! Still, I think that it is nicely written and surely engaging, but he could have written a so much nicer book addressing better Charlie's "problem". I'll try to rent the movie, I am really curious to see how the Percy Jackson guy played Charlie - and Emma Watson with short hair chain-smoking :O
Heather wrote: "I found Charlie a bit annoying because I didn't understand his diagnosis. I think the idea of PTSD is good but it still doesn't quite sit right with me. I never quite understood why the older kids ..."Me either, Heather. I didn't like it at all actually (the whole book).
Finished reading The Clown by Heinrich Böll. An interesting book. Highly recommended for the Germans who have not read it and recommended for others who are interested in Germany.
I read Legend of Sleepy Hollowtoday while waiting for my grandpa to come out of the doctors and it was pretty good. I like the Disney cartoon of this story though. the book was basically description and the scare didn't come until the end. I enjoyed reading it though.
I just read Doctor Sleepby Stephen King and I would highly recommend it! It's a masterpiece of modern literature.
Akylina wrote: "I finished Sharp Objects yesterday. It might as well be my favourite Gillian Flynn novel, even though I was quite unsure of whether I was going to like it or not at first."Added this to my 'to-read' shelf :)
I've just finished Manless in Montclair: Love, Loss, Excessive Dating by Amy Holman Edelman and I wouldn't recommend it, unless you enjoy REALLY fluffy fluff. There was no depth to novel, the characters lacked personality and heart, particularly our "heroine" (whose name I can't even remember even though I just finished it!!!!) who was as interesting a math text book. The story seemed disjointed and rushed, and too jammed packed (and not in a good way).
2/5 STARS
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov - took me a while to get my head round this one, I was intrigued and then I got bogged down with the footnotes and all the backwards and forwards between them and decided I wasn't that keen, then I finally came out the other side, thought about it for a bit and decided I liked it after all. He is ridiculously clever and it's easy to miss all the hints and clues he is giving the reader(I'm sure I missed bucketloads) and this isn't an easy read by any means but if you have the time and the patience, he really pushes the boundaries of how to tell a story and it's fascinating.
Have also recently finished World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks - a pretty good read, told as a series of interviews with various people giving a load of different perspectives of the Zombie War - very different to the film but they were both good in their own way.
Finished World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War today. I really liked it! It wasn't just about zombies--it was also about the human condition and the world we live in. Way better than the movie.
I enjoyed world war z too Laurel. Read that one back in the Summer before the movie came out. It was pretty good. Btw, Max Brooks is Mel Brook's son.
I didn't know that - thanks Amber!Kristi - I liked the film too but as usual the book was better. I like that aspect of it too - everyone had a different experience - sometimes it's nice to zoom in on the "extra's" and see what their stories are!
Hahaha! Laurel and Kristi both posted about finishing World War Z within 5 minutes of each other!
Just now finished reading Youth Without God. A quick read that will leave you in great admiration. Highly recommended.
Laurel wrote: "Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov - took me a while to get my head round this one, I was intrigued and then I got bogged down with the footnotes and all the backwards and forwards between them and deci..."Really glad you enjoyed it, looking forward to when Leslie and I will tackle it next year.
Dhanaraj wrote: "Just now finished reading Youth Without God. A quick read that will leave you in great admiration. Highly recommended."
Five more days and I am right behind you ;)
Jenny, I am sure that the story would catch hold of you as soon as you begin reading it and you would finish the novel in two days time.... Soon we will be in the same club that has read it....
Dhanaraj wrote: "Just now finished reading Youth Without God. A quick read that will leave you in great admiration. Highly recommended."Added to my wishlist, it has an interesting plot.
I have read some books in these weeks though I don't always write it in this discussion:
- Bébert, il gatto di Louis-Ferdinand Céline. Sorry, I couldn't find an English edition. This book should be the story of Bébert, the cat of Louis-Ferdinand Céline but at the end it was a kind of biography about Céline. Didn't liked it a lot because I wanted to read about the cat and however it wasn't a deep biography of Céline's life and writings.
- India. Cinque racconti, sei reportage, tre fumetti. The English edition should be India Shining India Changing but I'm not sure. It is a collection of short stories and reportages by young and emergent Indian authors. I really enjoyed it and if you are interested in India or like to read about India, this is a good book.
- The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol (I have read the Italian edition). Finally finished it and I liked it, I like Gogol's way of writing.
- La ragazza di nome Giulio. English edition: A Girl Called Jules. It was a good book, set in Italy before and during WWII it talks about a young girl, Jules, that struggles with herself and her pain of living. Jules could be considered a feminist of that time that wanted to rebel against catholicism, fascism and conformism.
dely wrote: "Dhanaraj wrote: "Just now finished reading Youth Without God. A quick read that will leave you in great admiration. Highly recommended."Added to my wishlist, it has an interesting plot.
I have r..."
Dely, you have read some interesting books there, I like the sound of A Girl called Jules.
Shirley wrote: "Dely, you have read some interesting books there, I like the sound of A Girl called Jules. "Thanks! It was really difficult to find that book, here it is out of print; I don't know how it is with the English edition. I was curious to read the books by Milena Milani because she was from Savona, the city where I live, and she died this summer (if I don't remember wrong she was over 90).
I was also curious because she couldn't print this book in Italy in the '60, she has been denounced for obscenity and indecency. She had to flee to France where the book has been printed but I think she went also for some months in a prison for this book (though there is nothing explicit but people were not ready for such a book, where a woman wants to rebel searching to free herself from an obtuse mentality).
Just finished two short collections of short stories. They both are part of Italian Literature. They are: The Queen's Necklace, three stars and The Magic Paint, four stars. I loved the Primo Levi collection better.
I've just finished MaddAddam and I thought it was amazing! Would really recommend the trilogy as a good Atwood starting point. It's a dystopian book but also a fantasy adventure story. My review is here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... (spoiler free)
Jenny wrote: "Laurel wrote: "Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov - took me a while to get my head round this one, I was intrigued and then I got bogged down with the footnotes and all the backwards and forwards betwee..."@ Jenny - hope you and Leslie enjoy it when you get around to your readalong - it's one of those books that benefits from a good discussion - I was a bit isolated reading it on my own, it would probably have been much easier if I had been studying it for a class for example so I ended up having to hunt down some papers on Pale Fire just to help me get my head round some of it! Thank goodness for Google :)
Just finished The House on the Strand which I loved and also Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig - I really enjoyed this and would recommend it but only if you don't mind swearing and violence ;)
Just finished
Completely blown away by it. Highly recommend.
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is on my list of books to read as well, good to know you loved it!btw: best to link the title as well in the future, as often the image doesn't show up on the app-version of GR
Jenny wrote: "Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is on my list of books to read as well, good to know you loved it!btw: best to link the title as well in the future, as often the image doesn't show up on t..."
Thanks for the tip - I struggle generally with Goodreads & regularly get lost. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
@Laurel: I'm reading right now Pale Fire and you reassure me. I'm not enjoying it so much, the structure is brilliant but the critic's notes most of the times are tedious.. Maybe it will get better as I read on.
I enjoyed the enchanted castle. It was a very whimsical story.
Anastasia wrote: "@Laurel: I'm reading right now Pale Fire and you reassure me. I'm not enjoying it so much, the structure is brilliant but the critic's notes most of the times are tedious.. Maybe it will get better..."Lol - it isn't easy! Kinbote's notes take a bit of wading through don't they? It all kind of comes together eventually, I didn't enjoy it too much in the middle either.
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First of all it doesn't finish: I find it particularly annoying when you start something and you find out it'll be finishing in two more books!!!
And I also didn't like the "semplifying" spelling: I know it was meant to show a society behind in development and culture, but I didn't like to see "thru" instead of Through and things like that all over the novel ...
I have to admit that it was written to capture your attention though. And also some bits - like the one where it is written that a knife means a choice - are quite interesting, especially for joung generations!
I understand, those are exactly the two things that usually make my stay away from a particular kind of YA-fiction. That sometimes slightly forced 'young' sound and the weird tv-show concept where you end up jumping from cliff-hanger to cliff-hanger from one book to the other.
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Alannah wrote: "Just finished Carrie, didn't really think I'd love it as much as I did."I know exactly what you mean! My friend practically pushed it into my hands but I ended up thanking him after finishing it. Might reread it in the coming year.
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I know exactly what you mean! My friend practically pushed it into my hands but I ended up thanking him aft..."
I'm pretty sure I seen one of your posts talking it and that's why I got it. I knew what was happening, I watched the movie's ending about four years ago but I have never got the image when the pig's blood drops on Carrie's head out of my head.
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