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Patrick's List (402; 30.80%)
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I was expecting something more pamphleteering. But it was not. Instead, we follow the tribulations of a black narrator who is searching for identity as well among white as among black people, from the end of his college days in the Deep South to his efforts in establishing himself in New York. Despite the many messages contained within the narrative and the narrator's experiences, the writing is quite entertaining and very funny at times, especially in the choice of some of the characters' names ("I'd out-Tobitt Tobitt and as for that outhouse Westrum - well.") or places (the Chthonian, clearly referring to the underworld). Its main message is still very relevant not only with respect to the conditions of the black people in the USA, but also to all populations living under leaderships who want at various degrees to (ab)use them.
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As the subtitle correctly points out, this was a novel about love and war. But after completing it, I am left with the feeling that the disjointed parts of this book don't actually mesh quite well together. The WWI graphic descriptions provide another vivid example of this terrible conflict; the love story between Stephen and Isabelle was quite passionate and (stereo)typically French. The storyline of Elizabeth, despite its obvious relation with the love and war stories, felt a bit out of place; it felt like mending a garment perfectly with a thread of the wrong colour.
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You got to admire Ishiguro's skill in depicting a butler's extreme devotion to the duties of his role; I could almost smell the leather and the books from the reading room, feel the almost austere yet at times bustling nature of Darlington Hall. But that's also where the subject of the novel fails for me; reading about a butler's painstaking and minute account of certain of his career's salient events was burdensome at times. True, there were lighter moments, but I was relieved to reach the last page and finding out that Stevens would belatedly work on his bantering skills: good luck, he's going to need it.
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The best Coetzee I have read so far. The allegory Empire/Magistrate/Barbarians universalises the relationship between oppressor and oppressed, but is also a reflection about the South Africa he grew within, during the Apartheid period. Not an easy reading topic, but nevertheless a piece of work with many messages, plenty of symbolism and lots of food for thought.
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I am not really a sci-fi fanatic (well, I haven't yet seen the movie that preceded this book), but I have to admit, I got literally hooked on this one. There was a lot of prescience from Clarke in many respects and his inherent warnings about the potential dangers of AI, pushed to the limit, are extremely relevant today. While we are still dreaming/hoping for extra-terrestrial contact, his scenarios at the beginning and at the end of the book are just two plausible ways it could happen (or has happened). Now I need to see the movie!
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This was my first encounter with Faulkner, an author which seems to garner polarised views. But I will be sitting on the fence after reading this novel. It depicts the slow and cunning rise to power and ownership of Flem Snopes in a backwater town in remote Mississippi at the turn of the 20th century, through eight vignettes focusing on some of the secondary characters. The constant shift between Deep South lingo and ornate and erudite language, especially in the first two chapters, makes reading arduous and tedious at times. Truly hilarious moments in the middle chapters (about Eula and Isaac Snopes) offer some compensation though. While I didn't dislike the book, I wouldn't be raving about it either.
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Written nearly 30 years after the fact from a fait divers and a fortuitous meeting in a train, this novel depicts the tragic development of a bank heist in Buenos Aires ending in a siege in Montevideo. A collage of different points of view (police, perpetrators, witnesses) almost made with a journalistic approach. It was OK.
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A novel whose title is also its last sentence, it covers all the events and reasoning that led Robert Syverten to be sentenced to death by hanging after killing Gloria Beatty. It has been often labelled as the first American existentialist novel and all of it resides especially when you compare the last sentence to the rest of the story. The setting during the Great Depression makes it grim and desperate; but I learned about the dance marathon phenomenon which seemed to have been prevalent at the time. Sad, but interesting.
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Typical of the surreal adventure stories that were popular at the turn of the 20th century (think Jules Verne), this story brings us in the deep heart of Africa in the ancient city of Kôr, where two English noblemen venture to find the mysterious, but powerful Ayesha, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. I enjoyed the story until they reached the land of the Amahagger where, just like the noxious swamps surrounding the heroes, the over-use of old English in the dialogues made the progress more arduous. It took me much longer than I thought to finish this.
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This fantasy novel really felt different other fantasy books I have read before. First, the humane side of the characters was much more highlighted than the brutality of the action and of the war. Second, despite its apparent medieval setting, the dialogues (especially between Rek and Virae) made it feel much more modern. There was also a welcomed touch of feminism with Virae and Caessa cast as fiercely independent, against the grain of the more subdued medieval role of women. Overall, this was an enjoyable although somewhat predictable story, but not enough for me to rush and buy the rest of the series.
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Wells' tale of a castaway rescued in the middle of the Pacific by two mad scientists who indulged in vivisection and freak beast creation is another example of the fantastic (but almost believable) genre which established him as a pioneer in this literary branch. However, I didn't feel this was as readable or enjoyable as some of his works, like War of the Worlds. I vaguely recall avoiding to watch the movie made out of this book when I was very young; it appeared quite scary and, based on my reading of the novel, definitely would have been.
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I knew Irving's work from some of the film adaptations I have seen (The World According to Garp, Hotel New Hampshire), but never read any of his novels so far. I was expecting the same type of quirky, almost far-fetched situations featured in these movies. I was not disappointed. The themes covered in the novel might trigger polarized reactions (access to abortions features prominently), but I don't think these were treated too subjectively (while Larch was decisively pro-choice, Homer Wells was pro-life personally, but would allow the choice if it was performed by others than him). Easy and entertaining read nevertheless.
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This novel resulted from a dare issued by Jean Paulhan, then leading the Nouvelle Revue Française, to his employee-cum-mistress, Anne Desclos, a.k.a Pauline Réage. Being a Sade specialist, Paulhan once told Desclos that women could never write an erotic novel. The result of that dare sparked a mini-revolution in the genre and a lot of controversy. Granted, this is not everyone's cup of tea . Nevertheless, it is more by the psychological depth of the novel than the graphic nature of certain sections that this revolution emerged. Even though you can be left at times scratching your head trying to figure out why O submits herself to all the trials of this enslaved condition, it remains a demonstration of the extent through which a woman will go to convey her love (feminists will probably strongly object here; maybe not Kathy Acker though). I don't think anything felt gratuitous in this novel, and it probably helped that it was written by a woman. Those who have read and raved about 50 Shades of Grey should perhaps have a look at this novel instead.