Reading with Style discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Archives
>
FA 2014 RwS Completed Tasks - Fall 2014
Rosemary wrote: "Congratulations on your BtW finish, Tony!"Thanks! Several long flights (and lots of sitting around in airports) over the last week helped a lot :)
10.8 - Comfort Read - Cory Day's Task:Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor,860 Lexile
“Once upon a time…
A journey began,
that would stitch all the worlds together with light.”
― Laini Taylor, Dreams of Gods & Monsters
When Laini Taylor was debuting as an author, I had a chance to see her at a library conference. She was impressive and her first book, Blackbringer, was an excellent debut. Now she has finished an incredible trilogy, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and so have I. Laini Taylor’s prose is just beautiful. I’m really amazed with her way with words. She is among the young adult authors that I will continue to read in retirement because she is an example of the best writing for young people. I loved reading Dreams of Gods and Monsters, but found it a little bit too long and somewhat repetitive at times. All in all, it was a fine ending to the trilogy, though, filled with the imagery and mythology that drew me into the first book and kept me engaged in the series to the end.
+10 Task: I rated the first two books in the series with 5 stars.
+ 5 Combo:10.9 Mythological Main characters: chimera & angel http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/boo...
+10 Review
+ 5 Jumbo (613)
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 575
20.4 RealismThe Vicar Of Bullhampton by Anthony Trollope
I do so enjoy reading Trollope. He isn't deep, and perhaps doesn't give the reader much to chew over either during or after. His characterizations are excellent.
Mr. Fenwick, the Vicar of the title, is not so much the central character as the man who knows all of the characters of the major plot and the various sub-plots. He and his wife have a very solid marriage and wish for the same for two of their close friends. This leads them to play match-maker and is the main plot line. Near to the vicarage is the family of Jacob Brattle, a miller, whose daughter is the prostitute referenced in most of the descriptions of the novel. And for comic relief, Trollope gives us the Marquis of Trowbridge, who lives at Turnover Castle, who thinks more highly of himself than he deserves, and who thinks far less of the vicar than *he* deserves.
The female lead in the love story is named Mary Lowther. By the time I was well past the halfway mark, I began thinking of her as Mary Loathe Her. I don't know what people thought of this woman at the time the novel was published. She was as real as Trollope could make her - and he is very good with female characterizations, unlike Dickens, who is not - but I came to have little sympathy for her.
This is a thoroughly-enjoyed, but not wonderful, novel. As such, it will have to be satisfied with its four stars, though there were segments when it aspired to five.
+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.4, Bullhampton, 20.6 182 ratings)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (pub 1870)
+ 5 Jumbo (540 pgs)
Task Total = 55
Grand total = 265
20.7 - Make it Strange - Jama's Task:The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, 1340 Lexile
The Metamorphosis held more deep meaning for me than I anticipated. I had read the opening a few times before, but somehow had never completed the book. I had no idea that the analogy of the man turned ugly and unwanted would be one that is still so pertinent one hundred years later. Kafka’s excellent writing provides a framework for a work about the rejection of a family member who is now a bug (a person with a disability, a person with a mental illness, a person suffering from addiction, etc.). There is poignancy in Gregor’s lost struggle to stay “human” and I could relate to the desperation both Gregor and his family felt. The description of the book points out the humor and I found some “comic relief” but overall, I was moved more by the sadness of Gregor’s plight. Highly recommended.
+20 Task: on the list
+10 Combo: 10.5 - Dr. Salk / 10.7 - Honored Authors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Ka...
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1915)
Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 625
20.6 - UnderratedThe Misfortunes of Mr. Teal by Leslie Charteris
Review: ★★★☆
Continuing my newly re-found interest in the The Saint series with what is generally considered the switching-point between the earlier more-British books and the later, with their more-American character. It also sees the first introduction of Hoppy Uniatz as Templar's sidekick.
Of the three stories within, the first “The Simon Templar Foundation” is by far the best, with Templar engaging in some high-level blackmail, and leading Teal along by the nose the whole way. “The Higher Finance” is a little too over-blown for my taste, and though it builds tension quite well, I'm rarely a fan of the (view spoiler) trope. “The Art of Alibi” again has a wonderfully apoplectic Teal, this time trying to work out how Templar can kill someone at the same time as the two of them have been having dinner together. The climactic dogfight presumably worked better with 1930s readers, but now seems a little too Schoolboy's Adventure-y.
+20 task [56 ratings]
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel (short-stories)
+10 oldies (1934)
[As I understand the rules, it doesn't qualify for a 9,10,11 combo for "Misfortunes", as the American titled version (“The Saint in London”) is more popular]
Task total: 50
Grand Total: 1120
15.6 - BtW - Constant Traveler 1929-1930David Golder by Irène Némirovsky, 1929
+15 Task
+15 Bonus
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 655
Task 10.8 - Comfort Reads - Read a book by an author that has written at least one book you've rated 5-stars. The book must have been rated prior to the start of the challenge.
I gave 5* to Old Mars edited by George R.R. Martin
I read for this task I read another anthology edited by George R. R. Martin:
Rogues (2014) edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner R. Dozois (Hardcover, 806 pages)
Review:I like the stories that George R. R. Martin chooses for his anthologies. This volume has 21 new stories by 21 different writers. The theme: Rogues: “Scoundrels, con men, ne’er-do-wells, thieves, cheats, tricksters”. He deliberately chose stories from different genres, including historical mystery, fantasy, detective story, zombie stories, and others. Martin includes a story from his “Fire and Ice” world, a prequel to the main “Game of Thrones” saga as the last story of the anthology. (I wish that Mr. Martin would finish writing Book #6 The Winds of Winter of the “Song of Ice and Fire” Series!) All of the stories are either novelettes or novellas -- all too long to be "short stories".
I enjoyed the clever stories Martin included in this anthology. I’ve grown to trust his editorial judgement and I would seek out other anthologies that he has edited.
+10 Task
+10 Not-a-Novel: short story collections
+15 Jumbo 800-899 Pages:
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 10 + 15 + 10 = 45
Grand Total: 215 + 45 = 260
10.3 Leif EriksonI read When the Devil Holds the Candle by Karin Fossum
+10 task (shelved 20 times as Norway)
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 110
10.3 Leif EriksonSilence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indriðason
+10 task (shelved 63 times as Iceland)
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 120
10.5 Dr. SalkOutlander by Diana Gabaldon
This is one of those books for me that has floated around in reviews around me for years -- it's always been vaguely "on the list" but never moved high enough to beat out other options. However, on a recent work trip I met someone who recommended it, and, facing a 6 hour plane trip, downloaded it, and promptly ignored it until a colleague mentioned it, in a conversation about the recent Scottish vote. The book deals with time travel (though the actual time travel mechanics are not the focus of the book at all) to the Scottish highlands in the Jacobite time period. It's really a historical romance, which isn't what I normally tend to read, but I found it more compelling than I expected. I couldn't wait to start commuting each day so I could read more. I did wish that I knew more, or that the book gave a bit more backstory about, the Jacobite history -- I was doing a lot of side Googling.
+10 task (#58 on list)
+5 combo (10.4 - outlander)
+10 review
+5 jumbo (627 pages)
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 150
20.6 - UnderratedA Murderous Yarn by Monica Ferris
+20 task
+5 Combo (10.4 9, 10, 11)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 170
20.5 - PoliticsGnarr: How I Became the Mayor of a Large City in Iceland and Changed the World by Jón Gnarr
Review: ★★☆
In 2009, Icelandic comedian Jón Gnarr created a fake politician (“an odd mixture of Groucho Marx, Tony Blair, and an American used car salesman”) for a TV sketch show. In the wake of the financial crisis that effectively bankrupted the entire country, however, he decided the character would be in rather poor taste. But rather than shelving him entirely he chose, instead, to make him real — and run for Mayor of Reykjavík through the newly created “Best Party”, to which he recruited a wide selection of Icelandic comedians, musicians etc (and whose election video, to the theme of “Simply The Best” you can still watch on YouTube.)
At first they were seen as little more than a comedic stunt, but slowly they started to gather momentum, and by the time the established parties got around to treating them seriously it was too late, and the Best Party won more seats than anyone else. Refusing to form a coalition with anyone until they watched every episode of The Wire, Gnarr found himself as mayor, and suddenly needed to work out what to actually do.
But if you read this book expecting to find out what the Best Party actually did with their unexpected power, or how successful they were, you'll likely be disappointed… [continued]
+20 task
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel
[Intriguingly, I can't get Leif Erikson points for this, as — even though the entire topic of the book is Iceland — it hasn't been shelved as such enough times.]
Task total: 40
Grand Total: 1160
Task 10.6 - Short Stuff:Read a collection of short stories by an author that has won the O. Henry Award.
1973 Winner of the O. Henry Award: Joyce Carol Oates: for "The Dead” in McCall's, July 1971
The Museum of Dr. Moses: Tales of Mystery and Suspense (2007) by Joyce Carol Oates (Hardcover, 229 pages)
Review:This book is a collection of 10 stories, all written by Joyce Carol Oates, all of which appeared elsewhere before they were collected into this book. “The Man Who Fought Roland LaStarza” (a story about boxing) was 60 pages; “The Museum of Dr. Moses” was 44 pages; the other 8 divided up the remaining 125 pages. Two of the stories involved the death of a child. All the stories, regardless of length, are depressing, dealing with death, usually the intentional death of someone nice. This collection is more horror, less mystery, and not-at-all fantasy. Recommended for when the reader wishes to read depressing stories.
+10 Task (#10.6)
+05 Combo (#20.6 underrated)
+10 Not-a-Novel: short story collections
+10 Review
Task Total: 10 + 05 + 10 + 10 = 35
Not-a-Novel Points: 40
Grand Total: 260 + 35 = 295
20.2 BirthplaceDracula by Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker was born in Ireland
For the modern vampire, Dracula is where it all began. From the stakes through the hearts to repressed sexuality, this novel has it all. Except vampires that glitter in the sunlight. Not a single one of those in sight, and I thank Bram Stoker for that!
There are quite a lot of plot threads in this novel about Count Dracula, who attempts a move to London after the population of his native Transylvania gets a bit restive. Basically, this is the story of a band of people coming together to fight off an ancient evil in this Gothic masterpiece.
One of the great things about this novel is that it is written in the epistolary form, so it is completely made up of journal entries, letters and newspaper clippings written (mostly) by the main characters. That works especially well here as it serves the author wonderfully in knitting together the different threads, and keeping track of the simultaneous events without too much unwieldy “meanwhile-ing”.
I loved that Mina had such a prominent and active a role for a Victorian novel, though Abraham van Helsing’s constant comment that she had a “man’s brain” did grate on my feminist sensibilities. My one problem with vampire stories is that they’re all basically a warning against unbridled sexuality, and Dracula is no exception. However, unlike my attempt at reading Twilight I didn’t spend most of the book mentally yelling “Just have sex, and leave me out of it, pleeeaaase!” at the characters, which has to be a positive.
+20 task
+25 combo (10.2 (# 7), 10.7 (Bram Stoker Award), 10.9, 20.1 (shelved 277 times as 19th Century literature), 20.10 (University of Texas at Austin))
+10 review
+10 oldies (written in 1897)
Task total: 65 pts
Grand total: 145 pts
20.3 Thieves & MysteriesThe Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks
+20 task (#108 on thieves list)
+5 Jumbo (645 pages)
Task total: 25
Grand Total: 145
20.6 UnderratedTall Man: The Death of Doomadgee by Chloe Hooper
+20 task (955 ratings)
+5 Combo (10.4)
+10 Not a Novel (Non-fiction)
Task total: 35
Grand Total: 180
20.1 - 19th Century:Germinal by Émile Zola
Zola is a masterful story-teller and Germinal is brilliant book. The tale of miners in 1860s France is told through the eyes of a stranger that arrives i the dead of night, cold, hungry, and desperate for work. Although he has some education is is of a different background, he throws in his lot with the workers. As an outsider, Etienne is the perfect vehicle to introduce the reader into this alien world, what he observes and learns comes naturally, logically without long asides or pages and pages of back-story. And as an outsider, Etienne can more accurately describe the horrific conditions as well as the third and fourth generation miners unthinking acceptance of their unbearable life. And Etienne's slow transformation into communist and strike leader is depicted quite naturally -- the different attitudes and philosophies are expressed by different characters in pub debates and private conversations. Finally, the novel is gripping and fast-paced, with many little realizations/climaxes for each phase of the struggle, each building to the finale. It is so perfectly suited for a television series that i am shocked it has not yet been done more recently than 1970.
+20 task
+10 review
+10 oldies
+5 jumbo
Task total: 45
Grand Total: 125
20.6 - Underrated:Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson
Tarka the Otter is a difficult book to classify. It is the story of two years or so of life in England as seen through the eyes of an otter. So, it could be fiction. Yet, the author made a conscious effort to not anthropomorphize Tarka, to not endow him with human thoughts and qualities. It is not until more than half-way through the book, as Tarka matures, that any other creatures are named. Rather than focusing on creatures and the humans that disrupt their world, the book is mainly descriptive of his actions and the world around him. So, it could be non-fiction. Whatever its genre, it is a charming and possibly heart-breaking, quick read with beautiful descriptions of a disappearing English countryside.
+20 task
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel (BPL catalogs this under DD# 591.5)
+10 oldies
Task total: 50
Grand Total: 175
From Post 250Norma wrote: "20.9 - War Babies
Remains of Innocence by J.A. Jance
+20 task
+5 Combo (10.4 9, 10, 11)
+5 Combo (10.8 Comfort Read)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 50"
Sorry, Norma, 10.8 is not eligible for combo points this season.
20.1 - 19th Century: Washington Square by Henry James 1030 Lexile
Many of the descriptions and reviews of Washington Square describe its melodramatic flare and the actions of the despicable father and fortune seeking Morris as they tangle over Catherine’s life. The addition of Mrs. Penniman was what engaged me in the book. She was living vicariously through her niece, playing the go-between with all of the other characters, (view spoiler). I picked up Washington Square at the last moment because of details for the Seasonal Reading Challenge even though I am not really a fan of Henry James. I learned through other reviews and a look at the canon, that Henry James himself rejected this novel later in his career. I guess I just “march to my own drummer” because I preferred it to both Daisy Miller and The Turn of the Screw, the only other James books I have read. Now I’m curious about him and ready to give him another try. Suggestions, anyone?
+20 Task: 47 shelvings
+10 Combo: 10.4 - 9, 10, 11 / 20.4 - Realism
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (1880)
Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 705
10.5 Dr. SalkHow Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman
Review: Dr Groopman writes from his background as a physician and patient. Using his experiences and those of colleagues and acquaintances he explains how mistakes in diagnosis and treatment can occur in medical practice. He also relates stories of how and why doctors got things right. His writing is engaging and easy to follow even when explaining some technicalities of disease and diagnosis. He conveys a real sense of warmth and care for people.
The book gave me a number of questions to use to help my or a loved one's doctor over potential stumbling blocks. Although Groopman focuses exclusively on medicine, the book also gave me some insights into decision making and effective interaction with people in everyday life.
+10 Task (#74 on the list)
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-novel (nonfiction)
Task total: 30
Grand total: 290
From Post 187Heather wrote: "20.6 - 468 ratings, published 2009
The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines by Mike Madrid
+20 task
+5 combo (10.4 - supe..."
+10 Not a Novel
Norma wrote: "10.8 - Comfort ReadWhite Cargo by Stuart Woods
+10 task
Task total: 10
Grand total: 125"
+5 Oldies
From Post 225Debra wrote: "20.6 Underrated
Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge by Etienne Wenger
+20 task
+10 not-a-novel
Task total: 30
Grand Total: 80"
+10 Combo
10.4 (9, 10, 11-Cultivating)
20.2 (Birthplace-Switzerland; according to wikipedia
Norma wrote: "20.6 - UnderratedUnraveled Sleeve by Monica Ferris
+20 task
+5 Combo (10.4 - 9, 10, 11)
Task total: 25
Grand total: 115"
+5 Combo 20.9 author born 1943
Tony wrote: "15.10 - BtW - Constant TravelerMeet the Baron by John Creasey (as Anthony Morton)
+15 task (1937)
+15 bonus (tenth book)
+150 bonus (well-traveled)..."
Well done, Tony!
10.3 - Leif EriksonHunger by Knut Hamsun
Review:
A powerful and disturbing study of a mind unravelling under the pressure of near-starvation. The unnamed narrator is a penniless writer in Kristiania (now Oslo, Norway) who makes occasional tiny amounts of money by selling a piece he's written or pawning a piece of clothing. Often he's too cold, hungry or crazed to write at all. Sometimes he's given money; often, when he has any, he gives it away or spends it unnecessarily. At times he's so starved that when he does eat, his stomach cannot hold the food and it comes straight back up. But it's his mind that is most fascinating - the lies he tells, the obsessions, the distractions and the paranoia.
+10 task
+10 review
+10 oldies (1890)
Task total: 30
Grand Total: 660 points
20.8-Middle EastAll for Love by John Dryden (On goodreads, it doesn't list the number of pages, but for the most popular edition on goodreads, Amazon lists the page count as 134: http://www.amazon.com/All-Love-New-Me...).
+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.6 Underrated-513 ratings)
+20 Oldies (p. 1678)
+10 Not-a-Novel
Task Total: 55
Grand total: 160
20.6 UnderratedThe Owl In The Attic And Other Perplexities by James Thurber
Review:
In 1931, James Thurber published a group of short stories and essays, accompanied by humorous drawings. Some of his works were originally published in The New Yorker magazine. The book is divided into three distinct sections.
"Mr and Mrs Monroe" is a humorous group of stories about the Monroe's marriage. Mr Monroe always wants to feel that he's in charge of a situation, but he usually doesn't have a clue about how to solve a problem. He's a timid accountant who is great at working with numbers, but Mrs Monroe is more adept at practical things. But she loves him and leaves him with his self-image intact. In spite of their differences and squabbles, there is a sense of deep affection between them.
"Pet Department" is the second section, an advice column which answers questions about pets. Some of the drawings were cute, but I really did not find the writing very humorous in this section.
The third section is called "Ladies' and Gentleman's Guide to Modern English." It's a series of humorous essays about punctuation, and grammatical problems. Although some of them seem a bit dated today, I could imagine them running in The New Yorker in the early days of the magazine. It made me smile as he described typing an exclamation point in the early days of the typewriter by "striking, successively, the period, the back-spacer, and the apostrophe." These humorous writings were written in a pseudo-intellectual manner.
The book made me feel like I was transported back to another era. I enjoyed the cute "Mr and Mrs Monroe" stories, but was not as enthusiastic about the rest of the book.
+20 task (116 ratings)
+ 5 combo 10.7 (honored authors)
+10 not a novel (short stories and essays)
+10 oldie (pub 1931)
+10 review
Task total: 55
Grand total: 320
Task 20.1 - 19th CenturyRead a book shelved at least 15 times as 19th Century.
Treasure Island (1883) by Robert Louis Stevenson Review:Yes, after all these years, this is my first time reading Treasure Island. I know the basic story from Muppet Treasure Island ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117110/?... ). The novel was more exciting than the typical 19th century novel. The beginning part in England lasted longer than I expected, though it did serve its purpose of introducing the characters in the book (the pirates, and the respectable Englishmen, and our hero, 13-year-old Jim). The sections that bogged down a bit were the technical descriptions of the ship, the sails, how the waves turned it this way and that. ( I still don’t know what a jib is!) The pirates were less romanticized in the novel than in modern versions. Overall, this was an entertaining, iconic classic. Recommended.
+20 Task
+10 Oldies -76 to 150 years old: (1864-1938)
+10 Review
Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40
Grand Total: 295 + 40 = 335
20.6 - UnderratedThe Saint Goes On by Leslie Charteris
Review: ★★★
Again we get three shorts. The first, “The High Fence” (aka “The Man Who Knew”), is by far the best of the three, seeing Templar and Teal each searching for London's newest, most elusive fence, albeit for somewhat different reasons — including a wonderful scene where a corpse goes missing. The second “The Ellusive Ellshaw” (aka “The Race Train Crime”) again sees them on the same side of an investigation, when someone tries to separately blow up both Templar and Lord Ripwell with identical suitcase bombs. This one is a little over-plotted, but not nearly so much as the final episode “The Case of the Frightened Innkeeper”, which sees Templar (with an extended rôle for Hoppy) called to Penzance to investigate some strange night-time noises under a 16th Century inn, and getting caught up in a rather elaborate jailbreak scheme. Bonus marks for dropping in “zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl”, but not quite enough to rescue it.
+20 task [48 ratings]
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel (short-stories)
+10 oldies (1934)
Task total: 50
Grand Total: 1210
20.2 BirthplaceZero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
Review: ★★★★
“Zero To One” is disguised as a business book, but it’s really a manifesto for starting to think big about the future again. Thiel may not think quite as big as his Paypal founder Elon Musk (who wants to both revolutionise the entire car industry with Tesla Motors and get to Mars with SpaceX), but he’s not far off. Here he argues that the key dogmas most technology start-ups now live by (iterative, lean, product driven incrementalism) are not only completely inside-out and back-to-front, but are a symptom of a wider, larger, and potentially fatal, shift in US attitudes to the future. …continued
+20 task [born in Germany]
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel (non-fiction)
Task total: 40
Grand Total: 1250
20.6 UnderratedWessex Tales by Thomas Hardy
Not all editions of Wessex Tales are created equal. It was first published in 1888 with 5 stories. A new edition was published in 1896, which included a new story "An Imaginative Woman." There was one more edition in 1912 which included the core five stories, but seemingly played musical chairs with others.
I have been reading Hardy on my Kindle (Complete Works of Thomas Hardy) which included the 1896 edition. I'm so glad for that, else I would have missed that added story, which was one of my favorites of the collection. A married woman thinks she has fallen in love with a popular poet, though she has never met him other than through his poetry and some very minor correspondence. The second story, "The Three Strangers", has led me to see that Hardy often uses lighter, perhaps more simple/innocent people, to contrast even more sharply the darker side of his work.
Those two stories together with the last story, "The Distracted Preacher" were my favorites of the six. This story uses as its vehicle a smuggling operation and showed that Hardy is quite capable of foregoing his darker side and has a sense of humor, though the humor is definitely not the broader humor of Trollope. Yes, I had my favorites in this collection, but all were enjoyable.
+20 Task (770 ratings)
+ 5 Combo (20.4)
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel (stories)
+10 Oldies (pub 1888)
Task Total = 55
Grand total = 320
10.3A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
+10 task
+10 not a novel
+10 oldies (1879)
+10 combo (20.1 - 19th c. 83 times, 20.4 - Ibsen)
task total: 40
grand total: 400
10.10 Group ReadsTenth of December by George Saunders
Review: This is an amazing collection of powerful short stories. The audio version is read by the author. Most of the stories are told as an inner dialogue and often there is a switch in points of view to other characters in the story. Saunders does this very effectively. The story moves forward. You see the scene from somewhere else.
In "Home" we see home and home town through the eyes of a returned veteran suffering from PTSD.
In "Victory Lap"' the POV shifts between a teen age boy, his teenage neighbor and a kidnapper. It is a chilling scene and will haunt me for a long time.
The title story, "Tenth of December" will leave your heart aching for an odd bullied school boy and an older man facing mortality.
Saunders' reading is also amazing with just the inflections, stumblings that I expected from each character.
I highly recommend this treasure of short stories.
+10 task
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel (short stories)
Task total: 30
Grand Total: 320
20.4 - RealismJude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
I should not have read this book so close on the heels of Germinal. I just could not appreciate what Hardy may have been attempting, as his characters and plotting paled in comparison. The portrayal of Arabella was maddening. It completely lacked nuance and was such a chauvinistic male portrayal of a conniving witch. And then there was poor confused Sue, seen only through Jude's eyes for the first several hundred pages, she was never more than a will-o'-the-wisp. Her personality flickered on and off, her ideas flitting from one and than to its opposite, always in the distance, never quite real. The tragic event was shocking and unexpected, like they are in life, but the overall tragedy wasn't tragic. There was no hope for averting a bad outcome because the characters didn't have enough character to act any other way.
+20 task
+10 review
+10 oldies
Task total: 40
Grand Total: 215
10.2 HalloweenThe Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
Review: ★★
This goes on my "I don't get it, but so many other people seem to think it's amazing that I'm rather hesitant to assume it's the book's fault, rather than mine" shelf. I get that there's all sorts of underlying social context from the early 70s that I only dimly grasp, but the story itself doesn't make sense to me, and I'm entirely unsure whether it's meant to be in the "it's only meant to be a fairly simple satire/dystopia/sci-fi/horror tale that's playing with one very particular idea, so don't peer too closely at the rest" camp, or whether there are lots of subtle (or perhaps even incredibly obvious) things I over-looked. And even though I think I'm fairly unusual in not already knowing the plot going in, I suspect the rest of this really needs spoiler tags... …continued
+10 task [#2 on the 25 Books That Inspired Scary Movies list]
+10 review
+5 oldies (1972)
Task total: 25
Grand Total: 1275
20.1 - 19th Century The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
Review: ★★
It’s hard to write a review of a few hundred words on something that people write tens of thousands of words about whilst barely scratching the surface. Pretty much anything I write here will simply be an expression of my own ignorance. Like much of this kind of writing, it’s difficult now (without a lot of study) to untangle their diagnoses of the problems they were hoping to fix (many of which undoubtedly needed addressed), from their specific ideas of how to do that (or, indeed, from particular ways in which those ended up being implemented). And whilst much of the non-Communist world managed to reform its way out of many of the specific ills without going down the path laid out here, some of them are still alive today, and are likely to become even more so over the next few decades. It wouldn’t take very much work at all to modernise the first section, with its focus on the perils of free trade dominating over all other freedoms, particularly in light of increased automation of work, increased urbanisation, and increased globalisation of business, culture, and government. (Interestingly, though, most of what I’ve read making these exact points recently, generally fails to note that this laid out effectively the exact same argument over 150 years ago…)
But what fascinates me here is the extent to which I find it difficult to understand what type of writing this was, and who it was aimed at. …continued
+20 task [shelved as nineteenth-century 39 times]
+15 combo (9, 10, 11 (Communist/Manifesto); 20.2 Birthplace (Germany); 20.5 Politics)
+15 oldies (1848)
+10 not-a-novel
+10 review
Task total: 70
Grand Total: 1345
10.4 9, 10, 11Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
Lexile 770
+10 task (Francesca)
Task total: 10
Grand Total: 190
15.7 - BtW - Constant Traveler 1931-1932The Waves by Virginia Woolf, 1931, canon
+15 Task
+15 Bonus
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 735
10.7 Honored AuthorsWinesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
Review
This book is a series of introductions to Winesburg’s residents. Each story features a resident and one-by-one the reader learns what brought them to Winesburg, the issues they are facing currently, their hidden dreams and desires and how they relate to the rest of the residents of the town. The beginning is an intro of sorts showing us a nameless and lonely old writer that dreams up this set of stories about neighbors. Autobiographical perhaps? Other sources say that Sherwood Anderson’s book, like the book Peyton Place written by Grace Metalious, was not welcomed by the people in their individual hometowns as the citizens felt the stories were thinly veiled criticisms of their own lives. Both were shocking for their time in the use of sex although Anderson’s use, there was no detail only that unmarried couples were lovers and a hint at masturbation. The stories stress the loneliness felt by each character and seem to all come back to George Willard, a young intrepid newspaper reporter waiting to make his mark on the world. Could this also be the writer from the story’s beginning?
+10 pts - Task ( http://sherwoodandersonfoundation.org... )
+ 5 pts - Combo (10.4)
+10 pts - Oldies (1919)
+10 its - not a novel
+10 pts - Review
Task total - 45 pts
Grand Total - 230 pts
15.3 BtW - Constant Traveler 1923-1924The Incredulity of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton
+15 pts - Task
+15 pts - Bonus
Task Total - 30 pts
Grand Total - 260 pts
10.8 Comfort ReadsWarbreaker by Brandon Sanderson.
I gave Mistborn: The Final Empire 5 stars.
+10 task
+5 combo (10.4 'warbreaker')
+ 5 jumbo (688 pages)
Task total 20
Grand total 165
20.3 Thieves The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J. Sullivan
+20 task
+ 5 combo (10.4 'conspiracy')
Task total 25
Grand total 190
20.5 PoliticsWhat I Learned About Politics: Inside the Rise-and Collapse-of Nova Scotia's NDP Government by Graham Steele
+ 20 task
+ 5 combo (10.4 'government')
+ 10 not a novel
Task total 35
Grand total 225
20.10 Higher Education Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
+20 task
+ 10 oldie (1929)
Task total 30
Grand total 255
10.3 Leif EricsonThe Cross by Sigrid Undset
This is the last book in Unset's trilogy Kristen Lavransdatter, and I am sad to be finished and leave her sharply realized medieval Norway. Throughout the trilogy I really enjoyed how Undset breathed such life into the setting without any heavy handed explanations for her 20th century readers. The characters' world view, their customs and even the medieval landscape (as traveled by pilgrims) are brilliantly developed and vivid. Despite the distant setting, however, the trilogy traces the very familiar arc of one woman's life, from childhood to teen rebellion to parenthood and finally old age, and the books also really shine in their close examination of familial relationships, the stresses of parenthood and questions of moral behavior.
I liked a lot about the books, but I did find it harder to finish this last one. I am a mother of 3 boys (Kristen had 8 sons) and a lot of The Wife, which dealt with the childbearing years, really hit home. The Cross, which focuses on her life once her sons were grown, was harder to read. It did not feel as well imagined or as tight a narrative. I imagine Undset was writing about territory less familiar to her, as well. She paints a very bleak picture of adult children and empty nest parents which I personally did not enjoy reading. She also seems to lose a narrative direction, or perhaps she wrote the story and found herself somewhere she wasn't expecting to be. So I found the conclusion unsatisfactory, and, as with many books lately, find I enjoy the middle the most.
+10 review
+10 oldies (published 1922)
Task total 30
Grand Total:135
10.9 MythologicalThe People in the Trees
+10 task
+10 review
Task total: 20
Grand total: 120
The People in the Trees has been on my to read shelf for a while; I started it thinking it would fit my Square Peg task, but quickly realized this was a story steeped in mythology. The book is about so many big topics - colonialism, science and ethics, human rights violations - it can truly make a reader's head spin. Be warned, though, that it's not a tale for the squeamish, and there are some pretty graphic scenes that involve children and sex that are very uncomfortable. I recommend this book if you want to spend time deeply pondering good vs. evil and the very thin line separating the two.
Task 10.4 - 9, 10, 11: 10= Pathfinder
Pathfinder (Pathfinder #1) (2010) by Orson Scott Card (Hardcover, 657 pages)
Lexile 920L
Review:This is a young adult science fiction novel. It is set on another planet, called “Garden”, located far away from Earth. “Garden” was colonized 11,191 years ago by humans from Earth. Our hero is a teenaged boy from a small town on a planet called “Garden”. He is “special”. While travelling to find answers he makes friends, some of whom are “special” also.
I like how the characters in this novel act like real people. Here's a sample about an interaction between a wife and a husband:
pp. 262-263: "She was busy, she said, and didn't have time for greetings, what with doing everything single-handed while they were off playing the tourist in far countries. Loaf's answer was not to rail at her, as Umbo's father would have done, but rather to pitch in beside her and help her make short work of her tasks. And as they labored side by side, she began to smile now and then -- not looking at him yet, but just smiling -- and then she hummed, and then sang, and finally began to tell him stories of things that had happened while he was gone."
The teenaged boy protagonists do not act like mature adults -- instead, they act like teenagers.
And yet …. I'm sighing over having yet another novel in which a young man finds out to his surprise that he is the prince of the realm; and, furthermore, that he has "special" or "super" powers. Well-done if this is the first such novel the reader has encountered; "nothing new here" for readers who have read numerous similar stories.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 10+10=20
Grand Total: 335 + 20 = 355
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Quantum Leap: Obsessions (other topics)The Secret Place (other topics)
Dracula (other topics)
The Trial of Andrew Johnson (other topics)
Stranger Things Happen (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Carol Davis (other topics)Tana French (other topics)
Bram Stoker (other topics)
Noel B. Gerson (other topics)
Noel B. Gerson (other topics)
More...
Rising Sun by Robert Conroy
+20 task
Task total: 20
Grand total: 145