Reading with Style discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Archives
>
Spring 2012 Reading w/Style Completed Tasks
15.4 AtW CircumnavigatorStop #4 Europe Spain (W003 43)
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
+15 Task
+10 bonus
Task Total: 25
Previous Total: 265
New Total: 290
RwS10.1 Square Peg - Hex and the City by Simon R. Green
This fourth installment in Simon Green’s Nightside series has probably been my favorite so far. I really liked a few of the characters in this one and their interplay with each other and while I enjoy the Nightside books, there’s some part of me that hasn’t been totally grabbed in like others have and I can’t put my finger on why. They are short books and fairly quick reads, for the most part but it takes me longer to read then it should. It could simply be that there is so much to grasp about the Nightside world and it’s hard to take in but at least Hex and the City gave me a few answers to some burning questions.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total=20
Grand Total=220
20.4 El AteneoThe Human Stain by Philip Roth
+20 task http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308383/
+5 combo (10.7, won 2001 Pen/Faulkner)
Task total = 25
Grand total = 25
(My first post--please point out anything I'm doing wrong.)
Welcome, D! Looks great - if you've missed giving yourself any points, our fine scorekeeper(s) will find them for you!
20.10 It’s academicSeizure by Kathy Reichs
+20 Task (Reichs is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte)
Task Total = 20 points
Grand Total = 235 points
10.4 It's Your BirthdayMrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
This novel is kind of Virginia Woolf's response to the stream of consciousness model as emulated by Ulysses while at the same time not being quite a stream of consciousness. Mrs. Dalloway is organized so that it transfers from person to person throughout the course of a single day, telling each of their innermost thoughts during their stint. The book was interesting as the descriptions were both intimate and distant as each of the characters reflected on their lives - what it meant to love and the paths they could have taken. There was also a sub-plot that dealt very strongly with the psychological mistreatment of a war veteran with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder who then ultimately commits suicide. It was interesting to see how Woolf threaded the different characters together and interwove their different consciousnesses throughout the day.
+10 Task
+25 Combo (20.2, 20.3, 20.4, 20.5, 20.7)
+10 Review
+10 Canon
Task Total: 55
Grand Total: 900
10.8 It's A Family AffairChild of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier
This is the third book in the Sevenwaters series and I loved it every bit as much as the two previous books. Each of these books has been a different heroine within the Sevenwaters clan as the generations elapse. First Sorcha, then Liadan, and now Fianne. I found Fianne incredibly sympathetic as she is more introverted and quiet then her aunt or grandmother. Fianne's book is therefore more a struggle of personal identity against both external and internal nay-sayers. She comes across as more realistic than Sorcha or Liadan at times as Fianne truly does struggle personally with her choices and her place in the world - she doesn't feel so perfected but rather the mature 15 year-old she is. I absolutely loved the book and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 925
AtW Circumnavigator15.7 (7th Itinerary stop) Bosnia and Herzegovina (E 018 25)
The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić
+ 15 Task
+ 10 Bonus
Task Total = 25
Grand Total = 185
my review
AtW Circumnavigator15.9 (9th Stop) Columbia (W 074 04)
The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Márquez
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 775
10.9 Please Sir, I Want Some MoreMonsters of Men by Patrick Ness
I read and enjoyed the first in this trilogy, The Knife Of Never Letting Go, in the Winter challenge
Review:
I was grateful for comments following my review of volume 2 that encouraged me to finish the series. I liked this a lot better than the second in the trilogy and I'm glad I persisted. The addition of the Spackle voice works very well and I appreciated that. The Spackle are my heroes, and Viola.
I couldn't accept Todd as a hero. He is too easily manipulated.
I couldn't quite drop my feeling from volume 2 that it would be a lot better if the humans were destroyed completely. Overall, this trilogy has made me feel that we are a cancer on our own planet, and certainly have no right to go invading other planets. So I found it a depressing read, even though I admire the writing and have given this last volume 4 stars. A book doesn't have to be feel-good to be good!
+10 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.2 space travel)
+10 Review
+ 5 Jumbo 500+ (603 pages)
Task total = 30
Grand total = 690
10.3 Girls' NamesThe Mystery of Mrs Blencarrow & Queen Eleanor and Fair Rosamond by Margaret Oliphant
Review:
I loved these two novellas which have a lot in common. Despite the titles, 'The Mystery of Mrs Blencarrow' is not a murder mystery and 'Queen Eleanor and Fair Rosamond' is not historical. Mrs Blencarrow is a widow who is hiding something which, while not exactly terrible, is embarrassing when her neighbours begin to suspect. The main character in 'Queen Eleanor and Fair Rosamond', on the other hand, is a married woman whose husband is the one who is hiding something.
The two novellas are linked by the theme of hidden secrets. Both show middle-aged Victorian women acting in strong and unexpected ways. I enjoyed them so much, I will look out for more by Margaret Oliphant.
+10 Task (Eleanor, Rosamond)
+10 Review
Task total = 20
Grand total = 710
15.5 AtW CircumnavigatorAsia: Japan (E 139 41): Underground by Haruki Murakami
Task: 15
Bonus: 10
Task Total: 25
_____________________________________________
15.6 AtW Circumnavigator
Australasia: New Zealand (E 174 46): The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
Task: 15
Bonus: 10
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 325
RwS Tasks10.5 – Rooting for the Bad Guy
#37 on the 2nd list
Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk
The Survivor is by Chuck Palahniuk and is an example of his writing at the top of his game. Despite the sometimes extreme content that gets to be a little much to take, I really enjoy his work. This one takes a look at an extreme religious cult with a suicide pact at the heart of its belief system. When the story opens, The Survivor is about to complete this act by crashing an airplane he is now flying alone. The book did lose me a bit after a great beginning, but all in all I thought it was great satire and an interesting premise. Recommended to Palahniuk fans or those who liked Fight Club as a book or movie.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
20.5 In honor of Shakespeare and Co
The Fatal Eggs by Mikhail Bulgakov, published 1925
I discovered Mikhail Bulgakov when I read The Master and Margarita last year. He wrote Russian satire in the 1920s and The Fatal Eggs was top notch in this category. The story revolves around a zoologist who discovers a ray that makes frogs reproduce at a fast rate and become quite large. At the same time, the chickens all die off from a strange plague. When a scientist decides to use the ray with eggs from another country to bring chickens back to Russia, things start to get very interesting! The writing is good and the translation made for smooth and understandable prose. It's a quick read and I recommend it and others by Bulgakov.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
Points this Post: 50
Grand Total: 975
10.3 Girls' NamesAn Abundance of Katherines by John Green
+10 Task
Emma's War by Deborah Scroggins
+10 Task
+10 Not-A-Novel
10.9 Please, Sir I Want Some More
The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie
I read her Murder in Mesopotamia during the winter challenge.
+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.4-TV movie 1997)
Post Total: 45
Season Total: 820
15.2 ATW The White Queen by Philippa Gregory Stop 2 United Kingdom W 000, 07
Total: 15
Grand Total: 155
Task 10.5 - Rooting for the Bad Guyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...
Rincewind
The Light Fantastic (Discworld #2) (1986) by Terry Pratchett (Mass Market Paperback, 272 pages)
Review: This is the second of the Discworld novels. Discworld is a fantasy world, flat as a disk, a world that is carried by four elephants standing on the back of a huge turtle who is swimming through space. This installment stars inept, cowardly (but not evil!) wizard Rincewind as he tries to stay alive after being pushed into the role of saving the world from destruction. I found it very funny – Pratchett poke fun at academics, tourists and at sword ‘n’ sorcery fantasy novels. There is a character Death which makes a cameo appearance here. I’ve read other Discworld novels and Death steals the scene whenever he’s around, and he does so in this novel. Recommended: for those who like fantasy and are in the mood for a lighthearted, humorous novel; also recommended for fans of Douglas Adams.
+10 Task
+ 10 Style: 2. Review (10 points):
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 305 + 20 = 325
Ann wrote: "10.8Sister: A Novel by Rosamund Lupton
I read this based on a cryptic recommendation in this discussion. I was intrigued. I'm normally not one for mysteries (I'm a close reader, so I'm pretty go..."
I'm so glad you liked it!
10.2 Space OutShadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card
+10 Task
Task Total = 10
10.9 "Please Sir, I want some more"
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist byRachel Cohn and David Levithan
I loved the ping-pong point of view in Dash & Lily's Book of Dares when I read it last month and thought it would be nice to revisit characters conceived by Cohn and Levithan. I was not disappointed. It again took me on a stroll down memory lane: visiting my favorite Ukrainian restaurant on the Lower East Side, carousing around my old neighborhoods, invoking music of a certain era that took me right back to being an awkward teenager...it's certainly not highbrow reading, but it is good for a laugh (which I did. out loud, belly laugh. several times.) and it's a sweet story.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total = 20
Grand Total = 395
15.5 AtW Circumnavigator The Pianist by Władysław Szpilman
Fifth stop Poland E 021 00
Task: 15
Bonus: 10
Task Total: 25
_______________________________________________________________
20.9 It's Epidemic
Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner
Review: Amazing, smart, compelling. I can't think of enough descriptors. This play about, I guess you could say-AIDS, has so many levels. It is about America-racism, sexism, corruption, politics, religion, marriage, homophobia, even anti-communism wrapped in heart-wrenching personal stories. I heard about this play about the time it and Part Two, Perestroika were first produced together in Los Angeles, but somehow I have never seen it. I even missed it when it came out as a made for TV movie that got rave reviews. I am glad I have finally read it, at least. Now I will have to read Part Two and find the DVDs and hope to find a live production.
+20 Task
+20 Combo(10.7 Pulitzer 1993, 10.10-Group Reads, 20.1 banned Encyclopedia of Censorship, 20.4 - HBO miniseries)
+10 pts - Not a Novel
+10 pts - Review
+10 pts - Canon
Task total: 70
Previous total: 290
New Total: 385
20.9 - Elizabeth (Alaska)'s task - It's epidemicTyphoid Mary by Anthony Bourdain
+20 Task
+ 5 combo (10.3 - Girls’ Names)
+10 Not-a-Novel (Dewey number 614.5 BOU)
Task total=35
Grand total=60
15.4 ATW Circumnavigator (4th stop) Barbados W05937
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
+15 task points
+10 bonus
Task total 25
Total points 285
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
+15 task points
+10 bonus
Task total 25
Total points 285
Task 10.8 Family Affair
Child's Play by Reginald Hill
Task points 10
Total points 295
Task 20.9 It's epidemic
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks
Task points 20
Total points 315
Child's Play by Reginald Hill
Task points 10
Total points 295
Task 20.9 It's epidemic
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks
Task points 20
Total points 315
Task 20.2 True Colors
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Orange prize nominee 2010)
+20 task
+5 combo (10.7 NBCC 2009)
+5 jumbo (653 pp)
Task total 30
Total points 345
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Orange prize nominee 2010)
+20 task
+5 combo (10.7 NBCC 2009)
+5 jumbo (653 pp)
Task total 30
Total points 345
Anika wrote: "10.9 "Please Sir, I want some more"Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist byRachel Cohn and David Levithan"
+5 Combo 20.4-movie released in 2008
15.6 AtW--Circumnavigator 6th Stop Spain (W 003 43)
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
+15 task
+10 bonus
grand total=315
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
+15 task
+10 bonus
grand total=315
10.10 Group ReadDivergent by Veronica Roth
Lexile: 700
Review:
I found this unputdownable, which was lucky because as soon as I did put it down and thought about it, I couldn't believe in the society that was being described. I just can't imagine human beings organising themselves into five factions that each venerate a certain quality (courage, selflessness, etc), practising that quality to the exclusion of others and living like that, apparently harmoniously, for several generations before it all starts to fall apart.
But if you are good at suspending disbelief so you can keep from questioning any of this and don't mind a lot of violence in what you read, it's a great YA story with some very strong characters.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total = 20
Grand total = 730
10.5 Rooting for the Bad GuyStrange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Review:
A lawyer becomes concerned about his client, who seems to be mixed up with a man involved in dastardly acts, possibly including murder. It transpires that the client is using drugs to transform himself into another man so that he can indulge his baser instincts without comeback.
Re-reading this horror classic, it seems a little lacking as a literary work. The narrative is disjointed and hard to follow. At the same time, it was obviously inspirational and in particular, I can see how this led on to the short stories of H.G. Wells and probably fuelled a whole early generation of S.F. writers.
+10 Task (#18 on http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/28...)
+10 Combo (10.4, 20.4 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022835/ )
+10 Review
+10 Canon
Task total = 40
Grand total = 770
10.7 Reading is AwardingThe Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
+10 Task (2010 National Book Critics Circle Award winner for General Nonfiction)
+10 Combo (10.10 – Group Read; 20.10 – Wilkerson is a Professor of Journalism and Director of Narrative Nonfiction at Boston University)
+10 Not a Novel
+5 Jumbo (622 pages)
Task Total = 35 points
Grand Total = 270 points
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.1 (5th Itinerary Stop) Argentina (W 058 22)
The Secret in Their Eyes by Eduardo Sacheri
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total = 25
Grand Total: 305
Rosemary wrote: "10.3 Girls' NamesThe Mystery of Mrs Blencarrow & Queen Eleanor and Fair Rosamond by Margaret Oliphant"
Sorry, Rosemary, two novellas in one volume does not qualify for "not a novel" style points.
Kelli wrote: "AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.1 (5th Itinerary Stop) Argentina (W 058 22)
The Secret in Their Eyes by Eduardo Sacheri
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total =..."
This sounds good - did you like it?
20.9 It's EpidemicDeadly by Julie Chibbaro
+20 Task
+5 re: message 452 (Thanks, Kate!)
Grand Total = 420
Kate S wrote: "Sorry, Rosemary, two novellas in one volume does not qualify for "not a novel" style points. "OK thanks, I will adjust my totals.
10.7 Reading is AwardingAmerican Pastoral by Philip Roth
+10 Task (Winner 1998 Pulitzer, Fiction)
Task total=10
Grand total=70
10.9 Please Sir, I want some moreSeherin von Kell by David Eddings
review
It's the fifth and final book in the Malloreon series. Eddings really creates loveable and believable (though somehow special) characters. That's the only reason I got through the five part series... Unfortunately it is very driven by the prophecy and the group of heroes travels around because the prophecy says so and requests it - making things destined to be the way they are (or gonna be) since the beginning of time. It was a bit annoying to be honest, especially since it took a lot of suspense out of the story for me. Stupid prophecy...even made the climax to feel like an anticlimax for me.
+10 task (David Eddings - Zauberin von Darshiva read 27th February 2012)
+10 review
Task total=20
Grand Total = 130
20.2 In Honor of True ColorsThe Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Review:
In this semi-autobiographical novel, student Esther Greenwood wins a short internship to a New York magazine. Finding that it is more about lunching than writing, she is disappointed, and when she fails to win a place on a creative writing summer school she sinks into depression.
There are two very different halves to this book but I like that the New York section sets a more lighthearted tone. Most novels about depression are depressing, but I think this one manages to keep its head out of the water most of the time. It can’t have had a cathartic effect on Plath, however: she killed herself just weeks after it was published under a pseudonym.
+20 Task (on the '100 Great...' list)
+10 Combo (20.3, 20.4 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078843/ )
+10 Review
Task total = 40
Grand total = 810
20.10 - It's AcademicThe Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Author is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddhart...)
This book was both beautifully written and extremely informative. The author is clearly quite brilliant but writes without ego and with great compassion for the patients and great respect for his medical predecessors.
He opens and closes the book with a personal encounter with a patient in Boston whose case took a much different turn than expected, and alludes to it throughout the book, comparing it to how past cases of leukemia and other cancers were treated.
The history of cancer is rocky, with a lot of false starts and disappointments and a few grave missteps, from treatments that maimed and mutilated to those that caused other types of disease. But Mukherjee's story leaves the reader feeling as though there is hope for the future and that great progress has been made.
If you are looking for a book filled with gory, fast-paced medical action, you should probably look elsewhere. But if you are interested in the history of the battle against cancer throughout history, take the time to read this book.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
+ 5 Jumbo (571 pages)
Task Total = 45
Grand Total = 145
20.10 It's AcademicThe Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
http://www.bu.edu/academics/com/facul...
Review
I really appreciate this book. It is an eye-opening history of a very important event that shaped the character of our nation forever, yet I never knew about the magnitude of this movement. I was a good student in school, too! I’m so glad Ms Wilkerson took the time and trouble and resources to research this grand migration and write about it in a tone that is easily readable. Having lived in the Southern US most of my life, lawful segregation was before my time. I did know it was bad, I just didn’t know how bad. I also always thought the African Americans in the northern and western cities were descendents from original slaves that were brought there before it became illegal in those states or were the descendents of southern slaves who were able to make it to the Free states. Boy, was I ever wrong! However I think most Americans believe that as well, or at least the non-black citizens. I’m sure each culture has its own oral histories of events especially important to themselves but shame on our schools for not teaching REAL history. The only reason I gave it four instead of five stars is because there was a lot of jumping around from era to era and story to story resulting in quite a bit of repetition and redundancy and some confusion as two of the main protagonists were named George. That would have made this less of a jumbo read. Another group read is complimentary to this one which is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Final conclusion for this book, Read It!
+20 pts - Task
+10 pts - Combo (10.7 won NBCC award in 2010, 10.10 group read)
+10 pts - Non-Fiction
+10 pts - Review
+5 pts - Jumbo (622 pages)
Task Total - 55 pts
Grand Total - 575 pts
Hey I just posted my 15th book on the 15th of April, both being half-way marks for this challenge! I'm glad it looks like I'm right on time. (smile)
15.6 AtW CircumnavigatorSixth stop Egypt E031 13
Nadia's Song by Soheir Khashoggi
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 25
Previous total: 385
Grand Total: 410
AtW--Circumnavigator15.6 (6th Itinerary Stop) Ethiopia (E038 44)
Cutting for Stone byAbraham Verghese
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total = 25
Grand Total = 445
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.9 (9th Itinerary Stop) Canada (W 075 41)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
My Review
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total = 25 points
Grand Total = 595 points
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Kelli wrote: "AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.1 (5th Itinerary Stop) Argentina (W 058 22)
The Secret in Their Eyes by Eduardo Sacheri
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Point..."
This was actually not my favorite but the description caught my attention. It was a little disappointing for me but others seemed to have liked it.
Task 10.1 Square PegEinstein: A Hundred Years of Relativity by Andrew Robinson
This book was written in celebration of Einstein’s relativity theory (as noted on title) but it was more than that. It’s a celebration of the Man.
There quite a bit of scientific theories and assumptions etc in this book. I am not very scientific minded and I struggled in my high school physics class. Therefore, most of scientific natured discussions were just too slippery for me to grasp.
Einstein himself proved to be an interesting individual. As my husband puts it, “you gotta be crazy to think up stuff like that.” And my response was, he did not sound crazy at all instead very humanistic – failed marriage, dysfunctional relationships with his sons, unfaithfulness in marriage, loved to joke, and a warm supporter of peace.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total = 30 points
Grand Total = 625 points
10.3 Girls' NamesStill Alice by Lisa Genova
Review:
Alice Howland, a 50-year-old psychology professor at Harvard, develops early onset Alzheimer's disease and faces an increasingly limiting future.
I loved this and read straight through it as soon as it arrived. Alzheimer's is a terrifying condition and I can understand Alice thinking she would rather have cancer. Having read a bit about Alzheimer's before, I suspect Lisa Genova downplays some aspects, like the anger. But perhaps it would be too depressing if she didn't focus on the good moments towards the end. Alice is very lucky in the amount of support that she has from her husband and family.
+10 Task (Alice)
+10 Review
Task total = 20
Grand total = 830
20.4 El AteneoBright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne by John Keats
"Let me be but certain that you are mine heart and soul, and I could die more happily than I could otherwise live."
This from the penultimate letter sent by John Keats to his beloved Fanny Brawne, sent from Rome. He was only 25 when he died, several countries separated from his true love. So young to be writing so beautifully! (Every page I turned I was reminded how entirely pedestrian my use of the English language has become...) And yet, even with such brilliant writing--he was still, for all intents and purposes, a boy: amorous, insistent, jealous, superficial (in the first group of letters, he spends most of the time telling her how beautiful she is; I think she'd had enough of it as it seems she called him out on it and he finally desisted, though not without a little written pouting and posturing). I wish that we had Fanny's letters...I wish they could have had more time...I wish that someone would write me a letter--just one--with that kind of emotion, sentiment, and art. Theirs was a love that burned hot and bright and burnt out far too soon.
It was interesting to have the letters take up the first half of the book and his poetry the second. There were several phrases and ideas that popped up in his poems taken directly from the letters.
Side note: LOVED this movie--absolutely beautiful. And I'm so impressed by Jane Campion, writing a screenplay based on a mere handful of letters and poems yet remaining absolutely true to the spirit and soul of those few extant documents.
+20 Task (movie released 2009)
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
+5 Combo
-10.6 Music of the Soul
Task Total = 45
Grand Total = 490
AtW - CircumnavigatorTask 15.4 (4th Itinerary Stop) Japan, Asia (E 139 41)
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
+15 Task
+10 Bonus Points
Task Total = 25
Grand Total = 90
Task 10.7 winners only: NBCC1997 Winner in the “Fiction” Category
http://bookcritics.org/awards/past_aw...
The Blue Flower (1995) by Penelope Fitzgerald (Paperback, 226 pages)
Review: This quick novel is a fictional view of the real-life young poet Friedrich Von Hardenberg (the 18th century German poet who wrote under the name of Novalis) (May 2, 1772 – March 25, 1801). The novel had very few descriptions of surroundings or appearances; instead, it told the story in an “elliptical” style; here’s an example:
p. 177: ‘O, you must not mind him,’ she replied to their congratulations. She was constraining herself not to tap her feet. The music seemed to pass into them and upwards through her whole body: she felt like a bottle of soda-water.
The love-object of the poet is a 12-year-old girl (not a spoiler – it says this on the back cover of the novel). The writer assumes that the reader is cheering on the success of this relationship, despite the age difference. I found that hard to do.
Overall, my impression is this: the language/style is very polished and clever. The story is unappealing, and the ending unsatisfying because (view spoiler). Recommended for those who appreciate clever writing or for those interested in 18th century German poets. Not recommended for the general reader.
+10 Task
+ 10 Style: 2. Review (10 points):
Task Total: 10 + 10 = 20
Grand Total: 325 + 20 = 345
AtW Circumnavigator 15.8 (8th Itinerary Stop) Poland (E 021 00)
The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman by Andrzej Szczypiorski
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task total = 25
Grand total = 210
my review
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Hard Times: For These Times (other topics)The Age of Grief (other topics)
The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd (other topics)
BoneMan's Daughters (other topics)
Marie-Blanche (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Charles Dickens (other topics)Jane Smiley (other topics)
Mary Rose O'Reilley (other topics)
Ted Dekker (other topics)
Jim Fergus (other topics)
More...
20.6 In honor of Selexyz Bookstore
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
I enjoyed The Vicar of Wakefield, but it read a bit like a melodrama or soap opera. So much was going on in the end that I got a little tired of it. I think that in its time, it must have been unique in the way it pointed out the extremes of the character's personalities. Everything that could have happened to one family did happen and I believe that Goldsmith intended this feeling of "what more could possibly happen to this poor family?" to be "tongue in cheek" and in that he succeeded. It has also been reviewed as a retelling of The Book of Job. I liked reading about the attitudes of the time. I'm glad I finally read The Vicar of Wakefield after having come close many times and recommend it to classics lovers.
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo: 20.4 El Ateneo(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0008735/)
+10 Review
+10 Canon
Task Total: 45
20.10 – Liz M’s Task – It’s academic
Ardency: a Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels by Kevin Young
From Goodreads: Young now teaches writing at Emory University, where he is the Atticus Haygood Professor of English and Creative Writing
Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels is a book in verse aimed toward an adult or mature reader audience familiar with the slave rebellion aboard the Amistad. A knowledge of the spiritual enhances the book as phrases from the songs weave themselves throughout the verse, particularly in the final part (and lengthiest section), "Witness", narrated by Cinque, the rebel leader. Other devices used by the author, Kevin Young, are word plays found in the American Primers used to teach the captives English, but here included as a further plays on words within the verses. Blended in are the experiences of the men in America and in the mission established after their return to Africa. "Correspondence" includes letters to John Quincy Adams asking for release and "Buzzard" opens the book with the voice of the translator telling of the rebels capture and imprisonment. Overall, Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels is an original and satisfying reading experience!
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo: 10.6 Music of the Soul
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel
Task Total: 45
Points this Post: 90
Grand Total: 925