| Book Musings..... | |||
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Wednesday, July 09, 2003 ( 12:00 PM ) Jeanne As always being a major slacker, literally months since I last posted here! The Travelling Hornplayer by Barbara Trapido This book was recommended highly by two friends so I suggested it to my book club for June's book. Turns out to have been a big winner as every single person who read it loved it! The novel's central vehicle is the death of a character who we never actually meet alive. Each of the other narrative voices is in some way connected to this character and/or her death. The novel is alternately funny and achingly sad and the different perspectives of the characters make for interesting reading. We get to see characters from multiple points of view and from their own. The best thing someone in my book group said was "Did anyone notice that she managed to write a 500 page novel in under 250 pages?" I plan to read all of Trapido's books.
Monday, May 12, 2003 ( 8:10 AM ) Jeanne White Teeth Zadie Smith I read this for my book group and was the only one who didn't like it, and I mean really didn't like it. I had to force myself to read the book basically. It reminded me of a lesser version of John Kennedy O'Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. Much was made of how young Smith was when she wrote this book and how amazing that she turned this out. I don't think an older person would have come up with this way of writing; irreverent, hip and constantly poking fun.
Wednesday, April 02, 2003 ( 10:48 AM ) Jeanne Well I have been incredibly lax about keeping track of what I'm reading! And honestly I have not been reading all that much. Let's see if I can remember sans critical review what I've read in the interim between the last post and now. My Dream of You Nuala O'Faiolin The last book of the Clan of the Cave Bear series...In which I skip over large parts of overly descriptive text of flora and fauna and laugh myself silly over the soft porn sex scenes! Girl With a Pearl Earring and Girl in Hyacinth Blue....I read one right after the other which was interesting since they both feature Vermeer, I preferred Pearl Earring. That's all I can remember for now although I'm sure I've read more! I'm going to try and keep up now although I'm not sure I'll write a review of the book I'm currently slogging through, White Teeth. It got a lot of critical acclaim, but I'm not sure why. Perhaps I'll have it figured out after I discuss it with my book group. # Tuesday, February 04, 2003 ( 7:46 PM ) Jeanne I'm finding myself somewhat "fictioned" out, hence these selections... Empress of the World by Sara Ryan Ok yes it is fiction but it is young adult fiction! This is a wonderful coming of age book about a teen girl who goes to a summer camp for gifted kids and falls in love with another girl. Really well done story on the awkward nature of teen crushes that blossom into something more and how this is complicated for the protagonist by her discovering that she loves girls. The thing I really liked is that it focuses on the emotions and the relationships and *not* the fact that it is a love story about two girls. The Lives of the Muses: Nine Women and the Artists they Inspired by Francine Prose I've never read Prose's fiction, but love this book! Each essay is a biographical sketch of the relationship between a muse and her artist. Prose does a great job examining the problematic nature of muse relationships, especially for women and the different ways women reacted/profited/grew or were destroyed by/from these associations. The most contemporary muse is Yoko Ono, but honestly while I loved the book so many of the critical observations Prose made in each of the essays seemed to repeat themselves and what seemed brilliant at the beginning started to get tired by the last two essays. The Kindness of Sisters: Annabella Milbanke and the Destruction of the Byrons by David Crane Truth be told I knew very little about Byron's personal life, but egads the man was a rebel rockstar of the 19th century and then some. There is a wonderful reimagined meeting between two of the central women in his life his wife and his half sister (who happened to be the mother of one of his children!). Now I want to go read a bio of Byron to fill in the details as this book focuses mostly on the women's relationship to him. # Wednesday, January 29, 2003 ( 12:48 PM ) Jeanne The Secret History by Donna Tartt I read this after reading Tartt's newest book The Little Friend, the long awaited second novel which took her ten years to write. I missed The Secret History as I was living outside of the States when it apparently became a smash hit. Tartt is an exquisite writer and an incredible inventor of characters that live and breathe and exist full blooded in my imagination. Despite knowing from the very beginning of the novel the whodunnit of the murder(s) this book has as its heart, Tartt manages to keep you guessing on various fronts and builds the tension and guilt among the key characters beautifully. That said I sometimes find her precociousness a little cloying. I think this is a big part of the reason she made such waves as she can throw classical references and ancient and romantic languages around with ease. Even in The Little Friend a book that was far removed from the academic setting of The Secret History she shows us her very classical leanings. I kept thinking of how like the privileged, aristocratic young prodigies in The Secret History she must be. It is a true testament though to her talent as a writer that while I found her verbiage sometimes over the top and top heavy as well I couldn't put this down until I finished it all and I enjoyed the process. # Tuesday, January 21, 2003 ( 12:31 PM ) Jeanne A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park I just finished reading this with Micaela and we both liked it. The novel is set in 12th century Korea and is about an orphan boy, Tree Ear, whose greatest dream is to be a potter. He lives underneath a bridge with his friend Crane Man and forages for food among the rubbish heaps of the village. By chance he gets the opportunity to work for the most talented potter in the village and his life changes in many unexpected and adventurous ways. It is also a beautiful tale of the friendship of Tree Ear and Crane Man who form an unconventional family, depending on one another for survival and love. The author does a wonderful job of explaining pottery processes an excellent book for us right now as Micaela and Juan start their pottery class tonight! # Wednesday, January 15, 2003 ( 6:22 AM ) Jeanne The White by Deborah Larsen This was a fast easy read about Mary Jemison a white woman who was abducted by Indians when she was 16. She ends up staying with them for the rest of her life; marrying twice, having children and adopting the customs and language of her new people while never forgetting English or her old way of life completely. The book is written in a somewhat choppy style moving between the first person thoughts of Mary and third person narrative. Sometimes this style works and other times I think its overdone and too heavy on Larsen's love of poetic language. As historical fiction it is well done. It is a very short book and as there are never more than three paragraphs strung together it is a good, light, but interesting read. # |
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