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Mon - December 19, 2005Ethan Frome by Edith Whartonfinished 12/19 ............... 19th century,
US, classic.................rating 9
Excellent book and wonderfully read. A story
of tragedy.
Posted at 05:22 PM Sun - October 2, 2005The Traveler by John Twelve Hawksfinished 9/05 ........ rating 4
Interesting idea, very poorly developed.
Mostly hype by the publishing media. Living outside the "grid" two brothers
are the last of the "heros" fighting to preserve their freedom. Will be a
series? (oh my god)
Posted at 01:01 AM The Short Stories of Anton Chekov by Anton Chekovfinished 9/05 ....... rating 8
He writes beautifully but I'm not sure I
appreciate his point. Lots of unhappiness, some humor, generally misogynist,
imo.
Posted at 12:59 AM The Narrows by Michael Connellyfinished 9/05 ......... rating 6
suspenseful but generally standard fare good
detective mystery
Posted at 12:51 AM The Company by Robert Littellfinished 9/05 .......... rating 9
This is the history of the CIA through fiction.
Excellent!
Posted at 12:50 AM The Closers by Michael Connellyfinished 9/05 ........ rating 5
adequate to good. Standard detective mystery
fiction.
Posted at 12:49 AM Lost in a Good Book by Jasper FjordFinished 9/05 ........ rating 4
I don't know why I bother with Fjord anymore,
he's way to fantastical.
Posted at 12:47 AM Little Scarlet by Walter Moselyfinished 9/05 ........ rating 6.5
good standard crime fare. Easy Rawlins is
buzzing around LA helping the cops and staying out of trouble. Solving a murder
case.
Posted at 12:45 AM Dead Ringer by Lisa Scottolinefinished 9/05 ........ rating 6
Good standard fare. The twist is that this is
a very funny woman criminal lawyer with an evil twin.
Posted at 12:44 AM Crusader's Cross by James Lee Burkefinished 8/05 ....... rating 8?
Great James Lee Burke fare. Very much enjoyed
Robicheaux in his new adventure. The reader is awesome.
Posted at 12:42 AM A Room With a View by E. M. Forsterfinished 10/01/05 ........ rating
9
Great listen. The reader is clear with good
pacing. Good characters without over-reading.
Posted at 12:40 AM Thu - August 4, 2005No Country for Old Men by Cormak McCarthyfinished 8/3 ............ contem
fiction............ rating 6
Blood Meridian was McCarthy's one true novel.
Everything before led up to that incredible literary and historical achievement;
everything since has fallen away. So I'm not going to compare them. No
Country is more like an intense Texas Elmore Leonard with an overload of
philosophy and politics. The first 3/4 of the book was great, spellbinding.
The last 1/4 was necessary to give the reader a modicum of hope because that
sure wasn't present in the story. It sure felt like a let-down though, like a
sort of apology. He should have left it alone and gone with a shorter but
probably way more powerful, if hopelessly depressing, book. And
disappointing.
Posted at 09:39 AM Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostevsky read by George Guidallfinished 8/2 .......... classic fiction
(Russian) ......... rating 10
Convinced that it is there is such a thing as
justified murder, the intellectual and nihilist Raskolinov carries it out and
pays the social and psychological consequences that his mind and soul impose.
This book provides a wonderful view of poverty stricken, class obsessed,
religious and patriotic Russia in the 18th century. George Guidall , who
obviously loves this book, is an incredible reader, giving voice to
Dostoevsky's multitude of characters and re-creating his world. He obviously
loves this book and convinced me as well.
Posted at 09:23 AM Sat - July 23, 2005The Short Stories of Somerset Maughamfinished 7/23 ........... mid 20th cent.
fiction ......... rating 8.5
Prolific and versatile, Somerset Maugham writes
dry, insiteful satire, insightful, interesting works often about isolated,
colonial well to do people.
Included in this collection are: "The Outstation" Wow. Longish but great story of two British men in Burma, one is a snob the other a common commoner. "Appearance and Reality" Incredible story of a very important man with a young beautiful mistress and her lover "The Three Fat Women of Antibes" hilarious story of three dieting women on the Riviera "Mr. Know-All" Funny story about a man who "knows" his pearls. Quite short "French Joe" Surprise ending to a very short but delightful tale "Masterson" a man in Burma cannot marry his mistress I'm very interested in reading a novel by him and short stories by other people. Posted at 02:00 PM Fri - July 22, 2005The Last Juror by John Grishamfinished 7/23 ......... contemp,. crime novel
........ rating 7
Pretty typical latter day Grisham. This book
starts out great, the whole first half is intriguing, with a young newspaper
editor in a small Mississippi town being able to espouse his views on a number
of issues. A notorious bad guy is convicted of murder but escapes the death
penalty resulting in "life" imprisonment. The reader is a good pick for this
book and listening is fun. Then we start part two and it suddenly goes downhill
into reflections on Vietnam and pot and other "issues" of Mississippi in 1972.
These were totally boring, I've heard it before and lived it longer ago than
nostalgia permits right now. The religious commentary is not too bad.
Posted at 04:17 PM Sun - July 17, 2005Cry the Beloved Country by Alan PatonFinished 7/17 ............... contemporary
fiction / So. Africa ............ rating 10
This is a classic work of racial strife and how
love and courage can work in spite of that. Absalom Kumalo, the son of a
black minister goes to Johannesburg The first half of the book tells the story
of how Stephen Kumalo, his father, journeys to search for him, but by the time
he is located, Absalom has impregnated a young girl and is now in prison for
killing a white liberal activist, Arthur Jarvis. . In the second section of
the book, John Jarvis, the father of the murder victim is horrified and
challenged by his idealistic son's death. The trial takes place and the girl
and the Absalom are married. Samuel Kumolo finds that he lives near Jarvis and
the rest of the story is one of guilt, forgiveness, redemption, salvation,
love, courage, generosity and change.
Posted at 08:50 PM Thu - July 14, 2005Dark Harbor by David Hospfinished 7/14 .................... detective
fiction.............. rating 6
Okay, serial murder has one too many victims
and turns into huge conspiracy in state administration and the "mob." Typical.
Posted at 11:56 AM Sun - July 10, 2005The Innocent by Harlan Cobenfinished 6/25............ crime fiction
......... rating 6
Typical Coben, easy to read/listen to, fairly
complex plot with lots of twists and good characters.
Posted at 11:31 AM Mon - June 13, 2005In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smithfinished 6/13 .......... contemp fiction - UK
(about Botswana) .......... rating 9 (for pure enjoyment - not "value")
After A Cupboard Full of Life (book #5)
I thought that Smith and this series was going downhill. Well, with In the
Company of Cheerful Ladies Smith's score is way back up there. I loved the
characters especially (as usual) but the stories were fun and I smiled most of
my listening time. The narrator was fine after I got used to her and the
pronunciation of names, although it seems strange to listen to, is just like it
is written in the books, Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi, and the slowness helps
with the wondrful accent.
Posted at 08:48 PM Sat - June 11, 2005The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adamsfinished April ? ......... contemporary sci-fi
........... rating 6
I liked parts of it. I like Adams' humor,
intelligence and originality.
Posted at 06:29 PM Mon - March 28, 2005NIghtfall by Nelson DeMillefinished 3/27/05 ....... detective-suspense
............ rating 6
DeMille is one of my favorites for detective
fiction although he's been veering more and more toward terrorist detective
stuff. I think that Gold Coast was my favorite but this one, Nightfall, may be
either tied or the new best. Nightfall is based on the true story of the TWA
800 crash in 1996 which killed 200+ people. Many witnesses from around the
Long Island area say they saw a red flare prior to the plane's blowing up.
DeMille's story follows that line.
Posted at 06:32 AM Sun - March 27, 2005The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adamsfinished 3/22/05 ............. sci fi/fantasy
classic ............. rating 8
This was a reread for a bookgroup. I listened
to it a little over a year ago. It's superb high comedy and fantasy told as
satire and possibly spoof. There may be a certain Luddite aspect to it in that
all of scientific progress has gone awry in a worst case scenario. However the
tale is told with such gut-busting and intelligent humor that you forget Luddite
sensibilities. Frankenstein's nightmare this is not.
I think that the reason science has gone awry in this book is that humans made the science. Marvin the depressed robot android sounds just like a human and the automatons have all sorts of personality defects. The question about the universe is a human question and this is is a very human book. Posted at 08:44 AM Mon - February 7, 2005Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarkfinished 2/7/05............ contemp. fiction
............. rating ? 4 out of 10? liked a few parts of it
Don't take my word for it, a lot of people love
this "grown up" Harry Potter, I'm just not one of them. There's plenty to like
about it. It's about magic in England in the 17th century and it's a love
story. Clark has excellent command over the language and the characters. This
is an exceptional debut novel and on top of all that, the reader, Simon Prebble,
is excellent.
That said, it's too long by about 75%. It just keeps going on and on and on. Once in awhile I got very interested and it was great. I laughed out loud a couple of times. But for a 33 hour book to enjoy probably 1 hour total, is not going to hear a recommendation from me. I wanted to like it, I really did. I listened to the whole thing because I was told that the ending is the best part and everything leads up to it. Well, yes, it does. Was it worth it? No comment; I'm glad I'm done. Let her do the book do it's own PR: http://www.jonathanstrange.com/ Posted at 09:00 PM |
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Total entries in this category: Published On: Jun 06, 2008 11:35 PM |