Miriam
I wish I could give 3.5 stars in goodreads, because that's a more accurate representation of my rating. I almost loved this book, but not quite. Not entirely the book's fault - I read it over 3 weeks in little bits; but it took some serious persistence to read past the first 150 pages mainly because I was impatient with the over-arching metaphor. I found the first third awkward and a bit heavy handed, the last 2/3rds were much better, and the last 1/3 excellent.
I completely enjoyed this collection of essays. I started with the Robinson (Onward Christian Liberals), then cherry picked all the political/war essays, and finally started from the front and read all the remaining ones. My favorite essays were by Robinson, Scarry, Singer, Buruma, Danner, Gessert, and Grief. I also enjoyed the essay on the dog whisperer because I'm addicted to that show on t.v. (I had no idea he was an illegal immigrant).
A compulsive read, which is rare. I enjoyed the narrative alternating between Ruby Lennox, who was a spectacular narrator (almost all the way) throughout, and the story of Ruby's family. Atkinson uses a technique where she flashes forward and sometimes backward as introduces characters into books that I've always enjoyed - perfect for a reader who hates foreshadowing. My only quibble was her wrapping everything up in the end and Ruby the adult wasn't as interesting a narrator as Ruby the child. On one hand it was nice to find out certain things, on the other hand I really didn't need to know. Still, one of my best reads of the year and I suspect it will keep that status.
This is very close to a biography in tone and intent. Hansen, however, alternates his telling of Hopkin's last 10 years with a re-telling of the wreck of the Deutschland and the death of 5 nuns who were travelling on that ship to re-settle in America. It's a beautifully written, thoughtful book and I think I'm how in love with Gerard Manley Hopkins.
I wasn't in love with this book. It was, at least, engaged, through most of the book although the last 75 pages or so were a slog. I've read enough campus/professor/infidelity books to last me a life time - didn't really need another. I also thought that most of the book depended on cliches and caricatures and really didn't add anything to the genre.
It was impossible to miss the plot wheels turning, the characters were almost non-existent and I figured out the ‘twist' within the first 100 pages, but I still enjoyed it. The Shakespeare conspiracy theory was fun - it is what I enjoyed about the book - but if you're not interested in that much literary history be warned because it overwhelms the very thin plot.
Livesey is exploring the disconnect the exists between our unstated private desires and feelings and the desires/feelings we choose to present to the world and the harm it does. Using four different characters (each one connected to a British author - Keats, Lewis Carroll, Charlotte Bronte/Virginia Woolf, and Charles Dickens - who know each other she explores the assumptions they (and we as readers) make and the consequences of those assumptions. I thought is was an extremely skillful book, that easily avoids pathos despite an incident that would lend itself to such a presentation. Now, all I have to do is figure out who I want to give the book to so I can talk to them about it!
I read the first half of this book (Mary Gordon's unpublished stories) in October while I was living with my kids at my parents house (our house was being renovated). It was the perfect tone for a rather focused time. I put it aside when I reached the second half - her republished “Temporary Shelters” - I put it aside until just this week. When I picked it up this week the remainder of the book was a surprisingly quick read. I was glad I read this collection of stories but I did wish, by the end, for a few more grace notes. There was much I identified with with respect to the various women (despite note being either East coast or Catholic) - the first story of the collection included - but she often side steps those day to day events that can make living occasionally joyful.
I enjoyed reading this book, but there was much about it that was awkward and the plot felt a bit jammed. Stross needed to explain back events in order to make the current events work, and how these events are reveled are less than convincing. However, I wasn't unhappy that I spent the time reading the book.
Steven Martin's a smart cookie and thoughtful so I expected this book to a bit more than it was. Still I loved listening to it (he narrates), and appreciated that his focus was not on the personal (although that enters a bit) as much as on his development of his comedy routine. He talks about his comedic life post his first album and SNL, but a full 3/4s or more is devoted to his life pre-fame and you get a real sense of how he worked through his comedic kinks. He is also very respectful of those people who helped him and supported him over the years. I don't think there's a nasty word about anyone except his father, and even that is mediated by his admission that he contributed to ensuring that the two of them would have a difficult relationship.
I tried, I really did. But at 200 pages I gave up the ghost. I'm not willing to blame this on the book - I love Donne's poetry but had little interest in reading about his romance with Anne. I didn't mind Pegge and was intrigued by her story enough to persist, but that's interrupted in the middle by the Romance between John and Anne. I ditched at page 200.
I think that in a different head space this book could be real fun.
I'm giving the 3 stars for the first two books in this omnibus. I hated the last book - more for the drawing then anything. I have no patience for the two inch waist and watermelon breasts. I also didn't enjoy how the men were drawn. I might enjoy Fernandez's drawing in a different context - I admired the technique - but in this one.
I read a little over 400 pages of this book before Christmas and then put it down for quite awhile. I needed a break from the list of realities that Klein describes. I'm really glad I picked it up again and finished it. There is no doubt that she stretches her point at times to fit her argument, and I know that others have disagreed with her read on some of representations of economists and economic theory, but I was impressed by her breadth and focus and most importantly her passion. It was a pleasure to read a book by an individual who is clearly outraged, yet able to clearly and carefully construct an argument. I'm eager to read more on neo-liberalism and economics.
