Stephen Dau's The Book of Jonas is a marvelous, lyrical debut that examines the effects of war on everyone involved. Dau weaves together the stories...
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Don't be put off by the very scientific title: Special Topics is about a teenage girl and is part social critique and part mystery. The very clever author annotates all the ideas and books the main character writes about, in first person, which adds an element of fun and reality. A brilliant father, a mysterious teacher, and a group of four unusual high school friends--this book has it all and more. I loved it.
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(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Slipping through time from war-torn Czechoslovakia under the Nazis, to Communist rule, on to Canada in later years, The Engineer of Human Souls is both humorous and tragic. Skyvorecky was unknown to me until I heard him recommended on a TV show, but I'm so glad to have found this book.
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(1 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
Though brief, this is a powerful, compelling book. The details of the paper recycler's life and art are vivid and will remain with me. Hrabal focuses not only on books but also on the motivation and obsession of the worker/artist and society's response to them. The book is symbolic on so many levels.
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(7 of 11 readers found this comment helpful)
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Ailana has commented on (3) products.
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
Ailana, May 27, 2010
Don't be put off by the very scientific title: Special Topics is about a teenage girl and is part social critique and part mystery. The very clever author annotates all the ideas and books the main character writes about, in first person, which adds an element of fun and reality. A brilliant father, a mysterious teacher, and a group of four unusual high school friends--this book has it all and more. I loved it.(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
The Engineer of Human Souls by Josef Skvorecky
Ailana, August 9, 2008
Slipping through time from war-torn Czechoslovakia under the Nazis, to Communist rule, on to Canada in later years, The Engineer of Human Souls is both humorous and tragic. Skyvorecky was unknown to me until I heard him recommended on a TV show, but I'm so glad to have found this book.(1 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal
Ailana, January 4, 2007
Though brief, this is a powerful, compelling book. The details of the paper recycler's life and art are vivid and will remain with me. Hrabal focuses not only on books but also on the motivation and obsession of the worker/artist and society's response to them. The book is symbolic on so many levels.(7 of 11 readers found this comment helpful)