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I loved Peg Kingman's first novel, Not Yet Drown'd, so much that I didn't see how she could improve on it, but Original Sins is even better. It manages to be both enormously entertaining -- with a plot that had me on the edge of my seat, and vividly-drawn characters -- and also thoughtful in what it has to say about politics and religion. Original Sins is a sequel to Not Yet Drown'd, featuring some of the characters from the first book (although the action takes place more than 20 years later, and in a different country). The sequel could probably stand on its own if you haven't read the first book -- but both books are so good, do yourself a favor and read them both.
How often do you read a novel that not only works as a mystery, but is so well written that you frequently find yourself stopping to re-read a sentence just because it's so beautiful you want the pleasure of reading it again? Not often, but that's what John Banville (writing as "Benjamin Black") has done in Christine Falls. I have a few quibbles about some plot developments that I thought were implausible, but those implausibilities didn't mar my enjoyment of the book -- in fact, they occurred to me only after I had finished reading it, because while I was reading it I was so swept up in the story that nothing else mattered. I look forward to the sequel.
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(17 of 26 readers found this comment helpful)
If you thought you were responsible for the deaths of 78 people, how would you go about living the rest of your life? Natural Flights of the Human Mind is about a man who finds himself in that position, and who deals with it by living alone (with his guilt, and two cats) in an abandoned lighthouse until, 25 years later, events conspire to draw him back into life. ("Recalled to Life" -- the title Dickens used for the first part of A Tale of Two Cities -- would also have made a good title for this book.) Despite the bleak-sounding premise, the book is often quite funny. In fact, what drew me to it in the first place was a quote on the back cover that said the author's "comic vision" would be "familiar to admirers of Barbara Trapido" (whose books I love). Having now read the book, I'm not sure I completely agree with the comparison -- for one thing, Trapido's characters tend to be much more verbally dextrous than Morrall's -- but I enjoyed the book so much that I won't quibble about it, because it was responsible for introducing me to a wonderful new writer whose future works I look forward to discovering.
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(15 of 26 readers found this comment helpful)
This is one of those books that I had to force myself to put down every now and then, because I didn't want to finish it too soon. The voices of the three main characters are so brilliantly done, I feel as if I know each of them. I'm going to miss them, now that I've finished the book, but I'm sure they'll remain vivid in my memory for a long time.
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(11 of 18 readers found this comment helpful)
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Betsy McKenny has commented on (4) products.
Original Sins: A Novel of Slavery & Freedom by Peg Kingman
Betsy McKenny, January 3, 2011
I loved Peg Kingman's first novel, Not Yet Drown'd, so much that I didn't see how she could improve on it, but Original Sins is even better. It manages to be both enormously entertaining -- with a plot that had me on the edge of my seat, and vividly-drawn characters -- and also thoughtful in what it has to say about politics and religion. Original Sins is a sequel to Not Yet Drown'd, featuring some of the characters from the first book (although the action takes place more than 20 years later, and in a different country). The sequel could probably stand on its own if you haven't read the first book -- but both books are so good, do yourself a favor and read them both.Christine Falls: A Novel by Benjamin Black
Betsy McKenny, April 16, 2007
How often do you read a novel that not only works as a mystery, but is so well written that you frequently find yourself stopping to re-read a sentence just because it's so beautiful you want the pleasure of reading it again? Not often, but that's what John Banville (writing as "Benjamin Black") has done in Christine Falls. I have a few quibbles about some plot developments that I thought were implausible, but those implausibilities didn't mar my enjoyment of the book -- in fact, they occurred to me only after I had finished reading it, because while I was reading it I was so swept up in the story that nothing else mattered. I look forward to the sequel.(17 of 26 readers found this comment helpful)
Natural Flights of the Human Mind (06 Edition) by Clare Morrall
Betsy McKenny, March 21, 2007
If you thought you were responsible for the deaths of 78 people, how would you go about living the rest of your life? Natural Flights of the Human Mind is about a man who finds himself in that position, and who deals with it by living alone (with his guilt, and two cats) in an abandoned lighthouse until, 25 years later, events conspire to draw him back into life. ("Recalled to Life" -- the title Dickens used for the first part of A Tale of Two Cities -- would also have made a good title for this book.) Despite the bleak-sounding premise, the book is often quite funny. In fact, what drew me to it in the first place was a quote on the back cover that said the author's "comic vision" would be "familiar to admirers of Barbara Trapido" (whose books I love). Having now read the book, I'm not sure I completely agree with the comparison -- for one thing, Trapido's characters tend to be much more verbally dextrous than Morrall's -- but I enjoyed the book so much that I won't quibble about it, because it was responsible for introducing me to a wonderful new writer whose future works I look forward to discovering.(15 of 26 readers found this comment helpful)
Clara Callan by Richard B Wright
Betsy McKenny, February 26, 2007
This is one of those books that I had to force myself to put down every now and then, because I didn't want to finish it too soon. The voices of the three main characters are so brilliantly done, I feel as if I know each of them. I'm going to miss them, now that I've finished the book, but I'm sure they'll remain vivid in my memory for a long time.(11 of 18 readers found this comment helpful)