Describe your new book: This book is the story of my life — the ups, the downs, and the music. If someone were to write your biography, what...
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I am a big David Mitchell fan; I think his ability to write, in such engaging and living details, about so many different worlds, is amazing. In this novel, he brings alive late 18th c. Japan (and its British and Dutch trading partners). Foreigners are restricted from Japan, but he uses Japanese characters to take us into the interior of the country and expand the perspectives of the story. There was a slightly "magical realist" section in the center of the book that was not to my taste, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel.
Engrossing story of a Hungarian Jewish family and community in Paris and at home in Hungary during World War II. Though you will learn a lot of history from it, it is an artfully written novel.
The plot is suspenseful and engrossing: Patsy kills two people while blacked out, drunk. She takes the blame and lives her life with the knowledge of what she did, making decisions and choices in an attempt to atone for her actions. The writing is beautiful and poetic, plain spoken and forthright. But most important, this book makes you think about what your choices mean, what blame is and does, and whether it matters. I plan to use this with my high school senior reading/writing elective; I know it will foster deep discussions about responsibility, guilt and innocence, and life's choices.
This was the most exciting, thought-provoking, challenging and beautifully written book I have read in a long time, maybe ever. You can read it as a collection of shorter pieces that eventually are pulled together. But you can also read it as a new type of story, one where the original format of the book is equally interesting and thought-provoking, making you consider "What is a novel?" Read this book!
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Clover88 has commented on (16) products.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
Clover88, January 1, 2012
I am a big David Mitchell fan; I think his ability to write, in such engaging and living details, about so many different worlds, is amazing. In this novel, he brings alive late 18th c. Japan (and its British and Dutch trading partners). Foreigners are restricted from Japan, but he uses Japanese characters to take us into the interior of the country and expand the perspectives of the story. There was a slightly "magical realist" section in the center of the book that was not to my taste, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel.Parrot and Olivier in America (Vintage International) by Peter Carey
Clover88, January 1, 2012
Droll, fun roller coaster ride through French and early American history. Very entertaining, but you'll also learn history (painlessly!).The Invisible Bridge (Vintage Contemporaries) by Julie Orringer
Clover88, January 1, 2012
Engrossing story of a Hungarian Jewish family and community in Paris and at home in Hungary during World War II. Though you will learn a lot of history from it, it is an artfully written novel.Blame by Michelle Huneven
Clover88, January 1, 2012
The plot is suspenseful and engrossing: Patsy kills two people while blacked out, drunk. She takes the blame and lives her life with the knowledge of what she did, making decisions and choices in an attempt to atone for her actions. The writing is beautiful and poetic, plain spoken and forthright. But most important, this book makes you think about what your choices mean, what blame is and does, and whether it matters. I plan to use this with my high school senior reading/writing elective; I know it will foster deep discussions about responsibility, guilt and innocence, and life's choices.Cloud Atlas: A Novel by David Mitchell
Clover88, October 12, 2011
This was the most exciting, thought-provoking, challenging and beautifully written book I have read in a long time, maybe ever. You can read it as a collection of shorter pieces that eventually are pulled together. But you can also read it as a new type of story, one where the original format of the book is equally interesting and thought-provoking, making you consider "What is a novel?" Read this book!1-5 of 16next