My Catholic friend tilted her teacup like a fortune-teller. "You know," she said, "I think people who don't have God in their lives are like people...
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At first this alternate-history mystery thriller just seemed fun -- the hard-boiled language, the mordant humor. But beyond its wit, its well-paced series of frying pans and fires, its over-the-top descriptions and lovingly detailed worldbuilding, this is a powerful novel. It touches on universal themes while describing a world as specific as the tuna salad in a Sitka lunchroom. It's a book with characters you care about. Landsman is a familiar archetype, the loose cannon cop down on his luck, but he's vivid and vulnerable, likable. Bina manages to be both somebody's dream girl and a real, vital, smart woman. Even the dead have voices and a grip on your heart.
I'm a contrarian reviewer, predisposed to be dubious about bestsellers, but I found this novel to be imaginative, distinctive and compelling.
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This is an excellent book about fiction, why (in one practitioner's opinion) to write it, read it, and value it. Flannery O'Connor has a matter-of-fact approach to big topics like the philosophy of art, and suffers neither fools nor mediocrity. This collection of her lectures and essays is so pithy that I was often moved to jot down quotes for later use. Some of these follow my review. O'Connor has much to say that is wise and useful, and nothing that pulls its punches. The book is one of those rare and fabulous writing craft books that made me laugh out loud.
The last part of the volume, which concerns being a Catholic writer, writing the Catholic novel, et cetera, is of less use to a non-Catholic or non-Christian writer. However, some of the sections in the first part of the work where the author discusses how her religion supplies the Mystery for her art are useful to any writer interested in the sources of creativity.
Quotes:
"Fiction begins where human knowledge begins -- with the senses -- and every fiction writer is bound by this fundamental aspect of his medium."
"Art is a word that immediately scares people off, as being a little too grand. But all I mean by art is writing something that is valuable in itself and that works in itself."
"It's always necessary to remember that the fiction writer is much less immediately concerned with grand ideas and bristling emotions than he is with putting list slippers on clerks." (example of the clerk from Mme. Bovary)
"There is no excuse for anyone to write fiction for public consumption unless he has been called to do so by the presence of a gift. It is the nature of fiction not to be good for much unless it is good in itself."
This is a book of short stories linked so tightly that they seem to add up to a novel. It's a great form for stories about growing up: episodic, shifting in tone, building up to a greater whole.
The main character, Perry, grows up in Chicago in the 50's and 60's, so the book is a portrait of that place and time, as well. I liked that Perry's story includes his brother's, the way real people's growing does intertwine and contrast with the growth of those around them. I liked the elements of the unreal or quasi-mythic in the neighborhood, in the stories of the men who drink at Zip's. I liked the way the young people are explicitly interested in understanding their lives as stories and writing their own identities.
Von Franz was apparently Jung's chief disciple, and her work on fairy tales and folklore was central to her continuation of his work. This volume is, mostly, more centered on the act of interpreting than on the big Jungian worldview, and thus is interesting even if you don't entirely buy into Jungianism. It discusses the importance of tale-telling and fairy tales and demonstrates Jungian folklore analysis by dissecting individual tales in depth.
I enjoyed the way von Franz uses multiple versions of a story to triangulate a strong interpretation. The stories she uses are often evocative and little known. Many of the symbols she discusses, and the diagramming of fairy tales by number and gender of characters are very useful and fruitful. The last sections of the book were less intriguing, especially the section where she talks about the female fairy tale heroine, which dripped gender essentialism and was more full than usual of Jungian metaphysical certainties. Most of the book, however, was thought-provoking and even inspiring. Recommended for fabulists and other fairy tale enthusiasts.
This is my favorite Patrick O'Brian book so far, despite stiff competition. It's a classic 'out of the frying pan, into the fire' adventure, beautifully written. From the sharp practices of landsmen on rich sailors to a vicious storm in the Bay of Biscay, and on and on into more and more pressing perils until you are perched over the book, rigid with tension as the ship flees an implacable enemy over cataclysmically high seas. Epic, unforgettable book.
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Felicity has commented on (29) products.
The Yiddish Policemen's Union (P.S.) by Michael Chabon
Felicity, July 19, 2009
At first this alternate-history mystery thriller just seemed fun -- the hard-boiled language, the mordant humor. But beyond its wit, its well-paced series of frying pans and fires, its over-the-top descriptions and lovingly detailed worldbuilding, this is a powerful novel. It touches on universal themes while describing a world as specific as the tuna salad in a Sitka lunchroom. It's a book with characters you care about. Landsman is a familiar archetype, the loose cannon cop down on his luck, but he's vivid and vulnerable, likable. Bina manages to be both somebody's dream girl and a real, vital, smart woman. Even the dead have voices and a grip on your heart.I'm a contrarian reviewer, predisposed to be dubious about bestsellers, but I found this novel to be imaginative, distinctive and compelling.
(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose by Flannery Oconnor
Felicity, July 18, 2009
This is an excellent book about fiction, why (in one practitioner's opinion) to write it, read it, and value it. Flannery O'Connor has a matter-of-fact approach to big topics like the philosophy of art, and suffers neither fools nor mediocrity. This collection of her lectures and essays is so pithy that I was often moved to jot down quotes for later use. Some of these follow my review. O'Connor has much to say that is wise and useful, and nothing that pulls its punches. The book is one of those rare and fabulous writing craft books that made me laugh out loud.The last part of the volume, which concerns being a Catholic writer, writing the Catholic novel, et cetera, is of less use to a non-Catholic or non-Christian writer. However, some of the sections in the first part of the work where the author discusses how her religion supplies the Mystery for her art are useful to any writer interested in the sources of creativity.
Quotes:
"Fiction begins where human knowledge begins -- with the senses -- and every fiction writer is bound by this fundamental aspect of his medium."
"Art is a word that immediately scares people off, as being a little too grand. But all I mean by art is writing something that is valuable in itself and that works in itself."
"It's always necessary to remember that the fiction writer is much less immediately concerned with grand ideas and bristling emotions than he is with putting list slippers on clerks." (example of the clerk from Mme. Bovary)
"There is no excuse for anyone to write fiction for public consumption unless he has been called to do so by the presence of a gift. It is the nature of fiction not to be good for much unless it is good in itself."
I Sailed with Magellan by Stuart Dybek
Felicity, July 16, 2009
This is a book of short stories linked so tightly that they seem to add up to a novel. It's a great form for stories about growing up: episodic, shifting in tone, building up to a greater whole.The main character, Perry, grows up in Chicago in the 50's and 60's, so the book is a portrait of that place and time, as well. I liked that Perry's story includes his brother's, the way real people's growing does intertwine and contrast with the growth of those around them. I liked the elements of the unreal or quasi-mythic in the neighborhood, in the stories of the men who drink at Zip's. I liked the way the young people are explicitly interested in understanding their lives as stories and writing their own identities.
The Interpretation of Fairy Tales by Marie Lou Von Franz
Felicity, July 12, 2009
Von Franz was apparently Jung's chief disciple, and her work on fairy tales and folklore was central to her continuation of his work. This volume is, mostly, more centered on the act of interpreting than on the big Jungian worldview, and thus is interesting even if you don't entirely buy into Jungianism. It discusses the importance of tale-telling and fairy tales and demonstrates Jungian folklore analysis by dissecting individual tales in depth.I enjoyed the way von Franz uses multiple versions of a story to triangulate a strong interpretation. The stories she uses are often evocative and little known. Many of the symbols she discusses, and the diagramming of fairy tales by number and gender of characters are very useful and fruitful. The last sections of the book were less intriguing, especially the section where she talks about the female fairy tale heroine, which dripped gender essentialism and was more full than usual of Jungian metaphysical certainties. Most of the book, however, was thought-provoking and even inspiring. Recommended for fabulists and other fairy tale enthusiasts.
Aubrey-Maturin #5: Desolation Island by Patrick Obrian
Felicity, July 11, 2009
This is my favorite Patrick O'Brian book so far, despite stiff competition. It's a classic 'out of the frying pan, into the fire' adventure, beautifully written. From the sharp practices of landsmen on rich sailors to a vicious storm in the Bay of Biscay, and on and on into more and more pressing perils until you are perched over the book, rigid with tension as the ship flees an implacable enemy over cataclysmically high seas. Epic, unforgettable book.(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
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