It should not be so hard to write both poetry and fiction. Both arts, after all, make use of the same materials, words and punctuation. Poems...
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The Penelopiad is a retelling of the Iliad and the Odyssey from Penelope's point of view. It is told in first person by Penelope, thousands of years after the event as she drifts through Hades, and by the twelve maids who serve as a sort of Greek chorus, telling their version in a variety of ways from poetry to rhyme to courtroom drama. Atwood turns the traditional story of Odysseus around on it's ear, when she makes Penelope the center of the tale. New angles and possibilities arise, both from Penelope's telling and from the accusations of the maids. Odysseus's twenty year absence becomes, not a rousing adventure tale, but a burdensome trial for a wife to bear and Atwood skillfully takes the reader through a spectrum of emotions as Penelope and the maids deal with this ordeal.
A knowledge of Greek mythology and Homer's original tale is a must to appreciate the changes, both subtle and dramatic, that Atwood has made. Without that background, I doubt the reader would find any enjoyment in this novel.
Atwood's talent is clear in The Penelopiad as she deftly uses a variety of narrative styles. The result is a retelling that is at times shocking in it's difference, and believable enough to become entangled with the original, leaving the reader questioning.
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In the Garden of Beasts is an amazing book. It is a nonfiction account that reads with the ease and entertainment of a good novel. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. When I was reading it, I was engrossed.
Larson uses letters, journals and papers to tell the story of William Dodd, U.S. Ambassador to Germany in the thirties, of his daughter (Martha), and of Hitler's rise viewed through their eyes. Martha, socialite and party to many romantic escapades, found herself in a position to garner information that the Ambassador couldn't know and become the center of several intrigues herself. As for Ambassador Dodd, as he became more disillusioned with (and ultimately more fully aware of) Hitler's Germany, he became more of an outcast with the "in crowd" of the State Department, creating an entirely different, but important, conspiracy of sorts.
Despite knowing the ultimate outcome of the Dodds' adventure, In the Garden of Beasts is still a page turner and thoroughly fascinating. It was with reluctance that I turned the last page, and said good bye to these people that had consumed my mind so completely.
Larson's apparently has the ability to write a biographical account in such a way that makes it more enjoyable than most fiction. (I've not read The Devil in the White City, but that has been moved to the top of my to-read list.) I can not recommend this enough, regardless of your interest in the subject. My initial interest was not high, but I came away with new understanding and knowledge of the time period, US and German politics, and ultimately, human nature. In the Garden of Beasts is a must read.
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(7 of 14 readers found this comment helpful)
In the Garden of Beasts is an amazing book. It is a nonfiction account that reads with the ease and entertainment of a good novel. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. When I was reading it, I was engrossed.
Larson uses letters, journals and papers to tell the story of William Dodd, U.S. Ambassador to Germany in the thirties, of his daughter (Martha), and of Hitler's rise viewed through their eyes. Martha, socialite and party to many romantic escapades, found herself in a position to garner information that the Ambassador couldn't know and become the center of several intrigues herself. As for Ambassador Dodd, as he became more disillusioned with (and ultimately more fully aware of) Hitler's Germany, he became more of an outcast with the "in crowd" of the State Department, creating an entirely different, but important, conspiracy of sorts.
Despite knowing the ultimate outcome of the Dodds' adventure, In the Garden of Beasts is still a page turner and thoroughly fascinating. It was with reluctance that I turned the last page, and said good bye to these people that had consumed my mind so completely.
Larson's apparently has the ability to write a biographical account in such a way that makes it more enjoyable than most fiction. (I've not read The Devil in the White City, but that has been moved to the top of my to-read list.) I can not recommend this enough, regardless of your interest in the subject. My initial interest was not high, but I came away with new understanding and knowledge of the time period, US and German politics, and ultimately, human nature. In the Garden of Beasts is a must read.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(8 of 13 readers found this comment helpful)
When Oryx and Crake first opens, the reader meets the narrator (Snowman) and is immediately aware that there has been a disaster of gigantic proportions. The information about Snowman's past and this event trickle slowly, through his reflections and memories, at first more tantalizing and mysterious than informational and explanatory. By the time Oryx and Crake is finished, everything has become crystal clear for the reader, through a delightful process of hints, deductions and knowledge told outright, and then Atwood laughs at the self-satisfied reader with yet another conundrum as it ends. If you have read The Handmaid's Tale then you are familiar with this particular delicious style of Atwood's. Oryx and Crake delivers a fully satisfying, if often unsettling, reading experience.
I can't say that I "enjoyed" all of the novel, as the pre-apocalyptic world of Oryx and Crake is one not so much an alternate reality but a possible future was unnerving to me. Kiddie porn sites and snuff films are common viewing material for even young teens. The division between classes has become such that the elite live in guarded compounds which are like small cities. Personal freedoms have been lost, or more accurately, cheerfully given up; scientific discovery, often frightening and unnatural, has become the most important advancement for society. Probably the scariest part of the book is the close resemblance to our current society, and the question that poses of just how easy would it be to find ourselves in that situation, led their by the banner of "progress".
Oryx and Crake is a thrilling, terrifying and often uncomfortable read. It is not for the faint of heart or apathetic of mind, but makes excellent material for much thought and discussion.
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(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
J. R. Ward's novels are my guilty pleasure. I don't care for romance novels, and I had to have my arm twisted by a friend to agree to try the first one. Once I did, though, I was hooked. Ward has created an alternate reality that is at once believable and mind blowing. She changed the vampire mythology just enough to make it fresh, and was able to back up her changes credibly. Her characters are generally multifaceted, flawed and alive and she manages to weave intricate plots around the Brotherhood and their world that keep the reader interested until the very end You know it has to be good if, despite the romance and sex elements, my husband and I both wait impatiently to read the latest installment. Her writing, her world and the deep appeal of the characters is just that good.
And then came Lover Unleashed.
In this series, each book focuses on the love interest on one of the Brotherhood (Rhev being the exception) and, as the series has progressed, spends equal time dealing with various other issues going on with the other Brothers, the vampire community, or the fight with the lessers. Lover Unleashed is different in that the focus is on a female this time--V's twin, Payne--but spends almost equal time rehashing issues with V as well.
Payne's romance with Manny was nice, but nothing earth shaking. I had been expecting Manny back since V's story, and enjoyed the well-played irony of it. Sadly, the strong and interesting Payne first seen in the previous book, did a reprisal of Cormia's role and was a wide-eyed innocent, blushing and bashful, excited by everything around her, with only rare glimpses of the powerful female she had seemed to be. Manny's treatment was almost identical to Butch's revere and careful treatment of Marissa. Not a bad thing, of course, but stale. Then there was the whole "Sexual Healing" business between them that was really pretty silly. I was reminded of when Laurel K. Hamilton quit writing plots and started writing sex scenes with some dialog in between (the last of those I tried to read, several years ago, I literally threw across the room in disgust). This silliness is what I would expect from Hamilton, not from a writer with Ward's talent.
The plot recycling didn't stop there, unfortunately, nor did the disappointments.
With V and his inability to deal with the stress around him, he imitates both Z and Phury from previous novels, and his and Jane's marital difficulties strongly resemble the emotional difficulties experienced by Z and Bella. As for the resolution. . . while I was glad it was all resolved, I wasn't so keen on the way it got there. I felt kind of icky as a result of reading some of it.
Qhuinn reacts to his heartbreak in a manner not unlike Z's early behavior. Of course, I was only half reading that. By now, the Blay/Qhuinn drama is old and boring and should have been ended at least one book ago, if not two. And she expects us to put up with it longer? Great.
I must say, though, that the introduction was a great short story and I was very interested to see what happens to the new character, Xcor, that she introduced with that story.
It sounds like I didn't enjoy Lover Unleashed, but to a certain extent I did, certainly as much as an average 3 star fluff novel. I read it in two days, all 500+ pages of it, and found parts of the conclusion satisfying. I especially liked the brief looks into the lives of the Brothers--Rhage making popcorn, for example--and wished that there had been more of this kind of exchange.
Ward still has the ability to juggle multiple plot lines with ease, and there were still flashes of the humor and verve that makes her books so fun. On the whole, though, there just wasn't enough life and sparkle to Lover Unleashed. It fell flat in so many ways.
I've grown to care about these characters, to admire Ward's writing, and to look forward to each new release. Lover Unleashed simply didn't live up to the expectations I have for Ward, for her talent and her abilities. The first several books in this series were stellar, top notch all the way, but I've been seeing a gradual decline in the quality. I worry, seeing the plot lines being recycled, that she is running out of ideas, or perhaps spreading herself too thin, what with both sets of novels under this pseudonym and the others she writes as Jessica Bird. I fear that she'll do what Hamilton did and give up writing plots all together and trust her name and her sex scenes to sell the books. I hope next year's book will prove me wrong. If not, it will be my last
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The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
Gypsi, June 26, 2011
The Penelopiad is a retelling of the Iliad and the Odyssey from Penelope's point of view. It is told in first person by Penelope, thousands of years after the event as she drifts through Hades, and by the twelve maids who serve as a sort of Greek chorus, telling their version in a variety of ways from poetry to rhyme to courtroom drama. Atwood turns the traditional story of Odysseus around on it's ear, when she makes Penelope the center of the tale. New angles and possibilities arise, both from Penelope's telling and from the accusations of the maids. Odysseus's twenty year absence becomes, not a rousing adventure tale, but a burdensome trial for a wife to bear and Atwood skillfully takes the reader through a spectrum of emotions as Penelope and the maids deal with this ordeal.
A knowledge of Greek mythology and Homer's original tale is a must to appreciate the changes, both subtle and dramatic, that Atwood has made. Without that background, I doubt the reader would find any enjoyment in this novel.
Atwood's talent is clear in The Penelopiad as she deftly uses a variety of narrative styles. The result is a retelling that is at times shocking in it's difference, and believable enough to become entangled with the original, leaving the reader questioning.
(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Gypsi, May 31, 2011
In the Garden of Beasts is an amazing book. It is a nonfiction account that reads with the ease and entertainment of a good novel. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. When I was reading it, I was engrossed.
Larson uses letters, journals and papers to tell the story of William Dodd, U.S. Ambassador to Germany in the thirties, of his daughter (Martha), and of Hitler's rise viewed through their eyes. Martha, socialite and party to many romantic escapades, found herself in a position to garner information that the Ambassador couldn't know and become the center of several intrigues herself. As for Ambassador Dodd, as he became more disillusioned with (and ultimately more fully aware of) Hitler's Germany, he became more of an outcast with the "in crowd" of the State Department, creating an entirely different, but important, conspiracy of sorts.
Despite knowing the ultimate outcome of the Dodds' adventure, In the Garden of Beasts is still a page turner and thoroughly fascinating. It was with reluctance that I turned the last page, and said good bye to these people that had consumed my mind so completely.
Larson's apparently has the ability to write a biographical account in such a way that makes it more enjoyable than most fiction. (I've not read The Devil in the White City, but that has been moved to the top of my to-read list.) I can not recommend this enough, regardless of your interest in the subject. My initial interest was not high, but I came away with new understanding and knowledge of the time period, US and German politics, and ultimately, human nature. In the Garden of Beasts is a must read.
(7 of 14 readers found this comment helpful)
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Gypsi, May 31, 2011
In the Garden of Beasts is an amazing book. It is a nonfiction account that reads with the ease and entertainment of a good novel. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. When I was reading it, I was engrossed.
Larson uses letters, journals and papers to tell the story of William Dodd, U.S. Ambassador to Germany in the thirties, of his daughter (Martha), and of Hitler's rise viewed through their eyes. Martha, socialite and party to many romantic escapades, found herself in a position to garner information that the Ambassador couldn't know and become the center of several intrigues herself. As for Ambassador Dodd, as he became more disillusioned with (and ultimately more fully aware of) Hitler's Germany, he became more of an outcast with the "in crowd" of the State Department, creating an entirely different, but important, conspiracy of sorts.
Despite knowing the ultimate outcome of the Dodds' adventure, In the Garden of Beasts is still a page turner and thoroughly fascinating. It was with reluctance that I turned the last page, and said good bye to these people that had consumed my mind so completely.
Larson's apparently has the ability to write a biographical account in such a way that makes it more enjoyable than most fiction. (I've not read The Devil in the White City, but that has been moved to the top of my to-read list.) I can not recommend this enough, regardless of your interest in the subject. My initial interest was not high, but I came away with new understanding and knowledge of the time period, US and German politics, and ultimately, human nature. In the Garden of Beasts is a must read.
(8 of 13 readers found this comment helpful)
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Gypsi, April 2, 2011
When Oryx and Crake first opens, the reader meets the narrator (Snowman) and is immediately aware that there has been a disaster of gigantic proportions. The information about Snowman's past and this event trickle slowly, through his reflections and memories, at first more tantalizing and mysterious than informational and explanatory. By the time Oryx and Crake is finished, everything has become crystal clear for the reader, through a delightful process of hints, deductions and knowledge told outright, and then Atwood laughs at the self-satisfied reader with yet another conundrum as it ends. If you have read The Handmaid's Tale then you are familiar with this particular delicious style of Atwood's. Oryx and Crake delivers a fully satisfying, if often unsettling, reading experience.I can't say that I "enjoyed" all of the novel, as the pre-apocalyptic world of Oryx and Crake is one not so much an alternate reality but a possible future was unnerving to me. Kiddie porn sites and snuff films are common viewing material for even young teens. The division between classes has become such that the elite live in guarded compounds which are like small cities. Personal freedoms have been lost, or more accurately, cheerfully given up; scientific discovery, often frightening and unnatural, has become the most important advancement for society. Probably the scariest part of the book is the close resemblance to our current society, and the question that poses of just how easy would it be to find ourselves in that situation, led their by the banner of "progress".
Oryx and Crake is a thrilling, terrifying and often uncomfortable read. It is not for the faint of heart or apathetic of mind, but makes excellent material for much thought and discussion.
(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Black Dagger Brotherhood #9: Lover Unleashed: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J R Ward
Gypsi, March 31, 2011
J. R. Ward's novels are my guilty pleasure. I don't care for romance novels, and I had to have my arm twisted by a friend to agree to try the first one. Once I did, though, I was hooked. Ward has created an alternate reality that is at once believable and mind blowing. She changed the vampire mythology just enough to make it fresh, and was able to back up her changes credibly. Her characters are generally multifaceted, flawed and alive and she manages to weave intricate plots around the Brotherhood and their world that keep the reader interested until the very end You know it has to be good if, despite the romance and sex elements, my husband and I both wait impatiently to read the latest installment. Her writing, her world and the deep appeal of the characters is just that good.
And then came Lover Unleashed.
In this series, each book focuses on the love interest on one of the Brotherhood (Rhev being the exception) and, as the series has progressed, spends equal time dealing with various other issues going on with the other Brothers, the vampire community, or the fight with the lessers. Lover Unleashed is different in that the focus is on a female this time--V's twin, Payne--but spends almost equal time rehashing issues with V as well.
Payne's romance with Manny was nice, but nothing earth shaking. I had been expecting Manny back since V's story, and enjoyed the well-played irony of it. Sadly, the strong and interesting Payne first seen in the previous book, did a reprisal of Cormia's role and was a wide-eyed innocent, blushing and bashful, excited by everything around her, with only rare glimpses of the powerful female she had seemed to be. Manny's treatment was almost identical to Butch's revere and careful treatment of Marissa. Not a bad thing, of course, but stale. Then there was the whole "Sexual Healing" business between them that was really pretty silly. I was reminded of when Laurel K. Hamilton quit writing plots and started writing sex scenes with some dialog in between (the last of those I tried to read, several years ago, I literally threw across the room in disgust). This silliness is what I would expect from Hamilton, not from a writer with Ward's talent.
The plot recycling didn't stop there, unfortunately, nor did the disappointments.
With V and his inability to deal with the stress around him, he imitates both Z and Phury from previous novels, and his and Jane's marital difficulties strongly resemble the emotional difficulties experienced by Z and Bella. As for the resolution. . . while I was glad it was all resolved, I wasn't so keen on the way it got there. I felt kind of icky as a result of reading some of it.
Qhuinn reacts to his heartbreak in a manner not unlike Z's early behavior. Of course, I was only half reading that. By now, the Blay/Qhuinn drama is old and boring and should have been ended at least one book ago, if not two. And she expects us to put up with it longer? Great.
I must say, though, that the introduction was a great short story and I was very interested to see what happens to the new character, Xcor, that she introduced with that story.
It sounds like I didn't enjoy Lover Unleashed, but to a certain extent I did, certainly as much as an average 3 star fluff novel. I read it in two days, all 500+ pages of it, and found parts of the conclusion satisfying. I especially liked the brief looks into the lives of the Brothers--Rhage making popcorn, for example--and wished that there had been more of this kind of exchange.
Ward still has the ability to juggle multiple plot lines with ease, and there were still flashes of the humor and verve that makes her books so fun. On the whole, though, there just wasn't enough life and sparkle to Lover Unleashed. It fell flat in so many ways.
I've grown to care about these characters, to admire Ward's writing, and to look forward to each new release. Lover Unleashed simply didn't live up to the expectations I have for Ward, for her talent and her abilities. The first several books in this series were stellar, top notch all the way, but I've been seeing a gradual decline in the quality. I worry, seeing the plot lines being recycled, that she is running out of ideas, or perhaps spreading herself too thin, what with both sets of novels under this pseudonym and the others she writes as Jessica Bird. I fear that she'll do what Hamilton did and give up writing plots all together and trust her name and her sex scenes to sell the books. I hope next year's book will prove me wrong. If not, it will be my last
(0 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
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