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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Despite the pessimism this story instilled (or maybe because of it), I devoured the 442-page novel about three 20-something girls from quite different backgrounds who form a tightly knit bond that lasts decades ? through proposals, career success, drug addiction, children, divorces, betrayals and downfalls. There?s a reason this book is renowned as the classic trashy novel: because it?s good. It?s original, dry, hilarious, horribly tragic, surprising, and truly epic. Just when you think a character?s life can?t get any worse, it does, and even better, it?s believable drama, not mere plot twist thrown in for plot twist?s sake.
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(14 of 21 readers found this comment helpful)
Whether or not you?ve read the book/seen the film, you recognize the name Holly Golightly, the character who this book (and the simultaneously smitten and revolted antagonist, Mr. Bell) revolves around. At the start of the novel, we see her as a shallow, materialistic, ignorant man-eater, but by the end, Capote miraculously manages to develop her into far more of a complex character than I expected. She is multi-dimensionally tragic; we emphathize with rather than pity her. The breadth of character growth and story twists that Capote manages to pack in to something so brief is not to be missed.
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(12 of 24 readers found this comment helpful)
The most critical thing I can say about ?Ash Wednesday? is that it?s obvious Hawke knows he is clever and quotable. But then the antagonist is an arrogant, self-absorbed, sometimes moronic, jerky man?s man, so the voice fits comfortably. ?Ash Wednesday? is the cheerless tale of an imperfect love between imperfect people, written from the viewpoints of both well-meaning screw-up Jimmy and his pregnant and scared girlfriend Christy during their drive from Albany to Texas. The characters and voices are well developed; despite their glaring flaws, you want things to work out for them in spite of unlikely odds -? if you?re not too pretentious to allow yourself to enjoy a Hawke novel, that is.
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(23 of 46 readers found this comment helpful)
This fictional, but seemingly well-researched biographical novel about Marilyn Monroe spans her entire life. I don?t know what percentage of this story was fact versus fabrication, but I found myself not caring, and instead losing myself in the 700+ pages, thanks to the well-crafted pace of the intense prose. If you also dig Oates?s fervently poetic writing style here, then I think you?ll like the whole thing, whether you?re an established Monroe fan or someone like me, who previously assumed Marilyn was just some overrated old school hottie from the black and white movies.
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(20 of 33 readers found this comment helpful)
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Sarah Knowles has commented on (4) products.
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
Sarah Knowles, August 30, 2006
Despite the pessimism this story instilled (or maybe because of it), I devoured the 442-page novel about three 20-something girls from quite different backgrounds who form a tightly knit bond that lasts decades ? through proposals, career success, drug addiction, children, divorces, betrayals and downfalls. There?s a reason this book is renowned as the classic trashy novel: because it?s good. It?s original, dry, hilarious, horribly tragic, surprising, and truly epic. Just when you think a character?s life can?t get any worse, it does, and even better, it?s believable drama, not mere plot twist thrown in for plot twist?s sake.(14 of 21 readers found this comment helpful)
Breakfast at Tiffany's: And Three Stories by Truman Capote
Sarah Knowles, August 30, 2006
Whether or not you?ve read the book/seen the film, you recognize the name Holly Golightly, the character who this book (and the simultaneously smitten and revolted antagonist, Mr. Bell) revolves around. At the start of the novel, we see her as a shallow, materialistic, ignorant man-eater, but by the end, Capote miraculously manages to develop her into far more of a complex character than I expected. She is multi-dimensionally tragic; we emphathize with rather than pity her. The breadth of character growth and story twists that Capote manages to pack in to something so brief is not to be missed.(12 of 24 readers found this comment helpful)
Ash Wednesday by Ethan Hawke
Sarah Knowles, August 30, 2006
The most critical thing I can say about ?Ash Wednesday? is that it?s obvious Hawke knows he is clever and quotable. But then the antagonist is an arrogant, self-absorbed, sometimes moronic, jerky man?s man, so the voice fits comfortably. ?Ash Wednesday? is the cheerless tale of an imperfect love between imperfect people, written from the viewpoints of both well-meaning screw-up Jimmy and his pregnant and scared girlfriend Christy during their drive from Albany to Texas. The characters and voices are well developed; despite their glaring flaws, you want things to work out for them in spite of unlikely odds -? if you?re not too pretentious to allow yourself to enjoy a Hawke novel, that is.(23 of 46 readers found this comment helpful)
Blonde: A Novel by Joyce Carol Oates
Sarah Knowles, August 30, 2006
This fictional, but seemingly well-researched biographical novel about Marilyn Monroe spans her entire life. I don?t know what percentage of this story was fact versus fabrication, but I found myself not caring, and instead losing myself in the 700+ pages, thanks to the well-crafted pace of the intense prose. If you also dig Oates?s fervently poetic writing style here, then I think you?ll like the whole thing, whether you?re an established Monroe fan or someone like me, who previously assumed Marilyn was just some overrated old school hottie from the black and white movies.(20 of 33 readers found this comment helpful)