So, yesterday was the official kick-off of the Keep Portland Weird festival here in Paris, which meant that I had a reading/screening in the...
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So I guess this makes me the third person here to have read this book three times. Is that magical or silly? Hank Devereaux, the generous, witty, sometimes-snide, and always funny narrator of Straight Man would probably have an interesting opinion on that.
The book itself is also magical and silly and thoroughly deserving of a duck to grace its cover. Thoughtful, well-written and perfectly enjoyable. You might think the subject of academic parody has been overdone, but here it is done absolutely right.
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(12 of 25 readers found this comment helpful)
If I hadn't promised to read it for a book club I never would have made it to the end.
Ms. Sittenfeld can write, which in and of itself is reassuring and warrants a few "stars", but the story didn't have anything to hold this reader's interest. Prep has been compared many times to Catcher in the Rye, a comparison that only holds water in as much as both books take place at prep schools and are narrated by unhappy people. I found the narration tedious, the outline of a plot meandering and the characters somewhat blank.
I wish there were something kinder to be said or to hope for. Maybe, like with Catcher in the Rye, it helps to be sixteen to get it. And maybe the author will surprise with her next one.
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(8 of 15 readers found this comment helpful)
This book astonished me by its profound impact. Generally speaking I actually rarely enjoy science fiction.
Ender's Game isn't so much well-written as it is well-crafted. The story line is absolutely gripping. The world created is completely mesmerizing and the ethical questions and implications enormously complex. Images and ideas from this book will stay with you for years, accidentally informing the conversations you have with yourself and those around you.
One of those books that changes everything just a little.
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(14 of 24 readers found this comment helpful)
My favorite Pym novel. I have read it at least twenty times and could quote large sections of it to you although you'd be better off curling up with a pot of tea and reading it yourself.
Excellent Women is a delicious depiction of a fairly quiet, not especially self-aware woman who has non-adventures and shares her meandering stream of consciousness thoughts in an absolutely unintentional but enormously enjoyable and clever way. Sweet little things happen to her, the other characters are a kick in the pants and the whole book is just perfectly done.
The "modern Jane Austin" appellation both fits and doesn't, the novel is perfectly charming and thoroughly enjoyable.
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(12 of 20 readers found this comment helpful)
A sweet, sweet read with a good mix of funny and sad, a believable narrative voice and a lot of charm.
A little patience is required to get into the flow of the narration but it pays off. Very dry and some delightful moments. And a memorable picture of isolated, lonely small-town life among mostly Norwegian settlers in Alberta in the 40s. Which actually doesn't sound funny and charming at all -- but it is!
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(8 of 15 readers found this comment helpful)
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havi brooks has commented on (6) products.
Straight Man: A Novel by Richard Russo
havi brooks, February 6, 2007
So I guess this makes me the third person here to have read this book three times. Is that magical or silly? Hank Devereaux, the generous, witty, sometimes-snide, and always funny narrator of Straight Man would probably have an interesting opinion on that.The book itself is also magical and silly and thoroughly deserving of a duck to grace its cover. Thoughtful, well-written and perfectly enjoyable. You might think the subject of academic parody has been overdone, but here it is done absolutely right.
(12 of 25 readers found this comment helpful)
havi brooks, February 5, 2007
If I hadn't promised to read it for a book club I never would have made it to the end.Ms. Sittenfeld can write, which in and of itself is reassuring and warrants a few "stars", but the story didn't have anything to hold this reader's interest. Prep has been compared many times to Catcher in the Rye, a comparison that only holds water in as much as both books take place at prep schools and are narrated by unhappy people. I found the narration tedious, the outline of a plot meandering and the characters somewhat blank.
I wish there were something kinder to be said or to hope for. Maybe, like with Catcher in the Rye, it helps to be sixteen to get it. And maybe the author will surprise with her next one.
(8 of 15 readers found this comment helpful)
Ender's Game (Ender Wiggins Saga #1) by Orson Scott Card
havi brooks, February 4, 2007
This book astonished me by its profound impact. Generally speaking I actually rarely enjoy science fiction.Ender's Game isn't so much well-written as it is well-crafted. The story line is absolutely gripping. The world created is completely mesmerizing and the ethical questions and implications enormously complex. Images and ideas from this book will stay with you for years, accidentally informing the conversations you have with yourself and those around you.
One of those books that changes everything just a little.
(14 of 24 readers found this comment helpful)
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
havi brooks, February 2, 2007
My favorite Pym novel. I have read it at least twenty times and could quote large sections of it to you although you'd be better off curling up with a pot of tea and reading it yourself.Excellent Women is a delicious depiction of a fairly quiet, not especially self-aware woman who has non-adventures and shares her meandering stream of consciousness thoughts in an absolutely unintentional but enormously enjoyable and clever way. Sweet little things happen to her, the other characters are a kick in the pants and the whole book is just perfectly done.
The "modern Jane Austin" appellation both fits and doesn't, the novel is perfectly charming and thoroughly enjoyable.
(12 of 20 readers found this comment helpful)
Box Socials by W P Kinsella
havi brooks, February 1, 2007
A sweet, sweet read with a good mix of funny and sad, a believable narrative voice and a lot of charm.A little patience is required to get into the flow of the narration but it pays off. Very dry and some delightful moments. And a memorable picture of isolated, lonely small-town life among mostly Norwegian settlers in Alberta in the 40s. Which actually doesn't sound funny and charming at all -- but it is!
(8 of 15 readers found this comment helpful)
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