Stephen Dau's The Book of Jonas is a marvelous, lyrical debut that examines the effects of war on everyone involved. Dau weaves together the stories...
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This is the best book of 2010. Its themes of lost time and opportunities are somewhat sad, but told inventively and with humor throughout. I do not normally enjoy so-called "post-modern" books, whatever that means, but this one I enjoyed very much indeed.
I have no idea why so many critics loved this book. It seemed contrived and formulaic to me; full of stereotypes (particularly the black cook) and borrows heavily from the movie, Ghost, of all things. I prefer even my beach reading to have more substance than this.
This novel captures the joy . . . and addictiveness of reading like no book I have read before. It is also quite funny. Somewhat ironically, I could not help thinking about the wonderful movie, The Queen. Films about writers are notoriously difficult to make, and I imagine a movie about a voracious reader would be nearly impossible, but I dare say we have its sequel in The Uncommon Reader.
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vanessa88z has commented on (3) products.
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
vanessa88z, January 19, 2011
This is the best book of 2010. Its themes of lost time and opportunities are somewhat sad, but told inventively and with humor throughout. I do not normally enjoy so-called "post-modern" books, whatever that means, but this one I enjoyed very much indeed.The Worthy: A Ghost's Story by Will Clarke
vanessa88z, March 21, 2008
I have no idea why so many critics loved this book. It seemed contrived and formulaic to me; full of stereotypes (particularly the black cook) and borrows heavily from the movie, Ghost, of all things. I prefer even my beach reading to have more substance than this.The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
vanessa88z, March 17, 2008
This novel captures the joy . . . and addictiveness of reading like no book I have read before. It is also quite funny. Somewhat ironically, I could not help thinking about the wonderful movie, The Queen. Films about writers are notoriously difficult to make, and I imagine a movie about a voracious reader would be nearly impossible, but I dare say we have its sequel in The Uncommon Reader.(6 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)