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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
Chris Johnson has commented on (8) products
The Submission
by
Amy Waldman
Chris Johnson
, January 01, 2012
Waldman's book will appeal to both the mainstream and literary fiction reader. Big ideas moved forward primarily through plot and outstanding dialogue. Must read!
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Out of Ireland
by
Christopher Koch
Chris Johnson
, June 06, 2008
When I travel abroad I usually try to read books, especially novels, by local authors. Occasionally there is a book so good that I just can't believe it is not available in the US. I have been spending a lot of time in Australia recently, where the per-capita production of quality fiction has to be the highest in the world. On a recent trip to Tasmania, I picked up two books by Christopher Koch. Koch, if he is known at all here in the States, is known as the author of The Year of Living Dangerously, a novel set in Indonesia and made into an excellent movie. As good as that book (and movie) is, Highways to a War and its companion volume Out of Ireland are even better. At Port Arthur in Tasmania, you can visit the ruins of one of Australia's most feared penal colonies. One of the more intriguing sites at Port Arthur is a small, pretty cottage on the hill, where William Smith O'Brien was imprisoned. O'Brien was from an Irish aristrocratic family and participated in the Young Ireland movement, for which he was "transported" to Tasmania. Because of his aristocratic status, O'Brien did not serve with the common prisoners at Port Arthur. Out of Ireland explores the convict history of Tasmania through the eyes and fictional pen of Robert Devereux, an aristocratic Protestant Irishman transported for his role in the Young Ireland movement. The novel is everything you might hope for in such a story. It includes horrifying depictions of life on the transport ships; the hopelessness of the convicts separated from their families, almost certainly for the rest of their lives; beautiful images of the wild Tasmanian landscape; and thoughtful depiction of the ethical quandary these aristocratic "prisoners" faced. In accepting a degree of freedom unavailable to the common convicts, are they implicitly cooperating with English tyranny, or simply making the best of a bad situation? This is the quandary that winds its way throughout this fantastic novel. Read this book and share it with a friend. And keep your eyes open for other books by this great Australian writer.
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Highways To A War
by
Christopher J Koch
Chris Johnson
, June 06, 2008
When I travel abroad I usually try to read books, especially novels, by local authors. Occasionally there is a book so good that I just can't believe it is not available in the US. I have been spending a lot of time in Australia recently, where the per-capita production of quality fiction has to be the highest in the world. On a recent trip to Tasmania, I picked up two books by Christopher Koch. Koch, if he is known at all here in the States, is known as the author of The Year of Living Dangerously, a novel set in Indonesia and made into an excellent movie. As good as that book (and movie) is, Highways to a War and its companion volume Out of Ireland are even better. Highways to a War begins with the disappearance of Mike Langford in Cambodia in 1976, after the Khmer Rouge takeover of the country. Langford is a famous war photographer with a dangerously romantic affection for southeast Asia and its people. The book is narrated by Ray Barton, an old friend of Langford, who undertakes to find out whether Langford is dead or alive. The story is told through Barton's narration, his interviews with Langford's colleagues, and transcripts of tapes Langford has sent to Barton for safekeeping. Through these devices, we get the back story not only of Langford's experiences in war-torn Vietnam and Cambodia, but also his childhood in Tasmania. I am no expert on the Vietnam war, or the novels that it has inspired. But I simply cannot imagine a better portrayal of the daily life of soldiers, journalists, and citizens than what is found in these pages. The drugs, the adrenaline, the blood, the boredom, the hope, and the despair are all here. On top of all that, Koch weaves a web of intrigue that leaves the reader with a sinking feeling about the nature of Langford's disappearance, a feeling that makes the story's ending as unsettling and powerful as any I have ever read. Read this book and share it with a friend. And keep your eyes open for other books by this great Australian writer.
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Dirt Music
by
Tim Winton
Chris Johnson
, June 04, 2008
Australia is blessed with many, many great fiction writers, and Tim Winton is one of the very best. Dirt Music is a great example of a novel that can be read at whatever level the reader likes - a good story, yes, but also a love letter from the author to the landscape of Western Australia, and a meditation on loss and recovery. Without giving anything away, the ending of the novel was absolutely, breathtakingly right. When I closed the book, I could feel my heart beating. "Dirt Music" is described in the novel as music played for the joy of it, on the porch with friends. If you go to Australia, look in stores for a 2-CD compilation on ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Records, also called "Dirt Music," that includes music referred to in the novel and inspired by it.
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Straight Man
by
Russo, Richard
Chris Johnson
, June 04, 2008
I can't agree more with the previous customer reviews! This is a very funny book that is at the same time very humane. Richard Russo's special talent is his ability to get the details of life just right. In this book, he is spot-on about academic life - the complexities of relationships between professors and students, between professors and professors, and between husbands and wives. (In his most recent book - Bridge of Sighs - his portrayal of junior high school is equally perfect.) If you have anything to do with academia, you will enjoy this novel. If you don't, read it anyway!
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(8 of 12 readers found this comment helpful)
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Bridge Of Sighs
by
Richard Russo
Chris Johnson
, June 03, 2008
Richard Russo continues to explore the interactions between love, friendship, and family. I think this is his most ambitious book so far, and I give him full marks for challenging himself and his readers. The Bridge of Sighs is a bridge in Venice over which prisoners used to pass on their way to prison, often seeing Venice for the last time. Russo skillfully manages this as a metaphor throughout the book, while also pulling together apparently independent threads of narrative. The first half of the book is a dead-on description of the trials of junior high school in '50s - '70s America, which had me squirming with recognition, and was the highlight of the book for me. Russo chose as his primary narrative the first-person account of Lou C. Lynch. In keeping with the character's personality, the writing is generally plain, straightforward prose. In one sense, this is a real accomplishment because it so perfectly fits the character. On the other hand, as others have commented, it makes for slow going at times. Not all of the book is narrated by Lynch. Parts of the book feature an omniscient narrator (or two, I sometimes felt - a Thomaston narrator and a Noonan narrator). This shifting perspective is necessary for the plot, but is sometimes awkward. Unlike Russo's other novels, the ending of Bridge of Sighs seemed aimless to me and left me disappointed. If you've read and enjoyed any of his other books, you should read Bridge of Sighs. If you are new to Richard Russo, I would recommend Nobody's Fool or Empire Falls as a better place to start.
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(17 of 26 readers found this comment helpful)
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Polish Officer
by
Alan Furst
Chris Johnson
, June 02, 2008
I have enjoyed all of the Alan Furst novels that I have read, and this was no exception. The descriptions of wartime Poland and pre-Anschluss Paris in this novel are wonderful. Furst is great at intuiting and describing the practicalities of everyday life in wartime and occupation. de Milja is a somewhat reluctant spy, and Furst does a nice job of describing his "learning curve." The storyline in this novel is straightforward compared to most of Furst's other novels, and I was not particularly moved by de Milja's relationship with his wife, nor did I really see its relevance to de Milja's character and actions. Still, worth every penny.
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(6 of 11 readers found this comment helpful)
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Consider Phlebas: Culture 1
by
Iain M Banks
Chris Johnson
, June 02, 2008
The best place to start if you want to read the Culture novels of Iain M. Banks. This was the first one, with the greatest insight into the Culture. A more-or-less straightforward "space western" plot, but populated by imaginative and fascinating life forms, and with a fantastic denouement. Banks writes gripping stories with imagination, nuance, and moral complexity.
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(10 of 15 readers found this comment helpful)
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