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| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | --------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ---------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | ------ | | | checkbox | position | cover Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote | title Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote | author Skal, David J. | isbn 1631490109 | isbn13 9781631490101 | asin 1631490109 | num pages 672pp | avg rating 3.80 | num ratings 402 | date pub Oct 26, 2015 | date pub edition Oct 04, 2016 | Steve's rating | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Sep 27, 2024 | date read not set | date added Sep 27, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover One Hundred Years of Solitude | title One Hundred Years of Solitude | author García Márquez, Gabriel | isbn | isbn13 | asin | num pages 417pp | avg rating 4.12 | num ratings 1,001,345 | date pub 1967 | date pub edition Jun 24, 2003 | Steve's rating liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review For the first 300 pages or so I was rating this one 4 or 5 stars. That said, the last 100+ pages were like a literary death march. This had nothing to For the first 300 pages or so I was rating this one 4 or 5 stars. That said, the last 100+ pages were like a literary death march. This had nothing to do with Márquez losing his narrative grip, but my own weariness with Márquez's use of repetition. The use of repetition is a device used to drive home Márquez's thoughts on history, which is ultimately as dark and pessimistic as any I've encountered in Literature. This wasn't, seemingly, always the case in this novel as some of early happenings could be quite funny, and usually outragious as well. Incest and near-incest provide a fatalistic circle for the novel, with the closing of the circle in the novel's last 20 or so masterful pages, which helped for recover a sense of the novel's greatness. I realize I'm not telling you much about the characters, but where to begin? It's the story of the Buendía family through six generations in the small town of Macondo. War, love, revolution, cruelty, tall tales, red ants, and fantastic characters jam the pages. The sense of time is initially fluid, but things firm up a bit more concretely with the appearance of gringo-run banana farms, automobiles, and, eventually, mass murder and atrocity, all of which signal the arrival of Modern Times. The "pig's tail" reappearance is a savage indictment that borders on the misanthropic. But I'm still thinking that one through. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 2 | votes 3 | # times read 1 | date started Sep 18, 2024 | date read Sep 27, 2024 | date added Sep 18, 2024 | owned | format Mass Market Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Horror Movie | title Horror Movie | author Tremblay, Paul * | isbn 0063070014 | isbn13 9780063070011 | asin 0063070014 | num pages 277pp | avg rating 3.42 | num ratings 18,165 | date pub Jun 11, 2024 | date pub edition Jun 11, 2024 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Somewhat reminiscent of (the great) Stephen Graham Jones' experimental "novel" "Demon Theory." As I remember, Jones' effort was basically a three pane Somewhat reminiscent of (the great) Stephen Graham Jones' experimental "novel" "Demon Theory." As I remember, Jones' effort was basically a three paneled story or sequels of a story, dressed up as three different screenplays. For some reason this book in no longer available, which is a shame since, despite its uneven nature, is quite brilliant. Tremblay's novel is more a novel in the traditional or structural sense, though, like Jones, he employs numerous screenplay moments, the Then and Now are easy enough to follow. "Horror Story" is about a 1993 movie that was never released or even completed. The movie, after 30 years, with a few cryptic Youtube uploads, has gathered a cult following (and no one "Cults" like a true Horror fan (I'm one)). The movie, and its surrounding legend as a "cursed" movie, has attracted the attention of Hollywood. A big-budget "reboot" is planned, one that includes the only surviving member of the 1993 movie that we only know as "The Thin Kid." The "Thin Kid" in no longer thin and no longer a kid. He is a 50 something someone with a very vague history. As a narrator for both Now and Then, you can pencil him in as extremely unreliable. The 1993 effort was spearheaded by two school friends, who enlist the "Thin Kid" for the role of the monster in the movie. (For some unexplained reason, the previous candidate had dropped out due to "creative differences.) What follows, or amounts to, is a weird, sometimes ritualistic meditation on the meaning of Horror Movies. This also includes those watch and enjoy them, and the various "Whys" that spiral out from them. All of this is anchored in the real events of 1993 and the present, but in Tremblay's hands, its the dark ambiguities that flit around the edges of those details and the "Thin Kid's" telling that dominate. To be honest I'm still sussing it all out in my own mind. That said, I came away from "Horror Movie" with the sense that I had just read some top-drawer Horror. And that's always a good thing. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 2 | # times read 1 | date started Sep 14, 2024 | date read Sep 18, 2024 | date added Sep 16, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Reading Genesis | title Reading Genesis | author Robinson, Marilynne | isbn 0374299404 | isbn13 9780374299408 | asin 0374299404 | num pages 344pp | avg rating 4.08 | num ratings 826 | date pub Mar 12, 2024 | date pub edition Mar 12, 2024 | Steve's rating | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Sep 11, 2024 | date read not set | date added Sep 11, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover The Maniac | title The Maniac | author Labatut, Benjamín | isbn 0593654471 | isbn13 9780593654477 | asin | num pages 368pp | avg rating 4.34 | num ratings 13,665 | date pub Oct 03, 2023 | date pub edition Oct 03, 2023 | Steve's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 1 | # times read 1 | date started Sep 04, 2024 | date read Sep 10, 2024 | date added Sep 04, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Once Upon a Time | title Once Upon a Time | author Bell, Ian | isbn 1605986275 | isbn13 9781605986272 | asin 1605986275 | num pages 592pp | avg rating 4.02 | num ratings 240 | date pub Aug 1997 | date pub edition Oct 15, 2014 | Steve's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Probably the best Rock bio I have ever read (and that includes Keef's excellent book). That said, Rock bios are usually dreadful, often written by fan Probably the best Rock bio I have ever read (and that includes Keef's excellent book). That said, Rock bios are usually dreadful, often written by fan-boys or just writers who are not good at capturing the creative process of rockers. The difference here is that Bell (a superb) writer has written both a bio and a cultural history of Dylan's times. In addition, it's not exactly linear as Bell circles back to events, albums, and songs, looking at them from different angles. The book itself, with Dylan's various reinventions of himself, is very close to the 2007 Dylan move "I'm Not There" (and that's a good thing.) Bell reminds me a lot of Greil Marcus, but a more lucid one. Oh, there are plenty of necessary moments of poetic speculation (because Dylan ain't talking, at least not much), but it's usually anchored by fact and Bell's masterful grasp of everything Dylan. Dylan, a master of misdirection, rarely fools Bell, who has first Bob Bullshit detector. Note that this is the first volume of two volume set (which I have ordered). The great shame in this is that Bell would die less that year before Dylan won the Nobel. I would have to have read his updated edition. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 2 | # times read 1 | date started Jul 25, 2024 | date read Aug 06, 2024 | date added Jul 25, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover To Wake the Dead: A Renaissance Merchant and the Birth of Archaeology | title To Wake the Dead: A Renaissance Merchant and the Birth of Archaeology | author Belozerskaya, Marina | isbn 0393065545 | isbn13 9780393065541 | asin 0393065545 | num pages 308pp | avg rating 3.54 | num ratings 61 | date pub Aug 01, 2009 | date pub edition Aug 31, 2009 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Wonderful history that captures the Mediterranean world in the early Renaissance, with a particular focus on the Italian merchant, Cyriacus of Ancona. Wonderful history that captures the Mediterranean world in the early Renaissance, with a particular focus on the Italian merchant, Cyriacus of Ancona. Cyriacus had a passion for antiquity, especially the buildings and monuments of the ancient world, which were fast being cannibalized by the surrounding peoples for their own uses. Belozerskaya follows Cyriacus' own letters and sketches of ruins, as well a biography written about the time. In addition, Belozerskaya supplements the story with the important events and major figures the times, which immediately preceded the fall of Constantinople. Belozerskaya makes a strong case for Cyriacus being one of the true fathers of Archaeology. Outstanding and fun to read. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 3 | # times read 1 | date started Jul 06, 2024 | date read Jul 10, 2024 | date added Jul 06, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover A Prayer Journal | title A Prayer Journal | author O'Connor, Flannery | isbn 0374236917 | isbn13 9780374236915 | asin 0374236917 | num pages 112pp | avg rating 4.13 | num ratings 3,064 | date pub 2013 | date pub edition Nov 12, 2013 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Hard book to rate. It's so short it's almost ridiculous. The "book" clocks in at 93 pages or so, half of which is a photographic "facsimile" of O'Conn Hard book to rate. It's so short it's almost ridiculous. The "book" clocks in at 93 pages or so, half of which is a photographic "facsimile" of O'Connor's journal. (Anything for a page count.) There is a thoughtful Introduction by W.A. Sessions, an English professor who knew O'Connor. It anchors the reader to the time (January 1946 - September 1947) and place (Iowa City). O'Connor is a college student, age 21 to 22) who has switched from journalism to English (the creative writing wing). She wants to write fiction, and that is largely the main substance of these "prayers." I would call these prayers and/or journal entries vocational in nature. O'Connor, to my mind at least, is praying about a decision already made (to be a writer of fiction). There are times when she asks whether it would be better to be a mystic, but then she backs off from that, doubting she has the Holy wiring necessary. Some of the prayers can be repetitive, as even O'Connor admits. But they are always infused with a touching, intelligent honesty that holds your attention. By journal's end, you can't help but smile when she writes "Today I have proved myself a glutton -- for Scotch Oatmeal cookies and erotic thought. There is nothing left to say of me." That's my girl. I think this journal, slight as it is, has an important place among O'Connor's works. I'm always interested in artists who are believers and the intersect between their Art and their Faith. O'Connor's prayer journal provides a revealing bridge for understanding O'Connor that compliments her fascinating letters as well as her fiction. Despite the college girl's cookies and erotic thought, O'Connor would go on to successfully integrate her faith into her fiction without compromising either. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 5 | # times read 1 | date started Jul 06, 2024 | date read Jul 14, 2024 | date added Jul 06, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover The Singapore Grip | title The Singapore Grip | author Farrell, J.G. | isbn | isbn13 | asin B003WUYOSO | num pages 586pp | avg rating 3.94 | num ratings 2,218 | date pub 1978 | date pub edition Nov 24, 2010 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review The title comes from a particular sexual intercourse technique, though it's also meant to be a (blackly comic) metaphor (as in truly fucked) for Singa The title comes from a particular sexual intercourse technique, though it's also meant to be a (blackly comic) metaphor (as in truly fucked) for Singapore's fate in the wake of its February 1942 capitulation to the Japanese. The reason for that is, I assume, Singapore itself, which emerges, with all of its collection of uneven racial components, as a character itself. At the top of heap are the British. It's their colony and their creation. It's also in a period (1937 to 1942) of marked British colonial decline. The pompous racist arrogance is still there, but the dry rot is everywhere. It only takes a push from smallish Japanese army to see it all collapse in was to be a British Cannae (without the Roman bounce-back). At the center of the story are the Blanketts, who control one part of a successful rubber trading company. As war clouds gather, rubber is in demand. The company is led by the hard-edged Walter Blankett. His partner, the aging Charles Webb, the original founder of the company, is drifting off into senility. He is often observed pruning his garden in the nude. Walter, at the opening of the novel (1937), is beginning to look for possible suitors for his soon to be marriageable daughter, Joan, who is quite beautiful, but also blossoming into a first class bitch. The set up here is often comedic and reminiscent of Waugh at his most savage. Meanwhile, events in China and Japan are darkening the horizon, and there are ominous rumblings from Europe.Jump forward a few years, and old Webb has died. His son, Matthew, has come to claim his part of the company. Matthew is an idealist and fresh off a disappointing stint working for the League of Nations. It is at this point, despite the satire, that you realize that the template here comes from Tolstoy rather than Waugh. Matthew is basically a Levin-like character, complete with all the tedious speeches and thoughts on how to save the world and its peoples. He becomes (with Walter's approval) the seemingly unlikely object of Joan's interest. Matthew is overweight, wears glasses, and is, at times, an utter bore. But Joan is a chip off the old Blankett block, so her interests, which revolve around controlling Matthew (and thus his interest in the company, are totally mercenary. Throw into this mix Vera Chiang, the offspring (so she says) of a pre-Revolution Russian princess and a Chinese Tea Merchant. Who knows. What we do know is that Vera, with her red hair and Chinese features, is quite beautifully. She is already a survivor of the Japanese. She is also, with her wit and heart, despite the novel's flaws, one of most remarkable literary figures I've encountered over the last year or so.At to the flaws or flaw. Farrell obviously did a lot of research on Singapore and its history. The reader is subjected to long digressions on the labor unrest and British colonial practices. And then there's the complicated Singapore campaign, which was basically a series of British retreats in the face of a quick moving Japanese assault. But Farrell is intent to tell you as much of as he can, through the eyes of generals, soldiers (both sides), as well as the characters of the novel. You almost wished the novel had included campaign maps. The one character, mostly missing though the last few hundred pages, is Vera. The history is there, often numbingly so, leaving me to wonder just how many pages Tolstoy expended on the fall of Moscow is War and Peace. The burning of Singapore seemed endless. The burden of the historical telling seemed to at times to weigh down the story itself. I wanted more economy, while the author was intent on Epic. Whatever. Things do pick up with Farrell punctuating the story with vivid, horrific, and often bizarre moments that are the stuff of great cities falling, no matter the time or place. What sealed that fourth star was the ending, the years-later aftermath, where author and some characters occupy a moment of ease and reflection. Tolstoy would have approved of that gentle touch. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 3 | # times read 1 | date started Jun 22, 2024 | date read Jul 02, 2024 | date added Jun 22, 2024 | owned | format Kindle Edition | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism | title The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism | author Cloud, Stanley * | isbn 0395877539 | isbn13 9780395877531 | asin 0395877539 | num pages 445pp | avg rating 4.34 | num ratings 773 | date pub May 01, 1996 | date pub edition Oct 31, 1997 | Steve's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Outstanding history chronicling the early days of broadcast journalism. It focuses, somewhat, on the magnetic, brilliant figure of Murrow himself, and Outstanding history chronicling the early days of broadcast journalism. It focuses, somewhat, on the magnetic, brilliant figure of Murrow himself, and his ability to spot and/or develop talent pretty much on the fly. Voices were secondary, depth of knowledge was foremost in front Murrow's microphone. And it's a diverse crowd he gathered: the frequently fired (and slightly older than Murror) William Shirer, gloomy, handsome, poetic Eric Severeid, fiery liberal Eric K. Smith, mysterious Winston Burdett (who would turn out to be, briefly, a spy for the Soviets), suave golden boy, Charles Collingwood, and others, all get significant time in this history. World War 2 and its lead up would make them all famous, seemingly part of a team. But at heart they were all individuals, idealistic romantics forged in the Depression years, and all horrified over the rise of the Nazis. The use of radio for hard news was in its early days. As to be expected, these are the days that Cloud and Olson focus on. That said, a good third of the book covers the post-war period (up through Watergate). It is the post-war period where many of "Murrow's boys" struggled. Oh, they still had successes, but they mostly all hated the new medium: television. They didn't understand it, but one could argue they never fully understood radio. Where the conflicts usually arose with their CBS corporate bosses was with the line between informed commentary and "objective" news reporting. There is of course no such thing a truly objective reporting, but an informed reporter can move the listener or viewer closer to the truth of matters. Sometimes the suits will buy it, other times its too uncomfortable for them an their complaining sponsors. Compounding this is the sense that something is lost with TV. Depth of reporting is lost to the visual. Murrow himself, now a "suit," uncannily, was able to make the transition for a while, not totally understanding the new medium, but making it work and making it compelling. He was (as some complained) too late to sounding the alarm regarding Sen. Joseph McCarthy, which is true. But when he struck, he struck deep, helping to the end the terror of McCarthyism. Probably the saddest individual in the book is William L. Shirer. An important figure in those early days, reporting from darkest Berlin. Both he and Murrow understood the stakes. But he was always a pompous man, one who loved the good life. He turned his back on Murrow a few times, and seemed surprised years later when Murrow didn't back him in his fight with CBS. His refusal to reconcile with a dying Murrow years later speaks for itself. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 2 | # times read 1 | date started Jun 13, 2024 | date read Jun 20, 2024 | date added Jun 13, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Standing in the Forest of Being Alive | title Standing in the Forest of Being Alive | author Farris, Katie * | isbn 1948579324 | isbn13 9781948579322 | asin | num pages 50pp | avg rating 4.31 | num ratings 259 | date pub unknown | date pub edition Apr 04, 2023 | Steve's rating liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Jun 08, 2024 | date read Jun 15, 2024 | date added Jun 08, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Absolution | title Absolution | author McDermott, Alice | isbn 0374610487 | isbn13 9780374610487 | asin 0374610487 | num pages 324pp | avg rating 3.80 | num ratings 20,266 | date pub Oct 31, 2023 | date pub edition Oct 31, 2023 | Steve's rating liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review 60 years is a long time to chew over the past in what has been called an "epistolary novel." If that's what McDermott is doing in "Absolution," her la 60 years is a long time to chew over the past in what has been called an "epistolary novel." If that's what McDermott is doing in "Absolution," her latest novel, it is stretching the term to its most elastic understanding. Don't get me wrong, this is a well-written book, but it's a book that turns mostly on two or three really long letters. Seen as letters, they contain an amazing (and amazingly unbelievable) recollection of memories and details, nuance, and other various shades of gray. But you quickly put that concern on the back-burner, because with the McDermott you always have those wonderful sentences to carry you.The story centers on the memories of 80+ Tricia Kelly, as recalled for 60 something Rainey, the daughter of a friend (frenemy?) she knew in 1963 Saigon. That friend, Charlene, is the star of this novel. Pushy, tough, but compassionate, she dominates the stage. She's the Episcopal Martha to Tricia's shy, pre-Vatican II Mary. Together they hatch a plan to sell Barbie outfits that resemble Vietnamese attire. That project is a big hit, with the money earned plowed back into gift baskets to take to hospitals and, eventually, a leper colony. As a charity idea it seems ineffectual, even trivial, but with Charlene you will always get steely resolve. And it is 1963, and there's just not much to safely for American wives of "engineer" husbands. In Tricia's case her husband is probably working for the CIA.Two long sections in the book are worth noting. The opening 30 pages could stand alone as Munro-like short story, as we meet Tricia and Charlene at garden party in Saigon. All the elements of the story to come are there (even Barbie). It's master-class writing filled with nuance and suggestion and portent. The second, the trip to a nearby leper colony run by nuns, is also master-class writing, but of a different sort. The dark vibe here is more along the lines Joseph Conrad ("Heart of Darkness") or Chekhov's "In the Ravine." There is more than a whiff of evil, and it is in fact encountered. Nothing overt happens, but it leaves the reader troubled and disturbed. There is an Enemy.That said, with those two remarkable sections aside, one is left with the connective rest of the novel -- and the questions those parts generate. As I said, 60 years is a long time. And though it's kept somewhat vague, you are left with the sense that this correspondence is in the present day. Taken even further, Tricia and Rainey began their correspondence due to Rainey discovering (via VC Barbie on her neighbor's bookshelf) that her next door neighbor, Dom, was a mutual friend from those Saigon days of both her mother (Charlene) and Tricia. Dom is something of a secular saint. He and his wife have a bunch of kids, and late in life have even adopted a preemie with Down's syndrome (who is now in his early 20s). Dom is as kind and big-hearted as they come. As moving as this is, one has to wonder just how old Dom is (and he's slightly older than Tricia when they meet). Time is not on Dom or McDermott's side here. I hate to seize on such inconsistencies in a work of fiction, but this is serious fiction that demands a certain level of anchored detail. Not slavish, but something more than a vague "long-ago" to accompany the characters and events of the novel. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 4 | # times read 1 | date started Jun 07, 2024 | date read Jun 12, 2024 | date added Jun 07, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government's Search for Alien Life Here―and Out There | title UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government's Search for Alien Life Here―and Out There | author Graff, Garrett M. * | isbn 1982196777 | isbn13 9781982196776 | asin 1982196777 | num pages 544pp | avg rating 3.72 | num ratings 715 | date pub Nov 14, 2023 | date pub edition Nov 14, 2023 | Steve's rating liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Jun 02, 2024 | date read Jun 20, 2024 | date added Jun 02, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover One Corpse Too Many (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #2) | title One Corpse Too Many(Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #2) | author Peters, Ellis | isbn 0446400513 | isbn13 9780446400510 | asin 0446400513 | num pages 214pp | avg rating 4.07 | num ratings 16,903 | date pub Jun 1979 | date pub edition Mar 01, 1994 | Steve's rating it was ok | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review It was OK, maybe even better than OK because Brother Cadfael rocks. That said, I spotted the bad guy the moment he first appeared. Knowing that so ear It was OK, maybe even better than OK because Brother Cadfael rocks. That said, I spotted the bad guy the moment he first appeared. Knowing that so early, the pace became excruciating. Add in to that a couple of love birds that Peters clearly dotes on (under Brother Cadfael's gentle but wise eyes), and you can see a pattern for these emerging for the series. I enjoy how Peters anchors these books in historical fact, so it was particularly odd to see a two-hour duel to the death between two characters, which I would think to be physically impossible, even in a Conan book. Then again, it may have been meant as a clumsy metaphor for the long English civil war that is just starting. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 7 | # times read 1 | date started May 28, 2024 | date read May 30, 2024 | date added May 28, 2024 | owned | format Mass Market Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Carried Away: A Personal Selection of Stories | title Carried Away: A Personal Selection of Stories | author Munro, Alice | isbn 0307264866 | isbn13 9780307264862 | asin 0307264866 | num pages 608pp | avg rating 4.16 | num ratings 1,896 | date pub 2006 | date pub edition Sep 26, 2006 | Steve's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review I applauded Alice Munro's 2013 Nobel win. Looking back, I confess is was probably based on a handful of antologized stories I had read of the years. N I applauded Alice Munro's 2013 Nobel win. Looking back, I confess is was probably based on a handful of antologized stories I had read of the years. Now, those stories were of course perfect stories, so they left a lasting impression on me. Like so many, I hailed her as an English Chekhov, a true master of the short story. After reading a large gathering (17 stories) of Munro's work, I now see that label as misleading or lazy, and a disservice to both writers. Munro and Chekhov are indeed masters, and to some extent they share a similar pacing and tone in their writing, as well as an enormous empathy for their characters, but after that they go their separate ways. One thing that struck me as I read these stories was Munro's gothic streak. It's not presence in all of her stories, but when she employs it, such as in "Vandals" or "Save the Reapers" she can be midnight black. "Reapers" in particular gave me very uncomfortable "Good Man is Hard to Find" flashbacks. Another is Munro's historical sweep in many of her stories. History never takes center stage, but its slippery passing is often present in such varied stories as the "A Wilderness Station" (which opens with a hard frontier and closes with a car ride -- and a confrontation), or "Differently," set in the sixties, with its various infidelities, and ending in ending many years later in bitterness and loneliness, memories still intact, but with once familiar neighborhoods now distant seeming, and friends or ex-friends, no longer there. It's history writ small, but it is history filled with the social convulsions of the times, and the attendant, often life-changing personal choices to be made. But with the darkness, comes some light. It was nice to see this volume conclude with the bittersweet and tender "The Bear Comes Over the Mountain," a story about an older couple facing the hurtles of dementia, duty, memories, good and bad, but with an enduring love that seems both fragile -- and still, somehow, forever. I'm not sure where this particular collection stands among the many Munro compilations, but what caught my attention was that this collection was comprised of Munro's personal selections. If so, it demonstrates a range that surprised and delighted me (see "The Albanian Virgin" or "Carried Away"). It also demonstrates, in a number of settings, a writer who steps beyond the everyday ambiguities of life, and into the even murkier imaginings and choices of her characters. And that is an artistic step that Chekhov did not take. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 6 | # times read 1 | date started May 16, 2024 | date read May 26, 2024 | date added May 16, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover A Morbid Taste for Bones (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #1) | title A Morbid Taste for Bones(Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #1) | author Peters, Ellis | isbn 0446400157 | isbn13 9780446400152 | asin 0446400157 | num pages 197pp | avg rating 3.97 | num ratings 42,379 | date pub Aug 1977 | date pub edition 1994 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review I really enjoyed this first entry in the Brother Cadfael Chronicles. The novel opens with well-seasoned Benedictine (and former Crusader) Brother Cadf I really enjoyed this first entry in the Brother Cadfael Chronicles. The novel opens with well-seasoned Benedictine (and former Crusader) Brother Cadfael working in his vegetable garden at the Shrewsbury Abbey. He is assisted by two novices, Cadfael muses, of some questionable vocation. Different reasons, but just a gut feeling. It wasn't until the end of the book, and I think this gives anything away, that it occurred to me that Ellis Peter (Edith Pargeter) was probably alluding to the wheats and tares If so, it was done deftly, and I appreciated that kind of writing.Overall the novel, as many have noted, progresses somewhat slowly. I had no problem with the pacing, because I see that Peters is recreating an entire world, not unlike Tuchman's "Distant Mirror," that is quite different from our own, but, in Peters' hands totally relatable, especially since Pride, the chief Sin here, is not bound by History. The characters, good and bad and in between, all have depth and dimension. The crime, a murder, seemed a bit fetched when fully revealed, but this is a world drenched in superstition, with belief in miracles and wonder working saints. Brother Cadfael himself is open to miracles, but he also has a sharp and discerning eye. It is also a world rooted in real history, and you see the tensions between the native Welsh, and the foreign Normans. Other fissures, such as languages and differences in belief and Church vs. local custom are also simmering beneath the surface. The neat bow Peters provides for the novel's end is a bit annoying, but one gets the sense this is a wonderful multi-volume pilgrimage. Huzzah for Brother Cadfael. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 4 | # times read 1 | date started May 07, 2024 | date read May 13, 2024 | date added May 07, 2024 | owned | format Mass Market Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Night Boat to Tangier | title Night Boat to Tangier | author Barry, Kevin | isbn 0385540310 | isbn13 9780385540315 | asin 0385540310 | num pages 255pp | avg rating 3.62 | num ratings 19,835 | date pub Jun 20, 2019 | date pub edition Sep 17, 2019 | Steve's rating it was ok | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Meh. Underwhelming. Funny and witty at times, but loose to the point where I just didn't care. I thought I saw somewhere that this reminded them Becke Meh. Underwhelming. Funny and witty at times, but loose to the point where I just didn't care. I thought I saw somewhere that this reminded them Beckett. You have to be kidding me? ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 2 | # times read 1 | date started May 04, 2024 | date read May 07, 2024 | date added May 04, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Orbital | title Orbital | author Harvey, Samantha | isbn 0802161545 | isbn13 9780802161543 | asin 0802161545 | num pages 207pp | avg rating 3.72 | num ratings 6,714 | date pub Dec 05, 2023 | date pub edition Dec 05, 2023 | Steve's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review _Our lives here are inexpressively trivial and momentous at once..._Excepting Virginia Woolf's The Waves, Samantha Harvey's Orbital is the most beautifu _Our lives here are inexpressively trivial and momentous at once..._Excepting Virginia Woolf's The Waves, Samantha Harvey's Orbital is the most beautifully written book I've read this year. And if it wasn't for me finally stumbling across Woolf's masterpiece, Harvey's book would win easily. Interestingly, in an interview Harvey would give on the writing of the novel, Harvey would mention the indirect influence The Waves would have on the writing of Orbital. Different books, to be sure, but they are joined in the beauty of their language and their vision.There isn't much of a plot. A space station, with its four astronauts and two cosmonauts, circles the earth repeatedly. The occupants note the continents, the countries, the oceans (beautifully described, in language closer to pictures from National Geographic than actual prose) on an envoronmentally distressed but still magnificent planet. In the book's first pages, you're reminded with all its cool distance and activity of the space scenes from "2001," but it isn't long before you realize the novel, with its overarching meditative tone has more in common with Andrei Tarkovsky's "Solaris." You are soon drawn in to the inner world of the space travellers through Chie, a Japanese astronaut, who learns of her mother's death back in Japan. The grief of Chie, the remembered life of her mother, are so delicately rendered that it establishes or more personal track than that found in Kubrick's chilly movie. Harvey eventually visits the inner world of each character establishing a pattern for the book. Meanwhile the station hurtles around the earth, a super, island eating storm brews in the Pacific, while the astronauts watch from above with an almost god-like detachment as just another part of their carefully scripted days. It makes for a remarkable and poignant balance that left this reader with the sense that this slender book (200 pages) has the impact of a lasting work of art. Yeah, it's Sci-Fi, but it's Literature first. Highly recommended. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 1 | votes 5 | # times read 1 | date started Apr 30, 2024 | date read May 03, 2024 | date added Apr 30, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Hermit of Peking: The Hidden Life of Sir Edmund Backhouse | title Hermit of Peking: The Hidden Life of Sir Edmund Backhouse | author Trevor-Roper, Hugh | isbn 1780601956 | isbn13 9781780601953 | asin B08P3YBZ6Z | num pages 419pp | avg rating 3.81 | num ratings 210 | date pub Oct 1976 | date pub edition Jan 10, 2021 | Steve's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 2 | date started not set Apr 24, 2024 | date read Apr 30, 2024 Apr 30, 2024 | date added Apr 24, 2024 | owned | format Kindle Edition | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover The Beach Girls | title The Beach Girls | author MacDonald, John D. | isbn 0449132625 | isbn13 9780449132623 | asin 0449132625 | num pages 160pp | avg rating 3.87 | num ratings 463 | date pub 1959 | date pub edition Jan 01, 1987 | Steve's rating liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Decent standalone by MacDonald (and I prefer his standalone efforts to his Travis McGee books). Published in 1959, The Beach Girls takes place at the Decent standalone by MacDonald (and I prefer his standalone efforts to his Travis McGee books). Published in 1959, The Beach Girls takes place at the Stebbins' Marina, a run-down largely friendly place where life-on-the-water friends often gather in the evenings for burgers, beers, and lies. Enter the slightly mysterious but also inept sailor Leo Rice, awkwardly angling his run-down boat into "D" dock. What follows, for the most part, is a chapter by chapter point-of-view from several of the characters. This is pretty neat since you how deftly MacDonald is at creating believable characters (complete with back stories) in the space of ten or so pages, while at the same time moving the story along. The story itself is something of a meant-to-be revenge tale that never gets quite to that point. There's a lizard-like predator who gets his, but you know that going into it. The real fun lies in the characters and the descriptions of late 1950s marina life in Florida. MacDonald's usual concerns over "progress" and its destruction of a way of life and the surrounding environment are present (as they are in most of his novels), but done with a his light touch, incorporation them into the story without preaching at you. The one major flaw in the book, and its considerable, lies in the last 50 pages or so. It's there that MacDonald switches gears, having the story go from chapter by chapter characters to a long section involving an annual birthday party at the marina. At this point the novel loses its momentum. It's as if MacDonald was trying to reach a page count (very possible). The impressive economy displayed in earlier in the book is sacrificed for unnecessary padding. It's not without interest, but you're keenly aware that 20 pages could have been easily dropped. That said I liked how things got resolved, and it had flipping back to the beginning to see how deftly MacDonald had planted the seed for the story's resolution. Probably a must-read for Travis McGee fans since The Beach Girls establishes a recognizable foundation for MacDonald's signature character and series. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 1 | # times read 1 | date started Apr 19, 2024 | date read Apr 22, 2024 | date added Apr 19, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | |

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