Hemingway is one of those writers I’ve always felt that I ought to have read, but all that I’ve managed are a few short stories. I enjoyed those well enough to think that his novels would be worth a look, but not so much that I felt driven to leap right into one. Finally, I’ve crossed [...]
Archive for November, 2008
The Sun Also Rises
Posted in Classics, Fiction on November 29, 2008 | 7 Comments »
Persepolis: the Story of a Childhood
Posted in Graphic novels, Memoir on November 28, 2008 | 1 Comment »
A month or so ago, Teresa wrote a great review of Marjane Satrapi’s Complete Persepolis. Now that I’ve read the first of the two volumes, I can say that I completely agree with her observations, so go read her review. Go on. Shoo. You can come right back.
Done? Okay. So I won’t waste time summarizing [...]
Life Class
Posted in Contemporary, Fiction, Historical Fiction on November 28, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Paul Tarrant is an artist. Or is he? He doesn’t come from the artistic background many of his peers boast, and he can’t seem to find his way as a painter. His technique is a sorry mess, and he lacks all confidence, particularly as compared with Kit Neville — avant-garde golden-haired boy of the Slade [...]
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (Audio)
Posted in Audiobooks, Food, Nonfiction on November 25, 2008 | 4 Comments »
I’ve mentioned here before that I try to eat local food whenever possible, but it’s not always possible. Vegetables, fruit, and meat are available from reasonably local sources, but milk and grains are a challenge. So I was interested in reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life and learning how Barbara Kingsolver and her family [...]
Kiss Me, Deadly (film)
Posted in Bookish films on November 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Just a quick update: last night, I saw the film that was made from Kiss Me, Deadly, the Mickey Spillane novel I read a couple of weeks back. I’d heard that the two versions were quite different from one another, so I wanted to get to the book first, and I’m glad I did, though [...]
The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye
Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction on November 24, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Is there anyone who doesn’t love fairy tales? They are some of our first stories, and by reading them (or hearing them) we learn what stories should be like: that wealth and beauty don’t guarantee happiness; that kindness to all kinds of creatures will help keep you safe in a dangerous world; that loyalty to [...]
Daphne
Posted in Fiction on November 22, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I must begin this review with a few embarrassing confessions: (1) The only works by Daphne du Maurier that I’ve ever read are Rebecca (about a half dozen times) and “The Birds.” (2) The only works by any of the Brontes that I’ve read are Jane Eyre (about a dozen times), Villette, Wuthering Heights, and [...]
Gemma Bovery
Posted in Fiction, Graphic novels on November 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Gemma Bovery is fed up. She’s fed up with her husband Charlie’s tiny London apartment, fed up with his nagging ex-wife and his horrible children, fed up with the fact that she gave up a promising career for a Simple Life ideal that turned out to be rather grubby. So when she inherits a nice [...]
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Posted in Fiction on November 21, 2008 | 9 Comments »
If you’ve seen the movie version of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, you have a dim idea of what this book is about. It tells the story of Holly Golightly, a free-spirited Manhattan call girl—or at least it tells bits of her story as seen by the unnamed narrator, a writer who lives upstairs from her.
At first, [...]
101 Best Scenes Ever Written
Posted in Abandoned, Nonfiction on November 21, 2008 | 2 Comments »
101 Best Scenes Ever Written: A Romp Through Literature for Writers and Readers would perhaps be better titled How to Write a Great Scene: The Barnaby Conrad Way! The first title belongs to a fun book about books. The second, an infomercial. I’d pick up the first book; the second, no way. I would probably [...]
