By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, by Elizabeth Smart. Pub 1945 I originally had somewhat positive hopes for this one, as I do usually enjoy a more lyrical/poetic narrative. This was not that. Lyrical and poetical yes, narrative not at all. There are only a few concrete incidents in the entire story (and I... Continue Reading →
Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Book report #11 (2022)
Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Pub 2021 I selected this book as a Christmas present, based on my recent reads of other Ishiguro works. Oddly, I have not read his most famous, The Remains of the Day, but I suppose that will happen eventually. Klara is an android/robot, known in the novel's world as... Continue Reading →
Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell. Book report #9 (2022)
Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell. Pub 1949. As I saw on Twitter recently, satire writers are having a hard time these days keeping up with reality. In the current state of the world, reality seems like it must be satire, and writers have difficulty making up things that are too absurd. There are also plenty... Continue Reading →
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. Book report #2 (2022)
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. Pub 2014 I've wanted to read this one for a while, and so was glad to have the new prize category to push it to the top of the tsundoku pile. This book was excellent - complex, well researched, engaging characters, surprising twists, and clever connections.... Continue Reading →
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Book report #26 (2021)
The Scarlet Letter: A Romance, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Pub 1850 When I read this book back in 1983, it was under duress - a high school requirement. This novel was part of what we referred to as the 'fallen women' section of Grade 12 english, a trilogy of reading that including this, Doctor Zhivago, and Tess... Continue Reading →
Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf. Book report #29 (2020)
Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf. Pub 1925 Another of the should-reads and never-read-agains, I sought this out specifically for the pre-1925 category. Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway is having a party tonight. We see the entirety of the day told in considerable detail and meet many people in her circle and beyond. The perspective shifts throughout as... Continue Reading →
Dubliners, by James Joyce. Book report #22 (2020)
Dubliners, by James Joyce. Pub 1914I've had this slim old book for many years now, and since "a book you feel you ought to read" is one of this year's categories and Joyce is one of those canonical authors one feels should be read, I decided to add it to the vacation library. I was... Continue Reading →
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston. Book report #7 (2019)
Vacations makes such a lovely time to read... (books 7, 8 and 9 all read on holiday.) Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston. Pub 1937 It took me a bit to get into this book, partly because of the colloquial dialogue but more because of the main character -... Continue Reading →
Wild Dogs, by Helen Humphreys. Book report #20 (2018)
Wild Dogs, by Helen Humphreys. Pub 2004 I’ve read almost all of Helen Humphreys’ novels, but strangely not this one. Strange because this one was specifically recommended to me. It was in the early fall of 2008 (I think). I was visiting my friends Joan and Pete on the Sunshine Coast for the Pender Harbour... Continue Reading →
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, by Alice Munro. Book report #21 * (2017)
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. By Alice Munro, Pub 2001 I have enjoyed the few Alice Munro stories that I’ve read – usually in back issues of The New Yorker – and so decided to take the plunge with this one. I was not disappointed. Each story has a unique twist and tension, well drawn... Continue Reading →
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