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Frankie Reads 2011


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I read Madame Bovary after a friend raved about it, and I didn't enjoy it at all; like poppyshake, I did finish it, but I just thought all the characters were sooo stupid!

 

See, poppyshake, you aren't the only one who's read Madame Bovary and not liked it :D I have a feeling I won't like the characters either, just by the couple of pages that I've read and because of the two of yous comments. If they are anything like in Lady Chatterley's Lover, I'll kill myself.

 

We should start a support group ... 'people who hate Madame Bovary and aren't afraid to say so' :lol:

 

I haven't actually read it yet; I'm planning to read it in the next month or so. I'm very worried now that I know both of you hated it. :(

 

Honestly don't worry Kylie, we are in the minority .. a lot of people love it .. and you might read a different version to me (the one that everyone raves about .. I read the one that makes you want to stick pins in your eyes :D .. don't get that one.)

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Honestly don't worry Kylie, we are in the minority .. a lot of people love it .. and you might read a different version to me (the one that everyone raves about .. I read the one that makes you want to stick pins in your eyes :D .. don't get that one.)

 

I just snorted so hard at this comment I choked! :lol:

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That's very nice of you. :friends0: Too few people go to the effort of complimenting good customer service, but they're all very quick to complain. Mum and I received awesome service at a framing shop a couple of weeks ago and I want to ring and mention the awesome sales girl to someone but I can't find a number or website for their head office. :rolleyes:

 

Is the framing shop there were you live? Maybe you could drive by sometime and tell them in person. I'm sure they'd be absolutely delighted! :)

 

We should start a support group ... 'people who hate Madame Bovary and aren't afraid to say so' :lol:

 

I'd join! :D I'm looking forward to our monthly meetings of Bovary bashing :giggle2:

 

 

 

Honestly don't worry Kylie, we are in the minority .. a lot of people love it .. and you might read a different version to me (the one that everyone raves about .. I read the one that makes you want to stick pins in your eyes :D .. don't get that one.)

 

Haha :haha: I wish I had the good version, I hate books that make me hate reading.

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I know! I couldn't resist, I had to write their customer service and tell them how pleased I was :)

 

Hi Frankie I am so glad that they did that for you. Now I can perhaps look for some out of print Norwegian books I have been Jonesing for a long time, or at least send an email in English to enquire. Great stuff !

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Um... what would you do with out of pring Norwegian books? :)

 

Find someone Norwegian to translate them for me. The books I want were written by Norwegian army officers after the war, talking about the events of the German invasion in 1940; I have a "thing" about Norway in general and that time in particular. The stories of brave people like Anne Margarete Bang at Hegra... Have you seen the film Max Manus Frankie?

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Find someone Norwegian to translate them for me. The books I want were written by Norwegian army officers after the war, talking about the events of the German invasion in 1940; I have a "thing" about Norway in general and that time in particular. The stories of brave people like Anne Margarete Bang at Hegra... Have you seen the film Max Manus Frankie?

 

Ah, now I understand :) I haven't seen Max Manus, but if you're into all things Norway/Norwegian, I've got to ask: Have you seen the movie Elling? It is excellentomundo! It's based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen's novel Blood Brothers which is in itself a really hilarious novel. Comes with my recommendation, the movie and the book.

 

I've had a course on Norwegian at the uni but it was just one course. Did you know that Norwegian, Danish and Swedish are all a bit samish kind of languages? So you could even get a Swede who's into languages to get the job done for you, if you're having problems finding a Norwegian :)

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I suppose... but I'd already seen the list once, how was I supposed to know that seeing it the second time would make me want to get all over it?

 

I really liked how it's divided into different sections. And eventhough it's only half as long a list as the 1001 Books list, it seems a lot shorter because of the different sections. One could go through one section and start another and soon enough one has completed the list! :cool:

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Hi frankie! I think you asked me somewhere how I was getting on with Gilead? Just wanted to let you know, despite really not wanting to read it and only making an effort because it is one of my book groups choices this month, I was so impressed by the sample I read (probably about 30 pages) that I've had to buy the book. I haven't got any farther yet, as I'm still reading another book, and I want to read Everything Is Illuminated after that, but I think I'll probably make a start on it again next week sometime. The narrators voice is so well written, and if it carries on as it starts, it's going to be a great book.

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Thanks chesilbeach for remembering! I'm quite surprised that you found it so enjoyable, I thought it might not be that good but I was curious about it anyways. I borrowed it from the library a couple of weeks ago but still wasn't sure if I'd give it a try, but now I think I will! I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts about it after you've finished it :)

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I was thinking about different reading list books after trying to post on Kaiser's thread and I came up with this idea: Do you know what we should do?! We should make a BCF Recommended Reading List book! We could choose books which have been most read and loved on this forum and vote on which should go on the list and then make our own reviews of the books or just choose the best written reviews made for the books here on the forum! Ooooh!

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I was thinking about different reading list books after trying to post on Kaiser's thread and I came up with this idea: Do you know what we should do?! We should make a BCF Recommended Reading List book! We could choose books which have been most read and loved on this forum and vote on which should go on the list and then make our own reviews of the books or just choose the best written reviews made for the books here on the forum! Ooooh!

 

That's an excellent idea, Frankie! I love it :D.

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I really liked how it's divided into different sections. And eventhough it's only half as long a list as the 1001 Books list, it seems a lot shorter because of the different sections. One could go through one section and start another and soon enough one has completed the list! :cool:

I thought about doing this one (unofficially), but there are too many books I know I won't read on it, which is a shame.

 

Good luck. :)

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Thanks Frankie I will check out Elling

 

 

> if you're having problems finding a Norwegian :)<

 

I have one locked in the basement that I feed on bread and water :lurker: I hope he doesn't die before I get hold of the books. :animal:

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Oh I just looked at Elling. Ya totally sold me on it. But I think I will watch the film (original Norwegian version) before I read any of the books.

 

Was there ever an American version in the end? I DETEST it so much when Hollywood has to make an American version of a successful film and usually mess it up :irked:

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I suppose... but I'd already seen the list once, how was I supposed to know that seeing it the second time would make me want to get all over it?

 

I really liked how it's divided into different sections. And eventhough it's only half as long a list as the 1001 Books list, it seems a lot shorter because of the different sections. One could go through one section and start another and soon enough one has completed the list! :cool:

 

I'm surprised you didn't want to 'get all over it' the first time you saw it!

 

I'm glad you're tackling it now though. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I thought about doing this one (unofficially), but there are too many books I know I won't read on it, which is a shame.

 

Good luck.

 

Thanks Janet :) May I ask which are the books you wouldn't be reading? Or are you thinking more in the lines of a particular genre that doesn't appeal to you? I know it's not very appealing to just start reading a book that's on a list, especially when one has so many books they've chosen themselves to read and cannot wait to get into. However, now that I've been doing the Rory List for so long, it's gotten easier for me and now I find myself reading books I wouldn't think to pick myself but which I've found were definitely worth the read.

 

 

I'm surprised you didn't want to 'get all over it' the first time you saw it!

 

I'm glad you're tackling it now though.

 

Yeah I know what you mean, I can't remember what the reason was (if there ever was one) behind my not choosing to go with it the first time I looked at the list. Beats me! I'm really looking forward to getting into it now, although I must confess, the Rory list is still my first priority. I'm particularly curious about the science fiction, travel writing, and historic non-fiction genres because those are the types of books I don't normally read. I can't wait to get smarter :cool: I'm also curious about the (auto)biographical section, there are so many biographies on the list that I've never even heard of and wouldn't pick myself.

 

Thanks Frankie I will check out Elling

I have one locked in the basement that I feed on bread and water I hope he doesn't die before I get hold of the books.

 

A whole new side of vodkafan is illuminating... I'm scared :lol:

 

 

Oh I just looked at Elling. Ya totally sold me on it. But I think I will watch the film (original Norwegian version) before I read any of the books.

 

Was there ever an American version in the end? I DETEST it so much when Hollywood has to make an American version of a successful film and usually mess it up

 

Yep, you can go ahead and watch the movie before getting into the books, I did it that way myself and it turned out fine. I actually didn't even know the movie was based on a couple of books before I watched it, so there you go :) The movie is totally excellent and hilarious. The two main characters are definitely unique. The books are really funny too. I so hope you like them, you have to let me know what you thought of the movie/books when you get to them :)

 

I don't know it they've made an American version, but I wouldn't watch it even if they did. Hollywood movies have their own appeal, but the non-Hollywood movies always have a more real and unique feel to them. I love how the movie's not in English, but then again I love all things Nordic :)

 

I'm wayyy behind my book reviews so I thought I'd give them a go now.

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Everything Is Illuminated

by Jonathan Safran Foer

 

NB: This is the same 'review' I wrote in the Everything Is Illuminated -thread in the fiction section.

 

I've never read anything by Jonathan Safran Foer before but I was curious about this novel and read it for the Rory Gilmore reading group challenge. Just like chesilbeach, I first struggled with the language, while I was reading Alex's letters to Jonathan in English. I actually read the novel in Finnish and initially I thought that the translation was very poor and the translator had a weird choice of verbs and adjectives. I discussed this problem with fellow Roryites and found out that their English editions were just as wacky, and I realised that that's how the author had meant it: Alex's English is not perfect and this shows because he's writing to Alex in this foreign language.

 

Personally, I enjoyed the parts where Jonathan, Alex and Alex's Grandfather and his dog were travelling in Ukraine. The language is so quirky and it made me laugh out loud so many times. I also loved reading how two different cultures and people's cultural traits clash and how these people are going to work their way around it. For example,

Jonathan is a vegetarian and he has problems ordering food in the meat-loving restaurants/hotels in Ukraine. Alex and his Grandpa are embarrassed that Jonathan is making such a 'scene' about his eating habits wherever they go that one morning they decide to go and eat breakfast without him, leaving Jonathan sleeping in his hotel room. When Jonathan gets up and wants to go for breakfast, Alex says that there's no need for that, they have too much to do during the day that they should skip the breakfast and start they're journey

:D

 

While I enjoyed reading about Jonathan's ancestors, I confess I sometimes had a hard time putting the whole picture together. I found it difficult to remember the names of his relatives, and how they were all related to each other: who is who's predecessor and so on. I even contemplated reading the history part on it's own straight after I had finished the novel, to achieve a better understanding of it.

 

I've had a couple of Jewish literature classes in uni and eventhough the stories are always sad and terrible, I still like reading them because that history is still such a significant factor in so many people's lives and it's still a topical issue for so many. It will never go away and it will never be forgotten.

 

Thinking back, what perhaps struck me most about the novel is how close Alex becomes with his Grandpa during their journey and how Grandpa confides in him about his past at the end. This is especially intriguing when we see how different Grandpa's relationship is with his own son, Alex's father. Sometimes a mutual understanding in a family skips a generation and I wonder why that is.

 

Overall, I'm really happy I read the book as I really liked it, and I will definitely read Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

 

3/5

Edited by frankie
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Heart of Darkness

by Joseph Conrad

 

Blurb: "'The horror! The horror!' Set in an atmosphere of mystery and menace, 'Heart of Darkness' tells the story of Marlow's journey up the Congo River to meet the remarkable Mr Kurtz. It reveals Conrad at the height of his powers as a writer of great vividness, intensity, and sophistication....' 'The four tales [one being Heart of Darkness] variously appraise the glamour, folly, and rapacity of imperial adventure. All are concerned with illusions and all, in their diverse ways, display the brilliance of Joseph Conrad, creator of exotic vistas, adventurous narratives, and acutely ironic insights into human nature and the bases of civilization."

 

Thoughts: This was a mandatory read for English Literature during my first years at the uni, and I admit, I never read it back then. I tried once or twice, with no luck. I found the first few pages incredibly tedious! Years have now passed, and all this while I've thought of reading the book one day, having bought it once and knowing fully well that it's on the Rory List and the 1001 Books list. I've started reading it numerous times but have exhausted after only a few pages. When I finally stumbled upon a Finnish copy of the novel, I decided the time had come, borrowed it and forced myself to read it. It's quite a short read, so the task didn't seem too daunting, although knowing that I've been trying to read the book for so many years, having never succeeded, definitely added some pressure.

 

I'm not into novels about sea or ships for some reason. And I'm definitely not into imperialism. Aren't I in for a treat with this one... :rolleyes: Let's just say I did manage to finish it. All the talk about seamanship, the travel, the scenery bored me. I kept wishing Marlow would get on with his story and find Kurtz, the character people go on and on about. The man is legendary, a myth-like figure. I thought to myself, 'C'mon, find him, meet him, and get over it'. And that's pretty much all I have to say about the book. It got a little more interesting towards the end, where I got to either meet Kurtz or not (no spoilers here!), so it wasn't a total waste. Just not my type of book, at all. Why it made it's way to the English Lit class, I have no idea. Laa di daa.

 

According to goodreads.com I seem to have given it 3/5 which seems incredibly weird for me because I gave Everything Is Illuminated the same rating and I much preferred reading EII. I guess I liked HoD more than I can now remember. What a weird book and what weird stuff going on. The Horror! The Horror!!

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A Pale View of Hills

by Kazuo Ishiguro

 

Blurb: "Haunted by her daughter's suicide, Etsuko, a Japanese widow living in England, retreats into the past ... Her reminiscences take her back to a hot, insect-ridden summer in Nagasaki, where she and her friends struggled to rebuild their lives after the war. But when her recollections turn to her strange friendship with Sachiko - a wealthy woman reduced to vagrancy - and her little girl, Mariko, the memories take on a disturbing cast. Past and present become fused in a narrative of disturbing poignancy."

 

Thoughts: My first ever Ishiguro. I bought this book a few years ago from a flee market, probably because some people on the forum had read Ishiguro and because I knew it was on the 1001 list. I've also read very few Japanese authors and I thought I'd like to give it a try. I had no expectations of any kind so I could just start reading it, being a complete tabula rasa. I enjoyed Ishiguro's style immensely, it seemed very simple and yet rich, and somehow very descriptive and insightful without being seemingly so. I was fascinated about the little titbits here and there regarding the Japanese culture; for example, a Japanese person taking off their shoes when going inside someone's home or putting them on when leaving was mentioned at least three times, without being underlined. To me it was something I could relate to because in Finland people take their shoes off when they go in (not in public places though, of course). A very endearing little detail.

 

I also relished the dialogue between different Japanese characters: they seem to be a lot more courteous and polite than what I'm used to, and it almost seemed like there are little patterns to their dialogue. One must not show pride in oneself and if one is complimented, one should not seem too pleased by it and the other person might have to reinforce the compliment. I especially enjoyed Etsuko's conversations with her father-in-law, they displayed a mutual understanding, respect and affection.

 

The story itself feels rather haunting. Why has Etsuko's eldest daughter, Keiko, killed herself? What happened to Etsuko's husband? And what is the real story behind Sachiko and her daughter Mariko? The story unfolds rather slowly, and at least for me, the ending is ambigous and it has left me wondering about the what really happened, many days after finishing the novel. Very gripping.

 

On a sidenote: I became very curious about the Japanese history and it's involvement in the war, and I actually googled some things and read about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on wikipedia. I was utterly revolted by it and cannot for the life of me understand how USA justified it. It made me really sad and even ashamed of belonging to such a humankind.

 

I'm looking forward to reading other novels by Ishiguro and am happy to say I have The Remains of the Day on my bookshelf.

 

4/5

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Night

by Elie Wiesel

 

From Amazon: In Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, a scholarly, pious teenager is wracked with guilt at having survived the horror of the Holocaust and the genocidal campaign that consumed his family. His memories of the nightmare world of the death camps present him with an intolerable question: how can the God he once so fervently believed in have allowed these monstrous events to occur? There are no easy answers in this harrowing book, which probes life's essential riddles with the lucid anguish only great literature achieves. It marks the crucial first step in Wiesel's lifelong project to bear witness for those who died.

 

Thoughts: I picked up this book because it was on the Rory list. I enjoy reading Jewish literature but for some reason I had somewhere gotten the impression that Wiesel was hard and maybe even a bit boring to read, so I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. As I started the novel I quickly learned otherwise. I don't really know what to say about Wiesel's personal style, because I was too engrossed in the actual story, which I found utterly harrowing. No matter how many novels I read about Jews and the holocaust, it never becomes any easier or less surprising to hear of all the different kinds of ways the Jews were treated. There are so many countless ways the humans can be cruels towards each other and it's really disturbing, to say the least. I'll not say more about the novel, except that it was a great one and it deserves and needs to be read again and again, with every passing generation.

Sidenote: I wikied Elie Wiesel and found out that he was attacked in 2007 by one Eric Hunt, a Holocaust denier, who planned on kidnapping Wiesel and forcing the 'truth' (that Holocaust is a big fat lie) out of him. Luckily Wiesel got out of it uninjured and Hunt was arrested and convicted (for not too long, in my opinion). I then found Eric Hunt's blog and I can't even begin to describe what kind of stuff he's written there. I was outraged when I was reading it and I had to stop for my own sake. It's unimaginable how these kinds of people come to live.

 

As for the novel, I give it a well-deserved 5/5.

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The Kiss

by Kathryn Harrison

 

From Random House: In this acclaimed and groundbreaking memoir, Kathryn Harrison transforms into a work of art the darkest passage imaginable in a young woman’s life: an obsessive love affair between father and daughter that begins when she, at age twenty, is reunited with the father whose absence had haunted her youth. Exquisitely and hypnotically written, like a bold and terrifying dream, The Kiss is breathtaking in its honesty and in the power and beauty of its creation. A story both of transgression and of family complicity in breaking taboo, The Kiss is also about love—about the most primal of love triangles, the one that ensnares a child between mother and father.

 

Thoughts: I picked up this book at the library because Augusten Burroughs, in his book Possible Side Effects, was talking about it and wanted to buy it to all his friends. When I found the book at the library, I had no idea what it was going to be about, so I was a bit taken aback when I read the blurb.

 

The Kiss is a beautifully written memoir of a highly disturbing childhood and an equally disturbing theme. Kathryn Harrison grows up living with her mother in her grandparents' house. Kathryn's mother gave birth at a young age and partly because of that was not mature enough to fully take care of her, but we soon find out that there's more to Kathryn's mother's detachment and unloving behavior towards her daughter. Kathryn yearns for her love and recognition but realises that she is in a way invisible and worthless to her mother, which leads to all kinds of complications when growing up. Her father left them when Kathryn was still a baby, and he visits her only two times before she turns to 20. Kathryn's grandparents seem no better in raising her, although her grandfather was very loving and caring towards her when she was a young child. When she started to develope into a young woman, he withdrew fomr her, thinking it is not appropriate for a man to be close to a young woman, eventhough they are family. This leaves Kathryn very fragile and wanting nothing more than to be loved by someone.

 

When she turns 20, she meets her father for the first time in 10 years and her father, who is a priest and is married with children, becomes disturbingly infatuated with her, believing she belongs to him, flesh, blood and soul. At first Kathryn is thrilled by it, being given the love that she's been looking for for so long, but when his father is about to leave to go home, they kiss goodbye at the airport, like his father says is normal, and the kiss transforms into a frenchie on his part, leaving Kathryn disturbed, afraid, confused, everything of the sort. Little by little their relationship is turned into an incestuous one. There are a few graphic details but Kathryn does not go too far with it and push the envelope, but rather writes about her feelings and thoughts about what has happened and what it all means.

 

It is rather obvious that Kathryn's mother has her own issues, and that her father is also mentally disturbed, perhaps narcissistic. I would be very interested in hearing what became of him, if Kathryn reported him, and so on.

 

This is a very disturbing read and it's definitely not for everyone. 4/5

Edited by frankie
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Great reviews Frankie :) I'm definitely interested to read Elie Wiesel's 'Night' .. I don't think you can ever read too much about the Holocaust .. we should learn from it but never ever forget it. I've read quite a lot of stuff about it too but it never ceases to shock and sadden me that human beings can behave like that to one another. As for Holocaust deniers .. words fail me. I suppose all those pictures of the death camps, and the first hand accounts of the people that survived them, and the written testimony's from those that helped liberate them was all just fabricated ... yes, of course :angry: .. and it's just typical that in order to refute it, the deniers would resort to intimidation and violence. I wouldn't be able to go on his website .. I'd get too angry and disillusioned.

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