pontalba

Finished Fire in the Blood by Irene Nemirovsky. I have to give this one a 5/5, the ending while expected came about in an unexpected manner very abruptly. I love it when the last line of a book makes my mouth drop open in surprise.

Finished Suite Francaise...from what is written in the appendices and the Preface to the French Edition it would have been better than the pieces we are left with. Knowing from those how she had the next parts figured in her head helps, but after all we are left with half of a book. There is no getting around that fact. The letters between herself and various friends are heart breaking, but more so the letters between her husband and others after she'd been arrested. No one knew where she'd been taken, no one knew she had been killed in the camps. Then her husband was arrested as well and shared her fate. Neither knew of the others ending. Their two daughters were shunted around the country being hidden by various persons at risk of their own lives. This book would not be so remarkable except for the circumstances surrounding its author. It is a well written expose of humankind under terrible stresses, the good, the bad, and the ugly so to speak, but her fate overshadows the whole thing for me. Her insight was sharp and accurate. So sharp and accurate I cannot imagine why she did not leave the country. She could have, it was possible. She consciously chose not to. I cannot say how that upsets me.

I'd have to agree that they are dated a bit. Has anyone read The Life of Ian Fleming by John Pearson? He was a fascinating man, with a varied and interesting life himself. I first read them when I was a teenager, but they don't age that well.

I've read Hawaii and Centenial by Michener and enjoyed them throughly. I particularly appreciated the way JM begins with the formation of the land itself, and then the animals that inhabit that land, and then the humans come in.... I haven't tried Chesapeake so don't know if it is the same difference or not. There was one of his I tried and could not get into, but can't remember the name.....The Source, that was it. Didn't care for that. To find that last name I Googled, and I had no idea he'd written so many!! James Michener

Those are two that I have read, and I loved them. The scope is amazing, comparative to James Michener. I have the Ireland series, yet to be read.

I've read two James Lee Burke this month and would like to continue, but they are so intense that I don't think I could. I cannot recommend this author highly enough. I am working my way through the series about New Orleans detective Dave Robicheaux. Heck of a complicated guy. Burke's writing is lyrical, true and some of the most beautiful I have read.

I really wanted to reread this, but time just got away from me and I couldn't fit it in somehow. Drat. Some of the sections were slow, to me at any rate, but the best thing was that if you waited a bit and kept reading, the next section would more than make up for it. I don't think I have read another book quite like it and am very happy to have done so, although I know it'll take a reread to fully appreciate the connections.

Actually the producer of the Bond films did not use the story, he only bought the title and rights to the book. The Spy Who Loved Me film

Just finished my first Faulkner. Absalom, Absalom! Absolutely amazing twist back on itself structure that is beautifully done. I had tried As I Lay Dying last year and couldn't get into it, I've read that A,A is one of Faulkner's most difficult, but whether it is or not, it is well worth any effort one puts into it.

"Now you will ask me why I stayed there. I could say, I do not know, could give ten thousand paltry reasons, all untrue, and be believed:--that I stayed for food, who could have combed ditch-banks and weed-beds, made and worked a garden as well at my own home in town as here, not to speak of neighbors, friends whose alms I might have accepted, since necessity has a way of obliterating from our conduct various delicate scruples regarding honor and pride; that I stayed for shelter, who had a roof of my own in fee simple now indeed; or that I stayed for company, who at home could have had the company of neighbors who were at least of my own kind, who had known me all my life and even longer in the sense that they thought not only as I thought but as my forbears thought, while here I had for company one woman whom, for all she was blood kin to me, I did not understand and, if what my observation warranted me to believe was true, I did not wish to understand, and another who was so foreign to me and to all that I was that we might have been not only of different races (which we were), not only of different sexes (which we were not), but of different species, speaking no language which the other understood, the very simple words with which we were forced to adjust our days to one another being even less inferential of thought or intention than the sounds which a beast and a bird might make to each other. But I don't say any of these." Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner

Just finished Secret Asset by Stella Rimington. Interesting woman, interesting book. The only reason I only gave it a 3.5/5 rating is on account of some predictability and tipping her hand too soon as to a crucial identity. Rimington was appointed Director General of MI5, the first woman to hold the post. She worked in Britian's Security Service for almost 30 years. IOW she knows her beans and writes a good story, moves it along at a fast pace. She has written an autobiography Open Secret which is on my wish list.

Just finished Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. Interesting, twisty well thought out mystery that surprised me. Gibson has the reputation for futuristic science fiction, but this is not, it is present time. There is a quote I can't find right this second...something to the effect of..... The future is here, just not everywhere yet. I liked that.

I enjoyed the series although the last few have not been as well put together or maybe I just tired of the format. Kinsey does grow on you as Grafton builds the character book by book. Some are better than others. The last one I read S is for Silence....I didn't finish. I just got bogged down in confusing minutia and got to the point I simply did not care. All that said, I've pre-ordered T is for...can't remember what at the moment. Once more into the breach.....

That sounds like the vibe I got at the time. Agree fully on Lord of the Flies. /shiver/ Thanks.

I seem to remember having picked it up many years ago and only reading a few pages. I forget now what put me off, but I have never finished, well, I hardly started actually.

Have you read A Town Called Alice ? Takes place during and after WWII, quite intense in places. Excellent read though.

Oh! I'd forgotten about The Great Escape...one of the best chase scenes I've seen. What a cast!

So far this month I've finished Gone With the Wind, a rerereread for me, but I had not read it in 20[ish] years, so looking at it with different, hopefully more mature eyes was interesting. I guess I saw more people for what they were and not what they claimed they were. I just finished Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. A story of a girl's struggle with the pre-WWII "system" of raising and training geisha in Japan. It tells the story in a rather low key manner, telling but not dwelling on the seamier aspects of training, and quite honest about the ins and outs of geisha reality. It is an ultimately satisfying love story. About three-quarters of the way through I found it a bit on the tedious side, but the last 12 pages of the book more than make up for any irritation or tedium I may have temporarily felt. For me at least it was BAM! I'd like to read Geisha of Gion sometime soon as the Gion district was the backdrop for Memoirs of a Geisha. It is in my stack.

I loved the film too, and it was accurate as far as it went. It would be a wonderful mini-series, but who on earth could play Scarlett and Rhett?!

AUGUST -- Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell 959 pages I cannot count the number of times I've read this all or in part, the first being when I was about 15. I love the book. I hadn't read it in about 20 years, and the difference in my perspective from my 30's to my 50's is marked. There are nuances I totally missed before and did not appreciate. It is the story of a way of life that is literally gone with the wind, and the repercussions for all involved... Some may find parts they consider "politically incorrect" language wise. Well it was what it was at the time, and that is the way people spoke, and to misrepresent them would not be fair either. Margaret Mitchell grew up hearing the stories of the Confederate survivors, she knew these people and lived with them for all of her life. Her portrayal is true and honest. Highly recommended.

Oh, that's a hard question. Changes from time to time for me, but these are a few "I'll watch anytime" favorites..... Casablanca Arch of Triumph [Charles Boyer] The Lover Gone With the Wind The Sean Connery/Timothy Dalton/Daniel Craig - Bond movies Lolita [either version] The Day the Earth Stood Still [Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal] The Count of Monte Cristo [Gerard Depardieu version] That Old Feeling [bette Midler]

As far as I know there are no small independent book sellers around this area. We have only one second hand book store as well as the other one closest to me has moved to another small town about 50 miles from here. Of course there are some in the New Orleans area, but that is about 50 miles from me in the other direction. We don't even have all the large chains, Books-A-Million being the closest and a Barnes & Noble a little farther. So in rural or close to rural places there isn't much choice but to buy on line for those fortunate enough to be on line. I miss going into a book store and actually holding the book in hand, examining it, etc, but you take what you can get and count oneself lucky.

I've read mostly his stand alone books and only one Bolitar. He has an interesting and twisty way of writing, and I have enjoyed all of them. I do find he has a bit of a pattern, but that doesn't take away from the story IMO. I think one of the things I like about him is that his hero is always someone that has truly loved, and Coben has a knack for putting that across with out being flowery and too mushy. Just plainly states the facts. Of course that is in addition to a great mystery.

Liz, I can only say Cloud Atlas is the only Mitchell I have read so far, two others in the tbr stack though. So hopefully order doesn't matter.

I see your point Kell, but otoh, reading the one satisfied my curiosity about the HP books, so I doubt I'll go any further. I'd hoped for some spark, but as you say we can't all like everything, it'd make for a pretty dull forum if we did.