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pontalba

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Everything posted by pontalba

  1. Rivers by Michael Farris Smith 3/5 The Gulf Coast of the U.S. is being inundated with constant hurricanes, ever increasing in ferocity. Finally, in desperation, the government declares anything 90 miles North of the coastline to be a wasteland, lost, uninhabitable. Mandatory evacuation is called, and a time limit is set for residents to leave. They must leave their homes, and probably most of their belongings. Scary stuff. Even scarier is that some decided to stay. A plethora of reasons, some honest, some crooked as the day is long. There is no law. Only "might makes right". This is the story of one man that stays, and the few innocents, and the very bad guys he encounters. I'd have given a higher rating, but I felt the story dragged a bit too much in the middle, but it did pick up beautifully and had a bit of a twisty ending. All in all I can easily recommend this to someone that enjoys post apocalyptic stories.
  2. The Black-Eyed Blonde: A Philip Marlowe Novel by Benjamin Black 4.5/5 It's been decades since I've read any Philip Marlowe, but the similarities are more than striking. Black/Banville brings the detective to life, beautifully. A disillusioned detective, a beautiful damsel in distress, slippery gangsters populate, and move about in this Marlowe recreation in more or less the expected fashion. The prose is toned-down Banville, and as usual, gorgeous and descriptive in an unobtrusive manner. I don't think I can put it anywhere near as accurately as the New York Times review by Janet Maslin, so I'll insert that link here. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/boo... Recommended.
  3. I've finished Rivers by Michael Farris Smith and The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black. Finally. We've been glomming on Mad Men, and have finished all 6 seasons.
  4. Well, It's been a while since I read it, and the details have faded, but I believe there is a shift ahead. I have to admit that sometimes pure stubbornness is the only thing that kept me reading.
  5. I really didn't know how they managed it, I'd read about how the workers have schedules, and quotas etc, and didn't think of teeny robots running around doing half the running. Pretty neat. I suppose all of the warehouses will have that sort of thing, eventually. Probably to varying degrees, but still. LOL I mean, really, Amazon are the guys that want same day delivery with drones. heh
  6. Thanks, Gaia. On GoodReads, Kylie asked me how it compared to the original Raymond Chandler/Philip Marlow books, Here is a C&P of my answer. : Good question. It's been decades since I've read any Chandler. I took a look at The Big Sleep and have to say the style is similar. Black seemingly is toning it down a bit for this, and keeping to Chandler's style as much as possible. I thought Chandler's first line or so was comparable to Black's. Here it is..... It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills. I'd forgotten how descriptive Chandler actually is/was. I'm about half way through The Black-Eyed Blonde and he is adhering to Chandler's format as far as I can see.
  7. Excellent reviews, Dtr. I especially am interested in Mr. Chartwell and I Forgot to Remember.....really interesting.
  8. I thought the author was really trying to show how, culturally, people view something of that nature so very differently. Personalities, culture, even generationally.......all mixed in different ways to show the why and reasoning of their individual feelings on something so very volatile. Of course it's offensive, I wonder if that, in a way, wasn't the point. Sometimes that is the only way to bring people together to an understanding.
  9. Glad y'all enjoyed it! I had no idea that they used that sort of technology, and find it amazing it all goes so smoothly! Gaia! That is so very cool! Amazing invention, to say the least. VF, I hope you were able to see it later. Kylie, /giggle/ me too! Kell, I can't believe that the U.K. Amazon will be that far behind in getting them, if in fact they don't already. It's only a matter of time.
  10. Still reading the previously mentioned Rivers, but have also started the brand new The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black.
  11. 'Tis an excellent review. Just got it on my kindle.....only 1.99 USD! Thanks.
  12. Received a couple more books in the mail today. It's magic, y'all! The brand new, pre-ordered quite a while ago, The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black, aka John Banville. Absolutely delicious prose. It isn't from his Quirke series, it's a Philip Marlowe detective story. All with the blessing of the Marlowe Estate, yada, yada, yada....... An absolutely fabulous first couple of lines..... "It was one of those Tuesday afternoons in summer when you wonder if the earth has stopped revolving. The telephone on my desk had the air of something that knows it's being watched. Cars trickled past in the street below the dusty window of my office, and a few of the good folks of our fair city ambled along the sidewalk, men in hats, mostly, going nowhere." /sigh/ Heavenly prose. I just received it this afternoon, and am almost a third of the way through it. /shaking myself/ Ok, there are two more that arrived. A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
  13. A friend sent this link to me, and I thought it was pretty amazing. Have to see it to believe it. Amazon strikes again. http://www.chonday.com/Videos/how-the-amazon-warehouse-works
  14. I read The Slap last year, and enjoyed it. It's hard to take in places, but the representation of different viewpoints is great.
  15. It works! /mutter, mutter, curse, curse/
  16. Ahhh, you've read them both! Thanks for the input, Julie. Interesting. Maybe it's because he actually lived in Savannah for the length of time he did, and could relate to it better.
  17. Yes, I rather think I will read The Little Friend...it is on the shelf, er, step here. Chris Farley is the one I'm thinking of.....http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000394/
  18. Thanks willoyd. Yes, he seems to obsess, focus on a couple of characters. This book's candidates consisted of a charming con man that moved from house to house right ahead of the process server (a lawyer himself), and a young man that was a cross dresser/transsexual. Both interesting characters, but to constantly come back to them was not necessary. What did fascinate me were the very frank conversations between Jim Williams and the author. I haven't seen the film but I do know that Kevin Spacey played the role of Williams. And, I believe he was perfect for the role. I had to picture Spacey, and if you've seen the American House of Cards, the character Spacey plays in that series is an absolute dead ringer (physically and banter-wise) for Williams. I would have appreciated more detail of the trials...they were skimmed a bit, although the main thrust was there. Addition: I think in this book, he did give a great rendition of what and why Savannah is the way it is. I appreciated that as well.
  19. I really enjoyed Night Circus! Glad to hear you like it so far.
  20. I'm about half way through Rivers by Michael Farris Smith.
  21. Julie, it wasn't a big disappointment, I gave it 3 stars, meaning I liked it, but didn't love it. I found it irritating that the author went on and on, and on about a couple of the peripheral characters, ad nauseam. I felt like it was padding. I really wanted to hear more about the murder and subsequent trial(s). You know what I really cannot understand is why double jeopardy couldn't come into effect. Well, I guess because the juries came to a verdict, but really! Four trials?? Yikes.
  22. It's sometimes difficult, but I try to remember my mother's advice, that....you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I have to laugh, sometimes I'll sit here and just mutter to myself, Husband is becoming accustomed to it, but still says....what? Are you muttering or asking?
  23. Great looking bookshelves, Gaia. Yup, they're full!
  24. I had a wonderful teacher in High School, Mrs. Screen, taught Ancient History. I was 15, and absolutely fell in love with the subject. She taught a bit differently than the other teachers........she was purely lecture style. Most everyone else in the class hated it, but I was poleaxed. I fell, and never looked back. Her tests consisted of one essay question. We were supposed to write a paragraph, and I always ended up with a couple of pages worth.
  25. I do, Kylie. It was interesting to me, and I'm only a 9 hour drive from there. It's geographical location truly contributes to the insularity of the natives. It's probably a fascinating place for an anthropologist. I have wondered about the number of trials the protagonist had. I thought Double Jeopardy would have taken effect. Oddness. Thanks, Athena. I am still trying to decide what to read next.
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