rwemad
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Posts posted by rwemad
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I Have the Right to Destroy Myself by Young-Ha Kim ***
Another short one. I very nearly gave this a 4* as I know many people will love this book, but I think it may require a somewhat acquired taste.
It is........ busy.... yes, busy is the best way I can describe it. There is a lot going on.
It is written anonymously, which is apt as the narrator answers a helpline to those seeking help. The lead is an art critic and novelist and counsellor. He offers well selected clients advice and assistance to end their life.
He covers the story's of two of his clients. Both female and both are involved with a character only known as C and his brother K.
I was left feeling it was about the relationship between two brothers and loneliness.
It all sounds very depressing but, whilst it can't be called chirpy, Ifound I didn't dwell on the death bit.
Strange.
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Well, since I last joined you, I finished Three Men On The Bummel, which is perfectly fun and light and fluffy and entertaining enough, but probably not in the same league as Three Men In A Boat. It plays perhaps a bit too hard with stereotypes as the men travel through Germany, but the episodes remain entertaining.
I have never heard of a sequel. I am looking for a 'shocked' emoticon!!!
Three Men in a Boat is one of my all time favourites. I have a very old copy signed by my dearly departed Grandad. It is one of the few books I have read time and time again. I actually do laugh out loud.
I will look up Three Men on the Bummel.
I feel slightly embarrassed. Is there more I should know about?
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Silly or not.......... I'm gonna do it!
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Hi Charm
The library have rung and Pig Island has arrrived:mrgreen:
I shall collect it tomorrow and have a look for Grave sight while I'm there.
So little time......... so many books........
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According to Ruth by Jane Feaver *****
I have been so lucky lately. I have read some truly fantastic books this year.
According to Ruth is outstanding. Honestly. I have carried out a search here and can't see it anywhere. Please read it.... you are missing soooo much if you don't.
It is a story about a family falling apart at the seams. It is mainly told 'according to Ruth'. Ruth is full of girly teenage worries and has younger siblings to contend with whilst recognising the breakdown of her parents marriage. She also has her own budding sexuality to contend with. I would just hate to be a teen again.
Maybe it is my age (45) which caused me to chuckle nostalgically - rewinding cassette tapes with a biro anybody? But everybody will recognise themselves in Ruth, her siblings or the adults (or all of them) in some way. Hands up those who never packed their school satchel with weetabix and marmalade (or similar) to run away from home?
As it moves from childhood recollections it becomes not only chuckly (is that a word? I've had some wine:smile2:) but poignant and sad.
Each sentence is packed. It is only a short(ish) book but it feels like a very lengthy short story. Every sentence appears well thought out and concisely written. Every sentence matters.
Wonderful, wonderful book.
I hope somebody here reads it and gives it the glowing pride of place review it so richly deserves.
I wish so much that I had written it.
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We watched her from the bedroom window, striding along the edge of the road, tripping in the ditch, catching her balance, thump, thump, thump, her fist beating against her side.
According to Ruth by Jane Feaver
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Over by Margaret Forster ****
As I expected, I really enjoyed this book. It was small but beautiful. Somehow it managed to delve deeply into the emotions surrounding grief, the roles of the various family members and how the grieving process can affect each individual.
Somehow it made me feel remarkably intuitive. How clever. Because in real life I don't think I am.
It was poignant and touching without being a weepy.
Beautiful is a very apt description of this book I think.
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I think I may look up some Charlaine Harris when I am next in the library.
Which one should I get first?
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I have to start somewhere, trying to understand.
Over by Margaret Forster
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Ritual by Mo Hayder****
Great book.
Should you feel like reading something gritty with a truly realistic slap of quite disturbing horror, then this is a book for you.
I don't really want to say too much for fear of spoiling it for anybody. Lots of interesting characters with enough depth for us to know what made them tick without going too OTT. It was fast paced with twists, turns and a few red herrings thrown in for good measure. Great, edge-of-the-seat stuff.
I liked this so much I have asked the library to hold Pig Island for me.
I would never have found this author if it had not been for the good people of this forum.
Thank you.
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Oh dear.... never mind.
It was really exciting to watch......... shame the Welsh left it late (again) to start to really fight back.
Good day though, I really enjoyed it. The French/Welsh matches are always nailbitingly fun to watch and there was some fantastic running rugby. It would have been better had we won but....Well done both sides.
And of course let's not forget, there is nothing like an evening watching lots of fit guys running around in shorts to brighten a girl's day.
Come on Scotland and Ireland......... I'll be cheering you on today.
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What is with the playing on a Friday evening??
I have no clue whatsoever.
but go Wales indeed:mrgreen:
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I have just started Ritual. I am only a few pages in and I know already that I will finish it.
I am hoping that this is another author that I will grow to like, one that I would never have considered/found, if it hadn't been for this forum.
I'm so pleased I found you all.
Thank you
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come on Wales!!!!!!
Ceinwenn...... are you in a Parisian pub????
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Things I want my Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble ***
This was OK. It was nice, pleasant and easy to read. Good one for the beach.
I think those who have lost a Mum to a terminal illness may well feel a little more 'touched' by this book than I was. I never felt moved to tears as some readers have said they were. This was surprising as I cry quite easilly. I just didn't find it particularly sad. I'm not entirely sure it wasn't intended to be uplifting rather than sad. I think, should the intention be to make the reader weep, it would have gone deeper into issues directly surrounding the death rather than centre on other events in the daughters' lives. A little more depth would have been nice I think.
Worth reading though.
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I have just been recommended and loaned (yay) this book by a friend and shall be starting it tonight.
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A Special Relationship by Douglas Kennedy***.
I chose this book because it was written by Douglas Kennedy and I had enjoyed 'The Big Picture'. I am not sure if I have graded this one down only in comparison to the the Big P. I hope not. I want to grade each as a stand alone read. I also fret in case I have down graded it because I had unrealistic expectations.
See..... you can't trust what I say even if you do decide you like the same sort of books.
Anyway, I have had no experience (thankfully) of depression and found the pages spent dwelling on the period where the lead was depressed....... well a tad laborious. There was a couple of moments when I thought I may put it to one side as I feared that was going to be the topic of the whole book. However, it did liven up as the story evolved and moved forward quite quickly in parts.
I'm really unsure what I want from these sort of books. I'm not sure what it says (if anything) about me, when, should the ending be twisted/dire/sad or just plain unhappy I think 'well... that's not very nice'. However, when it is all 'happy ever after' I think 'mmmm... bit mushy'. Of course in the books where we are left to make up our own mind... well.... they are just infuriating aren't they? I really don't know what I want or expect.
Well, having just reread the above I have confused myself.... makes no sense to me even if I did write it. I'm going to leave it hang though... see what happens next......
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By The Time You Read This by Lola Jaye **
This was just what I needed after attempting Catch-22. It is everything Catch-22 isn't.
Catch-22 was completely shambolic and often nonsensical whereas By The Time.. was straightforward and predictable.
I found this book so easy and light. To be honest it had no impact whatsoever and I will have probably forgotten about it by tomorrow. It is fortunate in that it is short and simple otherwise the predictability would just have been unbearable. The reader knows where it is going to end within the first few pages. Is it a spoiler to mention no surprises here?
Should anybody want a book to read by the pool when they have to keep one eye on the kids and have to keep putting it up and down .... then yes, read it. Otherwise, don't bother.
All my humble opinion of course.
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It would be great! I have to admit I don't enjoy the matches as much as I could do. I find them too tense, too stressful as my OH gets sooooooooooooooooooo caught up in them. He's all screaming "come on" & shouting at the ref if he disagrees with a call & if Wales lose.......................well, he doesn't take it too badly, but he has been known to sulk! Bless! So, I watch, but it's kinda like the horror movie watch - between my fingers which are covering my eyes kind of thing! We have yet to make it to a 6 Nations game, but we go to the Autumn internationals every year, whether we can get tickets or not!
Very often a pub round the corner is as much fun as in the ground.
I am thinking I will be watching the Irish game from behind the setee...
.... with a stiff drink for company.
It's nice to have gotten England out the way though... nobody else matters quite so much.
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Are you Welsh, then, rwemad? My OH is quietly hoping for a repeat Grand Slam!
Yep........ born and bred but not the lingo. I am desperate to learn though. I want to be able to read books in Welsh........ proper books not the cat sat on the mat stuff.
My OH is a Scot so that is why we always enjoy the Scot/Wales game so much. He was born in Edinburgh, so it was a trip 'home'.
Having lived in Wales with me for so long he is an honourary Welshman and will shout for Wales as loudly as me. Didn't you hear us Saturday?
Wouldn't another GS be just great?
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Well done Wales......well played....offers hand shake reluctantly
Hey......... we flew up for the match and had an absolutely fab time. Edinburgh was lovely, the people were warm and friendly and the atmosphere before, during and after was wonderful. Thank you for a great weekend Scotland
I love the Wales/Scotland game no matter who wins.
It was great to see Wales beat England though.
Having said that, I honestly think England are much more entertaining now than when they were playing in their world cup year. I know winning gets the cup and the trophy etc but people don't pay all that money just to see JW kicking and the rest of them holding and shoving.
England are now playing some fantastic rugby. Not as good as Wales obviously but the game was fun and exciting to watch. Well worth the money.
2 down.........
COME ON WALES!!!!!
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Catch 22 by Stephen Heller
This is the second time I have tried this book. I know it is clever and I have laughed but I just don't get on with it. Sorry.
I also know it is supposed to be a classic and I will try it again but I have just got tired of trying with it right now. I have given up about a third of the way through. I was hoping it would get easier but a colleague has told me that it doesn't and, quite honestly, I read for pleasure and this just wasn't pleasurable (for me ........... obviously it may be very different for everybody else) and so I am throwing in the towel.
Do you all know what???? I haven't read a book at all in the past 24 hours. This may not seem long (particularly on an international weekend (go Wales go!!!
)) but for me it is an age. This is because I forbade myself to read two things at once. I even cleaned the oven this morning rather than pick this book up:roll: boy o boy it must be a trial.I'm going to have a crack at something easy and light.
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Well Ruth. Thank you so much for this recommendation. I will definately be looking it up.
I came on here this evening to update my list with a Margaret Forster book - Have The Men Had Enough?. It is a fabulous book and, from what you have written here, I am guessing you too will enjoy it. It is about how a familly cope with an elderly parent with dementia. It is narrated by the daughter in law and grandaughter. I think it is very well written and addresses things like guilt, responsibility, the inevitability of death etc.
I have also read Private Papers. I enjoyed it, niely written but, for me, not as good as HTMHE?
Thanks again
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I loved The curious incident and plan on re-reading it soon but tried A spot of bother a while back and never really got into it. Is it worth giving it another go?
Well I preferred it to the first.
I don't think I found it hard to get into though. I don't think it's one of those 'need to perservere through the first few pages' books iykwim. So I'm guessing if you weren't keen... you just weren't keen.
Some we like, some we don't.
Rwemad 2009
in Past Book Logs
Posted
State of the Union by Douglas Kennedy *
Hugely disappointed with this one.
It was lengthy and dull for a large amount of the time. The 'exciting bits' were often just plain daft. I mean I know it's a story and I know it is supposed to stretch my imagination but please.... the reader needs to be credited with a little bit of noggins surely.
The idea isn't a bad or uncommon one. For me though, there were too many conincidences and they were all a little too convenient. The attempt to be topical regarding the whole Christian evangelical thing and the fox news stuff was just way too OTT. I speak as an atheist who recognises fox news as more entertainment than factual, but, even for me, this was over cooked. The biggest imagination couldn't visualise the media circus that was depicted let alone the jumping to conclusions of an almost entire population.
I didn't like the lead, Hannah, I thought she was self absorbed and a misery. The most believable part of the book was where she admitted she just didn't 'do' happy. So, it was very difficult to warm to her, even if she was having a run of (totally unbelievable) bad luck.
I just struggled through it to the bitter end despite being frustrated and annoyed at it's plain silliness and lack of respect for it's reader.
Sorry, I know the above may be harsh... but having enjoyed the Big Picture I can't believe this one is such a let down.
Oh well.