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Lucybird

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    Lucy's Book Blog '11

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted · Edited by Lucybird

    300px-EverythingIsIlluminated.jpg

     

     

    Synopsis (from Amazon)

     

     

    A young man arrives in the Ukraine, clutching in his hand a tattered photograph. He is searching for the woman who fifty years ago saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Unfortunately, he is aided in his quest by Alex, a translator with an uncanny ability to mangle English into bizarre new forms; a "blind" old man haunted by memories of the war; and an undersexed guide dog named Sammy Davis Jr, Jr. What they are looking for seems elusive -- a truth hidden behind veils of time, language and the horrors of war. What they find turns all their worlds upside down.Review

     

    "I used to think that humor was the only way to appreciate how wonderful and terrible the world is, to celebrate how big life is. But now I think the opposite. Humor is a way of shrinking from that wonderful and terrible world."

     

    I really loved this book. It was somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster, immensely funny and immensely sad. Some sections had me laughing out loud (especially the sections 'written' by Alex). The way Alex used language was part of it, it was so wonderfully strange. Some of it was also what he talked about. Everything is Illuminated in incredibly quotable because of this. In parts the writing was beautiful, in other parts it bordered on crude but somehow these changes in style seemed to fit what was going on.

     

    I loved Alex's sections almost instantly, it took me a little longer to get into Johnathan's story, although by the end it all just ran together. It seemed strange to have the author as a character, it gave the story a reality and makes me wonder how much is based on reality.

     

    I really think Safran Foer could become a new favourite author

     

    5/5

     

    Your Book Activity Today ~ Thread 13

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    Picked up a copy of Everything is Illuminated from the Oxfam bookshop for the Rory list. It was a bit expensive for a charity shop but still much cheaper than buying it new.

     

    Finished Beauty- Robin McKinley

     

    Thank you Lucybird :) My copy arrived today and it looks quite good. I hope to start on it very soon. I also want to read the follow-up "The Betrayal" but felt I should read The Siege first.

     

     

    I have heard of The Betrayal but don't really know anything about it. Let me know what you think when you've read it :)

     

     

     

    Lucy's Book Blog '11

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted · Edited by Lucybird

    Beauty%20-%20Robin%20McKinley.jpg

    Synopsis (from Amazon)

     

    When the family business collapses, Beauty and her two sisters are forced to leave the city and begin a new life in the countryside. However, when their father accepts hospitality from the elusive and magical Beast, he is forced to make a terrible promise - to send one daughter to the Beast's castle, with no guarantee that she will be seen again. Beauty accepts the challenge, and there begins an extraordinary story of magic and love that overcomes all boundaries. This is another spellbinding and emotional tale embroidered around a fairytale from Robin McKinley, an award-winning American author.

     

    Review

     

    I won't usually pick young adult fiction for myself, not because I don't think it will be good as much as because I never really think to look at it. When I do read YA fiction it's because of recommendations- and that's how I found Beauty. I've seen a number of reviews and it had sat on my wishlist for a long time, if some lovely person from BCF hadn't sent me a copy I probably still wouldn't have read it! (I have a horrible habit of not buying from my wishlist). This book in particular interested me because I love the story of Beauty and the Beast, it's my favourite fairytale and I wanted to see a different way of telling it. I really loved Disney's Beauty and the Beast as a child (and it is still amongst my favourite Disney films) and that's where my main impression of the story comes from, I am sure it has its own changes but it was what I was comparing to the whole way through.

     

    Some changes I did really like. I was unsure of the idea of Beauty and her family once being rich but becoming poor. Somehow I imagined that even though Beauty had never really been a fan of some of the luxuries gave her it may have changed the way she viewed her new life in the castle. There were more things I preferred though. I liked how Beauty didn't start off beautiful, it made me like the Beast more and showed how similar they were in looking below the surface, I had the impression that the Beast saw her as beautiful because he loved her.

    I wasn't so sure about her becoming beautiful. On one side I liked the idea that she may have become beautiful because she was in love, but it also gave me the impression that she had to be beautiful for everything to be 'perfect' and I didn't like that.

    I liked the library and the way that it had books that had not been written yet, and it caused a fair amount of humour. The library in the Disney film is half the reason it's a favourite of mine, I think it's just the perfect library, and I was looking forward to seeing how McKinley did it. I did feel it was rushed a little- but I guess that most people wouldn't want paragraphs describing a room which was actually not that important to the plot. It's just the bibliophile in me that loves libraries and bookshops.

     

    In terms of writing style I wouldn't call Beauty a masterpiece but it wasn't written badly, and I felt I got to know Beauty quite well. The Beast probably could have been written better, I only really cared about him for Beauty's sake, not because I liked him. It's an easy and quick read and I would recommend it, just don't expect any literary genius.

     

    4/5

     

    Your Book Activity Today ~ Thread 13

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    Is The Siege the book by Helen Dunmore? I've ordered a copy off Amazon before I read The Betrayal. If it is the same book, is it any good/ Thanks. :)

     

     

    It is. It wasn't bad although I did find it quite slow, and didn't really feel like I knew the characters. Some of the descriptions were amazing and you could really see what was going on, and the writing style is very good.

     

    Today I bough 2 books for my Mum for her birthday:

     

    The Hare with Amber Eyes- Edmund de Waal (which is also on my wishlist)

    Witness the Night- Kishwar Desai

     

    And I bought Shades of Grey- Jasper Fforde for myself

     

     

     

    The Last Film You Saw

    in Music / TV / Films

    Posted

    Definitely one I'm watching as soon as possible.

     

    I just finished watching The King's Speech and thought it was fantastic. The acting was simply wonderful, and I really enjoyed it. Anyone seen this yet? (:

     

     

    Yes I watched it yesterday and agree it was fantastic. Best film I've seen in quite a while.

     

     

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