sirinrob

Try 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Marquez - covers 7 generations so I think it fits the bill. Knowing Marquez it will have twist and turns plus beautifully written as well.

Well just ordered a book from them and im getting charged

If you had put one of Walter Moers's books on the list - eg 'Rumo' or 'The City of Dreaming books' then i'd be screaming read them , but you didn't so the FForde definitely :eek2: (For what its worth I think the Walter Moers books are brill)

Made a start on 'Bleak House' Charles Dickens' - enjoying it though its a slow read to catch the details :eek2:

Well Plato's 'Republic' is on my TBR list so hope that counts :eek2:

Now being the contrary being I am. I do get that ooh feeling from some 20th century 'classics'. For those that do that, I've found its cohernce that counts. Here I'm thinking of Camus, Beckett and Conrad. As some of you know I cant stand Sarte, mainly due to his incoherence.

Interesting on the biographical investigation, imo Schlink has attempted for Micheal a 'BildungsRoman', but rather failed. From what i've read arond, the lack of knowledge about Micheal or Hannah is deliberate, forcing focus on the issues. That said the issues are presented in a veiled way, critics I've read say the same, its a morass at times.

This was one of Balzac's early novels written in January 1830. It eventually was incorporated into his monumental Comedie Humanie - which he started some years later. The plot concerns the daughter and son of two families who have a vendetta between them. The daughter's father is a strong willed, obstinate and generally unreasonable man, who tries to rule his daughter's life. She for her part is independently minded. This leads to battle between her and her father over her wish to marry. She eventually achieves her goal. Her husband is the son of the family that her father has a vendetta with, so she is disowned. Like Romeo and Juliet the outcome is tragic. The novel is short (under 100 pages), well written, but there are touches of melodrama towards the end. I enjoyed this and it has encouraged me to search out more Balzac to read

I can see what both of you are are saying and I might have a been a tad harsh on Hannah, but she did chose to do what she did and the blame for the church incident is deflected to others as well. Also bear in mind the Nazi reime relied on grass root support to function - many ordinary Germans at the time would report others to maintain their own position.

Hannah did not engage my sympathy at any point. The 'act of kindness' on one level was that - she could have left him, but she didnt. It wasn't the what she did, but how she did it - brusque springs to mind- almost frogmarched him to courtyard, ordered him to fetch a bucket of water, cleaned the pavement, in astonishment gave him a hug, then frog marched him home!! Also interesting to note, compare this with how she selected inmates as priviliged prisoners - young weak, able to read to her. Micheal young,weak, able to read to her - rather eerie echoes here I think. The point about cleaning is symbolic of Hannahas attempt at washing off her shame of the past. Also hepatitis in German is Gelbsucht - yellow madness - link to yellow stars for Jews?

I'd invite Nabokov for his elegant style Turgenev to argue with Nabokov Balzac to set them both to rights and Nietzsche to confuse everybody and slag off Sarte

I have so many favourites so its hard to choose - Austrian Goulash, Georgian Lamb, Apricot Tagine, Mogul Indian certainly on the list.

Yeast baking is my favourite right from the proving stage till the moment the nicely baked goods appear - yum. Dont ask about my pastry i havnt got cold enough paws for that - well most of the time but I'm getting better.

Often do this what I call kitchen cupboard and leftovers. I just get things together and throw them together( within reason im not that silly lol). My mum calls it one pot ( well thats all it takes...) and the joy is she eats it .... ah bliss. no particular recipes - I hardly foloww them as it is just put an idea from one with another one and generally it works - yep I dont suffer from insanity I enjoy it (could not resist - just waiting for the spiky limp lettuce leaves - go well with peas)

What i meant about simplifying was that Schlink via Micheal seems to say everyone in the camps and even outside them felt a numbness to what was going on around them - they went along to get along. That flies in the face of evidence - see Primo Levi 'The Saved and the Drowned'. He seems to make Hannah the spokesperson for the Nazi generation, which in my mind doesn't work. Micheals long lament about how inmates and guards etc became numb doesn't hold water either, especially when at the end he says im not sure, just ignore what I've said. Thats akin to saying to a trial jury after an outburst which could sway them, ignore it in not sure now. Hmm dmage done I think. Hehe I wouldn't argue with you , just try and have a reasoned discussion....

Just finished 'The Defence' by V Nabokov - so trying to decide what next hmmm.... Continue 'Bleak House' Charles Dickens (which I'm enjoying) or maybe 'The Vendetta' by Honor

most definitely its well written and I found it gripping

This is one of Nabokov's 'Russian Novels' and the second novel he wrote. It was translated into english in 1963. I found it to be both more polished and pyschologically darker than 'Mary', with elements that foreshadow 'The Gift' and 'The Real Life of Sebastian Knight'. The hallmark use of language is present, without the overt cleverness of the the 'American Novels'. These earlier novels are often overlooked, which is a shame as they are well written. This one concerns Luzhin, who is a chess master. His whole life revolves around chess. He eventually marries and is apparently weaned off chess, but the past has away of catching up with him. I found the story build up very well, the denouement only coming in the last few pages. I really enjoyed the novel and its now on my re-read list

I'm 2/3 through 'The Defense' by Nabokov and enjoying it - finish today.

Thats the impression I got as well and it seems the conclusion Schlink wants us to draw. Like you I don't buy that. As you say the message that Hannah was a victim of circumstances is subtly repeated in an attempt to make us feel sympathy for her. She chose to enlist in the SS, so she is a perpetrator. As such punishment is in order coupled with a need to understand, but understanding does not equal sympathy. We know so little about her, that understanding her is difficult. By making her a victim Schlink has confused and oversimplified in my opinion.

The only translation I could obtain was the Parrot, but ill look out for the new English one.

Georgian lamb - neck of lamb , with spices and plums it was extremely yummy

That's a strong possibility - and where he ends up certainly sounds like it

In my view Schlink uses the characters as props, with the exception of Hannah and Micheal. i'm still pondering what drives Micheal, but have an idea it is pride and power that drive Hannah. Since the themes are intertwined I'll explain my view on the two dreams concerning buildings, the description of the buildings and the associated visits. First the visits. Both are formal, the first to offer thanks, the second to seek atonement. The description of Hannah's old building is detailed and makes the building specific and singular. It is old, made of sandstone. The daughter's house is similarly old and made of sandstone but is more anonymous. I noticed also that Micheal only makes both visits due to someone else's decision - his mother for the first and Hannah for the second. In the first dream the building turns up in all sorts of different and unlikely places. In the second dream the building is plausible but the people featured are out of place - Hannah is dead and Micheal is only visiting America. Taking an overall view the first visit seems to be more personal ( a gift of flowers), whereas the second is more impersonal. It seems that Schlink is attempting to romanticize the past and debase the present. Micheal's longing for home is difficult to interpret - an odd and disturbing possibility is that he is equating home with Hannah's old building. Another feature of the meeting with the daughter I noticed is she mentions the caddy she had in the camp was stolen. Schlink writes that in such a way that the possibility arises that one of the other inmates stole the caddy, so perversely the tea caddy Micheal brings and the daughter retains, acts potentially as redress for an act of another inmate not a Nazi perpetrator This is only my view - be interested what others think. As a footnote the description of Hannah's old building sounds very similar to that of Fydor's building in the 'Gift' by Nabokov.