Alexander the Great
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Posts posted by Alexander the Great
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frankie - You're probably right about reading taste changing from when you're a teenager to when you're in your twenties. The funny thing is that it doesn't happen to me with music at all - I still like the same music I liked then, or "new" music of the same style. But then I also have to admit that I tend to like music I know already more and am a bit hesitant to really get to know new music - even new albums from bands I love - and with books, I rarely re-read, eager to find new books or styles.
Annabel review
It's been over a month since I finished this. There aren't many novels with the concept of an intersexed person, and this was definitely an atypical take on it - the main character was born in Labrador, Canada in the 1960s. I liked the part where Wayne/Annabel was at home more than I did the part where he lived alone. Jacintha, Wayne/Annabel's mother was a very interesting character I'd have liked to read more of. It's a hard book to say much about. I'd recommend it, I liked reading it, but at the same time I'm left with the feeling that I'd expected more.
The Little Friend review
It took me a very long time to finish this - started on November 8, finished on December 19. It hardly ever takes me this long to finish a book (I think it's been since Emma Donoghue's Hood). This review on Goodreads describes my experience rather well. I'll link it because it contains spoilers for those of you who haven't read it yet.
A Masculine Ending review
I enjoyed this a lot.
This novel was published in 1987 and I read it in 2014. Clearly, it's a bit outdated by now, but it's certainly interesting to kind of get back into that mindset. This novel, if written today, would have to be written completely differently. It was fun reading about someone attempting to solve a crime without any access to modern devices, like mobile phones or the Internet.Other than that, I liked the pace. Nothing is rushed, we get clues and new characters in a well-paced manner, and a satisfying ending. This was a quick read over the weekend, perfectly enjoyable on a rainy day.Being a huge Virginia Woolf enthusiast, I liked the shoutouts, by the way. -
Great review
! The Time Traveler's Wife is one of my favourite books. I have read one other book by her, My Fearful Symmetry, which I quite enjoyed.Glad you enjoyed The Time Traveler's Wife.
I really liked it too, and intend on reading it again (except that I think my sister-in-law has borrowed it!). Have you read any others by Audrey Niffenegger?This was my first novel by Audrey Niffenegger. I've been looking for her other works, but I can't find them in English in my local library or in the nearest bigger city. I will definitely look out for them, though - and read them in translation if I have to. Thanks for the suggestions, both of you
When I first read that you wanted recommendations I thought I couldn't do it, as 'mind-blowing' is such a personal thing isn't it? Then I thought I would just go for it, and throw a few titles at you that I found generated a really strong reaction in me. Here goes (eyes closed and fingers crossed);
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - A tale that takes the reader into the under London places and the people that inhabit that world.
Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek - A creeping and creepy thriller that keeps you edge of the seat from beginning to end.
Mr Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt - A quirky story that links the strange houseguest of a lonely woman with Winston Churchill.
Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist -. Uncomfortable reading at times, but a darkly compelling story.
If you try them and hate them we will always have TTTW as a shared book love!
Thank you for this list, I always like to see recommendations from others. I've been looking for 'Neverwhere' but can't seem to find it, so I'll probably be getting it as an e-book. I'm ashamed to say that even though Neil Gaiman has been on my 'radar' for a long time, I've never read anything by him and only seen the movie 'Coraline' based on his novel. I happen to love London and reading about it and am also a fan of fantasy (not the really heavy stuff though), si I'll be giving this a go. I'll also put the others on my list.
The Accidental Billionaires review
I chose to read this novel after The Time Traveler's Wife because I needed something lighter that I knew wouldn't live up to it. Call it a literary rebound. Sadly, even with my expectations as low as they were, I still didn't enjoy this. The author attempts to reconstruct the beginning of Facebook, but Mark Zuckerberg didn't wish to cooperate. I'd think that if the founder, the main man, didn't want to participate, as an author I'd go "ah, well, no book then". Not this author. Instead, he conducts some research, but obviously all he'll get is accounts from people who were involved, each with their own agenda.
So we get this weird focus on Eduardo Saverin - more than his role in Facebook really calls for - and then excerpts full of "We can assume", "He might be thinking", "It's likely that". Then we also get bits and pieces from the point of view of the Winklevoss twins, but they don't serve that much purpose either.
With the limited information he had, I feel like maybe the author shouldn't have tried to write about Facebook, but rather should have written his own story inspired by it.
Preferably without the excessive use of the word 'kid', because really, to have it twice in every sentence? Jesus, it got on my nerves so badly I had to put the book aside at times. I also felt that as the story progressed, some sentences were literally repeated on the same page. Entire paragraphs are just repeated, sometimes a bit rephrased. As if he had to fill pages. Unbelievable. I won't be reading this again, or recommending it to anyone.
Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding & En dan nog iets review
Both books are a collection of columns written by Paulien Cornelisse, all of them about language and its quirks. I'd honestly expected more from this. Of course there's the fact that this is a Dutch writer, from The Netherlands, so obviously there will be things in there that I don't recognise at all, or that are weird to her but not to me. But nevertheless, as I read on, the quirks got so personal I found it hard to believe most Dutch people would read it and identify.
I did laugh at times, though, and it definitely wasn't bad. I do feel like in the second book, there were some things I'd already read in the first.
It's a nice read, the snippets and columns are super short, but it's probably not meant to read in one go. These probably servs better as books to pick up and read in for a minute, then put away again. Only, I'm not that kind of reader.
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Great review! I'm so happy you enjoyed the novel
I was blown away by it on my first read, which was some years ago. I didn't think it would make a very good re-read, because I knew the plotline already, but I was wrong and it was really good on my second reading as well. We had a reading circle on the novel this January. In case you want to take a look at the thread, here's the link to it Thank you
I'll be curious to re-read at some point, but I'm also scared. As a teenager, I had this book I loved so much on the first read and I kept putting it there as one of my favorite books. I re-read it when I was 22 and it was just awful and I didn't get what I liked about it the first time at all. I don't want that to happen again. But somehow I don't think it will with The Secret History. Thanks for the link as well!Great review of a great book. Your review had me nodding in agreement as I read it!
It is definitely one of those kind of books. So glad that you enjoyed it.
Thank you for your kind words
This was really hard to write a review for - I kept wondering what I'd say. But once I had the first sentence in my head, the rest came out.Have you got any recommendations? I've just started a book I don't expect to be mind-blowing - I often feel like I need that after something so intense, but it'd be great to be on the lookout for something more in the line of this quality.
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The Time Traveler's Wife review
This is an amazingly unique read and I was sad to close the book for a final time. I feel like I know Clare and I know Henry and it's hard to let them go. I think anyone who has read this and enjoyed it knows why this is so good, so moving and so enthralling, so complex and so moving. I also think that it can't possibly be explained to anyone who hasn't read it yet - it can only be recommended. And then at the same time, you're scared of recommending it because it's become a part of you you don't wish to share.
It's one of those books that leaves me wondering what to read next, because everything will just fall short. This is one of those books that's like a loving, intense relationship that changes you so much and is such an important part of your life and of you. When it ends, you're just not ready for anything quite like it because you're still convinced it doesn't exist, and if it does, you're not sure if you can handle it again. You need to breathe and learn to live without it even though it seems impossible. Anything that comes after will be a rebound.
I feel as though this year, 2014, hasn't been a year of plenty, but definitely a year of quality. I've read amazing books that moved me and are hard to let go, that found a place inside of me, books I'll take everywhere. Books that make me feel and think differently and it's amazing. It's a breathtaking ride I'm on.
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Have you tried A Clockwork Orange?
The Misfortunates by Dimitri Verhulst?
This link might also help you further: Fiction for Men as Suggested by Art of Manliness Readers
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Nice review of The Crimson Petal and the White.
It was such a good book, wasn't it? I've heard of The Apple, and it is on my Amazon wishlist, but I have never been that tempted to read it. As much as I enjoyed The Crimson Petal and The White, I've never been that curious about the lives of the characters beyond what it told to us in the book.....sometimes knowing too much can change something fundamental about what you enjoyed so much about the book.It really was! There's something very unique about it. The growth and change in the characters is exceptional - for instance, when Sugar's leading a better life and thinks back to how she'd always pictured herself being the benefactor of her old friends, but now that she's living it, she's almost ashamed and finds herself unable to do it. I also thought it was truly interesting how the closer she came to her ultimate goal, the less power she seemed to have over William and the more she came to depend on his affections to build herself up. It feels like she became the kind of person she used to rage against. This book truly shows that money does change people, even if you always say it'd never change you.
The Apple I would only recommend for the last story, which I liked. To be completely honest, I'd read this line saying "Are you unsatisfied with the ending of TCP and want to know what happened to Sugar, Sophie and William? Read this" and I kind of expected a peek into their lives x years later. But it wasn't that at all. Only the final story gives a tiny, super vague glimpse.
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The Crimson Petal And The White review
This is a remarkably easy read for a novel of 898 pages, a true page-turner. At times, when I had to stop reading because I had to go to work the next day, or leave where I was, I just had to flip a few pages because I couldn't wait to read what happened next.
The characters are complex and very layered. At times they evoke sympathy and understanding, other times you can't stand them. I also love how they grow and change throughout the story, completely. Nobody here is perfect. I liked the variety of characters as well - what a difference between William and Henry, the contrast between Sugar being born low and rising in society and then Caroline, who's a fallen woman. The difference between Agnes and Mrs. Fox - both of them very unconventional, but in such different ways. Of all characters, Agnes touched me the most and I think that's because of just how much the age she lived in determined her fate and how different that would be if she lived in modern times. Bodley and Ashwell were the only characters I couldn't stand.
The ending wasn't very satisfactory, though. I know the whole thing where novels don't have a clean ending because life doesn't either, but it felt a bit lazy here, like suddenly, the author couldn't be bothered. Definitely an enthralling read, though, and I'd recommend it to anyone.
The Apple review
This collection of (very) short stories follows some of the characters from The Crimson Petal And The White, both before and after that novel. Each story was interesting in its own way, but none of it was satisfactory and some of them, I could have done without. I'd gladly have traded in the stories about Clara and Mr. Bodley for a lengthier version of the final story. Although I do have to admit that the story about Clara had an ending which truly made me want to know how it'd go further.
The final story, about Sophie's son reminiscing about his life in the 1990s, was so interesting that I wish it'd been left out and published as a proper novel, like The Crimson Petal And The White. I'd love to know more about Auntie Primrose, too, because while the narrator insists she wasn't his mother's lover, I'm pretty sure she was. I do think the main reason I loved this story so much was because how much it seems based on the real Bloomsbury group - I've been very interested in Virginia Woolf the past couple of years.
If I have to draw a conclusion, I'd say there was too much of what I wasn't hoping to read and too little of what was very promising.
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Daar is hij weer review
Original title: Er ist wieder da
English title: Look Who's BackI wasn't impressed.I was intrigued by the concept, but the author never goes beyond Hitler being fascinated by some aspects of modern life and writing in his oratory style. This is marketed as a satire, but it wasn't sharp at all to me. I didn't find it funny or hilarious either. When finished, I felt that having read the first 40 pages or so, I'd read the entire book. A good concept, but very poorly executed. It was shallow, there was no story. A shame.Wim Schamp's 'Hitler 1945 - 1953' follows a similar premise - Hitler having survived WWII, but in this book, he wakes up in Berlin in 1945 right after the war ends, which makes it more thrilling and confusing. That book was better written, had a story and complex characters and went deeper. It also had much more of an emotional impact. -
Blondie: Parallel Lives review
While this is a fairly thorough record of Blondie’s rise and internal workings, it lacks the emotion I associate with Blondie - the excitement, passion, fun. This book is a bit dry, almost scholarly. As meticulous and detailed as it was in the beginning, so rushed seemed the second part.As a massive Blondie fan, I appreciated this account all the same. With these kind of biographies, having a fan of the band as the author can be tiresome when they do nothing but applaud their subject - but these authors did a good job of keeping enough distance to make this interesting. -
Before I Say Goodbye review
This was a bit of a disappointment. I read a collection of short stories by Mary Higgins Clark a while ago and I liked those, which is why I picked up a novel by her as well. It wasn't badly written, but it wasn't exciting or thrilling either. The blurb was misleading as well. The characters were quite bland. It was a quick read, but also quickly forgotten.
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Argentina - Belgium, what a grating match to win. Argentina scored and then they held up the entire game, kept trying to win time, slow down the game, and got away with too much. Belgium definitely deserved to go on, but this isn't a defeat. If it weren't for that early accidental goal, it would have been an entirely different match. But well, better luck next time for us. I'm still proud of our team.
The Netherlands - Costa Rica was almost as grating to watch
Congratulations on The Netherlands for going on to the semi finals, although I have to admit it'd have been nice to see Costa Rica go on, it'd have been a really nice surprise to see some other teams go further.And what a shame about Neymar, I wonder how Brazil is going to handle that!
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Chrissy - I hope you enjoy The Cry!
Athena - Thank you for the nice comments about In One Person and The Cuckoo's Calling
We zullen niet te pletter slaan isn't a master piece, but it really got into my head and is a very promising debut.Ruth - Let me know if you ever read The Cry or In One Person! I haven't read The World According to Garp, but I definitely will, it's on my TBR.
Janet - It's always nice to hear someone has the same view on a book you do, thanks for the comment
Alexi - I hope you enjoy both The Cry and The Cuckoo's Calling
De parachutemoord review
I'd expected more from this. This book is about a murder that stirred up the country in 2006-2010 - a woman was sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder without any physical or scientific evidence. I'd expected this book to show more indignation, I'd expected it to be sharper, more critical. It sells as 'how is this possible in the 21st century?', but there's no such intensity in the book itself. Besides the lack of passion and emotion, there was a lot of repetition - clearly written for the kind of viewer the media house the author (a journalist) works for. I don't need to read something every five pages to remember it, but clearly this was aimed at a public that does. Then there's the little mistakes which should have been edited out - a letter or word that's missing or that shouldn't be there; typos should not be in a published book, all throughout the book. On to the next book.
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I'm from Belgium, Flanders more specifically
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I also buy headphones that go over the ear. My best pair has been the cheapest I've bought - JVC, 20 euros. My first pair lasted through 3 years of intense use and a few months ago, I bought a second pair just like it. They don't hurt, they're easy to pack, light and simple. Earbuds always hurt my ears and fall out of them.
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Hilary Mantel
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It seems to me that all teams are going all-out on the attack, but the standard of finishing is declining as the tournament progresses. How many chances did Belgium have last night? Maybe I've been spoiled by watching the silky-smooth skills of St Austell AFC!
Belgium had 27 shots on target. It was a really exciting match to watch, but they should have finished more of their shots. But then again, only one player in the entire team has been at a World Cup before. It's exciting to see our team do so well after all those years of almost being ashamed of your country's team's performance. Also, hat off to Howard - he stopped the highest amount of goals in one game since 1966. If it hadn't been for his skills, I'm sure we would've won by a much larger difference.
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I'm Belgian and Dutch is my native tongue. We learn French from when we are about 10 to 11 years old. My French was good when I was in school, but I kind of lost touch with it when I went to college and didn't need it anymore. I need at work sometimes and I get by, but I'm not nearly as fluent as I'd like to be.
We start learning English when we're about 13 to 14 years old. I watched TV in English before that, though - my sister is four years older, so she was already learning English and I could read fast enough to keep up with the subtitles. By the time I received formal education in the English language, I could keep conversations in English. I still prefer to read books in this language whenever I can.
We start learning German when we're about 15 years old, but I missed the first four months of learning that language and it's always left me feeling a bit behind on it. I like it enough to want to speak it more fluently, though.
I'd love to learn Russian, Portuguese, Finnish and Spanish as well.
Most people in my country are at least bilingual - those who have Dutch as their native tongue tend to speak better French than those who have French as their native tongue speak Dutch, though. Everyone I know is fluent in more than one language, and often they speak three languages.
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I read Humo weekly, which is a general magazine but always tackles very interesting topics in a unique way. I had a subscription but am currently buying it on a weekly basis.
I also have a subscription to Historia and like reading magazines about history in general. I enjoy the BBC History Magazine articles I get to read.
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The Secret History review
This book is not easy to review. I've finished it about a week ago and am still having a hard time finding the right words to describe it. It feels as if anything I write will never do it justice. I suppose that it goes well with the fact that it took me such a long time to read.
The Secret History was not what I expected - actually, it was pretty far from what I'd expected. Even while reading, the book took turns where I didn't necessarily want it to. And I like that. I like a book with a story and characters that grab you, and make you curious about things but don't feel the need to explain everything. As a reader, it's not always clear what or why or who, but it suits the story.
Pretty much none of the characters are very likable, but I didn't much mind. I couldn't always identify with the protagonist - more often I couldn't than I could - but I like reading from the point of view from someone who doesn't act or think like me. The story isn't clear-cut and we don't always get why characters do what they do. The story is not a situation I have ever been in, but still, it was enthralling.
The ending felt a bit rushed to me, though. It was almost as if the author decided to tell us what happens to everyone, but then changed her mind in the middle of writing that and left us hanging somewhere in the middle. But I don't read books to be made to feel safe and to be given happy endings. A book doesn't have to give me what I want. And certainly with a book like this one, it's just fine.
We zullen niet te pletter slaan review
This is a Dutch novel, Nina Polak's debut. I am amazed. This is exactly the kind of novel that reminds of my love for my native tongue. It's the kind of novel that uses my language in such a way that I am reminded of how much it's a part of who I am. It's the kind of novel that can only be written this way in Dutch, and the style and characters and the story is so that you'll rarely find it in a book that isn't written in Dutch.
I could relate to parts of the characters - I found some of myself in Anna, some of myself in Schard, so much so that at times I had to stop reading because it hit home too much. There was no tearjerking material in here, but at a certain point I recognized myself so much it was like someone was holding up a mirror and I had tears in my eyes at being confronted with myself so unapologetically. The author doesn't try to explain, doesn't excuse their behaviour, doesn't try and find reasons, but doesn't blame either. It's just there, which makes it even more like a mirror.
Not every word is told. There are gaps the reader has to fill themselves, and I like that. I want to read more of Nina Polak's work. Such a talent.
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I read The Book Thief last year and was enthralled. To me, it's one of those novels that have the ability to ruin other books for me - even if those other books are decent books, nice reads - when they followed a book like The Book Thief, I'm just not feeling it. It's also a book that left me with a book hangover - I needed to gather my bearings, almost descend into the real world again, as if I'd been somewhere else.
What book is following this one up for you?
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The Cuckoo's Calling review
I will admit I only read this after I found out JKR was the author - but then I'd never even heard of the novel before that.
I just finished the novel and it's still marinating in my head a bit. In general, I really enjoyed it. I like Rowling's style and I like her characters. Reading blurbs in the past, I expected I wouldn't like Cormoran Strike very much, but I do. I also found the other characters enjoyable to read about. I love London, and that probably helps when reading this. Rowling is a master at vivid descriptions and conjuring up a world before the mind's eye. I've read and loved her Potter series, I've read and loved The Casual Vacancy, and now I've read and loved this crime novel. Rowling is very versatile and this novel only made me see that much more clearly just how talented she is.
At times, it did feel like I was reading the same scene but with different people, or that a certain scene was really going on too long. The final reveal was very unexpected and I'm not sure I like it because to me, in a good crime novel, as a reader you have to be able to work out yourself who the culprit was - preferably still being surprised when you read who did it, obviously. I like when I'm surprised, but I can go back and add everything up and it makes sense, and I can tell myself that I could see it coming. I don't think that goes for this novel.
So I enjoyed the characters, their interactions, the descriptions and the writing style, but was slightly disappointed with the final reveal. I do hope there will be more Cormoran Strike novels - preferably with Robin by his side.
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The Cry review
A very intriguing read. Not quite what I'd expected, but in this case that was a good thing. I liked reading the story from different points of view, and was glad that Alistair's wasn't included. Joanna and Alexandra's voices were enough to give overview. Nice twist at the end, as well - very unexpected. I'm actually curious to know more about what happens to the characters after the end, but at the same time, it ended at a good place and adding more probably would have ruined this extremely good novel.
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Reus review
I read this author's debut before this, and this novel is very much the same style. Slightly absurd characters - the kind you never meet in real life, because they're just too out there in a way - but also the kind of people that people secretly wish they could be, but never quite are. Hard to explain. At times, I did feel like the story was taking too strange a direction. It wasn't really going anywhere, it wasn't saying anything or exploring anything or creating anything. A nice read, but not enormously memorable, and difficult characters to stay interested in at times. Same positive side the author's debut has: she knows when to stop. What the author wrote worked for the length of the novel, and it's a good thing it wasn't any longer.
Ex review
What a book. Whenever I felt I had figured out what the story was, what had happened - the author threw in a plot twist that still managed to make sense. The ending was very unexpected, too. Much respect for the author for managing to have those kind of plot twists still make sense. I also liked how the main character and her best friend stayed the same kind of friends they always were - not always in each other's daily lives, but there throughout their lives. Definitely an interesting novel.
In One Person review
This is one of those novels that gives me mixed feelings - I want to keep reading because I'm enjoying it so much, but at the same time, I dread turning the last page and the feeling of loss it will bring. It goes without saying that once I got really into it, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I felt irritated having to interrupt my reading to go to work, and at work all I wanted was for the clock to turn to 5 so I could go home and read more.
The story is definitely meandering - but I enjoyed this non-linear style. Irving really creates an entire life, an entire world, and just getting lost in it was enough for me. I didn't necessarily completely identify with a certain character, and I didn't always agree with the protagonist - but that's what life is like. You like people, even though you don't always agree with them, or sympathize 100%. It really felt like having a friend. I also thought that Miss Frost and Jacques Kittredge were such fascinating characters and I'm quite sure I'll never forget them.
That being said, I do feel like the novel could have ended after chapter 10. I really believe it would've worked, and it might have been better, if the novel ended with Miss Frost showing Billy the duck-under. In a way, finding out what happened to all of them wasn't very satisfying, because you only find out so little. If we were really going to be told what happened to Miss Frost and to Kittredge and to the others, I wished we'd found out more. I didn't like the Larry character, for instance, and I felt like the passage in Spain was random, unnecessary and unsatisfactory - and in that way, it was almost a waste of precious pages as I was dying to read more about Miss Frost and/or Kittredge, or even the town of First Sister, Vermont. But that's a personal opinion. And I stand by my point that I really think it would have worked without what happened after Billy left school - or at least, what we found out after that chapter.
This is one of those novels I got from the library and am sure I will at one point purchase - not necessarily to reread, because I'd prefer to hold on to the magic of the first reading, but purely because I enjoyed reading to so much that I want its company, the way you keep a picture of a dear friend.
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Currently reading
Read-
Reus, by Annelies Verbeke
English title: Giant - Ex, by Helen FitzGerald
- In One Person, by John Irving
- The Cry, by Helen FitzGerald
- The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galbraith
- The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
- We zullen niet te pletter slaan, by Nina Polak
- De parachutemoord, by Faroek Özgünes
- Before I Say Goodbye, by Mary Higgins Clark
- Blondie: Parallel Lives, by Dick Porter and Kris Needs
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Daar is hij weer, by Timur Vermes
Original title: Er ist wieder da
English title: Look Who's Back - The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber
- The Apple: New Crimson Petal stories, by Michel Faber
- The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
- The Accidental Billionaires, by Ben Mezrich
- Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding, by Paulien Cornelisse
- En dan nog iets, by Paulien Cornelisse
- Annabel, by Kathleen Winter
- The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt
- A Masculine Ending, by Joan Smith
- A Far Cry From Kensington, by Muriel Spark
- Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem, by Peter Ackroyd
- NW, by Zadie Smith
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Reus, by Annelies Verbeke
Alexander's Reading 2014
in Past Book Logs
Posted · Edited by Alexander the Great
A Far Cry from Kensington review
I picked this book up in the library because it is set in 1950s London. The blurb seemed interesting enough to me to take it home.