pontalba Posted September 16, 2013 Author Share Posted September 16, 2013 For some reason my reading has been slow as molasses in January. In no way is it the fault of The Infatuations. The only reason I didn't rate it a 5 star was because I kind of wanted 'one more twist' to the story. But it was excellent as it stands. The Infatuations by Javier Marias 4/5Slow moving, tangential prose, somewhat Faulkneresque in it's style. However Faulkner, in his round-about gorgeous prose, describes that which is real. Marias, on the other hand, describes what might be, what could be, not necessarily what is in a plainer style.In The Infatuations, Marias describes where infatuations can lead us, to what lengths a person might go to in order to fulfill their desire. At heart a murder...mystery would be too strong a word. Let me call it a murder story.A young woman observes a married couple, obviously in love, having breakfast every morning in a local coffee house. One day the husband is senselessly murdered. Ostensibly a random, violent act. The young woman goes to the widow to offer her condolences, and is swept into an affair with a man she meets through the widow.Marias brings into play the questioning of what is justice, or what is the greater wrong, beautifully and with compassion. He plays with moral ambiguity, and carries it to the nth degree.If you have no patience for round about conversations, don't read this book. If, however, you love the exploration of "what if?", I recommend it to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 For some reason my reading has been slow as molasses in January. In no way is it the fault of The Infatuations. The only reason I didn't rate it a 5 star was because I kind of wanted 'one more twist' to the story. But it was excellent as it stands.x I'm a bit confused, you read this book in January and are now posting a review? Or did you mean to type a different month? sorry for being confused. The book sounds interesting . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsmeagain Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 No athena..my guess is that "molasses in January" is a statement meaning just "it has been slow." If wrong I do apologise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Ah! Sorry for not knowing that expression, thanks for your explanation, itsmeagain ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsmeagain Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 ok athena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 (edited) x I'm a bit confused, you read this book in January and are now posting a review? Or did you mean to type a different month? sorry for being confused. The book sounds interesting . No athena..my guess is that "molasses in January" is a statement meaning just "it has been slow." If wrong I do apologise Whoops! Sorry about that Athena. Yes, itsmeagain, that is a correct interpretation. It used to be a pretty common expression here, and as itsmeagain says, it means verrryyyyyy slowly. Here is a kind of informative and a bit of an amusing link to explain. http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/4052/ Edited September 17, 2013 by pontalba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Thanks, that's pretty interesting to read . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 Death of an Englishman by Magdalen Nabb (a tepid) 2.5.5 The first half of this Florence, Italy based mystery is rather slow and uninteresting. As it is a fairly short book, I persevered and was rewarded with a fast paced second half. Billed as "A Marshal Guarnaccio Investigation", the Marshal was pretty much AWOL till the last quarter, but was quite a character. It is hoped he is more predominately featured in the rest of the series.The title, Death of an Englishman pretty much tells it all, mysterious death, lots of suspects, stolen artwork, red herrings galore featured. The British police aka Scotland Yard are called in, and the obvious translation problems ensue.AWOL: Military term for Absent With Out Leave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 P-- - It's funny how we mention a saying that is common here or maybe just in our general area and people from elsewhere interpret it differently . I know once a long time ago, I mentioned not doing something in a coon's age .. Not good -- I got a negative reply back .Apparently one person who read it thought I was making a racial comment ,asking me why I said it .. So I had to go online to find out where the original saying came from .It had nothing at all to do with anything racial ... so once I posted the explanation and link, all was ok .. We use lots of hillbilly expressions here . Not that Ohio is known as a hillbilly state, but most of our townfolk are from the south .. mainly WV ..I'd guess . So we all have lots of slang expressions .. By the way, you are really chewing up the books this year, aren't you ? Whats your total at this point ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 chewing up the books Now there`s a delightful expression ! I`m much taken with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 18, 2013 Author Share Posted September 18, 2013 P-- - It's funny how we mention a saying that is common here or maybe just in our general area and people from elsewhere interpret it differently . I know once a long time ago, I mentioned not doing something in a coon's age .. Not good -- I got a negative reply back .Apparently one person who read it thought I was making a racial comment ,asking me why I said it .. So I had to go online to find out where the original saying came from .It had nothing at all to do with anything racial ... so once I posted the explanation and link, all was ok .. We use lots of hillbilly expressions here . Not that Ohio is known as a hillbilly state, but most of our townfolk are from the south .. mainly WV ..I'd guess . So we all have lots of slang expressions .. By the way, you are really chewing up the books this year, aren't you ? Whats your total at this point ? Oh, man, I used to use "in a coon's age", never had any repercussions from it though. Everyone down here knew what it meant. Everything is so bloody "PC" nowadays, it's annoying to say the least. Narrow minded, I call it. grrr Of course, it's all in the manner it's meant as well, it's true. /sigh/ LOL re chewing up books, haven't heard that one before. But I seem to go in fits and starts. Had a spell recently that I didn't pick up a book for 2 weeks or more. Wasn't the book I was in, just life having it's way with me. lol The last book was #68...but that doesn't touch Athena's total of 100 so far! I have a plain list of books read so far this year and ranking on the first page of this thread. In the second post, I have links to years past. LP, I quite like it as well. I have to laugh, just now Charles ordered his own Kindle Fire...and since we have 2 day shipping I asked if we'd get it on this Friday......first he told me no, it wouldn't get here till the 24th! But I calmed down when he said, whoops, no, we'd get it on Friday. /phew/ I then told him, 'good, I won't have to land on them like a duck on a June bug!'.......so, there is another strange expression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 Yea, I know what you mean about always having to be careful what you say and how you say it . Gets really irritating when you don't mean a blooming thing but someone wants to make more out of it than what there is ... We all have those times where life interferes with our reading. I think you have done very well this year ,so maybe you just had a slight burnout and needed a short break . Pretty funny on the 2nd Fire order --we ended up each having our own too . Such handy gadgets ,so now you guys won't have to share . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 18, 2013 Author Share Posted September 18, 2013 (edited) Ok, this time on our Gulf Coast excursion, the Bay Book Store WAS open! The damage was......not too bad, all of the following from the book store were second hand and only came to 22 USD. Dakota by Martha Grimes Left for Dead by Pete Nelson (it's the story of the USS Indianapolis, sunk in the Pacific July 30, 1945) God's Philosophers (How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science) by James Hannam The Norton Sampler by Thomas Cooley (short essays for composition) Life Class by Pat Barker (Booker Prize winner) The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell Then, lo and behold! delivered from Amazon today... The Big Crowd by Kevin Baker Dreamland by Kevin Baker} Paradise Alley by Kevin Baker} these are two of a trilogy that I already had one of) and......from Powell's City of Books..... The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman !!!! And the cover is.................... Edited September 18, 2013 by pontalba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 Beautiful cover -- maybe that will jump start your reading again ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 Sorry about not knowing some of these expressions. I've always had problems with expressions like that, I tend to take them literally (that's how my brain works). I've learned over the years many Dutch expressions and what they mean (even though my first thought will always be the literal one), but the ones that can't be easily translated to or from English, I wouldn't know. We were taught some in school of course, and I do read a lot of English books but I hadn't come across some of these yet. Anyway, just wanted to say it's not you or anything, it's just me and my disability and unknowingness. I'm sorry your reading isn't always going the way you want it to. That happens sometimes, it happens to me too (though usually not for very long), I don't always know why. I hope it'll pick up again. I hope your husband likes his Kindle Fire. What do you mainly use yours for? I'm just wondering, my parents use their tablet (well, my mum mainly uses it) for browsing the internet, looking things up, facebook, Twitter, and playing games (ie. Ruzzle), etc. Sometimes I think a tablet might be handy to have but I'm not sure what I'd use it for. Nice book haul, that's a very pretty cover you posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 Lovely new books. I see you got the `boy` version of Sunne in Splendour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 19, 2013 Author Share Posted September 19, 2013 Beautiful cover -- maybe that will jump start your reading again ! It is pretty, isn't it. Well, the book I'm reading now, By Blood, is extremely interesting. Told from the POV of a rather twisted and neurotic man. Sorry about not knowing some of these expressions. I've always had problems with expressions like that, I tend to take them literally (that's how my brain works). I've learned over the years many Dutch expressions and what they mean (even though my first thought will always be the literal one), but the ones that can't be easily translated to or from English, I wouldn't know. We were taught some in school of course, and I do read a lot of English books but I hadn't come across some of these yet. Anyway, just wanted to say it's not you or anything, it's just me and my disability and unknowingness. I'm sorry your reading isn't always going the way you want it to. That happens sometimes, it happens to me too (though usually not for very long), I don't always know why. I hope it'll pick up again. I hope your husband likes his Kindle Fire. What do you mainly use yours for? I'm just wondering, my parents use their tablet (well, my mum mainly uses it) for browsing the internet, looking things up, facebook, Twitter, and playing games (ie. Ruzzle), etc. Sometimes I think a tablet might be handy to have but I'm not sure what I'd use it for. Nice book haul, that's a very pretty cover you posted! Oh, goodness Athena, all the nutty, idiomatic phrases in every language must drive others to the breaking point. lol I googled briefly, and came up with this. http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/ According to it, there are over 12,000 idiomatic expressions/phrases in the English language. YIKES!! No one could know a small percentage of them! Your English is fantastic, and always absolutely correct. I really admire your talent to be able to truly immerse yourself in a foreign language! Charles has a stack of books on this present, keyboard Kindle, so he'll have those for his Kindle Fire, plus he'll be able to access the Internet. Neither of us are into the games. They are handy to carry out with us, instead of a laptop. Lovely new books. I see you got the `boy` version of Sunne in Splendour. LOL Boy version? I took what they sent. I didn't actually choose. /giggling/ Good one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Oh, goodness Athena, all the nutty, idiomatic phrases in every language must drive others to the breaking point. lol I googled briefly, and came up with this. http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/ According to it, there are over 12,000 idiomatic expressions/phrases in the English language. YIKES!! No one could know a small percentage of them! Your English is fantastic, and always absolutely correct. I really admire your talent to be able to truly immerse yourself in a foreign language!x Thanks !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 I see you got the `boy` version of Sunne in Splendour. Nah that's still the wrong one (for me) this is the one I thought I was getting: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 20, 2013 Author Share Posted September 20, 2013 Oh, I like that cover! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Nah that's still the wrong one (for me) this is the one I thought I was getting: The Sunne in Splendour US.jpg Nooooo, the original one came with added flounce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Oh, goodness Athena, all the nutty, idiomatic phrases in every language must drive others to the breaking point. lol I googled briefly, and came up with this. http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/ According to it, there are over 12,000 idiomatic expressions/phrases in the English language. YIKES!! No one could know a small percentage of them! Your English is fantastic, and always absolutely correct. I really admire your talent to be able to truly immerse yourself in a foreign language! Ditto - I was surprised that English wasn`t not your first language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Nooooo, the original one came with added flounce. It can flounce back out the way it came Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 21, 2013 Author Share Posted September 21, 2013 Now, I'm wondering what I'll miss in the older version, and when the 30 year one will come out over here. oy I'd get that on kindle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Ditto - I was surprised that English wasn`t not your first language. x Thanks ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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