pontalba's 2014 Reading List

[pontalba]

We saw the film Noah the other day.  No doubt about it, the acting was excellent, but the storyline left much to be desired.  The book was better.

 

Even looking at it in a non-religious light, the liberties that were taken were a bit over the top.  Bad guys were made into good guys, the settings and methods were completely changed.  Characters that were not in place at the time were inserted.

 

It was as though the producers combined the Bible story, and every myth, and story into one big extravaganza.  It rather left me with a bad taste in my mouth. 

[pontalba]

Also wanted to mention I've acquired a couple of new books. 

 

 

A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot (for the May RC)

Oh, and the film as well.

 

Flags in the Dust by William Faulkner It is the follow up on The Unvanquished that is reviewed above.

Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner

[Athena]

I hope you enjoy your new books, Kate !

[pontalba]

I hope you enjoy your new books, Kate !

 

Thanks, Gaia.

[Kidsmum]

 

A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot (for the May RC)

Oh, and the film as well.

  

 

I like your style Pontalba.......the book & the movie in one fell swoop 

[pontalba]

I like your style Pontalba.......the book & the movie in one fell swoop 

 

  It was funny, I searched the title on Amazon, and came up with the film first.  It was reasonably priced, so I figured what the heck...

I'll read the book in time for the May RC, and then watch the film.

 

Actually, I'm waiting to see the film On the Beach till husband finishes the book...../tapping toes/ heh

[julie]

Kay

 I hope you enjoy  A Very Long Engagement . I have wanted to read it for ages .

[pontalba]

Thanks, Julie.  It's one of the May Reading Circle choices, btw.

 

And, in other news, as reported on the On the Beach thread in the RC, we watched the film of On the Beach.  Really, really, really good.  All the actors were perfect for their roles.  Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, and Fred Astaire in his first dramatic role.  He was fabulous. 

It stuck very closely to the book, ditching details, of course.....par for the course.  And one other change that the director thought the public couldn't live without.  But it was explained in an interesting way.  So, it's ok with me.

[pontalba]

Just ran across this again, and wanted to save it somewhere.  

 

 

By: Martin Niemoller


First they came for the communists,
and I did not speak out
because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I did not speak out
because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I did not speak out
because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Catholic.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

[poppy]

Just ran across this again, and wanted to save it somewhere.

 

 

By: Martin Niemoller

 

 

First they came for the communists,

and I did not speak out

because I was not a communist.

Then they came for the socialists,

and I did not speak out

because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I did not speak out

because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics,

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Catholic.

Then they came for me,

and there was no one left to speak for me.

 

Very thought provoking Pont and well worth keeping

[Athena]

That's very nice, Pontalba .

[pontalba]

Thanks, Athena.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry  5/5

When War came and Belgium was invaded by the Germans in 1914, the call came to defend and protect Home. The young men, cream of the crop, came by the thousands to populate the trenches.

p.14 "Willie Dunne was not the only one. Why, he read in the newspaper that men who spoke only Gallic came down to the lowlands of Scotland to enlist, men of the Aran Islands that spoke only their native Irish rowed over to Galway. Public schoolboys from Winchester and Marlborough, boys of the Catholic University School and Belvedere and Blackrock College in Dublin. High-toned critics of Home Rule from the rainy Ulster counties, and Catholic men of the South alarmed for Belgian nun and child."

A Long Long Way tells the story of these men through the life of Willie Dunne, a lovely Irish lad with high hopes. Sebastian Barry's steady, lyrical prose explicitly tells the horrifying story of trench warfare, the mud, blood and excrement. But with moments of such love and caring and unconscious heroism that the reader is compelled to continue, even though difficult.

This book should be required reading for any person that thinks war is the answer to anything. The technology doesn't matter, it's all the same death to the grunt in the field.

 

Highly Recommended.

[pontalba]

I Am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith  3.5/5

Like the author, I read and saw (and was fascinated by) Robert Graves rendition of Livia in I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Graves, along with some historians, completely excoriated the third wife of Caesar Augustus. The contemporaneous historians went through a bit of a "he said, she said" routine and your view of Livia depends on which one you believe. But it must be considered what each historian had to gain or lose by his comments. And, it must be remembered how women were viewed, and treated in that time frame.

Smith writes from Livia's point of view and while we can believe that Livia may not be an entirely reliable narrator, I did see that at the least the fiction fit the facts known. I enjoyed reading about Livia's young life but was a little disappointed that the book didn't cover more of her married life. It ends with Octavian's return from Egypt after Antony and Cleopatra's defeat and death(s).

I didn't round up to a 4/5 mostly because of a certain flatness to the prose. I'm not convinced this is due to Livia's personality.
It won't keep me from reading more of this author. I enjoy her slant on things.

[Athena]

Two interesting books! I'm glad you liked both of them . Great reviews!

[Little Pixie]

Great book haul from last month.

 

I`ve never read The Interview with the Vampire book, it`s one of those ` get round to at some point ` books.

[pontalba]

Two interesting books! I'm glad you liked both of them . Great reviews!

 

Thanks!

 

 

Great book haul from last month.

 

I`ve never read The Interview with the Vampire book, it`s one of those ` get round to at some point ` books.

 

Thanks, I read the series, years ago.  Up to a point, didn't finish the entire series. It finally became too over the top for me.  I think I read the first three, possibly four.

[julie]

Sebastian Barry's books sound so good ! Why haven't I tried one before ? Next time I hit the library, I need to look him up .Wasn't he the one who wrote The Secret Scriptures, too ?

 

Note to self : Write down good-sounding books in a notebook. Stick the notebook in my purse .

[pontalba]

Sebastian Barry's books sound so good ! Why haven't I tried one before ? Next time I hit the library, I need to look him up .Wasn't he the one who wrote The Secret Scriptures, too ?

 

Note to self : Write down good-sounding books in a notebook. Stick the notebook in my purse .

 

Yup, Secret Scriptures was the first by Barry that I read. 

LOL, I need to remind myself of the same thing!  Mind like a sieve. 

[pontalba]

Beverly: A Wayward Pines Novella by Ryan Cole 4/5

The Redundant Man: A Wayward Pines Novella by Marsha Morman  3.5/5

First Contact: A Wayward Pines Novella by Steven Konkaly 3/5

 

All are basically character studies of various members/characters of the Wayward Pines saga.  Novella length, they are fairly concise and get to the point, assuming knowledge of the original stories by Blake Crouch.  I've review the first two of that trilogy, last year, and enjoyed them quite a lot. 

 

They cover how and why certain of the characters came to be part of Wayward Pines and I find them great filler-inners.  

To really go into their stories here would be a disservice to the original, I feel, as it would give away too much of the plot of the original.  The two reviews of the original books are here..... http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/11186-pontalbas-2013-reading-list/page-28

[Little Pixie]

 

Voices from the Civil War by Milton Meltzer  (American Civil War, or as we call it in the South, The Northern War of Aggression.....)

 

 

Donna Andrew`s amusing Meg Langslow series has a character who refers to it as The Great Unpleasantness.  

Edited April 17, 2014 by Little Pixie

[pontalba]

Donna Andrew`s amusing Meg Langslow series has a character who refers to it as The Great Unpleasantness.  

 

Hah! Too true. 

[pontalba]

I've started and discarded several books in the last week or so.  The latest is Alafair Burke's Angel's Tip, a police procedural that seems rather run of the mill to me.  I'm not including it in my list of read books even though I read 68% before discarding it.  It's ordinary, pulls all the politically correct strings and generally annoyed me.  Plus, I really don't care for stories about serial killers cutting up young women. 

 

All in all, I found the book rather distasteful. 

[pontalba]

The Postman, by David Brin 3/5

Nuclear War survivor, traveler, con man Gordon Krantz searches for a safe place to finally settle, without much success. He doubles as a traveling minstrel, until one day he stumbles upon something that will change both his life and the lives of all he encounters.

The title of the book tells of his find, a postman, long only skeletal remains. But his uniform and carrying bag remain. Krantz becomes The Postman, first as a con, then slowly he feels the weight of responsibility to what for him is a con game.

This is the story of the small pockets of humans he encounters, and how something so simple can change the course of a civilization, bit by bit.

I suppose the big question is....can a lie become the truth? Can people want so much to believe it that the fantasy becomes fact?

Recommended.

[bobblybear]

Nice review, and one I keep meaning to read. There's a movie with Kevin Costner in it, but I haven't seen it so can't say if it's any good or like the book.

[pontalba]

BB, I've heard of the movie, and knew Costner was in it, but haven't seen it.  That didn't keep me from picturing Costner as the character though!

 

 

11/22/63 by Stephen King 4.5/5

King is most adept at creating just the right amount of tension in this novel. Not enough to scare the reader silly, but enough to keep the leash on, to draw the reader along willingly, to find out what happens next, or more accurately, 50 years ago.

Jake Epping is an English Literature teacher, loves his work, and is divorced in 2011. How he ends up back in 1958 is an interesting story in itself, but what his mission entails could change the world. Will he succeed? And if so, is that a good thing? Will the past allow itself to be changed? Who is the Yellow Card Man and how does he affect the story?

There are King's usual tie-ins with at least one of his other books, IT, that lend a creepy ambiance to parts of the book.

Not a horror story, but a should have, could have, would have been tale of suspense. And enough murder and mayhem to satisfy any reader of thrillers. Oh, and a love story. Natch.