pontalba Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt 3/5I wanted to love this book, and would have if it had concentrated on the story of Jim Williams and the sensational murder trial(s) that rocked Savannah, Georgia in the 1980's. Evidently I had the incorrect pre-impression of the contents.The murder and trials are a continuing thread in stories of Savannah's various and sundry, rather eccentric residents. Some have a bearing on William's story, some do not relate in the least. Berendt does however, paint an interesting travelogue of the City. We hear of the standoffishness of the residents, and the close-mindedness of same. The extremes are, well.....extreme. Con men, hustlers, Grand Dames, all mingle in the book. The author explains how the actual geography of the City contributes and forms that insular place.I really feel the book could have been cut by at least one-third and still covered all the bases the author required. There was a great deal of repetition regarding some of the more "titillating" residents. I found it quite unnecessary.It certainly helped me cross Savannah right off of my To Be Visited Cities of the South. What a shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Aw, that's a shame, Pont. I have this book on my TBR pile. Do you think it would be a good book for a 'foreigner' to learn more about the area and the trials? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Awww, sorry to hear it wasn't as good as you had hoped. Nice review though . I hope your next read will be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 Aw, that's a shame, Pont. I have this book on my TBR pile. Do you think it would be a good book for a 'foreigner' to learn more about the area and the trials? I do, Kylie. It was interesting to me, and I'm only a 9 hour drive from there. It's geographical location truly contributes to the insularity of the natives. It's probably a fascinating place for an anthropologist. I have wondered about the number of trials the protagonist had. I thought Double Jeopardy would have taken effect. Oddness. Awww, sorry to hear it wasn't as good as you had hoped. Nice review though . I hope your next read will be better. Thanks, Athena. I am still trying to decide what to read next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Kate Sorry the book was such a disappointment . I really liked it myself, but it's not as fresh in my mind as it once was. I read it back when it first came out . I remember wishing it would have told a bit more about the murder and trial, etc because I like true crime books ,but I enjoyed reading about some of the colorful characters that lived there . It also sounds like a beautiful place . Hope you find a better book for the next one ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 Julie, it wasn't a big disappointment, I gave it 3 stars, meaning I liked it, but didn't love it. I found it irritating that the author went on and on, and on about a couple of the peripheral characters, ad nauseam. I felt like it was padding. I really wanted to hear more about the murder and subsequent trial(s). You know what I really cannot understand is why double jeopardy couldn't come into effect. Well, I guess because the juries came to a verdict, but really! Four trials?? Yikes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) I found your comments about the Berendt book very interesting: a few years ago I read his book on Venice, The City of the Falling Angels. Unlike you, I rated it quite lowly (2/6 if I recall correctly). I've tried to find the review I wrote at the time without success, but I'm sure that one of the reasons I disliked it was his constant going on about a couple of American ex-pats, including Ezra Pound, rather than focusing on the people of the Venice themselves. Seems a bit familiar. Edited March 2, 2014 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) Thanks willoyd. Yes, he seems to obsess, focus on a couple of characters. This book's candidates consisted of a charming con man that moved from house to house right ahead of the process server (a lawyer himself), and a young man that was a cross dresser/transsexual. Both interesting characters, but to constantly come back to them was not necessary. What did fascinate me were the very frank conversations between Jim Williams and the author. I haven't seen the film but I do know that Kevin Spacey played the role of Williams. And, I believe he was perfect for the role. I had to picture Spacey, and if you've seen the American House of Cards, the character Spacey plays in that series is an absolute dead ringer (physically and banter-wise) for Williams. I would have appreciated more detail of the trials...they were skimmed a bit, although the main thrust was there. Addition: I think in this book, he did give a great rendition of what and why Savannah is the way it is. I appreciated that as well. Edited March 2, 2014 by pontalba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Not to butt in on the conversation here, but Will, the book you read wasn't NEARLY as good as the one Kate just read ,( in my opinion . Pretty dull in fact . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 Not to butt in on the conversation here, but Will, the book you read wasn't NEARLY as good as the one Kate just read ,( in my opinion . Pretty dull in fact . Ahhh, you've read them both! Thanks for the input, Julie. Interesting. Maybe it's because he actually lived in Savannah for the length of time he did, and could relate to it better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Received a couple more books in the mail today. It's magic, y'all! The brand new, pre-ordered quite a while ago, The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black, aka John Banville. Absolutely delicious prose. It isn't from his Quirke series, it's a Philip Marlowe detective story. All with the blessing of the Marlowe Estate, yada, yada, yada....... An absolutely fabulous first couple of lines..... "It was one of those Tuesday afternoons in summer when you wonder if the earth has stopped revolving. The telephone on my desk had the air of something that knows it's being watched. Cars trickled past in the street below the dusty window of my office, and a few of the good folks of our fair city ambled along the sidewalk, men in hats, mostly, going nowhere." /sigh/ Heavenly prose. I just received it this afternoon, and am almost a third of the way through it. /shaking myself/ Ok, there are two more that arrived. A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Congrats on the new books, I hope you enjoy them . That prose sounds intruiging indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Congrats on the new books, I hope you enjoy them . That prose sounds intruiging indeed! Thanks, Gaia. On GoodReads, Kylie asked me how it compared to the original Raymond Chandler/Philip Marlow books, Here is a C&P of my answer. : Good question. It's been decades since I've read any Chandler. I took a look at The Big Sleep and have to say the style is similar. Black seemingly is toning it down a bit for this, and keeping to Chandler's style as much as possible. I thought Chandler's first line or so was comparable to Black's. Here it is..... It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills. I'd forgotten how descriptive Chandler actually is/was. I'm about half way through The Black-Eyed Blonde and he is adhering to Chandler's format as far as I can see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 The Black-Eyed Blonde: A Philip Marlowe Novel by Benjamin Black 4.5/5It's been decades since I've read any Philip Marlowe, but the similarities are more than striking. Black/Banville brings the detective to life, beautifully. A disillusioned detective, a beautiful damsel in distress, slippery gangsters populate, and move about in this Marlowe recreation in more or less the expected fashion. The prose is toned-down Banville, and as usual, gorgeous and descriptive in an unobtrusive manner.I don't think I can put it anywhere near as accurately as the New York Times review by Janet Maslin, so I'll insert that link here. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/boo...Recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 Rivers by Michael Farris Smith 3/5The Gulf Coast of the U.S. is being inundated with constant hurricanes, ever increasing in ferocity. Finally, in desperation, the government declares anything 90 miles North of the coastline to be a wasteland, lost, uninhabitable. Mandatory evacuation is called, and a time limit is set for residents to leave. They must leave their homes, and probably most of their belongings. Scary stuff. Even scarier is that some decided to stay. A plethora of reasons, some honest, some crooked as the day is long. There is no law. Only "might makes right".This is the story of one man that stays, and the few innocents, and the very bad guys he encounters.I'd have given a higher rating, but I felt the story dragged a bit too much in the middle, but it did pick up beautifully and had a bit of a twisty ending. All in all I can easily recommend this to someone that enjoys post apocalyptic stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 The Black-Eyed Blonde: A Philip Marlowe Novel by Benjamin Black 4.5/5 It's been decades since I've read any Philip Marlowe, but the similarities are more than striking. Black/Banville brings the detective to life, beautifully. A disillusioned detective, a beautiful damsel in distress, slippery gangsters populate, and move about in this Marlowe recreation in more or less the expected fashion. The prose is toned-down Banville, and as usual, gorgeous and descriptive in an unobtrusive manner. I don't think I can put it anywhere near as accurately as the New York Times review by Janet Maslin, so I'll insert that link here. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/boo... Recommended. Ooh, sounds great. I love Philip Marlowe - I can even quote the opening paragraph of The Big Sleep. I`ve sampled it, to try later. BTW, we`re still waiting for the BBC to show Quirke on TV ( information just says ` early 2014` ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunn300 Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Rivers sound really interesting and I have added the paperback to my wish list for when it comes out in September. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 The Black-Eyed Blonde: A Philip Marlowe Novel by Benjamin Black 4.5/5 It's been decades since I've read any Philip Marlowe, but the similarities are more than striking. Black/Banville brings the detective to life, beautifully. A disillusioned detective, a beautiful damsel in distress, slippery gangsters populate, and move about in this Marlowe recreation in more or less the expected fashion. The prose is toned-down Banville, and as usual, gorgeous and descriptive in an unobtrusive manner. I don't think I can put it anywhere near as accurately as the New York Times review by Janet Maslin, so I'll insert that link here. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/boo... Recommended. Yay! I can't wait to read this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Rivers sound really interesting and I have added the paperback to my wish list for when it comes out in September. Oh, I didn't realize it wasn't out on paper!, it was on kindle I read it..... Yay! I can't wait to read this. Makes me want to read all the Marlowe books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion 4/5I was utterly charmed by this book. The story of two very unlikely people meeting in a most peculiar manner, and falling in love. Both stoutly denying it the entire time. Don Tillman is brilliant, but socially inept, organized to the Nth degree, and Rosie.....well, Rosie is almost the exact opposite......flamboyant and colorful.I am not ordinarily a fan of "romantic comedies", but this is certainly the exception to the rule. The matter-of-fact prose that Simsion writes cuts right through the chatter and hits the target. This is truly laugh out loud funny. I had to stop and read portions out loud to my husband, with both of us giggling, hardly able to continue.This is a story of possibilities, of regeneration, and most of all being able to start over.Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Great review! I'm glad you liked this book . I plan to be reading it very soon, it's great so many of us are reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Another great review of The Rosie Project . I'm definitely gonna have to give this one another try ! You are still chugging right along with your books ! great job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Another great review for The Rosie Project , so I'm gonna have to read it soon too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted March 12, 2014 Author Share Posted March 12, 2014 Thanks, y'all! I was really surprised at how funny we both found it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Every time I read a review of The Rosie Project I could kick myself for listening to it and not reading it. I know that, in my head, it would've come across exactly as you've said. The narrator was just all wrong and that made Don unconvincing. I still liked it a lot but couldn't reconcile the voice to the character .. I need to re-visit once his voice has faded from memory. Great review Kate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.