Kylie's Literary Adventures in 2008

[Kylie]

Pnin

Vladimir Nabokov

 

Rating: 9/10

 

Published: 1957

Number of pages: 160

 

Summary (taken from blurb):

Timofey Pnin, a St Petersburg bourgeois until the age of twenty, has had to struggle most of his life - with foreign languages he can never get the better of, with foreign transport he always misses or arrives several hours too early for, and with foreign people whom he invariably misunderstoods, and who usually misunderstand him. But his principal protagonist is modern, gadget-ridden America, and the love-hate relationship between Pnin and his adopted country is the main theme of this very funny book.

 

Comments:

Pnin is the second work of Nabokov's I've read, after Lolita. I find that Nabokov is not an easy author to read; despite the short nature of Pnin, it took me a week to get through it. Nabokov needs to be read slowly in order to appreciate the true brilliance of his writing.

 

Timofey Pnin is a wonderful character; one of the best I've read in literature. As a Russian professor living in America and bumbling his way from one situation to the next, it's hard to know whether to pity him or think he's a fool. Either way, you can't help but love him in all his quirkiness and foibles. Sheer brilliance!

 

 

Started: 8 August 2008

Finished: 14 August 2008

[poppy]

You do such excellent reviews Kylie. Glad you enjoyed Jeeves and Wooster I've got Lolita on my TBR pile.

[Kylie]

Aw, thanks Poppy I'm so behind in my reviews that I'm having trouble remembering details about the books . Hopefully I'll have a few more to follow shortly.

 

I have 4 more Wodehouse books on their way to me as well, two of which are Jeeves and Wooster (Carry On, Jeeves and Right Ho, Jeeves).

[Kylie]

An overdue update of books that have come into my house in the last month or thereabouts:

 

JG Ballard: Empire of the Sun

Peter Biskind: Easy Riders, Raging Bulls

Pearl S Buck: The Good Earth

Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl

Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code

Alexandre Dumas: The Last Cavalier

Gregory Maguire: Mirror, Mirror

David Webb: Beckwood Brae

Scott Westerfeld: Specials

PG Wodehouse: A Pelican at Blandings

PG Wodehouse: Carry On, Jeeves

PG Wodehouse: Cocktail Time

PG Wodehouse: Meet Mr Mulliner

PG Wodehouse: Money for Nothing

PG Wodehouse: Mr Mulliner Speaking

PG Wodehouse: Mulliner Nights

PG Wodehouse: Right Ho, Jeeves

PG Wodehouse: Something Fresh

PG Wodehouse: Uncle Dynamite

 

I also bought the Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection, which includes:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes

The Valley of Fear

A Study in Scarlet

The Sign of Four

His Last Bow

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Edited December 5, 2008 by Kylie

[Jo-Bridge]

JG Ballards good- really enjoyed Empire.. although its quite hard going at times! V gruelling.

[~Andrea~]

Wow Kylie - do you read at the same rate you acquire

[Kylie]

JG Ballards good- really enjoyed Empire.. although its quite hard going at times! V gruelling.

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

Wow Kylie - do you read at the same rate you acquire :)

 

I wish! Unfortunately my buying way exceeds my reading I really must stop buying books.

[Chimera]

I wish! Unfortunately my buying way exceeds my reading I really must stop buying books.

 

*laughs* I'm just the same at the moment. Actually the only thing that grows faster than my acquired books is my wishlist... Hopefully christmas will help sort that out a bit

 

And I'll second Jo-Bridge's appreciation of Empire of the Sun. I read the book a long time ago and dont remember it much but I have the film, which is beautiful and very trying at the same time.

[~Andrea~]

 

I wish! Unfortunately my buying way exceeds my reading I really must stop buying books.

 

Ah - maybe we all need 'books anonymous' meetings!

[Kylie]

More books!

 

Erich Maria Remarque: All Quiet on the Western Front

JK Rowling: The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Scott Westerfeld: Uglies

Scott Westerfeld: Pretties

 

I've already finished The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Pretty good read!

 

I'm now about 3 and a half months behind in my book reviews, so I'm trying to get a couple done now. Of course, the details of the books have become very hazy, so they're not likely to be very insightful!

Edited December 5, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Kim Edwards

 

Rating: 7/10

 

Published: 2005

Number of pages: 413

 

Summary (taken from blurb):

This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognises that his daughter has Down's syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own.

 

Comments:

This book is quite a downer. It's hard to feel sympathy for any of the characters. Although I understand the reasons behind David's decision, it's still hard to comprehend. And he had so many opportunities to rectify it, but he chose not to. It's very frustrating and depressing to read about these people living their sad and difficult lives because of one man's decision.

 

I read the book so long ago that the details are a bit hazy. Despite my gripes I apparently thought highly enough of it to give it a 7, so it must have had some good qualities. Interesting to see how one decision can so deeply affect your own life and that of everyone around you.

 

 

Started: 15 August 2008

Finished: 21 August 2008

[Kylie]

The Gem Collector

PG Wodehouse

 

Rating: 8/10

 

Published: 1909

Number of pages: 208

 

Summary (taken and edited from Wikipedia):

Sir James Willoughby Pitt, baronet, a former jewel thief who was expelled from Eton and has since inherited wealth, is in London and bored with life. Seeing a stranger in need in a restaurant, he comes to his aid, and so befriends Spennie Blunt. He later encounters Spike Mullins, a former American criminal associate, who has fled to England and fallen on hard times. Pitt takes him in.

 

From there on it's a typically Wodehousian romantic farce, set at the stately Dreever Castle, overflowing with imposters, detectives, crooks, scheming lovers and conniving aunts.

 

 

Comments:

A reasonably short story and very enjoyable. Wodehouse is terrific and I've been building up quite the collection of his works of late. This one is actually an earlier, serialised version of a story that became the longer A Gentleman of Leisure.

 

A terrific read; light and funny. Recommended.

 

 

Started: 19 August 2008

Finished: 28 August 2008

[Kylie]

Time to end this thread for 2008! I got so busy towards the end of the year that I stopped doing book reviews. I was going to try and catch up but figured it was pointless because a lot of details have become hazy.

 

I completed all 9 challenges I set myself for the year and read 57 books all up, which was 5 more than in 2007 (although I was reading shorter books in 2008).