I've been on hold for this ebook forEVER, and finally got it right after Christmas and in time for my trip to Florida. I realize I am probably one of the last readers in America to read it, and I'm sorry I waited. What a fabulous novel! And I mean fabulous in a couple of different ways, as anyone who has read the book understands.
For those of you who haven't, this is the story of Pi Patel, a 16-year-old Indian boy whose family owns a zoo. When his parents decide to close the zoo and move from India to Canada, they travel by freighter with several of the zoo animals. Unfortunately the ship goes down in the middle of the Pacific, and Pi is the only human survivor - along with a hyena, a zebra, and orangutan, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
Pi's adventures on the lifeboat with this group aren't pretty, adventures they certainly are. The fact that he survives some 200-odd days in the open sea is simply amazing, and his ability to deal with Richard Parker is pretty wonderful. I also found the end to be quite surprising - I didn't see it coming at all, and that made it all the better.
I highly recommend Life of Pi, and will definitely plan on seeing the movie.
Life of Pi
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Stops and Starts
So I recently started reading two books and didn't finish them. First was Arcadia, which was on The Washington Post list of best books of the year. I just didn't like it. It's about hippies on a commune in the early 1970's, and it just didn't draw me in.
The second was Voyager, the third book of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander time-travel series. I did like this book, I love the characters and the story really draws you in. It goes back and forth between 1968 and 1748ish Scotland, where Claire and Jamie are living their separate lives. But it's almost 900 pages long, and my library checkout expired before I could finish it and there is, of course, a wait list. So at some point in the future I'll put a hold on it so I can finish it.
For now I'm trying to decide between 3 books - two library books that look interesting, and The Hobbit, borrowed from my friend Shari. You'll find out soon which one I picked!
Arcadia
Voyager
The second was Voyager, the third book of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander time-travel series. I did like this book, I love the characters and the story really draws you in. It goes back and forth between 1968 and 1748ish Scotland, where Claire and Jamie are living their separate lives. But it's almost 900 pages long, and my library checkout expired before I could finish it and there is, of course, a wait list. So at some point in the future I'll put a hold on it so I can finish it.
For now I'm trying to decide between 3 books - two library books that look interesting, and The Hobbit, borrowed from my friend Shari. You'll find out soon which one I picked!
Arcadia
Voyager
Friday, December 14, 2012
The Third Angel
Okay, I am a huge Alice Hoffman fan, but I have to say I had a really hard time getting into this novel. Having said that, by the time I got to the end I couldn't put it down. So... take from that what you will.
The Third Angel is three inter-connecting stories about three women in long with the wrong guy, in three different eras. The connecting thread is The Lion Park Hotel and Lucy Green. The story moves back in time, from present day to the 60's hippie era to the prim 1950's. I have to say, I didn't like the present-day characters as much as I liked the other characters, and I found the older stories slightly more in keeping with the mystical realism that I love so much from Ms. Hoffman.
I also liked the way the stories are connected, it's not an obvious connection, and there are some lovely little surprises... like a certain young man from Liverpool. At any rate, a hard-to-get-into but ultimately enjoyable read.
The Third Angel
The Third Angel is three inter-connecting stories about three women in long with the wrong guy, in three different eras. The connecting thread is The Lion Park Hotel and Lucy Green. The story moves back in time, from present day to the 60's hippie era to the prim 1950's. I have to say, I didn't like the present-day characters as much as I liked the other characters, and I found the older stories slightly more in keeping with the mystical realism that I love so much from Ms. Hoffman.
I also liked the way the stories are connected, it's not an obvious connection, and there are some lovely little surprises... like a certain young man from Liverpool. At any rate, a hard-to-get-into but ultimately enjoyable read.
The Third Angel
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
I really enjoyed this debut novel from Helen Simonson. I recently saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and this novel reminded me of that movie in a few ways.
Major Pettigrew is a very proper English gentlemen living in a small village in Sussex, where he's lived all his life. When his brother dies, the Major goes through a rough patch and develops a friendship with Mrs. Ali, the widow who owns the village shop, who is of Pakistani descent. The novel explores the ideas of Englishness and otherness, and of what it really means to be "proper." It's also a really enjoyable read.
The Major is a really likeable character, proper but not uptight, with a biting sense of humor and a great deal of humanity. The townspeople are straight out of central casting, and I have some great ideas for who might play them in the movie. But maybe most importantly the story is a warmhearted and humorous love story about people of a "certain age," of a type that we don't see very much of these days.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
Major Pettigrew is a very proper English gentlemen living in a small village in Sussex, where he's lived all his life. When his brother dies, the Major goes through a rough patch and develops a friendship with Mrs. Ali, the widow who owns the village shop, who is of Pakistani descent. The novel explores the ideas of Englishness and otherness, and of what it really means to be "proper." It's also a really enjoyable read.
The Major is a really likeable character, proper but not uptight, with a biting sense of humor and a great deal of humanity. The townspeople are straight out of central casting, and I have some great ideas for who might play them in the movie. But maybe most importantly the story is a warmhearted and humorous love story about people of a "certain age," of a type that we don't see very much of these days.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
This Beautiful Life
This novel is the story of the Bergamot family, who've just moved from small-town Ithaca to big bad NYC for dad Richard's new job at a university. Apparently it's a great job at a wealthy school, because mom Liz gets to stay home and the kids - Jake and Coco - go to a chi-chi private school. But then 15-year-old Jake gets an emailed video from an eighth-grade girl - which he then forwards to his best friend - and their world starts to collapse.
That's where I stopped reading. When I read the book description I thought the story would appeal to me, but after reading that much it just didn't. It's just not something I care to read about. So, I don't recommend this book, although it might appeal to some people. It's just not my kind of story.
This Beautiful Life
That's where I stopped reading. When I read the book description I thought the story would appeal to me, but after reading that much it just didn't. It's just not something I care to read about. So, I don't recommend this book, although it might appeal to some people. It's just not my kind of story.
This Beautiful Life
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
I have to admit, I liked the beginning and the ending of this novel better than I liked the balance of it. The novel opens with a lot of potential - David and Norah Henry, so very much in love, are about to have a baby. When the baby comes in the middle of a blizzard, it's not just one baby but two - a perfect boy, and a girl with Down's Syndrome. But it's 1964, and Dr. David wants to spare Norah the heartbreak of a less-than-perfect child, so he gives the girl to his nurse to take to a home for the mentally ill, and he tells Norah that the baby has died.
The rest of the novel is about how David, Norah, their son Paul, and the nurse Caroline, deal with what happened. David has his guilt, Norah has her grief, Paul has a sense of something missing, and Caroline has her own issues to deal with. I have to say I didn't find David or Norah particularly sympathetic, but I thought Caroline was a very strong character. I also found the story to be a bit trite, and found myself skimming a lot of it.
The novel ends 25 years after it began, in 1989, and I definitely enjoyed the ending. The characters had all grown through their experiences and were more sympathetic. It was a nice read, but not an amazing read.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
The rest of the novel is about how David, Norah, their son Paul, and the nurse Caroline, deal with what happened. David has his guilt, Norah has her grief, Paul has a sense of something missing, and Caroline has her own issues to deal with. I have to say I didn't find David or Norah particularly sympathetic, but I thought Caroline was a very strong character. I also found the story to be a bit trite, and found myself skimming a lot of it.
The novel ends 25 years after it began, in 1989, and I definitely enjoyed the ending. The characters had all grown through their experiences and were more sympathetic. It was a nice read, but not an amazing read.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Monday, November 5, 2012
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
What a sweet, lovely, uplifting novel! Playwright Rachel Joyce gives us Harold Fry, a retired salesman in a small town in England whose life is just the same day over and over. He and his wife, Maureen, barely speak, and in fact Harold rarely leaves the house - or even his chair it seems. Then one day a letter arrives - his old friend Queenie Hennessey, whom he hasn't seen in 20 years, is dying of cancer. So Harold decides to write Queenie a note.
But then something happens to Harold. Walking from the house to the post box, he keeps going, and he even goes past the post office... he just keeps walking. At some point he decides he is going to walk across England to see Queenie in person, and he adds a line to the note asking her to wait. He doesn't have the right shoes or equipment, in fact he hasn't walked further than the driveway in years, but he's walking across England for someone he hasn't seen in 20 years.
Along the way Harold meets some interesting people, but he also meets the man he used to be, as well as the man he would like to be. And he comes to terms with the parts of his life that have made him who he is, and shaped the relationship he has shared with Maureen for much of their married life.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
But then something happens to Harold. Walking from the house to the post box, he keeps going, and he even goes past the post office... he just keeps walking. At some point he decides he is going to walk across England to see Queenie in person, and he adds a line to the note asking her to wait. He doesn't have the right shoes or equipment, in fact he hasn't walked further than the driveway in years, but he's walking across England for someone he hasn't seen in 20 years.
Along the way Harold meets some interesting people, but he also meets the man he used to be, as well as the man he would like to be. And he comes to terms with the parts of his life that have made him who he is, and shaped the relationship he has shared with Maureen for much of their married life.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
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