There's so much to this book that I'm overwhelmed by the idea of actually composing a coherent review, and instead will just give an incomplete and unThere's so much to this book that I'm overwhelmed by the idea of actually composing a coherent review, and instead will just give an incomplete and unordered bulleted list of things I loved about it. (Some of these were true of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, too, of course.) You almost couldn't design a book better suited to what I want to get out of reading.
- The perspective is technically third person because Cromwell is usually referred to as "he" and not "I," but in another (truer?) way it's first person because of how interior to Cromwell's thoughts it is, and because of the way that when the pronoun "he" is used, it's like the way one uses "I" in that it doesn't specify whom it refers to, and the reader just learns to accept that "he" always means Cromwell unless context proves otherwise. It's amazing because the third-personness makes you think of the narrative voice as objective, and you accept descriptions as factual, much more than you ordinarily would reading a first person account. It's an incredibly deft way of getting the reader utterly bought into Cromwell's version of things.
- Mantel made some decisions about how people would speak (and think) that I thought worked really well. It's an effective combination of anachronism (they use contractions, for example) and olde timey vocab / mode of expression. To me it felt just right - not completely authentic, but with the ring of truth.
- It's incredibly witty. You'd never expect it but there's actually a pretty high joke-per-page rate!
- WHAT A STROKE OF GENIUS to locate the source of Henry VIII's displeasure with Anne of Cleves not in any actual flaw of hers, but in her apparent distaste for Henry's looks, and his consequent, insurmountable humiliation and rage.
There's so much else to say that I don't have the words for, so I'm going to stop scribbling nonsense and go look up an actual review....more
Holy cow, what a good book. Couldn't put it down, finished it in a day. (All writers of epics should be envious of what Gyasi achieved with so few worHoly cow, what a good book. Couldn't put it down, finished it in a day. (All writers of epics should be envious of what Gyasi achieved with so few words.) Clear prose centered the stories and characters, and transported me completely. I was amazed at how distinct were all of the characters, in spite of their number, and at how vivid was each narrative. Incredible that despite containing so much pain, the book was a joy to read....more
This book has stayed with me in the days since reading, as though continuing to iterate through the multiverse. I've never read anything quite like itThis book has stayed with me in the days since reading, as though continuing to iterate through the multiverse. I've never read anything quite like it. I loved the many ways, large and small, that Atkinson used language to achieve what she did....more
All the great things about the first book in this series, were great about this also. And then Jemisin added even another layer, a really moving narraAll the great things about the first book in this series, were great about this also. And then Jemisin added even another layer, a really moving narration from the point of view of a young girl having to face trauma and come to grips with her own abilities. My high expectations were exceeded....more
It's hard to know what to say about this book. A lot of reviewers seem underwhelmed, and from what I can tell it has a lot to do with what they expectIt's hard to know what to say about this book. A lot of reviewers seem underwhelmed, and from what I can tell it has a lot to do with what they expected and how the book failed to live up. I guess I can't really criticize that, because my response to do it was pretty personal, too. Without getting gruesomely intimate, I'll say that I hoped (knowing Barnes's fear of death superficially resembled mine) that reading this book would mean encountering in erudite form the thoughts I've struggled with for years but never been able to put into words. It did, so perfectly that by the last ten or twenty pages, the extent to which he had distilled the terror of extinction was enough to make me put the book down without finishing.
Leaving that aside, I thought this interconnected and self-referencing series of essays and vignettes was fascinating, poignant, educational, funny and unique. Some of Barnes's writerly eccentricities that I found alienating in Flaubert's Parrot, like (what I then perceived to be) an over-familiarity with authors, poets, composers and artists past, are put to good use here. If you are preoccupied with the idea of dying (especially if you lack religious faith and are conscious of the self-satisfied certainty you therefore do not have about death), in this book you will find a like-minded club of thinkers: Stravinsky, Goethe, Turgenev, Maugham, Flaubert (of course) and Barnes himself, among others. But rather than intimidating figures, in this book they are sympathetic and accessible. That's because Barnes weaves their contributions (excerpted from published writings, letters, diaries) into the narrative in a manner akin to conversation, rather than subjecting their views to study. You get the feeling you're participating in a roundtable discussion with the author and these men.
Michel de Montaigne: To be a philosopher is to learn how to die. Julian Barnes: I wouldn't mind Dying at all, as long as I didn't end up Dead at the end of it. Jonathan Miller: I cannot actually conceive, can't make sense of the notion of total annihilation. Jules Renard: The word that is most true, most exact, most filled with meaning, is the word 'nothing'. Philip Larkin: Not to be here, / Not to be anywhere, / And soon; nothing more terrible, nothing more true.
Don't worry, it's not actually written like this....more
The funniest novel I've ever read. Truly ingenious. Totally changed the way I think about funny in books. I fully subscribe to the narrator's view thaThe funniest novel I've ever read. Truly ingenious. Totally changed the way I think about funny in books. I fully subscribe to the narrator's view that nice things are nicer than nasty ones....more
An absolute delight. I am increasingly of the opinion that Dorothy Sayers is the finest mystery serial writer of - well, I can't say "all time," havinAn absolute delight. I am increasingly of the opinion that Dorothy Sayers is the finest mystery serial writer of - well, I can't say "all time," having only read two or three of her peers, but VERY FINE INDEED. Sayers doesn't just write good mysteries, she writes good novels. One might almost mistake Murder Must Advertise for a novel about an ad firm (and brilliantly done at that) that happens to concern a murder, rather than the other way around, and I don't say that at the expense of the mystery itself.
One of Sayers's many likeable qualities is that she never comes off as an innocent, even in books where the plot turns on the interpretation of a will and the characters are frequently known to say, "Oh! Dear me. Rather. I do say. Shocking, what?" (I enjoyed Unnatural Death and adored The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, but one must be honest.) Sayers's astonishing wit, the seeming tameness of some of its objects regardless, always betrays a penetrating understanding of human mischief. And in this novel, with its sex and cocaine, the innuendos are keener and more hilarious than ever. Not that she places undue reliance on innuendos, either.
Of Lord Peter Wimsey, I do occasionally think to myself, "I wish there was something he couldn't do." But those moments pass quickly and are soon forgotten in an onslaught of Sayers's pitch-perfect dialogue.
Naturally, the plot is clever and well-integrated. Nothing hugely astonishing, but one hardly cares; there are enough surprises throughout to keep up the pace. And as yet another sign of Sayers's rare and intelligent style, the climax contains an unusual solemn, sad nod to human dignity....more
I gave this four stars when I read it ten years ago, and am upping it to five and adding it to my "favorites" list.
I gave it a closer read this time aI gave this four stars when I read it ten years ago, and am upping it to five and adding it to my "favorites" list.
I gave it a closer read this time and found that I was more challenged by the language. It's a bit unlyrical, you have to tread over words carefully like rocky ground. This made the discoveries feel precious and well-earned....more
Old review below. I disagree with myself. This book is a banger. It holds up.
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I am going to open up my heart to you guys. I read this bookOld review below. I disagree with myself. This book is a banger. It holds up.
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I am going to open up my heart to you guys. I read this book when I was, oh, maybe 7 or 8, and it was my favorite book for YEARS. I re-read it countless times. It was the only book from my childhood I brought with me to college. It may have been, in large part, the reason my mom once bought me a t-shirt that said "Kathleen" in - wait for it -HIEROGLYPHICS.
I have no idea if this is actually a good book or not. I loved it so much as a kid that I couldn't possibly give an impartial opinion even now.
Oh, um, that t-shirt thing was in sixth grade, not college. In case that wasn't clear....more
Jeez, where to begin - and why bother, since it's probably all been said before? I guess I'll just say that, without committing myself to a position, Jeez, where to begin - and why bother, since it's probably all been said before? I guess I'll just say that, without committing myself to a position, I take no issue with the various authorities that have called Middlemarch the greatest book written in English....more
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