Title: One for Sorrow
Author: Christopher Barzak
Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. It's been a long time since I read a good ghost story, and this one does something magnificent: it sets up a world in which the main character has these completely believable and moving experiences with another character, but it just so happens that character #2 is dead. No laborious over-thinking passages about the meaning of life and death; no painful attempts to delve into the physics of why the ghost is possible; no saccharine musing on the nature of the afterlife. Yet the world of the novel is richly sketched, and never once did I set the book aside thinking 'Hmm, I don't believe it.' At its heart it is a story about grief: the toll it takes, the long process of overcoming it. It is also a coming-of-age story, a growing-up story. Beautifully written and beautifully realized. I'm only sad it's the author's first novel, because I can't run out to find something else of his to read.
Friday, 28 March 2008
Book: Me and Mr. Darcy
Title: Me and Mr. Darcy
Author: Alexandra Potter
Thoughts: As someone currently working on a novel that pays homage to Pride and Prejudice, I just have to say this one thing: it is entirely (and often all too) possible to stick too close to the original when one is retelling a famous story. Pride and Prejudice is a great book--my favourite, as a matter of fact--and no one who retells the original word for word is doing themselves justice. A perfect nugget like the original Austen is hard to compete with on the best of days by the best of writers so all you chick-lit wannabes out there take heed: borrow if you must, but don't copy passages of the original. And when you (inevitably) get to the part where your Darcy stand-in writes his revelatory letter explaining everything, please don't steal lines from Austen. Please. Please. You aren't as good as Jane Austen, and voluntarily putting yourself up for comparison with one of the greatest novels of all time? Just painful. For everyone involved.
Author: Alexandra Potter
Thoughts: As someone currently working on a novel that pays homage to Pride and Prejudice, I just have to say this one thing: it is entirely (and often all too) possible to stick too close to the original when one is retelling a famous story. Pride and Prejudice is a great book--my favourite, as a matter of fact--and no one who retells the original word for word is doing themselves justice. A perfect nugget like the original Austen is hard to compete with on the best of days by the best of writers so all you chick-lit wannabes out there take heed: borrow if you must, but don't copy passages of the original. And when you (inevitably) get to the part where your Darcy stand-in writes his revelatory letter explaining everything, please don't steal lines from Austen. Please. Please. You aren't as good as Jane Austen, and voluntarily putting yourself up for comparison with one of the greatest novels of all time? Just painful. For everyone involved.
Monday, 24 March 2008
Book: The Art of French Kissing
Title: The Art of French Kissing
Author: Kristin Harmel
Thoughts: Chick lit? Check! Crazy French rock star? Check! Girl discovering herself? Check! Paris, Paris, Paris? Check! Check! Check!
This was a quick and easy read, but boy did it scratch an itch I didn't realize I'd had. I've been a bit chick-lit-ted out recently, but this was a lovely book and was exactly what I needed. Plus it was set in Paris, and I'm writing a book set in Paris, so it was practically research! I kind of wish I hadn't figured out what was obviously meant to be the twist in the end about half-way through, but... what can you do? I'm going to look up her other two books the next time I'm at the library!
Author: Kristin Harmel
Thoughts: Chick lit? Check! Crazy French rock star? Check! Girl discovering herself? Check! Paris, Paris, Paris? Check! Check! Check!
This was a quick and easy read, but boy did it scratch an itch I didn't realize I'd had. I've been a bit chick-lit-ted out recently, but this was a lovely book and was exactly what I needed. Plus it was set in Paris, and I'm writing a book set in Paris, so it was practically research! I kind of wish I hadn't figured out what was obviously meant to be the twist in the end about half-way through, but... what can you do? I'm going to look up her other two books the next time I'm at the library!
Saturday, 22 March 2008
Movie: The Duchess of Langeis
Wow.
This movie was so boring.
I'm sorry to be so critical, but... honestly? At least half a dozen people left the theatre as it played (and it was a small theatre) and more just slept... I could hear a guy in my row snoring. The costumes, I grant you, were beautiful. But the characters had no chemistry, I didn't even like them, and I certainly didn't care about the things they cared about. Which means as a character-driven drama it failed. Failed miserably.
Also, it was two and a half hours long.
Zzzzz.
This movie was so boring.
I'm sorry to be so critical, but... honestly? At least half a dozen people left the theatre as it played (and it was a small theatre) and more just slept... I could hear a guy in my row snoring. The costumes, I grant you, were beautiful. But the characters had no chemistry, I didn't even like them, and I certainly didn't care about the things they cared about. Which means as a character-driven drama it failed. Failed miserably.
Also, it was two and a half hours long.
Zzzzz.
Thursday, 20 March 2008
Book: Illumination Night
Title: Illumination Night
Author: Alice Hoffman
Thoughts: I sure will be sad when I run out of Alice Hoffman books. The thing is, I don't love all of them. Some stories I just can't get behind. Illumination Night wasn't one of those. It was a delicate story with just enough of the magical realism I so enjoy in her books. Sometimes you feel as though you're reading a grown-up fairy tale. Sure her usual themes of infidelity and rebellious teenagehood were present, and sometimes I get sick of those, but I really enjoyed this book. It was a lovely tonic while I recuperated from the flu!
Author: Alice Hoffman
Thoughts: I sure will be sad when I run out of Alice Hoffman books. The thing is, I don't love all of them. Some stories I just can't get behind. Illumination Night wasn't one of those. It was a delicate story with just enough of the magical realism I so enjoy in her books. Sometimes you feel as though you're reading a grown-up fairy tale. Sure her usual themes of infidelity and rebellious teenagehood were present, and sometimes I get sick of those, but I really enjoyed this book. It was a lovely tonic while I recuperated from the flu!
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Book: The Bright Forever
Title: The Bright Forever
Author: Lee Martin
Thoughts: I liked a lot of things about this book. I'm always on the lookout for books that use multiple POVs well, and Martin really had his POV voices down pat. The reader doesn't get to hear every character, but the characters chosen are good ones. There was, in my opinion, a little too much 'playing to the camera' for lack of a better term: a character saying something along the lines of 'well, you'll understand when I tell you my story' or 'but we haven't reached that part of my story yet' etc. Overall it was touching and well-written, but it was no The Lovely Bones.
Author: Lee Martin
Thoughts: I liked a lot of things about this book. I'm always on the lookout for books that use multiple POVs well, and Martin really had his POV voices down pat. The reader doesn't get to hear every character, but the characters chosen are good ones. There was, in my opinion, a little too much 'playing to the camera' for lack of a better term: a character saying something along the lines of 'well, you'll understand when I tell you my story' or 'but we haven't reached that part of my story yet' etc. Overall it was touching and well-written, but it was no The Lovely Bones.
Sunday, 16 March 2008
Movie: The Other Boleyn Girl
Well. The book was better.
The problem, I think, with doing a movie based on this book is that even though the events are historical and epic and lend themselves to film story-telling, the book was more intimate. A lot of that intimacy was lost in the scope of 'ooh! castles! Eric Bana! ooh! pretty girls!'
Sometimes when I watch too many Hollywood movies, I start to see the terrible stereotypes everywhere. Here is the 'good sister' here is the 'bad sister' here is the 'weak dad' here is the 'chummy brother'. It's as though everyone only ever gets one word to describe their character, and heaven help them if the want to bring anything more to the table. "No! I said you are the good sister and THAT IS ALL!!"
Sometimes Hollywood drives me nuts.
The problem, I think, with doing a movie based on this book is that even though the events are historical and epic and lend themselves to film story-telling, the book was more intimate. A lot of that intimacy was lost in the scope of 'ooh! castles! Eric Bana! ooh! pretty girls!'
Sometimes when I watch too many Hollywood movies, I start to see the terrible stereotypes everywhere. Here is the 'good sister' here is the 'bad sister' here is the 'weak dad' here is the 'chummy brother'. It's as though everyone only ever gets one word to describe their character, and heaven help them if the want to bring anything more to the table. "No! I said you are the good sister and THAT IS ALL!!"
Sometimes Hollywood drives me nuts.
Friday, 14 March 2008
Books: Alice MacLeod, Realist at Last
Title: Alice MacLeod, Realist at Last
Author: Susan Juby
Thoughts: At first I was like "What? Are you serious? Smithers?" because it would never occur to me to set a novel in Smithers, BC. After I wrapped my head around that, though, I actually enjoyed this quick little teen read. Juby has a nice voice--perhaps a little older than 16 years old, though--and I was amused from beginning to end. I wouldn't mind reading the earlier books in the series, and will look for them in library.
Author: Susan Juby
Thoughts: At first I was like "What? Are you serious? Smithers?" because it would never occur to me to set a novel in Smithers, BC. After I wrapped my head around that, though, I actually enjoyed this quick little teen read. Juby has a nice voice--perhaps a little older than 16 years old, though--and I was amused from beginning to end. I wouldn't mind reading the earlier books in the series, and will look for them in library.
Book: The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters
Title: The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters
Author: Elisabeth Robinson
Thoughts: Okay, I'll admit it: I have a real problem with epistolary novels. Letters. Diary entries. I find these things difficult to get behind. Occasionally a novel transcends this problem (The Josephine B. books come to mind) but mostly I find it hard to care about the characters when you're never getting anything but their words. And, especially as in this book, only one character's words.
Robinson almost had me with this novel. I still struggled and put it down half-way through... but I picked it up again. I enjoyed her use of language and was many times jealous of a beautiful turn of phrase. I cried a little.
I am really curious to see what comes of this second novel she is apparently working on.
Author: Elisabeth Robinson
Thoughts: Okay, I'll admit it: I have a real problem with epistolary novels. Letters. Diary entries. I find these things difficult to get behind. Occasionally a novel transcends this problem (The Josephine B. books come to mind) but mostly I find it hard to care about the characters when you're never getting anything but their words. And, especially as in this book, only one character's words.
Robinson almost had me with this novel. I still struggled and put it down half-way through... but I picked it up again. I enjoyed her use of language and was many times jealous of a beautiful turn of phrase. I cried a little.
I am really curious to see what comes of this second novel she is apparently working on.
Movie: Be Kind Rewind
My husband, who is notoriously hard on movies when it comes to the star scale (1-5), gave this movie a 5. Since this never happens, I probably built it up a little before heading off to see it on my own. I thought it had a bit of a slow start, but once the action of the piece finally started, it was both amusing and thoughtful. Essentially it was a film about coming together to celebrate shared experiences and shared loves, both with cleverness and with a touch of sentimentality. I think I could have done with a teeny bit less of Jack Black being Jack Black, but overall it was a great film.
Monday, 3 March 2008
Book: The Secret Garden
Title: The Secret Garden
Author: Frances Hodgeson Burnett
Thoughts: As soon as I finished reading A Little Princess, I happened to find The Secret Garden in a thrift shop and I snapped it right up. It was just as delicate and descriptive and lovely and inspiring. I love her characters! I want to read every book she has ever written... that's how much I enjoyed these two books, be they intended for children or not. I've often said I think books for children have to be more compelling than those meant for adults because children make for a cruel audience. If you don't keep them consistently and constantly entertained, down the book goes, never to be picked up again.
Author: Frances Hodgeson Burnett
Thoughts: As soon as I finished reading A Little Princess, I happened to find The Secret Garden in a thrift shop and I snapped it right up. It was just as delicate and descriptive and lovely and inspiring. I love her characters! I want to read every book she has ever written... that's how much I enjoyed these two books, be they intended for children or not. I've often said I think books for children have to be more compelling than those meant for adults because children make for a cruel audience. If you don't keep them consistently and constantly entertained, down the book goes, never to be picked up again.
Book: A Little Princess
Title: A Little Princess
Author: Frances Hodgeson Burnett
Thoughts: I don't know how I missed reading this book when I was a child--everything about it was lovely. The prose is light but still evocative and descriptive. I understand why it was made into a film--Burnett is adept with descriptive language. I started smiling about five pages in and didn't stop until the end. I love a book that makes me smile.
Author: Frances Hodgeson Burnett
Thoughts: I don't know how I missed reading this book when I was a child--everything about it was lovely. The prose is light but still evocative and descriptive. I understand why it was made into a film--Burnett is adept with descriptive language. I started smiling about five pages in and didn't stop until the end. I love a book that makes me smile.
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