When we all think of Mary Poppins, we think of that cheeky songstress, she of the wholesome face and flawless skin, Dame Julie Andrews. After all the press surrounding the film Saving Mr. Banks and learning that P.L. Travers was in fact very much against the making and production of her beloved book, I was curious to see how the movie depicted her heroine and the children. I’m very disappointed to report that the book Mary Poppins is nothing like the Julie Andrews I admired […]
The Many Lines of Beauty
I first read this book two years ago for my Twentieth-Century British Lit. seminar with my dissertation director. It’s the novel that inspired my dissertation, so it holds a special place in my heart. It’s also one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. Nick Guest is young, white, British, and gay in Margaret Thatcher’s England. He is a permanent houseguest at the Fedden home, the seeming picture of familial perfection. Gerald, the father, is an MP, and madly “in love” with Thatcher. Rachel, […]
Not All Monsters Are Bad
I’ve been hearing about Lauren Groff’s Arcadia, and my friend S recommended her first novel, The Monsters of Templeton, to me. I thought I’d give it a try. Oh, man. So, so good. In the author’s note, Groff mentions that she was trying to write about Cooperstown, NY, where she grew up. She did–sort of–by weaving in characters from James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales and drawing on his novelistic concepts. While I have not read Cooper’s works, apart from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” I […]
By Hook or by Crook
All children, except one, grow up. This, however, is a review of a book and not a story of my life, so we’ll be moving on now. The idea of Peter Pan is something that just about anyone can recite from memory. There’s a boy who will remain a boy forever who lives upon an exciting island far in the sky just past the second star to the right where there are fairies, pirates, indians, mermaids, and an adventure around every corner. Not only can […]
Zombie
Man, I try to get a straight forward book about zombies, and instead it’s yet another pedophile preying on young boys. Had I known, I doubt I would have started reading this, but it was in my bag and I was stranded with nothing else to read. “Zombie” is written in journal style, the direct words of Quentin P____, who we quickly realize is a serial killer trying to create his own personal zombie who will love him and fulfill all his desires without question […]
Holding a mirror to the South’s racist past
I don’t remember being tremendously impressed with Grisham’s more recent novels, but have always enjoyed his writing ability and his willingness to take on painful subjects, and so was excited to hear that he had done a sort of follow-up to A Time to Kill, one of his best. And while it did not disappoint, I have to admit that it lacked the high-octane appeal of earlier novels like The Pelican Brief and The Firm. But who says an author has to offer thrills and chills […]