I read The Marriage Plot a year and a half ago when I was still sorting out my dissertation topic and trying to figure out which texts I was using. After reading this book, I decided that it was necessary for my topic. So, this re-read is in preparation for the writing of my current chapter–and I promise, an unread book review is coming up soon! Madeleine Hanna is rather traditional in her book tastes–she prefers Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Balzac to more contemporary […]
Mockingjay or Swan Song?
This cold, snowy weekend has enabled me to do lots and lots of reading. Now, to catch up on the reviews! I finally finished Mockingjay on Saturday night. The first time I read it, I hated it. I didn’t hate the ending, but I thought it was the least interesting and more poorly-edited than the other two books. I thought that Katniss’s character was totally tanked. I still think it’s weaker than the other entries, but I’ve changed my mind a little about the characterization in […]
Jen K’s Review #6 – In the Shadow of the Banyan
I’ve been looking forward to reading this novel for a while, even if other books kept getting in the way. I would like to visit Cambodia one day, mostly to visit Angkor Wat, and a friend of mine lives there. As a result I was very interested to read about this darker period of Cambodian history which I had only a vague inkling of. Ratner is a descendant of one of the Cambodian kings so this novel is very much drawn on her actual experiences […]
The Woman Upstairs. You wouldn’t like her when she’s angry.
This novel appeared on several 2013 “best novels” lists and it seems to fit into a genre that’s very popular these days, featuring a narrator whose truthfulness and mental well being are unclear. As I read, I was reminded of novels like The Other Typist and The Dinner, but The Woman Upstairs carves out its own place. The narrator comes across as abrasive yet sympathetic, a flawed human deserving compassion and yet somewhat self-involved, too. This contradiction compelled me to stay with the story and find out […]
Romance and Tragedy
“What’ll become of us? All of us?” “In the end, only one thing.” The Invisible Bridge is a novel about one young man’s journey from adolescence into manhood, on the eve of World War II. I cannot remember who recommended that I read this book, so I am unable to thank them for the recommendation! Although, I would have asked why they failed to mention the book’s length, which is over 700 pages. That was probably not the smartest book to start with for a […]
Fiat.Luxury #CBR6 #2: Middlemarch
I picked up Middlemarch as part of The Toast’s Middlemarch book club, since I somehow had gone 31 years without reading any George Eliot. So much has already been said about this book that it’s difficult to know where to start with my humble review! I enjoyed this novel immensely. It’s rare that an author describes so many characters in such loving, realistic, and sometimes harsh detail. Although I related to some characters more than others, there wasn’t a single one I couldn’t relate to […]