The book cover I’m using is the original cover for the first edition of this book, from back in 1982 (I think). To me, this is the only cover that I even acknowledge. It’s the first one I saw, and the best one. It’s so evocative of the story, whereas the newer ones are just blah. I review this book over on my blog. Sorry, my site is slow. I need my husband to upgrade the hosting to a *faster* site, but he’s cheap. […]
As Long as Nothing Happens Anything is Possible
There are spoilers for the end of the book in this review. I can’t believe I made it to 43 without having read Graham Greene before now. I’m glad I chose this one because it’s really kind of .. charming. About ten pages in I thought “I bet this one was made into a movie and I bet it was an Ealing with Alec Guinness.” Two out of three! (It wasn’t Ealing). It takes place in Cuba, in a time before the Cuban missile crisis […]
Crazy Rich Asians AKA Kevin Kwan was eavesdropping on my childhood
My decision to read Crazy Rich Asians wasn’t an accidental one. I had just returned from a family wedding in Singapore, and being around so many of my relatives — some of whom I haven’t seen in more than 15 years — aroused such a bizarre sense of nostalgia. Part of it is comforting, like seeing the faces and personalities of my aunts and uncles (all of whom are physical variations of my mother); part of that nostalgia came with relief. It reminded me of how exhausting […]
Just Stay Home
There are no doubt piles upon piles of books that make you want to travel, and there’s probably no shortage of books that make you want to visit Venice in particular. Then there’s Ian McEwan’s The Comfort of Strangers, the book that makes you dread just the thought of Venice. Or really any travelling. After finishing this book, you will want to stay home forever, and lock all the doors to keep the outside world and its evils at bay. Mary and Colin encounter those […]
All That’s in a Name
This week I finished The Namesake, the first novel of Pulitzer Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri. When I first picked it up I had no idea what it was about, and knew only that Lahiri’s second novel The Lowland had been nominated for both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award in 2013. In my decision to diversify my reading list, her works made their way to the top of my TBR pile. Read the rest of the review here.
A Delightfully Gloomy Norwegian Novel
…you don’t know what mothers do when they can’t stop crying…. This is a delightfully gloomy Norwegian novel about tragedy, death, and loss of one’s treasure. You know you’re off to a good start with a sentence like this: Jenny Brodal had not had a drink in nearly twenty years. She opened a bottle of Cabernet and poured herself a large glass. Jenny is 75 and her daughter Siri is throwing her a birthday party at their summer home, Mailund, on a winding, misty coast […]
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