Silly, silly cold. Please go away. I'll sacrifice my classes to you if you give me the weekend. And can we start the weekend on Thursday? What do you say?
Showing posts with label The Country Wife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Country Wife. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Eighth Book: The Manticore
And the second book in the Robertson Davies trilogy beginning with Fifth Business. Given my ravings about that volume, you may will guess I enjoyed this one as well, and I certainly did. However, it took some getting used to, as I'd become so used to Dunstan Ramsay as the narrator that it took me some time to get 'round the voice of David Staunton. And it took a long time to like him, too, but not as long as I thought it did.
By which I mean that while I still thought I was quite uncertain about him, I think I was actually already really absorbed in his point of view. As I'm really eager to get on with the third book, I don't think I'll say a lot about it, but I think it's interesting and ironic that now I'm having... not a tough time with the new/old narrator, exactly, but I keep wondering what the heck happened to David. Seeing that it left off a bit precipitously.
As usual, the characters were strong and the writing was unwaveringly excellent. And here is the very very best quote of this (or perhaps any) book for you:
"Toad showed a tendency to shine up to me afterward, when we were having ice-cream and cake at the Ladies' Aid expense, but I was cold. When I have squeezed my orange, I throw it away; that was my attitude at the time."
Robertson Davies, I love you!
By which I mean that while I still thought I was quite uncertain about him, I think I was actually already really absorbed in his point of view. As I'm really eager to get on with the third book, I don't think I'll say a lot about it, but I think it's interesting and ironic that now I'm having... not a tough time with the new/old narrator, exactly, but I keep wondering what the heck happened to David. Seeing that it left off a bit precipitously.
As usual, the characters were strong and the writing was unwaveringly excellent. And here is the very very best quote of this (or perhaps any) book for you:
"Toad showed a tendency to shine up to me afterward, when we were having ice-cream and cake at the Ladies' Aid expense, but I was cold. When I have squeezed my orange, I throw it away; that was my attitude at the time."
Robertson Davies, I love you!
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
First Book: Man and Boy
So, I decided an exciting thing to do would be to record all the books I read this year in this journal. My dad urged me years ago to make a list of all the books I'd ever read, sort of a curicculum vitae, I guess... I was intrigued but daunted by the prospect and I never did. However, new year means a new start, and yesterday I finished the first book of the new year. :) It was Man and Boy by Tony Parsons, a book I had heard vaguely about and perhaps seen in the bookstore. I got this book in New York City, when Rachel and I went to meet up with Charlotte and Katie and Julia and see The Gentleman Dancing Master by good old Little Willy. After getting off the Chinatown bus, I discovered there are a dearth of bathrooms in Chinatown, at least that I could find, and ended up taking refuge in a library. Said library had a book sale.... 10 books for a dollar. I couldn't believe my eyes. That meant the books were 10 CENTS EACH. I bought ten, as you might imagine. Well, I bought nine and Rachel bought one, amid much bemusement on her part at my extravagance. Or whimsy, or something. I don't really know, as it seemed the only sensible course of action to me. Anyway, one of these ten books was Man and Boy.
I started Man and Boy because I wanted something engaging, and realistic, and not too heavy. It was, in fact, all of those things. I definitely liked it more at the end than I did in the beginning... I think it's interesting how that happens in some books: you're going along thinking, well, this is ok, but essentially you aren't fully engaged. And then, suddenly, something makes it personal to you, and you're with the story in a different way. For a lot of the book, I felt like it was probably very relevant to a lot of people, but that I was not yet in the stage of life that would make it relevant to me. And the writing was... simple, and straightforward. However, as the book progressed I got more into it, especially Harry(the narrator)'s relationship with his son. Which was, of course, one of the main points of the book. I think I was interested, in general, to see how a man wrote a novel that seemed to parallel a lot of popular novels aimed at women from a male perspective. I found that I understood and was sympathetic to Harry's motivations, even when he was making bad decisions. On the other hand, I was puzzled by Gina, his ex-wife, even though perhaps if I was in her situation I'd have behaved more similarly. I don't really know.
I liked Harry's puzzle about where he was in time and society, and what it meant to be alive and struggling now, as opposed to in the (overly) idealized world of his parents. And one part when he was saying goodbye to his son, Pat, really made me think of my father, and almost made me cry.
I'm not sure what I'm going to to do with the book. I'd be willing to give it up to bookcrossing, but I feel like I want to be sure that somebody receives it, maybe, instead of just dropping it off somewhere. We'll see.
Happy 2006 reading! Or something. :)
I started Man and Boy because I wanted something engaging, and realistic, and not too heavy. It was, in fact, all of those things. I definitely liked it more at the end than I did in the beginning... I think it's interesting how that happens in some books: you're going along thinking, well, this is ok, but essentially you aren't fully engaged. And then, suddenly, something makes it personal to you, and you're with the story in a different way. For a lot of the book, I felt like it was probably very relevant to a lot of people, but that I was not yet in the stage of life that would make it relevant to me. And the writing was... simple, and straightforward. However, as the book progressed I got more into it, especially Harry(the narrator)'s relationship with his son. Which was, of course, one of the main points of the book. I think I was interested, in general, to see how a man wrote a novel that seemed to parallel a lot of popular novels aimed at women from a male perspective. I found that I understood and was sympathetic to Harry's motivations, even when he was making bad decisions. On the other hand, I was puzzled by Gina, his ex-wife, even though perhaps if I was in her situation I'd have behaved more similarly. I don't really know.
I liked Harry's puzzle about where he was in time and society, and what it meant to be alive and struggling now, as opposed to in the (overly) idealized world of his parents. And one part when he was saying goodbye to his son, Pat, really made me think of my father, and almost made me cry.
I'm not sure what I'm going to to do with the book. I'd be willing to give it up to bookcrossing, but I feel like I want to be sure that somebody receives it, maybe, instead of just dropping it off somewhere. We'll see.
Happy 2006 reading! Or something. :)
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Orange!
| Your Hair Should Be Orange |
 Expressive, deep, and one of a kind. You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices. |
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