Teresa was at sea. The boat moved – would she ever forget it? – away from the land. And something was severed; she felt delivered.
“I never want to come back!” she screeched.
The grey land made no effort to hold her, gave no final sign of enticement. It lay there, apathetic, allowing her to go. The [...]
Archive for January, 2008
The Far Cry, Emma Smith
Posted in 2 Stars, Heard about from the internets, tagged rubbish protagonists, India, The Far Cry, Emma Smith, Flannery O'Connor, The Member of the Wedding, Persephone on January 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Tam Lin, Pamela Dean
Posted in 4 Stars, Heard about from a person, tagged ballads, fairy tales, guilty pleasures, Pamela Dean, Tam Lin, Wallace Stevens on January 30, 2008 | 6 Comments »
Recommended by: I vaguely recall seeing the title and author of this book inside an IM window, so I’m going to go ahead and say that somebody told me about this book, but I don’t actually remember. Anyway it’s a reread. I’m giving it four stars because I enjoy it so much. It maybe doesn’t [...]
The Keep, Jennifer Egan
Posted in 1 Star, Heard about from elsewhere, tagged Jennifer Egan, not aimed at me, rubbish protagonists, The Keep on January 28, 2008 | 2 Comments »
I have no idea where I read about this book, but I’ve been intending to read it for ages. I went to the library yesterday, ostensibly just to return Dark Shadows (which I realized once I got there I had left at the apartment), and I got maybe eleven books, which is pretty restrained, and [...]
Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the dog), Jerome K. Jerome
Posted in 3 Stars, Heard about from a person, tagged England, excerpts, funny, Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the dog) on January 26, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I’m sure someone told me about this book – probably a number of someones, as it is old and famous – but I haven’t got the faintest idea who. It is also an impossible book to review; so I will just say, It was very funny (as it intended to be), and I enjoyed [...]
The Semi-Detached House, Emily Eden
Posted in 4 Stars, Heard about from the internets, tagged charming, Emily Eden, good dialogue, Jane Austen, The Semi-Detached House on January 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Which can be read here, as it is out of copyright, and also this website is brilliant and I am all in favor of celebrating women writers.
Recommended by: Box of Books (whom I owe an apology)
I am sorry for griping abut The Semi-Attached Couple and its unbitchy nature. Emily Eden is very amusing, and in [...]
I just have to say
Posted in Misc., tagged Emily Eden, excerpts, The Semi-Detached House on January 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’m in the middle of The Semi-Detached House, and I’m definitely much more charmed by it than I was by The Semi-Attached Couple. I like Blanche so far much more than I did Helen, and I am now definitely feeling the Jane-Austen-esque but bitchier thing. Behold:
“Are you going to this concert, Baroness?”
“No; it [...]
The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly
Posted in 2 Stars, Picked up randomly, tagged fairy tales, John Connolly, The Book of Lost Things on January 22, 2008 | 2 Comments »
When David slept he dreamed more often of the creature he had named the Crooked Man, who walked through forests very like the one beyond David’s window. The Crooked Man would advance to the edge of the tree line, staring out at an expanse of green lawn to where a house just like Rose’s stood. [...]
Atonement, by Ian McEwan
Posted in 1 Star, Heard about from elsewhere, tagged Atonement, Ian McEwan, World Wars on January 21, 2008 | 6 Comments »
Cecilia went to the kitchen to fill the vase, and carried it up to her bedroom to retrieve the flowers from the handbasin. When she dropped them in they once again refused to fall into the artful disorder she preferred, and instead swung round in the water into a willful neatness, with the taller [...]
