Book Blog: September 2008
The Name of the Rose: Umberto Eco
September 29, 2008
Well, I liked it. And all you haters in my book club can just go conjugate Latin verbs or something.
Spider Dance: Carole Nelson Douglas
September 22, 2008
Much better than the last one—still not a classic by any means, but definitely a fun read. I am not going to let myself hope for too much from the next book, though; I learned my lesson from Laurie R. King’s The Game, which was so good it had me hoping the series had crossed back over the shark—and then came Locked Rooms, which was depressingly bad. Ugh.
Femme Fatale: Carole Nelson Douglas
September 19, 2008
This series was never fine literature, but it’s dropped from guilty pleasure to barely-readable dreck. Is it just me, or are the books a lot longer now, too? I get the impression that Douglas doesn’t bother to edit anymore; even when she’s committed an error, she seems more inclined to write a correction into the narrative rather than go back and fix the mistake. And there were mistakes, lots of them — even setting aside the typos and weird turns of phrase which might not be the author’s fault. I am too much of a historical nitpicker not to cringe at glaring anachronisms like a Ferris wheel on Coney Island in 1889 and repeated references to a then-unknown Harry Houdini (who is referred to as an “escapologist”, although he wouldn't be doing anything of the sort for the next ten years, at least). Yes, I am picking the nits, I know, but when dealing with one of those authors who can’t resist shoving all kinds of historical trivia into her narrative, I do feel obliged to insert some trivia of my own.
And yet, despite all this, I am going to read Spider Dance anyway, simply because it is on my shelf and I am a glutton for punishment.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: Muriel Spark
September 13, 2008
I probably wouldn’t have disliked this book so much if I hadn’t read it right after reading All the King’s Men, which had roused in me great distate for repetitive character descriptions; surely there is more to Sandy than her small eyes, and can we please find a way to describe the other girls without referring to the things they are, were or will be “known for”? But setting that major quibble aside, it was a brief and decently absorbing read, and a worthwhile character sketch of a proud but screwed-up character. I remember watching and appreciating the movie several years back—the plot had faded away by the time I picked up the book, but the tone lingered strongly enough that I get a bit disturbed every time I watch Maggie Smith portray Mrs. McGonagall in the Harry Potter films. Incidentally, I was reading the Wikipedia page for the movie Mona Lisa Smile (don’t ask why), and it claims that the film is a “loose adaptation” of this book, which… must mean really loosely, to say the least, because they either missed the point of the story or got it but figured it wouldn’t play well with audiences and twisted it to make it more like Dead Poets Society. Or maybe it’s just Wikiality at work.
Fresh Offerings: New & Updated
- Blog: Weekender #14
- Blog: Weekender #13: Home Sick Edition
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- Blog: Weekender #11
- Blog: Weekender #10