First things first, 鈥渟tealing鈥� kisses is rapey, ok? Let鈥檚 just never forget that. Now onto the review. The premise here makes little sense and the logiFirst things first, 鈥渟tealing鈥� kisses is rapey, ok? Let鈥檚 just never forget that. Now onto the review. The premise here makes little sense and the logic is stretched to the maximum, but then we don鈥檛 read historical romance novels looking for plausibility.
It鈥檚 supposed to be a traditional story of a good girl falling for a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. She is a society darling, and he is, while not exactly a commoner, a bastard son of an aristocrat who refuses to acknowledge him, even though his parentage is an open secret.
The hero goes round Mayfair residences at night and steals his mother鈥檚 paintings that were stolen from him by his asshat father. So as a revenge he steals them back, knowing his father wouldn鈥檛 be able to do anything about it unless he acknowledged the whole situation, causing a scandal. This set up is already fairly convoluted but gets even more bananas when the heroine catches our thief red-handed and gets kissed by him in the middle of the night. She then discovers he is a famous horse-breeder and blackmails him to sell and train a horse for her so that she can keep an eye on him (?). To add to this, she is also petrified of horses.
This is the set-up and the reader is just going to have to ride with it, so to speak. From there things progress nicely. Though, personally I prefer if the conflict in my romance novels is more internal than external. These two have to overcome mostly the external obstacles to their happiness and not their own hang-ups. The heroine here had tantrums instead of a personality, although that鈥檚 somewhat explainable as she was only 19 (again, I prefer my heroines on the other side of twenty generally and without a glaring age gap).
Her parents were a nice surprise, though. They were of the loving and understanding kind, but also aware of the rules their society lives by, so their actions didn鈥檛 feel completely anachronistic. What was anachronist was the language. Some of it was so obviously not from the right time and place, and I noticed it even though I鈥檓 far from being a linguistic expert.
There was also a big mistake relating to one of the main events of the set up 鈥� when the heroine shows up at Tattersall鈥檚 and recognises the thief. When relating that to his friend the hero defends himself saying:
鈥淚 never expected her to appear at Tattersall鈥檚.鈥�
And quite correctly, as women weren鈥檛 allowed there in that era. Poor guy, he had no idea he was starring in a romance written by a fumbling author who hadn鈥檛 done her research properly.
So yeah, some serious misgivings overall but the sex scenes in the stables were hot, so if you鈥檙e into that, knock yourself out....more
Everyone had to act completely unreasonably for the plot to move along.
People were withholding information from the main character for absolutely no Everyone had to act completely unreasonably for the plot to move along.
People were withholding information from the main character for absolutely no reason and kept telling her to just 'drop it' and 'forget about it', and once she finally got to the bottom of it and asked why they didn't tell her all they knew from the get-go, they said something along the lines; 'you had to figure it out by yourself.' (because otherwise there would be no book).
Generally a poor use of the franchise - reads like amateurish fan fiction. But it reminded me I must definitely checkout the River Cafe next summer....more
I鈥檓 not going to say this wasn鈥檛 fun, but it wasn鈥檛 as much fun as I hoped it would be. The set-up is interesting 鈥� everybody over fourteen disappears I鈥檓 not going to say this wasn鈥檛 fun, but it wasn鈥檛 as much fun as I hoped it would be. The set-up is interesting 鈥� everybody over fourteen disappears and the whole town and its surrounding area is now under a see-through but an impenetrable dome.
This does sound like a bunch of things we have heard before (to mention Stephen King鈥檚 Under the Dome at least) but, of course, it gets weirder and weirder. There are strange superpowers some of the kids acquire, talking coyotes, The Darkness, etc etc. And honestly at some point it starts to feel like the third season of Lost when you start wondering if anyone actually thought any of it through, or they are going to just keep piling up random crazy shit and hope for the best.
Maybe I want my YA dystopia a little more conventional. Just give me some environmental disaster together with some authoritarian regime or something like that.
Additionally, this very much felt like a 鈥榖oys鈥� book鈥�, in a way that the girls mostly assumed the caring, nourishing and supportive roles, while boys played at war. When the leaders were being elected at no point were any of the girls being considered. Of course, this isn鈥檛 the 1950s, so there were some interesting female characters, most notably Lana, whose solo journey full of adventures was the highlight of the book for me, but in general the gender division was strong.
Additionally, even though I don鈥檛 rate humanity much either, I still don鈥檛 think the kids left to their own devices would start killing each other within five days. (UPDATE: I have now seen people fighting over toilet paper in the first week of the pandemic. I retract my previous statement.)
I鈥檓 probably not going to be checking out the rest of the series unless I find myself isolated under some dome and most other books have disappeared, and it鈥檚 either Henry James鈥檚 more impenetrable works or the rest of this series. (UPDATE: find myself isolated... Kinga, seriously, shut the fuck up)...more
Every now and then I venture into the so called 鈥榶oung adult鈥� literature realm and each time I鈥檓 surprised by how we completely redefined what constitEvery now and then I venture into the so called 鈥榶oung adult鈥� literature realm and each time I鈥檓 surprised by how we completely redefined what constitutes the acceptable reading material for this age group. And I don鈥檛 mean it in a bad way. Not at all. In fact, I鈥檓 excited over the sheer volume of stuff for teenagers that gets published these days. It might be because I grew up in the post-communist Poland but I鈥檓 sure the choice was nowhere near as broad. Additionally, the books the librarians put in my hands seemed so tame in comparison to the current offerings. They even seemed tame compared to my own life, which is why eventually my own life won over and I stopped reading for a few years (until I was ready for proper adult books).
However, the thing that excites me most of all about the current YA books is the proliferation of kick-ass heroines. When I was a girl, there were few heroines I wanted to be. There was Ronja, the Robber鈥檚 Daughter, maybe, but generally it was boys who had adventures. Girls did their homework and were afraid of mice. This is why I loved Katsa, the heroine of Graceling. She definitely wasn鈥檛 afraid of mice, or anything else for that matter, being the most fearsome killer in the kingdom with some ultra ninja skills. In the beginning of the book she meets Prince Po, who is quite of an awesome fighter as well but not match for Katsa鈥檚 superpowers. They get to train together but of course she still has to pull her punches, so as not to kill him. Well, if this isn鈥檛 love鈥�
The adventure they will embark on together will teach Katsa a lot new things, like accepting her own weaknesses, learning to trust someone else with her safety and generally handing over control when needed. It鈥檚 Prince Po who knows about people鈥檚 emotions, fears and motivations, while Katsa is just a killing machine and occasionally a bit of a dickhead actually, but then most teenagers are. I really like what you did there, Kristin. And I really like how it鈥檚 still sexy and very clever, even if the quality of prose is really nothing to write home about, but that鈥檚 ok, for that I have Mario Vargas Llosa.
I noticed some reviewers were actually genuinely offended by the fact that Katsa liked her hair short, didn鈥檛 like wearing dresses, didn鈥檛 want to get married or have children. They were even spouting nonsense that this book is some sort of 鈥榤ilitant feminism鈥� or what not. As if Katsa being the way she is, means that all women should be exactly like that. I literally read sentences such as 鈥業 was offended by the fact Katsa didn鈥檛 want to get married.鈥� I can only hope they were written by time-travellers from the 18th century. ...more
I spent at least three months reading this fat volume and about the same time answering questions from my friends as to why I was doing this. Why in hI spent at least three months reading this fat volume and about the same time answering questions from my friends as to why I was doing this. Why in hell am I reading the History of Modern China? Of course, the simple answer is that I compulsively read anything l lay my hands on but then I鈥檓 also on the mission to become the most knowledgeable person in the world, so that my arrogance is backed up with some erudition. Sadly, I鈥檓 no Mike Ross and I have retained at best 10% of the facts in this book.
How does one review a book like 鈥楾he Penguin History of Modern China鈥�? It鈥檚 not like I have read other histories of China to compare it to, or knew anything about the subject beforehand. I had to trust Jonathan Fenby when he bombarded me with facts, dates and names. I appreciate he was trying to spice things up with funny or curious anecdotes, which sometimes produced almost a comical effect, like when he writes things like:
鈥淢ao went back to his house in the country , received a few faithful followers, taught his bodyguard to read, and fell badly ill with malaria, his temperature shooting up to 105 degrees.鈥�
The second half of the book is filled almost entirely with accounts of purges and paranoia, so typical for any dictatorship. This is the history that has already repeated itself thousands of times and you would think that people would finally wise up to those methods. But no, they fall for it each and every time. I must say that Fenby wrote a lot about the early Mao, the bullied loser. And it made him into an almost sympathetic character 鈥� this is not the effect I wanted the book to achieve. Sometimes I am just not interested in a three-dimensional portrait of the history biggest assholes.
So what鈥檚 to happen with China now? Is it a colossus with feet of clay? Yes, probably. It is possibly true that China is not ready for a multi-party democracy. It wouldn鈥檛 fare any better than the so called 鈥榖iggest democracy in the world鈥�, India. But then how will it ever make itself ready if not true trial and error? (Luckily, at least China doesn鈥檛 have to worry about the US 鈥榖ringing democracy鈥� to them). ...more
Are all books set in Chicago crap or is it just my bad luck?
Robert Danziger, a middle aged publisher, moves back to Chicago, after having lived in theAre all books set in Chicago crap or is it just my bad luck?
Robert Danziger, a middle aged publisher, moves back to Chicago, after having lived in the UK for many years. There he needs to confront his past when his black childhood friend seeks him out after having been released from prison after twenty odd years. Our Robert is a rather bland character, petty, and randomly racist but the sad thing is I don't think the author meant him to come across like that.
He has a young beautiful wife, who is a fierce human right lawyer. I have no idea how this relationship works, because Robert is everything Anna should despise - he is passive, prejudiced and boring. Duval, Robert's childhood friend who did time for a violent rape is probably the most interesting character of them all but he is also prone to illogical behaviour.
I think one of the main rules for any writer should be to make sure you know your characters and their motivations. They might not know why they're doing something, but the author has to know that always. Otherwise you end up with a book that makes little sense full of people doing random things. Additionally, for a book that's called 'Without Prejudice' if features an exceptional number of despicable black people, who for some reason all pick on poor Robert. It becomes disturbing when you compare the author's biography with Robert's biography and realise how much alike they are.
Other than that, the book has a whole load of clich茅 characters: there is Vanetta, the lovely black nanny, cook and cleaner, Merrill - the evil, purse-lipped stepmother, a young beautiful wife, and an ambitious vixen out to seduce poor Robert.
None of this is helped by exceptionally poor writing, dialogues verging on ridiculous, and a plot where I predicted every single plot twist but one. I couldn鈥檛 believe how obvious it was 99% of the time.
Here are some quotes from the very beginning of the book when I still cared enough to mark them.
"The skinny awkward kid Robert had known must have filled out. Didn鈥檛 all convicts lift weights, grow muscle-bound? Presumably for protection 鈥� Rober knew prison life was violent, scarily so;" 鈥� ah, isn鈥檛 that Robert dude smart? He figured it all out.
"Whatever the ups and downs they had between them, there was always conversation 鈥� sometimes funny (she often made him laugh)," 鈥� thank you, dear author, for explaining to us what funny means.
"London wasn鈥檛 exactly a multi-racial utopia, but she insisted Chicago was much worse. He wasn鈥檛 sure, though he certainly found himself more conscious of race than he had been in all his years in England. But he assumed that was inevitably in a city that probably contained more black people than the whole of the UK." Sigh. Yeah, probably not. Chicago has actually less black people than London alone (mostly because it is basically a smaller city). Seriously, if you want to write a book about race, check your facts at least.
"鈥橫aybe he just wants more money.鈥� 鈥楴o, he said money wasn鈥檛 the issue.鈥� He had always thought publishing was more about experience than IQ, but the way Anna inevitably got the point right away sometimes made him wonder. But then she was unusually incisive." Lord, how incisive Anna was! She guessed that the reason an author might want to leave a small publisher and go with a big one could be that he wanted more money. Damn, that chick got brains!
And let me wrap it up with this little gem of a dialogue:
(backstory: Anna is trying to clear Duval's name and get some information from Ferraro, the policeman who took part in his arrest. She called Ferraro's house.) 'Yes, well, we鈥檙e never going to know for sure.鈥� (here we all realise that Ferraro is dead already because it鈥檚 been twenty-five years). He was puzzled by this apparent abdication. 鈥榃hy?鈥� 鈥楩erraro retired twelve years ago. He moved to Meyer鈥檚 Beach on the Gulf side. I spoke to his wife on the phone this afternoon. She was a nice-sounding woman.鈥� 鈥榊es, but what did Ferraro say?鈥� How typical of a woman to start talking about how nice another woman sounded on the phone. 鈥楬e didn鈥檛. It turned out I was speaking to his widow.鈥�"
How typical of a woman? Seriously? Blame your inability to introduce tension in your dialogue on women, way to go, Andrew Rosenheim.
PS. There was also a fascinating bit about Anna's aquamarine eyes paling in the sunlight or some such, but I can't find it at the moment. ...more
This is the best historical romance novel I have read in my entire life ever. If all historical romances were like this one I would just apply for an This is the best historical romance novel I have read in my entire life ever. If all historical romances were like this one I would just apply for an unemployment benefit, sit at home and read them all day every day. I wouldn鈥檛 even have showers. And I鈥檇 only eat what hungryhouse.co.uk can deliver to my door. I really would need nothing else in my life, so maybe it鈥檚 a good thing not all historical romance novels are like this one.
If you are to read only one historical romance, because, I don鈥檛 know, it鈥檚 on your list of 1001 things to do before you die, make sure it鈥檚 this one. It had everything I'd ever wanted from a historical romance.
I didn鈥檛 think I was into reunion romances. It鈥檚 what we in Polish call 鈥渞eheating old cutlets鈥�. But I should鈥檝e trusted Sherry Thomas. I should鈥檝e known Sherry Thomas was a genius. This book made me giddy. I couldn鈥檛 stop reading it and I wanted to stop reading it because I didn鈥檛 want it to end. I want to erase my whole memory of this book, so I can read it again. That truly must be the only advantage of suffering from anterograde amnesia. Imagine! I could read this book every day! Sherry Thomas is a very intelligent and erudite writer; her books are full of those fantastic little historical details. She mastered the 鈥榮how not tell鈥� rule. She doesn鈥檛 have to tell us her characters are so smart and educated 鈥� she shows us by the conversations they鈥檙e having.
What I love most about Sherry Thomas and this book is the authenticity of the characters鈥� emotional struggle. The obstacles are not there to fill out the pages before the grand finale; they are there because the hero and heroine genuinely need to overcome certain things in order to be happy and it鈥檚 not something that makes you think 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry but what鈥檚 your problem exactly?鈥� And I like that they are not perfect, it makes it all that much easier to identify with them.
As a matter of fact, I might have liked this book so much because it reminded me of my own story that spanned over almost 10 years, two continents, five countries and involved disappearing without a trace, five year long separation, valentine postcards with no return address, presents arriving from different countries, jumping on the plane before saying what you really meant to say and regretting it afterwards and shitloads of really bad timing. If this place were less public, I鈥檇 tell you the whole story.
鈥楶rivate Arrangements鈥� made me think of this song: Just change 鈥榯hree days鈥� to 鈥榯hree weeks鈥� and it鈥檚 perfect. I've been loving you Without you even knowing I'll never forget those days Three days in a row You were mine alone And I haven't seen you since that day I'm sorry baby Baby boy, when I saw you the first time I knew right away that you and I Were connected in a way I believed that there was a way something more That I could ever express in my own words I just knew at the time I belonged to you but it all felt so wrong To do the things my heart gave in Baby I'm telling you With loads on our minds A few goodbyes We could never have given it a real try But you were in my head always And at this point of my life I just know That if you let me back in I won't let go of you and me spending our lives I just know it's a matter of time Before it all falls back into place Baby believe me I walk the line and for you I will shine Just be prepared for a hell of a ride Don't ever doubt 'bout the way I feel For heaven sake boy I'm beggin' you
This is probably the cheesiest review I have ever written, but bite me. See if I care.
I didn鈥檛 even know what to cook for the food tie-in for this review. I do remember they drank extremely posh wines and cognacs (Lafite, Romanee Conti, Remy Martin) but I only have some vague recollection of some game meat dishes. I decided to do something elegant, not too extravagant, loosely British-French and found this recipe: Pan-fried pork medallions with leeks and flageolet beans (). The recipe is by the Hairy Bikers, so not the most elegant chefs out there but it looked like something that would go well with the book. Also to be perfectly honest with you, Tesco had pork medallions on special offer. The sauce proved to be heavenly 鈥� try it!
[image]
I鈥檓 quite upset because my best photo turned out to be blurry, so had to use not so good of a shot that makes the pork medallions giant and potato rosti petite, when they were actually the same size.
As a side note, the recipe uses Calvados which is the title of one of my favourite Polish songs about lost love from the past. (). ...more
Meredith Duran and I are just not meant to be. While she seems to be a skilled writer, I never know what her characters are on about. I liked the DukeMeredith Duran and I are just not meant to be. While she seems to be a skilled writer, I never know what her characters are on about. I liked the Duke of Shadows slightly better than the other one by her that I鈥檝e read but still I think Ms Duran and I will just have to start seeing other people. It鈥檚 not her, it鈥檚 me.
First of all, I read romance novels for escapism. I do like some historical context and background in them but when Duran decides on Indian Rebellion of 1857 and consequently provides more gory violence scenes than sexy scenes (and as I said, she is a good writer, so those scenes are damned well written), that鈥檚 a bit of a mood killer for me. How can I honestly care that they are making sweet, sweet love when other people are getting their heads blown off just a page away? But at least that part was exciting and fast paced.
Then we go to the second part which happens years later in London, the hero and heroine meet again but they can鈥檛 be together because what? I don鈥檛 know. I found all that prolonged drama of yes-no-yes-no-yes from the second part inauthentic and it exasperated me. It was exactly the same problem I had with the other book by her 鈥楤ound by Your Touch鈥� (I think it was called but don鈥檛 quote me on it). I just don鈥檛 know what the characters鈥� problems are, except for being stubbornly daft. Although I鈥檓 very happy to accept it is because of some emotional shortcomings on my part because other people seem to be quite taken with Duran鈥檚 stories. Me, I will stick to Sherry Thomas. We understand each other. And Cecilia Grant, and Guhrke. That I get. ...more
Two sisters see meet again after years of estrangement. The air is heavy with resentment and grudges. We learn the story from Ginny the narrator. We hTwo sisters see meet again after years of estrangement. The air is heavy with resentment and grudges. We learn the story from Ginny the narrator. We hope to get the unbiased account of events because Ginny is supposed to be the reasonable and sensible one, the scientist. Sometimes later we, of course, realise she is a completely unreliable narrator, but as is often in such cases, we can't help but see logic in her reasoning (that bit always worries me, just how far am I from becoming mad myself?).
Other reviewers complained they got too many moths and not enough answers. I didn't mind so much. I used to be very much into animals (and that included insect and their Latin names), so it was like reading one of those books I used to read when I was a kid. As for answers, Ginny couldn't give us any answers because she wasn't looking for them. She didn't know there were any questions, as far as she was concerned, things were the way she believed they were.
It brings us to the bigger question of what The Truth really is and why the hell we would need it anyway.
It was a very disturbing story but beautiful nonetheless. Read it.
Note: This was published in the US under a very uninspired title: The Sister...more
I read something in Polish (apparently also known as 'gibberish' - you know who you are) again and I am going to review it here for your pleasure.
'OpoI read something in Polish (apparently also known as 'gibberish' - you know who you are) again and I am going to review it here for your pleasure.
'Opowie艣ci z powielacza' means 'Mimeograph Stories'. If you worked in the underground opposition in the 80's communist Poland a mimeograph was something you really wanted to have. It was very useful for producing underground press, pamphlets, proclamations etc. And this is more or less what the book is about, it's about a group of young people who fight the government during the Martial Law in Poland.
Now, this is a subject very dear to me. I was born during the Martial Law and I have always been fascinated by it. There is hardly a better subject to write about in the recent Polish history. It is an endless source of conflict, drama, absurd and anecdotes. In fact, my first novel (currently in the making) will be set in that period as well. Rationed food, government spies, tanks on the streets, shortage of just about anything and ridiculous ways in which the government tried to solve the problems. For example, the problem of petrol shortage was solved in the following way: you were only allowed to refuel on the day that corresponded with your registration plate, therefore if your registration ended with 4, you were only allowed to visit petrol station on the 4th, 14th and 24th. There was also constant shortage of packaging so whatever you bought was always in 'substitute packaging', so your mints came dressed up as raspberry hard candy with a stamp saying 'substitute packaging'. There was no real chocolate but you could occasionally buy something called: "product chocolate-like'. I could go on like this forever. There were of course serious issues as well like people being arrested and killed.
So basically Martial Law makes it easy for the writer and Za艅ko is milking it. In the first half, like in some Russian early 20th century novel, she introduces one hundred characters with no personalities and no reason for being in the book, whose main character is the Martial Law anyway. There are endless anecdotes about the life under communism, which I suppose people outside of Poland would find very interesting, but people in Poland know like the back of their hand. Za艅ko is really struggling to take the book to its pivotal point where the story just starts rolling. Finally she is done with the set up somewhere halfway through the novel, and we find out which four characters are relevant to the story and what the whole thing is about. And then it suddenly becomes a really good book. (Mine will be better though). It asks important questions, avoids simple answers and most importantly is devoid of the loftiness that most Polish writers feel is necessary when writing about Important Events from Polish History. Za艅ko dares to say that when you are 21 and you rebel, it is not always because you truly believe in the cause. Sometimes it is because you are just 21 and rebelling is what you do, and sometimes you do it because you fall in love. And sometimes because it seems like so much fun. And if you betray the cause it might be for a myriad reasons as well. It is probably obvious to you that there are not only two kinds of people - good and bad but if you listened to some of the analysis of the Polish communist past you would come to the conclusion that in Poland back then, there were in fact only two kinds of people.
So now you have two choices,
a) you can learn Polish and read this book
b) you can wait for MY book to be published and read it instead.
(The timescale for both options is probably similar). ...more
The problems with child narrators is that they need to be authentic, because the reader wants to believe the story is told by an eight year old but atThe problems with child narrators is that they need to be authentic, because the reader wants to believe the story is told by an eight year old but at the same time the reader doesn't want to feel that the book was actually written by an eight year old. Here lies the catch-22, the book needs to be told by an eight year old but written by an adult.
Many authors resort to writing simple sentences and just dumbing down everything but that's not the way, of course. Nathalie Abi-Ezzi didn't fall into this trap. Her writing is exquisite but it is not done at cost of authenticity of her eight year old narrator, Ruba. Abi-Ezzie managed to capture the world as it is perceived by a child. There is a thin line between the real and the fantasy and the logical order of causes and consequences is often muddled.
We follow Ruba as she is trying to save her family in the midst of the civil war in Lebanon. Her father stopped speaking and caring for the world and spends most of his time sitting in his armchair and staring into space. Her mother cleans and cooks, cleans and cooks, as if afraid that if she stops she might realize the ruin that her family has come to. And her brother has secrets.
It is a beautiful story that analyses the madness of a civil war in a very interesting way. It raises an important question if you can (and should) lead a normal life when the world around you is falling apart. If you like poetic imagery and ephemeral style you should give "A Girl Made of Dust" a go....more
There was a time when I OD'ed on Indian novels. I just couldn鈥檛 read another sari&curry story that was picked by the editor for very specific reasons There was a time when I OD'ed on Indian novels. I just couldn鈥檛 read another sari&curry story that was picked by the editor for very specific reasons that appealed to a white reader. All these books started to blend in my head into one behemoth of a novel.
So when I read on the back of 鈥榃hite Tiger鈥� that 鈥榰nlike almost every other Indian novel you might have read in recent years, this page-turner offers a completely bald, angry, unadorned portrait of the country as seen from the bottom of the heap; there鈥檚 not a sniff a saffron or a swirl of sari anywhere鈥︹€� it piqued my interest.
And it pretty much does what it says on the cover. It鈥檚 a very unapologetic, rough kind of rags-to-riches story. It explores the very complicated relationship between the servant and his master. It鈥檚 one of those books in which the narrator starts off with saying 鈥淚 killed a man. Now, here let me tell you why,鈥� and the novel doesn鈥檛 suffer from this apparent spoiler.
It鈥檚 a very sad story filled with corruption, crime and a general sense of pointlessness, where morality seem a luxury almost no one can afford, told by the addictive voice of the narrator. For an interesting twist on your traditional Indian tale Adiga offers the narrator鈥檚 view on male oppression in the country. Balram, the main character, is constantly harassed by his grandmother and aunts.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 stop thinking of Kishan鈥檚 body. They were eating him alive in there! They would do the same thing to him that they did to Father 鈥� scoop him out from the inside and leave him weak and helpless, until he got tuberculosis and died on the floor of a government hospital, waiting for some doctor to see him, spitting blood on this wall and that!鈥�
Let鈥檚 take that with a grain of salt, shall we.
Generally the book has been liked all around. In Paul Bryant鈥檚 review I found a quote from a review from London Review of Books, seemingly, the only negative one:
"What of Balram Halwai? What does he sound like? Despite the odd namaste, daal, paan and ghat, his vocabulary is not sprinkled with North Indian vernacular terms. His sentences are mostly short and crudely constructed, apparently a reflection of the fact that we鈥檙e dealing with a member of the 鈥榮ubaltern鈥� classes. He doesn鈥檛 engage in Rushdian word-play. But he does use a series of expressions that simply don鈥檛 add up. He describes his office as a 鈥榟ole in the wall鈥�. He refers to 鈥榢issing some god鈥檚 arse鈥�, an idiomatic expression that doesn鈥檛 exist in any North Indian language. 鈥楬alf-formed ideas bugger one another, and make more half-formed ideas鈥� and the Chinese prime minister is advised never to 鈥榣et that blasphemous idea into your yellow skull鈥�. On another matter, he sneers: 鈥楾hey鈥檙e so yesterday.鈥� A clever little phrase appears: 鈥楢 statutory warning 鈥� as they say on cigarette packs 鈥� before we begin.鈥� Dogs are referred to as 鈥榤utts鈥�. Yet whose vocabulary and whose expressions are these?鈥�
Well, that鈥檚 just bananas. Maybe the whole book should just be written in Hindi for the sake of accuracy?
I鈥檓 writing a novel in English which talks about Poland and Polish people. There is a scene in which one of my characters decides not to name her daughter 鈥楳ary鈥� after all saying that 鈥楳ary sounded too docile, little Mary that had a little lamb.鈥� And I just can鈥檛 wait for someone to point it out to me that a Polish woman in 1981 was not likely to know an English nursery rhyme about Mary and her lamb. Well, if/when I鈥檓 working on a Polish version of it will be changed to 鈥淟ittle orphan Mary and the dwarves鈥�, which is, I suppose, culturally accurate but would be completely unintelligible to an English reader....more
All I needed to enjoy this book was to remind myself I wasn't reading it for literary value. It makes no pretense of being a Pulitzer candidate. It's All I needed to enjoy this book was to remind myself I wasn't reading it for literary value. It makes no pretense of being a Pulitzer candidate. It's a reasonably well told story about determination, sportsmanship and the rewards that come with it.
Lisa Leslie won everything you can win in the basketball world and she won it many times over. Now, how can you write an autobiography honestly listing all your seemingly endless achievements without sounding like a arrogant prick? Leslie's solution to this dilemma is to give props to everyone that helped her along the way as well as to thank Jesus. I am not much of a Jesus person (I am writing this on Easter Sunday, Heaven should strike me down), so that was of little interest to me, but I liked her 'grace under pressure' attitude and her resolution to always stay classy (even if she admits to the times she failed at that).
The title is all about the problem that many female athletes have - how to be viewed as a strong, competitve, successful athlete and a feminine and sexy woman, when these two notions appear to exclude one another. I wouldn't say I am much into basketball (not counting my bizarre obsession with the film 'Love & Basketball'). The closest I have been to the game was when I was dating a few pro basketball players (not simultaneously!) - the relationships that ultimately failed because we were not on the same level (I am 5'3"). Despite that, I could relate to this 'female athlete' conundrum. Try wearing boxing gloves, shin guards, mouth guard, get punched in the face and handle it like a lady.
PS. The love story at the end - freaking cute!...more
Why did I wait so many years to read The Hunger Games? Oh, because everyone was reading it so I assumed it couldn鈥檛 possibly be that good (everyone waWhy did I wait so many years to read The Hunger Games? Oh, because everyone was reading it so I assumed it couldn鈥檛 possibly be that good (everyone was also reading Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey, so what does everyone know?).
Instead I read plenty of subpar YA dystopian and fantasy novels and thought maybe the whole genre is just not for me anymore. Maybe I鈥檝e grown out of it.
But, folks, the Hunger Games is the OG. It has it all. It has heart, it has action, it has adventure. I laughed, I cried, I bit my nails. I almost don鈥檛 want to read the next instalment in case it ruins this perfect post-book feeling I have right now. ...more
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