So, so haunting and mesmerizing. This combination memoir/true crime tale/detective story worked in every possible way for me. I couldn't put it down. So, so haunting and mesmerizing. This combination memoir/true crime tale/detective story worked in every possible way for me. I couldn't put it down. McNamara's writing was crazy good. ...more
I was always going to love this. It's a sleek, intense and haunting book set around the young girls associated with a Manson-like cult in the late sixI was always going to love this. It's a sleek, intense and haunting book set around the young girls associated with a Manson-like cult in the late sixties--but beyond my love of this time period and reading about dreamers and freaks and weirdos, I was floored by some of the turns of phrase.
I wish I had noted more, but a few favorites:
Conspiracy theorists speak with "the idiot syntax of the righteous."
"...the ways your desire could humiliate you."
A succinct description of young womanhood: "I waited to be told what was good about me". ...more
My god! 4.5 stars. Truly a nasty piece of work. Revolting, lurid and over the top, this is one of those books you hate yourself a little for loving. BMy god! 4.5 stars. Truly a nasty piece of work. Revolting, lurid and over the top, this is one of those books you hate yourself a little for loving. Bravo, but kind of craving something wholesome right now to compensate. ...more
Utterly sublime, in big, showy ways and also in the small, quotidian details. Best book I've read this year, no question. Utterly sublime, in big, showy ways and also in the small, quotidian details. Best book I've read this year, no question. ...more
I hadn't read a Stephen King book since an obligatory middle school phase, and wasn't expecting much. He's just not my cup of tea (or so I thought). II hadn't read a Stephen King book since an obligatory middle school phase, and wasn't expecting much. He's just not my cup of tea (or so I thought). I was tempted to try this only because the plot involves both time travel and midcentury Americana, and because I find King charming in Entertainment Weekly. I ended up enjoying it so much I read the whole absurd length in two-and-a-half days. So much fun....more
I loved this book so much. It's feverishly lurid and melodramatic, twisty and twisted--all the good stuff. The plot twists are jaw-dropping, and I'm aI loved this book so much. It's feverishly lurid and melodramatic, twisty and twisted--all the good stuff. The plot twists are jaw-dropping, and I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. Let me re-emphasize, this book is *really* twisted....more
I figured this was like Salinger or Kerouac—you either read it before you’re 22 and you love it uncritically and it’s part of you forever, or you readI figured this was like Salinger or Kerouac—you either read it before you’re 22 and you love it uncritically and it’s part of you forever, or you read it after that, when you’re “wise and cynical as all hell� and it seems so pretentious and try-hard. BUT! Instead my experience has been that I read Plath now for the first when I’m old as fuck but experience the fervor and devotion of an undergraduate. The writing is simply everything: “I took a deep breath, and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am.� ...more
Love. Gloriously atmospheric, and really, really readable. Jane's a great character--austere but passionate and fiery. And needless to say, Rochester'Love. Gloriously atmospheric, and really, really readable. Jane's a great character--austere but passionate and fiery. And needless to say, Rochester's a dreamboat (an unattractive, moody, gloomy dreamboat). The Christian themes are much stronger here than I remembered from reading it in high school; you can definitely tell the Brontes were children of a clergyman. But the passion is also much more evident to me upon this reading. The gothic standard--I like Rebecca, but this is scads better....more
If I tried to describe this book with the purpose of making someone want to read it, I would fail miserably. It's not the kind of book that lends itseIf I tried to describe this book with the purpose of making someone want to read it, I would fail miserably. It's not the kind of book that lends itself to the booktalk. It would go something like this: "See, it's the life story of an elderly Kentucky farm wife...wait, where are you going?" But at the risk of sounding totally over the top, I think this is one of the finest and loveliest novels I've ever read. I'm sure it particularly resonated with me because I am a staunchly rural person, a Kentuckian, living on the same family farmland where I grew up. Achingly beautiful, poetic but plainspoken--I probably won't be able to convince many people to read it, but this will not stop me from trying :)...more
**spoiler alert** I'm enamored of this book--I read its 480 pages compulsively in 4 or 5 sittings--yet I don't begin to know what to make of it. Nicel**spoiler alert** I'm enamored of this book--I read its 480 pages compulsively in 4 or 5 sittings--yet I don't begin to know what to make of it. Nicely creepy, yet so very subtle, with a delicious decaying country house post WW2 setting, full of class and sexual tensions, mysterious fires, and strage happenings...so far so good. Upon finishing it, although it was left was purposely abmiguous, I was fairly certain that the reader was supposed to see it either as a ghost/supernatural story, or as a story about family madness. Then I went back and read the reviews closely, to see what other readers had made of it. According to Barnes and Noble: "involving madness, suicide, and an arguable murder...keeps the reader guessing on whether it is an atmospheric horror story or a macabre murder mystery right to the end..." Wait, it did?? I didn't perceive any hint of murder anywhere. And then Publisher's Weekly: "Faraday, one of literature's more unreliable narrators..." Hmm. I didn't actually read him as unreliable at all--envious, fixated on Hundreds, blind about the whole marrying-Caroline thing, yes, but not an unreliable narrator--I thought him quite sane. Then this from Kirkus: "A subtle clue planted in one character's given name neatly foreshadows, then explains, the Ayres family's self-destructive insularity." What's the name, what was the clue?? No, seriously, someone please tell me, it's driving me crazy. Then NPR: "Waters, a master at stoking anticipation, withholds the truth about her ghost until the final pages. By then we already strongly suspect its identity, but the confirmation is subtle, surprising, and deeply, deeply chilling." AHH! But it was left ambiguous! Right? What was this big reveal that apparently went right over my head??
Did I, embarrasingly, just read this novel completely wrong (although I would like to point out that these reviewers don't seem to all have the same take either); or is it really just this layered and ambiguous?
At any rate, whether I utterly missed the point or not, this was what I think of as the best kind of book; artful, challenging, beautiful, thought-provoking, yet still lots of fun.
Of all the heroines I've ever encountered, I think I identify with dreamy, introverted, full-of-yearning, beauty-seeking Francie Nolan most of all. I Of all the heroines I've ever encountered, I think I identify with dreamy, introverted, full-of-yearning, beauty-seeking Francie Nolan most of all. I loved this book. I loved the colorful, gritty-but-cheerful Brooklyn setting, I loved the exquisite period detail, and I loved the pitch-perfect characterization. I only wish I had discovered it when I was growing up, when I would have been well and truly obsessed....more
Naughty but sweet as pie, this book was an incredibly pleasant surprise. This wasn't on my radar at all; I've never seen the movie, and didn't even knNaughty but sweet as pie, this book was an incredibly pleasant surprise. This wasn't on my radar at all; I've never seen the movie, and didn't even know it was based on a book at all. I picked it up completely at random, because I thought the cover was cute. But I ended up being totally captivated, to the extent where I'm considering putting this in my favorites list now. The (unbelievably implausible) plot involves a virginal, drab and ultra-proper middle aged British governess, circa the 30s, who shows up at the posh apartment of a glam, outrageous and convention-flouting young nightclub singer, to apply for the position of governess to her presumably illegitimate children. What follows is farcical, outlandish, snappily-written and incredibly fast-paced, with an appealing kind of rat-a-tat energy, so that you can't help but plow through quickly. The book celebrates the joys of living recklessly and outside of society's strictures, of being open to adventure and experience, and that a little makeup and some pretty clothes never hurt anyone. It's all incredibly appealing for a modern reader, as long as the occasionally jaw-dropping sexism and racism don't get you down....more
Lush and gorgeous and so entertaining--a truly perfect pick if you're interested in the Romantic poets. This is the second book I've read now by Jude Lush and gorgeous and so entertaining--a truly perfect pick if you're interested in the Romantic poets. This is the second book I've read now by Jude Morgan (after Indiscretion) and they were both fabulous in completely different ways--I'm definitely going to be seeking out more from this author....more
This is one of the top 5 or so books I remember from my childhood, one of the main ones that really got me hooked me on books (AND made me just slightThis is one of the top 5 or so books I remember from my childhood, one of the main ones that really got me hooked me on books (AND made me just slightly obsessed with old museums, the Met in particular). It's just straight-up delightful. ...more
One of my favorite books of all time, I think this one is far superior to Atwood's much more famous dire dystopian, The Handmaid's Tale. Deliciously cOne of my favorite books of all time, I think this one is far superior to Atwood's much more famous dire dystopian, The Handmaid's Tale. Deliciously creepy especially because it all just seems so damn PLAUSIBLE. This book is flat out stunning....more
Pretty much perfection for a YA book, this should also appeal to non-YA readers who like sensitive and edgy coming-of-age stories. Goofy but intellectPretty much perfection for a YA book, this should also appeal to non-YA readers who like sensitive and edgy coming-of-age stories. Goofy but intellectual and so beautifully ache-y....more
I'm not huge on biographies, and I didn't have an especial interest in Millay either, so this was a somewhat unusual choice for me to pick up. But theI'm not huge on biographies, and I didn't have an especial interest in Millay either, so this was a somewhat unusual choice for me to pick up. But the reviews looked really promising, and I'm a sucker for anything about the Twenties and/or artsy Bohemian-types, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm so glad I did--it is magnificent. Millay's story, of course, is fascinating in itself, and Milford's work with that raw material was just outstanding--so incredibly readable and engaging. I especially loved her first-person accounts of the eerie conversations she had with Millay's sister Norma. This book for sure brought out a new interest in Edna St. Vincent Millay, and I'll also be on the lookout for the next thing by Nancy Milford (although that may be a long wait--30 years passed between her last book, on Zelda Fitzgerald, and this one--bummer)....more
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