Tuesday, January 22, 2008

ewee (07/26): Salt, A World History by Mark Kurlansky

ewee (07/26): Salt, A World History by Mark Kurlansky Eh, it was ok. Good snippets. Nice bit about Gandhi (embarrassed to admit, didn't know about the connection with salt), and great to finally know what the colorful bits at the bottom of the sf-bay were about.

But overall, mediocre. Too bad I'll have library fines on it (again!).

Here's a good review i agree with -- better as little snippets. neither enough science or history. not enough flow. but definitely great factoids.

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Monday, January 21, 2008

Kayan (3/26) : The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini


I could not put this book down. I don't remember ever devouring a fictional novel with such eagerness. Khaled Hosseini is able to intricately weave a beautiful center stage story of human bonds against the backdrop of recent history of Afghanistan and America. Every detail in the story has a purpose, and the characters jump off the page and come alive with Hosseini's prose that, at risk of sounding crazy-cheesy, is simply magical.

The following all happened while reading this book:

- I dropped my jaw.
- I rode a crowded bus and strained to hold onto a too-high handlebar with one hand while holding this book in the other.
- I gasped, audibly.
- The clock struck 2 a.m. on a school night.
- I covered up the bottom of a page with my hand so my eyes wouldn't wander ahead to the ending-revealing dialogue before they were supposed to.

I watched my brother read this book with rapt attention (and some gasps of his own) before deciding to read it for myself. Boy I am glad I did.

Monday, January 14, 2008

ewee (06/26): Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

ewee (06/26): Golden Compass by Philip PullmanAfter catching the film with miz sy at the fab Grand Lake, I had to pick up the book again, to remember how the story really went. And for the record, I was very pleasantly surprised by the movie. Faithful enough to the book to be good storytelling, and the acting and animation were a pleasant surprise. (But keep in mind, I went in with extremely low expectations.) Sure, it's a bit dumbed down, but ain't that the way it goes in Hollywood? And yeah, I hate Ms. Kidman, but that works in her favor in this story...

ewee (06/26): Golden Compass by Philip PullmanOverall, I loved this book, the story is told well, the characters are well-drawn (I do appreciate a strong female lead, especially in Sci-Fi/Fantasy), and elements of the story are strikingly original. I loved the idea of the daemons, the externalized soul, the a more integral version of the witch's familiar. It reminded me of Anne McCaffrey's dragons, and the exquisite connections that were able to exist because of these animals. On a small scale, my relationship with my dogs has always hinted at this. (Really! My last dog, Satchmo, could wake me up just by the power of her thoughts! I'd snap awake, thinking about her, and there she'd be, staring at me with her laser eyes. And more than once, I'd wake up, knowing she needed to go out, while my partner blissfully snoozed on. Ok, ok, not amazing enough? Lookit who works, and who sleeps all day. Can there be any question? They control everything!)

ewee (06/26): Golden Compass by Philip PullmanTrue, it's not a particularly pro-religion (ok, not at all) book. But I'm not sure why people are so frightened. It might encourage people to think and to ask questions. But I remember reading a wide variety of things in my youth, and true, mebbe I'm not who you want your children to become, but I do remember that it was the things that I was not allowed to read that gained more allure because of the restriction. My mom forbabe me from reading about Karl Marx, since she blamed Communism on much of the strife in Korea. (Interestingly, her brother blames the U.S., and as a result would not converse to us in English. Instead, we fumbled along in Korean or French.) In the end, I think I might've picked up a deadly dull biography or something, because it left me with the impression that Karl Marx was a bit dull. So restricting thought doesn't usually provide the results we might want.

But back to the book. Strong female lead, inventive use of animals (they talk! they change shapes! they are your bff!), good storytelling, witches! (good and bad!), the heroic struggle between forces. It's a good yarn.

Despite what folks say, it's not a preachy book. In fact, it has troubling shades of gray -- many of the characters are a confusing combination of good and evil. We are as drawn to the "evil" as we are repulsed by the "good." And it's this complexity of development that is truly the book's strength. Well, that and the daemons. What I'd give for a companion like that...

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Saturday, January 05, 2008

ewee (05/26): Good Dog. Stay. by Anna Quindlen

ewee (05/26): Good Dog. Stay. by Anna QuindlenGot this one as a gifty from miz sy. Mostly ok. Quick read, moderately moving, worth a bathroom read. (Yeah, it's fluff, but hey, working on catching up!)

The Powells.com book listing sums up both sides fairly well:
Review:
"To say I read Good Dog. Stay. in an hour doesn't do this gem of a book justice. I inhaled the pages, nodding in agreement as columnist Anna Quindlen contemplated the lessons she learned from her Labrador, Beau." The Orlando Sentinel

Review:
"Anna Quindlen's Good Dog. Stay. is the worst [dog book] yet. Stretched to 83 pages, it almost doesn't count as a book. Instead, it comes across as exactly what it is: a hastily dashed-off, downright craven attempt to cash in on her beloved black Lab, Beau. Surely he deserves better. So do readers. (Grade: D)" Entertainment Weekly

Synopsis:
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Quindlen honors the life of her beloved black Labrador retriever, Beau, in this heartening and bittersweet work. With her trademark wisdom and humor, Quindlen reflects on how her life has unfolded in tandem with Beau's, and on the lessons she's learned by watching him.

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