When my boyfriend asked me what made me pick this book, I told him I've always thought of Alec Baldwin as a bit of a smart asshole, and that2.5 stars.
When my boyfriend asked me what made me pick this book, I told him I've always thought of Alec Baldwin as a bit of a smart asshole, and that smart assholes usually tell great stories.
Plus, I really love It's Complicated.
Well, I was right on both counts - Baldwin IS a smart asshole, and he DOES tell great stories. I particularly enjoyed reading about his thoughts on Harrison Ford (although I vehemently disagree with him!) and his experience making the best bear movie ever, The Edge (seriously, watch it). I also liked learning more about his childhood growing up as the oldest of six Irish-Catholic siblings in Massepequa, New York, his time at university (he attended George Washington University and studied politics for three years before transferring to NYU to study drama), and yes, I'll admit to a more prurient side of me being interested in the story of his relationships with Kim Basinger and their daughter Ireland (and yes, he does get into that infamous 2007 voicemail).
Baldwin can come across as pretty cynical throughout the book, and there's definitely a tendency to paint himself as the victim in some of the big battles of his life (with his ex-wife, with paparazzi, with certain directors/producers/studios). Some of the anecdotes either get bogged down by detail, or lack thereof - you have this nagging sense that he hasn't really done the work on himself to evaluate his own role in certain negative incidents. But overall, he seems to have a pretty healthy sense of who he is, his faults and foibles, and an honesty that is appealing. I think you come away from the book feeling happy that he is finally figuring out how to pursue his own happiness, as he puts it in the final chapter....more
I've seen reviews likening this book to anything by Liane Moriarty, but I'd have to vehemently disagree. The set-up may sound familiar - alternating cI've seen reviews likening this book to anything by Liane Moriarty, but I'd have to vehemently disagree. The set-up may sound familiar - alternating chapters narrated by different characters, something BIG and BAD happens at a party, teenage drama, adult angst, and throw in some topical, trendy shout-outs to prescription pill abuse, tech bro culture, and social media bullying. Oh, and make sure you add plenty of consumerist name-dropping, from Audi to Macbooks to Tory Burch to Grey Goose. Wash, rinse, repeat.
But at least Moriarty's characters, for the most part, have some kind of a moral compass. You root for them. All of the characters in The Party are completely hateful, with the one exception being the young teenage son Aidan who I think has three lines total. Give him time. Everyone else is not only despicable, but annoying AND boring, which is unforgivable, in my opinion. They either act in extremely trite, predictable and cliched ways, or they act in a way that no human being would, under any circumstances. There were a few occasions while reading this when I'd actually laugh out loud, because it was just SO unbelievable. But mostly I just rolled my eyes.
The biggest crime this book commits though is NO PAY-OFF. Seriously. It teases and teases some big dramatic horror that went down at Hannah's Sweet 16 party, but we never really get a full depiction of the party's events and (view spoiler)[ how Ronnie lost her eye. Was she pushed? Did Lauren push her? We NEVER FIND OUT (hide spoiler)]. I just don't understand how a small group of teenagers went from drinking, what seems to be mild drug use, and making out to, well, someone (view spoiler)[ literally losing an eye. (hide spoiler)]
The writing makes me think this book is geared more towards young teenagers, but the actual content is pretty explicit - think lots of swear words peppered in through most of the dialogue, but in a way that sounds like a kid trying to sound cool. And this is just a pet peeve of mine, but I hate it when authors include text messages in their books and everything is spelled with short forms - "Going 2 c Ronnie." What's worse is when adults, like Kim, do it - "What r u doing today?" Is this just me? Am I the only adult who spells out full words in my texts??
Hannah, the teenage girl whose perspective is the only teen one we get, is supposed to be, I think, the heroine of the story, except that I hate her. After her parents give her a diamond tennis bracelet for her sweet 16, she muses just a few pages later, "Lauren's dad was always buying her expensive clothes and jewelry to compensate for his lack of engagement. Hannah's own parents could never be accused of that. Damn."
UM DIDN'T YOUR PARENTS JUST GIVE YOU A DIAMOND BRACELET?!?
I'll end it there. If you want to read about parental responsibility when something goes wrong between children, and the ripple effect one event has on a variety of messed-up characters' lives, I think The Slap does it better (and I believe I wasn't too kind in my review of The Slap either, but nevertheless, it's better than The Party)....more
Such an interesting, enjoyable book! Dare I say it was a hygge-book? (There are about a million hygge compound words in Denmark, indexed in a useful gSuch an interesting, enjoyable book! Dare I say it was a hygge-book? (There are about a million hygge compound words in Denmark, indexed in a useful glossary at the end of this book, and the author encourages you to make up your own hygge words!)
Here are some notes I took while reading, because I definitely want to remember the lessons of this book:
- What is hygge? Hygge is not ecstatic, momentary happiness, but a kind of everyday happiness that contributes to a general contentedness in the long run - when guests step inside, try and sense where they are mentally and what they need. If they've come in from the cold, offer them a blanket. Ask if they would like to choose a cup, if we're going to have something warm to drink. Then they may end up having a favourite cup at your place, and that helps them feel at home. - it prizes home culture over cafe culture (but hygge is definitely pub culture too!) - hygge is the glue that holds Danish families together - Hygge is not exclusively Scandinavian but it definitely fits in with the larger Scandinavian ethos and values system and culture of community, the social welfare state, and inclusiveness (also because Scandinavians believe when the basic needs are met, and you have the security that comes with knowing there's a social safety net, there is more room for one to explore the social, creative and personal elements of one's life - and it is easier for hygge to thrive), - At schools in Denmark: "Don't forget to have some potter-time." Means walking around with little effort or purpose, winding down, seeing that hygge can simply hide within a pair of slippers - You can't force hygge! But you can coax it, and set up patterns and thoughts that make hygge a natural part of your day - Hygge isn't necessarily communal, it can be solitary too (curled up on a couch reading for example) - The book includes recipes for hygge, like like rodgrod med flode (summer compote from summer berries), potato sandwiches (on open-faced rye bread), thick pancakes, morning rolls, oatmeal with caramel sauce, apple and roasted almonds (from Grod's famous creator, Lasse Skjonning Andersen), snobrod (twisted rolls made over the embers of a fire, like bannock, but sweetened with sugar and cardamom), and elderflower cordial - the Danes are the second highest sweet-eating nation in Europe, and that's mostly because hygge is associated with drinking and eating (but not necessarily eating broccoli florets!) - Hygge lives in the contrast between the cold outdoors and the cosy, warm indoors of your home - Making your home hygge - Hygge grows out of a sincerity in the things you surround yourself with. When you put thoughtfulness into how and why you have chosen to surround yourself with particular furniture, objects, art, flowers, knick-knacks, then you relax. - Interior design and hygge -> materials play a big role here. Wood, paper, linens, wools, metals, ceramics and stoneware are a part of Scandinavian style DNA. - Have a hyggekrog --> a hygge nook in your house that is cosy. For me, that would be the corner of my couch with tons of pillows (all in different materials like faux fur, knit, etc) and soft blankets, perfect to curl up in with a book or something good on Netflix - In the bedroom --> make space for your special routines - a place for your book, your glass of water, your jewellery. - Denmark uses the most candles of all EU countries (because hygge is closely associated with candlelight!) - a Danish DJ and legendary radio host gives a hygge playlist of 10 songs that automatically and in a subtle way put you in a hyggelig mood - Don't be afraid of the cliche of souvenirs - if a mini version of the Eiffel Tower reminds you of an unforgettable trip to Paris, bring it back with you and enjoy the memories seeing it provokes. - A whole section at the back of the book looks at all the hygge compound words (and there are a TON, you really get the sense of just how massive a cultural mindset hygge is in Denmark based on all the words they've created with hygge in it). I love this word, hyggesyg, hugge-sickness. When you have to stay home from work sick, but not so sick you have to lie down in pain. So, walking around at home, with slippers and warm socks on, watching films and eating nice things, but not well enough to go to work. - Julehygge --> Christmas hygge. - it is interesting to see that while people in the West have suddenly become quite preoccupied with achieving hygge as anything Scandinavian is ridiculously trendy, people in Denmark might see the concept differently. Apparently the political left wing criticizes hygge for being alientating, introvert and fearful of cultures outside of Scandinavian. The political right wing criticizes hygge for being a barrier to ambition, intensity, and growth, and that too much hygge is bad for productivity and effectiveness. - The book does wonder if hygge "works" best in homogenous populations like Denmark, and how it can sometimes be seen as introverted and exclusionary.It can also be challenged by society's focus on efficiency and multi-tasking, as well as the rise of social media in our lives. - This made me laugh --> "There are trends in today's society that threaten hygge. Thousands of Danes are suddenly running marathons, a niche sport that was reserved for a few eager fools in the old days and was never intended to become a popular sport. If the health wave continues to roar, hygge will face an uphill struggle." - More on social media --> "Social media takes time away from time that could be spent together as a family, are disruptive to the presence of our children and can be sources of conflict." - But this book makes the case for podcasts, saying that listening to something instead of taking in knowledge and entertainment visually demands more presence, and thus better conditions for hygge. - Conclusion: Why is hygge important? Hygge moments are the small everyday moments that make you happy. Having a word for it makes you aware that they are right in front of your eyes....more
Someone asked me once what my best "beach read" has been, and my immediate answer was "The Millenium trilogy." I brought the first one with me on a beSomeone asked me once what my best "beach read" has been, and my immediate answer was "The Millenium trilogy." I brought the first one with me on a beach trip to Marco Island in 2011, tore through it in the pool, and ended up having to troll the aisles of Target and Walmart so I could buy the second. Immediately upon arriving home in Canada, I drove right out to a bookstore to get the third (and what I believed at the time) final book. So, safe to say, I LOVED them. I've re-read the original three a few times since, seen all the Swedish movies and the American version, but was still somewhat reluctant to read this David Lagercrantz version.
And...it wasn't that great. It wasn't awful, but it would never be on my list of fantastic beach reads, let's put it that way. I found the first 2/3 really slow and meandering and frankly kind of boring. The pace picked up towards the end, but upon finishing it I still didn't really get a sense that I understood the whole crime that was allegedly driving the action. There were a lot of players whose names would be dropped as part of this global conspiracy but besides Camilla Salander (whose presence was not exactly a jaw-dropping surprise...it was pretty obvious to me from early on that she was Thanos) and a couple of the Spiders, none of these characters were memorable enough to register to me at the end when everything was "summed up". I did like August though, and thought it was cool to have a boy with autism play such an integral role to the plot. I liked Lisbeth's interactions with him, too.
On that note...not enough Lisbeth!! But that's not necessarily a Lagercrantz-specific complaint; I felt that way about the last two Millenium books too. Always, always more Salander could happen. Also, more references to Billy's Pan Pizza and open-faced sandwiches, please.
I am curious to watch the movie version of this book when it comes out, as Hollywood is skipping over the second and third books and going straight to Spider's Web, with a new cast, too. I love Claire Foy in The Queen and am willing to give her a chance as Lisbeth - it could be really interesting. In this case, the movie could be better than the book....more
This book left me about as lukewarm as a half-melted snowman on a warm March day.
It's not good...it's not awful...it's just, meh. More like 1.5 stars.This book left me about as lukewarm as a half-melted snowman on a warm March day.
It's not good...it's not awful...it's just, meh. More like 1.5 stars. The setting is suitably creepy, and I found it refreshing to switch to Oslo when most of my experience with scandi fiction has been centered in Sweden or Finland.
Like many Nordic noir books I've read, the violence against women depicted in the novel is extreme, brutal and sadistic. This is a killer who is specifically targeting women because he is a misogynist. So be prepared to really only encounter women in The Snowman as two-dimensional characters who serve only to be victims - and victimized because of their sexual choices. It's pretty disturbing stuff. Whereas I find Larsson's Millenium trilogy to be ultimately a feminist text (c'mon, Lisbeth Salander!?), none of the female characters in The Snowman are memorable, not even the police officer Katrine Bratt. Let's just say this book would NOT pass the Bechdel test.
(Also, why did every depiction of sex in this book sound incredibly juvenile and also oddly really physically painful? So many repetitions of hip bones banging against each other...made me think everyone in Norway is really skinny and really aggressive).
Safe to say I WON'T be watching the film adaptation, or continuing in the Harry Hole fiction series. ...more
Wow! I loved this book - highly recommended to anyone who likes Southern Gothic fiction, psychological/psycho-sexual thrillers, feminist stories and hWow! I loved this book - highly recommended to anyone who likes Southern Gothic fiction, psychological/psycho-sexual thrillers, feminist stories and historical fiction.
The setting is an all-girls school (Miss Martha Farnworth's Seminary for Young Ladies) in Virginia during the American Civil War. Just beyond the gate of this cloistered feminine world are raging battles and cannon thunder, until one of the students, the nature-loving Amelia Dabney, stumbles upon a wounded Union soldier in her search for wild mushrooms.
His name is Corporal James McBurney, and he's an Irishman who joined the war shortly after emigrating to the U.S. He's your typical Irish charmer - and after inquiring, casually, if there are any men about the school, McBurney quickly determines he's the only rooster in the henhouse and sets about playing the women off against each other in a way that benefits him.
But the tables turn pretty fast...and the reader starts doubting whether it's McBurney who's the cat amongst all the pigeons - or the pigeon surrounded by cats.
Each chapter is told through a different point-of-view of one of the female characters. We never get McBurney's perspective, which would be interesting but I quite enjoyed only hearing from the women. And they are all such interesting, complicated characters! I think my favourite was Marie, the youngest student at 10 years old, who is the sole Catholic in the group, from a wealthy plantation in Louisiana, and is laugh-out-loud funny, as well as extremely sharp and perceptive (and (view spoiler)[ is the one to come up with the plan to kill McBurney by feeding him poisoned mushrooms (hide spoiler)]), but there was truly never any chapter where I'd think, "ugh, I don't want to hear from this person." Each perspective was fascinating. I also really liked no-nonsense Emily, "the General". The way the women and girls all related to each other was so interesting and I would love more backstories on all of them, especially the Farnsworth sisters who run the school!
The plot definitely veers into the OFF THE WALL CRAZINESS spectrum ((view spoiler)[ we're talking incest, secret baldness covered up by wigs, amputation, poisoned mushrooms, drunken revelations, cat fights, and more (hide spoiler)]) but it's also so scary and uncertain that it's just one big, wonderful, crazy entertaining read. I couldn't put it down, and read way too late into the night. ...more
LOVE love LOVED this! I couldn't put it down. If you like Friday Night Lights (and if you don't, do I want to know you?!), you will fall equally as haLOVE love LOVED this! I couldn't put it down. If you like Friday Night Lights (and if you don't, do I want to know you?!), you will fall equally as hard for this book. Beartown IS Dillon, Texas, and the characters that populate this novel are all as compelling, real, flawed, complicated and well-drawn-out as Tami Taylor, Tim Riggins, Smash Williams, Tyra Collette and Grandma Saracen.
I'll say the same thing about Beartown that I say about FNL - if you don't like hockey, that's ok. If you don't like sports, that's ok too (that said, if you've ever played or loved sports in a small town, so many things in Beartown will ring true and real to you). This book is not really about hockey, or sports, but about life and the choices we make and the things we do and DON'T do. The culture we create, and the culture we encourage, as the wise old coach Sune says. The people we give power to, and why they're afforded that power, and the people who are relegated to the sidelines.
Beartown addresses some very weighty, current topics - rape, the permissiveness of certain sport cultures that encourage toxic masculinity, homosexuality, bullying, racism, immigration, poverty and class warfare. It is heavy stuff but written in a beautiful, spare way.
I loved this book, and Beartown and its inhabitants, and almost wish I could have made the book last longer than a day's reading, but it was just too good to put down....more
I loved this book! I purposely didn't read any descriptions or book cover blurbs beforehand, so I cracked open the first page not having any idea whatI loved this book! I purposely didn't read any descriptions or book cover blurbs beforehand, so I cracked open the first page not having any idea what it was about, just that it was an Elizabeth Kostova book and I will read anything she writes.
I was gripped right from the beginning, perhaps a little because I could relate to the main character, a young American woman in her 20s arriving in an Eastern European country to teach English (trade Bulgaria for Russia and swap American for Canadian, and that's my story!). However, whereas my first day in Moscow included getting lost wandering around identical Soviet block apartment buildings and contemplating curling up to sleep under the statue of Lenin, Alexandra Boyd's first day in Sofia involves accidentally mixing up her bag with that belonging to a Bulgarian family - and discovering, inside that bag, long after the family has disappeared in a taxi, a meticulously carved urn with human ashes inside.
Hooked. Immediately.
The rest of the book is a stunning, bold and beautifully heartbreaking story that weaves in Alexandra's own backstory, and her present-day interactions with memorable, complex characters like Bobby the taxi driver/poet/political protester, with flashbacks to a much darker time in Bulgaria's not-so-long-ago past. We learn the story of a brave, romantic and principled violin player, Stoyan Lazarov, whose dreams of Vivaldi, Venice and his future son with his wife Vera manage to keep him alive through years of horrific imprisonment at a Communist gulag.
There are lots of things I'm afraid of, ranging from the mundane to the serious, and even though these days nuclear annihilation sparked by a presidential twitter meltdown usually tops that list, I have to say the Soviet Communist era terrifies me. I love Russian history but I constantly struggle with coming to terms with the kind of horrors the country's people faced just in the last century. It's so easy to stroll around Moscow, past the Lubyanka, and forget these things. The Shadow Land does not allow you to forget this. In beautiful, compelling prose, Kostova recreates the kind of paranoia, fear and despair I can only imagine people living under the Communist yoke felt. In the prison camp, Stoyan's mental fortitude and his thoughts are unleashed to the reader in a way that is impossible to forget. You can't put the book down in these sections.
At nearly 500 pages, the book can drag in parts, and towards the end I wanted Alexandra and Bobby to wrap things up, to solve the mystery of who was following and threatening them and why the Lazarovi were being targeted. I think those modern-day sections could have been trimmed a bit, but other than that, honestly? This was a near flawless book. ...more
The book was much better than the recent movie (seriously, why did the movie even bother creating a 'Ghost' character?! Completely unnecessary) but thThe book was much better than the recent movie (seriously, why did the movie even bother creating a 'Ghost' character?! Completely unnecessary) but there were still some weaknesses in the writing and character development, I thought.
Particularly the whole romantic sub-plot with the German banker's (I think he was a banker? Another problem with the book is that there are soooo many characters to keep track of, many of them are pretty unmemorable, and they all have vague job descriptions like banker, assassin, deputy director, etc) daughter, Greta - she was totally two-dimensional and clearly only exists in some straight male fantasy world. Her sex scene with Mitch came out of nowhere, and added nothing to the book or to Mitch as a character.
It might have just been my edition of the book, but there was a typo where one character (Ridley) was referred to as Hurley, and this is a pretty big typo since Hurley is supposed to be somewhere VERY different! I guess both last names end in -ley, so give the copy editor a break? But...the English pedant in me still gets annoyed at stuff like that. Proofread, people!
The dialogue can also be clunky and hokey, but despite my quibbles, I'd still pick up another Vince Flynn/Mitch Rapp book. I really liked all the training sequences that take place at Hurley's cabin in Virginia. The final 50 pages were really intense and flew by. But in terms of an action thriller franchise built around one character, I was hooked on Jack Reacher and Lucas Davenport right from the first book...whereas Mitch Rapp I think is going to take me a while to warm up to....more
Highly informative and thought-provoking. I liked the first two parts that are more of a historical look back at why Canada never became a population Highly informative and thought-provoking. I liked the first two parts that are more of a historical look back at why Canada never became a population powerhouse like the United States - all the different economic, political and cultural factors that shaped two very different countries (at times, this was a little depressing...so much of our talent has left for the U.S., in a historical trend, because of the lack of opportunities, markets, tax policies and more facing entrepreneurs in Canada...including the guy who invented American cheese! Yup, he was a Canuck!). Canada's historical inclination towards what Saunders calls our "minimizing impulse" was really interesting and frustrating to read about, because it's really prohibited our country from reaching its full potential - or at least, that's the message I took away. The modest, polite Canadian stereotype is there for a reason...but it's held us back in many ways.
The third part is where Saunders really gets into the meat of his argument - why (and how) Canada should target a population increase to approximately 100 million (a tripling of our current population of 35 million) by 2100. I found he offered practical ideas and recommendations for all three levels of government, but I remain unconvinced we can get there, largely because of a lack of political (and popular!) will. It's hard to start thinking about storms on the horizon when right now it's pretty sunny - especially as our economy is chugging along nicely right now. I'm already dreading the mid-century economic crunch Saunders is forecasting as our population continues to age.
A well-researched, engaging book on demographics and the dangers of underpopulation - who would have thought I'd ever write that?!...more
Wow! What a terrific, thrilling ride of a read! I have yet to read Barton's The Widow, but that is definitely moving up on my list now. The Child was Wow! What a terrific, thrilling ride of a read! I have yet to read Barton's The Widow, but that is definitely moving up on my list now. The Child was gripping, emotional, and had a twist at the very end that I didn't see coming at all ((view spoiler)[ Emma is Angela's daughter Alice, who was kidnapped from the hospital by Jude, who raised Emma, who was raped by Jude's boyfriend Will, whose child she miscarried at age 15 and buried on the street - whew! Got that? Lots of twists, yes, but the author plots them skillfully and they all feel very realistic (hide spoiler)]).
One of my favourite things about the book though has nothing to do with the main plot or the themes of motherhood, family secrets, cover-ups, and sexual violence. It's the fact that you can tell Barton comes from a journalist background, because the details behind Kate's work, the way she thinks, the way she approaches interviews, her job, and her interactions with fellow coworkers, editors, photographers, subjects, witnesses and the police, are all spot-on. Coming from a print-journalism background myself, and now working in broadcast news, I could identify so much with Kate, and the descriptions of her and her job are all so realistic. ...more
This was a terrific, taut and suspenseful character study set in the sun-baked terracotta town of Siracusa, on the Ionian coast of Sicily. Two couplesThis was a terrific, taut and suspenseful character study set in the sun-baked terracotta town of Siracusa, on the Ionian coast of Sicily. Two couples - Finn, a boisterous Republican restauranteur and his wife, icy neurotic blonde Taylor, and liberal New Yorkers Michael, a Pulitzer award-winning writer struggling with his latest book, and Lizzie, his wife who's trying to make a name for herself as a writer outside of her husband's shadow - as well as Finn and Taylor's pre-teen daughter Snow travel to Rome and Siracusa on a holiday.
That's the initial set-up, and right from the beginning, we learn in flashback reminisces from the main four characters that SOMETHING happened in Siracusa. Something that destroyed relationships, landed some in therapy, and potentially caused an event much darker. This reminded me of a Liane Moriarty book, but...less frothy? More literary? She doesn't constantly tease the "what happened??? Keep reading to find out!" cliffhangers that can be frustrating in Moriarty books. Better, sharper dialogue and observations. The stakes felt higher too, the tension was so delicately constructed to build and build up to a climax that most definitely paid off for the reader. Half a week later, I'm still thinking back to that ending.
You can tell Delia Ephron is a screenwriter (she wrote You've Got Mail and Hanging Up, among other classics) because the dialogue is so spot-on and specific to each character. Because each chapter is told from the point-of-view of a different character, often going over the same event but from a new perspective, you run the risk of not being able to tell one narrative voice apart from another. But in Siracusa, you always know exactly who's talking right now. Their personalities, foibles, quirks, and thoughts are all so precisely unique and ring so true to what that character would actually be thinking and saying.
I've read some reviews that have mentioned the characters are all unlikable, but I disagree. I really only loathed Michael, and he was still so interesting in this fascinating, horrifying way (I loved how he narrated his life in his mind as though he was plumbing the unfolding events for a future novel...it felt so clinical, almost sociopathic and removed from reality. (view spoiler)[ especially how quickly he switches from being enamoured with Kathy, or "Katarina" to plotting/longing for her death (hide spoiler)]). I really liked Lizzie and Finn, and was rooting for them, and even Taylor I felt sympathetic towards, with all her rigidity and neuroses and her blind, almost desperate clinging to her daughter Snow.
And Snow...no spoilers here, but that kid is not so innocent as the pure white stuff she's named after.
Highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a smart, suspenseful, book that is at its heart about marriage, how we interact with other couples, and the lies and secrets we tell and hold.
And I really hope Ephron turns this book into a script, because this would make a fantastic movie!...more
Who did I hate at this wedding? Pretty much everyone, to be honest.
Other reviewers have made the same observation - the best thing this book has goingWho did I hate at this wedding? Pretty much everyone, to be honest.
Other reviewers have made the same observation - the best thing this book has going for it is the title and the cover.
The actual plot line goes nowhere and wraps up suddenly and with no real climax, the writing is weak, and the characters are VERY cliched and mostly unlikable (the miserable indebted sister Alice addicted to anti-depressants having an affair with her older married boss; the miserable, weepy brother Paul addicted to alcohol and pleasing his emotionally abusive boyfriend, the miserable mother Donna addicted to weed and hankering after her ex-husband who left her for an au pair, and the happy oldest sister Eloise who's led a blessed life and is addicted to helping her miserable family members in the hopes that they'll stop hating her).
Then there are secondary characters who are just as loathsome - Paul's boyfriend Mark, Alcott, the British guy Mark pressures Paul into having a threesome with (warning: SUPER explicit sex scene follows in the book), Henrique, Donna's first husband and Eloise's father, and Jonathan, Alice's married boss. Characters don't have to be likeable for me to enjoy the book, but they do have to be interesting and none of these characters escaped the rather flat, unimaginative fates the author laid out for them. They were all just archetypes. Eloise had the potential to be interesting, and she was my favourite of them all, because she had a bit of an edge to her perfect persona and I would have liked the author to explore that more (same with her fiance Ollie - in fact, why couldn't this book have been mainly about Eloise and Ollie, with their family members as weird side actors adding in some flavour and colour?).
I wouldn't recommend this book. If you like dysfunctional family dramas, there surely have to be better ones out there. ...more
I started off this book with high hopes, but ultimately don't think it was worth the time investment (luckily, I suppose, I had a delayed flight and aI started off this book with high hopes, but ultimately don't think it was worth the time investment (luckily, I suppose, I had a delayed flight and a dead phone and nothing else to occupy my time with). The beginning of the novel is gripping (and disturbing...very graphic descriptions of torture, racial and sexual violence) but it quickly spiralled into a confusing, convoluted plot that dragged on, and stuffed with stereotypical stock characters that were almost laughably unbelievable (the racist KKK rednecks, the honourable white saviours, the simple but good-hearted black victims, the sexy and brilliant journalist and love interest, the dogged and not sexy small-town journalist trying to atone for "white guilt") and also difficult to keep straight in your head. Who's Forrest Knox, again? How is he different from Snake Knox or Billy Knox, and how are they all related to Frank Knox?
I also wondered if I should have read more Greg Iles' books first about the main character, Penn Cage. There were constant allusions to past events, characters and plot lines that were too specific to be ignored, but too vague to give you any kind of idea about why the allusions were important to THIS book, and even though Natchez Burning is the first book in a trilogy, I think it would potentially make more sense if you had read earlier Penn Cage books before this one. Natchez Burning is not a blank slate, and I think you need the back stories from earlier books before attempting to read this one.
The sex scenes also reminded me of Ken Follett's cringe-worthy sex scenes in some of his books (Winter of the Worlds trilogy, I'm looking at you!). Just, really juvenile writing that's kind of gross and always told entirely from the male perspective, so even when it's a consensual sex scene between ostensibly two characters you want to cheer for ((view spoiler)[ like Dr. Tom Cage and Viola (hide spoiler)]), it feels vaguely exploitative and unrealistic and all about pushing forward this straight white male fantasy - and this could get more than uncomfortable in his descriptions of inter-racial sex (objectification of the "exotic" "wild" "animalistic" stereotype...ie. one of the black women "purrs" and makes "guttural" noises). I really did not like this aspect of the book. Then there's the very graphic violence - yes, the Civil Rights era of American history WAS violent, and white people enacted horrific violence upon black Americans, and I believe it is important to be aware of this violence. But at a certain point, like in film as well, it crosses over to feeling exploitative just for that shock value.
I don't know, I just did not like this book. Disappointing, because I thought it had a lot of potential. ...more
I really liked this book! It ended up being different than I expected - I thought it would be a straight-up memoir, along the lines of many "the FrencI really liked this book! It ended up being different than I expected - I thought it would be a straight-up memoir, along the lines of many "the French do everything better than us"/"brash, free-spirited and freedom-loving American woman falling in love with exotic Frenchman and comical cultural misunderstandings ensue" books that are out there. And don't get me wrong - I enjoy that very specific genre, hence why I picked up this book!
But When in French ended up being so much better, and smarter than the typical fish-out-of-water Francophile memoirs. It's a really thoughtful and thought-provoking look at language and culture. Here are just some parts of the book that really stood out to me:
- that linguists call America "the graveyard of languages" because of "its singular ability to take in millions of immigrants and extinguish their native languages in a few generations." - Only 18 per cent of American children study foreign languages, while 94% of European high-school students are studying English. - this double standard where we tend to think of foreign languages as extremely hard to learn, too hard for us...but then "we're incensed when immigrants don't speak English perfectly." I'm not sure I agree with this...I always have to remind myself when speaking another language that native speakers are most likely going to be very patient and understanding with me, rather than mocking and dismissive. But the point still definitely got me thinking. - Modern-day English speakers who have never studied French already know an estimated 15,000 words in French!! - one of the amusements of the Napoleon III court was a "dictee" - where someone would say a few paragraphs and everyone would write down what they hear. In this one case, Napoleon III made 75 mistakes over the course of 169 words, Alexandre Dumas (!) made 24, and the winner was Prince Metternich of Austria with just three mistakes! This gave me horrible flashbacks to something I had blocked out of my memory - university French class dictees where no matter how hard I listened...I could NOT for the life of me make out half the words! So I had to laugh and agree with the author that French is much harder to understand than to read, write or speak. - the "love triangle" between France, America and Britain. According to an internal memo circulating around the British Foreign Office in 1941, Americans view the Brits as "cold-blooded and calculating" which is why the "American respect for us never quite ripens into a warm, uncalculating friendship such as they have felt for the French." Interesting! I always connected the traditional French-American affinity (at least up until the freedom fries era) as being born in the two countries' revolutions and quest for liberty. - Cool foreign words with no English equivalent -> Schnapsidee (German; a plan hatched under the influence of alcohol), pilkunnussija (Finnish; comma f***er, a grammar pedant), knullrufs (Swedish; post-sex hair), culaccino (Italian; the mark left on a table by a cold glass - love this!), kummerspeck (German; literally grief bacon, or excess weight gained due to emotional overeating). - the whole section on linguistic relativism - "the idea that languages possess and inculcate different ways of thinking." Fascinating to think about! Does each language have its own worldview? Do people have different personalities in different languages? - Does the dilution of language lead irretrievably to the deterioration of the culture? How strongly is language linked to culture? This was really interesting to think about, because it's almost impossible for me to divorce my views on this from the very fact that I'm a native English speaker. Even when English is diluted by foreign words, it's still so slight that it doesn't really change my culture at all, so when I read this question my first thought was, no, of course dilution of language doesn't lead to cultural deterioration, it just makes it stronger and richer! But that's coming from a very dominant worldview I have...it's not like I speak Corsican and this is a very real threat to be guarded against. - there's an interesting point made too linking speaking English to class. This idea that the dominant class speaks English, and French (insert any other language here) has become the language of the poor." This is something I've heard from two of my friends here in Ottawa, which has a large Francophone community, friends of mine who grew up in Quebec as Anglophones. And they said the same thing...that the ability to speak English in Quebec definitely sets you apart in a class-specific way. - "Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the former UN secretary general, has said that democracy between states must be based on pluralingualism. Linguistic diversity, then, is a check on political monoculture. It is as unhealthy for the global community to rely too heavily on one language as it is to mass-cultivate a single crop." - this was a fascinating experiment done by Stanford, MIT and UCLA - they asked Russian and English speakers to distinguish between dark and light shades of blue on a computer screen. In Russian, there's always a distinction between blues - the sky is either siniy (dark blue) or goluboy (light blue). And in this experiment, scientists found Russian speakers could distinguish between light and dark shades of blue 10% faster than English speakers.
I could go on - there are seriously so many new things about language, culture and history that I learned reading this book. The facts are all presented in very elegant, spare but descriptive and humorous prose, and woven throughout are stories about her own experience as an English-speaking American from North Carolina in Geneva with her French husband (and their families...especially loved the part at the end about a Corsican vacation with both sides of the families, and the universality that can be achieved when no one speaks the same one language!)
So When in French is really the best of both worlds - you get a smart analysis of language and culture, and funny, endearing stories about two people from different worlds falling in love...and making it work across the language and cultural divide. But if you're looking for something that is more like "Bringing up Bebe" ie. frothy, light, easy read - well, you might feel cheated or disappointed. Another reviewer said this is more like 5% frothy cross-cultural romance, and 95% smart, critical analysis of language, and I agree with that ratio.
Highly recommend, and will be reading more of Lauren Collins' work in The New Yorker!...more
Solid page-turner. One thing I didn`t understand though was (view spoiler)[ why the main character`s ex-husband was attacked and ended up in a coma. LSolid page-turner. One thing I didn`t understand though was (view spoiler)[ why the main character`s ex-husband was attacked and ended up in a coma. Like...why? We also never found out who attacked him or their motivations, or how he was doing one year later in the afterword. It just seemed totally superfluous and unnecessary. (hide spoiler)]
I liked how there were a few good red herrings, and the addition of social media, online comments and blogs was a modern twist and unique way to look into society's response to missing children cases and how it impacts the family (and...especially the mother, who somehow usually ends up falling under suspicion almost automatically). I liked DI Clemo, although more information about his family background would have been nice because we really just got some vague hints and no closure.
The title was great - especially because the "she" could be numerous characters in the story. MUCH better than the original - "Burnt Paper Sky." So interesting though to consider other titles a book might be called, and to wonder if you would have picked it up otherwise! To me, What She Knew is a lot more compelling than Burnt Paper Sky, and after reading the book, I'm not sure what Burnt Paper Sky even has to do with it.
I've read the author's second book, The Perfect Girl, and I think I liked both of these about the same. I'd read another book by her again....more
So, I have a (maybe not-so-surprising) confession to make - I am a name nerd. As in, I read my mom's copy of a baby name book cover-to-cover, numerousSo, I have a (maybe not-so-surprising) confession to make - I am a name nerd. As in, I read my mom's copy of a baby name book cover-to-cover, numerous times, as a child until I finally worked up the courage and bought a baby name book of my own when I was 15 (by the legendary Linda Rosencrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran, natch).
I have made lists of favourite names, of hypothetical children, of girls and women I aspired to be, if I had that name, of characters in books I would write. I like to think my taste in names is always ahead of the curve (I forced my little brother to answer to "August" back in 1996 when we'd play house, and I loved Evelyn after coming across it in an Emily of New Moon book - the second book, to be exact - although now it's hopelessly too trendy), and I'm fascinated by reading about naming patterns, customs and traditions around the world. Ingrid (and sometimes Anastasia, pronounced the Russian way...a-na-sta-SEE-ya) is the fake name I give myself when creepy guys at bars ask me, because Ingrid and Anastasia are totally hip, no-nonsense, fierce women with clear senses of self, (and have no problem telling said creep to leave them alone!) and I long to name a daughter Agniezka, but will probably end up with the equally delightful (but more pronunciation-friendly) Greta or maybe Mairead.
I'm also a long-time visitor to LaineyGossip.com, and huge fan of Show Your Work and Duana Names, so I KNEW this book was going to be fantastic. And it really is! And not just for name nerds - trust me, even if you have never even heard the term "nameberry", you will enjoy and get something out of this book. Part memoir, part advice, part research (both anecdotal and statistical), it's a nuanced and thoughtful look at how our names shape us, and how we shape our names. Parts of it made me laugh out loud (her stories growing up - she sounds like a very precocious kid! - the whole section about stripper names), and other parts made me really consider my own biases I bring to the table (the role class and race play in name choice, and name desirability/perception...and the whole section about stripper names!).
I also loved that Duana (Taha is her last name, but I totally feel like we are on a first-name basis) is Canadian, and that many of the references she makes and the people she interviews are Canadian too (actually that is one of the reasons why I love Lainey Gossip too...you don't really realize how pervasive American culture is here in Canada until you read something that is distinctly Canadian and it feels incredibly refreshing!).
This was a great, gripping thriller! A quintessential beach read - I started reading it at the beach on Sunday and couldn't put it down. It is part ofThis was a great, gripping thriller! A quintessential beach read - I started reading it at the beach on Sunday and couldn't put it down. It is part of a longer series starring federal prosecutor Anna Curtis, but I think it stands on its own. At any rate, I hadn't read any of the earlier books, and although there are allusions to previous events, it's not confusing or too spoiler-y.
The plotting is tight, the pace is quick, and the action is pretty much non-stop. The topic - sexual assaults on campus - is definitely ripped from the headlines, and reminded me a lot of the Stanford swimmer/rapist case from last summer. There are clearly very disturbing scenes and characters in this book ((view spoiler)[ including a very graphic, violent description of the rape of a prostitute by the frat boy, Dylan, who is the rapist Anna is trying to get (hide spoiler)] that can be very tough to read. Especially so when you consider how many of these crimes go unreported, or simply ignored, dismissed or not treated with the gravity they so deserve.
In this case, justice wins out in the end, but so often in real life, that doesn't happen. And Leotta does an excellent job at illuminating that tragedy. I will definitely read another Anna Curtis book by this author!
One last note - I really liked the setting of the book - Detroit and a fictionalized Michigan campus, reminiscent of Ann Arbor. You can tell the author is very familiar with the locations she chose, and I found it really interesting to read more about the decline...and the slow, steady rebirth, which one character in particular (a love interest of Anna's) plays a big role in...of Detroit. ...more
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