An excellent story. Chapter 10 and Pilar’s description of the massacre of fascists in her town was chilling. Hemingway captures the pointlessness of wAn excellent story. Chapter 10 and Pilar’s description of the massacre of fascists in her town was chilling. Hemingway captures the pointlessness of war with the chaos, randomness and barbarity brilliantly.
Robert Jordan a Spanish Professor from Montana is fighting for the Republic side against the fascists. He is given a mission to blow up a bridge behind enemy lunes with a group of guerrillas. He meets Maria and falls madly in love with her. Pablo the leader of the group realizes that blowing up the bridge is a suicide mission as does Robert.
Over the few days together we follow the interactions with Robert and the group. Clashes with the fascists and the attack on the bridge. It was odd to read all the thee and thous of the dialogue. Hemingway’s descriptions are f the landscape and action is evocative and stunning with a memorable ending. ...more
Respectable people…. what Bastards! A great line to end a brilliant novel. The descriptions of food in Les Halles to outline the corruption of NapoleoRespectable people…. what Bastards! A great line to end a brilliant novel. The descriptions of food in Les Halles to outline the corruption of Napoleon III and the second Empire is original and fascinating. Zola stylistic experiments using descriptions of foods in the market captures a vision of succulence, greed with imagery that has a hyperbolic and hallucinatory quality.
The plot is secondary with the thin Florent fantasy of revolution a minor element. The fat opulence of Lisa and his half brother Quenu in their successful delicatessen contrast with Florent’s non materialistic values.
Zola captures in his work the rapid expansion of change of a new mass, capitalistic society driven by political and social change. The Belly of Paris captures the movement, colour, smells and atmosphere intensity of the changes and creation of bourgeois consumer society.
The descriptions of fruit, vegetables, poultry, cheeses, fish and making of black pudding are scholarly and wonderful play on imagery and metaphors using the Les Halles markets as his tableau.
Number three in Zola’s famous cycle of twenty novels is a great satirical representation of capitalism and the bourgeois. Well worth a read and very enjoyable. ...more
Extraordinary story. Original, sad, funny, inspiring and something that you remember after its read. I hate to think how Hollywood has butchered it inExtraordinary story. Original, sad, funny, inspiring and something that you remember after its read. I hate to think how Hollywood has butchered it in the movie version. I have not seen the movie but am almost always disappointed by adaptations. ...more
An epic where a girl gets a boy. I will miss Lata, her mother, Pran, Arun, Varun, Kabir, Amit, Haresh, Maan, Firoz and all the other characters. The pAn epic where a girl gets a boy. I will miss Lata, her mother, Pran, Arun, Varun, Kabir, Amit, Haresh, Maan, Firoz and all the other characters. The political machinations, the insane caste system and the tension between Muslim and Hindu all create an enthralling story. India four years after independence was a fascinating and entertaining read. ...more
I last read Treasure Island as a child. So glad I reread it. It’s a wonderful pirate adventure story. Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver, Blind Pew, the sqI last read Treasure Island as a child. So glad I reread it. It’s a wonderful pirate adventure story. Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver, Blind Pew, the squire, Ben Gunn and the others.
The eccentric angry Captain staying at Jim’s fathers inn the Admiral Benbow and being discovered by his estranged companions. The black spot. The discovery of the treasure map and the voyage out. Then the betrayal, fights, Jim always in the thick of it either in an Apple barrel, up a mast or wondering what Silver will do next. He swaps sides more than a liberal democrat on speed.
Treasure Island is a true classic and I plan to watch the 1934 black and white movie on YouTube in the near future. ...more
What a pleasure to read. An odyssey from Texas to Montana with superb characters. Call, Gus, Newt, Lorie, Clara, July, Roscoe, Dish, Blue Duck and manWhat a pleasure to read. An odyssey from Texas to Montana with superb characters. Call, Gus, Newt, Lorie, Clara, July, Roscoe, Dish, Blue Duck and many more. Other reviewers would do a better job of me in describing this epic. There is excitement, tragedy, humour, sadness, stupidity and so much more.
Do yourself a favour read this Pulitzer Prize winning book. ...more
Superb.Magnificent. I really enjoyed reading this novel again. The train ride. 12 suspects. The murder victim Ratchett in reality Cassetti an evil kidSuperb.Magnificent. I really enjoyed reading this novel again. The train ride. 12 suspects. The murder victim Ratchett in reality Cassetti an evil kidnapper and murderer of Daisy Armstrong an American child. He escaped justice much like O.J and Michael Jackson’s dodgy doctor. Stabbed multiple times. Everyone has an alibi or do they?
Poiret at his best. The Facts. The Evidence. Finally Hercule Poirot sits back and thinks. The two possible solutions. I now want to watch the 1974 movie as the recent remake was apparently awful. ...more
A great book. Definitely in my top 5 Man Booker winners that I have read so far. Amazingly the book was only written when Keneally went into a store iA great book. Definitely in my top 5 Man Booker winners that I have read so far. Amazingly the book was only written when Keneally went into a store in LA and got talking to Poldek Pfefferberg one of the survivors. He had been trying for years to get a book or movie made. Thanks to his and the authors efforts he succeeded with both.
Schindler was no saint but he had what was lacking in a lot of Germans in WW2, a conscience. He enjoyed mistresses, partying and was a wizard on the black market. He also surrounded himself with intelligent assistants such as Stern.
The story is amazing and incredible. Schindler managed to save around 1200 people due to his amazing negotiating and drinking abilities. Moving his factory from Cracow to Brinnlitz in Moravia with his staff and using his own money to facilitate it was amazing. Keneally has woven fiction and non fiction into a moving and inspiration story. He captures well the horror of the camps with summary executions, the madness of Amon and his cruelty. The liquidations in the Cracow ghetto and how fate could be so arbitrary.
Before Schindler escaped to the American lines he was presented with a gift from the Schindlerjuden in the form of a gold ring with the inscription of ‘He who saves a single life, saves the world entire.’ This was an apt and poignant memorial.
It is a shame the movie did not show his escape from Moravia. However, the movie Schindlers List is a great movie and handles the story well. ...more
My second reading of The Road. As the UK faces Brexit I wanted to read a book with what may lay ahead. A bleak, desolate and landscape destroyed with My second reading of The Road. As the UK faces Brexit I wanted to read a book with what may lay ahead. A bleak, desolate and landscape destroyed with a future without sunshine, birds, books, animals and fresh food apart from mushrooms. The Road is about a nameless father and son after Brexit (kidding).
An apocalyptic event has occurred where everyone mostly have died and those left have become either cannibals or others who are trying to survive on what is left. Mostly in the way of canned goods and drink sachets.
The Road is bleak, grey skies, rain and snow mingled with ash. The father and son are heading south. Where we never find out, narrow escapes from nutters and meetings with other survivors worse off than themselves. The prose is easy to read and the story captured me enough to read the novel in a few sittings. The plot also has tender moments between the father and son. The father has endless patience and keeps going rather than take the mother’s option. ...more
I really enjoyed this novel even with all the swearing. It captures the falseness of some people and their obsession to be something their not. VernonI really enjoyed this novel even with all the swearing. It captures the falseness of some people and their obsession to be something their not. Vernon is accused of being an accomplice to a boy who murders several of his classmates. The situation snowballs with everyone after their two minutes of fame and the manipulation of a journalist.
The book is very darkly comic and I have to say had one of the best endings I have read in a long time. Well worth a ride with teenager angst and a great description of an escape to Mexico or is it? Poor Vernon also wants to believe the good in people. ...more
Solzhenitsyn deservedly earned the Nobel Prize for this and his other works in 1970. The story is about a small group of patients receiving treatment Solzhenitsyn deservedly earned the Nobel Prize for this and his other works in 1970. The story is about a small group of patients receiving treatment in a cancer ward in one of the old Soviet Union Central Asian republics.
Oleg Kostoglotov is a wonderful character as are Rusanov, Dyoma, Yefrem, Vega, Zoya and of course Shulubin a Bolshevik scholar regretting all the compromises being made to survive. The story is also semi-autobiographical and draws on Solzhenitsyn’s own gulags and cancer experiences for this masterpiece. The doctors, patients and the sense of desperation and acceptance is captured with the radiation, surgical and quack treatments
Amazingly the translation is excellent and it’s a shame the translators name is not mentioned in my edition. Life in the cancer ward is like a microcosm of the Soviet Union around the time that Stalin had recently died and a wave of change for exiles was occurring. Many in the small group worry about their roles in the great purges and the possible implications.
The visit to the zoo and parallels of people losing their freedom is evident. Perhaps the most poignant statement for me was ‘An evil man threw tobacco in the macaque-rhesus’s eyes.’ A reference to Stalinism and the people being blinded by their own fears of being sent to gulags other punished by the regime....more
**spoiler alert** I have not read much Hemingway. I am also not a fan of short stories but after reading these short stories may have to change that v**spoiler alert** I have not read much Hemingway. I am also not a fan of short stories but after reading these short stories may have to change that viewpoint. The stories follow themes of regret, solitude, hatred of women, stupidity and a love of the outdoors. Hemingway writes crisply and oddly none of his characters are very likeable and mostly without depth or rather shallow. My favourite was the first one about a man dying in the African bush after he was scratched by a thorn, reflecting on his life and all the regrets.
Some of the stories are linked with one character such as Nick who seems to be forever at a crossroads and obsessed with trout fishing. The small bits at the start of the stories about either bullfighting or war are thought provoking. An enjoyable read....more
**spoiler alert** I retread this book after 40 years and it still has an impact. Simple dreams and ultimately the doomed Lennie. Powerful in the simpl**spoiler alert** I retread this book after 40 years and it still has an impact. Simple dreams and ultimately the doomed Lennie. Powerful in the simplicity of the story and the cruelty of people. Steinbeck captures the heartbreak of George and the parallel of him putting down Lennie with the gun that was used to put down Candy's old sheep dog is evocative.
I do not think Curley's wife not having a name was a deliberate belittling of her by Steinbeck as some reviews suggested. All in all a great read and a classic tale....more
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