Friday, July 18, 2008

The Eyre Affair


I really wanted to like The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. It was supposed to be one of those witty, fun mysteries with interesting characters. This book goes a step further and inserts literary nuggets for book lovers. Clearly there is a fan following because there are several books in the series.

The main character is Thursday Next and she investigates crimes involving literary works. The world of Thursday Next is an alternate, futurist version of our own and the author kind of gets lost in describing it. In some ways it is fun to read, in others hard to keep track of when so many things are twisted.

I had a hard time following it and gave up on it in Chapter 4. I can't give this book a totally bad review because it will probably appeal to true book loving nerds and it does have a lot of fun witticisms.


Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Monk Downstairs


I don't know what I was expecting from The Monk Downstairs by Tim Farrington. The story follows a divorced mom, Rebecca, and a former monk that rents an apartment from her. I guess I was hoping for a "gentle" romance and that is not what it is. Rebecca hates men and treats them horribly. The monk has lost his faith in God and consequently his moral center.

I didn't like it almost immediately. It wasn't the writing. It was the story. I only got to page 20 and I gave up. Nothing good here. Moving on.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Peace Like A River


In Peace Like a River by Leif Enger a young boy, Reuben, is a witness to a murder and his brother is the murderer. Initially the murder is considered self-defense, but later opinions sway the opposite direction and his brother is destined to life in prison until he escapes from jail.

In the mean time Reuben must deal with asthma, an ill father, and his creative sister. His father has an unshakable faith in God and in doing the right thing yet he is torn with his love for his wayward son. The family travels in search of Reuben's brother and for peace.

There is a lot of symbolism in the book regarding peace and life. The author has a gift in writing. I could feel peace right from the the opening pages through to the tragic events. It leaves the reader with a sense of hope that miracles can happen despite what happens.

I liked this book.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Three Duds in a Row


First up, Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. I was actually excited to read this story because it was recommended by dozens of patrons at the library. When a book can't stay on the shelf for many months, it has to be good, right? I was so disappointed. One person makes a bad choice which affects everyone else in the story. Such a concept is within the realm of reality. It happens all the time. In this story that one bad choice leads everyone else in the story to also make bad choices. And were not talking little bad choices, but rather really, really bad choices.

The story starts with an interesting concept. A doctor delivers his own twins. His son comes out perfectly healthy, but his daughter has Downs Syndrome. Rather than deal with a baby with Downs Syndrome, he tells his wife that the second twin has died. He then pawns off his daughter to the nurse that assisted with instructions to deliver her at an institution. One thing follows another and the nurse ends up adopting the baby girl as her own and leaving town. What could have turned into a story with some kind of redemption or hope turns into a story of depression and horror. Adultery, alcoholism, drugs...... I couldn't finish it and it went back to the library.

Next up was Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. I really should have known better. I liked the idea of basing a romance around recipes and cooking. But the book is entirely about sex, adultery, etc. Nothing wholesome here, so back to the library (I only got to the third chapter when I gave up on it).

You would assume a classic like a Light in August by William Faulkner would be safe to read. Even though his characters also make bad choices there is the idea of hope and redemption (I read up on it at Wikipedia before starting the novel). Perhaps it was the writing style (partially stream of consciousness). I became thoroughly confused with the story line of Joe Christmas. I couldn't quite figure out what was going on in the story. Faulkner gives you just enough details to understand what is going on without going into gory details like so many modern writers. Even so, Christmas is a really, really bad guy and Faulkner leaves a lot up to your imagination. The character moves from one scene to the next and I couldn't figure out why. I didn't like reading about him when other parts of the story interested me more.

Anyway, I became frustrated and it goes back to the library.