Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Can you find a more delightful book? I was reluctant to read this again since we read it to death in high school and then again in college (plus the prolific movie adaptations) so when my book club chose this book to read, I was a less than enthusiastic. I got Pride and Prejudice and Zombiesto spice things up, and read alongside it. That was a dissappointing experiment; but as I re-read P&P, I remembered how thoroughly entertaining it is. In fact, knowing how it all ends makes the moments in between that much sweeter. The characters are fully realized, the conversations zing, and the plot is near perfect. No zombies needed.


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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
I hated this book. The first few chapters were charming and the addition of zombies and martial arts were an interesting change of pace. I wasn't particularly impressed and tried to understand the why behind the zombies. Then I tried to just read it as fun. And I can't say it benefited from either interpretation. Finally, about the time that Jane goes to visit Charlotte who is turning into a zombie, I came to the conclusion that the addition of zombies were neither symbolic nor fun, but just sensationalism and the lowest form at that. Grahame-Smith lifts text from the original word for word--and that is the only good part--but then omits parts that might seem boring or old-fashioned and then adds in zombie slaying and eating of hearts (not very well written either I might add--his only imagry of blood is of rubies--again and again). GS omits crucial speeches like the one Darcy makes about once forming an opinion of someone, he doesn't easily change his mind, and yet refers to it in another part of the book. Once while editing an exchange betweeen Elizabeth and Jane, GS edits too much and ends up with Jane speaking to herself. And I just read half of it. I am all for shaking up the classics a bit--The Graveyard Book was a beautiful re-imagining of The Jungle Book, etc. but just adding dead flesh on people's clothes and having people vomit in their hands is a poor excuse for literature. That it is #7 on the trade paper-back list is just sad.

(Of course, I also don't get Borat, Bruno, or Apatow sense of humor. I've never thought boogers, vomit, or poop as funny. So take it is as you will).


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Lush life

Lush Life: A Novel by Richard Price

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
All the reviewers on the back of the book raved about how well Price captures dialogue and I have to whole-heartedly agree. I've never read such real exchanges before--it seemed like you were right there.

The plot revolves around a stick up that resulted in a death, and the detectives who try to sort out what happened. Honestly, there isn't much action, mostly conversations, but like I said, the conversations are amazing--not so much by what they say, but how real they are. I'll have to say at one point 3/4 of the way in, I did wonder if the book was getting anywhere. Ultimately, the book's message, I think, is how important families are, especially fathers, in giving structure and validation to a kid--and how the absence of that can have dire consequences.

This book was set in downtown NY, in the PJ's so there is drugs and swearing and some sex.

Price wrote for The Wire which I heard was based on his book Clockers. I haven't read or watched either but I heard they are both well-written.


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Lark and Termite

Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
This is the story of Lark and Termite, and the mystery of what happened to their mother and respective fathers. Lark is 17 and on the verge of finding her place in the world. Termite is her half-brother who can't walk, doesn't really talk, and can't see well. Phillips lets us peek into his consiousnous however and we realize he may see and know more than most. Lark takes care of her brother with a tenderness and understanding that is at once tender and hoepeful. They both live with their aunt Nonie who has a strength and independence that she passes onto them. When a storm blows through their small town, it becomes a catalyst that changes their lives.

I don't know how I feel about this book. It is well written, with good character development and a plot that feels natural and creates mystery and growth in the characters. The writing is thought provoking and poetic, although it may be too challenging at times. The first chapter especially is hard to muddle through. It is almost too weighed down with symbolism and distracting details. I really liked Lark and Termite but never really understood where Nonie was coming from. There were also too many sexual refrences for me to recommend this book.


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An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir by Elizabeth McCracken

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
McCracken re-lives her pregnancy and stillborn birth of her first child and the pregnancy and birth of her second. It is elegantly and beautifully written, even if the subject matter is heartbreaking at times. It is an amazingly self-aware memoir--she describes her feelings as best as she can remember, trying not to color her memories with hindsight; and then she tries to explain why she felt that way. I always find people who write memoirs brave, for while they document their struggles and lives for the world, they open themselves up for judgement, as the rest of the world tries to figure out what you did wrong so that they can avoid the same fate. McCracken does a lot of her own soul-searching as to what went wrong, and your heart aches for her. It ends on a hopeful note as she holds her newborn in her arms--"It is a happy life and someone is missing. It is a happy life--"

Obviously I would not recommend it to any of you about to have a baby, or are planning on having one in the next year. But for anyone else, I would say it is more of a tribute to life, and the blessings of being with child.

On another level, I love how memoirs reveal how our lives are as wrought with symbolism and absurdities as the most clever novels. The day McCracken scatters her babies ashes, and a week before she finds out she is pregnant again, she and her husband see a stag, and then turn around to find a whole herd of stags. (If I'm not mistaken, seeing a stag in the wild is supposed to bring good luck). And then they name their first child Pudding which is the most right, most precious name they could have given him--but one in which you usually only find in novels. Then there is the story of her friend, the telephone psychic, who used to be a telephone call girl, but all the women who worked together had their cycles sync up and had to quit the business--that actually happens in real life?


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The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I loved this book, as much as for what it is as what it is not. The first chapter was a little dark, with the man Jack killing Bod's family, and little Bod escaping to a cemetary where the ghosts who live there decide to keep him and raise him. It sounded hauntingly familiar (Harry Potter) but it soon (thankfully) became a wonderful tale of growing up in its own right. In fact, Gaiman claims to have drawn inspiration from another childhood classic: The Jungle Book (which I haven't read. Yet.)

The book takes us through the childhood of Nobody Owens, how he learns the ways and secrets of the graveyard, his relationsip with the ghosts and other entities that live there, and how the man Jack is still hunting him. In the process The Graveyard Book tells an entertaining story and shows us what it means to be a family, what it means to be honorable and most of all, what it means to be alive.

I read this with my 11yo son for a school project and would highly recommend it for kids (9 and up) and adults alike.


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Sing Them Home

Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
During the first few chapters, I thought, wow, what wonderful, descriptive writing. During the next few, I thought, O.k. that's too descriptive (second by second recount of how a character eats a candy bar). But by the middle, I was comfortably tucked into the tale of 3 siblings whose mother was carried off by a tornado when they were children and now have reunited with the death of their father (by lighting). Kallos tries to follow each sibling as they deal with issues surrounding their childhood, and look for love in their present lives. And for the most part she succeeds in fleshing out these characters until the end, when suddenly it wraps up neater than a birthday package. To delve so deeply into 3 separate, messy lives and then gloss over the ending to "they live happily ever after" feels like a cop-out and frankly, makes the time invested getting to know these characters feel like a waste.


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