Book: Wolf Hall
Author: Hilary Mandell
method: borrowed (dad)
Now, I love historical fiction. It may be one of my favorite genres, because I like when things are based in reality, but not a literal depiction of reality. I first heard of this book at a dinner party where I was one of the few people there who hadn't read it, and it was raved about. My dad even said he read it twice, which is rare for my dad (unless it's a Pynchon novel) so I had a feeling it was going to be book of the year quality stuff.
This is definitely a big book. it's a heavy presence in your bag, even in paper back. It also isn't the kind of book where you can read it while reading another novel. It requires full commitment, because the way Mandell rights, Cromwell is often only refered to as Him in the narration, so you have to be on top of who is saying what and who is in the room with Cromwell.
I can see why Cromwell would be an interesting character to write about, because he is truly fascinating. During this period in history, your beliefs were often something that kept you alive and were incredibly important. Cromwell only believes in surviving, and surviving any way possible. This was also a time when the position you were born in was the position where you stayed, but Cromwell, born a blacksmiths son rose up to be the king's Cheif advisor, and he seems to have done so by always knowing who to talk to and what people wanted to hear.
Throughout the novel, there is a beautiful duality between Cromwell and Thomas Moore. Moore is so steadfast in his beliefs throughout his whole life. Everything he does he does out of devotion to what he believes (and. Oddly enough in my opinion comes out looking the bigger scum bag.) whereas Cromwell only believes in survival. The relationship between these two characters was my favorite part of this book, because they are such polar opposites.
Anne Boleyn is much more fascinating a woman through Mandell's eyes than any other interpretation I've read before. She is cool and calculating, but never described as being overly beautiful or charming. She is a woman carved of marble, and reminds me of the grandmother or Henry, Margret Beaufort. She was another woman who had one goal and did not rest until she had achieved it. She had the same sense of drive, but the same problems, being a woman in a time where a woman had little to no power. E two women also used the only means available to them to achieve their goals
xo- ellebee
Monday, September 26, 2011
Almost as good as new York review of books personals
Book: squirrel seeks chipmunk
Author: David sedaris
Method: gift (mum)
David Sedaris is a wonderfully confusing human. He is such an interesting and bizarre character, and his stories always reflect his borderline insanity. My parents got me this book at a Sedaris book reading and signing. They said that he was so awesome, because he would actually talk to every person, and signs every book you brought if you brought books from home. My books autograph says 'dear Lindsay, your mother and I have a special relationship' which just tickles me every time I see it.
I don't know why I thought that these stories, or fables would be light hearted, seeing as they were written by David freaking Sedaris, but live and learn. I was a little taken aback by how dark they were. Sedaris sits with Dahl in the camp of authors with a very grim very of humanity. The animals in these stories are often Selfish or cold hearted or mean creatures. They aren't very forgiving, or likable, and some of the stories are down right depressing.
Just like any collection of short stories there are highs and lows, but each of these stories are interesting in their own right. There are a few that are very light hearted and interesting, and a few that are very disturbing. For example, the story about the bear whose mother died and whose laziness and felling sorry for herself ends with her ending up in the worst possible place for a bear to be. Sounds cryptic I know, but I'm always afraid of giving stuff away...
I feel that this book is exactly the kind of thing you want in your bag to read snippets of on your lunch break, or waiting for the bus. If you read it all in one go, it can be a bit of a downer, but spaced out the stories are witty clever and heartbreaking.
xo- ellebee
Author: David sedaris
Method: gift (mum)
David Sedaris is a wonderfully confusing human. He is such an interesting and bizarre character, and his stories always reflect his borderline insanity. My parents got me this book at a Sedaris book reading and signing. They said that he was so awesome, because he would actually talk to every person, and signs every book you brought if you brought books from home. My books autograph says 'dear Lindsay, your mother and I have a special relationship' which just tickles me every time I see it.
I don't know why I thought that these stories, or fables would be light hearted, seeing as they were written by David freaking Sedaris, but live and learn. I was a little taken aback by how dark they were. Sedaris sits with Dahl in the camp of authors with a very grim very of humanity. The animals in these stories are often Selfish or cold hearted or mean creatures. They aren't very forgiving, or likable, and some of the stories are down right depressing.
Just like any collection of short stories there are highs and lows, but each of these stories are interesting in their own right. There are a few that are very light hearted and interesting, and a few that are very disturbing. For example, the story about the bear whose mother died and whose laziness and felling sorry for herself ends with her ending up in the worst possible place for a bear to be. Sounds cryptic I know, but I'm always afraid of giving stuff away...
I feel that this book is exactly the kind of thing you want in your bag to read snippets of on your lunch break, or waiting for the bus. If you read it all in one go, it can be a bit of a downer, but spaced out the stories are witty clever and heartbreaking.
xo- ellebee
Love.
Book: Annabel
Author: Kathleen Winter
Method: gift (mum and dad)
My mum has this impeccable knack of picking books based on reviews and gut feelings. Both she and my father seem to have this talent. Maybe it comes from years of collecting, or maybe it's some 6th sense. This was a birthday present from the two of them, but I didn't get to read it right after my birthday because it is impossible to leave my parents house with just one book.
This book was a really beautiful story about the simplicity and the complications of love between a child and a parent, especially a child who is different. It is one of those novels that manages to deal with a very difficult and confusing subject in a way that makes the story both believable and moving.
The couple in the novel is born with a hermaphrodite baby in a very small hunting community on the east coast of Canada. The parents then make the decision to permanently alter their baby to always be a little boy on the outside. Over the years, this decision becomes more and more complicated as the boy, Wayne, reaches puberty and as he grows up and moves away from his parents. Because the book is based in such a small community, we don't just follow Wayne's progress, but one of his childhood friends and her struggle to overcome her own physical limitations.
This book really has a great view of the difficulties in being different, and how it is so difficult and so easy to just love people for the way they are.
xo- ellebee
Beloved monster
Book: Marie Antoinette
Author: Antonia Fraser
Method: borrowed(mum)
My mother and I went to see the movie this book was based on when it came out. She had read the book, but I hadn't. Long story short, we left giggling around the time that Kirsten Dunst's laughably huge head started crying on screen about the face that all her friends were having babies and she couldnt get Louie to touch her with a 10 ft pole. After this I was not expecting much from this book except to read about a frivolous and stupid woman who ate Bon bons, bought shoes and was with great finality beheaded before her subjects.
I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this book, especially because I am not big on biographies. I prefer bio fiction, but Fraser is a very impressive writer. I think she must choose her subjects very carefully and with a lot of research. She chooses characters who evolve over time, and this is incredibly present in this novel.
Marie Antoinette did begin her life as a frivolous woman who wore gorgeous clothes and diamonds, but as she grew older she educated herself and attempted to work towards the bettering of her ravaged country. She became queen at the worst time possible. She and her family were doomed by the path france had to take to rid itself of the monarchy. However, I believe she and not louie was the focus of this novel because she was the one who was beloved by the people and then despised as a wicked Austrian dog (among other heinous nicknames). For some reason it was always Marie that bore the full brunt of the peoples feelings.
In the beginning she is an impossible character to sympathize with. She is lazy and petulant and has no patience for anything but the surface beauty. And I believe this was the great failing of the movie, because they never got to the point in her life where she becomes remotely likable. It is Strange to me that when I couldn't stand her in the book is when she was at her most popular and when I grew to sympathize with her was when the people of france were calling for her blood.
This is one of those books where you obviously know the ending. But I found, unlike in the movie, I was so saddened by the ending, it got me all teary eyed. It was so brutal to hear about the total eradication of her whole family and her friends.
Even though at the beginning of their rein, you see that they realize the people were restless and unhappy, but they seem to dismiss it as something that will resolve itself. What happened is something that had never happened before, so you can see why the monarchy didn't believe that anything would actually happen
xo- ellebee
Author: Antonia Fraser
Method: borrowed(mum)
My mother and I went to see the movie this book was based on when it came out. She had read the book, but I hadn't. Long story short, we left giggling around the time that Kirsten Dunst's laughably huge head started crying on screen about the face that all her friends were having babies and she couldnt get Louie to touch her with a 10 ft pole. After this I was not expecting much from this book except to read about a frivolous and stupid woman who ate Bon bons, bought shoes and was with great finality beheaded before her subjects.
I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this book, especially because I am not big on biographies. I prefer bio fiction, but Fraser is a very impressive writer. I think she must choose her subjects very carefully and with a lot of research. She chooses characters who evolve over time, and this is incredibly present in this novel.
Marie Antoinette did begin her life as a frivolous woman who wore gorgeous clothes and diamonds, but as she grew older she educated herself and attempted to work towards the bettering of her ravaged country. She became queen at the worst time possible. She and her family were doomed by the path france had to take to rid itself of the monarchy. However, I believe she and not louie was the focus of this novel because she was the one who was beloved by the people and then despised as a wicked Austrian dog (among other heinous nicknames). For some reason it was always Marie that bore the full brunt of the peoples feelings.
In the beginning she is an impossible character to sympathize with. She is lazy and petulant and has no patience for anything but the surface beauty. And I believe this was the great failing of the movie, because they never got to the point in her life where she becomes remotely likable. It is Strange to me that when I couldn't stand her in the book is when she was at her most popular and when I grew to sympathize with her was when the people of france were calling for her blood.
This is one of those books where you obviously know the ending. But I found, unlike in the movie, I was so saddened by the ending, it got me all teary eyed. It was so brutal to hear about the total eradication of her whole family and her friends.
Even though at the beginning of their rein, you see that they realize the people were restless and unhappy, but they seem to dismiss it as something that will resolve itself. What happened is something that had never happened before, so you can see why the monarchy didn't believe that anything would actually happen
xo- ellebee
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Post post modernism
Book: brief interviews with hideous men
Author: David Foster Wallace
Completion date: 12/11/10
method: Purchased
This is my second DFW book. I really love reading his books of essays because i find him a bit overwhelming and i like to be able to take breaks and regroup, both in terms of his emotional tole and intellectual tole. i found that the essays in these books were much more convoluted than the essays in a supposedly fun thing i'll never do again.
this book felt like a dive into post modern writing. frequently i found i was chasing myself in intellectual circles, or should i say, i was being placed in them by wallace.
as per usual (especially when you're blogging about a book hmmm months after you finished it) i found one essay stuck with me and stood out as my favorite- the internal dialogue of the dying father to his disappointing son. It was to the son that didn't do exactly what the father thought was best (including keeping his nails long). it was a bizarre insight into the relationship between parent and child. its hard not to wonder if the father is wallace's own and wallace as the part of the son. however, i could be totally wrong on that one...
xo- ellebee
postscript- this one is so short because i read the book so long ago... i've been working on this long backlog of books, so forgive me xo
Author: David Foster Wallace
Completion date: 12/11/10
method: Purchased
This is my second DFW book. I really love reading his books of essays because i find him a bit overwhelming and i like to be able to take breaks and regroup, both in terms of his emotional tole and intellectual tole. i found that the essays in these books were much more convoluted than the essays in a supposedly fun thing i'll never do again.
this book felt like a dive into post modern writing. frequently i found i was chasing myself in intellectual circles, or should i say, i was being placed in them by wallace.
as per usual (especially when you're blogging about a book hmmm months after you finished it) i found one essay stuck with me and stood out as my favorite- the internal dialogue of the dying father to his disappointing son. It was to the son that didn't do exactly what the father thought was best (including keeping his nails long). it was a bizarre insight into the relationship between parent and child. its hard not to wonder if the father is wallace's own and wallace as the part of the son. however, i could be totally wrong on that one...
xo- ellebee
postscript- this one is so short because i read the book so long ago... i've been working on this long backlog of books, so forgive me xo
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Sookie vs Sookie
This is a bit of a break from my usual, but i found I needed to get this down and out of my head.
This week I wanted to do some light reading, and being in London, I returned to my Sookie stack house novels (the ones that inspired true blood). This was also because, I had attempted to watch the true blood series again and was (inevitably) disappointed. So having read and watched both I wanted to compare the star of both the novels and the tv show.
on initial reading of the Sookie Stackhouse books, i got what i thought i expected. the books were flighty, sexy and a little bit bloody. they are the epitome of easy reading. I appreciate a fantasy writer that can create a world with new rules that exists within our own. Now, upon reading the novels a second time, i found i was most interested in Sookie, the blonde, telepathic waitress. she does something that few flighty and beautiful romance heroine's can do- sookie learns from her mistakes. When we first meet her, she's just a waitress in a small town that most people consider crazy because of her telepathy. She is a part of the back ground, and she is just an innocent girl who has hardly ever been out of her small town. When that town changes, her reaction feels quite genuine. She is scared and cautious of her new relationship with the vampire Bill. After knowing him at slightly deeper than surface level, Sookie worries if a relationship with a Vamp may not be all peachy just because she can't read his thoughts. She backs off and thinks. She gets around people. This is in sharp contrast to her living and breathing counterpart, played by Anna Paquin in the True Blood series. Paquin as Sookie, is helpless in her love for Bill (and disgustingly sappy). She relies on him for so much and doesn't seem to ever accept a bad word against him. She has no inner strength and doesn't seem to ever learn from any mistakes or understand the ramifications of spending lots of her times with Vampires. She's selfish and a little stupid.
Now i am curious as to why they changed Sookie so much. she is mildly more likable in comparison to bill (who is the most wimpy, whiny vampire ever created. plus he's like 4 ft tall #petty), but nowhere near as interesting as her original. I'm curious as to why they changed her at all.
i don't think that i gave her enough credit in my initial review. Harris has created a very strong and likable girl in her leading lady. although the books are fluffy, i do like Sookie. I like seeing her gradually change and harden towards her brother and ex-lovers. She makes the hard call many times, but it only makes her more interesting and compelling. i'm not sure if you'd see in as much if you hadn't read the books entirely in a row (but seeing as each takes maybe an evening to read and always end on an exciting note, i don't see how you could read them any other way), but i think you still would. they're fluff, but there is something worth while about them.
xo- ellebee
This week I wanted to do some light reading, and being in London, I returned to my Sookie stack house novels (the ones that inspired true blood). This was also because, I had attempted to watch the true blood series again and was (inevitably) disappointed. So having read and watched both I wanted to compare the star of both the novels and the tv show.
on initial reading of the Sookie Stackhouse books, i got what i thought i expected. the books were flighty, sexy and a little bit bloody. they are the epitome of easy reading. I appreciate a fantasy writer that can create a world with new rules that exists within our own. Now, upon reading the novels a second time, i found i was most interested in Sookie, the blonde, telepathic waitress. she does something that few flighty and beautiful romance heroine's can do- sookie learns from her mistakes. When we first meet her, she's just a waitress in a small town that most people consider crazy because of her telepathy. She is a part of the back ground, and she is just an innocent girl who has hardly ever been out of her small town. When that town changes, her reaction feels quite genuine. She is scared and cautious of her new relationship with the vampire Bill. After knowing him at slightly deeper than surface level, Sookie worries if a relationship with a Vamp may not be all peachy just because she can't read his thoughts. She backs off and thinks. She gets around people. This is in sharp contrast to her living and breathing counterpart, played by Anna Paquin in the True Blood series. Paquin as Sookie, is helpless in her love for Bill (and disgustingly sappy). She relies on him for so much and doesn't seem to ever accept a bad word against him. She has no inner strength and doesn't seem to ever learn from any mistakes or understand the ramifications of spending lots of her times with Vampires. She's selfish and a little stupid.
Now i am curious as to why they changed Sookie so much. she is mildly more likable in comparison to bill (who is the most wimpy, whiny vampire ever created. plus he's like 4 ft tall #petty), but nowhere near as interesting as her original. I'm curious as to why they changed her at all.
i don't think that i gave her enough credit in my initial review. Harris has created a very strong and likable girl in her leading lady. although the books are fluffy, i do like Sookie. I like seeing her gradually change and harden towards her brother and ex-lovers. She makes the hard call many times, but it only makes her more interesting and compelling. i'm not sure if you'd see in as much if you hadn't read the books entirely in a row (but seeing as each takes maybe an evening to read and always end on an exciting note, i don't see how you could read them any other way), but i think you still would. they're fluff, but there is something worth while about them.
xo- ellebee
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Strength and helplessness
Author: Monica Ali
Book: brick lane
Method: borrowed (mum)
Reading about weak female characters can be so infuriating. I suppose I have become so accustomed to reading about strong and powerful women that I forget the opposite exists. I forget about women who have no outward strength and who have to find it. I was going so crazy reading the first half of this book because I just wanted nazneem to stand up for herself and to break out of her shell.
In this regard cross cultural novels can be so difficult. Nazneem is a bengaladesh woman who is send to marry a bengaladesh man in London England. I was driven so crazy by both of these characters, he for not standing up for herself or ever disputing anything he said, and him for being the most delusional character. He created this idea of himself that he was so brilliant and modern and wonderful while he was actually oppressive and misguided. He may not have been as aggressive or abusive as other husbands but his delusions make him monstrous in a different way.
I found that when nazneem finally did find her strength I was too far gone. I had been waiting too long for her to grow and was disappointed when she finally did.
xo- ellebee
Book: brick lane
Method: borrowed (mum)
Reading about weak female characters can be so infuriating. I suppose I have become so accustomed to reading about strong and powerful women that I forget the opposite exists. I forget about women who have no outward strength and who have to find it. I was going so crazy reading the first half of this book because I just wanted nazneem to stand up for herself and to break out of her shell.
In this regard cross cultural novels can be so difficult. Nazneem is a bengaladesh woman who is send to marry a bengaladesh man in London England. I was driven so crazy by both of these characters, he for not standing up for herself or ever disputing anything he said, and him for being the most delusional character. He created this idea of himself that he was so brilliant and modern and wonderful while he was actually oppressive and misguided. He may not have been as aggressive or abusive as other husbands but his delusions make him monstrous in a different way.
I found that when nazneem finally did find her strength I was too far gone. I had been waiting too long for her to grow and was disappointed when she finally did.
xo- ellebee
Family fun
Book: the corrections
Author: Jonathan Franzen
Completion Date:
Method: borrowed (mum)
I don't know if I've ever read such an honest portrayal of family life before. This book was quite astounding in this regard actually because franzen so simply conveyed the complications and hazards of family life. I was thrilled for this entire novel. Each of the characters are so complex and frustrating, and by the end you see your own family hurried within them.
The most compelling character relationship i felt was between the eldest son and his wife. She was so infuriating and so real. Throughout the novel they are constantly entangled in a battle it seems over his parents and their children. She seems to use their kids to manipulate him into doing what she wants. It's all about winning for the 2 of them, and David seemed to always come out on the bottom. I feel like this is a book that I'm going to have to read again when I am older. It seems like the kind of novel where each time you read it you feel sympathy for a different character depending on your current situation.
Maybe one day I'll have inlaws and understand why Caroline acted the way she did. To me she felt selfish and rude. She was constantly using davidson children against him and treating him like he was a total asshole when she was being the jerk. It seemed she never stopped to really consider what kind of pain she was putting her husband in.
This novel left me feeling both victorious and very sad. I felt that no one won or really felt that much better, but I suppose that's a pretty honest portrayal of family life. There are all these small battles and struggles that are won or lost but there's no great victory, just continuing to deal.
xo- ellebee
Author: Jonathan Franzen
Completion Date:
Method: borrowed (mum)
I don't know if I've ever read such an honest portrayal of family life before. This book was quite astounding in this regard actually because franzen so simply conveyed the complications and hazards of family life. I was thrilled for this entire novel. Each of the characters are so complex and frustrating, and by the end you see your own family hurried within them.
The most compelling character relationship i felt was between the eldest son and his wife. She was so infuriating and so real. Throughout the novel they are constantly entangled in a battle it seems over his parents and their children. She seems to use their kids to manipulate him into doing what she wants. It's all about winning for the 2 of them, and David seemed to always come out on the bottom. I feel like this is a book that I'm going to have to read again when I am older. It seems like the kind of novel where each time you read it you feel sympathy for a different character depending on your current situation.
Maybe one day I'll have inlaws and understand why Caroline acted the way she did. To me she felt selfish and rude. She was constantly using davidson children against him and treating him like he was a total asshole when she was being the jerk. It seemed she never stopped to really consider what kind of pain she was putting her husband in.
This novel left me feeling both victorious and very sad. I felt that no one won or really felt that much better, but I suppose that's a pretty honest portrayal of family life. There are all these small battles and struggles that are won or lost but there's no great victory, just continuing to deal.
xo- ellebee
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