February 2012
1 post
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January 2012
5 posts
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Finished this in one sitting. It’s really affecting in a quiet, organic way. When she was trying it out with the silk I took a moment to think about March 24th, last year, and the book made my mind a lot more… accessible to try and map out the experience of both the grieving and the grieved. (Not that I could ever truly understand, but I wanted to empathise, not just perplexedly...
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November 2011
1 post
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This needs a second reading for me to properly formulate my thoughts. However, wow.
August 2011
1 post
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July 2011
2 posts
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Elena, Pierre. (The other ones were either somewhat farcical or tedious)
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April 2011
1 post
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February 2011
3 posts
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Since I haven’t read that many, I can safely say that this is the best epistolary novel I have read. Usually I’d be very cynical when reviews on the back praise books as “effortlessly humorous” or “smart and delightful” (or other combination of words to that effect) but I really, thoroughly enjoyed reading this. It was exactly as one of the reviews had...
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First novel of 2011! :) A really refreshing and intriguing read.
January 2011
2 posts
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Read this on the plane.
November 2010
2 posts
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Even from the beginning, I had a nagging sense of wariness as I explored the novel. The idea of completion is really… tragic.
October 2010
1 post
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Had I the time to do so, I would have finished this book in one sitting. My intrigue stemmed from my unfamiliarity with the cultural aspect but it was written so well that I was completely drawn in all throughout.
September 2010
4 posts
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This is a marvelously-written and seamless novel.
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August 2010
4 posts
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I really needed that.
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An eye-opener for rock-oholics and noise-ophobics alike.
July 2010
1 post
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I’m immensely satisfied that I took the time to give this novel another go after I stopped reading a few chapters into it the first time, being too restless then. But to prevent myself remarking anything that sounds too cliched, because the novel really is that good, I can only say that I am absolutely in awe of Ian McEwan’s writing prowess.
May 2010
2 posts
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I’m surprised that this was one of those ‘wish-I-had-read-but-don’t-actually-want-to-read’ novels. I thought the language carried the plot through really well. He had some really beautiful expressions in there.
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April 2010
5 posts
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I’m surprised that I managed to keep track of which Aureliano or which Jose Arcardio was which by the end of the novel.
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Heart-wrenchingly beautiful book.
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March 2010
6 posts
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This is the first time I’ve properly read this book. It’s so absurd!
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I’m so glad it was Jane and Bingley, and not Elizabeth and Darcy.
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This took me three months to read but it was absolutely worth the time. I almost cried at the end. RIP Jean Valjean :(
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It drives me nuts that I can never find the old Penguin Classics version of the cover of the book I read and have to settle for another. But I suppose I’m just pedantic like that.
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February 2010
4 posts
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Worth squeeing over a little. All the more interesting that it’s set in somewhere so familiar to me.
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(ARGH why can I not find a larger version of this cover?)
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January 2010
14 posts
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I loved this book. It may as well be just as bizarre as A Wild Sheep Chase but it’s so engaging. Especially the characters. They make the story so much more enriching.
+ yay for this cover.
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A very quick read. There is always this intangible something he weaves through with his writing. Unresolved and a little saddening.
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This book is absolutely beautiful. Everything from the narration to the fluidity of language to the transitions through time to the themes and feelings explored.
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For me, Henry’s love for Fanny had long been sterilised at a fraternal level I thought it should’ve taken more progress (and build up of anticipation) to turn it into something else. But it wouldn’t be Austen if this was granted.
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This book is so bizarre. I don’t even know what to make of it. But… I suppose this is a great way to exercise your imagination?