Charlotte Hanley-Jacobson
This book is set in Rome and I was hoping to be reminded of the city while I read... but there is not much in the book about the city, and the characters are all so awful to one another! I found it to be depressing.
A very talented and insightful author... but as Gertrude Stein said, “There is no there there.”
A very quick read. Much like The Glass Castle by the same author, it is hard to fathom the conditions under which her family lived.
It is impossible to overstate how ridiculous this book is. What a soap opera! My sister tried to warn me from reading it but I did it anyway.
Her story has real potential but unfortunately the book is poorly written and disjointed.
This book clears up a lot of the misconceptions reported in the media about Columbine. I feel like I learned a lot - much of which scared me. It is a thick book, but a very quick read.
Do not read this book unless you want to get angry! The author spends the book trying to dispel ‘myths' about the food industry, but never offers any counter explanations of his own.
Despite the depressing circumstances in which the novel takes place, this is a cute and fun read. But I was a bit surprised at the abrupt ending.
I learned a lot reading this book. I really wondered about other countries who have legacies of slavery as well - she didn't touch on them and I would like to know if they fit into this theory as well.
The longest short book I've ever read! The narrative style is still compelling today. My favorite part, however, was when Mr. Antolini tells Holden how it is - “...you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know... many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now... You'll learn from them - if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It's history. It's poetry.”
I liked this one better than the first. The characters still find themselves in ridiculous situations, but hey, that's the fun of reading fiction, right? I felt like Larsson did a better job in this one of tying up the loose ends. I am looking forward to the next one.
Ugh. I guess I shouldn't have changed the status of this book to “read”, since I can't even get past chapter two. I recognize that this book is set in biblical times, and of course that culture is very different from today's, but... REALLY??? This is like bad soft-core porn. Maybe I am just a prude?
An inspiring book - unbelievable what the author goes through to bring education to Pakistan. At times I got a little annoyed with him - how can he be so selfless? But overall an interesting read.
An excellent book... kind of slow to get into, but then I got very wrapped up into the story and the characters. Don't let the length deter you!
This book could make a decent movie - the contrast between the bleak Midwestern winter scenes vs. the cosmopolitan cities, the deceitfulness, the exhausting emotional roller coaster the characters ride, and lots of sex. But having to actually read almost 300 pages of run-on sentences filled with utterly unrealistic characters was misery.
