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Author Topic: Rate the last book you read.  (Read 194282 times)

FifthCityMuse

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #250 on: October 17, 2009, 11:23:41 PM »
I did speak a little out of turn. They liked it, but I remember feeling they gave it nowhere near enough praise after I saw it. I was very deeply moved by the film, and thought it was a great achievement, but Adam and Matty only gave it good reviews.

saltine

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #251 on: October 20, 2009, 02:49:38 AM »
Under the Banner of Heaven: Informative and a little confounding, but definitely worthwhile in a thought-provoking way.  Worth a read.
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FifthCityMuse

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #252 on: October 20, 2009, 07:40:20 PM »
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return - M. Satrapi, 2004
Yeah, I preferred the film. I think it handles the emotions of the story a little better. It also does more with the character of the Grandmother, who is disappointingly absent from the book. She's such a great character, and there's just not enough of her.

All that said, it's a fascinating story, and it's so well told in GN form. It's totally worth the time spent with it.

Junior

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #253 on: October 20, 2009, 07:53:13 PM »
Meadowlands by Louise Glück.

Pretty short series of poems based on the Penelope/Odysseus story transposed over a ten year marriage/divorce. Exellently written and thought out. I thought it could be a bit longer, actually. I really liked the poems that were conversations between the two main characters.

B+.
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Junior

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #254 on: October 24, 2009, 01:40:26 AM »
The Golden Compass/Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman.

This is a re-read in an effort to get all the way through the trilogy this time. It should work out because, as much as I liked it the first time, this read was a lot better. I noticed a lot of great plot work and characterization that really makes the story shine. And a polar bear knocks the jaw off another polar bear. Then he bites his throat. Awesome.

Asuperplus.
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Junior

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #255 on: October 24, 2009, 01:45:16 AM »
Also this!

Carver, A Life In Poems by Marilyn Nelson.

Goes through the life of George Washington Carver through poems. Duh. This was quite an informative read. Carver was a spectacular man and Nelson's poetry really highlights that. She writes through a bunch of different voices to see the many sides of the man. My only issue is that he can seemingly do no wrong, except in one or two poems. But still, for a collection of poems for 6th graders (and college and beyond), it's about as good as you'd want it to be.

B.
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alexarch

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #256 on: November 04, 2009, 07:25:22 AM »
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Looking up how to spell his name, I just saw that he died recently. Sorry, Stieg.

The story itself is enthralling, and the secondary main, Lisbeth Salandar, is a great character, if too superhuman. Anytime a section wasn't dedicated to her, I tended to be less interested. It's a standard crime thriller, comparable to early John Grisham—I'm thinking of The Pelican Brief—and Thomas Harris, if Harris was less graphic.

Once I got a quarter of the way into the book, I was hooked. It took me two days to finish the rest. Very compelling, an appropriate airport read.

The biggest problem I had was the translation. It was like they put the book through babblefish and then had a very junior editor come through to fix the obvious mistakes. There were many, many, many awkward turns of phrase and literal translations that just didn't sound right to my American ear. It's kind of a travesty that the publisher approved this translation. For instance, Lisbeth is supposed to be a badass, but when attacked, she will say something like, "Don't lay your hand there on me."

Anyway, if you can get past the translation, I highly recommend it. Another page-turner.

B-. Graded down for the translation and its familiarity.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2009, 11:09:58 AM by alexarch »

FifthCityMuse

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #257 on: November 04, 2009, 07:52:42 PM »
The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon - S. King, 1999
Read this a while back. Really, it's minor King, but it's easy to read, and they're good characters, even if it's impossible to believe the main is 9 (11, maybe, 9, no). Still, worth the time if you're a King fan.

Heavy Liquid P. Pope, 2000
Vaguely interesting GN. Kinda whatever.

Maus: A Survivor's Tale - I My Father Bleeds History - A. Spiegelman, 1986 & Maus II: ... And Here My Troubles Began - A. Spiegelman, 1991
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. It's interesting, and incredibly well written, but I feel like there's something just out of reach that's missing. It might be the lack of Anja's story, or possibly the slightly distanced effect, or that the author is narrating someone else's story, that just stops this having the impact of, say, Night, by Weisel.

Still, it is good. The inclusion of Speigelman himself is really interesting. His character grounds this in an interesting way, and is what makes the story unique. The chapter "Auschwitz" in part II is really interesting, and really helps to bring the whole thing together.

I'd recommend it, but I'm not sure. I don't think it's quite what it could've been.

Junior

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #258 on: November 04, 2009, 09:20:04 PM »
I think Maus was pretty great. I'd say the second part is a lot better and the last panel is pretty devastating.
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Clovis8

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #259 on: November 04, 2009, 09:49:07 PM »
the last panel is pretty devastating.

Wow I so agree! Brutal.