I've been seriously slacking on my reading...
8. The Plague- Albert Camus
finished: 3/26/06
A haunting tale of human resilience in the face of unrelieved horror, Camus' novel about a bubonic plague ravaging the people of a North African coastal town is a classic of twentieth-century literature.
7. The American- Henry James
finished 02/19/06
Christopher Newman, a wealthy American businessman, descends on Europe in search of a wife to make his fortune complete. In Paris he is introduced to Claire de Cintre', daughter of the ancient House of Bellegarde, and to Valentin, her charming young brother. His bid for Claire's hand receives an icy welcome from the heads of the family, an elder brother and their formidable mother, the old Marquise. Can they stomach his manners for the sake of his dollars? Out of this classic collision between the old world and the new, James weaves a fable of thwarted desire that shifts between comedy, tragedy, romance, and melodrama - a fable which in the later version printed here takes on some of the subtleties associated with his greatest novels.
6. marley and me- John grogan
finished: 1/15/06
A book every dog lover/owner should read. I have never laughed or cried so much from a book.. my face is red and nose raw from the last 50 or so pages.. hehe
Marley: 100 pounds of unbridled canine exuberance and unrelenting mischief. Marley: proud owner of a tail that could, with metronome-like regularity, clear coffee tables and topple unsuspecting toddlers. Marley: noble member of a breed famous for its ability to guide the blind, who's declared "untrainable" and bounced out of obedience class. A perfect dog? Maybe not. But when they plucked him from a litter 13 years ago, John Grogan and his new wife gamely set out on an adventure that would change their lives forever.
As a puppy, this whirling dervish with huge golden paws and an enormous head jumps, chews, careens, and goes nuclear at the first rumble of thunder. With his uncontainable energy, Marley isn't exactly the calm, attentive, obedient Lab the Grogans had hoped for. As the years pass and the family grows, Marley teaches his owners hard lessons in patience. His neurotic behavior, though mellowed over time, becomes a lasting and finally acceptable characteristic, and his loyalty and love enrich the Grogans' own notions of friendship and responsibility.
Joyfully infectious, Marley & Me is a loving valentine to one dog and his unquenchable spirit. John Grogan has captured their journey together, and in this delightfully moving story, has set the bar high for dog owners everywhere.
5. Memoirs of a Geisha- Arthur Golden
finished 01/13/06
Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. Sayuri's story begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Through her eyes, we see the decadent heart of Gion - the geisha district of Kyoto - with its marvelous teahouses and theaters, narrow back alleys, ornate temples, and artists' streets. And we witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup and hair; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. But as World War II erupts and the geisha houses are forced to close, Sayuri, with little money and even less food, must reinvent herself all over again to find a rare kind of freedom on her own terms. Memoirs of a Geisha is a book of nuance and vivid metaphor, of memorable characters rendered with humor and pathos. And though the story is rich with detail and a vast knowledge of history, it is the transparent, seductive voice of Sayuri that the reader remembers.
4. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man- James Joyce
finished 01/10/06
Joyce's semi-autobiographical chronicle of Stephen Dedalus' passage from university student to "independent" artist is at once a richly detailed, amusing, and moving coming-of-age story, a tour de force of style and technique, and a profound examination of the Irish psyche and society.
3. Washington Square- Henry James
finished 010906
Washington Square (1881), by Henry James, tells the story of Catherine Sloper, the plain, obedient daughter of the widowed, well-to-do Dr. August Sloper of Washington Square. When a handsome, feckless man-about-town proposes to Catherine, her father forbids the marriage because he believes the man to be after Catherine's fortune and future inheritance. The conflict between father, daughter, and suitor provokes consequences in the lives of all three that make this story one of James's most piercingly memorable.
2. Cry, The Beloved Country- Alan Paton
finished 01/08/06
Cry, the Beloved Country is a beautifully told and profoundly compassionate story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom, set in the troubled and changing South Africa of the 1940s.
The book is written with such keen empathy and understanding that to read it is to share fully in the gravity of the characters' situations. It both touches your heart deeply and inspires a renewed faith in the dignity of mankind. Cry, the Beloved Country is a classic tale, passionately African, timeless and universal, and beyond all, selfless.
1. Bread & Wine by Iganzio Silone
finished 01/03/06
In this masterpiece of Italian literature, Silone exposes a growing frustration with the failed political idealism of early 20th century Europe. Pietro Spina, an exiled revolutionary, returns to Italy to resume his grassroots work in the socialist movement. In the course of his reacquaintance with the peasants of his homeland, Spina discovers that the idealistic wine of revolution is superficial compared with the simple bread of more tangible human relationships.
finished: 3/26/06
A haunting tale of human resilience in the face of unrelieved horror, Camus' novel about a bubonic plague ravaging the people of a North African coastal town is a classic of twentieth-century literature.
7. The American- Henry James
finished 02/19/06
Christopher Newman, a wealthy American businessman, descends on Europe in search of a wife to make his fortune complete. In Paris he is introduced to Claire de Cintre', daughter of the ancient House of Bellegarde, and to Valentin, her charming young brother. His bid for Claire's hand receives an icy welcome from the heads of the family, an elder brother and their formidable mother, the old Marquise. Can they stomach his manners for the sake of his dollars? Out of this classic collision between the old world and the new, James weaves a fable of thwarted desire that shifts between comedy, tragedy, romance, and melodrama - a fable which in the later version printed here takes on some of the subtleties associated with his greatest novels.
6. marley and me- John grogan
finished: 1/15/06
A book every dog lover/owner should read. I have never laughed or cried so much from a book.. my face is red and nose raw from the last 50 or so pages.. hehe
Marley: 100 pounds of unbridled canine exuberance and unrelenting mischief. Marley: proud owner of a tail that could, with metronome-like regularity, clear coffee tables and topple unsuspecting toddlers. Marley: noble member of a breed famous for its ability to guide the blind, who's declared "untrainable" and bounced out of obedience class. A perfect dog? Maybe not. But when they plucked him from a litter 13 years ago, John Grogan and his new wife gamely set out on an adventure that would change their lives forever.
As a puppy, this whirling dervish with huge golden paws and an enormous head jumps, chews, careens, and goes nuclear at the first rumble of thunder. With his uncontainable energy, Marley isn't exactly the calm, attentive, obedient Lab the Grogans had hoped for. As the years pass and the family grows, Marley teaches his owners hard lessons in patience. His neurotic behavior, though mellowed over time, becomes a lasting and finally acceptable characteristic, and his loyalty and love enrich the Grogans' own notions of friendship and responsibility.
Joyfully infectious, Marley & Me is a loving valentine to one dog and his unquenchable spirit. John Grogan has captured their journey together, and in this delightfully moving story, has set the bar high for dog owners everywhere.
5. Memoirs of a Geisha- Arthur Golden
finished 01/13/06
Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. Sayuri's story begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Through her eyes, we see the decadent heart of Gion - the geisha district of Kyoto - with its marvelous teahouses and theaters, narrow back alleys, ornate temples, and artists' streets. And we witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup and hair; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. But as World War II erupts and the geisha houses are forced to close, Sayuri, with little money and even less food, must reinvent herself all over again to find a rare kind of freedom on her own terms. Memoirs of a Geisha is a book of nuance and vivid metaphor, of memorable characters rendered with humor and pathos. And though the story is rich with detail and a vast knowledge of history, it is the transparent, seductive voice of Sayuri that the reader remembers.
4. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man- James Joyce
finished 01/10/06
Joyce's semi-autobiographical chronicle of Stephen Dedalus' passage from university student to "independent" artist is at once a richly detailed, amusing, and moving coming-of-age story, a tour de force of style and technique, and a profound examination of the Irish psyche and society.
3. Washington Square- Henry James
finished 010906
Washington Square (1881), by Henry James, tells the story of Catherine Sloper, the plain, obedient daughter of the widowed, well-to-do Dr. August Sloper of Washington Square. When a handsome, feckless man-about-town proposes to Catherine, her father forbids the marriage because he believes the man to be after Catherine's fortune and future inheritance. The conflict between father, daughter, and suitor provokes consequences in the lives of all three that make this story one of James's most piercingly memorable.
2. Cry, The Beloved Country- Alan Paton
finished 01/08/06
Cry, the Beloved Country is a beautifully told and profoundly compassionate story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom, set in the troubled and changing South Africa of the 1940s.
The book is written with such keen empathy and understanding that to read it is to share fully in the gravity of the characters' situations. It both touches your heart deeply and inspires a renewed faith in the dignity of mankind. Cry, the Beloved Country is a classic tale, passionately African, timeless and universal, and beyond all, selfless.
1. Bread & Wine by Iganzio Silone
finished 01/03/06
In this masterpiece of Italian literature, Silone exposes a growing frustration with the failed political idealism of early 20th century Europe. Pietro Spina, an exiled revolutionary, returns to Italy to resume his grassroots work in the socialist movement. In the course of his reacquaintance with the peasants of his homeland, Spina discovers that the idealistic wine of revolution is superficial compared with the simple bread of more tangible human relationships.