SDMB Book Swap -- Book Reviews

Cafe Society
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Per the chorus of requests over in MPSIMS, here’s a book review thread.
Book: The Inn at Lake Devine, by Elinor Lipman
Giver: Cranky

We’d talked about authors we liked, and I hadn’t read anything by Elinor Lipman, so cranky sent me this one.

The first part takes place in 1962, when Natalie Marx becomes curious about a resort at a Vermont lake where her family vacationed. When her mother sends a letter of inquiry, she gets the reply: “The Inn at Lake Devine is a family-owned resort, which has been in continuous operation since 1922. Our guests who feel most comforable here, and return year after year, are Gentiles.” Natalie, who had just read the Diary of Anne Frank, becomes intent on getting to the Inn, which she does, then, and then again ten years later, when the last 2/3 of the book takes place.

It’s a quick read (I finished it in two evenings, the first of which I was up way past my bedtime doing “one more chapter, one more chapter”) and fun. It’s not profound, and the plot isn’t complicated – but it’s well-written, and I cared about all the characters, who were mostly full-fledged people and not just cartoon stereotypes. There’s a happy ending (awwww). Overall I enjoyed it.

Out of five stars: ****

2

In the Fall by Jeffery Lent

A long one. The story spans three generations, beginning at the end of the Civil War with an injured northern soldier and the escaped slave that saves his life. They later marry and move back to his home in Vermont. But she is plagued by dark events of her past.
The story then follows the life of their son, who becomes a small time bootlegger, and then his son, who discovers the truth about his grandmother and the secrets that plagued her life.
The story about the first generation isn’t so great. The ex-slave woman really bugged me and I was about to close the book permanently, but the story about the bootlegger was better and that kept me going.

2.5 out of 5

Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara

About the American revolution, told from the viewpoint of a few of the key figures in that conflict, Adams, Washington, Gage, as well as some lesser known people. A learning experience and a good read all wrapped up in one.

4.5 out of 5

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Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
(Donated by booklover)

Based on the same setting as To Say Nothing of the Dog (which I’d read, and which made this one look a good idea), Doomsday Book is a larger, more ambitious, and somewhat darker book.

The setting, initially, is Oxford, about fifty years in the future, where the technology now exists to send observers backwards in time. Over the objections of her tutor, a young research historian is preparing for a trip back to the middle ages … however, an outbreak of disease in Oxford means the time trip goes wrong, stranding the student in the middle of a much more brutal and dangerous disease outbreak in the past.

It’s a lengthy, but absorbing, book, well researched and convincing in its depiction both of mediaeval daily life, and (post) modern Oxford academia. Connie Willis draws real and sympathetic characters, and has a lucid and unaffected prose style which draws the reader in. The story appears to be slow-moving, but it gives time for the reader to become involved with the characters and their lives … which makes it all the more powerful when they are overwhelmed by disaster. The scenes dealing with the plague bear comparison, in my opinion, with the dramatic concluding chapters of Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter … Connie Willis is unlikely to match Sigrid Undset in winning the Nobel Prize for literature, but she picked up the Hugo and Nebula awards for Doomsday Book, and they were well deserved in my opinion.

I’ll quite happily give this one five out of five.

4

Feng Shui Made Easy – very interesting. However, it didn’t make Feng Shui at all easy, I don’t think. It was pretty complicated, in fact. In the end, I discovered 2 things. First, that my house (which I’ve bought and decorated within the last 6 months) is by no means feng shuied. And yet, I’m perfectly happy? Financially, physically and emotionally I’m better off than I’ve been in years, despite the fact that my stove is between my sink and my fridge, mixing my elements and causing conflict; my bedroom is at the front of my house and my bedroom furniture sharp and placed in such a way as to set up ‘cutting chi’ all over the place; and I don’t have a crystal, a windchime or a fountain in the house. Hmmm. I think the best thing about this book is the case studies, all of which remind me of chain letters – you know the kind where it tells you about poor Bill whose life was a horrible mess until he copied and sent out 200 copies of the chain letter and then he won the lottery AND the Nobel Prize AND he met and married a supermodel? Well, all of the case studies in Feng Shui Made Easy have that same vibe, only Bill got the lottery, the Nobel Prize and the supermodel after he rearranged his furniture… As I said, very entertaining.

Still Woman Enough by Loretta Lynn. Fascinating and depressing. I had read her first book when it first came out WAAY back in the '70s. It seemed as if her husband had straightened out and they were on their way to a happy and fruitful partnership… 'Fraid not. I’m sorry to say that Ms. Lynn’s husband came across in this book as being the absolute biggest dick in the universe. And, Ms. Lynn, despite her obvious talent and intelligence, came across as the biggest fool in the universe for putting up with him. One the other hand, they were married for half a century and that speaks, in a somewhat twisted and perverse way, of loyalty and constancy and love – qualities that are to be admired. It was a book that really made me think.

Bringing me to Jill Churchill’s The House of Seven Mabels, which I was very ready for after the upheaval of the Lynn bio. It’s a nice calming whodonit that I didn’t have to think about much. Just what the doctor ordered!

Thanks, rocking chair!

5

An Instance of The Fingerpost by Iain Pears
given by GMRyujin

Loved it! Surprised that I loved it, since I am not a huge history buff, but loved it nonetheless. Ok, some facts for those of you not swayed by my opinion: The book is a mursder mystery set in England, circa 1663. The first section is narrated by a visiting Italian. Suddenly, the narration shifts, as the events are re-told by another narrator, from his perspective. By the end of the book, you have read about the central events four times, from four perspectives, and everything falls into place. Sorry, no more details, as I don’t know how to code spoiler boxes. :slight_smile:

One of the things I loved about this book was how well he recreates the time and place,a nd in doing so, makes us think about our own time and place. The book is full of people saying outrageous things that they totally accepted as true at the time. It made me think about how our current prejudices and misinformation will look from a future perspective. For example, at one point, a character says “The [sexual] desires of women are stronger than those of mere men: this is well known and I had forgotten it.” Hmmmm…flip that sentence around and many people today would agree with it. Theirs was a world in which bloodletting was commonly practiced and women were without reason, ours is one in which fat people are to blame for thier weight and war is a way to peace. Gotta wonder how our ancestors will see things in 400 years.

At 691 pages, An Instance of the Fingerpost is not for the faint-hearted, but I imagine anyone with an interest in history or in sociology would enjoy it. If nothing else, you have to give Iain Pears his props for the intricate plotting and attention to detail.

Thanks, GMRyujin! Great read, and not one I would have found myself.

6

Ok, I won’t correct the spelling errors, but crap, I do know the difference between ancestors and descendants.

:smack:

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i’m glad you enjoyed the selection.

ms lynn’s book… what can i say, it is an easy read because it sounds like she is talking to you. a difficult read because of what she is dealing with. i guess if you get married at 13 you don’t know how a husband should treat you.

have you started gathering crystals to hang? (no, pictures of crystal gale will not work as a sub.)

i will be starting heaven in your hand tomorrow.

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I am not done with the books sent to me, but in case they are hungering for some feedback, I’ll start.

I began “Soldier of the Mist” by Gene Wolfe, sent to me by NE Texan. The book takes place during the time of the Ancient Greeks. The protagonist has suffered a head injury and cannot remember things from one day to the next. He writes everything down in a scroll, and rereads it (or as much as he can) each morning. It’s intriguing how each day he’ll see everything with a fresh perspective (not knowing about his past impressions of or relationships with people, places, events). It’s also helpful if the reader is going about reading it in a stopgap fashion, like I am. It’s like I get a Cliffs Notes reminder of the characters each day, just like Latro (the narrator) does.

Twickster sent me a book I started which was a murder mystery, “Death on a Silver Tray” by Rosemary Stevens. I love pre-Victorian England, so this looked fun. The main character, Beau Brummell (a fictionalized historic character, as are most folk in the book) is interesting, but I can’t figure out if I am supposed to find him as ridiculous as I do. I’m intrigued by books that work even when the protagonists aren’t likeable, so it adds to my enjoyment. However, I can’t find it now and I think I left it at my in-law’s house over Mother’s Day. Sigh.

9

A bit late, but here’s my reaction to the book Hodge sent, Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr. It’s a compilation of three novels, March Violets, The Pale Criminal, and A German Requiem. The first two are set in Berlin in the 1930s, and the third takes place mostly in Vienna during the Occupation.

According to the jacket blurb, Salman Rushdie said that Kerr is “a brilliantly innovative thriller writer.” Maybe he doesn’t read many mysteries; Kerr is very good, but I suspect Rushdie was just struck by the setting.

The settings and situations are more than bleak enough for a hard-boiled novel, and Bernhard Gunther is hard-boiled enough to deal with them. Gunther is the typical ex-cop private eye, tough, cynical, and capable of violence or even brutality, but still a white knight. When he takes a case, he finishes it, one way or another.

Many of the same characters, including prominent Nazis, show up in all three of his cases. In each, what seems at first to be a fairly routine assignment turns into a tangled web of politics, violence, and treachery.

The biggest point in this book’s favour is the well-researched telling of life in Germany before and after the war; that’s also the biggest flaw. Kerr draws you into the scene and makes you keep reading, even though you hate it.

Very stressful, but four stars out of five.

10

I just finished the book that CrankyAsAnOldMan sent me: Daughter of the Forest, by Juliet Marillier

This is an enticing, spellbinding telling of a Celtic legend about six swans.  Juliet Marillier, a fairly new Australian author (this book came out in around 2000) carefully weaves an intricately detailed story that incorporates Celtic and Briton culture, evokes a very real sense of the lands and the people, and draws you into the story.

The main character is Sorcha, the youngest child (and only daughter) of a Celtic lord.  This is set in Ireland and Britain in the years when vikings, Britons, Saxons, and the Celtics all vied for control of various parts of the Isles.  To Sorcha's people, the faerie folk are real, as is their magic, and the legends are history rather than mythology.  Sorcha is growing into her role as a healer when her family is ripped asunder.  Her father brings back a new wife, who turns out to be a sorceress.  When Sorcha and her brothers try to break the spell they think the sorceress has on their father, they are instead caught, and changed into swans – all but Sorcha, who escapes.  Alone, she finds she alone can break the spell, but only by remaining silent as she works, at great physical cost to herself.  While unable to speak, she must hide from the sorceress, find supplies for her work and feed herself, endure being captured by a lord from Briton, and be carried away from her familiar forest, staying with the people who are the sworn enemies of her people.  Even if she completes her task, there may be no hope for her own survival.

Marillier's main strengths are her characters, and the vivid descriptions of the places the book takes place in.  If you are drawn to  well-fleshed out characters and internal conflict, you will most certainly find what you want in this book.  You can feel the different characters, their motivations, their feelings, and they each seem to act in a way that makes sense for them, and not just according to the whims of the plot.  The details about the land, the villages, the forest, and the sea are also so well put that you can feel the breeze in your hair and smell the herbs on Sorcha's shelf.  

On the other hand, if you are looking for action or clever dialogue, this is not the book.  Most of the chapters are punctuated by 1 (occasionally 2) events, that pass just to give the characters something to think about.  The passages are long, flowing, introspective thoughts with little speaking (which is to be expected when the main character is under a vow of silence).  It is to Marillier's credit that she made the book move along and maintained my interest in spite of this. 

One of the fascinating gems in the story are the Celtic legends, or rather, faerie tales that Sorcha tells all along, never seeming to realize that she is in just such a tale herself.  In fact, only after finishing the book did I check the net and find that the "tale of the six swans" is an existing legend.  Marillier does a wonderful job of filling the tale out so that it is not just a simple tale.  Near the end, Sorcha laments that people can't just "live happily ever after", as they would in one of her tales; the author is playing fair with the reader in that sense.  I won't tell you if she is right or not – you can read the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will go looking for the next 2, as I see it's the first of a trilogy.
11

I now finished both of the books Lamar Mundane sent me. First,

Driving Mr Albert by Michael Paterniti

This book is about a trip the author undertakes, driving a (mad?) scientist across the USA to meet a descendant of Albert Einstein to show her her ancestor’s brain (encased in Tupperware).

The premise is so absurd nobody would believe it if it wasn’t true.

The book is a mixture of the description of the “road trip”, Einstein’s biography and the author’s thoughts on pretty much everything. I thought it was really entertaining. It was fun to read and made me feel a little bit … nostalgic … (I don’t quite know what expression to use here, I mean the comfortable feeling that you may get when reading something…or is that just me who gets that?)

Also, you get lots of interesting facts that you can use in party conversations (“Did you know that Einstein did NOT get his nobel prize for the relativity theory?” - Well, maybe you did, but what about the other party guests?? :slight_smile: )

Second book:

Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers

Now, as it were, this happens to be the favourite book of my old roommate, who kept insisting that I read it but took it with her when she moved out. So this was a streak of luck, good choice, Lamar!

It’s about a writer and a scientist, who enter a bet they will manage to make a computer comment on any passage taken from a work of literature within 6 months. To achieve that, they build a neural network and feed it information by reading to it.

This story is interspersed by accounts of the author’s life (which, apparently, is autobiographical).

It’s quite fascinating and I couldn’t put it down once I had started. Then again, I have always been interested in literature and when they read the 'puter the first lines of famous novels I was thrilled, because I liked to guess them.

Like the first book, I really enjoyed the blend of fact and fiction and I would heartily recommend both books to anyone, even if “factual” books are usually not your cup of tea.

12

I wish I would proofread my posts better… usually I don’t bother to correct typos etc., but I’d like to point out that I meant that the account of the author’s life was autobiographical. Not his life itself. Which also was. But that wasn’t my point.

Now excuse me while I go and practise typing coherent English sentences. Not my cup of tea, today, apparently.

13

I just wanted to say that since twickster’s first book I started is STILL MIA, I have taken up “The Prestige” by Christopher Priest. It’s about two magicians in the late 19th & early 20th centuries who had a personal feud. The fued has continued to affect their grandchildren, who are trying to untangle the mystery of what really happened between the two. The story is told via journals of the two magicians. It’s interesting because it talks a lot about the showmanship of illusions. It is supposed to be a fantasy book but right now it just feels like a historical mystery. THAT has me intrigued; as I suppose it’s going to get more mystical any page now.

I am still getting through “Soldier of the Mist” and wanted to tell NE Texan that one of my friends (another Doper) is pleased I’m reading it. She has had Wolfe’s books on her “to read” list for ages and has been feeling midly guilty about not getting them. She’s eager to hear firsthand whether she should bump them up in her queue.

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Hey, that’s great, Cranky! I wonder if there are enough dopers interested to sustain a thread just on that book (or if not, maybe on Wolfe)? The topic’s certainly fertile enough, if there are enough interested people.

15

Thank you from the bottom of my overstimulated intellect, twickster !!

She volunteered to swap with even though she had already swapped once withscrolls down to check:smack: cranky.

Gossip, Grooming and the Evolution of Language

A very good read. A lot of fairly technical information in a very readable format. Not a book for everyone… all my friends online and off said "You are reading about primate grooming!!! ??? umm yeah…

It filled in some of my gaps in knowledge and have me plenty to think about. He put his finger right on my main objection to public education… ie class size and the inability to interact with the teacher or other students. I think that is one reason there are so many kids “acting out” these days… they need that attention.
My only criticism would be that a lot of his data seems anecdotal in nature. And I wonder if a lot of what he is seeing is nature vs nurture meaning the difference in the way females are raised from males. But he does admit that some of his data may be just that so I can’t complain too loudly* big cheesy grin*.

my opinion 5 out of 5 stars … if reading about
how we became what we are is up your alley.

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Has anyone else got books to review?

Always looking for new reading material.