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A Reader's reviews
| My Reviews - Page 1 of 2 |
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 03:12:21 for The Last Days of Henry VIII: Conspiracies, Treason and Heresy at the Court of the Dying Tyrant.
(Language: English)
  
If you know nothing about Henry VIII and Katherine Parr, you may find this a bit confusing. The hyperbole is also a bit offputting (lots of talk of psychopathic Henry and girl guide Katherine), but once you get used to it, this is an incredibly useful, very easy to read insight into those last years - covering the angles of religious and factional disputes, the war and international politics as well as Henry's personal 'issues'.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 03:08:30 for George III and the mad-business.
(Language: English)
Giving not only an overview of the historical events surrounding George II's "madness", but also the first indepth medical analysis of exactly what ailed him, this is a really good book to learn about the King - and also about some of those relatives he probably shared his disease with!
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 03:02:45 for The History of the Franks (Classics).
(Language: English)
Unless you are studying this period in depth, you will probably find yourself doing some fairly major skimming, especially through the first two or three books - I think most of us are familiar with Genesis, so the fact Gregory's retelling it doesn't make much odds. What is really enthralling are the contemporary sections. For anyone who thought history was dull/ modern life is more violent than ever/ bishops are wholly holy, this will change your mind. Gregory paints a world after the collapse of the Roman Empire, where Germanic tribes, the Catholic Church, 'heretical' sects and the remnants of the Roman upper classes co-exist, rather uneasily. Violence is sudden, often horrendous (see the massacre at a wedding, in the church!) and Gregory is swift to pass judgement one way or the other. His historical figures are all either heroes or villains, with no middle ground - never mind that one of his 'heroes' whacks a man on the head with a massive hammer for pissing him off. Brilliant.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:55:01 for Charlotte Gray.
(Language: English)
Hmm. I don't know why, but main characters ending up with the wrong people really bugs me. Surely it was utterly obvious that Peter Gregory was a no-go and she should have gone for Julien? If only Faulks had followed that love story, I think I would have enjoyed this book more. As it was, Charlotte is a really interesting character and her personal quest through resistance France and the truly tragic Jewish element in this book were very moving.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:53:17 for Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War.
(Language: English)
If he had only cut out all of the 1970s story, this book would be perfect. Illicit romance, gripping (and horrifically claustrophobic) war scenes, an ending that is as perfect as any I've read and truly intriguing characters.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:48:54 for Good Wives.
(Language: English)
I laughed, I cried, I cried some more, and then I cried again. Perhaps it is just because I loved 'Little Women' so much and had very definite ideas about who should end up with who (Laurie and Jo, Amy and Beth with the Vaughan twins...) but this book was a real disappointment. The tragic story that runs through it, as aforementioned, reduced me to tears in a way no story had before. The central characters are still very strongly drawn, and Amy in particular is given a chance to develop from the spoilt brat she was in 'LW'. However, (utter spoiler alert), for Alcott to kill off Beth, marry Amy and Laurie and have Jo get together with an old hairy German professor was too much for me. And that's putting aside completely the fact that the book is called 'good wives'. Oh, Alcott, how your protofeminism fell down...
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:42:58 for The Woman in White (Bantam Classics).
(Language: English)
Having started this book once and given up, I didn't hold high hopes. However, on the second attempt it really drew me in. Collins is a victim of his times in some ways - the slow unfolding of what should be an incredibly exciting event, the retelling of a story to render it dull; Laura's insipid niceness - and way ahead of his time in others - the character of Marian and the platonic buddy role she has with Walter; disturbing ways to get rid of your wife. Part gothic thriller, part romance, part buddy movie (in book form), part detective tale - and in the end really exciting.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:37:36 for The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
(Language: English)
There is something about the Brontes - at times they are just so girly. This book is for the most part an enthralling read, based around a mysterious woman and her relationship with a local farmer. However, the odd snippet of the latter's narrative sounds unbelievably sentimental for a yorkshire man of the earth: notably the part where he throws himself weeping behind a wall with his hankie. The moralising tone of Helen's relationship with the dissolute rich folk and Huntingdon is a bit wearing for modern readers, but as a tale of star-crossed lovers and yet another indication of how screwed up the Brontes' vision of men must have been by Branwell, this is pretty engaging.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:32:31 for Old-fashioned Girl (Puffin Classics).
(Language: English)
Another good-girl-shows-unhappy-rich-people-the-true-value-of-love story that Victorians loved and Alcott does very well. I loved it too, and Polly is a very empathetic heroine.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:30:25 for Rose in Bloom (Puffin Classics).
(Language: English)
Fairly barf-worthy. A bit too worthy in general, to be honest, with the untimely fate of the dissolute cousin serving to highlight how BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO BAD PEOPLE, but they can still be redeemed at the end.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:27:10 for The Tiger in the Well: A Sally Lockhart Mystery.
(Language: English)
From the first page of this book, I could not put it down. We start several years on from 'Shadow in the North' and with a rather different subject matter: Jewish immigrants and their identity in London. Sally Lockhart finds herself and her child in danger when a man she has never met claims to be her husband - a genius idea that uses the nineteenth century setting to its fullest.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:24:52 for The Shadow in the North: A Sally Lockhart Mystery.
(Language: English)
Oh, God. Get out your hankies. This sequel to 'Ruby in the Smoke' is a bit more adult in content, but handled so deftly by Pullman anyone over the age of ten could comfortably read it. With this work he seems to have really hit his stride and the enthralling tale of double-crossing magicians and horrific war machinery is capped with an incredibly unexpected and therefore all the more affecting end for one of the characters.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:22:15 for The Ruby in the Smoke: A Sally Lockhart Mystery.
(Language: English)
Bizarrely, I read this book when I was ten and had never heard of Philip Pullman. It took me a long time, reading it when I was eighteen, to realise it was the same book. Yet I really enjoyed it both times - more the second, because the darkness and adult world Pullman employs was more relatable. He is a magnificent story-teller whose works steam along, carrying you with it, until the always satisfying conclusion.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:18:24 for The Colour.
(Language: English)
Argh! This book seemed to drag on forever. I am a huge fan of Tremain's other books, but this one was really heavy going, and it took a long time to figure out why. The characters were subtly drawn and interesting, with one holding a mystery that unfolds very slowly over time, but all of them disliked each other - and if the characters don't care about each other, how are you supposed to care about them? It made for a fairly miserable read, with certain characters being introduced and yet never having their stories resolved. And of the trio of main characters, only one had a proper ending - the other two were left on the edge of a potential future without any satisfying sense that they had been changed or gained anything from their experience. Rather like I felt, to be honest.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:09:57 for The Complete "Anne of Green Gables".
(Language: English)
I feel like these books belong to a very specific part of my childhood. Between the ages of 10-12 I devoured these stories, reading about 4 of them in one holiday as I remember. And luckily there are so many I could keep going until I got bored (hmm, not sure I ever did get bored). Having said that, I have no desire to reread any but perhaps the first book, which is unusual for childhood favourites - looking back they seem so sugary sweet and sentimental it is hard to imagine taking the same enjoyment in them, and I don't want to sour the memory. Anne Shirley is, at times, also a rather irritating main character - nothing ever goes wrong for her, she's Pollyanna-ish in her moods and she even loves washing up for God's sakes! Just as well, then, that she has Gilbert Blythe and Marilla providing the real emotional heart of the stories, and demonstrating the evolution of Anne's life.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 02:03:20 for EMILY NOVELS: Book (1) One: Emily of New Moon; Book (2) Two: Emily Climbs; Book (3) Three: Emily's Quest.
(Language: English)
These are like 'Anne of Green Gables' if Thomas Hardy had had a hand in them - hopes are crushed, love affairs torn apart too soon, ambitions thwarted and yet still, somehow (and characteristically Montgomery), all ends well. There are some genuinely scary ideas in these books, and they are almost all the result of human frailty - the woman scarred, physically and mentally, by a lamp burning her face; the man with the hunchback who holds a slightly disturbing power over Emily; the aunts who don't immediately fall at her feet a la Matthew and Marilla but show real human hard-heartedness. I think the first part of 'Emily of New Moon' establishes the tone as Emily's dearly-beloved father's funeral takes centre stage in the action - unlike the offstage deaths of Anne Shirley's parents long ago and now forgotten. This dark edge continues throughout all the books, with Emily's odd imaginings and angry pride making her a much more interesting character than glad, "i love washing up" Anne.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 01:55:54 for Little Women.
(Language: English)
I can't help it. I know it's twee and I know it's bible-bashing and I know it's ridiculoulsy girly but it just makes my heart soar. Having grown up with four brothers and a mania for history, it fulfils all my fantasies of living in the past, and unlike the later books it ends with all the characters (spoiler alert) alive, well and incredibly happy. Luckily, it also doesn't make me cry as much as 'Good Wives'. It was the first period book I ever fell in love with, and I've never fallen out of love with them since.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 01:51:47 for PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
(Language: English)
3 stars might seem mean for what most people consider Austen's best work. However, I could not help getting royally pissed off at the main character - a fairly major problem. Lizzy Bennet is an insufferable know-it-all and half of me thought it would have served her right if she'd had to marry Mr Collins. Nonetheless, as always with Austen, it is wonderful to be drawn into such a specific, neatly-drawn world whose social mores, attitudes and patterns of behaviour are so different from our own, yet whose central story (the desire to marry for love, not money - ideally both) can still be sympathised with today. Austen has a way with words that all writers must envy, as is established within the first line of this book - surely one of the best-known sentences in literature. She is funny, extremely intelligent and draws characters with concise brilliance. If only Lizzy had been that little bit more concise herself.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 01:35:02 for Preacher Vol 09: Alamo (Preacher (DC Comics)).
(Language: English)
It's usual to be a bit worried when you reach the final installment of a dearly-loved story, but 'Alamo' does not disappoint. Amazingly, it manages to tie up every loose end in a neat bow whilst simultaneously never feeling forced or unbelievable (a fairly major coup, considering it's about a preacher holding God to account with the help of a vampire and an evil german nemesis). Once again, it is also remarkably moving and it's a hard heart who doesn't close the book with a great big grin on their face.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 01:32:08 for Preacher Vol. 4: Ancient History.
(Language: English)
Hmm. Of all the volumes of 'Preacher' this is the one I would advise people to skim over. Giving the Saint of Killers a backstory makes sense, but the rest feels like timekiller, and in the case of Jody
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 01:28:00 for Preacher: Until the End of the World (Preacher (DC Comics)).
(Language: English)
Love it, love it, love it. Having got fully into its stride with the vampire-love interest-preacher possessed by a divine being scenario, this book turns things on its head and suddenly launches an incredibly dark and yet really moving backstory on us. From this volume on, it's impossible to stop reading.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 01:24:41 for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
(Language: English)
Amazing. The first book is better than the second, but both are incredibly funny, cinematic (far more than the godawful adaptation) and full of in-jokes that don't exclude people who don't know all the background characters. My favourite part of both is Pollyanna's response to being sexually assaulted by the invisible man - funnier than it sounds.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 01:21:44 for Watchmen.
(Language: English)
Awesome story, incredibly interesting premise considering it seems so obvious when you think about it (retired superheroes, duh!) and a really brave, horrific third act - but, despite what everyone harps on about the story-within-a-story, that pirate tale freaks the hell out of me.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 01:19:38 for Yuzbasi Corelli'nin Mandolini (captain Correlli's mandolin).
(Language: English)
Ignore the film - this is a stunning evocation of a beautiful country and an incredibly moving tale of illicit love and the struggle for survival during WW2. The fact that the eponymous main character doesn't appear until over 100pages in is very brave, as is the fact that the really gut-wrenching love story is that of a man who the Captain never knows cares for him, rather than the central romance. The only problem with it is the last 70 pages, which zap some of the enjoyment from what is otherwise a wonderful book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-10 01:16:31 for MARY QUEEN OF FRANCE..
(Language: English)
Don't be fooled by the Philippa Gregory-lite rebranding of this book, it is a rubbish 1960s chronicle-like tale that extracts all the excitement from what is a really interesting story. Putting aside the bizarre dialogue that seems to have leapt out of a 1940s film ("oh, darling, don't let's ask for the stars - we have our girdles") every thinly-drawn character's motivations are hastily sketched then contradicted and the whole thing ends, not as would make sense, on the happy end you've ploughed on in hopes of, but with the most absurdly downbeat conclusion, having rushed through 20 years in so many pages. Don't bother.
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