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A Reader's reviews
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-08 09:13:13 for Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.
(Language: English)
   
I really looked forward to reading this book to get a sense of Barack and where he came from and was terribly disappointed by it. It is one of the most boring- cleansed- manipulated books that I have read in a very long time. It's a Dooobie and I would not recommend it to anyone at all as we never get to the heart of Obama in it. I also question his apparant total recall! Amazing how he can "remember" how he felt/acted/responded in incidents from so many years ago. This book was in my opinion, not written by Barack himself ( despite his instance that it was) Not worthy of the man. 
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-03 12:46:13 for The Tenth Circle.
(Language: English)
I didnt like it at all. I found the writing tedious and boring. Daniel's inner demons were predictable and the whole story seemed to me to have been written for a possible movie.I would not recomend this book to anyone at all.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-10-03 11:55:18 for The Lovely Bones.
(Language: English)
I thought this book started well and the different perspective was interesting, but it just rambled way too much for me. I am not going to even write much about the plot as I was disappointed with it overall.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-23 12:47:06 for The Salesman.
(Language: English)
I have read O'Connors later books so decided to give this one a go. I was disappointed with it overall and can only presume that he was a younger less experienced writer trying to perfect his craft when he wrote this book. I was bemused by the characters and the reference to sales techniques throughout the book. There was nothing really substantial about his job as a salesman to warrant all these catch phrases, and although I understood the plot I was left a bit bemused by the title by the end of it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-10 04:06:30 for Memoirs of a Geisha.
(Language: English)
A beauiful descriptive book narating the life of a Geisha from the time of her birth to her old age. I found this book captivating and found myself slipping away into corners to read a little more each day.Beautifully paced and with well drawn characters I would recomend this book to anyone who loves reading.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-21 10:35:09 for Animal Farm A Fairy Story.
(Language: English)
Animal Farm is a book that I read when I was about 16 years of age. I could never see why people thought it was a classic, but that was stupidly because I just "didnt get it" at that stage of my life. Having just finished it today, I now realise why it is a classic in the true sense of the word.Orwells novel depicts a revolution that takes place on a farm, with the animals overthrowing their "evil" master Mr Jones and the farm becoming a democratic place to live in where all animals are equal and anything with two legs is bad! ( Four legs - good- Two legs -BAD )is the common bleating from the resident sheep. The novel is very dark if you relate it to the society in which we live in today as the democracy in the farm yard is slowly eroded by the pigs who want more power and rewrite the commonly agreed commandments and systematicaly brainwash the other animals into believing in the new order-with them thinking it is the original order as agreed by all. Wonderfully written and recomended.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-20 07:15:10 for 1984.
(Language: English)
Another book that I have always meant to get around to but didnt. I have recently read it and am sorry that it took me so long. George Orwell's descriptions of the world in the imagined future of 1984 is a chilling and dark place. The very thought of living in a world like that made me shiver while reading. His narative was so vivid and imaginable, it was too scary to contimplate. His characters were constructed so well and the imagery in the dialog was that of a huge film set I could "see" it so clearly. The dialog describing the torture that took place underground was chilling in the extreme and his ultimate act of betrayal to Julia was so terribly sad I almost cried. The vision of the future that Orwell wrote about at the time was fiction, but there are some frightening aspects to the novel that are recognisable in todays society.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-28 06:32:37 for Penguin Classics Emma.
(Language: English)
This Jane Austen book has been lying in my bookcase for about two years now. I am sorry that I left it so long.Emma is a very lovable and cheerful protagonist,and cannot help herself from meddling( matchmaking) in others affairs.All the characters were crafted and developed with the usual Austen brilliance and style and as the reader, I was taken on a superb journey back to a period in history where, despite the obvious restraints on young ladies,seems to describe gentle amusing pastimes, and outings filled with angst and soul searching. The rules of society and manners seem archaic but are a wonderful glimpse into a bygone era. This is probably Austen's funniest book and I really enjoyed it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-23 07:00:26 for The Book Thief.
(Language: English)
I read all the reviews online and decided to buy this book because it came so highly recomended but I have to say I was a bit disappointed by it. The story was engaging, in that it followed Leisel from the time of her fostering ( following the death of her brother on the journey to their foster parents)to her death, with the begining and ending of world war two in between. The stories were engaging and quite visual and the characters were well developed and believable- from Rudy with "hair like Lemons" to Max with "hair like feathers or twigs" depending on whether it was washed or not.Papa with his accordion and his desire to uphold a promise made during a earlier war- sees the whole family hiding Max ( a jew) during the onset of the 2nd world war and it described in detail the suffering and hardships endured by the family during that time. Leisel's character is a strong and gusty one but the overall feeling after reading the book was that it didnt really grab me at all.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-23 06:36:54 for Eva Luna.
(Language: English)
A very engaging book with really well drawn characters.Eva Luna herself is a very intriguing protagonist and the beautifully descriptive narative casts her in a very sympathetic light. This is storytelling at its best and the pages literally turn themselves.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-02 04:45:26 for Persuasion.
(Language: English)
I liked this novel very much and Jane Austen crafted the characters with such detail that it was easy to regard Anne's family with horror in the way that they used and abused her to their own ends. Ann's simplicity and goodness was very endearing and as the book developed it was easy to see how she was held in such high regard by all who came into contact with her. The letterwriting scene took my breath away with the sheer romance of it all and the finish could not have been better.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-02 04:35:39 for Wuthering Heights.
(Language: English)
Read this book last week and then watched the DVD with Raafe Fines and Juliet Binoche. Thought the book was excellent and captured the tragic love between Heathcliff and Cathy. I was captured by the beauty of the prose, and the discriptive nature of the writing. The DVD was hugly disappointing in comparison and casting Juliet Binoche as both Catherine and Cathy was confusing to say the least.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-05-31 02:30:56 for An Evil Cradling.
(Language: English)
One of the most amazing books that I have read in my life. The wonderful way that Brian Keenan writes, takes you inside his head during those captive years. At times I wanted to put the book down and run away from it as the account was so harrowing in places. His developing friendship with John Mc Carthy during their captivity is a beautiful account of need- love- desperation and the desire to survive.This book moved me beyond anything I had ever read at the time.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-05-30 09:13:41 for Catcher in the Rye.
(Language: English)
I bought this book ages ago and always intended reading it but never quite got around to it. I decided to read it recently and like many others on this site I enjoyed it a lot. I loved the language that was used and like another reviewer, I agree that it was like listening to live dialog whilst reading the narrative. Holden is a deeply troubled young man and I think a lot of his angst is around the fact that he misses his dead brother Allie desperately but is not sure how to express this sadness. He believes that he is a misfit ( like a lot of teenagers) and the part where he wanted to live in a cabin with his wife who would be mute like himself and they would communicate by note made me almost cry with the sadness and the sense of desired isolation that it evoked.His descriptive characters were really three dimentional and Phoebe his sister was wonderfully crafted. I found myself loving this gutsy kid who obviously adored her older tormented brother. Reccomended reading for everyone.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-05-13 08:06:05 for A Partisan's Daughter.
(Language: English)
Agreeing with Jane.... Loved Captain Correllies Mandolin- one of my all time favourite books. I thought this book was dreadful. I was not sure if Roza was telling the truth at any time or whether she was just being sensationalist in order to keep Chris enthralled.His character felt whimpish and I didnt feel that he had any substance at all. Imagine living like that- hanging on to her every word for how long? Not real and not even midly interesting. The ending was predictable and spun out. I would not recommend this book to anyone who likes reading.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-05-03 05:20:57 for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
(Language: English)
A GREAT GREAT story about events during the 2nd World War from a childs perspective.I wont spoil things by giving away the plot but well worth going out and buying this wonderful book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-04-30 08:18:04 for The Secret Scripture.
(Language: English)
I have just read this book and I was not disappointed. There are two stories in the book and the ending skillfully merges the two in the most unexpected finish ever.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-04-30 07:44:57 for On Chesil Beach.
(Language: English)
Heartbreaking book about lost love- wonderful read.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-04-30 07:42:12 for Star of the Sea.
(Language: English)
The most wonderful story- I was captivated from the word go .
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-04-30 07:41:31 for The Private Lives of Pippa Lee: A Novel.
(Language: English)
Brilliant read- layers and layers of this person. But who is Pippa really?
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