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Stephanie 's reviews
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Stephanie posted a review at 2010-01-05 09:21:57 for Signet Classics Gullivers Travels.
(Language: English)
 
If you only read one section, read Book IV, A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhms. Gulliver's misanthropy is hilarious. Is there really any other way Gulliver's Travels could end?
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Stephanie posted a review at 2010-01-05 09:18:29 for Persuasion.
(Language: English)
My favorite Austen novel... and yes I've read Pride and Prejudice. What this book lacks in wit and charming drawing room scenes, it makes up for in a tortured mature prose, strong lead characters, and an achingly beautiful love story built on years of waiting and wanting. It's wonderful to watch Anne Elliot turn from mouse to lion as the dashing Captain Wentworth struggles with his feelings for her... Five out of five stars. A fitting final work for Austen's unmatched career. Oh...for film buffs...the 1995 film version is the only film adaptation that captures the poignancy of the text. The 2007 version tries and fails miserably.
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Stephanie posted a review at 2010-01-05 09:06:31 for Angela's Ashes.
(Language: English)
Not exactly a feel-good-book...unless you're idea of fun involves suffering children, starving babies, abused impoverished women, alcholic fathers, and a stark prose that renders it all-too-clearly... But it's brilliant. Prose, characters, story, everything is near perfect. In fact, if this were required reading in high school, under-aged, unprotected sex would practically vanish. So I guess it has a social message as well...
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Stephanie posted a review at 2010-01-05 09:01:40 for One Hundred Years of Solitude (Oprah's Book Club).
(Language: English)
Why is Oprah's name embazoned all over these literary classics? Am I the only American who's embarrassed by this? It's as if "Grey's Anatomy" suddenly stamped itself all over the Bible. There's something unsettling about the way one person (who had nothing to do with a literary work) can suddenly lay claim to it, even though she had nothing to do with its creation and probably only read a Wiki-like synopsis of it. Why does Oprah suddenly strike me as an omnious extension of the dark lord Sauron? When did she start casting a shadow over everything that is green and good? Is she going to start enslaving hobbits or sicking rats on Winston Smith? Great book anyway. One of the few dark comedy epics out there. Five out of Five Stars.
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Stephanie posted a review at 2010-01-05 08:48:36 for Anna Karenina (Oprah #5) (Oprah's Classics Book Club Selections).
(Language: English)
Don't let the "Oprah's Classics" sticker fool you, it's still a masterpiece, uncorrupted by commercialism and rich with gut-wrenching desire, defeat, and death...A must read for any literary buff.
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Stephanie posted a review at 2010-01-05 08:46:29 for The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
(Language: English)
The first two-thirds of this book are near perfect...great characters, fantastic prose, moving twists and turns...But there are some serious third-act problems. It reminded me of In Cold Blood--there comes a point when the story just spins out of control. Great read anyway. I wish it had a more coherent ending, but I'm still giving it four stars.
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Stephanie posted a review at 2010-01-05 08:41:05 for The Crucible.
(Language: English)
Great read, but it really was meant to be seen, heard, and felt. If you're like most of the country and don't have an alternate-indie theater group active in your town, the Daniel Day movie version is probably your best bet. A stellar cast and great performances make it a solid adaptation.
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Stephanie posted a review at 2009-12-30 03:07:36 for Great Gatsby, the; (Us Import Ed.).
(Language: English)
Haven't read it? You should, and no, I'm not a repressed high school English teacher. This is one of the greatest books ever written. Fitzgerald captures the voice of the common man as his narrator spins and sips his way through the roaring twenties. Along the way, he bares weary witness to organized crime, adultery, and a Hellish revist to Babylon. Star-struck by the bad and beautiful Buchanans, Nick Carraway helps the mysteriously successful rags-to-riches golden boy Gatsby reconnect with his pre-war sweetheart. Of course it all ends in tragedy, but we happily follow the yellow-brick-road of Fitzgerald's lyrical prose. This is a one-sit read, one, because it's short, and two because you won't be able to put it down once you start. If you have to read it for an English class, consider yourself lucky. If you were assigned To Whom the Bell Tolls instead, grab a copy of Gatsby and enjoy.
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Stephanie posted a review at 2009-12-30 02:52:59 for PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.
(Language: English)
Sigh...needs no review. Elizabeth Bennett is a spunky Goddess of wry banter. Mr. Darcy is a stern-but-steamy dreamboat. A social comedy and love story, you won't go wrong with this read.
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Stephanie posted a review at 2009-12-30 02:47:53 for Da Vinci Code.
(Language: English)
Meh...the cliffhanger gimmick gets old. Don't get me wrong, there is suspense. And some interesting characters pop up along the way (albino renegade monk anyone?), but I felt like this book induces ADHD rather than the heebie-jeebies. I was more interested in the Jesus-was-married conspiracy buffs than the riddle-within-a-riddle-in-a-riddle plot. Personally, I'd like to read a book about the basement dwellers who tease out the ins and outs of Jesus's love life. I can just see Pirate-Jesus on a Fabio-like cover, holding a flaming sword in one arm and a buxom Jewess in the other. Let's face it, he's got the hair for it. Two out of five stars.
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