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Book report
Apr. 24th, 2009 03:30 pmI'm so glad to be home from Vegas! And here's a book report.
The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan – I think I should just give up any pretence that my fiction selections are anything more than escapism, especially if the last few ones are any indication. This novel takes place in India 400 years ago, centering on a young woman who has aspirations of marrying the Emperor. I like tales of royal courts and harems and intrigues – all that phluff. It started out good, with a plot that moved at a nice clip. But towards the middle, the novel started to really drag and then it just kind of petered out. The amateurish writing also became more and more apparent as the book wore on. If I am going to read sheer escapism and feel embarrassed about it, can the novels at least be good escapism?? Sheesh. Grade: C-
Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose – My friend![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nytshd3 has been gently suggesting that I give audio books a try, and I finally did so. I think I’m hooked! I’m usually in the car at least 4 hours a week, and I can only listen to my Duran Duran and B-52’s CDs so many times. This was my first audio book, and I really liked the concept. It’s neat to just have someone read to you as you drive, though you do have to strike a balance between paying rapt attention to the book and to the road. There are times when it’s harder for me to mentally hunker down and pay attention. Anyway, on to this book. Prose is a novelist, and her book “The Glorious Ones” is one of my all-time favorites. This book is for anyone who wants to write or who wants to appreciate great writing more. She breaks down and analyzes literature from all different aspects – sentences, paragraphs, detail, dialog, and much more. She provides lots of examples from great literature to illustrate her points, which was probably the neatest thing about the book. I think my main takeaways from “Reading Like a Writer" were that I could stand to slow down a bit when I read, really learn to savor words and sentences and observe the detail that a skilled writer provides. I could also raise the bar in terms of the literature I read. (“The Twentieth Wife” anyone?) Grade: B
More behind the cut.
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The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan – I think I should just give up any pretence that my fiction selections are anything more than escapism, especially if the last few ones are any indication. This novel takes place in India 400 years ago, centering on a young woman who has aspirations of marrying the Emperor. I like tales of royal courts and harems and intrigues – all that phluff. It started out good, with a plot that moved at a nice clip. But towards the middle, the novel started to really drag and then it just kind of petered out. The amateurish writing also became more and more apparent as the book wore on. If I am going to read sheer escapism and feel embarrassed about it, can the novels at least be good escapism?? Sheesh. Grade: C-
Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose – My friend
nytshd3 has been gently suggesting that I give audio books a try, and I finally did so. I think I’m hooked! I’m usually in the car at least 4 hours a week, and I can only listen to my Duran Duran and B-52’s CDs so many times. This was my first audio book, and I really liked the concept. It’s neat to just have someone read to you as you drive, though you do have to strike a balance between paying rapt attention to the book and to the road. There are times when it’s harder for me to mentally hunker down and pay attention. Anyway, on to this book. Prose is a novelist, and her book “The Glorious Ones” is one of my all-time favorites. This book is for anyone who wants to write or who wants to appreciate great writing more. She breaks down and analyzes literature from all different aspects – sentences, paragraphs, detail, dialog, and much more. She provides lots of examples from great literature to illustrate her points, which was probably the neatest thing about the book. I think my main takeaways from “Reading Like a Writer" were that I could stand to slow down a bit when I read, really learn to savor words and sentences and observe the detail that a skilled writer provides. I could also raise the bar in terms of the literature I read. (“The Twentieth Wife” anyone?) Grade: BMore behind the cut.
( Read more... )
