4 solid stars from me. I could have gone to 4.5 stars but a Goodreads friend suggested the follow-up books are even better than the original, so I do n4 solid stars from me. I could have gone to 4.5 stars but a Goodreads friend suggested the follow-up books are even better than the original, so I do need to leave some room to move. The plan is to read the series with my buddy reader Marge Moen. In the meantime, we’ve had a great time exchanging thoughts about this original: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mr Tom Ripley, who is this guy and what really makes him tick? Readers may not get all the answers, I certainly didn’t, and his ‘talents’ may confound some. I found him an interesting, disturbing and somewhat pathetic fella.
He’s been labelled as a ‘…dapper sociopath’, plus an ‘…agreeable and urbane psychopath’. I’m not qualified to discuss these labels, but our Tom Ripley certainly starts out as a bumbling opportunist turned killer. Throw in some misogamy, dubious sexuality and self-pity and you might get half-way to understanding him.
I like Patricia Highsmith’s writing style. I also like the pace in which she builds her main character and delivers the storyline. This is not a long read and everything is not served up on a platter. Marge and I tried to second guess a few things throughout the buddy read but soon realised the author cleverly paints Mr Ripley with both the sympathy and antipathy brush....more
I wasn’t sure how to start this review but within the first few pages of my next read I found this quote: ‘You never want to get away from home as muc I wasn’t sure how to start this review but within the first few pages of my next read I found this quote: ‘You never want to get away from home as much as you do when you’re fifteen years old.’
After spending two years in hiding, Anne Frank was fifteen when she died, presumably of typhus, in Bergen-Belsen. Knowing this while reading the diary added to its impact.
One of my granddaughters read the diary and said she knew I would like it. I was dubious at first because its contents are so well known both in print and on the big screen. I felt I knew enough but, by coincidence, my buddy reader @Marge Moen also included it on a list of our next potential buddy reads. The decision was made for me.
Although it was a lifetime ago, I can still remember the intensity of being a teenager. Anne Frank’s teenage intensity is well described on the page; her desires, frustrations toward her parents, redefining herself whilst constricted by space, her challenges, desires and fantasies. There was also day-to-day stuff, including block toilets. She did not hold back or restrict herself to the hardships of the eight in hiding but also included details of the brave and kind people who harboured and cared for them. Her notes on the hopeful efforts by the Allies to put an end to the war were interesting.
Anne Frank was a good writer. She wanted to be a journalist. The heights she could have achieved with her writing, had she survived, can only be imagined.
Other takeaways:
After confirmation of her death, Anne Frank’s father, the only one of the eight to survive the Holocaust, was encouraged to publish it. He is reported to say he only fully got to know his daughter from reading her words.
Anne’s father and uncle fought for Germany in WWI.
The diary survived claims it was a hoax. The translations into many languages were criticised for somehow affecting the text and that the numerous iterations on stage and screen took some liberties. Anne’s experiences, as described by her, cannot be diluted by all that.
Anne’s sixteen-year-old love interest, Peter van Pels (he and his parents were given the pseudonym van Daan), died in the Mauthausen camp three days before it was liberated.
My granddaughter pointed out her concern that Anne had to share a room with a middle-aged man, a dentist known to her family. ‘Why did anyone think that was a good idea?’
Nelson Mandela read the diary while incarcerated, and encouraged others to do the same because of its strength and message of hope.
Anne Frank’s diary will leave a lasting impression on me....more
4.5 stars. There is little I need to say other than the nuances and messages of the novel, for example the awful consequences of rejection, are not tra4.5 stars. There is little I need to say other than the nuances and messages of the novel, for example the awful consequences of rejection, are not translated well to the big screen or any TV series. I’m yet to finish a movie adaptation because I found them unconvincing and silly. Shelley’s original text countered all my misgivings. I exchanged thoughts (and there were quite a few about language, structure and debate on who is the ‘villain’) with my buddy reader @Marge Moen, and why it falls just below a 5-star rating from me. As usual, her insights were invaluable and, again, align with mine in many ways. For comparison and out of interest, we plan to ‘buddy-read’ the updated 1831 text sometime next year....more
First book for 2023, and it’s a classic, gothic fiction. My first read by a Brontë sister since reading 'Jane Eyre'. First and only novel by Emily BronFirst book for 2023, and it’s a classic, gothic fiction. My first read by a Brontë sister since reading 'Jane Eyre'. First and only novel by Emily Brontë. Second buddy read with Marge Moen: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2... And I can't wait to read Marge's insights. Emily is one of the three Brontë sisters who initially needed to publish their novels under male pseudonyms - I think that spells volumes about their writing on repression and societal norms of the time.
I can understand why people either love or hate ‘Wuthering Heights’, or are the very least perplexed by it. This is not an easy, pleasant read. And that's probably its appeal for me.
I sit firmly in the 'love' camp.
So much meanness, violence, ugliness. So many characters suffer from fragile health. Such contrast between strong (aggressive) and weak (sickly) characters.
Revenge is a major aspect of the apparent tortured love storyline. How else can it be described, but a kind of warped love story?
It is dark, broody and harsh, at times excruciatingly cruel.
How did Emily Brontë think up these characters and themes? Surely she drew from some of her own experiences? I must do some post-read research.
A few takeaways =
My expectations were met.
I also responded well to the symbolism: ‘Catherine’s face was just like the landscape - shadows and sunshine flitting over it in rapid succession; but the shadows rested longer, and the sunshine was more transient…’
Ellen, the devoted, long term nanny, maid-come-servant endured so much. Too much.
The old religious-fanatic Joseph, another servant who also suffered through generations of the main characters, spoke in a Yorkshire dialect. Brontë was clever to capture this, but I couldn’t understand a lot of it. I fear I’ve missed some important plot details. Maybe there’s an edition with a translation as footnotes?
At times, I got a little confused who was who. Brontë invariably switches from Christian names to titles or surnames, and gives offspring the same names as their parents or relatives.
Ah, now I’m nitpicking, and I didn’t want to do that!
I was a little bewildered how Heathcliff, the male anti-hero, turned out so badly. I wanted to like him more. Then again, I’m glad Brontë didn’t give us stereotypical characters. Maybe I would have been critical if Heathcliff turned out to be all lovey-dovey?
See what this novel has done to me? I’m babbling.
Kate Bush’s hit by the same name makes a lot more sense to me now.
An expected 5-star rating just falls short, but that's not to say I didn't love it! 4.5 stars from me. I thought about that trick of raising it to 5 stars, but then thought no, that doesn't paint the right picture. Ah, still babbling thanks to Cathy and Heathcliff......more
No plot or character spoilers from me. Just a well-deserved 5/5 rating and a few general comments.
I’m so glad I read this modern classic!
Not long ago, No plot or character spoilers from me. Just a well-deserved 5/5 rating and a few general comments.
I’m so glad I read this modern classic!
Not long ago, I watched the latest Netflix adaptation, but it had its limitations. Something just didn’t gel.
When my ‘buddy reader’ friend, Marge from the US, suggested this, I gulped but thought, what the heck, give it a go. Thank you, Marge. You did me such a great favour.
Although I’ve reviewed a few novels that translate much better on the big screen, this is the reverse. Credit to Daphne du Maurier’s expert writing. I was hanging on just about every sentence and all the melodrama (loved it!) soared out of ‘ho-hum’ up to lofty heights with her prose. Her use of seasons, weather and the natural environment to evoke moods and atmosphere rivals the likes of Thomas Hardy and the Brontë sisters.
Hint. Don’t watch or google anything about ‘Rebecca’. Go in cold. If, like me, that’s not the case, it’s not fatal. A post-Netflix movie read could make du Maurier’s storytelling the more impressive.
I might check out Alfred Hitchcock’s interpretation from the 1940s. Did he have a thing for Daphne? He also took on one of her other famous novels, ‘The Birds’. That’s on my ‘to read’ list too…
I could sum up my reaction to this novel simply by quoting:
“History is the business of identifying momentous events from the comfort of a high-back chI could sum up my reaction to this novel simply by quoting:
“History is the business of identifying momentous events from the comfort of a high-back chair.” “Surely, the span of time between the placing of an order and the arrival of appetizers is one of the most perilous in human interaction.” or “Does a banquet really need an asparagus server?” “Does an orchestra need a bassoon?”
This novel is full of philosophy and wit, bleakness and grandiosity and abundant character observations, all told through the musings and experiences of the sometimes elusive, sometimes charming, sometimes agonisingly reflective protagonist, Count Rostov.
The highs and lows of this book mimicked the highs and lows of my reaction to it. I did question whether this was the right timing for me given the invasion of Ukraine, plus the news reports of a so-called Putsch in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don that took place when I started the read. Thanks to my communiques with my buddy reader @Marge Moen, who has a closer and more meaningful connection with both countries, and helped me separated art from politics, I persisted, and I am glad for that.
This is such an interesting, confounding, well-written, often frustrating novel, a generously imagined account of modern Russian history set out in prose. I believe I learned more in this format as opposed to a non-fiction text. For that, and the enjoyment of another buddy read, I am grateful.
But that’s not to say I did not struggle with it. I pivoted between 2 and 5 stars, all throughout, but it was the satisfaction I felt immediately on completion, the sum of all the parts, that helped me to settle on a favourable rating. ...more
I’m happy to explain why Dracula does not quite reach a 5-star high for me, but there are minor spoilers.
Surely, I’m not the only reader out4.5 stars.
I’m happy to explain why Dracula does not quite reach a 5-star high for me, but there are minor spoilers.
Surely, I’m not the only reader out there who wrongly assumed this Gothic fiction classic was written by a Transylvanian and that the plot takes place in Transylvania? It starts there, but the majority of scenes are set in Britain, and it was written by an Irishman, Abraham (Bram) Stoker.
Dracula has been on my ‘to read’ list for nearly a lifetime. Thinking back, the delays had quite a bit to do with thinking the trailers and stills from movies appeared silly and unconvincing.
I imagine this novel is likely far superior to any adaption. And talking of imagination, the author invited me to let mine run amok. He knew how to create fear and atmosphere. He achieved this in an epistolary novel – with letters, diaries and reports - and I really liked that format.
I recently watched an episode of Joanna Lumley’s travel series around the UK and nearly fell off my chair when she visited Whitby, a North Yorkshire seaside city with ruins of a moody 7th Century monastery-come-abbey, and reported these were referenced in the story. This certainly sparked my interest and bumped Dracula up the list.
I really enjoyed this read, slightly marred by a couple of lulls in the text that dragged. There was a bit of sexism too, you know, the ‘Off you go now, my dear, while the men retire to smoke cigars and talk men’s business’ type of sexism, but I was forgiving given it was written in the Victorian era, and that’s not to say there was no gutsy female who came to the fore.
I think it’s now time to give the 1992-film, with Gary Oldman in the lead, another chance....more
**spoiler alert** I often believe just a simple star rating can say it all. Or maybe just a couple of adjectives to describe a book.
If I did that for **spoiler alert** I often believe just a simple star rating can say it all. Or maybe just a couple of adjectives to describe a book.
If I did that for ‘The Island of Missing Trees’ I would write: exquisite, atmospheric, mystic, intriguing, heart-breaking, hopeful…
But this book deserves more from me and it’s not often I go into such detail of the plot.
Other readers may differ, but I recognised three distinct voices in this novel: Ada is a British teenager who is navigating her path to adulthood. She’s trying to find her way in her world that is marked by recent grief and not fitting in all that well in at school. She carries the burden of her parents who were Cypriot immigrants, one Greek, the other Turkish, therefore the differences in culture are set from the start.
Ada has never visited Cyprus, her parents say little of their previous lives, so where does Ada fit? How does she deal with the conflicting cultures that bubble under the surface, coupled with generational traumas? Immigrants often never lose the pull from their birth places – so what happens to their children born in a foreign land? Is her family’s past really important to Ada? Will we get all the answers?
Then we get introduced to Ada’s aunt, Aunt Meryem, who suddenly visits England for the first time. She did not attend her sister’s funeral, so why is she here now? From Meryem, Ada learns something about her Cypriot roots, unwillingly at first. Some family secrets are revealed and Ada finds pieces of the puzzle about her parents. But will Meryem give Ada all the answers?
And the third is that of a ‘Fig Tree’. Yes, if we allow ourselves, we develop an intimate relationship with this voice and learn so much about geography, ecology/botany, mythology, religion, climate, the fragility of human relationships and the troubling history of Cyprus; invasions, coups, divisions and peace keeping efforts. The tree takes on a surprisingly, and somewhat baffling identity at the end, but after my initial disappointment and confusion, such a turn in the text adds to the book’s overall appeal.
This tree’s voice is educative, mysterious at times, but also sometimes grounding. It appears to be the link between Cyprus and England; between Ada’s parents; between Ada and her aunt; between Ada’s father and his sister-in-law; of old friends who disappeared and extended family members, a link to what happened to them all in the past. The tree is also a strong link between the reader and the storyline – a clever storytelling device, if not always convincing. The symbolism of the connectivity of roots and branches was not lost on me. The fig provides some answers, but keeps some mystery in the narrative.
After a stunning start of atmosphere and symbolism, the three voices slowly merge and bring us into the real, somewhat routine world of Ada and her widowered father who pampers and protects his beloved ‘Fig Tree’ – grown from a sapling cut from the ‘mother’ tree and smuggled out of Cypress. Both yet-to-be born Ada and the sampling arrived in England at the same time. Read into that all you wish. I did.
The tree (and its relationship with other flora and us) also acts as a clarion call for our environment, a cautionary call about global warming well before it became known and felt as it is today. This book goes deep into the relationships between people and the earth. Did it give me all the answers?
There are numerous ‘themes’ to this book, but after finishing it, my main takeaway was climate change. Within the first chapters, Ada lets out a prolonged scream in her classroom that unsettled, dismayed and drew ridicule from her classmates. A video of the scream got posted on social media but gradually gained some recognition from all over the world. Viewers started to side with Ada – “We hear you”.
Our earth has let out a scream – it’s still screaming. Gradually, more and more people around the world are hearing it. More and more people are thinking about and taking action on climate change.
Yes. That is the answer I was looking for in this book.
My rating is 4.5 stars. It narrowly misses the full 5-star rating because there were times (just a few) when the text became too scientific and long winded, particularly from the voice of the ‘Fig Tree’.
The extra half star is awarded for my first ‘buddy read’ with my GRs friend Marge Moen: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2.... This enjoyable process deserves its own 5 stars. Marge and I were united in our enthusiasm for ‘The Island of Missing Trees’ and I gained a lot more from it through exploring it through exchanges of ideas....more
I’m probably one of only a few Goodreaders who has arrived late to the Crawdads party!
Knowing the ending from watching the movie was a bummer, but doI’m probably one of only a few Goodreaders who has arrived late to the Crawdads party!
Knowing the ending from watching the movie was a bummer, but doing it as a buddy read with @Marge Moen made up for that. I vicariously experienced Marge’s fresh take on this story and apologised for exchanging some of my ideas in the ‘Southern drawl’, which is prevalent throughout the text. Mine came off more like a Scottish-come-Irish accent…
Standout for me were the brilliant one-liners about North Carolina’s flora and fauna: ‘Autumn leaves don’t fall: they fly.’ ‘It was a gray-sky day, and fingers of fog flirted with the waves.’
Enjoyed this one, but lesson learned about not going in cold. I envy Marge’s 5-star enthusiasm....more
A well-known and, in many cases, a much-loved novel.
I struggled with the first 100 pages (as did my buddy reader, Marge Moen) but soldiered on (as didA well-known and, in many cases, a much-loved novel.
I struggled with the first 100 pages (as did my buddy reader, Marge Moen) but soldiered on (as did Marge) thinking the detailed theological and zoological passages were skilfully setting up some kind of resolution for the remaining storyline. This didn’t happen for me, or it was obscure, or I completely missed it, therefore such a disconnection was a little baffling.
The element of human survival under duress was strong. There are metaphors and hidden meanings that could be discussed and analysed at length, but the danger of that is to strip away the overall enjoyment of the novel, unless it’s an educative text.
That said, as a whole it was a good read and some of the descriptions of nature in its beauty and fury were breathtaking: “There were many seas. The sea roared like a tiger. The sea whispered in your ear like a friend telling you secrets. The sea clinked liked small change in a pocket. The sea thundered like avalanches. The sea hissed like sandpaper working on wood. The sea sounded like someone vomiting. The sea was dead silent.”
A satisfying read, old sport! Pink suits, bright yellow cars, duck egg-blue dresses, jazz, outlandish decadence, peacock feathers and endless champagneA satisfying read, old sport! Pink suits, bright yellow cars, duck egg-blue dresses, jazz, outlandish decadence, peacock feathers and endless champagne place a veil over the background of snobbery, greed and moral decay.
Baz Luhrmann dazzled with his 2013 adaptation. At the time, I thought it was typical Luhrmann ‘over-the-top’, delightful entertainment, but after reading the novella I see he got it spot on.
The Great Gatsby is not without some faults. I’ve shared my reservations about hints of antisemitism with my buddy reader, Marge Moen. I read articles and essays on this, most pointing to F. Scott Fitzgerald simply writing what was reflected in American society in the early 1900s. One could debate this until the cows come home, old sport!
Sometimes researching the background of novels can cloud the sum of all its parts, so I left it there and just enjoyed the read....more
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