Books I read in January 1998, and comments:
Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett (Good)
The Fallen Man, by Tony Hillerman (OK)
Sphere, by Michael Crichton (Feeble)
All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy (Best of the Month)
Piece of Cake, by Derek Robinson (Good)
Les fleurs du mal, by Charles Baudelaire (OK)
Enigma, by Robert Harris (Very Good)
Out of Sight, by Elmore Leonard (Very Good)
Undaunted Courage, by Stephen E. Ambrose (Painful)
In the Loyal Mountains, (short stories) by Rick Bass (Good)
The Deep End of the Ocean, by Jacquelyn Mitchard (A Good Tear-jerker)
I'm surprised I didn't rate Pillars of the Earth higher when I first read it. I've read it probably twice since then. Undaunted Courage is the story of Lewis and Clark's journey; it tells graphically about Merriwether Lewis's shooting himself then wandering around trying to get help, and that part was almost unbearable. Those Lewises had a crazy streak.
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I really enjoyed the book club meeting yesterday. Hope everyone else did. Seven members attended, which is a good-sized meeting, no one had to leave early, and Betty won the modest door prize. We had a good time.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Ten Years Ago, A.D.
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3 comments:
Am I the only person in the world who thought All the Pretty Horses was the boringest book ever? All they did was ride those horses around. I can't remember a lot happening.
Oh, P.S.: Book club was great. Sorry I hadn't read the book.
I have a couple of other Derek Robinson novels if you're interested -- War Story is the best. It's set in WWI, and if you are interested in air combat in that era (hint, hint), it's a must. It's as good as Piece of Cake, but shorter and very tightly written.
Can't find my copy of The Maltese Falcon. But I did find a 22-minute long radio adaptation of the movie, with the voices of Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor and Sydney Greenstreet. It's at this address:
http://www.bogieonline.com/houseofsquibbthemaltesefalcon.htm
Glad your club meeting went well.
Jed
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