Archive for November, 2010

FREEDOM by Jonathan Franzen

It’s been years since a novel’s impact was so colossal that I was unable to pick up and focus on another novel one, two, four–even twenty-four hours after closing the book. The force of Franzen’s characters, particularly Patty Berglund, pierced me with such legion intensity that I am temporarily ruined for the next book. I apologize for the lack of restraint in my accolades–that which is diametrically opposed to Franzen’s utterly fluid and immaculate prose, his graceful, poised restraint.

November 7, 2010 · Judi Clark · One Comment
Tags: , , ,  Â· Posted in: 2010 Favorites, Contemporary, Literary, y Award Winning Author

A SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR by Mark Helprin

Alessandro Giuliani is listening to field guns being tested in Munich in 1914, the year before Italy entered the War against Germany and Austria. Although mostly interested in the visual arts, Alessandro should know about music and beauty of all kinds; as a Professor of Aesthetics, it is his metier. But he learns about it the hard way. When the war breaks out, he is just about to take his doctorate at the University of Bologna. He volunteers for the Italian navy in the hope of avoiding conscription into the trenches, but he ends up in some of the worst fighting of the war nonetheless, facing the Austrians across the river Isonzo.

November 6, 2010 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , , , , ,  Â· Posted in: Facing History, Literary, World Lit

THE LAST RUN by Greg Rucka

THE LAST RUN, by Greg Rucka, is the third in his Queen and Country series featuring Tara Chace, a tough-minded and fiercely independent protagonist. Chace’s life has not been a walk in the park. She had to grow up quickly; her parents separated when she was ten years old. She was forced to leave her home in Switzerland and attend an English boarding school. During her last year in Cambridge, she was recruited by Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service. Tara agreed to join the Firm as a fledgling spy who, thanks to her sharp mind, fluency in four languages, and incredibly quick learning curve, became a Minder or Special Operations Officer. She learned every aspect of tradecraft, but even her consummate skill did not protect her from being “stripped, beaten, tortured, and nearly raped in Uzbekistan.” She survived, and managed to work her way up Head of Section for the SIS, under the supervision of Paul Crocker, Director of Operations.

November 5, 2010 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Sleuths Series, Thriller/Spy/Caper, United Kingdom

PORTOBELLO by Ruth Rendell

Prolific mystery writer Ruth Rendell’s work can be divided into two categories: the Inspector Wexford novels and her psychological novels. PORTOBELLO falls into the latter category and fans of Ruth Rendell know what to expect. The novel concentrates on the poisoned lives of a handful of characters who are connected to London’s Portobello Road, and these characters are as varied and colourful as the district itself. Rendell brings her characters together with her usual skill–although the heavy reliance on coincidence argues against the idea that London is, after all, a city of millions of people.

November 4, 2010 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , , ,  Â· Posted in: Class - Race - Gender, Mystery/Suspense, United Kingdom, y Award Winning Author

A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan

In Jennifer’s Egan’s lively and inventive novel – A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD – each of its characters feels his or her mortality. Each is a in a tenuous danse-a-deux with “the goon.”

Every chapter is told from a different character’s point of view and it is no accident that the novel starts with Sasha – the assistant of music producer Bennie Salazar, one of the key focal points. Sasha has sticky fingers and is constantly pirating away meaningless objects to compose “the warped core of her life.” These objects serve as talismans, placing her at arm’s length from the love she wants.

November 3, 2010 · Judi Clark · One Comment
Tags: , ,  Â· Posted in: 2011 Favorites, Contemporary, Humorous, National Book Critic Circle (NBCC), Pulitzer Prize, Reading Guide, Satire, y Award Winning Author

THE HANDBOOK OF LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS by Michele Young-Stone

Michele Young-Stone’s debut novel, THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHNING STRIKE SURVIVORS has, at its premise, the impact of lightning strikes on people and their loved ones. It is primarily about a young woman named Becca who comes from a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic mother and a philandering father. It is also about Buckley who loves his mother very much but is filled with guilt and remorse about his life.

November 2, 2010 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: ,  Â· Posted in: Contemporary, Debut Novel, Family Matters, Humorous, New York City, US South