Book recommendations, please

[Penelope]

The books I read in 2007:


1. The Vintner’s Luck (Elizabeth Knox; 1998) -- ****
2. Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe; 1959) -- ****
3. The Known World (Edward P. Jones; 2004) -- ****
4. The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln (Sean Wilentz; 2005) -- ****
5. Atonement (Ian McEwan; 2002) -- ****
6. Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883 (Simon Winchester; 2003) -- ****
7. Under Fire (Henri Barbusse; 1916) -- ****
8. The Jungle (Upton Sinclair; 1906) -- ****
9. The Decameron (Giovanni Boccaccio; 1353) -- ****

10. When the King Took Flight (Timothy Tackett; 2003) -- *** ½
11. Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (Thomas E. Ricks; 2006) -- *** ½
12. The Leatherwood God (William Dean Howells; 1916) -- *** ½
13. The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government (David K. Johnson; 2004) -- *** ½
14. Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, The First Labor Movement and the Bombing that Divided Gilded Age America (James Green; 2006) -- *** ½
15. Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines, Hollywood’s First Openly Gay Star (William J. Mann; 1998) -- *** ½
16. Sister Carrie (Theodore Dreiser; 1900) -- *** ½
17. France and the French: A Modern History (Rod Kedward; 2005) -- *** ½
18. Passing (Nella Larsen; 1929) -- *** ½
19. A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888/1889 (Fredric Morton; 1979) -- *** ½
20. Sons and Lovers (D.H. Lawrence; 1913) -- *** ½

21. A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole; 1981) -- ***
22. The Collector (John Fowles; 1963) -- ***
23. Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates; 1961) -- ***
24. Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy (Diana Preston; 2002) -- ***
25. Captain Blood (Rafael Sabatini; 1921) -- ***
26. The Devil in the White City (Erik Larson; 2003) -- ***
27. A Short History of Byzantium (John Julius Norwich; 1997)-- ***
28. So Big (Edna Ferber; 1924) -- ***

29. Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia (Karl E. Meyer, Shareen Blair Brysac; 1999) -- ** ½
30. The End of Faith (Sam Harris; 2004) -- ** ½



Edited By Penelope on 1198812107

[kaytodd]

Just finished Ballad Of The Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein. It has been recommended by others on this board and for good reason. One of the most entertaining nonfiction books I have read in a long time. It takes place during the years when Communism was coming to an end in Hungary. Atilla Ambrus is a very interesting character. A terrible professional hockey goalie who would get paid rarely. He turns to robbing banks to supplement his income, getting drunk before each robbery to build his courage. He got away with it for several years, becoming a folk hero and one of the most famous people in Hungary. One reason for his success was the remarkable attention to detail he showed in the planning of each robbery. Another was the shortcomings of law enforcement in Hungary during that time. The police are hardworking but lack the resources to be effective. Many of their efforts to discover the identity of the "Whiskey Robber" (also known as the "Gentleman Bandit" for, among other reasons, giving flowers to female bank tellers during robberies) did make me laugh. The Wild West atmosphere of post-Communist Hungary, and the rest of Eastern Europe, is another interesting feature of this book. A very enjoyable read, highly recommended.



Edited By kaytodd on 1197432409

[flipp525]

Grief, Andrew Holleran's elegiac 2007 novella about growing old, confronting death and grief, gay men surviving the AIDS epidemic and the tragedy of Mary Todd Lincoln, is such a compelling and authentic character study, it's hard to imagine that it's only fiction. A perfect companion to Joan Didion's non-fiction masterpiece The Year of Magical Thinking, Grief takes its reader through a journey of self-discovery and the redemptive power of community. Set in Washington D.C.'s Dupont Circle, the story follows an older professor who takes a room in another man's house during a teaching assignment in the city. Having just buried his mother, who had several unresolved issues with his sexuality, he delves into the tomb-like graveyard that is D.C., its historical ghosts and its modern-day contrast of rush and solitude. Using the gay neighborhood of Dupont as a primary setting, Holleran takes the reader to various spots of local interest in addition to detailing the bars like a Lonely Planet guidebook (you can get a free drink if you take your shirt off at the Green Lantern on Thursday nights -- which is true!). However, the most compelling parts of the book are the sections where the main character finds solace in his readings of Mary Todd Lincoln's letters, a woman who embodied grief to the point of a lifestyle choice. His final realization about Mary Todd's place in the world is well worth the enitre book. Highly recommended, especially to anyone who survived Stonewall and the AIDS epidemic -- a group whose trailblazing has made my generation's advantages and freedom possible.



Edited By flipp525 on 1196281772

[The Original BJ]

I would like to thank kaytodd for the recommendation of The Circus in Winter. What a lovely, touching book! Ms. Day has clearly done her research -- it helps that she grew up in a circus town like Lima -- because the book's sense of time and place is terrific. Her stories are humorous, inventive, and very moving. Definitely recommended.

[Okri]

Oh, he kinda does. I don't think Macbeth is a very good character and haven't found many convincing interpretations, so that was admittedly faint praise (I also haven't seen the legendary Ian McKellan/Judi Dench production on film from the late 70's, but I'd probably disqualify it on the grounds that it's a filmed stage play).

[Damien]

I also think he's the best Macbeth I've ever seen on film/TV.

Really? Wow. I would think he'd come across as Mickey Beth.

[The Original BJ]

Okri, I am glad to hear "the word" has not been excised -- that's definitely a plot point that hinges on specific verbiage, and one your average winter prestige film might easily have done away with.

I wouldn't have necessarily thought James McAvoy for Robbie (I agree with Damien on his Last King of Scotland perf), but he's one of the aspects of the trailer I thought really worked: I had no problem buying him as romantic hero, especially because his character is supposed to be a little geeky.

Also, I'd NEVER thought I'd say this, but I think Cecilia has been perfectly cast. She's pretty but in a plain way, educated but hardly intelligent, classy but vaguely dull...hello, Keira Knightley!

[cam]

I can't wait for McEvoy in Frost/Nixon.

[Okri]

To me, McEvoy is a total geek, and not the inherently romantic figure that is Robbie. (This actor's non-charisma meant his character made no sense in Last King of Scotland.) Surely at the RSC or elsewhere in the world of British theatre, there was a more appropriate Robbie.

I disagree. I loved his performance in Last King of Scotland. It was just so rambunctious and alive - it worked for me. I also think he's the best Macbeth I've ever seen on film/TV.

[Penelope]

but I have to agree with Mister Tee on this one - I thought McAvoy was perfect casting.

To me, McEvoy is a total geek, and not the inherently romantic figure that is Robbie. (This actor's non-charisma meant his character made no sense in Last King of Scotland.) Surely at the RSC or elsewhere in the world of British theatre, there was a more appropriate Robbie.

Oh, I find McAvoy very sexy, although I agree that he wasn't the image of Robbie I conjured when I read the book (I was thinking a huskier fellow, like a young Alan Bates--funny you should mention The Go-Between).

(By the by, McAvoy was in Chicago over the summer filming a movie with Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie; La Jolie was only in town for 2 weeks, but she was here with Brad and it was BIG news; conversely, McAvoy was in town for most of the summer, and I swear he jogged by me early one morning on my way to work.)

[Damien]

but I have to agree with Mister Tee on this one - I thought McAvoy was perfect casting.

To me, McEvoy is a total geek, and not the inherently romantic figure that is Robbie. (This actor's non-charisma meant his character made no sense in Last King of Scotland.) Surely at the RSC or elsewhere in the world of British theatre, there was a more appropriate Robbie.

[Okri]

re: Atonement

I quite loved the war section (the trudging repetitiveness affected me on a gut level, and Robbie's plight was just devastating to me). The character's name is Robbie, fwiw (not Jamie), but I have to agree with Mister Tee on this one - I thought McAvoy was perfect casting. And the ending destroyed me.

I read somewhere that Joe Wright/Christopher Hampton had to fight to get the "word" (you know which one I mean) in the film, so I definitely see where you're coming from. That said, I adored the trailer (European one over American).

[abcinyvr]

From reading the novel, it seems that the movie could be part of an ideal double bill with Joseph Losey's masterfl The Go-Between (of which McEwan was surely aware, if not the novel then certainly the film).

"I must read The Go-Between (repeat) I must read the Go-Between" It's on my long list that I take to the bookstores and yet I still have not read it..

[abcinyvr]

Might we be in for another Beloved -- a film I liked, but which, for all its merits, couldn't remotely approach on screen the formal mastery and depth of the novel on the page?

Oh my god no. I loved Beloved but had not read the book - still have not. Atonement, the film, will not disappoint you so don't waste any of your time worrying. With any film that is being annointed months before it's release there will always be those who point out the possibilities of failure of expectations.

[kaytodd]

Just finished a first-rate crime novel, The Night Gardener by George Pellecanos. I have never seen the HBO show The Wire but if this guy is the main person responsible for that series it must be an interesting and gripping one. This book is filled with interesting and complex characters, both inside and outside the law, speaking realistic sounding dialogue. The setting is so vivid I feel like I spent several days living in the working class sections of Washington D.C. It is a suspenseful story about a serial killer who is targeting children in a working class neighborhood. It is also a moving story about the police officers investigating these crimes, their families, and the families in the neighborhoods where the killings are taking place.



Edited By kaytodd on 1195694850