tarendz's 2011 attempt

1. 7 days in the world of art by thorntonsarah::Sarah Thornton
2. 26a by Diana Evans
3. De eenzaamheid van de priemgetallen by Paolo Giordano
4. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Welcome! You can read about most of ushere. Have a good reading year!

Welcome!

Thanks, mamzel & drneutron!

I'll check out the introduction right now.

Right now I'm reading A Far Country by Daniel Mason. So far, I haven't really managed to get into it (am now on p. 30). Has anyone here read it, and knows if it is worth plowing further?

Welcome! I was wondering what you though of 26a as I have it here and have started it a couple of times but I don't think I was in the right headspace for it. It keeps pulling me back for another go..

Welcome back!

@ alcottacre: thanks!
@ KiwiNyx: I had the exact same thing! I got it as a present from my sister, but it was lying on my window sill for almost a year. However, when I started it for real (as opposed to stopping around page 13 for about 13 times, which I had done before that) I started to really like it. Though it's about quite a large family, there is a certain stillness to it, everyone seems cut off from each other and as soon as I was feeling that isolation, I was curious to know where that would lead... So I guess my advice is: bear with it for a little bit longer, and if you stil don't like it by page 50, just put it away!

5. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Finished The Time Traveler's Wife on the train to Berlin... Lovely train reading. I left A Far Country at home, since it's a hard-cover edition, but I did want to tell you all that I'm half-way now and I'm starting to get into it... will keep you posted.

#10: I liked The Time Traveler's Wife too. I hope you enjoy The Far Country. I have not heard of that one. I look forward to your review.

#8 How bizarre, perhaps it is just the first few pages that aren't written as well as they could be. I wonder how many other people have given up on it, now I'm determined to persevere, thanks for that.

6. A Far Country by Daniel Mason
#11: I will put on a tiny review later today!

#12: Glad I could be of help... I really hope you'll enjoy it too and am curious what you'll think of it!

Some thoughts on A Far Country by Daniel Mason:

At first I thought the book was rather slow; nothing much happens. In fact, the pace never quickens, but you do get used to the Latin-American rhythm - if it is Latin American, because the country isn't specified. However, there are so many references to saints and droughts that a country like Brazil comes to mind.
I look at the novel as a coming-of-age story. We follow Isabel from her childhood years into young womanhood. There's something mysterious about Isabel, something that keeps on simmering but never really gets to a boiling point - I didn't like that. I would have liked a dramatic conclusion, which you don't get. What I did like, however, is the vivid way in which Mason describes things through Isabel's eyes, such as this scene:

"In the north, it was easy to look for someone's presence; dust gathered quickly and smells were everywhere. She knew when a hammock had laat been slept in by the stretch in the cotton, the presence of dried insects in its concavity, whether grit had settled on the hammock hook and eyehole. By the moisture in the surface of the cornmeal or the gleam on a mango pit, she knew when someone had last eaten."

This scene made me think about whether there are still people in the western world who spend their life in such an unchanging environment that they simply know everything so well. I sometimes suspect one of my flatmates has used my shampoo or toothpaste, but am never sure that they have, because I don't even remember where I put them exactly or how empty they were when I last used them.

(Not that I mind if they use them, using other people's stuff when you have had no time to shop is one of the major benefits of flat-sharing - I'm just curious.)

7. Danny, champion of the world by Roald Dahl (audiobook read by Timothy West)

Lovely! Listened to this book in the car, and West's voice is just perfect to read Roald Dahl - it's almost as if you hear the author himself.

#16: I have not read that one by Dahl yet. I will have to see if my local library has the audio version.

#17: I hope it does, it's really marvellous!

Tarendz, I loved The Time Traveler's Wife, but of course, found the movie a disappointment. I am glad it made your travels enjoyable.

#19: I still have to see the movie! (Or not, perhaps...) Is it a disappointment in the way most film versions of novels are disappointments, or is it simply a really bad movie?

#19 I believe I would have liked the movie better if I had not read the book, which is often the case. The movie is well made and acted. If I recall correctly, the story is altered a little in the movie which I find frustrating.

#21 Thanks, I'll wait a bit to forget the details of the book, and then I'll rent it!

Okay... just to keep you posted... I have to finish a project at work right now, so I don't have much time to read, but I'm half-way Unless by Carol Shields and The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson.

I hope your work project is over soon so you can get back to your books - you know, the important things in life :)

#23 I hate it when life gets in the way of my reading! I hope all goes well.

I find it hard to believe that anyone enjoyed the book more than the movie. Even as I was READING the book, I knew it would be much clearer and a LOT less confusing as a movie. At the time that I read it, I had to FORCE myself to finish it and wrote a review on Amazon, indicating that it was absolutely the very worst book I have ever read. It was awful and I think she did some really unnecessary things in the book that fortunately were focused on as much in the movie. I utterly hated the book, but always wondered if the movie pulled it off better than the book. In MY opinion it outstripped the book by miles and miles and miles.

I have not used this website before and thought I was commenting on mks27's remarks about The Time Traveler's Wife. Message 26 is referring to that book.

#26 & 28: That's OK! You can always put the number of the message you're referring too in front of your comment (as I did here).

8. The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson

I finished The Finkler Question a few weeks ago, but I was so busy (I have changed jobs and moved to a different town) that I had no time to post it!
Am now half-way The Book Thief, which had been on my tbr pile for ages (I think it was recommended to me in the 2009 challenge) When I suddenly saw it on my sister's shelves, I thought it must be a sign, so I immediately borrowed it, and I love it!

9. Europese Mandarijnen by Derk-Jan Eppink

10. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

11. South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami

#30 Glad you loved The Book Thief - I did too.

Odd coincidence, my sister also saw The Book Thief on my shelves last week and borrowed it.

I'm really *really* behind on threads, and trying to work my way through, so this is a very late response, but I can't help myself (boy, run-on sentence much?): Danny the Champion of the World is my absolute favorite Dahl book! Thanks for the audio rec - that would be a great one to just keep in the car for occasional listens!

#36 As you can see, I'm also very much behind on threads... even on my own. I hope you'll enjoy the audiobook as muc has I do!

Did you like The Finkler Question? I did, but have seen a big range of views on here!

I loved Danny the Champion of the world when I was a kid and must read it with our 7 year old soon.

12. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
13. Skippy Dies, Part 1: Hopeland by Paul Murray
14. Skippy Dies, Part 2: Heartland by Paul Murray
15. Skippy Dies, Part 3: Ghostland by Paul Murray
16. Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh

17. Ik ben niet bang by Niccolo Ammaniti

#38: cushlareads, this is a bit of a late response, but I hope it's helpful anyway: I found The Finkler Question very well written, but reading it felt a bit like work. Its main character is somewhat pathetic, and even though that is a nice enough point to start from, his inability to view reality the way the other characters do started to get very, very much on my nerves towards the end.

Trying to catch up to you! How did I get so far behind?

I am also one who enjoyed The Finkler Question.

#42: It's very nice of to you to wonder about that, but I think the fact that I hadn't posted anything in over a month might have had something to do with that... ;)

18. Lijmen/Het Been by Willem Elsschot

#43: It is a distinct possibility. . .

19. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst

20. Chocolat by Joanne Harris

#47: To my surprise I very much enjoyed Chocolat. Did you like the book?

#48: Yes, I loved the story and its atmosphere! Especially so since I'm going to France at the end of the month, I'm so looking forward to it...

Unfortunately, I read part of Chocolat when my car had broken down (around dinner time) and I had to wait for road service for hours, sitting in my car by the side of the highway, in the rain, feeling as if
could eat the entire stock in the basement of La Praline.

I am glad you enjoyed the book so much despite the circumstances under which you read it!

#41 Tarendz, it sounds like we had similar feelings - by the end the main character was really getting unbearable, but overall I enjoyed the book. But parts did feel like work.

Have fun in France!

21. Het Innovatieplatform by Frans Nauta

22. The Reserve by Russel Banks
23. Het Familieportret by Jenna Blum
24. Le Petit Nicholas by Sempé-Goscinny
25. The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry

Congratulations on hitting 25 books for the year!

Thank you!! That magical number made me think it's only 1/3 of 75... and we're way past 1/3 of the year :( But I am enjoying myself; am now reading The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst, and it's very addictive.

Enjoying yourself is the important part, not the numbers!

Thanks for your support :)

And here's my next read:

26. Path of Dalliance by Auberon Waugh

Found this one in someone else's (long forgotten) collection and was very excited; last year I read Alec Waugh's autiobiography of his family and since I'm very fond of Evelyn Waugh, I was quite curious to find out what the rest of the family had written, but I found it very hard to track down any of it. It didn't disappoint; in wit it reminded me very strongly of his more famous family member, but it is funny to see the same 'type' of story (young men; Oxford setting) take place in the sixties.

#57: I will have to give Path of Dalliance a shot some time. Thanks for the recommendation!

27. Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

thanks

28. Onvoorspelbaar Verleden by Wim Kratsborn
29. The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst
30. À Mélie, sans mélo by Barbara Constantine
31. City of Glass by Paul Auster
32. De Bestuurlijke Kaart van Europa by Anna van der Vleuten

33. The Best Short Stories of Thomas Hardy by Thomas Hardy

34. Ghosts by Paul Auster
35. The Locked Room by Paul Auster
36. Saladedagen by Knof

37. Mogelijkheid van een eiland by Michel Houellebecq
38. Het kindje dat in de stal geboren werd by Coos Covens

39. The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan
40. De Zaak 40-61 by Harry Mulisch

And that's my final score for this year...