Ford Allison
I was confused. But some of my favorite books people say need a reader's guide bigger than the book itself. I don't think this was the case with The History of Love, I read it the same way I did Gravity's Rainbow, i.e. really confused but really engrossed. I kinda got it in the end. But damn...if you are gonna read it...try not to get distracted...it flips around like that 3 foot ocean going salmon you caught once, but no one else was there to see.
After scanning the rest of the reviews here, I'm glad that my planned first line actually makes sense to someone other than just me: Almost anything I could say about this book would be a spoiler. (Even that is a spoiler)
So I won't talk about the story. I had no idea it was generally categorized as “Young Adult” or “Teen” fiction when I checked it out and I didn't read it as such. I'm not anywhere near a “young adult” anymore...but golly, I do remember that time period a little too clearly.
This is a serious question, would any of you classify Catcher in the Rye as purely for “young adults”?
I loved it. I was laughing AND crying, I like that kind of book in between the stale 12-grain rye.
This was written in a style I just could not get into. I will add though that I haven't read anything else by Coetzee. I did not know I was starting a semi-autobiographical when I picked it up. Summertime might very well be GREAT if you have a previous knowledge of Coetzee's work. I say this because the entire novel seems to be trying to explain the reasons behind his general fiction writing. I guess I need to read something else by him to put this particular piece of work into frame.
Refreshing to read a modern(non-colonial) piece of fiction out of India. Slums, massive rural corruption, American's seeking enlightenment and rapid econosocial change from outsourcing. It took some time getting used to the format, a letter to the Premier of China about the true India. The first installment seems to seek to pile-drive this dynamic into you so that you don't forget it for the rest of the novel and I almost stopped reading. I waited though and it settled into a proper narrative that was enjoyable.
Enjoyable...Like a half waking dream. The ones you write yourself in the early morning waiting for the alarm clock to go off?
You know that lack of continuity? The dream you just keep pushing along?
In that sense this novel is a blank slate. Read it, and lay your own half waking dream rambling over it. Good times.
Wonderfully descriptive short stories set in the brutally beautiful landscapes of Tierra del Fuego. Harsh descriptions of how this desolate landscape, sat between two hammers, the sea and the Andes, crushes all humanity before the west wind comes through to blow away the dust. I would have to believe that these stories have strongly influenced the writing of Cormac McCarthy.
A beautiful read, and I really, really want to go to Tierra del Fuego now.
