All Consuming : pcyclepath

Consumed "Becoming Strangers"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Sat, 30 May 2009 09:25:16 GMT

Becoming Strangers

by Louise Dean

NOT WORTH IT!

A story about "The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born (African Writers)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:52:17 GMT

The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born (African Writers)

by Ayi Kwei Armah

Gave up mid way, perhaps I’ll try again in the future (yeah, right).

A story about "Diary of a Bad Year"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:50:45 GMT

Diary of a Bad Year

by J. M. Coetzee

Had to make an effort to finish this one, will try his older stuff to see if I like it better

A story about "The Famished Road"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:12:12 GMT

The Famished Road

by Ben Okri

The world is full of riddles only the dead can answer. I’d like to educate myself about Nigeria its history and traditions and re-read this novel.

A story about "Get a Life"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:50:05 GMT

Get a Life

by Nadine Gordimer

Convoluted prose and no sense of direction. I love Gordimer’s older works but this novel was just irritating. I so much wanted to enjoy this, but after many akward sentences turned paragraphs I gave up, coulnd’t get pass page 51.

A story about "The God Delusion"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:21:36 GMT

The God Delusion

by Richard Dawkins

I’ve been an atheist for many years, and I didn’t enjoy this book. Hard to tell exactly why, but I felt as he was trying to enlist me in some cult of atheism or something. Guess what, I don’t like being preached at. And couldn’t he be more concise? Some bits felt like endless rants. I found this book a bit irritating and gave up mid way.

A story about "Captain Corelli's Mandolin"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:42:22 GMT

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

by Louis de Bernieres

Forgot to write an entry for this one. Actually I found this book so boring I could not get past the first chapter. If I’m not intrigued by page 3 I usually give up (life is too short) but this one I read until page 20 or 30 since it won the Commonwealth Writers Prize Best Book Award.

A story about "Coalescent: A Novel (Destiny's Children (Paperback))"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:21:50 GMT

Coalescent: A Novel (Destiny's Children (Paperback))

by Stephen Baxter

At first it was interesting to read about Roman Britain BUT but but I found the description of modern Rome by one of the characters so annoying if the book was mine I would gladly throw it in the fireplace. Sadly I had to return it intact to my friend so I just put it aside.
Things to remember:
1. I got this one from J, the same J that insisted on lending me “the time travellers wife”, another waste of time. Avoid recommendations from J in the future.
2. I should just avoid SCI-FI, obviously it’s not my cuppa.

A story about "Disgrace"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:30:27 GMT

Disgrace

by J. M. Coetzee

Mixed feelings about this one. The main character is an idiot, but is portrayed in a way that you can somehow walk his shoes. I mean I’m not middle-aged, I’m not even a man… but I could sometimes sympathize with the disgraced-lecturer. As for his daughter: even though she suffers the main blow I simply couldn’t care less for her, I found her so irritating. Interesting to go through the reviews at Amazon.co.uk, some people read a lot into this book… well I’m not one of them. After reading this one I was so surprised to learn Coetzee is a Nobel laureate writer.. I might try another of his novels in the future.

A story about "Purple Hibiscus: A Novel"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 14:57:46 GMT

Purple Hibiscus: A Novel

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Unpredictable story, told by teenager Kambili, about growing up, escape and discovery. I could not put this book down.

A story about "When Things of the Spirit Come First"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:12:55 GMT

When Things of the Spirit Come First

by Simone De Beauvoir

Describing one of the characters: ”...there was nothing commonplace or trifling about this young man; the least thing he said was so exactly right and so directly to the point that one felt like crying “touché”.”

A story about "Under the Net"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:08:50 GMT

Under the Net

by Iris Murdoch

“What is urgent is not urgent forever but only ephemerally. All work and all love, the search for wealth and fame, the search for truth, life itself, are made up of moments which pass and become nothing. Yet through this shaft of nothings we drive onwards with that miraculous vitality that creates our precarious habitations in the past and the future” so wrote Iris Murdoch in 1954.

A story about "The Man Of Fifty (Hesperus Classics)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 17:26:03 GMT

The Man Of Fifty (Hesperus Classics)

by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Fascinating novella, never tought of Goethe as a “page turner”. But what a disappointing finish.

A story about "Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 17:21:50 GMT

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

by Neil Gaiman

I was in a foreign country and this was the only book available at the time, so I read it from cover to cover… it took me weeks. There is a lesson for me here: never travel again without options. This seems to be a cult book, well… different strokes for different folks. I’m staying well clear of both writers from now on.

A story about "The Cloudspotter's Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 17:10:34 GMT

The Cloudspotter's Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds

by Gavin Pretor-Pinney

I had to give this one up. I’d rather carry on looking up in blissfull ignorance than to go through this load of waffle.

A story about "Forever and Ever Amen"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 07:16:26 GMT

Forever and Ever Amen

by Joe Pemberton

I usually enjoy stories about immigration and growing up in a different culture but this was not that great. Each chapter starts with some witty remark or interesting phrase, sadly in most cases I found the chapter title more interesting than the chapter itself. It’s about this child from a West Indies background growing up in Manchester in the 60s.

A story about "Piano"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:28:17 GMT

Piano

by Jean Echenoz

This was excellent, a real page turner. The second movement was a bit too slow, but still.

A story about "The Time Traveler's Wife"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 11:01:09 GMT

The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

At first the story was interesting but after page 150 or so it got very repetitive. Man keeps travelling in time and visiting his wife (and himself) at different ages. They take turns to tell the reader ALL about they empty lifes in great detail: what they eat, wear, how they have sex (what goes where), the name of the streets they drive through, the restaurants they like to visit, how well-read and cultured they both are etc. Narrative of both characters reads equally the same, despite both coming from very different backgrounds. If their names were missing from the start of the chapter the reader coulnd’t tell who was narrating the story. Characters were dull selfish and pretentions; midway through this book I couldn’t care less about their fate.

A story about "Psiquiatras, Psicologos y Otros Enfermos (Psychiatrists, Psychologist and Other Patients)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 10:19:55 GMT

Psiquiatras, Psicologos y Otros Enfermos (Psychiatrists, Psychologist and Other Patients)

by Rodrigo Munoz Avia

Diverssante y interetido :)

A story about "How to Be Good"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 07:03:40 GMT

How to Be Good

by Nick Hornby

Rubbish. I could not finish this drivel.

A story about "Haweswater"

nobody@allconsuming.net (pcyclepath) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 11:02:42 GMT

Haweswater

by Sarah Hall

This book won the commonwealth prize for best first book. Inspired by the building of Haweswater reservoir, this novel deals with the effects of this project on the small communinity that has to move to make way to Haweswater.

The dialogs are written in a way such way to transmit the local accent: “Git yasil’ inside fust. ‘Twasn’t easy, all tell y’that fer nowt” etc. I find this a bit annoying. I was reading the reviews at amazon.co.uk (everyone seems to love this book!) and one reviewer was enchanted by Sarah Hall’s use of figurative language. The constante use of metaphors and similes was a bit too much for me.

I wasn’t enjoying this book very much but persevered to the end – big mistake, the ending is really awful. This book is a downer.