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Just finished "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes. It's a short book that won the 2011 Man Booker prize. Barnes is a wonderful writer but I can't say I really enjoyed this book. It started slowly when dealing with the protagonist's youth and picked up later in the book when dealing with the same character in retirement. The ending was surprising and I felt a little cheated because it wasn't at all what I expected. I'd give it three stars for the writing alone.
Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.
Quoting myself -- something I never do -- to say that I'm upping my rating of this book to 4 stars. I suspect it will take re-reading to fully understand its subtlety. A story of self-examination, settling, reflection and regrets, which on reflection, made me think about how I've lived my life. I now understand why it was awarded the Booker. Pretty masterful, and I'll read more of Barnes' books.
Finally read The Shell Seekers.
It would have been a much better book if drastically shortened.
The author did not improve the story by listing every flower, bush and weed in every garden happened upon or what everybody was wearing every time they appeared.
Those types of descriptions were vastly overdone and made many parts totally skippable.
The story itself was not good enough to overcome this annoyance for 654 pages.
Finally read The Shell Seekers.
It would have been a much better book if drastically shortened.
The author did not improve the story by listing every flower, bush and weed in every garden happened upon or what everybody was wearing every time they appeared.
Those types of descriptions were vastly overdone and made many parts totally skippable.
The story itself was not good enough to overcome this annoyance for 654 pages.
Same problem with James Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans, which I read a chapter of about every other month.
...The author did not improve the story by listing every flower, bush and weed in every garden happened upon or what everybody was wearing every time they appeared.
That's why I could never get through James Michener's Hawaii.
Do you enjoy reading about friendship, gardening/flowers, cooking, food, feminism, and good--and not-so-good martial relationships?? With a goodly pinch of mystery thrown into the mix??
Me, too.
That's why I LOVED the book I just finished last night--Recipe for a Perfect Wife--by Karma Brown. A novel.
That's why I could never get through James Michener's Hawaii.
I definitely get that.. I thought the 1966 movie version gives a good distillation of a couple chapters.
I read Michener's Chesapeake; there is a lot of detailed minutiae & background.. but a reader definitely gets their money's worth.
I am reading Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation 25 years after everyone else did. Took it from my mother's house after she died, and picked it off the shelf the other day.
Before that, I read two Harlan Coben novels. He's local to where I lived, but I never read any of his books. Very entertaining mysteries with a lot of twists.
oh my! I too just finished The Shell Seekers. It took me a while to get around to it because of the length but I actually thought it was very well done. Yes there were lots of descriptives but I honestly was less bothered by it in this book than I usually am. I thought about it and wasn't really sure what could have been pared down. I thought it was beautifully written and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I rate it 4.5 stars. I will at some point read more by the author.
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