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#24946 |
Wizard
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Karma: 429063498
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Mauritius
Device: Kindle Paperwhite 4
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I finished reading Far from the Madding Crowd. Below is my review:-
For my O Level year, I had to make a choice. Either take English literature as my option, or take Hindi. I took the latter. Had I taken the former, I would have read Far From The Madding Crowd in my teens. Now I'm in my late thirties. The mistake of passing over English Lit has been rectified, if only partly. I remember noticing my friends taking a hefty paperback tome to read their book assigned to them. How would I know that one day I'll be reading the book on a device that's so light, regardless of how long or chunky a book should be. I would lie if I said that I was connected as one with the book. Or that I understood every single word among its pages. Yet I have a feeling of satiety, of wholeness and accomplishment. Far From the Madding Crowd has a pastoral setting. The characters are immortal. The writing style is confident. Never shaky. The denouement of the plot is like a set of fast exchanges on a chess board. How does Gabriel Oak fare? How strong is the love of the main female character - Bathsheba - for her first flame? The loose ends are tied. There's a happy ending. Most of the book points to one direction. The resolution is a twist in itself, confounding the previous indications. Though some chapters of the book are slow as hell, and the pacing grinds to a still-life halt, the sands of time make themselves felt. You know that you are reading a Classic. This classic is indeed, a page turner, and a crowd pleaser, especially when compared to the author, Thomas Hardy's other books. |
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#24947 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Karma: 315160596
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Oasis
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A long, but finally rewarding book. However, he has take NINE books to get to a point that he should have reached (IMO) after two, or at most three.
However, we are now at an interesting point in the story. I do hope he will start to accelerate the pace now. Otherwise, to tell the story this has promised to be about will take ninety more books! Next up: Hmmm... not sure. |
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#24948 |
Almost legible
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Karma: 4611110
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: In a high desert, CA
Device: Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Tab A (2017), Likebook P78
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Finished Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl. The first third or so is difficult to read, though I understand the importance of the information--context--to the rest of the narrative. This first part deals with Carrie's childhood, the requisite family drama that contributed at least in part to her later actions, attitudes, etc.
Once she gets into the music, her prose really flies, and it is a very engaging and interesting trip through the rest of the book. Portlandia is mentioned exactly once, and that is in passing. This book is about Carrie Brownstein, the guitarist/singer/songwriter; the actress' story will have to wait until much later, I am sure. So, already into Forbidden Knowledge, we'll see how fast that goes. |
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#24949 | |
Readaholic
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Karma: 90000484
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: South Georgia
Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"
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#24950 | |
Guru
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Karma: 8242060
Join Date: Aug 2009
Device: Kindle Oasis (2019)
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Quote:
I stopped Safehold after book 3...it just moved too slow even though I like Weber and love Honor Harrington. Can you tell me in spoiler tags if Spoiler:
I read Weber's Dahak series a few months back and the last book in that series is basically an accelerated Safehold. |
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#24951 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Karma: 315160596
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Oasis
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#24952 |
Guru
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Karma: 8242060
Join Date: Aug 2009
Device: Kindle Oasis (2019)
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#24953 |
(he/him/his)
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Karma: 80074820
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC
Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3
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The good news is, this latest Harrington book has far less of the LENGTHY descriptions of armaments and ships and all that technical detail. There's some, but he's toned it way down. It's still a very long book, and it doesn't get us very far past where we were before. But overall, I liked it way better than some of the HH books.
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#24954 | |
Connoisseur
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Karma: 125064
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Chicago
Device: Nook Color
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#24955 |
Connoisseur
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Karma: 125064
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Chicago
Device: Nook Color
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Downloaded and read George R. R. Martin's "Tuf Voyaging". While I can't get into Game of Thrones (too much backstabbing and bad guys winning) I didn't have a problem with the writing itself. "Tuf Voyaging" is a collection of short stories all having to do with Haviland Tuf a space-trader. There are 3 stories that are linked, one at the beginning, middle and end. The rest fill in the gaps. I enjoyed them.
At a recommendation of a co-worked I downloaded "Relic" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I wasn't sure what to expect but I liked it a lot. Looking forward to reading more. I also have "Ascending" book 5 of the League of Peoples by James Alan Gardner about half way done. Nice solid goodness so far. |
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#24956 | |
Wizard
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Karma: 75825105
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: PDXish
Device: Kindle Voyage, various Android devices
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Quote:
Soul Music has been good so far (duh...) should finish tomorrow then I will start Ocean of Storms by Christopher Mari. |
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#24957 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Karma: 315160596
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Norfolk, England
Device: Kindle Oasis
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#24958 | |
eBook Enthusiast
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Karma: 93383099
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
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#24959 | |
Readaholic
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Karma: 90000484
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: South Georgia
Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"
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#24960 |
cacoethes scribendi
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Karma: 137770742
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650
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I don't often post my current reading on here, but I thought I'd mark the occasion of having completed my re-read of our Agatha Christie collection. A superb and superbly consistent writer over her career - though I must say that I feel there is more fun (more overt humour) to be had in the earlier books.
The Poirot and Marple stories are good, but generally unsurprising (by which I mean, they're typical of their genre rather than predictable). My real favourites from Christie mostly come from her other stories: The Man in the Brown Suit, The Sittaford Mystery, And Then There Were None, The Moving Finger, Crooked House and Endless Night. I could pick these up again right now and still enjoy them as much, no matter how familiar they've become. ... After all that, and looking for something completely different, I chose a book with a title that could have been a murder mystery ... but isn't. The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. It was an interesting read, particularly from the sense of reading a story told in such an unfamiliar style, but it has not left me in a hurry for the two books that follow on from it. |
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