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[issybird]

I’m done with When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro and it was abominable. Flatly unbelievable, it could only work as an absurdist novel with a big payoff, but no, it ended in all seriousness. So the tedium of wading through all that malarkey was wasted. An unreliable narrator is one thing, but a totally irrational one is another. This was the worst book I’ve finished in a very long time.

[WT Sharpe]

I finished The Deeds of the Disturber (Amanda Peabody Mysteries #5) yesterday, and I have to say that when it comes to describing scenes of domestic tranquility, no one excels the late Elizabeth Peters (Barbara Louise Mertz). For those unfamiliar with the series, Emerson is Peabody's husband and Ramses is her son, now eight year old during the events covered in this book. Peabody and Emerson are Egyptologists, hence their choice of the name for their son.

"The house was blissfully quiet. Emerson was at the Museum; Ramses was in his room, mummifying a rat or manufacturing dynamite, or doing something of the sort. How peaceful it all was, and how devoutly I thanked Heaven for my manifold blessings!"
~ Amanda Peabody

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

I’m done with When We Were Authors by Kazuo Ishiguro and it was abominable. Flatly unbelievable, it could only work as an absurdist novel with a big payoff, but no, it ended in all seriousness. So the tedium of wading through all that malarkey was wasted. An unreliable narrator is one thing, but a totally irrational one is another. This was the worst book I’ve finished in a very long time.

I've never managed to finish any of his books, so full props to you for sticking it out to the end. Of course, then I have to turn around and ask you "Why?"

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I finished The Deeds of the Disturber (Amanda Peabody Mysteries #5) yesterday, and I have to say that when it comes to describing scenes of domestic tranquility, no one excels the late Elizabeth Peters (Barbara Louise Mertz). For those unfamiliar with the series, Emerson is Peabody's husband and Ramses is her son, now eight year old during the events covered in this book. Peabody and Emerson are Egyptologists, hence their choice of the name for their son.

"The house was blissfully quiet. Emerson was at the Museum; Ramses was in his room, mummifying a rat or manufacturing dynamite, or doing something of the sort. How peaceful it all was, and how devoutly I thanked Heaven for my manifold blessings!"
~ Amanda Peabody

Ah, yes. Ramses being quiet. The one thing you can be sure of, THAT won't last!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I've never managed to finish any of his books, so full props to you for sticking it out to the end. Of course, then I have to turn around and ask you "Why?"

Well, in part because I was gulled. I really did think there had to be a magic payoff which would account for the insanity and make sense of it. Wrong! But also, I confess, because it was “good enough” for listening to in bed. However, I’m done with Ishiguro. I didn’t even like the two that people rate most highly, The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, especially as his typical tics and tricks have become more obvious. So tired of his introducing an element and circling back to explain it only later. Yawn. Overused, it’s no longer effective.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by issybird

I’m done with When We Were Authors by Kazuo Ishiguro and it was abominable. Flatly unbelievable, it could only work as an absurdist novel with a big payoff, but no, it ended in all seriousness. So the tedium of wading through all that malarkey was wasted. An unreliable narrator is one thing, but a totally irrational one is another. This was the worst book I’ve finished in a very long time.

A query on the title: should that be When We Were Orphans ?

I'm thinking your review might well be a recommendation for me (given your reaction to a few other books that I like ). I haven't read this title (whether Authors or Orphans). My most recent Kazuo Ishiguro was The Buried Giant which, despite being quite strange, I liked very much.

[CRussel]

Just finished reading Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe, by Dr. Bonnie Henry and Lynn Henry. A solid 5 stars for me, primarily for it's insight the back story of some of the decisions made in those very early days (January to April, 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic. The juxtaposition of Dr. Bonnie's thoughts and her sister Lynn's thoughts and observations about that same period worked really well for me. It was also interesting to learn that Dr. Henry and the BC Health Minister Adrian Dix had really no working relationship before this all started, and yet from the very beginning of those daily press briefings they were completely in sync and gave the impression of a team of many years.

[Uncle Robin]

1/3 through The Pride of Chanur - in some ways it feels like a prototype/draft of the Foreigner series, not sure I'll keep going with Chanur after this, probably get back into Foreigner instead

[issybird]

Originally Posted by gmw

A query on the title: should that be When We Were Orphans ?

Of course. Fixed. Thank you.

I'm thinking your review might well be a recommendation for me (given your reaction to a few other books that I like ).

Truth. Not a huge overlap in our tastes, but nothing wrong with that. And it takes the Other to point out what one might have missed.

[ladyashk]

I’m now reading The Vineyard at Painted Moon by Susan Mallery. Slow and predictable, but I want something like that for now.
For those of you interested in what the book jacket says, go here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...t-painted-moon

[Uncle Robin]

4/5 for The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage, an informative look at the rise and fall of the telegraph.

[astrangerhere]

I have been following the Standard Ebooks project to fully remake Samuel Richardson's Clarissa Harlowe. It finished about a month ago and I put it on my Kobo Mini. My mini goes everywhere with me and usually houses all of my short story collections.

But as Clarissa clocks in at 2900 pages and is epistolary in nature, I thought it would be a good fit. I was right. I read the introduction and the first letter while I was waiting for two of my cases to be called for court this morning.

(I know some folks have very strong feelings about Standard Ebooks, but I have been pleased with everything I have gotten from there and this is no exception).

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

(I know some folks have very strong feelings about Standard Ebooks, but I have been pleased with everything I have gotten from there and this is no exception).

Perhaps leading to thread drift, but I'm curious -- what issues do folks have? Seems a reasonably well laid out site, and I'm all in favour of PD books at a PD price.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Perhaps leading to thread drift, but I'm curious -- what issues do folks have? Seems a reasonably well laid out site, and I'm all in favour of PD books at a PD price.

You must have missed this thread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=335913

If you were to guess where most of the vitriol came from you would probably guess correctly.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I have been following the Standard Ebooks project to fully remake Samuel Richardson's Clarissa Harlowe. It finished about a month ago and I put it on my Kobo Mini. My mini goes everywhere with me and usually houses all of my short story collections.

But as Clarissa clocks in at 2900 pages and is epistolary in nature, I thought it would be a good fit. I was right.

OK, I’ll bite. I only read Clarissa in the truncated version and that was decades ago. Thanks for the heads up.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

You must have missed this thread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=335913

If you were to guess where most of the vitriol came from you would probably guess correctly.

Oh, spare me! I got about a half dozen posts down and went "TL;DR" and closed the window. FWIW, I just opened "Triplanetary", by E. E. 'Doc' Smith, and both "compatible" epub and azw3 look fine, though the epub version has better paragraph spacing. IAC, both were perfectly acceptable.