Daily offering
Dec. 13th, 2007 04:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddI'm back at Stuffonmycat.com and I can't stop laughing at the names. Who names their cat Caligula? Or Mrs. Robinson? For some reason, though, it was "François" that made me laugh the hardest.
Now, how 'bout some reviewing? Today, thar be books.
Something Borrowed (Emily Giffin):
This was a fairly quick read, and I finished it in a few days. The story is told from the persepective of Rachel, who begins an affair with her best friend Darcy's financé, Dex. (Please excuse me while I snicker at that name, I just can't take it seriously.) I was leery about this, given the subject matter, but it's well-written enough that you can sympathise with Rachel, if only because Darcy is one of those perfect people who are so easy to resent, in that they get everything they want without really trying. Feeling for Dex, on the other hand, is somewhat harder. Technically, ignoring the fact that Rachel is Darcy's best friend, and how that impacts the equation, Dex is the guiltiest party, since he's the one who's cheating. He may say that he really wanted Rachel all along, but then why the hell did he decide to marry Darcy? To his credit, he at least finally makes a decision and stands by it*, but he still took his own sweet time getting there. At least Rachel acknowledges these issues, and I was glad when she finally came to the conclusion that she could live without Darcy, found her self-respect, and gave Dex an ultimatum. Her doormat act was really beginning to grate.
On one hand, I felt that the revelation of Darcy's own infidelity (with the man she'd been trying to set Rachel up with, just to confuse things further) and pregnancy was a facile way for Rachel and Dex to justify their behaviour to themselves: "Well, she was cheating, too, so what we did wasn't really that bad!". On the other hand, it fits with what we've seen as Darcy, who is all about instant gratification and following her desires. I suppose it was an easy way to set up the sequel, because who knows what kind of mother Darcy is going to be?
Final verdict: 7/10
* Unlike a CERTAIN PERSON I could mention.
Imperium (Robert Harris):
The Greeks have always interested me more than the Romans -- not that I've ever gone seeking novels about either of them -- but my father left this with me when he went back to Canada, since he'd filled his suitcase with Engrish and candy with silly names. It's written as a memoir by Tiro, Cicero's slave and secretary, and concern's Cicero's rise from young lawyer to consul. It's quite well-written and interesting, managing to make Cicero a likeable figure even when he's doing, for the sake of politics, things that aren't so likeable. In fact, the whole workings of Roman politics and daily life are dealt with in such a way as to make them clear, yet without needing pages of exposition and explanations. It would help to have some knowledge of the Rome of that time, but honestly, I'd forgotten much of what I'd known, and got along fine.
One aspect of the book that really pleased me was the attention given to speeches. Indeed, Cicero was known for his oratory, so it's only right that we get to "hear" some of his speeches. It made me sad to think that rhetoric has gone out of style, because I can't think of any politician in Canada who's said anything inspiring in the years that I've been (distractedly) listening. Reading this on the subway, I was swept away to the crowded forum, imagining those words being absorbed and repeated, kindling something in the listeners.
Final verdict: 8/10
Hmm, I really ought to go back and revise my marks, I might have been too generous in places. I guess that'll go on my To Do list, along with tagging all entries, but that can wait. After all, there's sewing to do and knitting to do!
In other book-related news, I managed to turn my father toward both Guy Gavriel Kay and George R. R. Martin while he was here. Now he's complaining that he doesn't have the next volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, so I'll have to send him volumes 3 and 4.
Now, how 'bout some reviewing? Today, thar be books.
Something Borrowed (Emily Giffin):
This was a fairly quick read, and I finished it in a few days. The story is told from the persepective of Rachel, who begins an affair with her best friend Darcy's financé, Dex. (Please excuse me while I snicker at that name, I just can't take it seriously.) I was leery about this, given the subject matter, but it's well-written enough that you can sympathise with Rachel, if only because Darcy is one of those perfect people who are so easy to resent, in that they get everything they want without really trying. Feeling for Dex, on the other hand, is somewhat harder. Technically, ignoring the fact that Rachel is Darcy's best friend, and how that impacts the equation, Dex is the guiltiest party, since he's the one who's cheating. He may say that he really wanted Rachel all along, but then why the hell did he decide to marry Darcy? To his credit, he at least finally makes a decision and stands by it*, but he still took his own sweet time getting there. At least Rachel acknowledges these issues, and I was glad when she finally came to the conclusion that she could live without Darcy, found her self-respect, and gave Dex an ultimatum. Her doormat act was really beginning to grate.
On one hand, I felt that the revelation of Darcy's own infidelity (with the man she'd been trying to set Rachel up with, just to confuse things further) and pregnancy was a facile way for Rachel and Dex to justify their behaviour to themselves: "Well, she was cheating, too, so what we did wasn't really that bad!". On the other hand, it fits with what we've seen as Darcy, who is all about instant gratification and following her desires. I suppose it was an easy way to set up the sequel, because who knows what kind of mother Darcy is going to be?
Final verdict: 7/10
* Unlike a CERTAIN PERSON I could mention.
Imperium (Robert Harris):
The Greeks have always interested me more than the Romans -- not that I've ever gone seeking novels about either of them -- but my father left this with me when he went back to Canada, since he'd filled his suitcase with Engrish and candy with silly names. It's written as a memoir by Tiro, Cicero's slave and secretary, and concern's Cicero's rise from young lawyer to consul. It's quite well-written and interesting, managing to make Cicero a likeable figure even when he's doing, for the sake of politics, things that aren't so likeable. In fact, the whole workings of Roman politics and daily life are dealt with in such a way as to make them clear, yet without needing pages of exposition and explanations. It would help to have some knowledge of the Rome of that time, but honestly, I'd forgotten much of what I'd known, and got along fine.
One aspect of the book that really pleased me was the attention given to speeches. Indeed, Cicero was known for his oratory, so it's only right that we get to "hear" some of his speeches. It made me sad to think that rhetoric has gone out of style, because I can't think of any politician in Canada who's said anything inspiring in the years that I've been (distractedly) listening. Reading this on the subway, I was swept away to the crowded forum, imagining those words being absorbed and repeated, kindling something in the listeners.
Final verdict: 8/10
Hmm, I really ought to go back and revise my marks, I might have been too generous in places. I guess that'll go on my To Do list, along with tagging all entries, but that can wait. After all, there's sewing to do and knitting to do!
In other book-related news, I managed to turn my father toward both Guy Gavriel Kay and George R. R. Martin while he was here. Now he's complaining that he doesn't have the next volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, so I'll have to send him volumes 3 and 4.
