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Tachiccollo Di tachiccollo — Once again, Sharon Shinn did not disappoint with this book that continues the story of angels and humans living in a world where science battles religion. I think this is a fantastic preview of what is to come for my favorite book written by Sharon Shinn, which is "The Alleluia Files".

Tipito Show tipito_show — WOW! Not sure where to start with this really apart from to just totally and completely emphasise how bloody brilliant this book was. This just confirmed for me even more my total adoration for Japanese Literature. Why I like the genre so much isn't so easy to explain. Most, aside from Ishiguro because he writes in a much more British style, write fairly simply, not using excessively brilliant or flowery language and therefore would not, I do not think, win prizes for the actual writing because it is exactly what I said...simple and very matter of fact. But it doesn't matter, I'd pick simple over flowery anyday because simple here becomes completely enthralling, the Japanese seem to have this amazing talent of being able to pull me into whatever story they write so absolutely and completely....... To date, I've read Ishiguro, Murakami (both ones Ryu and Haruki) Kirino and now this guy...and to my recollection unless my memory serves me wrong, despite being for the most part (with the exception of Haruki) being very simple books with very simple plots, all got 5 stars and totally blew me away... I get completely and absolutely lost in Japanese fiction in a way I find that I don't within other books... Now back to the book in question! Simple plot typical of a crime fiction novel, girl gets murdered by stranger. Who is the stranger? Nothing particularly unusual or exciting right? Well you'd be right in assuming that but no, not correct... Yoshida tells the story of the crime and its aftermath whilst in typical Japanese fashion bringing to the brim about 1001 different characters and bringing you into each of their stories too so your almost caught up within 10 different mini stories! Now at first when I noticed the humongous amount of characters he had started to introduce, a bit of intrepidation and doubt came to the fore, I felt that he may have been trying to be too ambitious, a story would have to be exceptional for you to take interest in and follow all 1001 different stories going on at the same time right? I was wrong.... Not once did I not know who a particular character was. Not once did I have trouble following despite the large number of plots and day to day activities going on at the same amount of time. I was in love with each and every one of the characters (for such a relatively short book and for such an amount of characters brought into it, so well developed it was unreal) and their respective parts in the book... The latter part of the book to do with one girls love for a wanted man really got to me. The way that the whole love conquers all was explored in this part really affected me, I felt so much for it because I could relate to it in terms of with my actual relationship myself and I felt myself egging them both on and almost praying that both would run off in the future together and be happy....so therefore I found the ending exceptionally sad...but despite that and despite this entire review I cannot fully capture how amazing this book. With such simple words, such simple plots, Yoshida creates an amazing piece of work. Check it out!

Christina Fitchett cfitchett — Although often described as a meditation on the vacuity of the 1980s, it's probably important to realise that an era cannot by itself create a state of vacuity, but only acts as a trapping. In this case, the 80s represents a sticky glut of technology, fashion, and media (does it sound very different to today?) that ultimately confuses and paralyses, eliminating feeling - and thereby the possibility of redemption - through sheer saturation. But psychotic behaviour is not new; it exists in everyone (in general), or at the very least in every man. It's more a question of those who indulge in it and those who suppress it. The reader should therefore not be surprised at the ease with which Patrick Bateman (the villain and narrator) seduces us. He is as classical a gothic figure as any that Poe created, and has all the darkness and all the comedy, without quite the campiness and more wit, of a young Vincent Price. He is so beau that he is often asked if he is a model or an actor. This makes him more of an act of a gothic character than the real thing, but the artificiality here is appropriate. We abhor him, yet he resonates nonetheless. More secretly American Psycho probably also raises the occasional hard-on, which as the delineation between sex then rape then murder dissolves - and really, murder is just another form of pornography - makes us question whether not being consciously shameful of this, at least until after the chapter is over, is a natural reaction or not. Patrick's hatred is born of a surprisingly touching fear of everything that is not a part of his own construction; anything with the possibility of gentle or joyous emotion by its nature cannot exist for him, and must be destroyed. Tossing a handful of coins into a seal pool in an attempt to choke them, he tells us that "[i]t's not the seals I hate - it's the audience's enjoyment of them that bothers me". Shortly after he stabs a five-year-old child in the throat and is not satisfied; the child had "no real history, no worthwhile past" and the killing leaves him empty. By conflating the extreme opposites we see not only the boundaries of human abbhorence - apparently limitless, there is little that Patrick would not do in the mutilation and annihilation of a human - but also, in our own sympathy to him, the extreme lengths humans are willing to go to to forgive one of their own, to abstract the blame into something larger and ambiguous. Or perhaps we should be more cynical, and suggest that our sympathy for him is merely of our own inclinations towards such darkness - again, classical gothic. There is more to pick up here, much more, that distinguishes it in many ways as a product of the modern era, but I feel the main lesson here is not in the story but in our reactions to it, of our own following self-analysis. That's what I got anyway. For some it may simply result in a deadening of certain senses, disgust or paranoia; for me it was all good for self-awareness. Damn, out of space - I'll have to try to post the rest of the review in comments!

алексей бабицын _exikus — Verisimilitude is one thing, but Gaynor McGrath’s novel Lemniscate reads so much like a memoir, that it’s hard to believe it didn’t all happen verbatim. Elsie is a young Australian traveler, exploring a world in a way which was popular in the 1970s, and is not really possible anymore. Elsie is backpacking throughout the Middle East and Asia, searching for herself. It’s a road trip full of the kind of interesting elements you could never get with money and a tour guide. Told in first person present tense, the story unfolds slowly as Elsie works her way through the inner and outer journey that the title calls attention to. It’s not just any lemniscate, but the Lemniscate of Gerono: the infinity symbol which has a double point of origin and curves back on itself. It’s a good title and a good description of Elsie’s journey, which is always self-reflective. At times, Elsie is almost too wide-eyed and open, working through her quest with a naivety that is as irritating as it is charming. As a fellow traveller, I might have looked upon her adventures like one of the Christian missionaries she meets: horrified about her drug addicted roommates, the unwashed state of everything, and the casual sleeping arrangements. The mother in me wants to shake her, as surely as her own mother would have wanted to. But I can clearly remember being similar in my youth: able to walk into seedy situations with just that combination of innocence, confidence and acceptance to stay more or less safe. Elsie stays safe too, though she comes pretty close to danger at times. She gets various bouts of stomach pains, infections and dysentery; has a range of propositions and strange romances, including a marriage proposal from an Afghani prince; and has a bus accident in Indonesia. The reader moves along the lemniscate path with Elsie, as she tries to make sense of what she sees, and work out what it means to her own life in its broadest context. Throughout the book the writing is descriptive and interesting, full of the sights, sounds and tastes of the places she visits. The book takes the reader to places that are both exotic, and made familiar by human elements. Elsie is never imperialistic, and takes the people she meets and the countries she explores on their own terms. At one point she even criticises one of her traveling companions for taking too strong a line against a man who has groped her. One of her most compelling traveling companions, Kiwi, pops up again and again in a series of coincidences, and later becomes particularly important in pulling together the thread between Elsie's travels and her life in Australia. His ravaged appearance, and 'citizen of the world' stance mirrors her own, and provides a neat constant where everything else is in flux and when Elsie is beginning to wonder if she fits anywhere. Elsie’s continuing and varied romances see her engaged to a doctor, skippering a boat in Queensland, and living as a single mother in Paros, Greece. At times the story bogs with so many romances and the repetition in theme, as each romance ends with an adoration that never goes quite far enough to incite change. But Elsie’s toughness, and ability to survive a range of situations is convincing enough to keep the story moving forward. A lot of ground is covered in Lemniscate. Through the lens of Elsie’s introspection, the reader explores the 1970s backpacking scene. The novel also looks at the greed of Western life and contrasts it with the simple life that she learns to live on her travels and in Greece. Elsie's attempts to cope with the narrow minded Christianity and expectations of her family contrast well with the cultural diversity of the countries she visits. Although Elsie's struggles are never idealised, there is poignancy in how she manages to integrate and set up a rhythm in whatever culture she immerses herself in. This is a powerful memoir-styled fiction with a strong ring of reality. There are plenty of grubby moments and close calls, but this is ultimately a travalogue that celebrates love in all of it forms.

Youssef Rina xrina — This is a pretty poor translation; obviously, I'm not sympathetic to translating verse into prose.

Laura Manfre lauramanfre — This "true life novel" relates the story of the author's grandmother, who was something of a firebrand. Her story is interesting, but the book lacks a narrative structure that makes the story compelling. Unlike the author's own memoir, The Glass Castle, there is no sense of real drama here. However, the author did a fine job of capturing the voice of Lily Casey and depicting her outlook on life. I think this book would not be as interesting if one had not read The Glass Castle.

Alan Cremo alancremo — A beautifully written book about totally obnoxious people. The setting has charm, most action taking place in the south of France. The plot is clever. There is a killing, but I would have been quite happy to see the whole lot disposed of. I find it difficult to be interested in such nasty characters. Life has damaged everyone in the book,- but then life damages most people. However they usually have some redeeming features. No-one in this book comes over with any appeal to the reader. Perhaps I could have accepted it if it had been written as a black comedy.

Diana Dota raincatz — I bought this because it was on my recommendations on Amazon UK. It sounds really interesting and I really loved the cover so I was sold. Even though I did find it good I was slightly disapointed. The Secret Year is told from the main character, Colt's point of view. And it show him trying to deal with the grief of losing someone close to him. I'm not sure I really like Colt all that much. I just couldn't connect to him or any of the characters really. I know he is dealing with grief and I did feel very sorry for him. However, some of the things he did just made it very hard to like him. As Colt is greiving over Julia we get some insight to her. Honestly I didn't like her. I thought she was selfish for wanting two guys. Of course it was horrible what happen but it doesn't change anything for how I felt about her. The Premise of the story is a fantastic and I really wanted to love it. However, I just couldn't connected to the story or any of the characters for me to love it. I felt like I was always waiting for something exciting to happen and it doesn't. Saying that I did enjoy some of the story. I liked how we got to see Colts memorys of the year he spent with Julia. The Secret Year is Jennifer's debut novel. Its a very quick read and it is enjoyable. There is some moments that will having you laughing and some that will bring a tear to your eyes.