Traveling Lifestyle từ Anse-à-Galets, Haiti

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12/22/2024

Dữ liệu người dùng, đánh giá và đề xuất cho sách

Traveling Lifestyle Sách lại (10)

2018-08-01 05:30

Nghìn Ngày Với Hawai'i Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Hồ Thanh Lan

My review from amazon.com: "Intelligent, Character-Driven Fiction" Don't let the "erotica" tag fool you. This has little in common with the barely literate drivel that is all too often associated with that genre. There is sex aplenty here, to be sure. At its heart, however, this is intelligent, character-driven fiction, rich with symbolism, poetry, and purpose--an excellent debut novel from Russell Bittner. I know Mr. Bittner primarily as a poet and short fiction writer, and found this book while looking on amazon to review his short story collection, _Stories in the Key of C Minor_ (which I highly recommend--especially if you're a New York City native, or simply a lover of the Big Apple). Based on what I knew of the author's talent, I bought the novel immediately, sure that I wouldn't be wasting either money or time. He did not let me down. Bittner straddles the fence between author and poet with aplomb. There is wit, euphony, passion and sorrow enough in this novel to mark it as the opus of a poet--(and one translated poem that is worth the price of admission by itself)--but there is not so much poetic prose here to float this away from the gritty and grounded nature of good literature. The novel isn't perfect, (in some places, it simply offers "too much of a good thing"), but it was engaging, exciting (in all senses of the word), thought-provoking, and worth reading again. It is the sort of book I'll be passing along (in fact, I've already bought it as a gift for a friend, because I'm eager to discuss it with someone else). This novel is centered around the emotional collision of two people; Kit, a sensitive, passionate, and philosophical American photographer, and Daneka, a sexually powerful, and emotionally mysterious Dane living and working as a magazine editor in New York. As their emotional collision occurs, the world around them becomes a symphony of impact; cars, cameras, characters, cultures, (and sub-cultures) are all given their own moments of literal and metaphorical collision, too. Kit and Daneka first meet outside of a subway entrance, and go from sharing a cigarette lighter to sharing bodily fluids within the space of a few pages. Kit feels the exchange is pure kismet, yet the young lovers do not manage to run into each other again for years. When they do encounter each other again, it is because her car hits his camera (and narrowly misses him) in a zebra crossing. She lets her driver do the dirty work of exchanging information, however, so they get little more than a fleeting glance at their erstwhile fates. It is not until she hires him as a photographer for a "special project" that Daneka rekindles the flames of immediate, all-consuming desire in Kit. From there, they begin a tornado of a romance that sweeps over continents, encompasses the history of generations within its eye, and leaves a wake of disheveled clothes and lives. There are hilarious moments, horrifying moments, and moments that were steamy enough I'm surprised my Kindle didn't short-circuit. Collisions are not the only things that keep this novel moving--love, and the longings for unity and escape are its real driving forces (perhaps collisions are really just a different type of unity and escape). Kit, as one of the most refreshing male characters I've read in ages, is the novel's main advocate for love and unity. He strives to bring Daneka's heart into harmony with his own or at the very least, to get her to accept the humble sacrifice of his heart upon the altar of her own. He brings her gifts that symbolize his eternal love (I want a love lichen!), and tries to carve a place for himself within her life, wherever they go. Daneka, a woman of secrets, wants to accept Kit, but seems torn by a need for escape. I won't spoil which side wins, but I will say that I enjoyed the struggle. If nothing else, I found the believable, yet unobtrusive manner in which Bittner inverted the age-old gender roles a pleasant surprise (for once, it is the male who is unsure if his hopes for eternal monogamous bliss will be met, and the female who has the upper hand in the relationship). The only real drawbacks I had with this novel, if pressed, were the occasional uses of untranslated foreign languages (if it's essential to the understanding of the action, don't worry, it's either directly or indirectly translated), and the rapid-fire sex scenes in the first part (one does benefit from a chance to breathe between bits of explicitly orgasmic prose.) If not for these two flaws, (and the presence of an "unforgettable" moment that neither character can seem to accurately recall until the novel ends), this would be 5 stars.

Người đọc Traveling Lifestyle từ Anse-à-Galets, Haiti

Người dùng coi những cuốn sách này là thú vị nhất trong năm 2017-2018, ban biên tập của cổng thông tin "Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn" khuyến cáo rằng tất cả các độc giả sẽ làm quen với văn học này.