What is the last book you read, and your rating?
- Lynn08
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Re: What is the last book you read, and your rating?
- Cristal2408
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- Shrabastee Chakraborty
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- alaskaforreal
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One interesting thing she did that I hadn't seen before, was that she regularly stepped out of her first person recounting, to speak from a man's point of view and tell his memoir as well. I'm new to memoir, though, so maybe this is a thing? It was jarring at first but then became interesting.
All in all I'd give the book a 4/5 rating.
- Redlegs
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Sibylla is a single mother determined to raise her young son Ludo to be some kind of intellectual prodigy. She schools the boy at home, while typing magazine manuscripts to earn a living, teaching him a multitude of languages, advanced mathematics, complex scientific concepts and giving him a broad background in all of the ancient literary classics.
The one secret that Sibylla keeps from Ludo is the true identity of his father. This leads Ludo into a series of interactions with several men with whom his mother has had some past association. His tactic is to arrive on their doorsteps (after a period of stalking them) and gain entry under some peculiar pretext, and then claim to be the man's son.
One of the repeated themes throughout the novel is Sibylla's obsession with the Kurosawa film, The Last Samurai. She watches it repeatedly, deeming it to be a masterpiece, one of the best pieces of cinema ever produced. Dialogue and scenes from the movie are spattered throughout the text, and are used as connecting devices between chapters.
Despite the fact that there is an extensive use of foreign languages (Greek, Inuit, Japanese, just to name a few), none of which I can read or understand, I found the novel to be always engaging, keeping me just a little off balance and wondering just where it would go next.
I can appreciate that this might not be to everyone's taste, that many might find it erratic, confusing or pretentious, but I couldn't help but admire its sheer originality and offbeat humour.
4 stars out of 5
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
- DATo
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Yes, I have finally finished it.
It was an amazing read by the only principle player of all the world leaders of the time who wrote extensively upon the subject. Thus we see the history of the war up close and personal in the form of what could almost be described as a chronological journal. The minutiae and anecdotal material alone was worth the time I invested in these books.
Churchill once said, "History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." and though this masterwork was indeed written in his own hand there were many times when the reader is put off by his comments or actions during the course of the war. It is no secret that he was writing this tome with the intention of explaining away any instances when his actions during the war might be called into question; further, he was writing these explanations with a view to the future election in which he hoped to be reinstalled as Prime Minister. There are times when the reader must ask, What in Christ's name was he thinking when he did (or said) that?
Nevertheless, this is a fascinating and very important piece of literature. I learned a great deal about the behind-the-scenes machinations of the war which are described in amazing detail. The book contains much of the actual correspondence between Churchill and other major personalities of the era. The narrative also includes the Pacific theatre of war and not just Europe.
Despite the personally aggrandizing slant Churchill at times places on the narrative I still give it 5 of 5 stars.
/
― Steven Wright
- Redlegs
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Congratulations- I will have to put this one the long term tbr listDATo wrote: ↑03 May 2018, 02:50 The History Of World War 2 (6 volumes) by Winston Churchill
Yes, I have finally finished it.
It was an amazing read by the only principle player of all the world leaders of the time who wrote extensively upon the subject. Thus we see the history of the war up close and personal in the form of what could almost be described as a chronological journal. The minutiae and anecdotal material alone was worth the time I invested in these books.
Churchill once said, "History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." and though this masterwork was indeed written in his own hand there were many times when the reader is put off by his comments or actions during the course of the war. It is no secret that he was writing this tome with the intention of explaining away any instances when his actions during the war might be called into question; further, he was writing these explanations with a view to the future election in which he hoped to be reinstalled as Prime Minister. There are times when the reader must ask, What in Christ's name was he thinking when he did (or said) that?
Nevertheless, this is a fascinating and very important piece of literature. I learned a great deal about the behind-the-scenes machinations of the war which are described in amazing detail. The book contains much of the actual correspondence between Churchill and other major personalities of the era. The narrative also includes the Pacific theatre of war and not just Europe.
Despite the personally aggrandizing slant Churchill at times places on the narrative I still give it 5 of 5 stars.
/
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
- DATo
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Redlegs - I own the movie, The Last Samurai and enjoyed it very much. Is there much difference between the movie and the book?
― Steven Wright
- Redlegs
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Hi DaTO, the film starring Tom Cruise and the book by Helen DeWitt are completely unrelated. It is a quirky book that you might enjoy.
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
- DATo
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Many pardons Redlegs. I saw your topic heading and just assumed it was the same story before reading your post.
― Steven Wright
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- Missdebby
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- Maja Saveva
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3/5
- Allie_L
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I was actually pretty disappointed with how boring I found the book, especially since it seems to be a fairly popular one in the fantasy genre. However I didn't find myself getting attached to any of the characters and thought that the assassin lifestyle in this book to be pretty mundane compared to some of the other similarly themed book I've read.