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Les Miserables (Modern Library) 3 reviews
Victor Hugo
Modern Library, 2008
Translations matter -- and this succeeds beautifully
Many years ago, while commuting from Scotch Plains to Manhattan and back, I made use of my commute time to read some very big books. Some, like Larry McMurty's LONESOME DOVE, were magisterial in story, setting and character. Some were Dumas' THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (a killer of a tale). And then there was LES MISERABLES.
I was 26 years old and had never read such a sprawling narrative that ...
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Atonement: A Novel 762 reviews
Ian McEwan
Nan A. Talese, 2002
Beautifully written and engrossing.
Atonement is an extremely beautiful story about how differing perceptions of a single event can affect the lives of those involved, whether negatively or positively.
This book is told in three parts and each part is from three different perspectives.
The story begins in 1935 and is told from the viewpoint of the 13 year old Briony. Briony witnesses an event involving her older sister, ...
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Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras 47 reviews
Jeff Henderson
William Morrow, 2007
Getting Absorbed by Cooked
I first heard about Jeff Henderson from his television show The Chef Jeff Project in which Henderson, who spent 10 years in jail for drug trafficking, mentors troubled young adults in the area of fine cooking with the hope of steering them in the right direction and hooking them up for jobs.
My expectations for the book were not high, as I feared this celebrity chef had simply "told his story" ...
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American Gods: A Novel702 reviews
Neil Gaiman
Harper Perennial, 2003
A deep understanding
Neil Gaiman understands something about the collective unconscious and the way Gods form within it. He also knows something about the way these Gods interact. I think the reason his books resonate with so many (I mean heck there are more than 700 reviews on this site alone), is that he speaks truth within fiction.
I love the TechnoGod, the brash kid and the conflict between the old and the ...
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Great Expectations (Penguin Classics)122 reviews
Charles Dickens
Penguin Classics, 2002
Great
My daughter had to read this book for school and she said it was a great read. She is 14 and it was easy for her to understand and follow.
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Great Expectations (Dover Thrift Editions)39 reviews
Charles Dickens
Dover Publications, 2001
One of the best novels ever written
Without a doubt this has to be one of the greatest novels of all time. I won't say it's the best just because once a work of art attains greatness I find it quite incomparable to other great works. Great works are ones which have fully succeeded in expressing the emotions and convictions of the artist, and without a doubt Great Expectations acheives this. Unfortunately I only hold this view of ...
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Small Crimes3 reviews
Dave Zeltserman
Serpent's Tail, 2008
"Small Crimes" Pays Off Big
Many years ago, I interviewed the now late Robert Cormier, the author of young adult classics "The Chocolate War" and "I Am The Cheese." Cormier started his career writing adult fiction. Most of his early works focused on working-class French-Canadians struggling to find the American Dream.
After the success of his first book "Now and at the Hour" (1960), Cormier's publisher wanted him to ...
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My Friend Leonard379 reviews
James Frey
Riverhead Hardcover, 2005
So touching, so good
I have strong feelings about memoirs. I believe that everyone remembers things their own way, and in Frey's case we cannot expect a drug addict to remember things the way it actually happened. This story is amazing and touching and surprising. I am glad I read it after A Million Little Pieces. I am also glad I grew up in Los Angeles, it helped me visualize the scenes better. Frey's writing style ...
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Jailbird32 reviews
Kurt Vonnegut
Dial Press Trade Paperback, 1999
All History is Gossip
Poor Walter F. Starbuck. He should have been a servant to those who make history because he certainly wasn't any good at participating in history. He serves a short sentence for being in the general vicinty during the Watergate mess. His crime seems to have been incurable obliviousness. He also was questioned during the Commie witch hunts of the 50's. He exonerated himself by telling the truth ...
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Flesh House (Logan McRae)4 reviews
Stuart MacBride
St. Martin's Minotaur, 2008
vegetables anyone?
I was going to say that I smell a movie deal for this book but it could just be the stench of rotting meat that I've been imagining while reading this book. The degree to which this book will promote vegetarianism is as of yet untold but I believe it will be significant and as a vegan, I appreciate the effort. I enjoyed the humorous dialogue and the fact that the innocent get nailed and the ...
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Convict's Candy45 reviews
Damon Amin Meadows, Jason Poole
Ghettoheat, 2006
A Must Read
Convict's Candy was "off the chain". This book went into the real life of what goes on in the jails. There were so many men that you would not even imagine would sleep with another man. Every woman needs to read this book. The book was great. I would recommend that you get this book. You will not be disappointed. It is well worth the price of whatever you pay for it. This book exposes the ...
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Father and Son: Winner of the Southern Book Award45 reviews
Larry Brown
Holt Paperbacks, 1997
You can never go home again....mm
Perhaps Glen Davis shouldn't have gone back. The authorities should have kept him in prison, he should have started in a more structured work release elsewhere, there are so many alternatives.
But, he did go home. And not a day later, he committed a treble homicide of a bar owner, his employee and the bar's mascot monkey. He did a lot more than that before he was through.
"Father and ...
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Hole in My Life53 reviews
Jack Gantos
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2004
the audio version is excellent
I came online to order this book. I just got this audio tape from the library and listened to it in the car with my "pre-teen" children. Its a great story and his delivery of the tale is funny and dry and compelling. He never gets preachy or plays the victim. We hated getting out of the car when we reached our destination because we needed to know how the story ended. I didn't get it as a ...
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A Commonwealth of Thieves: The Improbable Birth of Australia15 reviews
Thomas Keneally
Anchor, 2007
Excellent introduction
Keneally has produced a fascinating introduction to the foundation of Australia, a fantastic mix of the high politics and the fascinating lives of the first settlers and their complex relationship with the Aboriginal peoples.
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Les Miserables (A Stepping Stone Book)5 reviews
Victor Hugo
Random House Books for Young Readers, 1995
A Great Story Retold by a Great Author!
My 3rd grader read this book for a homeschool assignment. We try to introduce the classics whenever we can. I was so impressed by this book, I've told all my homeschool girlfriends about it. The raw emotion and suspense is captured in this book, but the negative elements (prostitution, for example) are left out, making this very suitable for an elementary student. My reluctant-to-read child ...
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Les Miserables (Everyman's Library)13 reviews
Victor Hugo
Everyman's Library, 1998
An Inspiring Masterpiece
My two favorite classics of all time are Les Miserables and The Brothers Karamazov. Interestingly, I've read that Fyodor Dostoevsky was a great admirer of Victor Hugo and of Les Miserables in particular. To me, what these two authors have in common is the profound psychological and spiritual insight found in their work. Les Miserables, for instance, is the most heartbreaking but uplifting story ...
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Ralph Compton The Convict Trail (Ralph Compton Western Series)
Ralph Compton, Joseph A. West
Signet, 2008
Transporting six cold-blooded convicts caged in a prison wagon across hard country, Deputy Marshal Logan Kane needs to watch his back and keep his Colt close at hand. There are rustlers, lynch mobs, and a New Orleans gang to contend with?not to mention the convicts? cronies looking to bust them loose. Kane is about to have his own cage rattled as he tries to keep this ride from being his last...
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Amongst Thieves (Triple Crown Publications Presents)24 reviews
Quentin Carter
Triple Crown Publications, 2007
AWESOME THE BEST EVERY !!!!!!
THE TITLE IS DEAD ON!!!THIS BOOK WAS AWESOME,REAL GRIMEY AND GUTTER.I'VE NEVA SEEN SO MUCH GREED AMONGST SO CALLED "FRIENDS".THAT GOES TO SHOW U THERE'S NO HONOR "AMONGST THIEVES"!!!!GO COPE THIS JOINT ASAP!!
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A Place to Stand24 reviews
Jimmy Santiago Baca
Grove Press, 2002
Can't shake it
I'm giving this book five stars, not because it is a literary masterpiece, but because it is a compelling memoir that I can't forget. I felt a gamut of emotions while reading this book, but for the most part I ached for Mr. Baca and the pain and anguish he suffered. I thank him for writing about his life so eloquently.
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The Broker 579 reviews
John Grisham
Doubleday, 2005
I thought it was great!
From the first page I couldn't put this down! The whole realm of witness
Protection was very intriguing!
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