Comments on Pea Soup: book blogging in my pyjamas

I just finished Bel Canto. I thought the book was...

2008-05-17T14:59:00.000+10:00

I just finished Bel Canto. I thought the book was amazing, though I wish it had ended a few pages earlier--perhaps when they were cavorting on the grass. I would have rather imagined my own future for the characters I came to know.

Ooh, thanks so much for this. Did you know I have...

2008-05-08T06:37:00.000+10:00

Ooh, thanks so much for this. Did you know I have a book blog too? It's funny, I absolutely hated Water for Elephants. It seems for that one, you either love it or leave it. My favorite read lately was The Thirteenth Tale.

I was so glad to read what you wrote about Atoneme...

2008-05-06T19:25:00.000+10:00

I was so glad to read what you wrote about Atonement. I have been limping along with it for weeks, feeling guilty that I was mainly only using it as an aid for sleep. So many friends have raved about it, I could barely raise a 'meh'.

I shall return it to the library (half read) in good conscience.

I've tried to read Foucault's Pendulum twice and h...

2008-05-05T21:25:00.000+10:00

I've tried to read Foucault's Pendulum twice and haven't managed it. Such heavy going! I bought it at a garage sale and still have it (just looked over my shoulder and yep, I can see it on the shelves) so perhaps I'll have another go one day.

Suze, was so interested in the list and your comme...

2008-05-05T12:36:00.000+10:00

Suze, was so interested in the list and your comments. You see I read predominantly in the realm of non-fiction. In fact, it was only after reading Annie Prioulx's "Shipping News" that I decided I was a fiction reader but there were not enough good story tellers. That's because I had a similar feeling with News to yours about bel canto. I was so interested in the characters that I wanted to know what happened to them. Not to mention the fact that the landscape itself was a character.

Wait till I tell my daughter you didn't think much of "Atonement". I didn't either. I think it was OK but not brilliant. I keep telling Herself to read Gallico's "The Snow Goose" for the Dunkirk stuff. She tells me I just don't get it.

I did read Eco's "Focauld's Pendulum" from go to whoa. Was it all those obscure words that aren't even in the Concise Oxford Dictionary that was the turn-off for you? I've found that stumps people - but, strange as it may seem, that only happens for the first 100 pages. I got to the end of the 600 pages and asked myself what it was all about. I think - though I could be wrong - that it is a satire on esoteric religious/psuedo-religious/spiritual beliefs. And a little while ago I read an article by Eco which seemed to hint at the satire bit.

I can tell you that I read "Holy Blood Holy Grail" in the 1980s and read Pendulum back in the early 90s. If you have read those, there is DEFINITELY no need to read the Da Vinci Code. In fact, I think that if the general public had been literate enough to pick up both aforesaid reads when they were published there never would have been a big deal made out of the fictional Da Vinci Code stuff. It would have been seen simply for what it was - a page-turning yarn.

Blessings and bliss

I'd be happy to send you People of the Book. I can...

2008-05-05T10:32:00.000+10:00

I'd be happy to send you People of the Book. I can't bear that you'll have to wait that long to be on the list. Send me a message on my blog or an email with an address so I can pop it in the post.

I couldn't believe they made Atonement into a movi...

2008-05-04T23:06:00.000+10:00

I couldn't believe they made Atonement into a movie, so boring was the book....

I too have just finished Bel Canto and am missing ...

2008-05-04T17:39:00.000+10:00

I too have just finished Bel Canto and am missing it!! I can also highly recommend 'Run" by Ann Patchett, just as absorbing.

Oh, the book problem. I can't bear to get rid of a...

2008-05-04T08:56:00.000+10:00

Oh, the book problem. I can't bear to get rid of any I like and might read again - indeed want to read again - but I'm going to have to live till I'm 200 to get through them all and that's only if people stop writing more.

I liked Saturday, but loved On Chesil Beach even m...

2008-05-04T07:46:00.000+10:00

I liked Saturday, but loved On Chesil Beach even more. And I sold 2 copies of Bel Canto today - must check it out myself.

Totally agree re: Mists of Avalon and Foucault's P...

2008-05-03T18:01:00.000+10:00

Totally agree re: Mists of Avalon and Foucault's Pendulum. I didn't want to re-read Mists now as I suspected there would be a cringe factor.

...and now I'm going to be ninety-something-th in line for the others on your list! Love me a good book list. Thanks!

Suse, of course 'The Mists of Avalon' is dated. It...

2008-05-03T09:29:00.000+10:00

Suse, of course 'The Mists of Avalon' is dated. It is set many many years ago......

(Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

Cripes, I haven't read any of those books. Except ...

2008-05-03T07:51:00.000+10:00

Cripes, I haven't read any of those books. Except People of the Book. I thought it was excellent and in a case of writing Deja Vu one of the locations in that book was repeated in the next book I read - Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell - in an eerily similar way.

Oh and I agree with you on the buying books thing. My personal library is obscene and I just end up supporting my friends' reading habits.

Am about to start Boy in the Striped Pyjamas thank...

2008-05-03T07:05:00.000+10:00

Am about to start Boy in the Striped Pyjamas thanks to Jodie, have just bought Tim Winton's latest, and can now see that I will be getting Bel Canto.

Love a good book list for inspiration.

I'll have to look out for the Geraldine Brooks one...

2008-05-03T02:40:00.000+10:00

I'll have to look out for the Geraldine Brooks one; didn't realize her husband was also a writer.

Am reading The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell, which I'm liking very much.

Know what you mean about Avalon, bless it, but I h...

2008-05-03T00:56:00.000+10:00

Know what you mean about Avalon, bless it, but I have a very soft spot for it: I read it towards the end of my last pregnancy, and through most of the labour, which had a false start and was long and slow, not painful at all, and we went through it at home before walking back to hospital to give birth a couple of hours later. Will's now 18! So I have to keep that copy, even though I'll never wade through it again.

Your recent reads look very much like mine. Is the...

2008-05-03T00:28:00.000+10:00

Your recent reads look very much like mine. Is the Allegra Goodman book Intuition? (As a ex-lab worker, I really enjoyed that one.)

bel canto is one of my favorite books of all time....

2008-05-02T23:25:00.000+10:00

bel canto is one of my favorite books of all time. i saw patchett speak several months ago and it was sooo wonderful. i highly recommend the magician's assistant next.