The Piano Teacher
Janice Y. K. Lee
Penguin (2009)
Paperback, 352 pages
Rated 2 stars of 5 possible.
The Piano Teacher is written in a present tense, third person point of view that I find disturbing... it's as if someone is secretly watching everything that happens without anyone knowing. One can almost hear the story being narrated in a whisper. For unknown or unstated reasons, The Piano Teacher flip-flops between decades - 1940's and 1950's. As a reader, I find this unexplained flipping between decades to be a major distraction.
Claire Pendleton, the charater referred to in the title, seems to have actually very little to do with the story, yet she should be the main character, or the book should have been given a different title. The story seems to be more about Will Truesdale and Trudy Liang and what happened to them during World War II than about Claire. As it is, there's nothing in the book for me to recommend it to anyone.
Of those that are fully developed, none are likable... not even Claire Pendleton, The Piano Teacher, whom, at best, one can pity. In fact, I am only giving this book two stars because the 1950's portion is interesting. Not so the majority of the book, which takes place approximately a decade earlier. If you're looking for something interesting to read, this probably isn't it. Parts of it are interesting because of the hisotrical material on Hong Kong... but the characters are either the kind you love to hate or rather flat and uninteresting.
Not recommended. This review has been simultaneously posted on Amazon.com, Dragonviews and Library Thing.
Showing posts with label 2 star. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2 star. Show all posts
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Russian Lit or Soap Opera?
Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy
Copyright 1873-1877
??? pages
Rated 2 stars of 5 possible
In nineteenth century Russia, carrying on an extra-marital love affair wasn't quite the thing to do. The novel follows the trials and tribulations of Anna Karenina as she rejects her passionless marriage in favor of pursuing her doomed love affair, enduring the hypocrasies of society.
Anna Karenina is said to have been Tolstoy's best work. If so, I certainly don't want to waste my time on anything else he wrote... This might have gotten a slightly better rating from me if I could have finished it... but the story is complex and each character seems to have multiple names, making the action - what there is of it - difficult to follow. Most of the characters are forgettable and some downright unlikable, even though we are supposed to like them. Even though I liked Anna to a certain degree, I still wanted to alternately slap her for her lapses in judgement and support her for putting up with her very much unlikeable husband.
Someone else mentioned that it reads like a soap opera, and I have to agree, it very much does resemble the soaps. When things happen in this story, they happen slowly - almost as if one is watching a motion picture at slow speed. While I usually enjoy long and complex novels, this book is different. Anna Karenina is certainly not for everyone. All I can say in it's favor is, I'm glad I didn't spend money on this novel. I got mine from Project Gutenberg, hence no length listed. Wikipedia has links to a couple other versions. Recommended: If you're not 100% certain you will love this novel, either borrow it from your local library or read one of the versions available online free, otherwise it's not worth the cost.
by Leo Tolstoy
Copyright 1873-1877
??? pages
Rated 2 stars of 5 possible
In nineteenth century Russia, carrying on an extra-marital love affair wasn't quite the thing to do. The novel follows the trials and tribulations of Anna Karenina as she rejects her passionless marriage in favor of pursuing her doomed love affair, enduring the hypocrasies of society.
Anna Karenina is said to have been Tolstoy's best work. If so, I certainly don't want to waste my time on anything else he wrote... This might have gotten a slightly better rating from me if I could have finished it... but the story is complex and each character seems to have multiple names, making the action - what there is of it - difficult to follow. Most of the characters are forgettable and some downright unlikable, even though we are supposed to like them. Even though I liked Anna to a certain degree, I still wanted to alternately slap her for her lapses in judgement and support her for putting up with her very much unlikeable husband.
Someone else mentioned that it reads like a soap opera, and I have to agree, it very much does resemble the soaps. When things happen in this story, they happen slowly - almost as if one is watching a motion picture at slow speed. While I usually enjoy long and complex novels, this book is different. Anna Karenina is certainly not for everyone. All I can say in it's favor is, I'm glad I didn't spend money on this novel. I got mine from Project Gutenberg, hence no length listed. Wikipedia has links to a couple other versions. Recommended: If you're not 100% certain you will love this novel, either borrow it from your local library or read one of the versions available online free, otherwise it's not worth the cost.
Monday, May 26, 2008
The End Of A Tale
The Book of Merlyn
T.H. White
Publisher: Ace (September 15, 1987)
Paperback: 193 pages
Rating: 2 stars of 5 possible
After the author's death, a nearly complete 5th volume to this epic was discovered among his papers. That volume was published separately as The Book of Merlyn. This magical account of King Arthur's last night on earth spent weeks on the New York Times best-seller list following its publication in 1977. Even in addressing the profound issues of war and peace, The Book of Merlyn retains the life and sparkle for which White is known. The tale brings Arthur full circle, an ending, White wrote, that "will turn my completed epic into a perfect fruit, 'rounded off and bright and done.'"
While The Book of Merlyn contributes a closing chapter to the saga of The Once And Future King, I found it to be less interesting than the first four volumes. Some of the content had been previously published with The Sword In The Stone yet seems out of place in the first volume despite fitting in with the theme of Arthur's education. The out-of-place feeling is explained by the preface in The Book of Merlyn when we learn that some of the content we read earlier rightfully belongs in this last chapter, where it was repeated because that content was originally written for The Book of Merlyn. With that previously misplaced content, the last chapter of the saga is readable and comprensible as well as more enjoyable. Arthur's education is the most interesting part of The Once and Future King. If The Book of Merlyn had been stripped of those parts rightfully belonging there because of their inclusion in the earlier part of the story, that last chapter would not be worth reading.
Recommendation:
The saga almost seems complete without this last chapter, which doesn't stand by itself very well. One can't help but wonder if this part of the saga may have been better left undiscovered in the author's effects after his death. If you really want to know the end of the story, go ahead and read this volume. Continuity is better if you read The Book of Merlyn immediately after you finish The Once and Future King. Just don't expect great things to happen in this last part of the longer tale; the best parts occurred much earlier.
T.H. White
Publisher: Ace (September 15, 1987)
Paperback: 193 pages
Rating: 2 stars of 5 possible
After the author's death, a nearly complete 5th volume to this epic was discovered among his papers. That volume was published separately as The Book of Merlyn. This magical account of King Arthur's last night on earth spent weeks on the New York Times best-seller list following its publication in 1977. Even in addressing the profound issues of war and peace, The Book of Merlyn retains the life and sparkle for which White is known. The tale brings Arthur full circle, an ending, White wrote, that "will turn my completed epic into a perfect fruit, 'rounded off and bright and done.'"
While The Book of Merlyn contributes a closing chapter to the saga of The Once And Future King, I found it to be less interesting than the first four volumes. Some of the content had been previously published with The Sword In The Stone yet seems out of place in the first volume despite fitting in with the theme of Arthur's education. The out-of-place feeling is explained by the preface in The Book of Merlyn when we learn that some of the content we read earlier rightfully belongs in this last chapter, where it was repeated because that content was originally written for The Book of Merlyn. With that previously misplaced content, the last chapter of the saga is readable and comprensible as well as more enjoyable. Arthur's education is the most interesting part of The Once and Future King. If The Book of Merlyn had been stripped of those parts rightfully belonging there because of their inclusion in the earlier part of the story, that last chapter would not be worth reading.
Recommendation:
The saga almost seems complete without this last chapter, which doesn't stand by itself very well. One can't help but wonder if this part of the saga may have been better left undiscovered in the author's effects after his death. If you really want to know the end of the story, go ahead and read this volume. Continuity is better if you read The Book of Merlyn immediately after you finish The Once and Future King. Just don't expect great things to happen in this last part of the longer tale; the best parts occurred much earlier.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Vampires In Your Dreams?
Vampire Plagues: Paris, 1850
Sebastian Rook
Scholastic Paperbacks (September, 2005)
Paperback: 208 pages
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Rated 2 stars of 5 possible
An ancient evil. A ritual gone wrong. The vampire plague is threatening like never before...
Jack wants to believe it is only a dream, that the vampires are gone, that they've been banished by an ancient ritual which sent their leader to the depths of hell. But he isn't so sure... Soon, Jack, along with his friend Benedict Cole (aka Ben), and Ben's older sister, Emily discover that the vampires are indeed not just in Jack's dreams. Can our heroes defeat the vampires once again and escape with their lives?
A little bit reminiscent of Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events, the Vampire Plagues trilogy finds our heroes losing their guardian just about every time they turn around. The difference is, in The Vampire Plagues, the youngsters are fighting a different type of evil. The middle book of this trilogy feels a lot like reading the middle third of a much longer book. There are plain references to the first volume, mostly incorporated in the first third or so of book 2 which don't help this volume stand alone very well.
Reading the Vampire Plagues trilogy should be an all or none proposition. If you read and liked the first installment, then by all means buy or borrow the second and then the third... this is an interesting story that should not have been broken up into a trilogy, but instead published as one longer novel.
Sebastian Rook
Scholastic Paperbacks (September, 2005)
Paperback: 208 pages
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Rated 2 stars of 5 possible
An ancient evil. A ritual gone wrong. The vampire plague is threatening like never before...
Jack wants to believe it is only a dream, that the vampires are gone, that they've been banished by an ancient ritual which sent their leader to the depths of hell. But he isn't so sure... Soon, Jack, along with his friend Benedict Cole (aka Ben), and Ben's older sister, Emily discover that the vampires are indeed not just in Jack's dreams. Can our heroes defeat the vampires once again and escape with their lives?
A little bit reminiscent of Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events, the Vampire Plagues trilogy finds our heroes losing their guardian just about every time they turn around. The difference is, in The Vampire Plagues, the youngsters are fighting a different type of evil. The middle book of this trilogy feels a lot like reading the middle third of a much longer book. There are plain references to the first volume, mostly incorporated in the first third or so of book 2 which don't help this volume stand alone very well.
Reading the Vampire Plagues trilogy should be an all or none proposition. If you read and liked the first installment, then by all means buy or borrow the second and then the third... this is an interesting story that should not have been broken up into a trilogy, but instead published as one longer novel.
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