This seemed literary-appropriate - it's official! librarians are hot!
I like money better than people. People can so rarely be exchanged for goods and/or services!
Willow ,'Showtime'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Toddson - Jun 25, 2007 10:39:37 am PDT #3030 of 28195
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"
Toddson - Jun 25, 2007 12:01:45 pm PDT #3031 of 28195
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"
Did I kill the thread? or the hot librarians made everyone quietly shelve themselves in their bunks?
Connie Neil - Jun 25, 2007 12:33:53 pm PDT #3032 of 28195
brillig
No reference to Giles? Mr. Uber-Librarian himself? Sadly lacking.
DavidS - Jun 25, 2007 1:09:00 pm PDT #3033 of 28195
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I saw some books at lunch that piqued my curiosity. Anybody read them and got a review?
The new Chabon book The Yiddish Policeman's Union.
Tracey Chevalier's new novel about Wm. Blake. Burning Bright.
Kiki Strike
Polter-Cow - Jun 25, 2007 1:17:15 pm PDT #3034 of 28195
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
The new Chabon book The Yiddish Policeman's Union.
Saw a positive review of this in Entertainment Weekly. Looked interesting in an alternate-history kind of way. Plus, detectiving! Chabon read up on a whole bunch of noir authors like Chandler and Hammett before writing the novel.
Hayden - Jun 25, 2007 2:53:14 pm PDT #3035 of 28195
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
NY Times Book Review also had a positive review of the new Chabon. I know Mrs. Industries is super-excited. What's Kiki Strike? The delivery service business getting extra-oppressive? Or has she joined the military?
Steph L. - Jun 25, 2007 2:58:16 pm PDT #3036 of 28195
I look more rad than Lutheranism
Kiki Strike kicks serious ass. Steph L. "Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear." Feb 13, 2007 12:47:24 pm PST
beth b - Jun 25, 2007 2:59:02 pm PDT #3037 of 28195
oh joy! Oh Rapture ! I have a brain!
kiki strike was good fun
justkim - Jun 25, 2007 3:04:20 pm PDT #3038 of 28195
Another social casualty...
I finished the Chabon about a week ago. I got it from the library, and I'm conisdering buying it so I can have it with me all the time. I really enjoyed it, but I didn't quite have the time or paitence to appreciate the way I think it should probably be appreciated.
It seemed that the first two-thirds of the book were focused on character development and the outline of a plot. The plot rushed forward rather quickly during the last third. I'm not that familiar with the noir genre or detective stories in general, so maybe that was intentional. I can't tell you if it's true to the genre, but it felt like exactly what I would expect noir to be.
Chabon's writing is just gorgeous. Metaphors and similes were just pouring out at every turn, and I could feel the air and see the quality of the light. It was so dense and rich and flavorful. And then I wanted him to stop with the prose and get on with the story.
Yiddish words and phrases are used heavily, and the meaning is pretty clear by context. The use of Yiddish gave me a strange double vision feel of watching this segregated culture from the outside, but, by being outsider, I understood their feelings of isolation and exclusion from the world.
I loved Landsman, in that way that made me want to kick him a few times, strictly for his own good.
Overall, I don't think I would recommend it for people who need a lot of action in their plots, but I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who wants to get to know characters, warts and all.
Gris - Jun 25, 2007 4:59:18 pm PDT #3039 of 28195
Hey. New board.
The new Chabon book The Yiddish Policeman's Union.
I liked it a lot. It felt like a real alternate universe, and a pretty interesting one. There were definitely times when I was thinking "There's no way this is based in reality... is it?" I do agree that there's a lot of writing around the plot, but part of that, I feel, is necessary to make the world come across.
Basically, I'd put it slightly below Kavalier and Clay because, well, it's not about comic book people and NY, and it's a mystery (not my favorite genre). But I read it due to faith in Chabon, and I was not disappointed. By contrast, I am not currently loving Mysteries of Pittsburgh which is disappointing - Chabon novel with back-cover comparisons to Catcher in the Rye and On The Road felt like it had promise. But... eh. I don't know if I'll get around to finishing it.