The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson -
An interesting little read - and I mean little - but full. A man, Ambrose, finds out he has a month to live, so he sets out on a journey, his wife in tow, to visit everywhere in the world he has wanted to go, from A to Z in that month. This book is heavy on emotion more than anything else, and it does it well. 8
The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels - The author is first and foremost a poet, so at times I found myself unable to figure out what she was trying to say. A young newly married couple is in Egypt while the husband is part of the crew de-constructing one of the Great Temples of one of the Ramses in order to build the Aswan Dam. Tragedy strikes and drives the young couple back to Canada and then apart from one another. I was reading this book for my book club at the bookstore, and I must confess, I did not finish it in time for the meeting - and then I missed the meeting due to a photo shoot. But I was able to talk to the gal who leads our group and she read me a quote from someone who spoke of Anne Michaels living in "Poetryworld" and that is how we have to read her. That made sense to me, so I picked it back up and plowed through. It was ok. I feel smarter having finished it. 5
The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl - John did not like this book, and I didn't expect to after what he had said, but I must say that I did - really. I love mysteries, I love stories of literary figures and literature, and I love historical fiction - how could I not love this! A group of well-known and well loved American poets are at work on the first translation of Dante's Divine Comedy into English (true by the way). Led by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was such a great character in this story - I feel like Pearl brought him to life - the group discovers that there is a murderer loose and he is killing according to the punishments set forth by Dante in the Inferno. It is true that the murderer is not a main character and you do not meet up with him often, but his motives are explained well at the end, so I was not unsatisfied in the least. 8.5
The Inferno by Dante Aligheri, translated by John Ciardi - Oh how I wish I had Longfellow's translation, but alas. Of course after
The Dante Club I had to see for myself, so I picked up the first canticle of the Divine Comedy. I plan on having the entire Comedy read by the end of summer. I understand better why this work has been so influential in literary history. Dante builds on those who had gone before him in the literary world, and those that came after did the same with him. I am seeing Date-isms all over the place now where before I had no idea. It is also interesting to see how Dante meets out punishment and to whom. He is very specific that the sins are punished in accord with the damage done in life. It is at times gruesome, and I must say that while I am glad to have read Inferno, I am also glad to be done. 9
The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson -
4 comments:
Great list. I just purchased Dorothy Sayers's translation of "The Divine Comedy." I've heard lots of folks who recommend hers over all others. I plan on starting it next week.
My latest recommendation: Walter Wangerin Jr.'s "The Book of the Dun Cow." Wow. You know, those works of fiction that you finish, and all you can do is just sit, and ruminate. You don't know what to say, because you feel like the book has said so much, that any particular words don't really work. In my humble opinion, it was that good.
I like Anne Michael's name!!;-)
Cool. I want to read The End of the Alphabet. (How is book club going?)
I must read The Inferno.
Our less than gracious elitest B&B host tries to read it in Italian once (preferably twice) a year... you know... just to brush up on his Italian.
I'll settle for once in English thank you. LOL
You make me wish I were reading along with you so we could discuss and compare as we go...You have a knack for picking interesting reads.
BTW, I am 5 chapters into the book you sent, its a slow go--keep having to buy more kleenex.
Post a Comment