Book Reviews

The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

I love the movie, and so last year I heard about the book and asked, and got it for Xmas. After the basic stress of Dec. I decided to relax with a book and I finished this book in less then a week (Dec 25th-30th). Part of the writing style used irritated me though. He interrupts the story proper to tell his own story sort of. Some of it is like the movie where the grandpa is reading to the sick kid. That's suppose to be the author as a kid and his dad reading to him. The rest is all about how he is abridging this 'Classic Tale' and he sums up what he is 'leaving out'. Well, in my opinion, he overdoes it. He goes on too long and too often in this way. Sometimes he says something useful to the story, but usually not. Then there is the first chapter of the sequel, Buttercups Baby. That really drove me nuts. I could have lived without that one. I love the movie still, I love the story, I'm glad I read it, but I won't really be tempted to read it again. Book Reviews item Posted: 1/6/03; 11:08:41 PM

Dragonwyck by Anya Seton

Until a few months ago I didn't even know that there was a book. I immediately went and purchased a copy. The book I now have was printed in the 1940's, and the story is set in the 1840's. Gothic romance with a touch of horror. Set in New England, mostly New York. The story of a girl who grew up on a farm but constantly daydreamed of a pampered life, and what happens when she gets her wish. I loved it. Book Reviews item Posted: 12/25/02; 3:51:23 PM

Mirror, Mirror by Jane Yolen, Heidi E. Y. Stemple (Editors)

(Full title: Mirror, Mirror: Forty Folktales for Mothers and Daughters to Share) This book collects together lots of fairy tales that involve mothers and daughters of all kinds. Then they divided them into different sections that would have 1-5 stories and then conversation between Jane and Heidi (mother and daughter, of course). The point of the conversations are to hopefully get mothers and daughters to pick up from there and discuss it themselves. I enjoyed reading it myself. Unfortunately I think it would be hard to get my mother and I to read a book at the same time and pace, and therefore be able to discuss it well as we went. Book Reviews item Posted: 12/1/02; 5:42:15 PM

Time Enough for Love, by Robert A. Heinlein

I have mixed feelings about this one. First, I have my doubts that I should have started here. You see I haven't read anything else by him or in this series. Probably should have started at the beginning, but this one was reccomended to me highly, so there it is. There are a lot of things I liked, mostly the back stories. They were like short stories loosely tied together by the idea of him telling them to folks later on. Most of the way through I started getting irritated with his portrayal of women. Their all smart and happy, but it bothers me that every woman in an over 600 page book who gets a name and a speaking part has sex with the leading man. (all, but maybe 1, and there are many.) But each story in and of itself was great, WWI, pioneering a new planet, running a whore house on Mars, etc, etc, etc. They were all very fun. So I took the women with a grain of salt each and enjoyed the rest. Book Reviews item Posted: 11/17/02; 10:58:14 PM

Elric of Melnibone', by Michael Moorcock
I still love this book, which I first read when I was 16. I rarely reread books, but this one was worth it. I'm planning to reread the whole series. I'll let you know how it goes. Book Reviews item Posted: 11/12/02; 4:22:27 PM

Elric: Song of the Black Sword

(Omnibus), by Michael Moorcock I discovered Elric when I was 16. He was on my mother's bookshelf in the form of a couple of Double Day books, and she hadn't gotten around to reading them. I was hook by the first sentence. Now I have collected a series of 15 Omnibus volumes of Michael Moorcocks work and I recently started reading this one to my partner Michael who has never read any of the Elric stories before. I am happy to say that we are less then 50 pages in and he seems to be enjoying this as much as I am. Book Reviews item Posted: 10/5/02; 2:23:25 PM