another knitting blog

round one: heir to the glimmering human capital

Heir to the Glimmering World : A Novel by Cynthia Ozick

A young woman becomes a factotum for a refugee German Jewish scholar and his family. Many quirky types are introduced.

My memory of this book is fading. I guess it didn't make much on an impression on me. 

Human Capital: A Novel by Stephen Amidon

I didn't finish this book; I got bored and skipped to the last chapter. Teenaged delinquents (hot and cold varieties), middle-aged suburban housewives, desperate investment types (the future foretold?), and real estate speculation.

Even though I can barely remember HttGW, I do remember finishing the book.

Winner:Heir to the Glimmering World

round one: jonathan strange & the rope eater

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel by Susanna Clarke

I would describe this book as Harry Potter for adults, except that Harry Potter isn't not for adults, so that doesn't quite capture it. This is also a book about magic, but not boy wizards, rather, gentleman magicians.

I enjoyed this book almost completely. It's long--more than a thousand pages as a paperback--but Clarke was able to keep the story moving and changing in a way that compelled me and I finished it rather quickly. Also, unlike my common complaint about modern fiction, there was a satisfying, if not completely pat, conclusion to the whole enterprise.

The Rope Eater by Ben Jones

A Union soldier deserts and ends up on an exploration ship bound for the arctic. What do the explorers seek? What will they find? Entertaining, if a bit flaky near the end.

I read this book during the summer when arctic ice floes and frost-bitten digits were almost unimaginable. Don't read this book in the winter.

Up against three of the previous competitors (maybe even The Plot Against America), The Rope Eater would have been victorious. Too bad; I was completely captivated by JS & Mr. N.

Winner: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

silly

mostly not blogging about my knitting because I've lost confidence in my photography. knitting every day.

round one: the news from the inner circle

The News from Paraguay: A Novel by Lily Tuck

This book starts off well enough as the story of European woman involved with a Paraguayan general, but devolves into nonstop debauchery, pestilence, and gruesome death. On the upside, during the time I was reading this book, I attended a classical guitar recital. Some of the selections were by the Paraguayan guitarist Agustin Barrios, which I enjoyed very much and paid closer attention to as a result of the Paraguay connection. Look into Barrios; pass on this novel.

The Inner Circle by T.C. Boyle

Before reading this novel--a fictionalized account of the research conducted by Alfred Kinsey--my entire awareness of Kinsey came from the lyrics of the Cole Porter tune Too Darn Hot.

 

According to the Kinsey report
ev'ry average man you know
much prefers to play his favorite sport
when the temperature is low

After reading this novel and watching a PBS special and the Kinsey biopic starring Liam Neeson, I probably know more than I want to about the ground-breaking researcher and his work.

 

As you may imagine there is copius coupling depicted. The most of the names and some of the details have been changed. [This is why I did the additional research--to see how much things were changed].

 

Sex, pestilence, and death versus sex, sex, and sex.

Winner: The Inner Circle