BTT: Visual (from Booking Through Thursday)
So … the books that you own (however many there may be) … do you display them proudly right there in plain sight for all the world to see? (At least the world that comes into your living room.) Or do you keep them tucked away in your office or bedroom or library or closet or some place less “public?”
I have three 6" tall x 2" wide bookcases in my livingroom where my personal library lives. They are not completely full...I have two empty shelves. And I have one shelf in my kitchen for my cookbooks. I am also contemplating putting a bookshelf in my bedroom instead of having a pile on my nightstand. As I continue to add to my collection, I will eventually need to add more bookcases.
BTT: Not in Theaters (from Booking Through Thursday)
Name one book that you hope never, ever, ever gets made into a movie (no matter how good that movie might be).
The All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness. Having both read and watched the Harry Potter and Twilight series, I know that cinematographers will not be able to capture it to meet the standards in my imagination.
Read on,
Paula
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Sunday, August 3, 2014
World events: Jonasson versus Doyle
It wasn't intentional. It just happened that I read Jonas Jonasson's "The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" while reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes".
While I enjoyed reading Jonasson's book, it eventually got to the point where I couldn't suspend my disbelief any more. The main character, Allan Karlsson, just happens to be involved in certain world events during his lifetime (the atomic bomb, the Korean War, the Spanish Civil War, etc.). While many people are involved in world events, by the end of the book I just couldn't believe that one person could coincidentally be involved in so many of them.
I have only read two stories from the complete Sherlock Holmes so far ("A Study in Scarlet" and "The Sign of the Four"). These also involve world events. In these stories, so far it is the culprit's backstory that involves the telling of the historical events. In the first it is the history of the Mormons in Utah and a bit about their religious behaviours. In the second, it is the Indian Rebellion of 1857. There are history lessons in both the Jonasson and Doyle books; however, I find them more palatable in the Sherlock Holmes stories. Even though the events are recounted briefly (within a chapter) in both the Jonasson and Doyle books, I find that Doyle's writing style makes the world events far more interesting to read.
The way that Doyle has incorporated the world events into the two stories I have read so far intrigue me as to what other events will be mentioned in upcoming stories.
Read on,
Paula
While I enjoyed reading Jonasson's book, it eventually got to the point where I couldn't suspend my disbelief any more. The main character, Allan Karlsson, just happens to be involved in certain world events during his lifetime (the atomic bomb, the Korean War, the Spanish Civil War, etc.). While many people are involved in world events, by the end of the book I just couldn't believe that one person could coincidentally be involved in so many of them.
I have only read two stories from the complete Sherlock Holmes so far ("A Study in Scarlet" and "The Sign of the Four"). These also involve world events. In these stories, so far it is the culprit's backstory that involves the telling of the historical events. In the first it is the history of the Mormons in Utah and a bit about their religious behaviours. In the second, it is the Indian Rebellion of 1857. There are history lessons in both the Jonasson and Doyle books; however, I find them more palatable in the Sherlock Holmes stories. Even though the events are recounted briefly (within a chapter) in both the Jonasson and Doyle books, I find that Doyle's writing style makes the world events far more interesting to read.
The way that Doyle has incorporated the world events into the two stories I have read so far intrigue me as to what other events will be mentioned in upcoming stories.
Read on,
Paula
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