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Rahina
Rahina is on page 198 of 359 of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
I envy those who have a stronger reaction to this work. Select passages are indeed powerful but the irony remains too heavy (the mute all the lonely people rely on is lonely too!) and that scene with the gun was groanworthy in its telegraphed bathos. That said, I would rather she be in the American Pantheon for this book than not at all.
Oct 08, 2016 05:16PM Add a comment
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

Rahina
Rahina is on page 211 of 272 of Babylonian Life and History
Read by the day, this is pretty interesting. Read at night, it puts me to sleep faster than I would have thought possible.
Oct 08, 2016 01:42PM Add a comment
Babylonian Life and History

Rahina
Rahina is on page 415 of 665 of The Age of Arthur: A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650
Got through the section on brooches and burial goods, then the white noise of hundreds of warrior Kings killing each other. Now in a much more interesting section on Irish education, religion and language.
Sep 22, 2016 10:14AM Add a comment
The Age of Arthur: A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650

Rahina
Rahina is on page 53 of 359 of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
Her first novel has a tone both dreary (which I expected) and maudlin (less appreciated). No match for Reflections so far but it's early days yet...
Sep 22, 2016 10:10AM Add a comment
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

Rahina
Rahina is finished with Interpreter of Maladies
Didn't last long in memory but certainly enjoyable enough to keep its place on the bookshelf.
Sep 22, 2016 10:08AM Add a comment
Interpreter of Maladies

Rahina
Rahina is on page 137 of 198 of Interpreter of Maladies
Went in with low expectations. Suspect that it swept the awards on subject alone. Writing clean and pleasant but without any stylistic quirks. And yet I find it very enjoyable, certainly something that will stick in my memory longer than Gilead. Soothing, like a soak in a tub.
Sep 01, 2016 09:11AM Add a comment
Interpreter of Maladies

Rahina
Rahina is finished with The Kindness of Women
Touching finish as those who survived the craze of the sixties grew up in spite of themselves.
Jul 12, 2016 09:16AM Add a comment
The Kindness of Women

Rahina
Rahina is on page 308 of 352 of The Kindness of Women
Enigmatic. Anatomy, apocalypse, media, fiction as the new reality, desensitivity, devaluation, chasing catharsis, chasing car wrecks, sex as anatomy. I am somewhat intrigued but remain unenlightened as I approach the end of this summation to a career.
Jul 12, 2016 05:52AM Add a comment
The Kindness of Women

Rahina
Rahina is on page 300 of 665 of The Age of Arthur: A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650
Got through the section on grave goods, cruciform and saucer brooches. I feel good about myself.
Jul 11, 2016 03:44AM Add a comment
The Age of Arthur: A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650

Rahina
Rahina is on page 187 of 352 of The Kindness of Women
Clinical writing works magnificently on war and apocalypse but less so when he's depicting his successful single parent raising of three children.
Jul 11, 2016 03:43AM Add a comment
The Kindness of Women

Rahina
Rahina is on page 68 of 352 of The Kindness of Women
My first Ballard. I saw Empire of the Sun years back, giving this sequel to the novel some context and the image of Christian Bale. Apocalypse is right there from the beginning of the book, described in uncanny detail in the real world wartime equivalent.
Jul 09, 2016 03:32PM Add a comment
The Kindness of Women

Rahina
Rahina is finished with The Day of the Storm
So it went from charming slice of life to all of her male cousins hitting on her and proposing marriage within a couple of days of meeting her. One weird family. She did pick the one slightly more distantly related to her so I guess that's good? Anyway, I was considerably more impressed with The Shell Seekers but it was a nice sickbed distraction.
Jul 07, 2016 04:19PM Add a comment
The Day of the Storm

Rahina
Rahina is on page 126 of 272 of The Day of the Storm
Got a stomach virus somehow, bedridden and seeking thoughtless comfort reading so I turn to Rosamunde Pilcher. She was a favorite of my grandmother. Cornwall, local colour, reconnecting with family, maybe romance, back when normal people could still afford to live in London...
Jul 07, 2016 10:07AM Add a comment
The Day of the Storm

Rahina
Rahina is on page 589 of 1199 of Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels
Finished the stories and will wait a while before going on to the novels. Always entertaining. Best stories: Red Wind, The King in Yellow, Trouble is My Business, Guns at Cyrano's, I'll Be Waiting and the Peter Wimsey send up Pearls Are A Nuisance. Only two out of the thirteen actively sucked so that's good.
Jul 05, 2016 03:03PM Add a comment
Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels

Rahina
Rahina is on page 215 of 426 of The Return of the Native
Native is definitely an ensemble novel, hitting a lull when half the characters disappeared. Six characters interweaving desires fuel the plot and it slows when too many are absent.

Midnight gambling scene was mystical and pagan. Can really see how he influenced Lawrence (though Lawrence would probably build up some homoeroticism for such a scene).
Jul 05, 2016 12:25PM Add a comment
The Return of the Native

Rahina
Rahina is on page 148 of 426 of The Return of the Native
Delightfully close to a Gothic novel. Passion, atmosphere, clever switchbacks. It's Hardy so I picture something bad will happen but it's a wild ride to get there. They should make a film with David Tennant as the Reddleman, the role suits him to a tee.
Jun 30, 2016 07:23AM Add a comment
The Return of the Native

Rahina
Rahina is on page 520 of 1199 of Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels
Chandler's earliest stories are a plow. Hints of his ironies and elegance amid pallid tough guy talk and barely established characters.
Jun 30, 2016 07:18AM Add a comment
Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels

Rahina
Rahina is on page 120 of 1199 of Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels
He gets more mileage out of pearls than I would have believed possible. Can sketch a character's essence with sartorial details. Every empty room has a body in it (gets a little silly). Reading the stories in backwards chronological order is way more gratifying than trying to slog through the stilted action of Blackmailers don't Shoot.
Jun 18, 2016 07:26PM Add a comment
Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels

Rahina
Rahina is on page 93 of 192 of Poems of Akhmatova
Pretty much destined for a place among my favorite poets.
Apr 25, 2014 08:43AM Add a comment
Poems of Akhmatova

Rahina
Rahina is on page 75 of 192 of Poems of Akhmatova
Pretty much destined for a place among my favorite poets.
Apr 17, 2014 09:17AM Add a comment
Poems of Akhmatova

Rahina
Rahina is on page 69 of 104 of Karate Chop
Slice-of-life is often generic unless the author is a fabulous stylist or incredibly perceptive. Nors disappoints. A couple of the stories cultivate an opaque and ominous atmosphere of gloom and decay. The rest offer very little to me.
Apr 03, 2014 01:23PM Add a comment
Karate Chop

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