Leonie > Recent Status Updates

I've read a bit, and it's well written but it's not compelling me to carry on. It's me not it. I'm not gonna finish it.

4 OCT 2021 I have found this hard work, in all honesty. My attention drifts and I have to go back a couple of paragraphs that my eyes have scanned but my brain hasn't taken in. When Proust keeps my attention though, he really rewards it. The descriptions are exquisite, and the relationships (particularly my namesake and her servant) are beautifully observed. Not finished Swann's Way yet but had some thoughts to note.

Loved it.

Breakfast of Champions finished 12th Aug. A seething mass of disparate threads, entirely typical of "Grandpa" Kurt's fayre that is all drawn together in a challenging and slightly overwhelming manner. Of course I enjoyed it, though "enjoyed" is probably the wrong description entirely.

Slaughterhouse 5 finished 26 JUL 19. War is absurd. (That's all I got.)

God Bless You, Mr Rosewater finished 21 JUL 19. I hadn't read this one before. I'm struggling to put my feelings into words about it. All I can find within myself to say is that "Grandpa Kurt" (not my real grandfather, more's the pity) left me in a state of warm fuzziness when I got to the end.

Cat's Cradle finished 12 JUL 2019: When I started CC, I couldn't for the life of me remember anything about it, and was convinced for quite some time that I hadn't read it before. The mention of ice-nine tweaked a tiny chord in the back of my mind but it wasn't until very close to the end that something happened to one particular much admired female character and BOOM! Hotel California.

7 AUG 18 I'll be honest. There have been some great stories in this volume but there have also been a couple I didn't get on with. And at times, the link to Dieselpunk has seemed a bit tenuous. I will probably come back to it, on the strength of the strong stories as there's only six to go, but I want to put some clear space between me and it, for a couple of other books.

The Lannisters have seriously got nothing on the Romanovs.

7 AUG 18 I'll be honest. There have been some great stories in this volume but there have also been a couple I didn't get on with. And at times, the link to Dieselpunk has seemed a bit tenuous. I will probably come back to it, on the strength of the strong stories as there's only six to go, but I want to put some clear space between me and it, for a couple of other books.

Like standing amidst a swirl of multicoloured butterflies, flying up to brilliant sunlight. I am inspired and rejuvenated.

Loved it - I felt utterly immersed in the glitz and glamour of the Roaring Twenties!

21st Feb. I'm still reading it - it's good but taking me ages.
2nd Mar. Had a brief break to read a couple of short SF novels and now I'm back refreshed. Uriah Heep is making my skin crawl!

21st Feb. I'm still reading it - it's good but taking me ages.

Gah. You suck, Michel Faber.

I have to confess that the last 100 pages of The Pickwick Papers has dragged for me. I'd not picked it up in over a week and I can't say I'm keen to plough my way through 500 more pages of Pickwick getting himself into and out of minor scrapes. I guess I prefer the inherent tragedy of Bleak House, which I found far more compelling. I might read something else, before I pick up Pickwick Papers again.

I'm rather enjoying The Pickwick Papers! Why did I wait so long to discover Charles Dickens?

I'm rather enjoying The Pickwick Papers! Why did I wait so long to discover Charles Dickens?

It really is very good. I imagine it to be the EastEnders of it's day, only much better! If you have Bleak House on your to Be Read pile, I advise you to pick it up! It is compelling and beautifully crafted.

It really is very good. I imagine it to be the EastEnders of it's day, only much better!

It really is very good. I imagine it to be the EastEnders of it's day, only much better!

Got into it!

Really good. Learnt a lot of bits and pieces that I didn't know about some famous comedians.

Enjoying it so far!

Brilliant so far. Not often I can't anticipate what's coming next in a novel so I'm loving this one.

Well, I was enjoying it. The opening half was really quite good but it seems it was subject to the law of diminishing returns: each subsequent section was weaker than the last. I gather that this was first in a series: I'm more inclined to read the Wikipedia page for the others than actually read them. For shame!