Well he did ask for one - and here it is.
What'll I talk about? Oh, go and see the discussion raging in the comments section of my Public Transport post It's great to see comments!
Nothing is exercising the rant side of my brain at this point so I'll dig into the books I've read recently. Next book in the review pile, is Jonathan Safran Foer's "Everything is Illuminated." This appears to have been made into a film, but it escaped me. I started off laughing at this book when opening it on the flight to Riga, it's written in an entertaining style that consists of, well, try to imagine somebody from the Ukraine speaking English and trying to impress with it. Words and phrases tend to be misused comically - Malapropisms, there, that's the word I was trying to think of!
But this misrepresents the book, as it deals with the horrors of war (WWII) and the language sort of sets you on a "happy" path before the really horrible nasty truths of war are mentioned, and that makes everything drive home that bit more.
The narrator is a translator for the protagonist (another big word for a Thursday!), Jonathan, and certain chapters consist of a letter from the translator, in "real-time" outlining how progress is going on the translation and commenting on the protagonist's corrections to previous drafts.
The story revolves around a search (there are only 7 stories I heard someone say once-I must investigate that) for a woman who saved Jonathan's grandfather from the Nazis in the Ukraine. The search involves Jonathan, the translator, an old man and an "undersexed guide dog" (these words taken from the back of the book, honest!) and a journey through the Ukraine for a small village.
It's quite an entertaining book in parts, but there is a serious side to the tale. The story was definitely strong enough to hold my interest and have me look forward to picking up the book. A good story, not quite as gripping as something like the Da Vinci Code, but on the high positive side of good! Say, 0.76/ 1.02.
PS the title links to an even better review of this book than I have written. I have a lot of work to do to improve my reviews.........
In fact I hereby apologise for the apalling quality of my reviews. I resolve to write sooner after I finish a book so that I can be more in-depth in relation to them. Sorry.
What'll I talk about? Oh, go and see the discussion raging in the comments section of my Public Transport post It's great to see comments!
Nothing is exercising the rant side of my brain at this point so I'll dig into the books I've read recently. Next book in the review pile, is Jonathan Safran Foer's "Everything is Illuminated." This appears to have been made into a film, but it escaped me. I started off laughing at this book when opening it on the flight to Riga, it's written in an entertaining style that consists of, well, try to imagine somebody from the Ukraine speaking English and trying to impress with it. Words and phrases tend to be misused comically - Malapropisms, there, that's the word I was trying to think of!
But this misrepresents the book, as it deals with the horrors of war (WWII) and the language sort of sets you on a "happy" path before the really horrible nasty truths of war are mentioned, and that makes everything drive home that bit more.
The narrator is a translator for the protagonist (another big word for a Thursday!), Jonathan, and certain chapters consist of a letter from the translator, in "real-time" outlining how progress is going on the translation and commenting on the protagonist's corrections to previous drafts.
The story revolves around a search (there are only 7 stories I heard someone say once-I must investigate that) for a woman who saved Jonathan's grandfather from the Nazis in the Ukraine. The search involves Jonathan, the translator, an old man and an "undersexed guide dog" (these words taken from the back of the book, honest!) and a journey through the Ukraine for a small village.
It's quite an entertaining book in parts, but there is a serious side to the tale. The story was definitely strong enough to hold my interest and have me look forward to picking up the book. A good story, not quite as gripping as something like the Da Vinci Code, but on the high positive side of good! Say, 0.76/ 1.02.
PS the title links to an even better review of this book than I have written. I have a lot of work to do to improve my reviews.........
In fact I hereby apologise for the apalling quality of my reviews. I resolve to write sooner after I finish a book so that I can be more in-depth in relation to them. Sorry.
It's true - he did indeed start laughing on the plane. In a most irritating fashion, too.
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