by Robert Goolrick
While in Seattle I wondered into a small locally owned bookstore and browsed the shelves. The kind of bookstore that has staff recommendations on every shelf and in every category and all of them make every book sound amazing. That’s how I ended up with A Reliable Wife. A rave review and a list of endorsements on the back had me. Not to mention the cover. However, I discovered early on that this isn’t my type of book.
Robert Goolrick has a definitive writing style which I have discovered some people love. I found it annoying and boring. I love lush writing but I was just put off. It took me until the end of the book to care what was going to happen and even then I really didn’t care that much.
Catherine, a complex woman, with a master plan to marry and destroy the wealthy widow Ralph Truitt. As Catherine’s plan to murder her new husband comes to fruition complex memories surface for herself, Ralph, Alice and Antonio. Can she slowly poison the only man who has ever cared for her?
Ralph gives up on love, life and redemption. As he lies in bed debilitated I grew infuriated with his lack of caring for himself or for his family. Can a man who knows the sins of wife really be that forgiving and listless? Only as he witnesses Antonio’s crime against Catherine does he show the emotions of a man who cares. But for me it was too late to care about anyone in the book.
Bottomline, if you love romances this is not the book for you. Even if you like to read something a little bit different now and then this still might not be the book for you.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Beautiful and Damned
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This has been on my booklist for a long time. A classic I’ve always wanted to read. F. Scott Fitzgerald is a literary genius. He has the gorgeous ability to clothe the English language in a way that is accessible yet beautiful. I had never had the pleasure of reading anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald however after reading such an exquisitely written book I am clamoring to read The Great Gatsby.
Quite simply an insight into early romantic love and its tender kisses and words, marriage, alcoholism, greed, ambition, and squandered talent. Succumb to the dialogue of the early 20th century and you will not be disappointed in the incredible linguistic abilities of Fitzgerald to enrapture you in the decadence and liveliness of the age and the portrayal of two flawed characters, Anthony and Gloria Patch.
Anthony Patch, Harvard educated, expecting a rather large inheritance from his grandfather meets the unobtainable and gorgeous Gloria with whom he has absolutely nothing in common. Despite the obvious incompatibilities Anthony decides he must have her. Anthony, of no particular skill or ambition except to socialize with friends and discuss philosophical matters and Gloria with no particular ambition except to join him.
Fitzgerald expertly portrays early romance where kisses are remembered through each action and you can’t wait to see the other person. Together, they embark on fantasies where they live in far off places with gobs of money and no worries. However, soon after the ceremony realization hits them and slowly descend into a life or parties, alcohol and desperation.
The fierce arguments about finances. They spent their life striving for money and friends and music and more alcohol until the life they imagined was a distant memory. The inheritance never comes and the fight for material things has ruined their lives. Fitzgerald is a master at communicating the lifestyle of the privileged at the turn of the century and that is part of the book’s charm. As someone who doesn’t drink very often there are a lot of mentions of different types of alcohol in the story.
Fitzgerald says: Happiness is only the alleviation of some especially intense misery. This is such a heartbreaking and truthful look at relationships. It makes you think of the relationships in your own life. I read they are making this book into a movie with Leo Dicaprio as the lead. Should be an interesting adaption if done right. Treat yourself and pick this book up next time you see it.
This has been on my booklist for a long time. A classic I’ve always wanted to read. F. Scott Fitzgerald is a literary genius. He has the gorgeous ability to clothe the English language in a way that is accessible yet beautiful. I had never had the pleasure of reading anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald however after reading such an exquisitely written book I am clamoring to read The Great Gatsby.
Quite simply an insight into early romantic love and its tender kisses and words, marriage, alcoholism, greed, ambition, and squandered talent. Succumb to the dialogue of the early 20th century and you will not be disappointed in the incredible linguistic abilities of Fitzgerald to enrapture you in the decadence and liveliness of the age and the portrayal of two flawed characters, Anthony and Gloria Patch.
Anthony Patch, Harvard educated, expecting a rather large inheritance from his grandfather meets the unobtainable and gorgeous Gloria with whom he has absolutely nothing in common. Despite the obvious incompatibilities Anthony decides he must have her. Anthony, of no particular skill or ambition except to socialize with friends and discuss philosophical matters and Gloria with no particular ambition except to join him.
Fitzgerald expertly portrays early romance where kisses are remembered through each action and you can’t wait to see the other person. Together, they embark on fantasies where they live in far off places with gobs of money and no worries. However, soon after the ceremony realization hits them and slowly descend into a life or parties, alcohol and desperation.
The fierce arguments about finances. They spent their life striving for money and friends and music and more alcohol until the life they imagined was a distant memory. The inheritance never comes and the fight for material things has ruined their lives. Fitzgerald is a master at communicating the lifestyle of the privileged at the turn of the century and that is part of the book’s charm. As someone who doesn’t drink very often there are a lot of mentions of different types of alcohol in the story.
Fitzgerald says: Happiness is only the alleviation of some especially intense misery. This is such a heartbreaking and truthful look at relationships. It makes you think of the relationships in your own life. I read they are making this book into a movie with Leo Dicaprio as the lead. Should be an interesting adaption if done right. Treat yourself and pick this book up next time you see it.
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