No Country for Old Men

No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy.

I didn't really like the book much while I was reading it until near the end. I may have messed it up by seeing the movie first. The movie was outstanding and I highly recommend it. If I hadn't seen the movie, I would never have picked up the book to read. Just not my kind of reading. But I enjoyed the movie so much that I wanted/longed for more information about the characters. I was trying to conceptualize the main 3 characters and the movie left me wanting more. The book didn't really deliver that, although perhaps at the end, it did offer more about the Sheriff. But I was really interested in knowing more about Anton Chirgurh (perfectly portrayed by Javier Bardem), and the book didn't deliver. For the most part, the movie and book were completely interchangeable. I didn't feel like the book gave me any more insight into the movie. I do have to admit, though, I rarely, if ever, have read a book after seeing a movie. It is usually the opposite…I read a book, and then I want to see the movie.

I finished reading the book last night, and as I have mused on it today, I realize that I did get something out of the book. The character of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (again, perfectly portrayed in the movie by Tommy Lee Jones) was that of a very old, wise soul. He seemed to realize that he didn't have it in him to continue to observe and deal with the evil that seemed to be permeating his world. He was ready to retire. He had seen enough.The book is about a drug deal gone bad in Texas country. Llewelyn Moss innocently comes across a massacre when he is out hunting and as he is looking around, finds a case full of money. Apparently, he thought that he could get away with taking the case and no one would be the wiser. He hadn't dealt with a character like the psychopath, evil Chirgurh. Meanwhile, the sheriff's boys are dealing with some other murders going on, and then come across the massacre and the chase is on.

The book is somewhat difficult to read at first…the author doesn't use punctuation, but I easily adapted to that. By far, I most enjoyed the chapters that the Sheriff was narrating. That is what saved the book for me. The Sheriff is aging and reflecting on all that he has seen and done. I certainly wanted to know more about the Sheriff’s life, but that may just be the therapist in me. The ending definitely left me with many questions, and perhaps a sequel is planned. I probably would read it if that were the case, although maybe the movie would be a better bet!

Best Reads of 2004

I read 43 books in 2004. I have picked eight of them to be my selected best read books of that year. Several of them were very popular books and with good reason! I thought that all of these books were very well written and interesting stories. I know that at least one of them was an Oprah pick (Back Roads), for those of you who like to follow her choices. Anyway, here are Sue's picks:

Drowning Ruth-Christina Schwarz *****
The Seduction of Water-Carol Goodman
The DaVinci Code-Dan Brown
The Time Traveler’s Wife-Audrey Niffenegger ****
Cold Mountain-Charles Frazier ******
One Thousand White Women-Jim Fergus ***
Back Roads-Tawni O’Dell
The Shadow of the Wind-Carlos Ruiz Zafon

By far, Cold Mountain was my favorite of this list, although Drowning Ruth is a very close second. I highly recommend any of these books. I don't think that the reader would be disappointed. Anyone who follows these posts closely would notice that Drowning Ruth was also on my 2001 list. A sign of a very good book indeed!

Anyone have any comments on these choices?

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell.

I liked this book. I found it in the bargain books at Barnes and Noble and it was worth the price. (It is listed on the B&N website for only $2.98-can’t beat that for a good book!) It is a very simple, quick book to read, but I enjoyed the story and there were a couple of twists at the end of the book that I really did not see coming, and they added some more dimension and meaning to the story. Actually, this might even be a book that I might re-read at some time.

The following synopsis is taken from this website:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Vanishing-Act-of-Esme-Lennox/Maggie-OFarrell/e/9780641883453/?itm=1

Synopsis
In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend's attempts at commitment, Iris Lockhart receives a stunning phone call: Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital—where she has been locked away for over sixty years. Iris’s grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esme’s papers prove she is Kitty’s sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme’s face. Esme has been labeled harmless—sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But Esme’s still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit? Maggie O’Farrell’s intricate tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the freedom brought by truth will haunt readers long past its final page.

Esme was a very likeable, but mysterious character. (By mysterious, I mean, that I kept trying to figure out what her diagnosis might have been that kept her in the institution all those years.) Her sister, Kitty, also was speaking through-out the book, which at first was confusing, until I figured that out. But Kitty’s narration really added to the story.

This was a quick read, as I said before, but it was also one that I couldn't put down. I found myself reading later into the night than I usually do. The author really did a good job engaging the reader. I have not read any of her other books, but I would sure be willing to give them a try. Please let me know if anyone reading this has read any of her other work.

As many of the books that I read, I notice that a reader’s guide/book club guide is also available for the book.

Don't you hate it when....?

Have you ever tried to read a really bad book? It is rare for me to quit reading a book once that I have started it, but every once in awhile I just can’t finish one. Last night was one of those times. In fact, the book was so bad, I finally threw it across the room! Something, I might add, that I have never done. But it deserved it. What a bad book.

The specific book that I am talking about right now is The Shack by William Young. There was a huge display and promotion for this book when I was in Barnes and Noble a couple of weeks ago and I got suckered into buying it. Big mistake.

The premise of the story is a good one and on paper sounds very interesting. Mack’s youngest daughter is abducted during a family camping trip and is never found, presumed dead. The dress she was wearing is found all bloody in an old run down shack in the middle of the woods. Four years later, Mack receives a note in the mail from “Papa”, his wife’s name for God. The note tells him to meet him in the shack the following weekend, and, of course, against his better judgment, Mack goes.

I know, I know…so far it sounds like a good story. What threw me off of the book was how it was written. I kept checking the back cover, thinking that I had bought a Young Adult Christian novel. It read so simplisticly that I couldn’t stand it. It reads like it was a book written for 6th graders. And everyone was praying for everyone else every moment. Now, I don’t have anything against prayer and praying for others, but in the real world that isn’t the conversation that everyone has at every opportunity. I just couldn’t go on with finishing the book!

As I said, I rarely don’t finish a book, but it happens once or twice a year.

Then, there have also been those times that I do finish a book and the ending is so poor that I am mad at myself for wasting the time to read it!

There are so many good books out there to be read, I just hate to spend time on a “bad” book!

The Gathering

The Gathering by Anne Enright.
As promised after seeing that this book won the 2008 Man Booker Prize, I went out and bought the book and read it. It is hard to understand why it won the prize, when I have read so many other better books. The book was good, just not that good. And going to the Barnes and Noble site, I saw that there were others reviewing the book who felt like reading the book was a waste of time. So be forewarned.

It is actually a good story, but written difficult. (I know that doesn't really make sense). It takes place in Ireland and is told by Veronica Hegarty, one of twelve children of a very traditional Irish Catholic family. The family has gathered together for the funeral of her older brother, Liam, who walked into the sea with stones in his pockets.

Through-out the book, Veronica examines her resentment toward her “Mammy”, who none of the family ever wanted to upset and kept things from her to avoid upsetting her, and toward her husband and children, apparently for tying her down. Mixed into that, Veronica shares a secret from childhood involving her grandparent’s generation. She spends a lot of the book either imagining and/or remembering her grandparent’s lives, especially her grandmother, Ada.

The book is also examining some of Liam’s life. Veronica states: "the seeds of my brother's death were sown many years ago…" She could be referring to numerous things, including the childhood secret. Liam led a life of destruction, mixed with alcoholism. He had detached himself fairly much from the family, just showing up every once in awhile.

It never felt like any of the characters in the novel were developed fully. I didn’t really feel like I especially cared about any of them. This was one of those books that I kept reading thinking that it would get better. And, in a sense, it did. At the end, there was a feeling of continuity, among all the other emotions that threaded through the book (regret, passion, anger, love, etc.).

Do I recommend the book? Not really. It wasn’t a bad read, but there are others that are so much better.

2003 Favorite Books

Man, this was a good year for good books! I found that I read 48 books in 2003. And it was quite difficult to narrow it down to a manageable favorite list! Here is what I came up with:


Lost Nation-Jeffrey Lent
Keeping The Faith-Frank and John Schaffer
The Mercy Seat-Rilla Askew
Red Water-Judith Freeman
My Losing Season-Pat Conroy
Big Stone Gap-Adriana Trigiani
Oral History-Lee Smith
Rachel’s Holiday-Marian Keyes
The Secret Lives of Bees-Sue Monk Kidd
Swan-Frances Mayes
Sins of the 7th Sister-Huston Curtiss
More Than You Know-Beth Gutcheon


I am sure that many of you have read some of these books listed. Several of them were very popular books. And honestly, I am not sure that I can even mark which ones were my very favorites! I really liked Lost Nation. Oral History, Rachel's Holiday (a fun book) and The Secret Lives of Bees. I am a huge fan of Jeffrey Lent and Lee Smith, so they can't really miss with me.


Let me know if you try any of these, or if you have already read them, what you thought. Let's help others find good reads!

The Worst Thing I've Done

No, this isn't some confession of the worst thing I have done. It is the name of the last book that I have read: The Worst Thing I've Done by Ursula Hegi.

The story is about 3 childhood friends, Jake, Mason and Annie. Mason appears to be a severe personality disorder (just my clinical opinion), who appears to successfully dictate whatever he wants the relationships between the three of them to be at any given time. Annie ends up marrying Mason, primarily because Jake could handle being the one left out, and Mason couldn't. The three remain best friends over the years. When Annie's little sister is left orphaned, the three vow to raise her together. Opal, Annie's sister, is nineteen years younger than Annie and together they struggle with their mother/sister relationship.

The book is well written and the story grabbed me immediately. I believe that the first sentence of this book may possibly be the best first sentence of a book that I have ever read:

"Tonight, Annie is driving from North Sea to Montauk and back to North Sea as she has every night since Mason killed himself."

Unless suicide is a present trauma for someone, who could resist reading more after that sentence? It pulled me into the story immediately. And I was not disappointed. Even in death, Mason has a huge pull/influence on Jake, Annie and Opal. Thankfully, Annie has a woman she grew up with that was her mother's best friend, whom Annie calls "Aunt Stormy". Annie and Opal go to stay with Aunt Stormy after Mason kills himself and Aunt Stormy wisely allows Annie to mourn, but gently guides her to healing.

This is a somewhat complicated book about very complicated relationships, but I found it easy to read. I will be curious to hear what others think about it.