Book Review the First
May. 30th, 2015 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitCheating slightly, because the first book I read was before I had set new book reading as one of my goals. However, it was a book I would not normally have read, so I shall include it.
Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris
Not the sort of book I could imagine myself ever reading, let alone enjoying, but with Richard Armitage taking on the role in NBC's Hannibal I decided to at least try it. I was gripped by the story and did enjoy it. I don't like reading graphic violence, but was very taken with this, which to me was much more of a psychological story. I don't want to read more of the Hannibal Lecter stories, but am extremely glad I read this one. Proof that you never know whether you will like something until you try it.
The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov
I half enjoyed this, was interested to see where it was going, but was left feeling a bit 'meh'. In true Russian fashion everyone has two names and I lost track of who was who several times. There are no doubt deep literary meanings to the book, and having read a couple of articles I have discovered that I completely missed the importance of the final conclusion. My favourite character had to be Behemoth, the very large black cat, who is first encounted just before he boards and is thrown off a tram, despite being willing to pay his fare. It is considered to be one of the great novels of the twentieth century, but somewhere it passed me by.
H is for Hawk, by Helen Macdonald
Recommended by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
complexlight This book was the winner of the Costa Prize last year and I can see why. It's a very cleverly told story by Macdonald, interweaving her grief at the sudden death of her father, training Mabel her new goshawk and T H White's account of The Goshawk. It's a very readable book and yet I was unable to relate to Macdonald in any way, which became a problem. She and I are clearly very different people, which, for such an intimate story, made it difficult to share her emotions. However, this should not deter anyone else from reading and enjoying it.
Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris
Not the sort of book I could imagine myself ever reading, let alone enjoying, but with Richard Armitage taking on the role in NBC's Hannibal I decided to at least try it. I was gripped by the story and did enjoy it. I don't like reading graphic violence, but was very taken with this, which to me was much more of a psychological story. I don't want to read more of the Hannibal Lecter stories, but am extremely glad I read this one. Proof that you never know whether you will like something until you try it.
The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov
I half enjoyed this, was interested to see where it was going, but was left feeling a bit 'meh'. In true Russian fashion everyone has two names and I lost track of who was who several times. There are no doubt deep literary meanings to the book, and having read a couple of articles I have discovered that I completely missed the importance of the final conclusion. My favourite character had to be Behemoth, the very large black cat, who is first encounted just before he boards and is thrown off a tram, despite being willing to pay his fare. It is considered to be one of the great novels of the twentieth century, but somewhere it passed me by.
H is for Hawk, by Helen Macdonald
Recommended by
complexlight This book was the winner of the Costa Prize last year and I can see why. It's a very cleverly told story by Macdonald, interweaving her grief at the sudden death of her father, training Mabel her new goshawk and T H White's account of The Goshawk. It's a very readable book and yet I was unable to relate to Macdonald in any way, which became a problem. She and I are clearly very different people, which, for such an intimate story, made it difficult to share her emotions. However, this should not deter anyone else from reading and enjoying it.
