The Search by Nora Roberts
ISBN: 9780749941796 On a chilly morning in February with a misty tain shuttering the windows, Devin and Rosie Cauldwell made slow, sleepy love. Fiona Bristow lives on Orcas Island, a close-knit...
26 November 2010
Jack, the giant-killer by Charles de Lint
I really liked the opening chapter of this book. De Lint creates a wonderful picture of Jacky Rowan. Recently dumped for being too uninteresting she has spent the night drinking her sorrows away. But on her way home she comes across a strange scene; a gang of bikers hunting down a little man. But when she investigates further there is no trace of it ever having happened, apart from the man’s red cap that she discovered on the ground.
8 February 2010
The greatest knight by Elizabeth Chadwick, Jennifer Johnston
Author: Elizabeth Chadwick
William Marshall was a real person; born in relative obscurity he rose through the ranks to become “the greatest knight that ever lived” as well as Earl of Pembroke. He served under four kings of England, although this book only covers his exploits under two, Henry II and Richard I. He married Isabel de Clare, who was the daughter of Strongbow. And through her gained the rights to Leinster.
29 January 2010
A swift, pure cry by Siobhan Dowd
Author: Siobhan Down ISBN: 9780099488163 DDC: 823.92 LibraryThing | Wikipedia | Siobhan Dowd Trust The place brought to mind a sinking ship. Wood creaked on the floor, across the pews, up...
14 January 2010
A puppy called Aero by Joshua Burt, Liam Creed
This is not my usual sort of book. But I guess one of the perks of working in a public library means that you can grab something on impulse just because it crossed your desk. Whatever the reason was I started reading this book, which meant that unless it was atrocious I was most likely going to finish. And finish I did, so you can work it out for yourself.
1 October 2009
The Young Victoria dir. by Jean-Marc Vallée
The problem I have with films that centre on the British monarchy is that I’m Irish[1] And so predisposed to dislike them. All that pomp and ceremony that exalts the royal...
6 March 2009
Fox, Swallow, Scarecrow by Éilís Ní Dhuibhne
From the new glass bridge which spanned the inscrutable waters of the Grand Canal, the tram purred downhill and glided gently into the heart of the city.
It was the opening of this book that persuaded me to buy it. The way Ní Duibhne pokes fun at that certain class of Dublin people. It made me smile, but because I knew that there really are people who think that way. Or at least there used to be, now with the demise of the Celtic Tiger maybe there are less of them than there once were.
22 February 2009
Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
ISBN: 9780778302650 “That’s pathetic, Yelena,” Dax compained. “An all-powerful Soulfinder who isn’t all-powerful. Where’s the fun in that?” This is the third book to star Yelana Zaltana as its heroine. And,...
16 February 2009
A Partisan’s Daughter by Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, Louis de Bernières
ISBN: 9781846551420 I am not the sort of man who goes to prostitutes. Well, I suppose that every man would say that. People would disbelieve it just because you felt you...
7 December 2008
Redbelt dir. by David Mamet
IMDb ; Other reviews When is a martial arts film not a film about martial arts? When it is a David Mamet film of course. Redbelt tells the story of Mike...
28 September 2008
Doomsday dir. by Neil Marshal
This film really is utterly preposterous. Unbelievable in the extreme; plot holes every where. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It still kicks ass though. Hugely enjoyable. It is set in...
10 May 2008
The hero with a thousand faces by Joseph Campbell
Whether we listen with aloof amusement to the dreamlike mumbo jumbo of some red-eyed with doctor of the Congo, or read with cultivated rapture thin translations from the sonnets of the mystic Lao-tse; now and again crack the hard nutshell of an argument of Aquinas, or catch suddenly the shining meaning of a bizarre Eskimo fairy tale: it will be always the one, shape-shifting yet marvellously constant story that we find. together with a challengingly persistent suggestion of more remaining to be experiences than will ever be known or told.
I think maybe I’m just not in the mood for studious type books. At least, that’s the excuse I’m making for not really enjoying this book. Then again it may simply be that we’re all aware of these great themes that so many myths and fictions retell over and over again. Back in 1949 it was all original and new and so of course deserved all that attention. Now? Well the writing style is a little on the ponderous side and I think I’ve read most of these arguments before.
6 May 2008
Recent Comments