 | Title: Memoir of a Geisha
Author: Arthur Golden
First publication: 1997
Comments: I decided to start reading some American books to improve my English. My best friend Kirsten suggested me a couple of books: this one and "Snow Falling on Cedars" by David Guterson. She lent me this one. I was amazed to be able to read an English book without using the Dictionary... I really enjoyed it. Maybe the happy ending is a bit artificial, but it is a really good book.
Started: Third week December 2000 Finished: January 5th 2001, when Matteo went back to Italy |  | Title: The lost language of cranes
Author: David Leavitt
First publication: 1986
Comments: This book is a Christmas present. Matteo bought it for me while we were in a bookstore in San Francisco. He really enjoyed the book and he wanted to share it with me. I liked it, but honestly I do not think it is a masterpiece. The book is realist, true, honest and painful. Those are the aspects that make me appreciate it.
Started: January 8th 2001 Finished: February 10th 2001, night |  | Title: Snow falling on cedars
Author: David Guterson
First publication: 1995
Comments: This was one of the book Kirsten suggested me. I started it while I was going to the Broadband wireless world forum. It is a good book. I like the way people behave in this book: they are extremely realistic.
Started: February 21st 2001 Finished: May 6th 2001 |  | Title: Honeymoon
Author: Banana Yoshimoto
First publication: 1997
Comments: Amo particolarmente i libri di Banana Yoshimoto. Le trame delle sue storie
spesso contano assai ben poco. I veri protagonisti sono i sentimenti, le
sensazioni, che lei e' abilissima a descrivere in maniera evocativa. Questa e' la storia d'una giovane coppia, sposatasi prestissimo. Il padre dello sposo sembra far parte di una setta religiosa Ho finito questo libro in un giorno assai particolare: il giorno della caduta delle torri. Lo shock m'ha impedito di godermi la fine come avrei dovuto. Sotto quelle torri c'era una parte di me.
Started: 10 September 2001 Finished: 11 September 2001, while the towers were falling |  | Title: Baudolino
Author: Umberto Eco
First publication: 2000
Comments: Ho sempre amato i libri di Eco, e anche questa volta
;devo dire che sono rimasto colpito. Eco si libera finalmente di
;quell'ampollosita' e di quelle continue citazioni e digressioni
;che lo contraddistinguono per finire con il far parlare Baudolino,
;nato contadino e arrivato ad essere figlio di Barbarossa.
Started: September 2001, Mestre Finished: October, the 13th 2001, Mestre |  | Title: The fig eater
Author: Jody Shields
First publication: 2000
Comments: I bought this book on September the 11th at the Washington airport. I forgot my book in the baggage I checked in, and I started to look for something to read. The airport was kind of empty and it was a little bit scary.
Started: October 2002 Finished: December the 5th, at Berkeley |  | Title: Year of wonders
Author: Geraldine Brooks
First publication: 2001
Comments: It is really a good book. The characters are well-rounded, the plot original and intriguing but... the
most striking aspect of the book is how the feelings, emotions, fears of the characters are adroitly
described. I am looking forward the author next book!
Started: December 2002 Finished: February the 6th 2003, Berkeley |  | Title: The pillars of the earth
Author: Ken Follett
First publication: 1989
Comments: In twelfth-century feudal England, a master builder plans to erect a towering cathedral. But, unfortunately, he lives in a world of rigid class structures where corrupt kings and queens rule, and the common man shows eternal promise. Around the construction site swirls a cast of characters in a story of betrayal, revenge, and love. This book was a present of my best friend Cristiano, I really appreciated it. I enjoyed the book a lot, even though I do not consider a masterpiece as Cristiano does.
Started: May 2003, Berkeley Finished: June the 26th 2003, 11:20 PM, during a warm summer night in Berkeley |  | Title: H/H
Author: Banana Yoshimoto
First publication: 2003
Comments: Due racconti lunghi che trattano della morte mostrando i diversi modi con cui la si puo' affrontare e mettendo a fuoco il contrasto tra la sofferenza della perdita,
la tentazione di sprofondare nel dolore e una inarrestabile voglia di rinascita. Come per il precedente, anche questo libro ha accompagnato un giorno triste, la fine di una relazione.
Started: 10 luglio 2003, Venezia Milano, in treno Finished: 11 luglio 2003, Milano Venezia, in treno, sperando di ricostruire una relazione ormai in frantumi |  | Title: Le rose di Atacama
Author: Luis Sepulveda
First publication: 2000
Comments: Il viaggio, il vagabondaggio per il mondo, e' il filo conduttore delle storie raccolte in questo libro. Lo scrittore narra le vicende di
personaggi anonimi e marginali incontrati per il mondo, uomini e donne che
hanno in comune l'aver fatto della propria vita una forma di resistenza. Un
amico cileno che ha diretto la rivista Analisis, prima barricata della
lotta contro Pinochet. Un cantante che ha partecipato alla Primavera di
Praga. Un cameraman olandese ucciso dall'esercito del Salvador. Uomini che
non hanno mai sperato di uscire dai margini, ma che per una volta sono
affiorati, con le loro storie, dal buio dell'oblio. Come le rose che, in un
solo giorno dell'anno, ricoprono il deserto di Atacama. Certi racconti non sono male, altri scivolano sul pateticamente melo'.
Started: luglio 2003, Venezia Milano, in treno, sperando di ricostruire una relazione ormai in frantumi Finished: 1 Agosto 2003, Berkeley |  | Title: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Author: Tracy Chevalier
First publication: 2001
Comments: With precisely 35 canvases to his credit, the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer represents one of the great enigmas of 17th-century art. The meager facts of his biography have been gleaned from a handful of legal documents. Yet Vermeer's
extraordinary paintings of domestic life, with their subtle play of light and texture, have come to define the Dutch
golden age. His portrait of the anonymous Girl with a Pearl Earring has exerted a particular fascination for centuries--and
it is this magnetic painting that lies at the heart of this novel. Girl with a Pearl Earring centers on Vermeer's prosperous Delft household during the 1660s. When Griet, the novel's quietly
perceptive heroine, is hired as a servant, turmoil follows. First, the 16-year-old narrator becomes increasingly intimate with
her master. Then Vermeer employs her as his assistant--and ultimately has Griet sit for him as a model. I was disappointed by the book. Chevalier vividly evokes the complex domestic tensions of the household, ruled over by the painter's jealous, eternally pregnant wife and his taciturn mother-in-law. But... At times the relationship between servant and master seems a little anachronistic and some epiphanic scenes do not work at all.
Started: Beginning of September Finished: September the 15th 2003, at Berkeley, my first night as a single |  | Title: Five quarters of the Orange
Author: Joanne Harris
First publication: 2002
Comments: Amazing... honestly one of the best book I have ever read. The story is captivating, evocative, powerful and
realistic. The characters almost seem to come out from the page of the books.
The author is so adroit that I want to buy all her previous books.
Started: September the 19th 2003 Finished: September the 25th 2003, Berkeley |  | Title: Chocolat
Author: Joanne Harris
First publication: 1999
Comments: It is not as good as "five quarters of an orange" but it is an impressive book. The author is extremely talented and her stories are unusually vivid, real, touching. A recommend reading!
Started: November 2003 Finished: November the 12th 2003, Berkeley |  | Title: Angels and Demons
Author: Dan Brown
First publication: 2000
Comments: I really enjoyed the book. It made the time go back, at the time I was working at C.E.R.N. in Geneva
at the LHC project. In one of the first chapters the main character visit the building where I used to
go to do my laundry, walk in front of the building where I lived and end up in a lab close to LHC itself!
Even if almost all the Italian quotes are wrong (bad grammar, incorrect word choices, etc), even if the
scientific background is not as solid as the author would like us to believe... I liked it a lot. The book was suggested me during a date. The date ended up not working as we expected but... the book suggestion
was great. Thanks!
Started: December 2003 Finished: December the 4th 2003, Berkeley |  | Title: Holidays on ice
Author: David Sedaris
First publication: 1997
Comments: Well, this was not exactly a Christmas reading... but I enjoyed it. Some of the short stories are little jewels of sarcasm and irony. My favorite one is "Season's greetings to Our friends and Family!".
That's really something!
Started: December 19th 2003 Finished: December 19th 2003, Berkeley |  | Title: Angels in America (part I and II)
Author: Tony Kushner
First publication: 1992/1995
Comments: A very interesting play... I like the Louis character and its inability to face the disease of the person he loves... I like the way parallel threads of the story are intervened and they are placed on the different side of the stage... Powerful, touching, intense.
Started: January 6th, 2004 Finished: January the 7th, early in the morning, 2004 |  | Title: Code to zero
Author: Ken Follett
First publication: 2000
Comments: It is an easy reading, entertaining, probably historically and scientifically accurate.
Nothing more than that...
Started: January 7th, 2004 Finished: January the 12th, 2004 |  | Title: The blackwater lightship
Author: Colm Toibin
First publication: 1999
Comments: This is an amazing book. It is the story of three women, grandmother, mother and daughter. It is the story of two sick men that are going to die, father and son. Death and sickness are the main catalyst of the plot, which is centered in the complex emotions of the three women at war with themselves.
Started: February the 9th, 2004 Finished: February the 15th, 2004 |  | Title: Jackdaws
Author: Ken Follet
First publication: 2001
Comments: This is the third Follett's book I read and do far the best one. It is as fast paced, enjoyable
and historical grounded as usual but... this time the characters and their inter-relationships
are more interesting.
Started: February the 15th, 2004 Finished: February the 21st, 2004 |  | Title: Deception Point
Author: Dan Brown
First publication: 2001
Comments: Reading the book is like watching a fast-paced suspense sci-fi movie. The plot is intriguing and it reserve continue surprises to the reader.
Started: April the 9th, 2004 Finished: April the 15th 2004 |  | Title: The Little Prince
Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupery
First publication: 1943
Comments: This book was given me as a present by an ex of mine. He gave it to me shortly before breaking up and leaving
for France. I was hurt and I barely read the first chapters. I did not understand why we spend time dating if
it was going to finish like that... I then left it at my parent's home when I went back in Italy that summer. This summer Donato, a friends of mine, start speaking about that book. And I decided to finish it. And I finally
understood why my ex gave to me. I am sorry I did not understood it before. And thanks Keith, that was one of the
most appropriate and thoughtful present I ever received.
Started: January 2000 Finished: August 2004 |  | Title: Digital Fortress
Author: Dan Brown
First publication: 1998
Comments: Another fast-paced intriguing book from Dan Brown. I find it less interesting than the other two DB books I read before.
I think I am getting used to his style and his books are starting to repeat a little bit... By the way I liked the last
coded greeting. It toke a little bit to crack it but... it is just a cesar box code, and the numbers can be substituted with
letters (hint: use chapter numbers).
Started: November the 11th, 2004 Finished: November the 22nd, 2004 |  | Title: Midnight in the garden of good and evil
Author: John Berendt
First publication: 1994
Comments: An original "non-fiction" book. It starts as a diary, a Savannah city guide,
a travel book. Soon it turns into dirty-linned airing and mystery book. A
surprising and interesting book.
Started: Atlanta , December 18th, 2004 Finished: Berkeley, December 29th 2004 |  | Title: Lovely Bones
Author: Alice Sebold
First publication: 2002
Comments: Amazing, this is one of the most powerful and touching book I ever read. The first part is such a powerful punch in the stomach to make you breathless. The last part is strikingly less impressive,
but it is still a must-read!
Started: Anahaim, Jan 2005 Finished: Berkeley, Jan 28th 2005 |  | Title: Solitudini imperfette
Author: Andrea Mancinelli
First publication: 1998
Comments: Questo libro mi fu donato la scorsa estate da Matteo, che vide in questo libro molto del nostro rapporto.
Attesi un anno esatto prima di cimentarmi in questa lettura, un po' per paura di cosa ci avrei trovato dentro...
Started: Berkeley, Apr 13 2005 Finished: Berkeley, Apr 17 2005 |  | Title: The Da Vinci Code
Author: Dan Brown
First publication: 2003
Comments: Another fast-paced intriguing book from Dan Brown. I have to say this is one of the best he wrote, but he is kinda repeating after a while. The conclusion fail the crescendo and the "secret" about
Mary Magdalene should have been kept for later in the book. Anyway this book kept me company while
I was preparing for my quals and help me escape from the stressful reality for a while! This book was a present
given to me by Mark for my 29th birthday.
Started: Aug 22, 2005 Finished: San Francisco, Aug 25, 00:30 AM, 2005 |  | Title: Hornet Flight
Author: Ken Follett
First publication: 2002
Comments: It is strange, I have read many books from Ken Follet even if he is not one of my favorite writers. I enjoyed the book, exactly what I need to relax after my PhD quals and before my talk at the EmSoft conference!
Started: August 2005, San Francisco Finished: Newark (NY), August 19th 2005 |  | Title: Holy Fools
Author: Joanne Harris
First publication: 2005
Comments: Another great book from Joanne Harris, one of my favorite writers. Even if not as powerful and magic as five quarters of the orange, the book is a little masterpiece.
The clash between the barren hypocritical church and an ancient sensual
and wise superstition play a similar role as in Chocolat, but in here there is a
strong attraction between this two opposites...
Started: August 21st 2005, Newark (NY) Finished: August 25th 2005, Stinson Beach (CA) |  | Title: Brokeback Mountain
Author: Annie Proulx
First publication: 19**
Comments: David borrowed me the book after we saw the movie. A powerful, great book. It is amazing how sometimes
you end up ruining your life, losing what you love just because your afraid of it and of losing it.
Started: December 2005 Finished: December 2005 |  | Title: The city of falling angels
Author: John Berendt
First publication: 2005
Comments: It's strange to follow the author while he guides you through familiar places of my youth, while he introduces you to people and events you are familiar with. All the pieces, all the events that were happening years ago while I was there now in a book. It is strange to re-discover them and to re-experience it under a new light. I really liked to immerge myself in this vivid and realistic portrait of what I used to call home.
Started: Jan 2006, Washington D.C. Finished: San Francisco, Feb the 20th 2006 |  | Title: The Hours
Author: Michael Cunningham
First publication: 1999
Comments: An extraordinary achievement. This is the story of three women, each of them living in a different place and time. Their stories are though intertwined and the choices of one impact the one of the others. It is a story of depression, suicide and every day miracles that helps people to hold on and go on. A tribute to Virginia Woolf, that manage even to surpass the original.
Started: March the 12th 2006 Finished: March the 25th 2006 |  | Title: As meat loves salt
Author: Maria McCann
First publication: 2002
Comments: If you never felt in love, get scared of it, and lost the person you loved, do not read this book, it won't make sense to you. If you have been driven mad by the loss, and you have tried to not let it go using your fingernails, losing it because of it for good... if the searing pain is not abated yet, do not read this book, because the demon of loss and despair will tear your soul apart. It is rare to find a book able to shake you deep to your core. This is one.
This is the author first book. It is sometimes slow toward the middle, but the author is always adroit in communicating what is not said or admitted through the cunning use of powerful little gestures, word choices and signs. It is the final though that turn the book into a masterpiece and shows how such a talented writer Maria is. I am looking forward her next book.
Started: May 2006 Finished: July the 20th 2006 |  | Title: Exit to eden
Author: Anne Rice
First publication: 1996
Comments: I was given this book as a present from J. I confess I was expecting something very different from the author of Interview with the Vampire. I was expecting the typical erotic tension of a gothic novel, but the book gives you a way more than that. I enjoyed it. It is the story of Lisa, a woman raised in a claustrophobic and moralist Catholic family that believes to have reached freedom escaping into a world of fetish. In reality the baggage of her childhood are still with her, as she soon realizes when she discovers herself unable to live feelings and love.
I think this is the tale of many people in this society, which even if on the surface may seem sexually liberated, even daring, they are still fighting their inner sense of guilt and inhibitions.
Started: July 2006 Finished: July the 28th 2006 |  | Title: The Tao of Pooh
Author: Benjamin Hoff
First publication: 1982
Comments: Well, he said at last, it is a very nice house, and if your own house is blown down, you must go somewhere else, mustn't you, Piglet? What would you do, if your house was blown down?
Before Piglet could think, Pooh answered for him.
He'd come and live with me, said Pooh, wouldn't you Piglet?
Started: Nov the 19th 2006 Finished: Dec the 1st 2006 |  | Title: The Story of the Night
Author: Colm Toibin
First publication: 1996
Comments: I enjoyed another Toibin's book a couple of years ago. He's a great storyteller, able to communicate in a very powerful way emotions and feelings. He's able to create extremely realistic and credible characters. I recommend it.
Started: Dec 2006, San Francisco Finished: Dec the 21st 2006, Venice |  | Title: Il cammino di Santiago
Author: Paulo Coelho
First publication: 1987
Comments: Forse sara' per il fatto che io non sia spirituale, ma questo libro mi sembra una accozzaglia enorme di superstizioni e insensataggini prive di senso. L'unico tema interessante che spicca tra deliri mistici e' quello dell'incapacita' dell'uomo di affrontare una sfida per paura di perderla e ritrovandosi cosi' costretto a non progredire.
Started: Dicembre 2006, Venezia Finished: 29 Dicembre 2006, Venezia |  | Title: Presagio Triste
Author: Banana Yoshimoto
First publication: 1988
Comments: Ho sempre amato Banana Yoshimoto per la sua capacita' di comunicare emezioni, stati d'animo e sentimenti con poche pennellate minimaliste.
Questa e' la storia di Yayoi e del suo viaggio alla ricerca della sua memoria e vita perduta, ben conscia che cio' che trovera' nell'altra sponda di Lete distruggera' la sua vita com'era, ma che e' ormai impossibile evitare tale passo.
Started: Dec the 29th 2006 Finished: Dec the 30th 2006, Venezia |  | Title: Wicked
Author: Gregory Maguire
First publication: 1995
Comments: I was expecting a fairy tale, a simple, unsophisticated book. I was quite surprised to discover that Wicked is quite different. While the novel is quite entertaining and fun to read, it is a deep investigation of the nature of Evil and a metaphor of the Nazi's Germany. Reality is perceived differently by people and History is written by the winners. An amazing accomplishment.
Started: Dec the 30th 2006, Venice Finished: Jan the 6th 2007, Venice |  | Title: La misteriosa fiamma della regina Loana
Author: Umberto Eco
First publication: 2004
Comments: In tutti I romanzi di Eco il protagonista principale e’ sempre la storia, ricostruita nei minimi particolari, con precisione certosina. Questo libro non fa eccezione da quel punto di vista, si ricostruisce il periodo fascista in Italia. A differenza dei precedenti romanzi pero’, l’autore ha vissuto quel periodo storico. Di colpo il tutto si tinge di autobiografismo e la ricostruzione si colora di emozioni, desideri. Non e’ piu’ la storia degli storici, ma quella vissuta sulla propria pelle da ragazzini, ove le guerre si mescolano ai fumetti e i film alle cotte. Oltre al tema storico/autobiografico si innesta il tema portante del libro, quello della memoria, dei ricordi e dell’esperienze come elementi di definizioone della persona. Uno dei romanzi piu’ riusciti dell’autore. Vivamente consigliato.
Started: January 2007, Venice Finished: February the 3rd 2007, San Francisco |  | Title: Flesh and blood
Author: Michael Cunningham
First publication: 1995
Comments: This book is quite an accomplishment. The first part has so much of the Hours, but then it evolves in a quite distinct way. The inter-personal relations between the characters, their internal growth and their shortcomings are told with unprecedented realism, sensibility and humanity. Each member of the Stassos family is so well-rounded, so painfully and cynically real, that page after page become real in the mind of the reader. I am quite impressed.
Started: February 2007, San Francisco Finished: March 29th 2007 |  | Title: The White Castle
Author: Orhan Pamuk
First publication: 1998
Comments: This is quite an unsettling book. It starts like an old style novel, where the narrator, in this case the main character, imposes his point of view to the reader. Initially it is just a reckoning of the misadventures of the main character, in this case the main character, a Venetian of the 17th century, as it is captured and enslaved by the Turks. Soon enough things get more interesting. The unnamed Venetian is given in custody to the scholar Hoja, which physically resemble him to an almost sinister degree. The encounters from the East and the West take place in the Hoja’s house, discussing science and the mysteries of the mind, why we are what we are. The Christians European will prevail against the Turks thanks to technological superiority, and the importance of science is well-understood by Hoja, but not by the others, that Hoja’s label the fools. Soon enough the characters starts to blur one into the other, they take the role of the other and at the end it is not even clear which one is the Turk and which one the Venetian. Unsettling. Looking forward his next book!
Started: April the 22nd 2007 Finished: May the 1st 2007 |  | Title: The Namesake
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
First publication: 2003
Comments: I was working on my internship at Google while I was reading this book. I was working hard and I had barely the time to sleep, but it was rewarding to read a couple of pages of it before bed. It is the story of Gogol/Nikhil (and his family) and his coming to term with his cultural identity (and with his name). Gogol leaves between two words, America and India and he need to come to terms with both.
Started: May the 1st 2007 Finished: August the 11th 2007 |  | Title: The catcher in the rye
Author: J.D. Salinger
First publication: 1945
Comments: I was looking for a good book at the bookstore when my friend Cherry told me I MUST read this book. I liked the idea of describing society though the eyes of somebody that does not fit into it, unable to conform to something that perceive as contradictory, phony and hypocritical.
Started: August 2007 Finished: August 2007 |  | Title: The bridge of San Luis Rey
Author: Thornton Wilder
First publication: 1927
Comments: This book was given me as a present by my friend Mark. It is a book of extreme interest. The book starts reflecting upon the reasons for the death of 5 people during a bridge collapse. Why those people died? Was God punishing them? Was preventing them to do something? Was releasing them from suffering? Or it was just a random accident and our lives are not governed by some higher scheme? But if so what sense our lives and deaths have? Does it make sense to even ask those questions? These reflections are carried over in a fictional setting, quite entertaining to read. The author tries to avoid giving an answer, but it hints something quite touching toward the end. Recommended reading.
Started: August 2007 Finished: September 2007 |  | Title: Blackberry Wine
Author: Joanne Harris
First publication: 2001
Comments: It was quite a surprise to discover that this book is somehow a sequel to Chocolat. The story takes place in the same small town and some of the characters are the same. You can see what happened to them after some years. Because of that the French town becomes familiar. As every Harris’s book I have read so far, it is quite a magical book, where millennia old folklore and traditions, superstitions and myths are intertwined with the life of the characters. Remarkable.
Started: October 2007, Noe Valley (San Francisco) Finished: Nov 12th 2007, Castro (San Francisco) |  | Title: Interpreter of maladies
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
First publication: 1999
Comments: I enjoyed The Namesake, but this book is on a totally different level. A very deserved Pulitzer Prize, the book is a collection of short stories. Each story may be quite unremarkable plot-wise. What makes them special is the extreme sensitivity of the author, the astonishing way of portraying people’s feelings just hinting them. The characters are realistic, credible and, as a result, the short stories are extremely touching. They have a way to work their way into the reader and start resounding inside, moving him or her to tears. WOW
Started: Nov 2007 Finished: Nov 21st 2007, Mac Arthur BART |  | Title: Il coperchio del mare (Umi no futa)
Author: Banana Yoshimoto
First publication: 2006
Comments: Un'altro piccolo capolavoro della Yoshimoto, una riflessione sul significato della nostra vita ed esistenza. A detta di Mari, siam candele nell'oscurita', presto il vento ci spegnera' e fara' sparire ogni nostra traccia. Ma Hajime le insegna che la vita va vissuta, i ricordi son fiori da raccogliere lungo la via, creando un profumato bouquet da portare con noi fino alla morte. Insegna a Mari che il vero orrore della vita e' l'avidita', la continua corsa alla richezza, che fa perder la capacita' di apprezzare le piccole cose e i nostri piccoli traguardi. Se tutti condividessero questa realta' "l'oscurita' sarebbe spezzata per sempre da una grande luce, generata dalla luce di tutte le stelle unite, cosi' luminosa da essere visibile anche nell'ora piu' scura.
Started: March 2008 Finished: March the 7th 2008 |  | Title: Tales of the city
Author: Armistead Maupin
First publication: 1976
Comments: A very accurate portrait of San Francisco in the 70s, when the heat of the summer of love has cool down and before the AIDS days. Each chapter appears at first as a simple funny episode. In reality is a well thought paint stroke. And stroke after stroke, an incredibly powerful and accurate portrait emerge. The books was written before I was born, but I can still see and feel that San Francisco in the city I live in. The book made me understand it a little bit more, even if it is just a work of fiction. I am looking forward reading More tales of the city...
Started: March 31st 2008 Finished: April the 5th 2008 |  | Title: Il delirio di onnipotenza
Author: Cristiano Capuzzo
First publication: 2008
Comments: Una piacevole sorpresa, un sorprendente thriller, capace di descrivere i desideri piu' turpi e violenti di un serial killer, e la gioia di vivere e la capacita' di sorridere di fronte alle avversita'. Una lettura consigliatissima.
Started: April 2008 Finished: May 6th 2008 |  | Title: Ricordi di un vicolo cieco
Author: Banana Yoshimoto
First publication: 2003
Comments: Cinque racconti, cinque diverse persone che si ritrovano ad affrontare situazioni difficili, a lottare per dare un significato alla vita e ritrovare la felicita'.
Started: September 2008 Finished: September 2008 |  | Title: One across, two down
Author: Ruth Rendell
First publication: 1971
Comments: An interesting analysis of the transformation of a loser into a killer, tempered with clever witticisms.
Started: September 2008 Finished: October 9th 2008, Palo Alto |  | Title: More tales of the city
Author: Armistead Maupin
First publication: 1980
Comments: A very comfortable book. The characters feels part of the family, after the first book and the TV series, similar to what happened to me when I watched the Sex and the city movie. But beside the funny jokes and the familiar character, this work of fiction turns into a very accurate documentary of San Francisco and America in the late 70s. Strongly recommended.
Started: Octorber 2008 Finished: October 18th 2008, San Francisco |  | Title: Unaccustomed Earth
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
First publication: 2008
Comments: Jhumpa Lahiri always is at her best with short stories. She manage to capture and describe with simple and delicate strokes, the feeling and the tragedies of real people. While all the short stories are interesting, the last three really stand out. These interwined stories shows reality how it is perceived through the eyes of the characters (very Pirandello's). What I particularly loved is the description of the inability of some of the characters of accepting their feelings, the struggle between what is considered right and true happiness, between the American and the Indian soul of the characters. Room with a view with a strong ABCD flavor. Must read.
Started: October 2008 Finished: December 28th 2008, flying between Denver and San Francisco |  | Title: Further Tales of the city
Author: Armistead Maupin
First publication: 1982
Comments: The calamity-prone residents of 28 Barbary Lane are at it again in this deliciously dark novel of romance and betrayal. While Anna Madrigal imprisons an anchorwoman in her basement, Michael Tolliver looks for love at the National Gay Rodeo, DeDe Halcyon Day and Mary Ann Singleton track a charismatic psychopath across Alaska, and society columnist Prue Giroux loses her heart to a derelict living in San Francisco park
Started: January 2009 Finished: January 16th 2009, San Francisco |  | Title: Chie-chan e io
Author: Banana Yoshimoto
First publication: 2007
Comments: Ho sempe amato i libri di Banana Yoshimoto, e anche quest'ultimo e' stata una piacevole lettura, ma devo dire che i piu' recenti volumi sfigurano a confronto ai suoi libri della giovinezza. Questa e' la storia di Kaori e Chie-chan, e del loro particolarissimo rapporto.
Started: January 2009 Finished: February the 15th 2009, Seattle |  | Title: Gentlemen and players
Author: Joanne Harris
First publication: 2006
Comments: Joanne Harris managed to awe me again, with this clever and amazing book. I really enjoyed this book, the characterization and detailed analysis of the main character. The only thing I did not really find great was the final "shocking revelation", that, even if very surprising and unexpected, it is not really convincing. Anyway, another masterpiece of Joanne Harris, that I strongly recommend.
Started: February 2009 Finished: April 27th 2009, San Francisco |  | Title: Specimen Days
Author: Michael Cunningham
First publication: 2005
Comments: A second masterpiece (after The Hours) of Michael Cunningham. In The hours the lives of three people were intertwined together. In here we follow three characters in three historical periods, in three apparently unrelated separate novels. The historical background of each story is a different New York: the horrors of the industrial revolution, the fears of the Post September 2001, and a post apocalyptic feature. In each story the same characters come back over and over again, struggling over and over to understand the truth, to see what is hidden behind the reality, and to discover it in awe.
Started: May 2009 Finished: June 25th 2009, San Francisco |  | Title: Mothers and Sons
Author: Colm Toibin
First publication: 2007
Comments: A collection of short stories, each of them a in-depth investigations of them centered on human interactions (mother-son interactions), and the feelings, fears, desires beside them. As in Blackwater Lightship, the author demonstrates an astounding sensibility and understanding of human nature.
Started: June 19th 2009, on a plane to Miami Finished: June 24th 2009, on the plane back from Miami |  | Title: Fellow Travelers
Author: Thomas Mallon
First publication: 2007
Comments: I am currently reading it.
Started: July 2009 Finished: I am currently reading it |  | Title: A demon in my view
Author: Ruth Rendell
First publication: 1977
Comments: I am usually not fond of thrillers and mysteries, but this is definitely a great exception. I received this book as a present from a friend that swear R.R. is the best author on earth. I started reading the book and I was immediately captured by the deep psychological analysis of the characters. The reader can enter in the serial killer mind, understand his way of thinking, even relate and be sympathetic towards him. This is the kind of book that is impossible to put down once started, the kind of book you end up reading until an early hour in the morning to realize you need to be at work few hours later.
I was almost at the end of the book, when I discovered that there was a typographic problem with it: the last 2 chapters were missing (and the first 2 were repeated instead). The book vendor was very kind and offered to substitute it but it turned out the book is out of print. I got a refund, but I was craving to read the end. I tried everywhere but I could not find the book. Finally I managed to find it at the public library and I just got to read the end. Finally! The conclusion is almost as good as the rest of the book, even if it fells a little rushed and sudden.
Started: 2009 Finished: July 19th 2009 |  | Title: When you are engulfed in flames
Author: David Sedaris
First publication: 2008
Comments: Sedaris has a very peculiar sense of humor, and sometimes his funny stories turn out being not as silly as he pretend they are. Great book, it made me LOL more than once.
Started: August 2009 Finished: August 2nd 2009 |  | Title: Babycakes
Author: Armistead Maupin
First publication: 1984
Comments: We are back to 28 Barbary Lane, San Francisco, following the adventure of Mary Ann, Brian, Mouse and Mona. It's the forth book, and all the character are now so familiar, that they do feel like family. This is, so far, the best written book of the series, Maupin really improved his writing skills over the year (and he was great to start with). The story flows very smoothly now and it's adroitly crafted so that everything falls in place without forcing events. As a result the story feel credible and real.
The story takes place during the AIDS years. Mouse is mourning the loss of Jon, Mona is looking for a new life in Seattle, Brian wants a baby to give a meaning to his life, and Mary Ann tries hard to balance married life with her career.
A quite amazing snapshot of a San Francisco of the end of the last millennium, witty and touching at the same time.
Started: January 2010, Florida Finished: January 16th 2010, San Francisco |  | Title: A sight for sore eyes
Author: Ruth Rendell
First publication: 2000
Comments: I started reading the book and I was immediately captured by the deep psychological analysis of the main character, Teddy, a psychopath. The author led the reader in Teddy's mind. Suddenly it is easy to understand his way of thinking, and even relate and be sympathetic towards him. This is the kind of book that is impossible to put down once started, the kind of book you end up reading until an early hour in the morning to realize you need to be at work few hours later. (Spoiler alert, stop reading now if you want to read this book). What bothered me is that the author clearly felt the need to punish her character at the end. The book starts as a completely objective analysis of Teddy, but the ending is a subjective moral judgement of his character. While we all agree with the author, the conclusion goes against the premises of her work and taints her achievement.
Started: 2010 Finished: February 2010 |  | Title: The charioteer
Author: Mary Renault
First publication: 1959
Comments: It is the story of Laurie, an injured world war II soldier, recovering from his injuries in a hospital. While there he meets a quaker and conscience objector, Andrew, whom he slowly falls in love with. The love is strictly platonic, both men haven't even come to terms with their homosexuality, or even realized that they are gay. Then Laurie meets his school senpai, his never confessed first love. It is at this point that the story become quite interesting (after a very slow start) in the discovery of the humanity and fragility of each character.
Started: February 2010 Finished: March 21st 2010 |  | Title: The Master
Author: Colm Toibin
First publication: 2004
Comments: Like Michael Cunningham in The Hours, Colm Tóibín captures the extraordinary mind and heart of a great writer. Beautiful and profoundly moving, The Master tells the story of a man born into one of America's first intellectual families who leaves his country in the late nineteenth century to live in Paris, Rome, Venice, and London among privileged artists and writers.
In stunningly resonant prose, Tóibín captures the loneliness and the hope of a master of psychological subtlety whose forays into intimacy inevitably failed those he tried to love.
Started: April 2010 Finished: May 9th 2010, San Francisco |
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