 | 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: Dragons in the archives
Author: Margareth Weis, Tracy Hickman
First publication: 2004
Comments: I grow up reading Weis and Hickman’s novels. They are simple stories, but they manage to relax me like no others. Krynn’s feels like home, the characters are childhood friends. This anthology collects many stories written in the past 20 years and they witness the creative path of the Dragonlance world. It feels like picking up an old photo album from my childhood.
Started: February 2007, San Francisco Finished: Feb the 97th 2007, San Francisco |  | Title: Harry Potter and the Half-blood prince
Author: J.K. Rowling
First publication: 2005
Comments: I like the Harry Potter sage. Some books are better than other though, and I am not crazy about this one. The author manages to capture your attention, and it is quite hard to put the book down, still… there is no so much new in this volume. It is more or less the same old story structure again, with minor variation.
Started: February 2007, San Francisco Finished: February the 18th 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: Eragon
Author: Christopher Paolini
First publication: 2002
Comments: Well, it is just another fantasy book, still it is quite entertaining. Given the young age of the writer, it is surprisingly readable. I’ll probably read the rest of the trilogy.
Started: March 2007 Finished: April the 20th 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 overcoat
Author: Nikolai Gogol
First publication: 1842
Comments: I realized I have to read this book before continue to read the namesake. Beside the fact it was really hard to find it at any bookstore (I managed to find a copy at a local library) it was quite an interesting short story to read. The story reminds me of some novel of Kafka, where the weak are crushed by the system for no reason and nothing is done to help them. The only think I did not really like was the ending, the almost gothic conclusion.
Started: May 15th 2007 Finished: May 15th 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: Harry Potter and the deathly hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling
First publication: 2007
Comments: When I was working hard at Google I decided to order the hardcover version of this book, to read it and relax when the internship was finished, as a reward. It was fun to read, even if I did not like the ending. I realized though that I was quite used to read the HP books. Now I will miss him.
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: Oliver Twist
Author: Charles Dickens
First publication: 1838
Comments: A soap opera of the beginning of the 19th century. The plot is masterfully crafted so that all the pieces at the end perfectly fit. The writing style is quite classic, with a omniscient narrator that tells you what to look at and how to interpret it. Quite funny and wit at times, the author uses his work to describe and complains about the state of England and some of the modern laws (e.g. the Poor law). Quite breathtaking are some of the descriptions of the city of London. Something that I did not like is the xenophobic, sexist and classist innuendo of the book. I understand they were common in England at the time, still it really stain a book otherwise quite remarkable.
Started: September 2007 Finished: October 23rd 2007 |  | Title: Master of dragons
Author: Margaret Weis
First publication: 2005
Comments: This is the last book of the Dragonvard trilogy. I was quite disappointed by the previous book in the series. Even if the gay theme is vanished and just referred to in a way I am not too enthusiastic about (e.g. “Evelina was not far above attempting to seduce one of the women but…”), the book is quite enjoyable. It is hard to put down and there are interesting allegories about the right of the powerful to maintain their position in the word. In a time were the west is starting to lose its dominant position, the reflection is quite of interest.
Started: October 23rd 2007 Finished: October 25th 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: Nemesis
Author: Isaac Asimov
First publication: 1989
Comments: I grow up reading Asimov’s novels. It was strange to read one of his books after so many years; in the original language it was written. I devoured the book as I devoured his book when I was a child. Definitely a fun book.
Started: Nov 2007 Finished: 27 Nov 2007, Castro (San Francisco), CA |
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