Doppelganger - aNobii

Books (168)

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- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book) (22)
- A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race
- By Jon Stewart
- Reading since Feb 4, 2012
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- The Jews in the Time of Jesus (3)
- An Introduction
- By Stephen M. Wylen
- Reading since Jan 1, 2012
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- A Novel from The Numa Files: Lost City (43)
- By Clive Cussler, Paul Kemprecos
- Finished on Dec 31, 2011
  
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A Novel from The Numa Files: Lost City

This is a very Hollywood-style book that follows a very beaten scheme. The tall, handsome, American superman saves the day, the world and his girl (who, of course, is tall, beautiful, but not as smart as the guy). There are some other characters helping him, but in the end they owe their lives to hi ... (continue)

This is a very Hollywood-style book that follows a very beaten scheme. The tall, handsome, American superman saves the day, the world and his girl (who, of course, is tall, beautiful, but not as smart as the guy). There are some other characters helping him, but in the end they owe their lives to him anyway. The super bad guys are French. The paperback version was published in 2004, during the Freedom fries idiocy, so I guess that having French evildoers was expected in those days.
There is lots of overblown action, but don’t worry: in this kind of books you know from the start that the good (American) guys never die, so where is the suspense?
The scientific wording is inaccurate.

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— Jan 2, 2012 | Add your feedback
- A Dance with Dragons (800)
- By George R.R. Martin
- Finished on Dec 29, 2011
  
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A Dance with Dragons

Ok, maybe 2 stars is a little severe, but compared to the previous books of the series I could not give it more than that.
This book can be compared to a watered down soup. It may be somewhat tasty, but it’s not at all as it should be. There are too many filler lines, filler paragraphs, and filler p ... (continue)

Ok, maybe 2 stars is a little severe, but compared to the previous books of the series I could not give it more than that.
This book can be compared to a watered down soup. It may be somewhat tasty, but it’s not at all as it should be. There are too many filler lines, filler paragraphs, and filler pages. It’s a bridge book, full of fluffy stuff with a few gems hidden here and there. Here Martin had to add new characters, and expand the role of secondary characters in order to write almost 1,000 pages. Some of the main characters have a very little or no role at all, probably to save them for the next books. It’s not near the grandness of the first 3 books of the series.
This is not surprising since the material that was imagined for 3 books has to spread across 7 books (!) now. I hope that the editor and Martin don’t become too greedy and increase the number of books even further.
The first half of the book tells about events that happen in parallel to those told in the fourth book, and this can be confusing sometime.
I will lower my expectations for the sixth book, which may be another filler book before the seventh, and hopefully final book.

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— Jan 2, 2012 | Add your feedback
- A Feast for Crows (824)
- (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4)
- By George R.R. Martin
- Finished on Dec 11, 2011
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- A Storm of Swords (614)
- (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3)
- By George R.R. Martin
- Finished on Nov 11, 2011
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- A Clash of Kings (894)
- (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2)
- By George R.R. Martin
- Finished on Oct 24, 2011
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- A Game of Thrones (1230)
- (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1)
- By George R.R. Martin
- Finished on Oct 3, 2011
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- American Pastoral (350)
- By Philip Roth
- Finished on Sep 7, 2011
  
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American Pastoral

I loved the background of the story more than the story of the Levov family itself. I had a hard time to keep on reading about the Swede, his wife, and his daughter. Nevertheless, the background tells of a pivotal moment in US history, when the old world with its certainties crumbled and everything ... (continue)

I loved the background of the story more than the story of the Levov family itself. I had a hard time to keep on reading about the Swede, his wife, and his daughter. Nevertheless, the background tells of a pivotal moment in US history, when the old world with its certainties crumbled and everything changed.

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— Sep 8, 2011 | Add your feedback
- Un indovino mi disse (6609)
- By Tiziano Terzani
- Finished on Apr 6, 2011
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- Occidente estremo (356)
- By Federico Rampini
- Finished on Feb 14, 2011
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- The Year that Changed the World (4)
- The Untold Story Behind the Fall of the Berlin Wall
- By Michael Meyer
- Finished on Jan 15, 2011
  
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The Year that Changed the World

1 person find this helpful

This book tells the story of the events that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the communist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989. It’s a very compelling and engaging book, written by a journalist who was in the thick of the action and interviewed the protagonists of those changes when they were h ... (continue)

This book tells the story of the events that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the communist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989. It’s a very compelling and engaging book, written by a journalist who was in the thick of the action and interviewed the protagonists of those changes when they were happening. As a European, I can say that Mr. Mayer’s book brings back memories of hours spent in front of the TV watching these events unfolding. More importantly, this book gives credits for the change to those who actually deserve them. First and foremost, to Gorbachev, who declared that the USSR would not intervene in the internal affairs of its satellite Countries anymore. No more Hungary 1956, no more Czechoslovakia 1968. This commitment removed the Soviet protection to the communist regimes and encouraged reforms or revolutions in all the Countries of the Eastern block.
Many Americans will not like this book because it dispels the propagandist myth that ascribes mostly to Pres. Reagan, but also to Pres. Bush Sr. the merit for this change. When Reagan said his famous line – “Mr. Gorbachev tear down this Wall” – Gorbachev had already sparkled the change. Reagan’s great merit is that he finally understood that Gorbachev was not the enemy, but a possible partner in peace. He stopped confronting him, and engaged him in peace talks. Bush administration was slower in recognizing the change, mainly because of people like Cheney, Rice, Wolfowitz (yes, they were already screwing things up with Bush Sr.) that, as we saw under Bush Jr., were unable to understand the world. It’s only when Bush finally stopped listening to them that he started working to support the change happening in Europe.
America played an important role in what happened in 1989, but not the primary role. The change was brought about by people who were tired of living under regimes that were sucking the life out of them.

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— Jan 16, 2011 | 1 feedback
- La cavalleria medievale (57)
- By Jean Flori
- Finished on Jan 2, 2011
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- Agincourt (44)
- A Novel
- By Bernard Cornwell
- Finished on Dec 30, 2010
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- Heart of Darkness and Selected Short Fiction (157)
- (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics)
- By Joseph Conrad
- Finished on Dec 26, 2010
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