Miss Helèna - aNobii

Books (219)

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The catche-
r in the rve
- The catcher in the rve (3852)
- By J.D. Salinger
- Reading
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To Kill a Mockin-
gbird Col…
- To Kill a Mockingbird Coles Notes (2064)
- By Harper
- Finished on Apr 29, 2013
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- On the Road (1937)
- By Jack Kerouac
- Finished on Apr 22, 2013
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- The Sandman, Vol. 8 (5)
- World's End
- By Neil Gaiman
- Finished on Mar 26, 2013
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- The Sandman, Vol. 7 (9)
- Brief Lives
- By Neil Gaiman
- Finished on Mar 22, 2013
  
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The Sandman, Vol. 7

My favourite in the series so far. Even better than A Game Of You.

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— Mar 24, 2013 | Add your feedback

The Perks of Being a Wallf…
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower (840)
- By Stephen Chbosky
- Finished on Mar 26, 2013
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- The Sandman 6 (8)
- Fables and Reflections
- By Neil Gaiman
- Finished on Mar 19, 2013
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- The Long Earth (46)
- By Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett
- Finished on Mar 15, 2013
  
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The Long Earth

It's a nice and mostly well written sci-fi novel. And that's all it is. Interesting and entertaining enough, but not exactly a page-turner. And, if not for the name on the cover, I would NEVER have guessed Terry Pratchett could ever have had any part in this.

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— Mar 16, 2013 | Add your feedback
- Practical Demonkeeping (88)
- By Christopher Moore
- Finished on Feb 2, 2013
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- Voice of Our Shadow (17)
- (Fantasy Masterworks S.)
- By Jonathan Carroll
- Finished on Jan 24, 2013
  
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Voice of Our Shadow

Is it a ghost story?
I'm not sure about that. There's not the slightest hint of horror up to the 60% of the book, and until then it's just a (plain) story of a man cheating on his best friends with the wife of the latter.
Okay, the horror comes late, but is it the "good", blood-chilling, BRAM-STOC ... (continue)

Is it a ghost story?
I'm not sure about that. There's not the slightest hint of horror up to the 60% of the book, and until then it's just a (plain) story of a man cheating on his best friends with the wife of the latter.
Okay, the horror comes late, but is it the "good", blood-chilling, BRAM-STOCKER'S-DRACULA-LIKE (oh God, how could they ever suggest it?) kind of horror?
Nope. It is too little, too boring, too clumsy, too badly played.
Does the plot-twist at the end do anything to heal the fate of this story and leave you a tiny-wee bit satisfied with it?
Again, nope. Again, boring, clumsy, moronic.
PS: I SWEAR it, this the LAST time I ever keep in faith a reading suggestion by Neil Gaiman - that is, if the suggestion does not concern one of his own books. The man is a genius, but God, his tastes SUCK. The terrible experience with Gene Wolfe should have taught me something.

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— Jan 25, 2013 | Add your feedback

- SHADOW OF THE WIND, THE (923)
- By Carlos Ruiz Zafon
- Finished on Jan 16, 2013
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- Life of Pi (2150)
- A Novel
- By Yann Martel
- Finished on Jan 5, 2013
  
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Life of Pi

A story about a metaphore becoming belief becoming truth.
Thought-provoking,and poetic.
I was thinking to give it four stars, before reading the last chapters.
A small bonus: this is mostly a tragic - though faith-restoring - story, but there are two chapters, the one featuring the three Men of F ... (continue)

A story about a metaphore becoming belief becoming truth.
Thought-provoking,and poetic.
I was thinking to give it four stars, before reading the last chapters.
A small bonus: this is mostly a tragic - though faith-restoring - story, but there are two chapters, the one featuring the three Men of Faith(s) and the one with the two Japanese officers, which are REALLY amusing.

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— Jan 11, 2013 | Add your feedback
- Girl with Curious Hair (110)
- By David Foster Wallace
- Finished on Dec 22, 2012
  
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Girl with Curious Hair

General overview: All the ten stories are wonderfully written. They're deep, intelligent, not-boisterous and self-complacent in the slightest(something you don't get quite often with modernist writers,'cause they tend to have this - to use DFW's own words - this "look-Mom-no-hands" attitude, this f ... (continue)

General overview: All the ten stories are wonderfully written. They're deep, intelligent, not-boisterous and self-complacent in the slightest(something you don't get quite often with modernist writers,'cause they tend to have this - to use DFW's own words - this "look-Mom-no-hands" attitude, this feeling that they think themselves cleverer than anyone else and want it to be made clear). Each one of these stories (except Girl with Curious Hair, quite peculiarly) makes itslef notable - individual plot and themes aside - for featuring at least one female character - or, in the case of "Lyndon" a femininely homosexual character - of great depth, exquisitely and even delicately - again, an adjective you wouldn't expect using towards a modernist work - outlined. DFW shows a deep interest into feminine psyche, and a sincere and successfull try at insighting it. This is maybe the file rouge that links the whole collection, and also probably its highest point of honor.
Particular Overview:
- Little Expressionless Animals: *****
Potentially the best - if "best" is to be a synonim of "most intimate, pensieve, sweet" story in the book.
- Luckily the Account Representative Knew CPR: ****
Short-lasting. Anguishing. Frantic. Just like a heart stroke.
- Girl With Curious Hair: **
My less favourite in the lot. Not that it isn't well written. It IS. But I hated every minute, every line and sentence of it. I HATE the protagonist and his bunch of co-stars, thus I hate the story.
- Lyndon: *****
I loved this one. Almost as good - on the introspection level - as LEA, PLUS incredibly good in its political and socio-cultural aspects. I know next-to nothing about president Lyndon, but this story made me want to find out more about him and what he did for the USA.
- John Billy: ****
The strangest one in the bunch, almost surreal, gothic in a kafkian-meets-hitchcock way.
- Here and There: ****
Can't say much about this one, 'cause it fills in perfectly with the general premise I outlined, and I don't like repeating myself.
- My Appearance: ***
Witty and very clever. I'd like to know if Letterman has ever said something about this story.
- Say Never: ****
I hated Lenny Tagus almost as I hated the main character in GWCH - but I pitied him, also, and besides he is couterparted by the lovely mr Labov, so the story comes out with an A grade.
- Everything Is Green: **
A moment captured. Good, bu somehow not as good as I would have liked it to be.
Westward the Course of Empire Takes Way: ***
To me, the most problematic to follow and understand. Probably also because I had to read it in scattered moments without giving it full attention, making heads or tail out of its first half was really hard for me. But as the reading went on, I started to get acquantited with the very queer characters, diffidence gave way to friendlyness, and I also really started to enjoy this little chaotic road-story, which is the funniest one among its sisters, without losing a single point in introspectivity. At the end of it, I was completely satisfacted.
"Lie back. Relax. Lie Back. Open. Face directions. Look. Listen. Use ears I'd be proud to call our own. Listen to the silence behind the engines' noise. Jesus, Sweets, LISTEN.
Hear it? It's a love song.
For whom?
You are loved."

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— Dec 23, 2012 | Add your feedback
- Spoon River Anthology (226)
- By Spoon River Anthology
- Finished on Dec 11, 2012
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- The Waste Land (304)
- By T.S. Eliot
- Finished on Nov 25, 2012
  
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The Waste Land

What have we given?
My friend, blood shacking my heart,
the awful daring of a moment's surrender
which an age of prudence can never retract.
By this, and this only, we have existed [...] .

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— Nov 26, 2012 | Add your feedback