Şipşak Hikâyeler 1 - Hayal Kurmak Yasak Mı? - Bernard Friot kitap serbest oDF biçim

Liza Yakunina _iza_akunina — Methinks Mr Theroux was a lot more interested in promoting himself than trying to understand the culture

Murat Murat mugi1905 — This debut novel has all the ingredients which usually make a book irresistible for me – take one children’s librarian, add one ten year old boy who loves the books his God fearing parents hate, stir in a road trip and sprinkle with references to classic children’s literature and voila….well, unfortunately the result was more of a sunken souffle for me. The story opens well with our narrator, Lucy Hull, a young children’s librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, taking an interest in the well-being of her most regular customer, 10 year old Ian Drake. In the course of guiding this avid reader towards the best of children’s literature, Lucy discovers that Ian’s very religious mother has enrolled him in anti-gay classes run by Pastor Bob. Her hand is forced when she discovers Ian camping out in the library and they find themselves on the run in an eventful road trip from Missouri to Vermont. There is some confusion as to who has “abducted” who. Ian is the arch-manipulator, playing Lucy in the way a child can, turning on the tears, changing the subject but Lucy is so easily “played” she lost all credibility for me. There are lots of weird and wonderful characters including Lucy’s Russian immigrant father with his shady past and plenty of amusing incidents from ferrets to the sinister figure who stalks Lucy and Ian. Although it has glimmers of brilliance, The Borrower, left me unsatisfied and slightly disappointed. I felt left behind and didn’t feel any real connection with any of the characters. It seems to be a marmite book though and will provide plenty of discussion for book groups.

Steven Nhoy _adsana_hoy — I love this so much. Yes, it is a novel written in the form of an auction catalog. She did something so amazing here, and did it so exquisitely well. It might seem like a gimmick, but it is so well done, it's past gimmick and into art. In fact, I ordered this book for the library, because of an article I read in the NYT about it, and it sounded like something kind of new and interesting and clever. Then about a week later, I realized that some of the books from that order had arrived, but I hadn't seen this one yet, so I mentioned it to a non-fiction friend at work who told me that our cataloging friend had asked her if it was hers, as it looked so much like an odd non-fiction auction catalog. When non-fiction friend denied any knowledge of the book, cataloging friend was going to send it back as a mistake! Well, I ran to tech services and saved the book. Then about half an hour later I read it has been optioned to become a movie with Natalie Portman and Brad Pitt. It's material culture as all, it's the objects of life showing the feelings, it's the culmination of our consumer society that a love story, with tingles and kisses and tears can be told, perfectly, through a collection of toast racks and pajamas and that the debris of life can tell a story as haunting as a traditional narrative. Hats off to Leanne Shapton for this one. I loved it so much that I ordered my own copy, which I lent to a friend. Today she texted me and said "That may be my favorite book." I replied and said "Oh that is so great that you liked it!" She replied and said "I read it twice." That says it all, I think.

Twiddle Art _widdle_rt — ** spoiler alert ** Pros: believable characters / scenarios / language. Cons: um, plot? Hullo? Nothing really happens. Girl dies, gives her daughter to her estranged best friend, estranged best friend takes on 5-year-old, starts having a relationship with boss, ex-boyfriend and father of 5-year-old turns up and throws a spanner in the works. Okay, so I know that sounds like stuff happens, but it was just like I was watching someone's life. Where was the story? It was all a bit predictable, and I was waiting for that sparky moment when you know you can't put it down, but it never came. Disappointed.