Mariano Casa Casa itibaren Texas itibaren Texas

An entertaining chick lit novel for middle schoolers. Enjoyable and fairly clever.

An highly descriptive and verbose journey through the lives of two people (for the sake of retaining the illusion, I won't say who they are or their physical proximity) who share a partially unrequited love. The passing of time and its formative effects remain a constant stain over the entire book. As in Lolita, Nabakov treats a western-culture taboo with grace and refrains from the gratuitously grotesque. How was Nabakov able to describe a bruise so well? Or, for that matter, the WC? Highly recommended for those who have read and enjoyed Zola's "Nana" or Proust's "A la recherche du temps perdu".

Book #73 of 2009 While I was reading this book, I felt it didn't really click with me too well. It was pretty cute, and parts of it were hilarious, especially the hen/stag party bit, but I just wasn't feeling the overarching story theme. It might have been because of the sort of ridiculously fast move from swooning over an accent to living together, or it might have been because as a reader you just don't get a whole lot about Iain, since the story is in first person. It also might have been because of Iain's age - 47. Which meant that he's would be a good 21 years older than I am and he's a sheep farmer and... I just felt like I didn't connect. I think I like my romances with more external conflict. But he was a good man, a solid man, in the story. And since I finished this book just before a long run, I had 10 long miles to contemplate the story. And the more I mulled it over, the more I realized that I did like Iain because he was a good man. He may not be a "typical" romantic hero, but I think he's more REAL. So in the end, I'm left with some warm fuzzies from this story. Not clamoring for more, not my favorite romance to date, but it was a pretty decent read.

This story follows three storylines. The first is Deanna's - she lives in the woods as a forest service employee and hasn't left the woods in about two years. Eddie appears and they begin a volutile relationship. Second is Lusa. She has married into a farming family; when her husband dies suddenly she begins to learn that she can belong to her inlaws and that they don't hate her. Third is Garnett Walker. He's a very conservative and bitter old man with a neighbor, Nannie, who farms organically and drives him crazy. The three story lines come together over the course of the book as connections are revealed. Themes: sex, evolution, gender, science of love and attraction, organic living, environmental protection, relationships, importance of progeny I love a book that weaves together the stories of many characters and Kingsolver did that here in a fascinating way. Everyone grew and learned and everyone had a joy or a tragedy (or both) that made them stronger. I did feel that a lot of the dialogue was preachy - it didn't seem authentic that a person would really give a whole lesson on environmental protection or organic farming in a conversation with someone else and it was very clear that conveying this knowledge was Kingsolver's motive. I loved the quick mention of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers since I am one!

just a creepy story of small town life. ok maybe it was a little out of wack, but i dont think its that far from some truths. (i'm from a small town.)