Book reviews written by capybara

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Displaying 1-10 of 19 reviews

Sweet And Low: A Family Story

by Rich Cohen
- Rated 3 stars
“Started strong but ultimately disappointed. Probably because the jacket blurb got me thinking the mob activity and the disinheritance were tied together in a single story - but that's not how it was. Unfortunately life is rarely as integrated as a novel, and the last part of the book, about the disinheritance, felt tacked on.”

capybara wrote this review Wednesday, August 15 2007. ( reply | permalink )
Glue

by Irvine Welsh
- Rated 5 stars
“Best book I've read so far in 2007. Welsh has a way with characters that instantly invokes empathy. And the portion where Carl Ewart 'gets his hole' for the first time was painfully hilarious - so true to life.”

capybara wrote this review Sunday, August 12 2007. ( reply | permalink )
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by J. K. Rowling
- Rated 4 stars
“Fitting end to the series - I defy you to stop reading the beginning hunk (covering Harry's flight from Privet Drive) and the ending (covering the Battle of Hogwarts). All loose ends I can recall wrapped up; a satisfying epilogue. Too bad the book bogged down in the middle, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione lacked clues to the remaining Horcruxes. And the final use of the Pensieve combined with the final chat with Dumbledore was a little *too* much 'okay-let-me-tell-you-what-*really*-happened' in too short a space. The revelations themselves were fine, but they needed to be distributed more evenly throughout the book. Because of this, four stars instead of five.”

capybara wrote this review Tuesday, July 24 2007. ( reply | permalink )
Survivor

by Chuck Palahniuk
- Rated 2 stars
“Disappointing. Unrealistic characters with poorly-presented motivations for their behavior, dancing from one gimmicky plot-twist to the next. Saved from one star by quality writing and periodic cleverness.”

capybara wrote this review Thursday, July 19 2007. ( reply | permalink )
Porno

by Irvine Welsh
- Rated 5 stars
“Awesome romp that satisfied my curiosity about all the characters of Trainspotting, highly recommended.”

capybara wrote this review Sunday, July 15 2007. ( reply | permalink )
The Ethical Assassin: A Novel

by David Liss
- Rated 4 stars
“Pretty strong, but David Liss' historical novels are better. The animal-rights politics here were a little too strongly presented for my taste, detracting in spots from the story.”

capybara wrote this review Sunday, July 15 2007. ( reply | permalink )
Post Office

by Charles Bukowski
- Rated 4 stars
“I'd always considered Bukowski hipster crap but I found this short, quick work engaging and fun. Probably because I romanticize working-class / on-the-skids life. I should really know better based on past experience.”

capybara wrote this review Sunday, July 15 2007. ( reply | permalink )
Absurdistan

by Gary Shteyngart
- Rated 3 stars
“Not nearly as strong as his first novel - perhaps because it often felt like a simple rehash of the first's themes.”

capybara wrote this review Sunday, July 15 2007. ( reply | permalink )
The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger
- Rated 4 stars
“Very strong book that deals with time travel exceptionally well. There's a few minor flaws in the plot - the lottery win, for example - but the characters are sympathetic and the story's very moving.”

capybara wrote this review Sunday, July 15 2007. ( reply | permalink )
The Brothers Karamazov

by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Rated 5 stars
“The best novel ever written. Highlights include Ivan's passionate (and still relevant) embrace of nihilism, the comedic scene where everyone's trying to ignore the decay of Zosima's body, and the satirical depiction of Dmitri's trial.

May require some basic knowledge of Russian culture and Orthodox Christianity to fully appreciate, but you should really go learn this anyway.”

capybara wrote this review Sunday, June 24 2007. ( reply | permalink )