Book reviews written by La Passante

The Days of Abandonment

by Elena Ferrante

Rated 5 stars

“Wonderfully disorientating experience.”

La Passante wrote this review Tuesday, August 10, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

Bright Young People: The Rise and Fall of a Generation, 1918-1940

“This seemingly desirable and detestable crew is treated to a spirited and intelligent analysis by Taylor who refuses to allow the reader be either swayed by the controversy or blinded by the champagne. Recommended for those with an interest in any Mitford, Guinness, Tennant, or Waugh. The real stars, however, are Arthur and Dorothea Ponsonby, the diary-keeping parents of Elizabeth.”

La Passante wrote this review Monday, March 22, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

A Single Man

by Christopher Isherwood

Rated 4 stars

“With the temperamental honesty and subject-morphing closeness of the narrative the reader rattles along with George as he journeys through just one day. Watching George from within and without we accompany him from his home in a claustrophobically family-friendly neighbourhood to his podium in front of a crowd of twitching students to the ferocious relief of a night sea. The novel presents a troubled but glorious celebration of the Present. Even contemporary LGBT writers could take a lesson from Isherwood about the lack of handwringing concerning *~the ghey~*. Matter of fact and masterful it packs a neat punch to set you reeling quite unexpectedly.”

La Passante wrote this review Sunday, March 14, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

Who Cooked the Last Supper?

by Rosalind Miles

Rated 2 stars

“I have to agree with Jean L on this. Aren't mainstream history books filled enough (silent as they are) with women's oppression without a women's history book being filled just the same? Happy women in history may be the exceptions but the title suggests a jolly irreverence that I feel the text itself (herself) failed to match. At least when Miles mentions Nancy Astor's hard time being the first woman to take her seat in Westminster she could also have mentioned Countess Markiewicz who was the first woman elected to the House of Commons but who didn't take her seat because she was participating in Sinn Fein's abstentionist policies and instead joined the Irish Dail in 1919 becoming Minister for Labour. I know women's oppression is central narrative in women's history but it's just a shame that Miles's book seems to strive to make it the only one. I was expecting a celebration and what we got was a lament.”

La Passante wrote this review Tuesday, March 9, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

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Gilead

by Marilynne Robinson

Rated 5 stars

“Religion, even the briefest mention of it, makes me anxious. I flashback to marathon Passion services with the entire congregation rocking on the balls of its feet, coughing through the fog of incense and everyone generally trying not to pass out. But, written with beautiful generosity, Gilead is deserving of a slow and patient read. Even from this confirmed atheist. There is an overly preach-y midsection which I'll admit caused a pause in my reading for several days but the novel's gentle wisdom eventually drew me back in. Gilead's triumph is in its structure. The fragmentary passages - past, present, history, theology - and the short, strained syntax capture the dignity and desperation of the protagonist/narrator's efforts to commit his life on paper for the benefit of his son as his heart cruelly fails him. The soft, stunned appreciation with which the preacher contemplates his young wife and son is particularly effective in this quiet but crackling novel.”