Book reviews written by Hal

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Displaying 11-20 of 143 reviews

The Holy Sinner

by Thomas Mann
- Rated 4 stars
“Delightful mythological story with many fantastical turn of events, written in an old England phasing, but easy to read.”

Hal wrote this review Friday, March 1, 2013. ( reply | permalink )
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (A Norton Critical Edition)

by Katherine Linehan, Robert Louis Stevenson
- Rated 3 stars
“A bit disjointed in the telling. Sentences are labored. The original was more bare bones than all the versions of retellings. This story is very much a story about addiction to drugs or alcohol, which gets the better of Jekyll despite the initial pleasure. ”

Hal wrote this review Friday, January 18, 2013. ( reply | permalink )
The Round House

by Louise Erdrich
- Rated 5 stars
“Erdrich has a moving plot, culture dialect, Native American mysticism and interesting character development. I agree that Round House is National Book Award winning quality. Her story within a story is clever and engaging.”

Hal wrote this review Thursday, January 10, 2013. ( reply | permalink )
The Magic Mountain

by Thomas Mann
- Rated 5 stars
“This was really 3 books in one, with regard to the style. The 700 plus pages are pretty much solid print, so it is is very arduous to read. I was bored for literally the first half, nothing happened except to set up the characters. The third quarter consisted of dynamic, technical discussions about religion and politics. This was was expected and it delivered. The last quarter was a confrontation in macro and micro ways as a result of the tensions in the previous section. The change of tone, which included action and excitement, was refreshing. The descriptions of the time period in this unique setting of a sanatarium along with Mann's poetic writing style mad this book a very worthwhile read. ”

Hal wrote this review Thursday, January 3, 2013. ( reply | permalink )
The Watcher and Other Stories [Paperback]

by Italo Calvino
- Rated 4 stars
“These were very intriguing stories with spiritual and political overlays and undertones. Calvino is a master of simple entertaining storytelling with just the right amount of detail of the surroundings and his characters.”

Hal wrote this review Tuesday, December 11, 2012. ( reply | permalink )
Under the Jaguar Sun

by Italo Calvino
- Rated 4 stars
“Existential few of life through each of 3 senses. He never finished with the other two. Calvino images are terrific yet he is short of plot here.”

Hal wrote this review Saturday, December 8, 2012. ( reply | permalink )
Man in the Dark

by Paul Auster
- Rated 5 stars
“Wonderful. I can not say enough about Auster's storytelling. This started out to be one of the greatest stories that I have ever read. Then you in the middle of the book I was disappointed because of what for me was an abrupt change. After a little while it became one of my favorite books because of its tenderness, sincerity and raw love.”

Hal wrote this review Thursday, December 6, 2012. ( reply | permalink )
The Tale of the Unknown Island

by José Saramago
- Rated 5 stars
“A very short story, written as a fable, which allegorically shows us that what we are looking for is in ourselves”

Hal wrote this review Monday, December 3, 2012. ( reply | permalink )
Players

by Don DeLillo
- Rated 5 stars
“Nice glimpse into the existential thoughts about lack of meaning, in daily life and more long term in relations between people and with their jobs. The situations content fruitless attempts to grasp something permanent. At this he does a wonderful job. This is not a book with any kind of interesting plot. A story with a climax would have been an added bonus and created some suspense, but he is successful without it. And after all, his point may very well have been that life has no beginning, middle and end, to really engage us.”

Hal wrote this review Monday, December 3, 2012. ( reply | permalink )
Love Medicine

by Louise Erdrich
- Rated 5 stars
“Using authentic language and imagery, Love Medicine extremely effectively submerges you into the modern day life of the native American through an interwoven tapestry of characters, mysticism, ongoing struggles with oppression and meaningful connections with family and friends. I had to diagram all the relationships as I read, but I still got lost. No matter. Though the connections are a level of reality, all of the moments stand only as exciting and deep views of people's minds and their situations.”

Hal wrote this review Thursday, November 29, 2012. ( reply | permalink )