A gem of a novella. Dutch, written right after the war, it tells the story of a young married couple sheltering an older Jewish man. The story bouncesA gem of a novella. Dutch, written right after the war, it tells the story of a young married couple sheltering an older Jewish man. The story bounces back and forth in time, organized around the events before and after the man they are hiring dies of what seems to be pneumonia.
Although not perfect, it is deeply humane and evocative....more
It may be an unfair standard, but I don't think this book added much to the movie. Had I read the book first the converse might have been true.
The booIt may be an unfair standard, but I don't think this book added much to the movie. Had I read the book first the converse might have been true.
The book was enjoyable, but I was hoping for more, something like Philip Pullman's Clockwork or I Was a Rat. There was something more mature than those books, not just the terror but the more complex portrait of a child's imperfect relationship with her parents. But still, something about it did not work perfectly as a story for me....more
I thought this was a perfectly good story, well worth the hour spent reading it, and nicely packaged to boot. It didn't have anything especially magicI thought this was a perfectly good story, well worth the hour spent reading it, and nicely packaged to boot. It didn't have anything especially magical or interesting over any other well-done retelling (or inventing) of classical mythical tales, in this one set with the Norse gods....more
A relatively short and enjoyable police procedural. Inspector Maigret is working on a six-year old murder when another death takes place. He unravels A relatively short and enjoyable police procedural. Inspector Maigret is working on a six-year old murder when another death takes place. He unravels the hidden secrets of a bourgeois group of friends who all like to relax at the same rustic bar on the Seine outside Paris. FWIW, the Kindle edition is formatted terribly but the actual Penguin version is physically a nice volume -- almost enough to make you want to read more in the series regardless of the content....more
A Balzac novella that is part of the History of the Thirteen, although in this translation published as a standalone work. Its interest lies mainly inA Balzac novella that is part of the History of the Thirteen, although in this translation published as a standalone work. Its interest lies mainly in how shocking it is to imagine such a novel being written in the 19th century: a man seduces a young girl who is zealously guarded by her family, the girl makes him dress up in women’s clothing and calls him by a woman’s name when they make love, he returns to her the next night vowing to kill her for it but discovers she has already been murdered – by her other lover, who just happens to be his long lost half sister.
The plot driven portion of the novella is preceded by a lengthy and somewhat dull morphology of the exemplary specimens of the different stratas of Parisian life.
Overall enjoyable and worth reading but falls on the uneven side of Balzac. But worth reading nonetheless....more
Excellent even enjoyable -- which is not exactly the first word that is meant to spring to mind about a novella narrated in the first person by a low-Excellent even enjoyable -- which is not exactly the first word that is meant to spring to mind about a novella narrated in the first person by a low-level torturer/secret policy detective from a recently deposed Latin American dictatorship. Also the "crime" he is part of uncovering is heartbreaking. Altogether, reads like Kafka with more specificity or Kadare set in Latin America. Altogether it appears to have been written from the perspective of the banality of evil, with one cog in the bureaucracy, rather than the monster promised to readers in the inside flap....more
The best opening of any Balzac work I have read. And in some of the ensuing scenes, the most wooden melodrama of any Balzac work I have read, especialThe best opening of any Balzac work I have read. And in some of the ensuing scenes, the most wooden melodrama of any Balzac work I have read, especially the scene where Ginevra confesses her love to her father who says she will die before him if she continues down this path. But there are numerous hints of the Balzac to come, most especially in the description of the relationship and backbiting between girls in Monsieur Servin...more
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