So compelling, disturbing, dominating. Amazing amazing. Today I am not feeling at all articulate so I'm going to do that thing where I say maybe I'll write a better entry later and then never do it.

Oh, my god. Obviously I have not read properly in ages - I was going to document the books I was reading for uni but then I never finished any - but this was EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TO GET BACK IN. Fucking sublime. I need my own copy immediately. Mmmm.

Usually I hate reading books with 'international best seller' plastered all over the front (I know I'm a snob), but I just didn't care with this one. It is so beautiful, so cruel, so slow - you get to see every side of a moment with complete lucidity throughout. My only main gripe is that I think it was over-egging the pudding a bit to have the cannibal AND the castrate AND the communists - had the communists not been in it it still would have served as an ample reflection of the horrors of that kind of extremism. But, still, amazing amazing. So well-written. So affecting.

Especially amusing, but one I think I'll have a lot more to say about once I've started studying it.

Wowzers in my trousers, the writing style was fantastic. However, much of the four out of five is because of that; I was interested in the characters, particularly Estha, but I didn't really care for them much. This reminded me a lot of One Hundred Years of Solitude - somewhat cold, removed; a worthy observation of humanity but not entirely human itself.

MAGIC. LOVE. LOVE.

When I first read this, aged fifteen, I was really impressed, particularly by the oral rape scene in the second story, which rendered me speechless. However, I found little in it upon re-reading five years on. The only thing about this book that interests me is its grossness, and I could get that from several sources that wouldn't also subject me to a depressingly flat writing style.

Amazing. Isherwood writes with subtlety and flair. Touching, hilarious, painful, very interesting.

o_O

Basically, Robbins uses so many similes that their multitude negates any delight that could have been experienced as a result of any. The ending is just shit. There are a few entertaining bits, but they are ruined by the superior tone of the narrator. Also, the 'intellects' weren't challenging in the slightest; I don't know if this was intentional, or if Robbins doesn't quite have the grasp on academic issues he thinks he does. Also, did not give a shit about any of the characters.

Deserves a five. Some lovely bits, but overwhelmingly dull/trying so hard to be quirky and touching and blah. I LOVED The Hotel New Hampshire; every John Irving I've read since seems to palely imitate the joy that gave me. However, I really respect the attitude to women expressed in Irving's work, and the exploration of issues of gender and sexuality. It's just a pity that, once again, I didn't really care for the characters, or their 'oddities'.