Fiction A-Z (General) - Mosman Readers2024-03-29T11:23:37Zhttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/forum/categories/fiction-az-general/listForCategory?categoryId=2517344%3ACategory%3A83&feed=yes&xn_auth=noFree Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Leetag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2019-02-18:2517344:Topic:606502019-02-18T04:30:52.688ZRenee Fittlerhttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/ReneeFittler
<p>When I finished reading Pachinko and couldn’t recover from my book hangover, I knew Min Jin Lee’s debut novel was the answer to my literary woes. Free Food for Millionaires, released ten years before the hugely successful Pachinko, tells the story of first-generation Korean-American Casey Han and the wide cast of characters who inhabit her world. She has just graduated from Princeton with expensive tastes in clothing (and the credit card debt to match) and no clear direction in life. We…</p>
<p>When I finished reading Pachinko and couldn’t recover from my book hangover, I knew Min Jin Lee’s debut novel was the answer to my literary woes. Free Food for Millionaires, released ten years before the hugely successful Pachinko, tells the story of first-generation Korean-American Casey Han and the wide cast of characters who inhabit her world. She has just graduated from Princeton with expensive tastes in clothing (and the credit card debt to match) and no clear direction in life. We watch, sometimes cringing and holding our breath, as Casey navigates jobs, cultures, careers, parental pressure, friendships, mentors, and lovers in New York City in the 1990s. While different in scope and tone to Pachinko, Free Food for Millionaires is a sweeping, highly satisfying, and nuanced intergenerational tale about the messiness of finding your way and following your dreams.</p> Mister Pip / by Lloyd Jonestag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2018-08-06:2517344:Topic:591492018-08-06T01:55:55.745ZKim Allen Scotthttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KimAllenScott
<p>One of the best things about reading this fine book was my ability to complete it while here at the Byron Bay Writer's Festival, a celebration of quality literature and authors. I might add it was a double pleasure after attending the dismal, depressing APLIC conference at Gold Coast last week where I had the unusual experience of sharing a large convention hall of "librarians" who had nothing to say about books.</p>
<p>But on to the story at hand. Matilda is the single child of Delores, a…</p>
<p>One of the best things about reading this fine book was my ability to complete it while here at the Byron Bay Writer's Festival, a celebration of quality literature and authors. I might add it was a double pleasure after attending the dismal, depressing APLIC conference at Gold Coast last week where I had the unusual experience of sharing a large convention hall of "librarians" who had nothing to say about books.</p>
<p>But on to the story at hand. Matilda is the single child of Delores, a woman whose husband abandoned their island home to work in Australia and was unable to return when a revolution and blockade cut his family and their neighbors from the rest of the world. Enter into this bleak scene the eccentric Mr. Watts, a gaunt white man who undertakes the task of reopening the local school by reading the children <em>Great Expectations.</em> Matilda becomes transfixed by the novel as it reveals to her a world so different and alien from the one she inhabits, and perhaps the one thing the book offers which her surroundings do not: hope and the transformative power of changing fortunes. As she becomes more engrossed in the story, Matilda's relationship with her mother deteriorates, primarily because of Delores' jaundiced view of life sprung from her husband's abandonment and a very narrow interpretation of the Bible.</p>
<p>This book takes you into a different world, much like <em>Great Expectations</em> does, but the world of Matilda is dangerous and narrow. There are some shocking developments as the narrative completes, but overall, Mister Pip is well worth your time!</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p> Oliver Twist / by Charles Dickenstag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2018-07-02:2517344:Topic:586502018-07-02T19:56:27.790ZKim Allen Scotthttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KimAllenScott
<p>I could have never read this book without the knowledge that it would have a happy ending. Oliver Twist is so unspeakably sad in its opening chapters that I found it difficult to remain a passive reader while hearing so many injustices in a society that debases its poor. (I suppose I felt this way because it reminds me of what is happening to American under the Trump dictatorship.) However, this story of an orphaned boy who runs away from those cruel state actors only to end up in a den of…</p>
<p>I could have never read this book without the knowledge that it would have a happy ending. Oliver Twist is so unspeakably sad in its opening chapters that I found it difficult to remain a passive reader while hearing so many injustices in a society that debases its poor. (I suppose I felt this way because it reminds me of what is happening to American under the Trump dictatorship.) However, this story of an orphaned boy who runs away from those cruel state actors only to end up in a den of juvenile thieves has so many compelling characters it makes up for the pain of the opening scenes. I must admit it is the villains who have the most interesting sketches. Fagin, the cunning old Jewish thief is almost charming in his knavery, and Bill Sikes is as scary a bogeyman as you would ever care to meet in fiction or in life. (Even his dog hates him, it seems, although he follows his master to death at the end.) The good guys, Mr. Brownlow and his friend, Mr. Grimwig, are not as well drawn, although each has his moments. Oliver Twist has been criticized for being too formulaic and predictable in its plot, and perhaps that is true, but after spending a number of pleasant evenings with Charles Dickens in my reading chair, I am inclined to overlook the incredible coincidences of the story. If you have never read Dickens, I would heartily recommend starting with this book.</p> Lincoln in the Bardo / by George Saunderstag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-05-04:2517344:Topic:543002017-05-04T14:31:40.002ZKim Allen Scotthttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KimAllenScott
<p>There are few American heroes as universally honored as Abraham Lincoln. His masterful handling of the worst crisis this nation ever faced, along with his subsequent martyrdom, have over the decades lifted him beyond the status of a mortal to that of a demigod in the hearts of many. This is particularly troublesome because such hagiography obscures the fact that Lincoln was a real person, with real pain and a real personality. Many attempts to point out his feet of clay have fallen short,…</p>
<p>There are few American heroes as universally honored as Abraham Lincoln. His masterful handling of the worst crisis this nation ever faced, along with his subsequent martyrdom, have over the decades lifted him beyond the status of a mortal to that of a demigod in the hearts of many. This is particularly troublesome because such hagiography obscures the fact that Lincoln was a real person, with real pain and a real personality. Many attempts to point out his feet of clay have fallen short, but this book by George Saunders is probably the most ambitious, and the most touching, of any attempt I have ever read. The premise of the book is very simple. Lincoln, in the midst of dealing with the Civil War, lost his twelve-year-old son Willie to typhoid fever and, like any parent, found the death almost too much to bear for his sanity. The story takes place in the graveyard where Willie’s body is taken, and the restless souls who inhabit it interact with the boy’s spirit as well as his living father who comes to grieve late at night. The book is creepy, joyous, sad, funny, and overall intriguing as the living President enters the domain of the dead (the Tibetan term “bardo” refers to the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth). It is difficult to get into the rhythm of this book, but once you do it is well worth the effort. For me, it took a graveyard of ghosts to appreciate the real, living and breathing Lincoln.</p> The Return of Little Big Man / by Thomas Bergertag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-04-24:2517344:Topic:543912017-04-24T17:44:19.357ZKim Allen Scotthttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KimAllenScott
<p>Sequels are rarely as good as the book that inspired them, but this one comes close. Author Thomas Berger had to perform some situational gymnastics to explain why a continuation of Jack Crabb’s story was possible after the old frontiersman’s death ended the first volume, but once you get past that implausibility the story works pretty well. After his escape from death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Crabb moves on to Deadwood, South Dakota to meet again with his old friend Wild Bill…</p>
<p>Sequels are rarely as good as the book that inspired them, but this one comes close. Author Thomas Berger had to perform some situational gymnastics to explain why a continuation of Jack Crabb’s story was possible after the old frontiersman’s death ended the first volume, but once you get past that implausibility the story works pretty well. After his escape from death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Crabb moves on to Deadwood, South Dakota to meet again with his old friend Wild Bill Hickock and, predictably, witnesses the gunfighter’s death in an incredible coincidence. He next moves on to Dodge City and Tombstone where his path crosses with Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, and a batch of other famous gunslingers and characters. Buffalo Bill Cody’s show is where Crabb ends up, and a full half of the novel concerns his adventures touring with the Wild West show in the Eastern United States and Europe. There is little romance in the book, unless you want to count Crabb’s attachment to a dog he calls “Pard” or a crusading Indian advocate named Amanda Teasdale who he periodically encounters. However, her character is never fully developed and is somewhat flat as a result. I did enjoy this book, but not as much as “Little Big Man.”</p> The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barrytag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-02-13:2517344:Topic:542502017-02-13T04:11:34.920ZRead, Review & Winhttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/moslib
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499000?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499000?profile=original" width="220"></img></a> This book draws you into the disturbing world of a young woman in western Ireland, in the early part of the last century. It touches on Irish history, catholic priest culpability, women's lack of rights, and early psychiatric procedures. It also makes interesting observations about memory and family. I read it at the same time as Margaret Atwood's "Blind Assassin", a…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499000?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="220" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499000?profile=original"/></a>This book draws you into the disturbing world of a young woman in western Ireland, in the early part of the last century. It touches on Irish history, catholic priest culpability, women's lack of rights, and early psychiatric procedures. It also makes interesting observations about memory and family. I read it at the same time as Margaret Atwood's "Blind Assassin", a complementary story of a young woman from a well-off family who ended up in a situation no better-off than Barry's female lead.</p> Days Without End by Sebastian Barrytag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-01-24:2517344:Topic:539532017-01-24T04:12:01.702ZLindachhttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/LindaHorswell
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499252?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499252?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="100"></img></a> I always look forward to a new book by Sebastian Barry and it is usually a couple of years wait between novels. This book was certainly worth the wait. Days Without End is his best novel since The Secret Scriptures and tells the story of Thomas McNulty who is forced to leave County Sligo Ireland as a young boy as a result of the Irish Famine.</p>
<p>We follow Thomas and his…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499252?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="100" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499252?profile=RESIZE_180x180"/></a>I always look forward to a new book by Sebastian Barry and it is usually a couple of years wait between novels. This book was certainly worth the wait. Days Without End is his best novel since The Secret Scriptures and tells the story of Thomas McNulty who is forced to leave County Sligo Ireland as a young boy as a result of the Irish Famine.</p>
<p>We follow Thomas and his brother-in-arms John Cole who meet by chance as young teenagers, as they enlist in the US army and fight in the Indian Wars and the American Civil War.</p>
<p>It is beautifully written and will make you cry and the bloody violence of the American West and the Civil War will shock you but you will not be able to put it down.</p>
<p> Highly recommended. Five out of five stars.</p> Robbery Under Arms / by Rolf Boldrewoodtag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-01-20:2517344:Topic:540542017-01-20T17:55:47.145ZKim Allen Scotthttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KimAllenScott
<p>If you haven’t read this Australian classic lately (or if you have never read it) do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. <em>Robbery Under Arms</em> is a fantastic piece of fiction that boils all the bushranger legends of Ned Kelly, Ben Hall, “Mad Dog” Morgan, and Captain Moonlite into one sweeping narrative. The language is a charming mixture of Dickensian and Australian English, and the pages come alive with stories that are both exciting and somewhat believable. ( I add the qualifier…</p>
<p>If you haven’t read this Australian classic lately (or if you have never read it) do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. <em>Robbery Under Arms</em> is a fantastic piece of fiction that boils all the bushranger legends of Ned Kelly, Ben Hall, “Mad Dog” Morgan, and Captain Moonlite into one sweeping narrative. The language is a charming mixture of Dickensian and Australian English, and the pages come alive with stories that are both exciting and somewhat believable. ( I add the qualifier “somewhat” because this book is essentially a western, to use an American genre term, and westerns always require a suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader.) I won’t go into the plot details here. If you have read this book , or seen the film adaptations, you already know the story of Richard Marston and his descent into outlawry in nineteenth century New South Wales. I will say the tale begins slowly since the author felt obligated to compose a lengthy moral sermon during the opening pages, likely because he realized the story would make bush ranging seem like so much fun! After those preliminaries are over, the tale really takes off. It is a lengthy read, and if you are like me, you are loathe to finish it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>One word of caution if you decide to purchase a copy of this book rather than get it at your local library. The edition I bought during my recent visit to Melbourne was obviously typeset from an uncorrected Optical Character Recognition scan of an earlier text. As a result there are many annoying typographical errors.</p>
<p><br/><br/>This is the first of a series of reviews I intend to do on the fiction of Rolf Boldrewood. I have been fortunate to get <em>Plain Living; A Bush Idyll</em> and <em>The Miner’s Right</em> through inter-library loan and I will review them as soon as I have finished.</p> Read Review & Win is back for Januarytag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-01-18:2517344:Topic:540522017-01-18T02:40:40.419ZRead, Review & Winhttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/moslib
<p>Did you know, that by reviewing a book on Mosman Readers this January, you go into the draw to win a $200 dining card to spend at the beautiful Gunners Barracks? <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499111?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499111?profile=original" width="256" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Did you know, that by reviewing a book on Mosman Readers this January, you go into the draw to win a $200 dining card to spend at the beautiful Gunners Barracks? <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499111?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2866499111?profile=original" width="256" class="align-full"/></a></p> Ross Poldark / by Winston Grahamtag:mosmanreaders.ning.com,2017-01-03:2517344:Topic:540422017-01-03T16:49:20.973ZKim Allen Scotthttp://mosmanreaders.ning.com/profile/KimAllenScott
<p>OK, I will admit it. Often my reading habits are dictated by the television. On one hand, I generally read more when there is nothing on television, making my practice of the all important consumption of print entirely dependent on the inanity of another form of media. On the other hand, I sometimes choose to read a book solely because I enjoyed a representation of the story presented on television. This latter practice is particularly nefarious because one already has a mental image of…</p>
<p>OK, I will admit it. Often my reading habits are dictated by the television. On one hand, I generally read more when there is nothing on television, making my practice of the all important consumption of print entirely dependent on the inanity of another form of media. On the other hand, I sometimes choose to read a book solely because I enjoyed a representation of the story presented on television. This latter practice is particularly nefarious because one already has a mental image of the character’s appearance, speech patterns, and motivations before even opening the cover of a novel. This makes it difficult to judge the literary merit of a book because we are prejudiced at the outset of reading it.<br/><br/>This was certainly the case with <em>Ross Poldark,</em> the first of a multi-volume saga first created by Winston Graham in the 1940s but rendered into television series twice since that date. The story concerns the return of the title character from America after the end of the Revolutionary War and the complications he encounters while trying to adjust to life in his native Cornwall. The complications include the marriage of his former sweetheart, Elizabeth, to his cousin Francis and the attempts to make his copper and tin mines pay in a time of economic downturn. I cannot tell if the writing is good or not, since my eyes flowed across the text as my brain reviewed the scenes I had seen on television, pausing now and then to note differences in the story line. However, if one were to measure a book by the pleasure it gives while reading it, I can certainly testify that this was a most desirable diversion on a cold weekend. This first novel only follows Ross through the marriage of Demelza, his former scullery maid, and her first attempts to fit into Cornish society as the wife of a landed minor aristocrat. George Warleggan, who is a completely despicable villain in the television series, has only a minor role in this first novel, and there is nothing to indicate he will grow in knavery as the series continues. Ross himself is somewhat two dimensional. We never really get the sense of the magnitude of his loss over Elizabeth’s marriage, and we are left wondering if he is a champion of the lower classes or simply a hothead. Perhaps as the story works its way through subsequent novels these themes will be explored in more detail, but for a start this book is very entertaining. The only problem is that even after I completed it, when asked if I have seen the show I will still be unable to haughtily reply, “NO, but I read the book.”</p>