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Happy Belated Birthday!
I hope you are feeling more comfortable navigating through BookTalk. It is just like anything else--the more you do it, the better you get at it. It was new to me once too(see my member intro thread title)!
Thanks, Chris, for all the support and pep talks. I'm leaving for vacation for a week, and when I return, I plan to spend some concentrated time looking around this site--and hopefully, joining a conversation or two. I have read both the books, "Thousand Splendid Suns" and "Heart of Darkness"--but time has a way of erasing the details. Recently, I completed reading the 2007 Man Booker Prize--"The Gathering". Has anyone out there read this?? It was a good read and lends itself to a thought provoking conversation. I've just started reading "The Reserve" by Russell Banks. This, I guess, suggests I just read fiction--not true, I read lots of nonfiction also.
Thanks for the birthday wishes. I was surprised and cheered.
Marilyn
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:57 pm Post subject: "The Reserve"
Hi again,
I'm back from vacation so thought I'd give this another whirl even though I don't really know my way around yet.
I just completed reading "The Reserve" by Russell Banks. Anyone out there read this book? I seem to read books no one else is reading and many of the books under discussion are books that I read previously. Yes, it is a bit frustrating. About "The Reserve"--I found it very annoying; it was a book I couldn't put down and yet it seemed Banks couldn't quite decide what story he wanted to tell. After I finished the last page, I picked up the current issue of The New York Review Of Book and was surpeised to discover a review of this very book. After reading the review, I could see more clearly why I found it so annoying; the review ended with the words "disappointing novel". Although I must admit, there was something about it that got me hooked and still continues to haunt me. I had previously read other Banks books, but this one was quite different.
I'm still wishing for conversation about "Out Stealing Horses" by Per Petterson. I noticed that the book will be issued in paperback at the end of April--so maybe there is hope??
The April/May Cormac M. selection "No Country For Old Men" is his only book I have not read--but I did recently see the film. Anyone else seen the film? What did you think? Perhaps, I will read the book although I usually read books prior to viewing the films.
Occasionally a book may draw responses immediately, but the best way is to suggest it in the "Fiction Books Suggestions and Polls" thread, and follow the guidelines there on how to make a convincing case for this book.
The Reserve is the right length, why don't you suggest it?
