Frecossais
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Posts posted by Frecossais
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I thought of this discussion this morning when watching my daughter scrape the frost off her windscreen wearing a big, fluffy glove with a scraper at the end. Try Feu Vert for one.
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I had a look on the link you sent, Russethouse. Will definitely give Reacher a go.As for Eat, pray, love. I read it last autumn on the recommendation of a woman I met in WH Smiths whose book club had chosen it. She said that not everyone had liked it, but that it was worth reading. I loved the Eat part, which took place in Rome. The Pray bit was really interesting, if you like the idea of attaining spirituality outside conventional religion, but the Lovepart, set in Bali, was in my opinion a waste of her time, (except that she met her future husband there), and a load of codswallop for me. However Elizabeth Gilbert is a good writer and a very engaging character, who writes with insight and honesty.Mind you, I can't think how they managed to make a film out of it. I've heard that wasn't up to much.
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Lee Child is a Brit? Shows how much I know! Interestingly while I was reading the book review pages in my Sunday paper today, I saw a book described as a woman's book. The book is the true account of "a woman's descent from melancholic schoolgirl to attempted suicide at 22" The review goes on to say that the author, Emma Forrest charts also her "gentle but miraculous gradient upwards." The reason the reviewer gives for describing it as a woman's book is that the self-destructive behaviour and romantic pitfalls in the book are particularly female.The book is called "Your voice in my head" in case anyone is interested, and I notice they've bookmarked an: If you like this one, then why not try "Eat, pray, love."PS Russethouse, Andrea Levy's "The Long Song" is one of the Book club's reads.
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Thanks for all the ideas and opinions. Some of those prices made my eyes water. Normally hubby undertakes the work himself, luckily with a sit-on mower and it's about a 3 day job, but that's because he has to cut 3 times to get it right down. (Yes Tim, our grass is almost as high as the proverbial elephant's eye!) I just hate the first few days after our arrival, as I'm involved raking and piling up grass cuttings to take over to the dechetterie. As our neighbours are elderly or working, we don't feel we can ask them. I'm afraid it's going to be down to us. Thanks again.
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I was wondering how much it might cost to have someone to come and cut my grass just before I come back to France in May. My garden is all lawn with several trees, biggish, (not sure of measurements), but nothing like an acre.
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There's Henning Mankell's Wallander books. I really enjoyed them too. Mankell says he won't be writing any more of them, I heard him say on TV that he didn't particularly like his creation, Kurt Wallander. I think his readers did though.
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I think of a "mens book" as one written by a man with a man as the central character and action-packed and often violent. That doesn't stop me from reading them: I read the Bourne books, and in my younger days all of Alastair MacLeans' and Hammond Innes' books. I love William Boyd's books, and Robert Harris but don't think of theirs as "mens' books", because they don't belong in that genre. Oddly enough I don't think of the Rebus series as mens. In fact my thinking on the subject seems pretty muddled. What I do know is that I like any book with believable characters, who behave in a way I can relate to, ie who have some depth and subtlety. And, I'm beginning to realise, I have uncovered in myself a predjudice against reading American authors I have labelled mens' writers. I'm ashamed. I will now read Lee Child and become less "stuck-in-the-mud"!
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Living between England and France gives me the worst and the best of both worlds. I'm in England just now and it's World Book Day on March 5th. Over here a million books have been specifically printed for the occasion and volunteers were asked to pick them up from a designated place and distribute them to friends and acquaintances. They're free! I'm being given 48 copies of CJ Sansom's Dissolution to give away by 5th March. I must say I imagined myself standing outside a shop (probably in the rain) and asking people if they'd like one, but all my friends are very keen, and are asking for copies for their book groups etc. I even thought of offering a couple to my local library, think how many extra readers that would bring in! It has just struck me that 5th March is WORLD book day. Does anyone know of anything special happening in France?PS This is one of the best things about being in England just now, but roll on May and la rentree!
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I think you are right about book clubs promoting the reading of a wide genre of books. I run a book club and members often say just that. As for the stereotyping of books, I'm a bit in two minds. If a book is well written, I find that even if I'm not interested in the subject, I can still enjoy it or at least be glad I read it. But there are some books that in my head, I seem to label "men's books". Invariably they are books whose male characters are devoid of any personality, and whose female characters belong only in bad fiction. Similarly there are "women's books" where the story is unspeakably dull (and hackneyed), and the characters the same.For me, "The Da Vinci Code" is one of the former, and most stuff by Danielle Steele in the latter category. I do stress however, that this is my personal opinion. I'm not sure whether I could give a definition of a man's or a woman's book, on reflection I have only divided them into good and bad reads.
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If you can get the British TV channel More4, there's a book club on Sunday evenings at 7.30 (British time) repeated on Channel 4 on Mondays at 12.05. It is hosted by a bunch of presenters including Ade Edmonson, Jo Brand and Meera Syall. There are 10 books and they'll be discussing Book no 4 next weekend. Discussions are not very detailed or deep, but they also film a bona fide book group who often have insightful things to say. Worth having a look at if you can.One of the interesting subjects to come up has been the concept of "a women's book" or a men's book. I wondered if anyone had any ideas about what, if anything, constitutes a man's or woman's book.
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Oh, I wish I'd seen that series last summer, it looks very faithful to the books, and the scenery looks fantastic. Thanks, Brianagain for the link.
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I'm glad to know of someone else who has enjoyed Brunetti, Thanks for the info. My German is pretty rusty, so I'm not sure how much I'd get out of the TV series, on the other hand I've read the book...... I'll have to find out if I can get ARD.I read too that Leon's books were not translated into Italian. She'd be pretty unpopular in Venice where she lives or probably a victim of the people she writes about. With all that stuff about the Italian president going on just now, you know exactly what she's talking about. Are the Italians just too lethargic to care?
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Hello to Everyone,I've just joined the forum and have been interested in your discussion. I know I'm late catching up with them, but I've recently read the Inspector Brunetti books of Donna Leon, (written in the 90s, most of them). They are set in Venice, are wonderfully atmospheric and the hero is a happily married, family man. Yet the books have their whiff or even total stink of corruption and are full of murders of convenience. They are a great read, there are over 20 of them if you become addicted, as I did, and Leon writes so well. go for it, I'd say!
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