Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco (Tara)- My favorite Eco book so far (it had a plot!). A bizarre tale of the weird, wild world of 14th-century monastic life... and DEATH! Seemed carefully researched. Left it in Buenos Aires with a German copy of Foucault's Pendulum.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot - (Tara) Loved this book about the woman who unknowingly made possible some of the most important medical research of the 20th century. In the words of my New Orleans-born mother, "It has everything I like: science, biography, ethics, ignorance, racism..." (She's not pro-ignorance and -racism, mind you, and neither is the book.. and neither is Oprah, who also loved it). Gifted it on Christmas morning to a fellow traveler.
The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov (Patrick) - Soul-hunters led by the Devil find themselves in communist Moscow defending Christ's existence whilst raising hell. Cuts to Pontius Pilate for another perspective. I give it a C+. The devilry became a bit monotonous. Left it in Ushuaia.
Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson (Patrick)- Made a pact with a friend to read it if she would read The Brothers Karamazov. I thoughly enjoyed the 1000-page display of man's adaptability. She now has to read War& Peace and I Foucault's Pendulum. Gave Crypto. to Tara.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Alan Sillitoe (Tara) - found it on the hostel swap shelf in El Chalten, Ar. I found myself almost rooting for the boozing, morally derelict philanderer who is the anti-hero. That being said, this book was post-modern trash set in working-class England where they talk really funny, which made it engaging.
Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf (Tara)-Oh, Mrs. Dalloway, you really need a part-time job. So do you, Ms. Woolf. Found on swap shelf, gifted to an English cyclist to make him homesick.
The Rich Will Inherit (Tara)- Utterly unreadable trade acquisition. Chucked it in a trash can in rural Chile after a few chapters. Hopefully no one finds it.
Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut (Tara) swap shelf in El Bolson, Ar. Simply magnificent! Defies description. You'll just have to read it.
The Ministry of Fear, Graham Greene (Tara) - swap shelf El Bolson, Ar. I am now a Graham Greene believer. A sequela of thought-provoking, whimsical, befuddling, and disturbing events in the seemingly doomed life of a man in WWII England. (Patrick)- Promoted the idea that pity is a force for evil.
Bible: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclestiastes (Tara)- I'm working my way cover to cover and enjoyed this particularly sweet section of Scripture. A blueprint for how to live, dense with beautiful poetry and savory truths.
Bible: Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, Ecclesiastes (Patrick) - winners.
Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson (Tara)- My second read-through of this geek-centric epic by my homeboy Nealy-O. There's a lot going on in this book besides codebreaking. From what Douglas MacArthur's bathrobe looked like to how the Palouse hills were formed, it's all in there. Destroyed the paperback by vigorous reading.
The Four Loves,C.S. Lewis (Patrick)- Another C.S. classic: a layman's philosphy on the four types of love (affection, friendship, eros & charity) traded it to another Lewis-o-phile for The Great Divorce
Eugene Onegin, Alexander Pushkin ( Tara) - Compared to Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, this book is downright cartoonish! It pre-dates those giants and is a refreshingly silly (and apparently essentially Russian) lyric poem. (Patrick)- playful Russian verses about lost youth and not much else. Still packin' this one around...
House of Spirits, Isabel Allende (Tara)- Oh, the horror of boredom! Oh, the cheapness of plagiarism! Ms. Allende should be paying royalties to Marquez for all the tepid imitation she does of 100 Years of Solitude. But it's longer and even more boring, punctuated with greater unctiousness. Can't remember how I hastily off-loaded this one.
Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Tara)- still had PTSD after reading Allende's banal tome; suffered occasional flashbacks. GGM's talent is that he can positively make you smell what he's writing. I liked this book wayyy better than 100 Yrs. of S., but hearing about ol' dudeface's many conquests became tedious and demoralizing, not to mention icky. Traded this book to an English guy for Steppenwolf.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Mark Haddon (Tara)- Fun in the autistic sun! I was moved to tears by this kid's narrative of challenges bravely met. Sent it home to my sister who works with special-ed kids. (Patrick)-mildly entertaining, any longer and it would have been seriously annoying.
Shantung Compound, Langdon Gilkey (Tara)- Interesting insights on society, Christianity, and human nature gained by the 1st-hand experience of the American author in a Japanese internment camp during WWII. Imported to me from a buddy from the states.
East of Eden, John Steinbeck (Patrick)- Welcome to my top 5, with a bullet. (Tara)- SO GOOD! At times very creepy, heart-breaking and -warming. The great American Novel? Maybe. Gifted this to our homies at the Bolivian hospital.
Bucking the Sun, Ivan Doig (Patrick)- About a fam damly, that is, a dam family. Flaccid compared to
East of Eden or Brothers Karamazov (to which some reviews compared it). (Tara)- A made-for-TV-sequel-produced-overseas of Sometimes a Great Notion.
Bible: Song of Solomon, Isaiah (Tara)- Beautiful poetry about love and marriage in Song of Solomon. Isaiah is a dense book of prophecy often dealing with the fate of the nation of Israel and Christ's coming. Chapter 53 is a vivid prediction of Christ's crucifiction hundreds of years in advance.
Bible: Proverbs (Patrick)- Great, practical, and inspiring advice
The Case for Faith, Lee Strobel (Patrick)- A noble attempt by a journalist, through interviews with theologians, to clairfy and answer some of "the most difficult objections" to faith in the Christian God. Deals with 'how can a loving God send people to hell', the Big Bang, and what not. Left it where I found it at the Hospitals of Hope guest house.
Check back soon for more tasty titles...
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