Maybe all of you read it years ago, but I just finished Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. What a wonderful novel! I think given today’s more daily discussion about mental health it would be fascinating to discuss what (if any) issues might have played into Raskolnikov’s actions and subsequent emotions. Like many novels of its time, the role of women and their limitations is jarring, but the effects of poverty and the desperation that can follow, is timely. But really, the character arc of Raskolnikov, which really is flatter than I expected for the majority of the book, is haunting (in a good way).
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So weird. I just read this afternoon that the landmark Schooner Landing Restaurant in Damariscotta was completely destroyed in a fire on Sunday only to start reading The Midcoast today where one of the characters says:
Evidently, this character comes to own the restaurant, and it plays an ongoing part in the story. The book is fiction and states that “any resemblance to … locales is entirely coincidental,” but this is an odd “coincidence” indeed and will be hard to ignore this sad news as I read the book.
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Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. So powerful.
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I remember exactly where I was when I was reading that book. Traveling alone in Europe and staying in a basement somewhat creepy B&B in London. Definitely added to the atmosphere!
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I just finished TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett and I really enjoyed it. She writes lyrically and the way the story unfolded was very well-done IMHO.
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I was looking for an easy read after slogging through ”The Three Body Problem” (science fiction recommended by my kids and a friend… just not my cup of tea.). On my Kindle there was “The Lost Letters of Aisling” (Cynthia Ellinsen), perhaps a freebie Amazon download. I really enjoyed it. It flip flopped between post-war Ireland and current day story of a dieing grandmother returning home with granddaughter. It had mystery and heartwarming characters.
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“A Man Called Intrepid”, about WWII spymaster Canadian William Stephenson who ran allied operations in Europe and South America. It reads like a thriller, but is actually a well researched history.
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I admired The Three Body problem, but I didn’t love it.
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I read this years ago, and remember it being really good.
Took me days to get over Prophet Song – that is some powerful book. It is so well written; fiction so completely realistic and believable that I had to remind myself these weren’t real people that I knew.
I read Three Body Problem and felt like I was missing the plot half the time; we watched the series adaptation and it was great, but I wasn’t sure it held very closely to the novel.
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What I thought worked really well was taking stuff we know happens “over there” and saying it can just as easily happen in a western country in the right conditions. Which it can. I haven’t been this moved by a book since Demon Copperhead.
Have not read three body problem ..
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Just finished Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. So far, it’s my favorite book of '24! Highly recommend!
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That sounds great. Going on my list!
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It’s on my Kindle - had been on hold for a few weeks
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It started as a funny story when the “refugees” tried to get used to the 21st century then it seamlessly became something more.
Theres a bit of a true story wrt the Artic expedition.
The Women by Kristin Hannah. About combat nurses in Vietnam.
This book was great anyway but it was much needed by me. My husband is a Viet vet with untreated PTSD. I won’t say more than that except that he was in the medical field. The book helped me understand a lot.
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@VaBluebird : Would your husband read the book himself? It might help him.
I just started The Women last night.
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I felt the same with The Women as I did with the Great Alone (the only two of hers that I’ve read). I really loved the parts of the books dealing with the “theme” - the Vietnam nurses/Alaska - but i was annoyed by the love story that she apparently feels the need to insert into her books (the plots of both of those angles felt pretty predictable to me). Would still recommend both books though.
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He is not a reader. So, no anyway.