In his own words
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Pleasures and Days
Review: A little gem of a book. All of Proust’s juvenilia, all written before he was 23. All of it excellent. The first story he is definitely working Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilyich but with a more Proustian feel. The little vignette pieces are glorious. Moonlight walks through beech woods, you can really see the…
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The Last Christmas Show
Review: This was a difficult one for me to read at an emotional level. It was a page turner for sure, couldn’t put it down sometimes, but the one liners and sexy girls could never quite cover the tragic loss of so many lives, both military and civilian. The flag waving and anti-Commie one liners…
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Ice World
Review: What a nice light, concise effort. Originally published serially in a 1950s pulp mag, you can see by the ending that the editors likely told him to wrap it up. Very science based and no laser fights back then. They were pioneering the genre, and like Bradbury or Asimov, it holds up well over…
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The Road Well Traveled
Review: Now that was a proper biography! Factual, incisive, not sparing the negative aspects of an extraordinary life, but not dwelling or even really digging into the lurid details. Bob Hope continues to fascinate me, and I knew from before I started my reading and collecting that there is always a skull beneath the skin,…
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The Pickwick Papers
Review: Originally published serially, this explains the extraordinary length and often disjointed narrative. An excellent book, you get plenty of humour, plus a lot of pathos, and you can see the start of the Dickensian commentary on the social conditions of the 19th century. Learned a lot, laughed a lot. This book made me want…
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Civil Disobedience
Review: Whiny little bitch. This book made me want to: punch a pond Overall rating: Readability: Plot: Other: Whinitude
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Confessions of St. Augustine
Review: Well worth taking the time to read. Obviously a very intelligent and inquiring man, Augustine would have been a great science educator. Inquiries into the nature of the universe, relationships between man and God, the nature of time, even how to steal pears. An excellent window into the early African and Roman church, and…
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Letters on England
Review: Surprisingly readable despite its age and translated French prose. Sort of a collection of a French Man (of Letters) writing this thoughts on England and the English approach to life, science, education, etc. Not too short, not too long-winded. Learned a lot about the Quakers and how they came to America. This book made…
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Confessions of an English Opium Eater
Review: Well worth reading, a unique glimpse into 19th century life and drug use. Starts out well, gets rapidly pretentious, and then rambles on quite oddly for the last bit. Reminded me of ESVM and her copious amounts of drugs consumed. The story is told with personal conviction, but never descends into vulgarity, and is…
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Heartbreak House
Review: A good play, probably very good, but I need someone to explain it to me. Also, maybe it needs to be acted, performed for the meaning to come through. It’s trying to make a statement on something, maybe it’s war or the leisured classes, I’ll have to look it up. This book made me…