posted March 04, 2008 06:38 AM         

Funnily enough, tis about Antarctica! I'm halfway through and it has blown me away, and I can't wait to get home to read some more. The depth and range of knowledge this author has is astounding. History, geology, technology...not to mention insight into human nature. Using Antarctica as an analogy about human nature - what humans will do with a pristine landscape....

Some people are just so talented it fair boggles the mind.

What shall I read next? (after Gooberz - which is coming in the post!) *jumps up and down*

posted March 04, 2008 07:24 AM         

I'm reading Random Acts of Heroic Love.

So you'll know, being a Brit, it wasn't a deep and spirtual choice, it's 'cos I walked into Smiths and picked something off the Richard and Judy list!

It's good though, I'd recommend it

There's enough disappearing up one's own rectum around here, I'm not one for pretension, Richard and Judy pick good books

posted March 08, 2008 06:40 AM         

2 stories in one - one is a modern story based on the author's emotional trauma after his girlfriend dies in bus crash in the Andes. The other is based on his grandfather's trek across Siberia to get home after being a POW in World War 1.

Now I am reading Irene Nemirovsky's "Le Bal". Her works are being revived after the masssive success of "Suite Francaise" which is an unfinished classic that I'd recommend to anyone. She was murdered her at Auschwitz before she could complete it. What an effing waste. It's still good as it stands. She really nails her characters and how they behave in a wartime situtation. Enough to make a nation wince. It hit the top of the charts in France, though.

I read the English translation. My French isn't that great. Le Bal is two short stories. One is about a social climber planning a ball, again her characters are portrayed with great psychological depth and neither heroines are pleasant. The second story is about Russian emigres, of which she was one. I've not finished that one yet, and my weekend work beckons. But it is certainly worth reading.

More later from blue moon's literary spot, lol.