I’m mystified by those who find this novel dull or somehow not up to snuff. I am totally enthralled by it, and find myself re-reading paragraphs because of Enger’s uncanny ability to get the language “just right.” He is a master when it comes to the turn of a phrase. The story is full of tongue-in-cheek, humorous observations by the main character that make me chuckle. Enger’s characters are fully developed and unique in personality … but still very believable. Perhaps the naysayers are used to reading something more Stephen King-like: page-turners that in the end come off as rather shallow … certainly, not great literature.

This book is one to savor slowly.

This is truly an amazing story and one most of cannot imagine. When I first read this book, I was so moved by what the human mind and body can endure when necessary. Would I have been able to get thru this hell on earth? The most heartbreaking aspect of it is her youngest brother, 3 years old when they were imprisoned and 23 when they escaped. To be 23 and never have seen houses, cars, roads, cities, other people, regular clothing and food… I think often of her youngest brother and hope he’s been able to find his way. I met Ms. Oufkir when she was doing the book tour for her second book and she was elegant and gracious — how is that even possible?!?. This is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it to anyone.

I must admit that the reason I first selected this book was the book-jacket photo - very intriguing. However, since I neglected to read the brief story line, also, it was rather a shock to discover (well into the story) that the book basically was about gay love - particularly between two of the three main characters, paralleled by the story of John Steinbeck and one of his friends possibly also having been in the same sort of relationship. However, the book was well written, the characters sensitively portrayed (including that of the 3rd main character, Ben’s daughter, 16 year-old Caddie) and except for several unnecessarily overly descriptive scenes between the two men, as well as the quick tying everything up neatly at the end - I found it a rather engrossing tale, especially the deep sea diving descriptions.

I’m sorry to be the only one to leave a review, and a bad one at that… But like everyone else Oprah endorses, this woman is completely unqualified. What does she know about marriage? She was married once, for less than five years.

As for this woman giving advice and formulas and capitalizing words that shouldn’t be to make them seem more meaningful, I would say there are no absolutes in relationships. No one size fits all. She’s no better than Sylvia Brown, promising people vague answers and happiness. Don’t waste your time.

Thanks for the honest review– I’m glad someone else is baffled by the presence of marathon questionnaires in these kinds of books. Counter-argument, anyone?

This novel is fun. It won’t put you on the list for MENSA or teach you how to initiate world peace, but it is fun. My Horizontal Life is an “action” packed romp through other people’s bedrooms.

This book is light, enjoyable and leaves you eager to find out where Handler goes from here.

Carlton from Georgia supplies the starred review this week with his take on Destiny Kills (Myth and Magic, Book 1) by Keri Arthur:

After reading all of the Riley Jenson series, I had high hopes for this book from an entirely new series. It started off interestingly enough, as the principle character of Destiny goes through a period of self-discovery, trying to remember who she was and what she needed to do.

But then the book just dragged on and on. While there was a “villain,” the antagonist(s) really never developed any personality and as such were never very interesting. And the author fell into the trap of, “I really don’t feel like writing a relationship or trying to rationalize why Destiny and Trae might wind up together, so I’ll just say that they ‘instantly know’ that they’re destined to be together.” This is a tiresome and weak way to rationalize the romance part of these books, and I had expected better from this author.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! An insightful catch of an overused trope, one that fiction could very well do without. How about a book about characters *not* destined to be together, who fall desperately in love only to be forced to separate again and again by their intrinsic differences? …not that I’m sure this would make a good story, but at least it would be different. Thanks again for penning this week’s review, Carlton.

(A small aside: our blog celebrated a bit too hard and had one heck of a New Year’s hangover. We seem to have blacked out on a few previous posts. A good night, we must assume, was had by all– and hence, we proceed into the new year with a few memories missing from our last.)

Behold: the last Review o’ the Week from 2008 is a blast from the past. This is Tanya’s review of Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson.

If you took seven years to compose a 614-page opus about the Vietnam War, it would probably be incredibly grating to read reviews employing the word quagmire. All apologies to Denis Johnson, then, because after reading his novel, Tree of Smoke, that’s the first word that comes to my mind.

It’s easy to lose interest in Smoke at this point, but that’s okay; Johnson’s point has largely been made anyway. Not surprisingly, it’s the same moral offered by everyone from Coppola to Creedence — i.e., war is bad, and Vietnam in particular really sucked. Tree of Smoke is a mammoth portrait of humanity in conflict, less about the message than the journey, which leads inextricably to one of the few uniquely American truths: People seem to get stuck in Vietnam. Only Johnson’s extraordinary literary gifts permit the tentative recommendation to join him there. “B”

Happy New Year, all. Let’s start 2009 off with a glorious blast of reviews eloquent and useful as the one above. Onwards and upwards, BookSwimmers!