This is an amazing first book from Wouk. Not written in first person yet still as compelling and convincing as if it were. Flirts with the line between telling a story and telling ABOUT a story. Sets up your basic love conflict successfully. Beautiful, wealthy characters. The diatribe on advertising works well. Melville-esque with the chapter title summaries and digressions within the work. Renaming of telephone-instrument-device… why?
Month: September 2001
Lie Down in Darkness
John Henry Days
Judith Hearne
The Statement
Thinks…
i finished Thinks… by David Lodge last night, and i can’t say that i agree with the hype and numerous recommendations for this book. Parts of it were intriguing, but i’m never a big fan of any book that ends with giving a paragraph to each character to tell what became of them. The ending was trite drivel, and I expected as much as soon as Helen gave in to Ralph’s advances. The sexual tension kept the story buoyant, and once it was gone the plot fizzled out disappointingly.