Amanda Bacha Bacha itibaren Tarbaevo, Ivanovskaya oblast', روسيا، 153511
Author Gladwell does a great job of illustrating complex ideas with brilliantly explicative and captivating anecdotes. This basically like a giant high school essay - he makes a point, then he tells a story that explains that point, et cetera. The fascinating thing about these points is that they are supposed to throw up in the air everything we always took for granted about social networks, social environments, and everything else. All topsy turvy! And maybe it's only because of the wake this giant made in the water, but there have been some questions raised about how true these radical new ideas and points are. So in summation, it was a good book, but looking back on it you may decide that Malcolm Gladwell wasn't that good, he with his Sideshow Bob hair and beautiful stories which make so much sense and his citizenship with Canada. You may regret it in the morning and decide that you shouldn't have slept with that book after all.
I'm finally reading The Lord of the Rings! Finally! I've only been meaning to read the trilogy, well, gee, my entire life. Thank goodness the movies are so good and they didn't ruin the books for me. (Also thank goodness there are so many lovely men in it.) I still need to read the other two parts, but I really liked the first part. Gandalf is fantastic. Sam is wonderful. Bilbo's so sweet. There's not much else to say except that it's a great adventure with the best characters ever. Yay!
This book was really beautifully written--even the technical passages about surgery were a pleasure to read. Genet was a particularly strong (and complex) character and Ghosh was about as likeable a character as is possible to write (although maybe a bit too good to be true). I also thought that Marion was a fully developed, although flawed character. The themes of forgiveness, the immigrant experience, acceptance, etc... were woven together seamlessly and, although I don't normally go for this type of book (there seems to be a new category of books about people from developing countries coming to the West--Khaled Hosseni's books, Reading Lolita in Tehran, etc) I really responded to it. I should add that, after reading a few other reviews complaining about some of the characters (Marion included) being a bit flat and the language being a bit too modern I found I agreed. The medical passages, although very readable were sometimes distractions from the plot and themes, and I often had to remind myself what era the book took place in (40's - 80's) because the language and setting was a bit too broad (meaning details that would paint a picture of a different era were missing). Even with these flaws, I found it a pleasure to read.