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brisingr's reviews
1232 reviews
The Importance of Being Myrtle by Ulrika Jonsson
3.0
This book tells a story about the lost and finding of a whole family after a member passes away, suddenly, without any warning. Tangled with a past full of secret, the lives of the characters try to free themselves from the ties they have with the dead one.
I really love the cover! You can say whatever you want, but I am one of the persons who judge a book by its cover. The title in romanian, which would sound something like “Found souls”, seems more fitting for the story, than The importance of being Myrtle, because the book isn’t all about only this character.
It’s a short and easy read. I had some troubles following the action because it’s really boring at the beggining. The target age for this book would be somewhere around 40-50-60 years old, I definetely couldn’t taste it to the fullets at only 16.
The characters are the best part of this book. Every single one extremely interesting, they are a variety of personalities. It’s kind of impossible not to find a character to resonate with, because there’s such a big variety of them.
Myrtle is the one around all the action starts, after her husband, Austin, dies and leaves her unable to face even the simplest tasks of everyday life. But with his death, secrets are revealed, and all the members of her family, especially her daughters, have to suffer from it. Myrtle is a kindhearted person, easy to get along with and all she wishes for is peace and silence.
I wasn’t really expecting to like it, but maybe the period when I read it, this one full of confusion and uncertainties about my future, makes me see something more in this book. Behind the struggles of a family, the book tells you to just do what you want. It’s never too late for a change and it’s important to stay true to yourself, before putting other persons before you. It’s an impulse of life, there’s no such thing as too old, and important things always need to be said before it’s too late, because none of us is going to be in this world forever.
It’s a short book, pretty relaxing, and I recommend you in case you do not have anything else to read and you want a book that provides you an easy read.
I really love the cover! You can say whatever you want, but I am one of the persons who judge a book by its cover. The title in romanian, which would sound something like “Found souls”, seems more fitting for the story, than The importance of being Myrtle, because the book isn’t all about only this character.
It’s a short and easy read. I had some troubles following the action because it’s really boring at the beggining. The target age for this book would be somewhere around 40-50-60 years old, I definetely couldn’t taste it to the fullets at only 16.
The characters are the best part of this book. Every single one extremely interesting, they are a variety of personalities. It’s kind of impossible not to find a character to resonate with, because there’s such a big variety of them.
Myrtle is the one around all the action starts, after her husband, Austin, dies and leaves her unable to face even the simplest tasks of everyday life. But with his death, secrets are revealed, and all the members of her family, especially her daughters, have to suffer from it. Myrtle is a kindhearted person, easy to get along with and all she wishes for is peace and silence.
I wasn’t really expecting to like it, but maybe the period when I read it, this one full of confusion and uncertainties about my future, makes me see something more in this book. Behind the struggles of a family, the book tells you to just do what you want. It’s never too late for a change and it’s important to stay true to yourself, before putting other persons before you. It’s an impulse of life, there’s no such thing as too old, and important things always need to be said before it’s too late, because none of us is going to be in this world forever.
It’s a short book, pretty relaxing, and I recommend you in case you do not have anything else to read and you want a book that provides you an easy read.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
5.0
Entertainment Weekly says about The Shadow of the Wind that it is, in the end, a love letter for literature and readers as passionate of good stories as the young hero of this book. I felt like this book was written for me.
This book says the story full of intrigue, drama, mistery and books of Daniel, the son of a simple librarian, that, after his mother’s death, in his loneliness, finds solace in a book written by a misterious Julian Carax, a writer that risks to be erased from the memory of the whole world, haunted by the devil of his own stories.
I had a slow start with this book. Although up to a point fascinated by the huge world of hundreds of books collected in a single place, I still didn’t feel that 'something' that would make me feel stuck in the book… but when it came in the end, it made sure that it would be impossible for me to forget about this book too soon. I think I adored lots and lots of aspects of the story, and faced with the need to list them all, I realize that I can’t recognize them separately, but only together, forming this splendid book.
The book was filled with misteries at every breath, jumbles and plot twists, some more predictable than others. The truth is that I love misteries, and facing one, I feel the need to solve them myself. I felt a little bit disappointed that I figured the main one from page 76, but I adored deeply the background all these misteries had behind them, the truth… about the characters, but about the human nature as well. Because, in the end, I felt that the book is more like a portrait of the whole humanity, the author taking all the stereotypes and putting it in the story, creating a mini-world of a Barcelona filled with mistery of a holy place for book lovers in general, librarians in special, and with the pain left after war.
The Shadow of the Wind made me feel something. I was intrigued by the threads of a story I don’t belong to, but in which I was somehow involved, together with the main character. I felt the fear and terror inflicted by a world not that calm, by humans that didn’t deserve their humanity. I laughed and I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligence and wisdom behind the characters’ lines. I was touched by acts of gentleness, kindness, charity and sacrifice. In the end, I was fascinated by everything that was being revealed with every page I was reading.
I don’t think I will meet too often a book that was so beautifully written, and not in the pompous way, but in the simple way, that simple words used right make you see an entire universe. This was a book that satisfied all the needs of a reader that fell in love with the characters. None of the books I’ve read before did manage to give me exactly what I wanted, and this one did it in a way that I didn’t realize it until I’ve read the last word.
With a mastery of the pen similar to the writer present in the book, Julian Carax, that fascinated his readers, Carlos Ruiz Zafon enchanted me through one single book, although I was so skeptical upon first reading this book.
I might just found a new favorite writer.
This book says the story full of intrigue, drama, mistery and books of Daniel, the son of a simple librarian, that, after his mother’s death, in his loneliness, finds solace in a book written by a misterious Julian Carax, a writer that risks to be erased from the memory of the whole world, haunted by the devil of his own stories.
I had a slow start with this book. Although up to a point fascinated by the huge world of hundreds of books collected in a single place, I still didn’t feel that 'something' that would make me feel stuck in the book… but when it came in the end, it made sure that it would be impossible for me to forget about this book too soon. I think I adored lots and lots of aspects of the story, and faced with the need to list them all, I realize that I can’t recognize them separately, but only together, forming this splendid book.
The book was filled with misteries at every breath, jumbles and plot twists, some more predictable than others. The truth is that I love misteries, and facing one, I feel the need to solve them myself. I felt a little bit disappointed that I figured the main one from page 76, but I adored deeply the background all these misteries had behind them, the truth… about the characters, but about the human nature as well. Because, in the end, I felt that the book is more like a portrait of the whole humanity, the author taking all the stereotypes and putting it in the story, creating a mini-world of a Barcelona filled with mistery of a holy place for book lovers in general, librarians in special, and with the pain left after war.
The Shadow of the Wind made me feel something. I was intrigued by the threads of a story I don’t belong to, but in which I was somehow involved, together with the main character. I felt the fear and terror inflicted by a world not that calm, by humans that didn’t deserve their humanity. I laughed and I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligence and wisdom behind the characters’ lines. I was touched by acts of gentleness, kindness, charity and sacrifice. In the end, I was fascinated by everything that was being revealed with every page I was reading.
I don’t think I will meet too often a book that was so beautifully written, and not in the pompous way, but in the simple way, that simple words used right make you see an entire universe. This was a book that satisfied all the needs of a reader that fell in love with the characters. None of the books I’ve read before did manage to give me exactly what I wanted, and this one did it in a way that I didn’t realize it until I’ve read the last word.
With a mastery of the pen similar to the writer present in the book, Julian Carax, that fascinated his readers, Carlos Ruiz Zafon enchanted me through one single book, although I was so skeptical upon first reading this book.
I might just found a new favorite writer.