Julie

A book we probably should read, in all that copious free time...


Books of The Times: A Groovy Pad Full of Gods and Gurus
By WILLIAM GRIMES
Gods, gurus and eccentric relatives compete for primacy in Kirin Narayan’s enchanting memoir of her childhood in Bombay (present-day Mumbai).

I couldn't wait to get my hands on Wilbur Smith's most recent book in his Egyptian series "The Quest."  I am a huge fan of Mr Smith.  His book "River God" is my all time favorite book.   So with great anticipation I was ready to get lost in ancient Egypt with my old friends.  This book, for a Wilbur Smith novel,  was a new experience for me; I had to force myself to finish the book.  I reminded myself how much I loved "River God" and surely this will get better. I bull-dogedly finished the book and was disgusted.  I have no idea What Mr. Smith was thinking? What did he do with the Taita? Is Mr. Smith going through a mid-life crisis and this is how he expressed it? 

Taita had been a eunuch since his teens and spending a lifetime of evolving above human fallacies and weaknesses, at the age of 170 Taita all of sudden succumbs to lusty desires and whims and through the fantastical theme of this book, Taita re-grows his "manhood" and takes up with the re-incarnation of Fenn/Lostrus who is only a young teenager.  Huh? When did the Egyptian series abandon the historical fiction and become a fantasy?

I think Wilbur Smith should claim someone assuming his name wrote this book while he was in a comma. This book is so bad it has even tarnished my memory of "River God."

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

I have read only a small number of the books that Oprah has put on her book club list (aside from the classics).  A few I have liked:  Where the Heart is, What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, & The Poisonwood Bible.  And then there was Vinegar Hill, Here on Earth, these books, well, they didn't entice me to read any more from Oprah's list.  Oprah endorses The Pillars of the Earth as a book different from the type of book she would normally read.  Additionally it is historical fiction, a genre I enjoy.  So I decide why not...

The Pillars of the Earth, is a long book, yet at times I felt the author was rushing, I wanted him to slow down, not to skim over the years and events.  So what if the book would end up being 1,200 pages instead of 600 plus.  This is a great read.