Book Eight

4/12/2008 – Fire in the Blood by Irene Nemirovsky ***

Why: Because Matt bought it for me for Christmas 2007 instead of Suite Francaise. Because it’s short and I am terribly sick in bed and bored.
First Impressions: The first two chapters are hard to get into. The author always shocks me with the number of characters and not knowing how they all fit in. After about 50 pages, I was completely consumed. Easily readable. I love how the chapters are all of different lengths. First and last impression is that Irene Nemirovsky is a masterful writer.
Emotions Felt: Surprise at the developments in the last 25 pages. I could not believe that the narrator who I came to see as an old has been was the passionate lover of Helene. I never would have imagined that Colette and Brigitte were actually sisters. This is the difference between Patchett and Nemirovsky. Patchett is writing a plot. Irene is writing a novel full of meaning. I absolutely got what the title Fire in the Blood was all about and how we look at life so differently in our twenties than we might later on. And how we all have secrets that shape our families and our destinies.
Any Remaining Questions: What happens? Irene always leaves novels cut short. In the end, “I had already started to love her less.” Was Silvio’s conquest of Helene just about passion and nothing more? What happens after Silvio opens the pandora’s box of his emotions? Does he confront Helene? Did Helene actually love Francois or does she still love Silvio? Do Helene and Brigitte ever reconcile and does Brigitte know that Silvio is her father? Do Helene and Francois break up? Does Marc go to prison? Does Colette ever find the predictable happiness that she feels she wants? And does Colette realize that perfection cannot be attained and that her parents have not attained it? It was like reading a soap opera but knowing that these characters are real people with real problems. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Can’t believe so much happened in so few pages.
Favorite Quotes: Every sentence is poetry but particularly pg. 18 about youth versus wisdom. Pg. 57 The way a man drinks in company tells you nothing about him, the way a man drinks alone, without him realizing it, reveals the depths of his soul. How profound is that? Pg. 188 The description of how love finds you
Who Would Like This Book: Kate Nelson and any other readers that I admire

Book Seven

4/10/2008 – The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett *

Why: April pick for Stillwater Book Club. Suggested by Christine Hurley. Voted in by all because of Ann Patchett’s history of good writing (Bel Canto, Truth & Beauty, etc.)
First Impressions: I knew that this would be an easy book to read. I thought the writing was a bit chick-lity. I didn’t understand the characters or feel attached to them. Parsifal & Phan – a gay magician and his mate, along with Parsifal’s wife Sabine. I just could not relate It all seemed a bit fantasy like to me.
Emotions felt: Not many. I wasn’t surprised by the plot development like others have said they were. I knew that Sabine and Kitty were going to end up having a relationship. It didn’t seem that implausible to me that Parsifal would have killed his father. I was frustrated by the character of Sabine and why she had given up so much for this family and not developed her own character. The first half of the book in LA is good but the last half is entirely predictable. Easily read, but not much gained in the reading
Any Remaining Questions: Wondering if Sabine & Kitty’s relationship was emotional or physical and whether they remained in LA? Page 154 when Dot talks about how she admires Sabine for not having children? “The way they break your heart.” Really?
Quote: pg. 167 “Sabine in Los Angeles, where everything in the world was available to her, peaches in January, a symphony orchestra, the Pacific Ocean” I love the way she writes peaches in January. It’s the reason I want to move to San Francisco. Pg. 281 when Sabine is asking her mother about her past. “I want to know everything.” I can relate to Sabine’s loss and feeling like she needs to know every last detail because life is precious and you want to drink every last drop.
Who Would Like This Book: people who like Jodi Picoult. Not bad, just not good.