Read any good books lately?
- Thread starter brujo
- Start date
salsamale
New Member
I got a hold of this book, and it was an enjoyable read. The salsa scenes were luxurious in detail, as were the sex scenes. Exactly what I was looking for
. Thanks again for the rec nycsalsero, alemana.
salsachinita
New Member
Hmmmmm, sounds like I gotta try & get a copy. Not sure how to do that though........especially from all the way down here :roll: .........
Anyone got a link?
Anyone got a link?
salsamale
New Member
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q...=com.microsoft:en-US&sa=X&oi=froogle&ct=title
http://www.amazon.com/Mambo-Peligroso-Novel-Patricia-Chao/dp/0060734175
Be sure to check your local public library, first.
http://www.amazon.com/Mambo-Peligroso-Novel-Patricia-Chao/dp/0060734175
Be sure to check your local public library, first
.
delamusica
Active Member
Just finished The Know-it-all: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Man in the Universe by A.J. Jacobs.
It's about his project of reading the encyclopedia - hillariously written, a great read.
Currently working on Allen Cadwaller's Analysis of Tonal Music: A Schenkerian Approach. Not nearly as hillarious.
It's about his project of reading the encyclopedia - hillariously written, a great read.
Currently working on Allen Cadwaller's Analysis of Tonal Music: A Schenkerian Approach. Not nearly as hillarious.
HothouseSalsero
Member
I have to second (or third--since it's already been seconded) that one. This book, especially the first 2/3 from what I remember, has an impressive historical sweep, and I ended up learning things about the history of slavery, African religions, and the political and economic history of Cuba, and so forth, along the way.
salsamale
New Member
Just finished reading this novel, what a good read. The prose was musical, the sex scenes were hot. Who needs Henry Miller? I was pleased to find that half the content of the novel was left out of the movie, so there was a lot of "new" material there for me to discover and enjoy. Thanks again for the recommendation
.
bordertangoman
Well-Known Member
Just finished reading The Year of the Hare
by Arto Paasilinna and enjoyed it thouroughlly
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Year-Hare-A...=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299756905&sr=1-6
by Arto Paasilinna and enjoyed it thouroughlly
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Year-Hare-A...=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299756905&sr=1-6
bordertangoman
Well-Known Member
Wicked
I am reading this, but I am getting bored.....
its just weak and dull after a fairly good start...
has anyonel else read it?
here's an amaz review which sums it up for me
Wicked is too long by at least a hundred pages - though the story could easily have been told and done, and the reader is feeling done with it, we're still left slogging along.
Just as the story is building to what turns out to be the (aborted) climax, halfway through, the author suddenly, jarringly, shoves the protagonist into a convent (though she's a complete non-believer), and then has her do absolutely nothing for the next several years (well, she cleans some floors or something).
Though we're still left a couple hundred more pages to wade through, the book is over right there. You keep hoping, expecting, it to somehow start up again, but neither the book nor the characters will every have any interest in anything again. It's over.
The story has, at that point, somehow become a political thriller (Wicked zigzags all about without ever finding an identity). Perhaps the deadness of spirit in a once-impassioned radical, after she's lost faith and/or hope, would have been a worthwhile exploration.
Instead, the story just ends. For some reason, the author keeps writing more pages. For no reason, really.
(The Nature of Evil theme is so incredibly weak and puerile in its rendering as to be nothing more than a tedious distraction from the plot. The characters basically step outside the story for a bit, discuss it, and then go back to whatever they were doing.)
If this were a book of paintings, it would go from lush oil at the beginning to somewhat interesting (dark) watercolors in the middle. After that, there'd be a few nicely shaded drawings, some sketches and finally just stick figures. And that's what you're left with.
It never answers its own questions, never bothers to resolve all the threads that just trail off (and much of what keeps you reading, long after the book has clearly died, is some hope of seeing those resolved - they won't be).
Cruciallly, Elphaba never becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. The author just crams her into that role as abruptly and jarringly as he crammed her into the convent, and suddenly has her say words that have nothing to do with the character we've seen for the past zillion pages.
It's like she was suddenly turned into a puppet, just so Dorothy can accidentally kill her, as if the author forgot she was supposed to be the Wicked Witch of the West and suddenly cut-and-pasted in a brief bit about that so he could have this gimmick to sell it. (That's the climactic confrontation we've been anticipating for 400 pages?)
It's your standard workshop-fiction type of book - lots of attention the phrasing, self-important symbolism, Meaningful (capital M) conflicts, one or two words that might send you to the dictionary - but there's no real fire here, and the author not only doesn't have much of a story to tell, but fails to explore his characters and theme.
If this weren't an alternative view of a familiar character, nobody would read it. There'd be no point. And though that marketing hook will pull many a reader in (as it did me), ultimately there isn't any.
a good idea poorly executed...
I am reading this, but I am getting bored.....
its just weak and dull after a fairly good start...
has anyonel else read it?
here's an amaz review which sums it up for me
Wicked is too long by at least a hundred pages - though the story could easily have been told and done, and the reader is feeling done with it, we're still left slogging along.
Just as the story is building to what turns out to be the (aborted) climax, halfway through, the author suddenly, jarringly, shoves the protagonist into a convent (though she's a complete non-believer), and then has her do absolutely nothing for the next several years (well, she cleans some floors or something).
Though we're still left a couple hundred more pages to wade through, the book is over right there. You keep hoping, expecting, it to somehow start up again, but neither the book nor the characters will every have any interest in anything again. It's over.
The story has, at that point, somehow become a political thriller (Wicked zigzags all about without ever finding an identity). Perhaps the deadness of spirit in a once-impassioned radical, after she's lost faith and/or hope, would have been a worthwhile exploration.
Instead, the story just ends. For some reason, the author keeps writing more pages. For no reason, really.
(The Nature of Evil theme is so incredibly weak and puerile in its rendering as to be nothing more than a tedious distraction from the plot. The characters basically step outside the story for a bit, discuss it, and then go back to whatever they were doing.)
If this were a book of paintings, it would go from lush oil at the beginning to somewhat interesting (dark) watercolors in the middle. After that, there'd be a few nicely shaded drawings, some sketches and finally just stick figures. And that's what you're left with.
It never answers its own questions, never bothers to resolve all the threads that just trail off (and much of what keeps you reading, long after the book has clearly died, is some hope of seeing those resolved - they won't be).
Cruciallly, Elphaba never becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. The author just crams her into that role as abruptly and jarringly as he crammed her into the convent, and suddenly has her say words that have nothing to do with the character we've seen for the past zillion pages.
It's like she was suddenly turned into a puppet, just so Dorothy can accidentally kill her, as if the author forgot she was supposed to be the Wicked Witch of the West and suddenly cut-and-pasted in a brief bit about that so he could have this gimmick to sell it. (That's the climactic confrontation we've been anticipating for 400 pages?)
It's your standard workshop-fiction type of book - lots of attention the phrasing, self-important symbolism, Meaningful (capital M) conflicts, one or two words that might send you to the dictionary - but there's no real fire here, and the author not only doesn't have much of a story to tell, but fails to explore his characters and theme.
If this weren't an alternative view of a familiar character, nobody would read it. There'd be no point. And though that marketing hook will pull many a reader in (as it did me), ultimately there isn't any.
a good idea poorly executed...
