Great Great Books

[juli17 at aol.com]

Dungrollin wrote:

Others I  love are The King Must Die, and The Bull From the Sea, by 
Mary Renault,  which tell the story of Theseus, his time in Crete
as a bull dancer, the  labyrinth, his return to Greece and so on. 
Very nicely written, Theseus  ascribes all sorts of natural phenomena 
to the will of the Gods, and it  works *perfectly*, turning a myth 
into fantasy that could easily have been  real.
Julie:
I LOVE Mary Renault's books. I'd also recommend The Praise Singer,
and the Alexander the Great trilogy (sort of), The Fire from Heaven,
The Persian Boy and Funeral Games. 


Someone else mentioned the Time Traveller's Wife, which I'll second  
as excellent. Behind the Scenes at the Museum (Kate Atkinson) is  
likewise excellent, Enduring Love is bloody marvellous, as is  
Atonement (Ian McKeowan), and anything at all by Margaret  Atwood.
Julie:
I'd particularly recommend The Handmaid's Tale by Atwood. One
very scary book because it could really happen. Just a few steps
down a slippery slope...



Just to give you an idea, I hated The Lovely Bones, and I  *detested* 
The Da Vinci Code, so you might not want to listen to anything  I 
have to say at all.


Julie:
Interesting. I was very deeply moved by The Lovely Bones, though
I admit I kept waiting for the villian to get his just desserts. But  I
ended up appreciating the reality of it, that no matter how much you
wish it, quite often everything does not get tied up into a neat  bow,
and justice isn't always served. 
 
I do agree with you about the DaVinci Code. Brown built an  implausible
plot on the leanest of "evidence" (though he implied a great deal  more
exists than is actually the case), and his characters were  overwrought,
lacking in depth or believability. Also they were very stupid,  considering
their supposed pedigrees. I admit in a bit of intellectual snobbery I  was
actually offended that this very badly written book garnered Brown so
much fame and fortune. (Yes, the story moved very quickly, but rather
like a runaway train that jumped the tracks and obliterated every  structure
in its erratic path). But that is just my opinion!
 
Julie 
(who will have a hard time watching the movie based on this annoying
book, despite the presence of Tom Hanks and Paul Bettany)






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