The stress of the lawsuit makes it difficult for Gus to focus on the novel he has been contracted to write, which is based on the suspicious death of billionaire Konstantin Zacharias. It is a story that has dominated the party conversations of Manhattan’s chattering classes for more than two years. The accused murderer is behind bars, but Gus is not convinced that justice was served. There are too many unanswered questions, such as why a paranoid man who did not go anywhere without bodyguards was suddenly left without protection the very night he perished in a tragic fire. Gus believes the answers lie with Konstantin’s hot-tempered and vengeful wife, Perla. He intends to uncover the truth, even though doing so will gain him another dangerous enemy.

Reaction

If you’re wondering why I don’t have my standard list of Likes and Dislikes for this book, it’s because I couldn’t finish it. The summary above sounds rather interesting, doesn’t it? That’s what convinced me to check out the book from my library in the first place. But the actual story was extremely slow and plodding, and even after finishing 40 percent of it, I couldn’t figure out what the damn plot was about. It seemed to be little more than a catalog of rich people and their fancy apartments and toys. Seriously, the author sprinkled so many brand names throughout the pages that I’m convinced he received product placement fees for his efforts.

Anyway, after checking some other reviews, I learned that Dominick Dunne has written some other books about this same high society set, and those previous novels were rather well received. Doesn’t matter; this one was such an utter waste of time that I’m inclined to forget about this author altogether.

Rating:

As with all books that were too boring for me to finish, I give this one 0 stars out of 5.

Set in a near-future U.S.A. whose economy is collapsing as a result of the mysterious disappearance of leading innovators and industrialists, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life-from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy…to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction…to the philosopher who becomes a pirate…to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad…to the lowest track worker in her train tunnels.

Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller.

Note: I read approximately 50 percent of this book before tossing it aside in a fit of “life’s too short for this bullshit” rage. This was my second attempt at reading Atlas Shrugged, and though I got a bit farther along this time than last, I just simply cannot ever imagine a scenario in which I actually finish the thing.

Warning: Spoilers below!

Liked:

• The non-political, non-business stuff was terrific. Rand has some intriguing characters here, and their personal dramas were fun to follow. I especially liked Dagny and Hank’s relationship, and am kind of curious as to what happens to them. Not curious enough to finish the book, to be sure, but enough to want to look up the answer somewhere.
• I like and agree with Rand’s general philosophy regarding capitalism and the role of government.

Disliked:

• OMG, the book is sooooo long and repetitive that I simply couldn’t bear the thought of having to read another page. I honestly cannot figure out how this book rates so highly with modern readers. Look, I know I’ve read a lot more popular fiction/bestsellers in recent years than anything that would truly be considered thought-provoking, but I assure you that a larger sampling of my reading background would show that I have devoured more than my fair share of the classics. I have often had to struggle to get through well-regarded books (ahem, Middlemarch, I’m looking at you), but I could at least understand why others liked the work. I just don’t see it with Atlas Shrugged. I loved The Fountainhead; but my god, this one could have used a good editor. Though I didn’t finish it, I find it hard to believe that Rand couldn’t have gotten her point across in a fraction of the number of pages she used.

Rating:

In theory, I should have loved Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I believed in everything she said, and I liked the characters she used as her mouthpiece. But the presentation was godawful, in my very, very humble opinion, and overwhelmed whatever positive aspects there might have been. Since I couldn’t even finish the book, I give it 0 stars out of 5 — and remain completely baffled as to why this title is consistently voted the best piece of modern literature out there. Ugh.

I only made it through half of the book. I got to the part about the “picky eater” that argued with Steve about whether or not the salmon at his restaurant was organic. After that, I just couldn’t take anymore, and really had no idea how Steve could possibly fill out the rest of the pages. He’d already touched–very superficially–on so many topics that there didn’t seem to be anything left to say. From the camaraderie felt between waitstaff colleagues to bad bosses to the need of always being friendly to the kitchen crew lest you find yourself on the receiving end of a less-than-kosher meal that doubles as an unexpected colon cleanse, I could only imagine the remainder of the book being filled with more whining about how much he should be tipped.

Dublanica just came off as a smug, self-entitled jerk, demanding that everyone leave him at least 15% no matter what. Why? Was his performance always as stellar as he thought it was? I highly doubt it. He goes on and on about karma, yet also laughs about “robbing [people] blind” by steering them towards the highest-priced items on the menu or angling for a double tip by not clearly showing the automatic gratuity on large parties. What a great guy.

Anyway, this was a highly self-indulgent book, and is yet another example of why blogs should not lead to publishing deals. Do yourself a favor and avoid this piece of crap.

I give it 0 stars out of 5.

Jenny can hardly believe it, but after talking to Lucy she learns that this is indeed the case. Jenny doesn’t care and wants to adopt Lucy and raise her as a regular human child. Jenny sends Lucy to school while putting the adoption paperwork in motion and…. Well, that’s as far as I got before chucking this book aside.

Liked:

• This premise was extremely intriguing and managed to hook me as soon as I read the jacket blurb on the book. I thought this had the potential to be an amazing story, but if there are any good parts in the novel I missed them because they’re buried too far in.

Disliked:

• Wow, where do I begin with this? So you mean to tell me that a being that is fully one-half bonobo would look so much like a human that nobody would even do a double-take? WTF??? I must have missed an important detail, because the only thing Jenny noticed as being a bit out of the ordinary was Lucy’s eyes — and even then Jenny couldn’t quite put her finger on what was wrong. I don’t get it. How could a hybrid like this look nothing like the primate part?? And if she looked totally like a human, then what was that whole thing about her being “evidence” that Big Foot existed? Weird.
• Lucy was such an annoying character that I simply couldn’t get into her story. She was supposedly fairly well educated and had read a lot, but she didn’t have sense enough not to start barking at the friggin’ escalator in a crowded mall? Or making screeching noises in unison with the windshield wipers on a bus? I mean, come on!
• The author completely overdid the fish-out-of-water routine, especially when showing Lucy interacting with her classmates. Like, OMG, she doesn’t know what YouTube is and has never sent a text message to anyone[/Valley Girl voice]! A couple scenes like that would have been appropriate and expected — and perhaps even funny. But Gonzales went to that well again and again and again. It felt like the book was just stuck in the same place without any plot advancement at all because of the repetitive nature of so many of those scenes.

Rating:

Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed by the fact that I couldn’t finish Lucy by Laurence Gonzales. I had read so many good reviews and was looking forward to the ethical debates about what to do with Lucy once her true origin was discovered. But unfortunately, Gonzales just isn’t a good storyteller. I made it about 1/3 of the way through, but still felt as though nothing had happened yet. I give this book 0 stars out of 5.

The main plot centers on a 30-something AWOL army grunt named Jimmy Heartsock (was that supposed to be some subtle allusion to “heartsick”???) and his 20-something girlfriend Christy. Hawke tries to paint this pair as a couple who really, really should be together, but haven’t been able to make their relationship work for one reason or another.

Even through 30 percent of the book, I had no clear idea of what their problem was, as not much happened in those pages. There is A LOT of rambling “introspection” on the part of both characters, which takes the reader away from the immediacy of the story. This wouldn’t be a problem if the main characters were likable, but they aren’t. They’re tiresome, immature, and selfish. Let’s put it this way: if they were real people, I’d stay the hell away from them because they’re toxic, negative, and boring. I’d rather go to the derm for my eczema treatment instead of out for drinks with people like these two — and I get injections!

The entire book came off as a bad attempt at ripping of Jack Kerouac. It’s awful I give it 0 stars out of 5.

This becomes Greg’s mission in life, so he spends the next few months trying to scrape together the $12,000 necessary to make good on his promise (this was back in the early 1990s). He sent out hundreds of letters soliciting donations from various celebs and business leaders — and received exactly one reply: $100 from Tom Brokaw, just because the two have the same alma mater.

Then Greg gets a lucky break when he hooks up with some silicon valley bigwig who gets wind of his project. The man bankrolls the enterprise, and Greg returns to Pakistan to start buying supplies and overseeing construction of the school.

That took me to approximately the halfway point of the book, whereupon I put it down in frustration and boredom. I’m sure Mortenson is a nice guy and decent person and all, but his life was extremely boring and building one school with someone else’s money doesn’t seem like that big a deal, ya know? I wanted to read something more substantial than those extremely dull anecdotes about past climbing “adventures”, his problems with an ex-girlfriend, or how he met his wife. None of that was even remotely interesting. Seriously, a biography of jan marini would probably be more exciting.

Another problem with this book was the writing style. It was overly descriptive, to the point where the writing got in the way of the story. I mean, the ghostwriter was using descriptions that he couldn’t possibly have seen (like the way soft morning light “crept” in through the cracked shutters of a particular hut Greg was in 10 years ago, and many, many more instances) and attributing thoughts and feelings to people he never even met. I should have come up with a better example here, but I have no desire to pick up the book again.

I put the thing aside for good when the narrative turned to one cliché after another: the old Balti man who has never ventured outside his village but is “wiser” than any other person Greg has ever met; Greg “going native” with his clothing and manners (praying five times per day even though he wasn’t Muslim); talking about how other countries in their simplicity are so much better than America, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and I love how Greg accepted a $20,000 “salary” (almost twice what it cost to build a whole damn school) just to oversee the project. Whatever.

Anyway, I don’t understand the appeal of this book. I went to the halfway point, after Greg married Tara and after the Balti guy took him to the top of the mountain and told him to step back because everyone was sick of him. But then I couldn’t take any more of the drivel. Just tell the main story and forget about all the other b.s.!!! I give this book 0 stars out of 5.

I started this book more than a year ago, and have put it aside and picked it up again more times than I can count. I was able to make it more than halfway through (about 400 pages), but by that time Adams was just serving as an ambassador or something in London. The presidency was still a long way off, but I just didn’t have the patience or the inclination to keep going.

McCullough’s biographical style is pretty straightforward. He quotes extensively from Adams’s own letters and papers, as well as those of wife Abigail and some of their friends and contemporaries. McCullough also provides some analysis of key events, and does a good job of putting Adams’s life in historical context. In addition, it’s clear that McCullough thought Adams was a great guy. The parts that I read sounded like a puff piece that you might find in Parade magazine rather than an objective take on Adams.

Congratulations to those of you able to finish this book; you have far more determination than I! Personally, I knew I wasn’t gonna finish this when I found myself reading term life insurance pamphlets instead of Adams while waiting an hour for my doctor’s appointment.

Liked:

• Well, you can’t say that McCullough isn’t thorough! For those interested in the life and times of John Adams, you likely won’t do much better than this book.

Disliked:

• I thought there were far too many extended quotations used throughout. Some of these quotes ran on and on for so long that I forgot what the point of the passage was. Sure, attribute that to my own ADD if you must, but it was still something I disliked.
• Where was the “good stuff”? If I read a biography about a former president, I’d like to get to the presidency somewhere before the halfway mark. After all, you’d think that a majority (i.e. more than half) of the pages would be devoted to the subject’s most important years. But what I’ll take away from this book is that John Adams enjoyed his time in Paris, but missed his wife while they were separated. BFD.

Rating:
Based on my own personal rating system, as spelled out right here, I give John Adams by David McCullough 0 stars out of 5 because I was unable to finish it. I will qualify my rating by saying that I am not a fan of Adams in particular or that period of history in general. If you are an avid buff of either of those things, you’ll probably love this book. But if you’re just an average reader thinking of tackling this book because of the rave reviews and awards, I wouldn’t recommend it.

The book begins by describing Gilmore’s teens and early 20′s, when he first started getting into trouble. I can’t tell you much more than that because I didn’t get very far with this one.

Liked:

Absolutely nothing. I usually try to pick at least one thing I liked about a book, but that’s impossible to do here.

Disliked:

• I thought Mailer’s writing style was godawful, and can’t believe that this book won a Pulitzer Prize. Take a look at the following typical passage:
  

  “What,” asked Gary, “is a Smokey report?”
  “That,” said Brenda, “is the name for the police.”
  “Hey,” asked Gary, “are you going to turn me in?”

  Ugh, it got so damn annoying to have nearly every single line of dialogue interrupted by “asked Gary” or “said Brenda” after the first word. That style completely fucked up the flow of the book and made it so I simply couldn’t continue further.

• As someone not familiar with Gary Gilmore or his crimes, I wasn’t captivated by the story right from the beginning. Mailer didn’t do much to try to draw readers in. It was very easy for me to chuck aside this book in favor of watching a movie, checking Facebook and emails, etc.
• The Executioner’s Song was the first Norman Mailer book I ever attempted. If his writing is always like this, it will also be the last.
• I only tried reading this title because it’s on the Observer’s list of the Top 100 novels of all-time. How it made it there is beyond puzzling.
• Just in case you’re curious, I completed only six percent (Kindle version goes by percent, not page numbers) before giving up.

Once the adoption goes through, Sarah and Edward become the proud parents of Mary-Emma, a biracial two-year-old whose appearance causes a stir even in the supposedly liberal college town where the Brinks live. The next section of the book consists of random scenes of Tassie taking care of Mary-Emma, while Sarah and Edward hover at the periphery. At the same time, Tassie is starting classes again and is starting to date a Brazilian student named Reynaldo.

And that is about all that happened through 60 percent of the novel — which was as much of Lorrie Moore’s clever writing as I could handle before chucking the book aside in disgust and frustration.

Liked:

• The novel started off well. I thought I could warm to Tassie as the protagonist, and I liked Sarah in the early going too.

Disliked:

• Where was the editor for this manuscript? Moore completely overwrote this book, filling it with countless metaphors, rhetorical questions, gripes at society, witticisms, and virtual eye-rolling. Strip away the flowery prose and what are you left with? Not much of a story through the first 60 percent, which is a real shame. It’s the author indulging her ego, nothing more
• There was absolutely no plot movement or discernible shift in character arc during the portion that I read. Seriously, through all those pages, the only change I could point to was that Sarah and Edward’s adoption was finalized. I’m not asking for a page-turning thriller here; but this kind of standstill was inexcusable.
• Tassie turned out to be an utter bore. Where the hell did she develop such a world-weary, insightful take on life? She was supposed to be some unsophisticated girl from a farming town. I hate these types of precocious narrators who are unbelievably wise beyond their years. So. Annoying.

Rating:
As I said, I made it through 60 percent of A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore before giving up on it. As such, this book earns the dubious distinction of being my very first 0-star rating here at Fervent Reader. I tried my best to keep going, particularly since I’d read that the ending was “shocking”. Unfortunately, I simply couldn’t force myself through all the dreck leading up to the major twist and have to write this one off as a lost cause. Again, I give the book 0 stars out of 5.