jessicaxmaria's Reviews (1.04k)

Quite interesting view into the whole screenwriting process. Dunne has a clever voice, and as an avid Didion fan, I enjoyed the glimpses of her in the book. I even Netflix'd "Up Close & Personal" afterwards, itching to see it again after reading all about the screenplay and casting and opening weekend. Have a whole new outlook on screenwriting now.

Growing up, my dad was always a huge Stephen King fan. I read a few of his books in middle school, though never quite warmed up to what I thought was his rambling tendency. However, after reading On Writing last month, I decided to give The Stand a try since he claims it is his fans' favorite book and when I asked my dad, he concurred with the opinion.

It truly is great and though there is a lot going on, I appreciated how character-driven the story was. America succumbs to a plague that kills off 99% of the population, which leads to supernatural dreams and a showdown between good and evil--but I was only interested in all of this PLOT because the characters felt like friends or scary enemies or someone I might be wary of (Frannie, Randall, Harold, respectively).

I was a little skeptical at first--King doesn't exactly have any strong female characters in Book I (for 1 Frannie there was a Julie Lawry, Rita, and other bit women who were mostly annoying). But by Book II I was enthralled by Frannie, curious about Nadine, hopeful about Abigail, and of course had made friends with Stu, Glen, Nick, and Tom. Larry took a while for me to warm to--but that's the great thing about realistically drawn characters, isn't it? No matter how black-and-white the main parable of good vs. evil might seem in the novel, it really isn't. Larry's the gray, and even Lloyd Henreid wonders how bad he really is.

What impressed me most was King's writing. The characters were wonderfully articulated and thought-out, but the description was also eloquent. I enjoyed his assessment of society during and post-plague with small vignettes from around the U.S., I liked that he used Glen Bateman's sociology professor character to explain the aftermath and what could happen...but most of all, I realized that maybe when I thought he was rambling earlier in my life, he was being particularly sophisticated. There were shades of Cormac McCarthy-esque writing here, and though he's not always so high-minded in his writing (part of his popularity), he doesn't get enough props for how good he truly is. Crichton could write a superiorly researched and enjoyable book about a vicious plague, but King actually makes you care about the characters more than the science.

By the end of the mega 1200-page book (read on my Kindle with ease!), I'd felt like I just started it. I was crying over the fates of certain characters, and I shut off my Kindle wondering where those surviving friends of mine might be now. Because King creates those characters that last.

Another great collection from ASME, and I think one of the best in years. Wasn't bored by any of these entries.

I run down the entire article list and my thoughts on my blog here, as well as provide links to where you can find them online.

A slowly unfolding tale that completely entranced me from beginning to end. I loved that it hits you with biggest drama in the prologue -- and much of the rest of the novel, narrated in first person, is with this in mind. None of the characters are very likable, but I enjoyed the way they were developed. The tension of what the reader does and doesn't know worked very well. I love reading something and guessing as to what's actually happening.

A great noir novel with a keen sociological edge for a book published in 1963. It starts interesting, but I came to really like it and the plight of the characters after a certain reveal. Everything came into focus and I delved into the mystery and guessed as to what would happen. It may seem like a straight wrong-man story, but it's much more.

Recommend to any mystery/noir lovers.

Written in the '50s about women in the '30s, and the female friendships and relationships still feel like they could happen today. Even solely the chapter when Priss is having a child and all the "dos and don'ts" she has ravaging her mind - I don't even have kids, but I know I will feel like that the day I do. The book as a whole will resonate with all women in some way, and I'd recommend to men, too. A great and fascinating portrait of women, and in New York, too.

Given the title, I thought this book would be right up my alley: sad, perhaps bleak, taking place in New York. However, it was indeed sad but in the way it was written - a diary-like, flowery, full of inprecise descriptions, unknown owners of pronouns, poetic prose... I think some readers will highly enjoy this (I already recommended it to a friend), but I could not. To understand the book you have to understand Smart's life as The Other Woman... but even then I was hard pressed to understand much in the book.

The second part of this edition has a follow-up written several years later, and it's more cohesive and easier to understand (she'd definitely grown as a writer, and essentially grown up), but it's not really good writing.

I just didn't like it. Though I know others will.

I read Flynn's books backwards: Gone Girl then Dark Places, then this, her debut novel. It makes sense, then, I think that I liked this one the least though I still enjoyed it. I love Flynn's flawed narrators. And she writes CREEPY really well. Her descriptions sometimes give me goosebumps. I think the central mystery was a bit obvious from a certain point in the book, though there were a few surprises. The ending seemed to tie up incredibly fast after the slow, prodding pace of the rest of the book. Still: enjoyable.

Had no idea what I was getting into, save the trailer for the movie I saw once or twice last year. I never made it to the movie, but I think I'm quite glad to have read and thoroughly enjoyed the book first.

At first I wasn't so sure about the transitions... when a new "voice" began narrating, sometimes it was irritating to switch gears. But I always ended up completely immersed all over again. Even with the middle section that was borderline unreadable when I began it, but ended up loving as well. I liked that I paused often to consider what was happening and the themes at play.

It all came together quite beautifully and I'd consider it a new favorite. I'm also very wary now of the film...but I'll have to watch it!

I've read books before where I've completely hated the characters but I loved the story. There are a couple of sympathetic characters within On Beauty, but for the most part nearly all at some point are loathsome. And Howard, oh my, loathsome to the point that I fantasized about strangling him. Just kidding. (Kind of.) Four days after finishing, I'm still left wondering if I even liked the story.

It's an interesting novel that plays a bit melodramatic at parts, but I liked the contemporary setting and juxtapositions of race, culture, and 'smarts.' There was much of the dialogue I found stilted or didn't actually work. Apparently the novel is an ode to E.M. Forster's Howards End, so I may pick that up soon. It made me laugh to read that 'Howards End' is a location in Forster's book, not a character like in On Beauty. But Howard does get an end in Smith's book.

I'm teetering between giving this three or four stars. I audibly groaned so many times while reading it, I think I should dock points. But isn't a book (and in this case its characters) that gets a reaction out of the reader interesting and worthwhile? Maybe. I'll stick to three for now.