whatthedeuce's Reviews (1.39k)

After seeing commercials for that upcmoing film, 21, I decided to give this book a chance and was very glad to have done so. The story of an MIT car counting crew that rakes up millions in Vegas was a short, but fascinating, read. I never quite got the hang of the counting system used by the team in the story, but it was so interesting to read about the acting affected by the counters to avoid detection by casino pit bosses and dealers. There were also code words and gestures that team players used to signal when bets should be raised or lowered and what tables had a hot game going on, all of which was so cool to learn about! Of course, there are also the scary repercussions of getting caught that factor into the story, which grows increasingly tense as the book wraps up. Players get tossed out of casinos, not-so-subtly threatened with bodily injury, beat up, and even audited by the IRS. It's strange to think that young men and women fromsuch a prestigious university would use their smarts in a seemingly deceitful manner. However, counting isn't illegal because it doesn't change the outcome of the game so it isn't really cheating although most casino bigwigs take a different view of that activity. If you'd like an exciting and fast-paced read, I'd definitely recommend reading this book!

This is yet another book that has me feeling a bit ambiguous now that I'm finished with it because I didn't exactly enjoy it as much as I'd expected, but there were definitely aspects of it that I liked and that made the novel worthwhile. For one thing, it took me over 150 pages before I got anywhere near oriented about the events taking place and thus could start becoming interested in what was happening. I was seriously so confused at the start when Shadow met Wednesday on the plane, but I believe it may very well have been Gaiman's intention for the reader to be as bewildered as Shadow himself initially is after he discovers his wife has died and that he's about to leave prison a tad earlier than expected. I can appreciate that because I think it's never a bad thing if a writer can evoke the same feelings and/or responses in the reader that his/her characters are enduring. That mirror effect is intriguing and not easy to produce, I'm sure. Anyway, once I grew familiar with the characters and grasped what was happening to Shadow, I found myself caring about the tribulations the character endured and became immersed in what was agonies and trials he'd face next. I also enjoyed the premise of old and new gods facing off against each other, the old gods being figures from immigrant folklore, and the new ones being incarnations of modern technology, such as television and the Internet. The book compelled me to examine what it is that we Americans hold dear nowadays, and I have to say that I felt guilty for being so attached to things like clothes and the myriad TV shows I watch. I can well imagine how an old god might harbor resentment towards those that have forsaken their ethnic and/or religious roots in place for glitzy false idols, but I also know how difficult it would be to shake off the new gods that surround us today. I certainly wasn't expecting Gaiman to raise questions about what and how people worship, but he did exactly that, and he achieved that in a startlingly grim, but compelling, manner. I thought I'd walk away from the novel feeling gloomy and dejected, but it left me hopeful, really. Hopeful for what, I'm not entirely sure, but I think there may be a future reading more Neil Gaiman stories waiting for me! When all's said and done, I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a more slowly-paced and thought-provoking read.

There was something about this novel that put me off, but I can't really put my finger on it. I found the premise of a young teacher seeking vengeance against a private all-boys school more than intriguing, and the writing was well-paced, but something just didn't quite gel for me throughout most of the novel. I will say though that the twist towards the end of the story is one that I never saw coming, and it knocked my socks off and gave me more of an appreciation for the author's creativity and storytelling manner. It didn't kill me dead, like Dennis Lehane's Shutter Island, but it certainly threw me for a loop, and I think the book would be worth reading if only so you can make your way toward that bizarre twist! Even though I didn't adore this book, I'd recommend it to any fan of suspense novels because the problem I had with it that I can't properly articulate is one that I don't think would bother anyone else.

First off, I have to say that the book is far superior to the film though I doubt that's much of a feat, considering how cloying I found the film when I watched it in the theater. Anyway, I found this novel to be quite compelling despite the maddening character of Ingrid Magnussen. I understand that she's an artist and also a cynical and hardened woman, but she comes off to me as being obscenely pretentious. Her language just never rang true to me because I can't imagine any real human being speaking in such a poetic manner and having it sound unforced. That said, I found the character of Astrid Magnussen to be well-written and wholly sympathetic. She initially fears abandonment by Ingrid, but as the story draws out, she grows resentful of her and attempts to distance herself from her "white oleander" of a mother, who's as beautiful as she is poisonous and deadly. Astrid's journey through foster care hell and toward reconciling her own identity with that of her mother's was made more enjoyable for me because of the settings used throughout the novel. It was exciting and amusing to see the names of local L.A. shops, schools, and streets mentioned and described so accurately by Fitch. Some of the places referred to are less than five minutes from where I live, and that just added to the sense of relatability that I yearn for in a book, not that I intend to read only books based in the L.A. area, mind you. All in all, I'd recommend this book to anyone that craves heartwrenching drama, gorgeous (though at times, egregiously poetic) language, and well-drawn characters!

I enjoyed this book more than Herman's Kings because I felt it was organized better (by century) and, as a result, ended up avoiding the repetitive quality I complained about with my last update. The prose certainly gets downright cheesy and embarrassing at times (With regard to Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark, embarking on an affair with Johann Struensee, she Herman writes, "Finally, this was love. Finally, this was sex. Finally, this was happiness."), but the stories aren't told so abruptly. Instead they are presented as tales of individual women with completely separate fates though, of course, there is the odd reference to a royal woman who suffered a similar end in some of the stories. Overall, I found this a more satisfying read than Kings, and again, I'd recommend it to anyone who revels in all things gossipy and scandalous!