a collection of tried and true
An A-list celebrity has a heart attack while on stage portraying King Lear and sets off this post-apocalyptic tale where 99.9% of the world dies from a flu virus. Seemingly disconnected characters from different periods and different geographic locations bring the horrific yet suspenseful and enjoying tale to life. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend.
PJH Rating: ****1/2
An elderly couple in the mid-west and their grown children living in Philadelphia and NYC dealing with life in the 21st century and the corrections that one must take to keep on track… but most importantly to spend Christmas together. I thought it was an amazing novel. Franzen delves into the mostly unlikable and depressed family members but the plot is interesting and sucks you into the drama. The last chapter from the father’s point of view was extraordinary and so so sad. It made be a blubbering mess.
PJH Rating: ****1/2
Set in an elite boarding school in the early 1960’s a student deals with being an outsider among the privileged boys in the school culminating in a horribly bad decision he makes at the very end of his tenure. Interesting literary short novel with fictional visits to the school from Robert Frost and Ayn Rand – who was a complete bitch – great. Powerful ending with a switch in perspective from the ex-Dean of the school
PJH rating: ****
The story continue from the previous The Rosie Project with Rosie and Don moving to NYC and finding themselves pregnant. I was so disappointed that this was nowhere near as fun as the first novel. It seems like it was thrown together pretty quickly to get it out to the masses. Too bad.
PJH Rating: ***
Eat On Edgecliff 