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Book reviews: Doors Open; The Edible Woman; Extra Virgin
Title: Doors Open
Author: Ian Rankin
Info: Ian Rankin 2000; Pub Orion 2008; ISBN: 978-0752884523
Reasons for reading it: Ian Rankin, duh. I love Rankin, his Rebus series is the finest piece of crime novel writing I’ve ever read. Now that he’s retired Inspector Rebus, I was extremely curious to see what he would churn out (also, I was going through withdrawal, actually).
How I got it: Bought it at La Feltrinelli. Rankin is one of the few authors I’ll gladly cough up money for.
Review: Doors Open is about Mike Mackenzie, a self-made Scottish millionaire who, out of boredom, plans the perfect art heist, helped by a grumpy art professor, a wimpy banker and a desperate art student. It is a gripping, enjoyable mystery, with interesting characters and the ever-lovely and vivid setting of Edinburgh. Rankin surely has not lost his magic touch for incredible dialogues and fast-paced storytelling. My only complaint? It’s not Rebus. I might pick this up again on a rainy afternoon, but it won’t feel like a long, cosy chat with an old friend you haven’t seen in a while, unlike the books in the Rebus series.
***
Title: The Edible Woman.
Author: Margaret Atwood.
Info: Margaret Atwood 1965; Pub Little, Brown Book Group 1994; ISBN: 978-0860681298.
Reasons for reading it: Ever since![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
briasoleil introduced me to Margaret Atwood, I’ve enjoyed greatly all of her books I read. Luckily for me, she’s a quite prolific writer, so I can have the pleasure of buying a new title whenever I feel like it.
How I got it: BookMooch. <3
Review: Set in Canada in the late 1960s, The Edible Woman is the story of Marian, a young woman who is struggling to accept her role in society – getting married, leaving her job and becoming a housewife. As she gets engaged, she gradually loses her ability to eat. Full of symbolism but still prosaic enough, Atwood’s first novel seems a straight feminist parable – I say seem because I really know nothing about feminist theory. The characters are interesting, the writing is witty and the storytelling is tight . Yet, this is, the first Atwood novel to fail to make a huge impression on me. I have a feeling this is partly due to my own failure to appreciate fully the feminist aspect, though I expect that this being her first novel might have something to do with it too.
***
Title: Extra Virgin: Among The Olive Groves of Liguria.
Author: Annie Hawes.
Info: Annie Hawes 2001; Pub Penguin Books 2001; ISBN: 978-0140294231.
Reasons for reading it: As an Italian, I’m always terribly interested in reading about my country, especially from an outsider’s point of view. Annie Hawes has been living in Liguria (my little corner of the boot) for the past quarter of a century; this is her memoir of the first 17 years. I couldn’t miss it.
How I got it: BookMooch. <3
Review: Obviously I was predisposed to like this book, but I honestly think that Extra Virgin is one of the most heartwarming and funniest Brit-expat-living-the-dolce-vita-in-the-boot books I’ve ever read. Yes, the author does paint a caricature-like portrait of life in a tiny Ligurian village, but she strikes the delicate balance between making it all charming and keeping it somewhat true-to-life (I had to keep in mind she was settling down in a rural community around the time I was born – things have changed a lot in the meantime). With the usual self-deprecation and humour typical of Brits, Hawes’s book is tremendously funny. I found myself laughing out loud several times.
Author: Ian Rankin
Info: Ian Rankin 2000; Pub Orion 2008; ISBN: 978-0752884523
Reasons for reading it: Ian Rankin, duh. I love Rankin, his Rebus series is the finest piece of crime novel writing I’ve ever read. Now that he’s retired Inspector Rebus, I was extremely curious to see what he would churn out (also, I was going through withdrawal, actually).
How I got it: Bought it at La Feltrinelli. Rankin is one of the few authors I’ll gladly cough up money for.
Review: Doors Open is about Mike Mackenzie, a self-made Scottish millionaire who, out of boredom, plans the perfect art heist, helped by a grumpy art professor, a wimpy banker and a desperate art student. It is a gripping, enjoyable mystery, with interesting characters and the ever-lovely and vivid setting of Edinburgh. Rankin surely has not lost his magic touch for incredible dialogues and fast-paced storytelling. My only complaint? It’s not Rebus. I might pick this up again on a rainy afternoon, but it won’t feel like a long, cosy chat with an old friend you haven’t seen in a while, unlike the books in the Rebus series.
***
Title: The Edible Woman.
Author: Margaret Atwood.
Info: Margaret Atwood 1965; Pub Little, Brown Book Group 1994; ISBN: 978-0860681298.
Reasons for reading it: Ever since
briasoleil introduced me to Margaret Atwood, I’ve enjoyed greatly all of her books I read. Luckily for me, she’s a quite prolific writer, so I can have the pleasure of buying a new title whenever I feel like it. How I got it: BookMooch. <3
Review: Set in Canada in the late 1960s, The Edible Woman is the story of Marian, a young woman who is struggling to accept her role in society – getting married, leaving her job and becoming a housewife. As she gets engaged, she gradually loses her ability to eat. Full of symbolism but still prosaic enough, Atwood’s first novel seems a straight feminist parable – I say seem because I really know nothing about feminist theory. The characters are interesting, the writing is witty and the storytelling is tight . Yet, this is, the first Atwood novel to fail to make a huge impression on me. I have a feeling this is partly due to my own failure to appreciate fully the feminist aspect, though I expect that this being her first novel might have something to do with it too.
***
Title: Extra Virgin: Among The Olive Groves of Liguria.
Author: Annie Hawes.
Info: Annie Hawes 2001; Pub Penguin Books 2001; ISBN: 978-0140294231.
Reasons for reading it: As an Italian, I’m always terribly interested in reading about my country, especially from an outsider’s point of view. Annie Hawes has been living in Liguria (my little corner of the boot) for the past quarter of a century; this is her memoir of the first 17 years. I couldn’t miss it.
How I got it: BookMooch. <3
Review: Obviously I was predisposed to like this book, but I honestly think that Extra Virgin is one of the most heartwarming and funniest Brit-expat-living-the-dolce-vita-in-the-boot books I’ve ever read. Yes, the author does paint a caricature-like portrait of life in a tiny Ligurian village, but she strikes the delicate balance between making it all charming and keeping it somewhat true-to-life (I had to keep in mind she was settling down in a rural community around the time I was born – things have changed a lot in the meantime). With the usual self-deprecation and humour typical of Brits, Hawes’s book is tremendously funny. I found myself laughing out loud several times.
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