January 2004 Archives

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown.

01/19
Read the first couple of chapters in preparation for my book group discussion.

Noticed that the book begins with the protagonist waking up and then looking at himself in the mirror in order to get a description. This is generally considered a warning sign about the probably quality of the prose, at least when critiquing unpublished works.

01/30
The author's structure of withholding necessary information, particularly at the end of chapters, as a device to keep the reader hooked got very irritating after a while. And I found the characterization rather flat. But I suppose Brown was more interested in the premise than the characters.

They were in remarkably good shape at the end despite not having any sleep in 48 hours or so.

The Grey King by Susan Cooper.

This book finally makes completely obvious why this is referred to as her Arthurian series.

Continuing my read-through of the series (though I skipped book one, as I didn't see it at the library.)

I liked the warestones; I hadn't encountered them before.

Greenwitch by Susan Cooper.

Continuing my read of Cooper's The Dark is Rising series, which I never read as a child. I'm enjoying it. I can see why some of the reviews I've read accuse it of being heavily reliant on a device known as a "plot coupon", as the books are focused on certain portentious poems, and have rather straight-ahead plots without too many serious setbacks to the heroes. That may partly be because they're short and aimed for the YA market.

Green Rider by Kristen Britain.

Re-read. (First read). Got the second book in the series for Christmas, and wanted to refresh my memory about how the first book went. Was not quite as gripping the second time around. But I'm looking forward to seeing how the next book goes...

Song of the Exile by Kiana Davenport.

The January book for my book club.

This one was very emotionally powerful. It's about several people who live in Hawaii around the time of World War II, and their relationships and what the war does to them.
Two of them end up as prisoners of the Japanese during the war, and that's largely where the gruesome part comes in.

I probably would not have gotten all the way through the book if it hadn't been for the book club. It was well enough written that I'm searching out some of Davenport's other books (I ordered her Shark Dialogues off of Half.com and am expecting it soon.