Strange but Compelling
925128
Several years ago, Sandro Garbo claims, Steve McQueen visited him in a dream and urged him to create a graphic novel adaptation of McQueen's movie&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Le-Mans/dp/B004QXJZXA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Le Mans</a>&nbsp;The result is "Steve McQueen in Le Mans," an ambitious retelling of the film in comics form. (The description doesnt make it very clear, but this is actually the first volume. I would assume there will only be two volumes in total, but nothing seems to say for sure.)

Although Garbo's script attempts to fill out the film's characters somewhat, the cars and the racing are still the draw here. The book is massive (think almost bigger than "coffee-table" size), making it possible to luxuriate in the lovingly detailed mechanical drawings. Some of the pages, the dialogue scenes especially, conform to more or less typical shot-reverse-shot panel arrangements, but the book is undoubtedly at its best when it dedicates a half or a whole page to a single image. Pictures of the blue sky stretching out over the start line, or of a car pulling into the pits for service on a rainy night, are arrestingly beautiful.

This book seems to occupy a very strange niche, perhaps one that didn't actually need to be filled. But maybe that in and of itself speaks to its origin as a labor of love.

~
4926592
This is an unusual book. The sentence structure, the frequent bold print announcements, and the copious German language profanity were quite unexpected. The early chapters were a bit slow, and the perspective was so strange that it took me a while to get used to it. This novel did not hold my attention unfailingly, but in the end I was glad that I read the whole thing. It is a wonderful and worthwhile story.

I became fond of Liesel, papa and Rudy. They are fully believable, fully human characters. The author writes that they were the first characters he actually missed when the writing was done. I certainly miss them since I finished the story. Their love for each other was a wonderful thing to experience. The feelings between Liesel and Max were especially poignant. Zusak describes them in a realistic and heart wrenching way.

The choice of death as the narrator gave the book a unique flavor. While sergeant death is actually quite morbid at times, he or she is a sympathetic and understanding observer of human nature. In the early chapters I found this narrator to be a little too judgmental. I thought that some characters were typecast before I had a chance to know them. However, as the book progresses, these characters are revealed in more complex and  realistic fashion. Zusak is a capable writer.
1174711
I selected 'Ladivine' because it had been longlisted for The Booker International Prize. I was unfamiliar with the author.'Ladvine' qualifies as one of the more bizarre books I have read and certainly one of the most brilliant. However, it is not for everyone. Part 1 concerns a woman named Malinka, living in France, who is deeply ashamed of her mother, Ladivne, a poor cleaning woman, who Malinka calls 'the servant'. She is so ashamed of her mother that she changes her name to Clarisse and never tells her husband Richard or her daughter who she also names Ladivine,that she has a mother. Still once a month Malinka/Clarisse secretly visits her mother. Why is she so ashamed of her mother? Why the need to block her husband and child from knowing about her mother? This will be revealed. Part 1 continues with the middle-aged Clarisse being left by her husband. Part 1 ends with an act of violence whch will resonate through out the rest of the novel.

Part 1 is fiercely honest and breath-takingly brilliant. Its serpentine, circuitous sentences lends a hypnotic quality to the prose which subtly describes Clarisse's hatred and self-loathing.

In Part 2 things change. We now find ourselves with Clarisse's daughter Ladivine, her husband Marko and their two young children all living in Germany. They have become bored with summers spent with Marko's parents at the beach and look for something new. Ladivine's father Richard suggests a place. Perhaps it is in Africa. We are  never told. They arrive at a run-down hotel, not as advertised. Their luggage has been lost. They see a woman on the street sellng their clothes. People claim to have seen Ladivine at a wedding. A dog shadows her. We are in a sinister, surrealistic and oppressive world. Here they encounter a boy named Wellington who offers to show them around the National Museum where paintings depict national horrors. This is a museum far different than the one described in their guidebook. Part 2 also ends with a shocking act of violence, or does it? Nothing is as it seems. I found this section slow-paced and more difficult to get through than the heart-breakingly written Part 1.

Part 3 brings us to the world Richard has made for himself after leaving Clarisse. He runs a successful auto dealership. He has a new wife also named Clarisse and an unpleasant stepson. We gain some insight into his first marriage. And then we return to the original Ladivine.

This is a difficult novel to pin down. It is for  the patient and attentive reader. It keeps the reader constantly unbalanced, occasionally reminding me of the work of Ian McEwan. At its conclusion it gives the motivated reader much to muse over with its subtle takes on race, parent-child relationships and marriage.
3455757
3.5 stars rounded up .

This was an odd book, haunting really, a little eerie as each story unfolds and we learn about the characters pasts and their fate on this night when the building they live in is aflame. The landlord and the tenants each have a story, seemingly at first only connected by the fact that they live in this building that's on fire. I kept thinking there has to be more of a connection and the similarities of their names and their common address and variations of the same brother's name, and the appearance of butterflies became apparent. These similarities, though, were not the things that connected them for me.

 When I first started to read this, I thought maybe I'd made a bad choice but the more I read, the more I found myself interested in the characters and the more I found something more complex or maybe in reality, it was more simple in the commonness of their humanity. It felt like a collection of short stories rather than a novel but yet there are things about each that made this a cohesive story. While it is not about the relationships these characters had with each other, it is very much about the relationships with the people in their lives . Each narrative is an introspective look at themselves, their desires, short comings, loneliness, so much about their memories. In some ways , it reminded me of a book called [book:One Amazing Thing|6585252] , where people connected only by their fate in a disaster tell something of themselves to each other, something that draws them closer in their common circumstance.  I was even reminded of [book:The Canterbury Tales|2696], although it's been many years since I read that in college. What is different here is that the landlord, the priest, the neurosurgeon, the naturalist, the photographer, the schoolboy and the traveler tell the reader their stories and not each other, leaving the reader to determine how much alike they are, not just in the fate they face.

I have to admit I had a l had a love-hate relationship with this book . First I didn't like it, then I liked it, and this went on and my view in the end is that I'm glad I read it even though I may have missed what the author was trying to do with some of the mechanics. It definitely made me think about how little we know about the people we pass each day and that what we don't know may be the very thing that binds us . My initial 3.5 stars will be rounded up for the captivating writing and the fact that I'll think about this book for a while.

I received an advance copy of this book from HarperCollins through Edelweiss.
4278394
The language in this book is rich, evocative, and sometimes slyly arch, but the story is a bit strange. The heroine, Marie, runs away from a cruel circus-master to a small town, where she begins to play a tune on her violin. But Jacques De'Arthenay (his name is a remnant of his Huguenot ancestors; everyone in his town pronounces his name "Jakes") shows up glowering, because he thinks music is the work of the devil. His glower makes Marie just as certain that Jacques is the work of the devil, himself. But, of course, Jacques has already (and quite against his will) fallen in love with Marie...

The story is meant to be sweet, and parts of it are, but given that Marie is the romantic heroine it's hard not to be a little disturbed by the narrative emphasis on how young and child-like she is. Even leaving aside his feelings about music, she seems far, far too young for Jacques.
4749561
This book has been shortlisted for the Giller Prize this year.  This is a strange tale set in mid-19th century Ireland.  Lib Wright is an English nurse who has been sent to a small Irish village to be an observer for a young 11 year old girl who has claimed to not have eaten any food for four months.  Lib is a Crimean nurse who had trained under Miss Nigthingale.  She hopes to prove that Anna O'Donnell and her family are fraudsters, as no human can live without sustenance for four months.  When she arrives she finds a very devout little girl who, though frail, appears fairly healthy and functional.  The story is set over two weeks, and during that time, Lib and Anna form a bond that changes both of their lives forever.  I found that the story was fascinating and Ms. Donaghue writes psychological suspense like no other, but I found the book had a slow start, but it definitely picked up in the last half.  A strange tale, but handled with aplomb by Ms. Donaghue.
1694594
This is a tricky review to write, for two reasons.

First: I wonder whether the book description is as the author wished it, or is a spoiler -- or even an oversimplification -- decided on by the publisher. The protagonist, Bo, increasingly veers back and forth between two opposing world views. Are we really supposed to be sure, from start to finish and in retrospect, which of them is real?

Second: this book comes uncomfortably close to home. The book alternates Bo's POV with that of his younger sister Phoebe; and I can testify that it accurately conveys the burdens imposed by family dynamics, or self-imposed, on the "normal" sibling of a mentally disturbed child.

There is some redundancy, and some heavy-handedness, in both narratives; but there is also, especially in Bo's sections, effective characterization and vivid imagery. And the resolution is neither unduly neat nor unnecessarily bleak.
2323032
Some reviewers complained that the narrative structure of this book is hard to follow. It is true that the use of flashbacks and dream sequences makes it more complex than a conventional linear-time story, but I found that the shifts in perspective were very artfully used, providing a contrasting perspective that forced me to reinterpret events at key junctures. It certainly is a dark story, but I felt the characters were compellingly drawn, showing how the same person will function differently in different times and different places in the course of life.
1832191
An unusual book.  Quite long, but I look forward to delving into it.
3561492
This book is oddly writen, and a lot of action happens quickly, however the story is powerful. It is strange, fun, yet there are depressing confusing moments too.  It is worth the low price for such a thought prevoking work. Its been a couple days since i finished it and im still considering the ending.
1816344
"Oola" is a strange, poetic novel on the nature of obsession. It examines the relationship between nomadic, artistic twenty-somethings named Leif (our narrator) and Oola. It is clear from their first meeting that Leif has intense "feelings" for Oola... but the true depths of his fixation are exposed in his increasingly unhinged descriptions and bizarre behavior. As it becomes evident that Leif is an unreliable narrator, you are left wondering: what does he *truly* want from Oola?

Leif is not alone in his madness; beautiful Oola has her own demons (or should I say "aliens?") to face and Leif's unhealthy dependence on her does not help. I wish we could hear their tale from Oola's point of view, as Leif describes her in such perverse adoration that you can't fully conceptualize who Oola is--though, I suppose that's the point.

Overall, "Oola" is more a character study than plot-driven novel. It is not a fast read. It is an experiential book that rewards patient readers with a chilling story that unfolds slowly and carefully; subtle hints and turns-of-phrases that gradually reveal the broken psyche of its two leads in such a masterful way you think: "Oh! It's been there all along!"

Brittany Newell clearly has a way with words and a unique perspective--I found myself bookmarking several delicious passages of prose. Here is a bit about "fainting" I enjoyed:

-- "That's what's so nice about it. Fainting, that is. When you come to, you can't help but fall in love with the first person you see. It's not romantic. It's like this weird ecstatic human need, this burst of gratitude as you come back to life. Because that's how it feels: like you're resurfacing from some very dark, very soft, very lonely black pit. I visualize it as a lake, with water like oil. When you're right on the edge of a faint, when your vision gets spotty but you're still trying to stand, the lake seems to lap up to you. It's just so tempting. You want to give in. And you do. You sink into it... and it's so nice to fall backward, with this velvety weight on your chest. And then, waking up, you pierce together this person, hovering over you, and their hands are so gentle, and their voice is so soft, and for one moment they are the whole world to which you're returning." (p. 114)

As you can see, her writing has a very specific cadence--her words are rhythmic and this "rhythm" sets a clear, increasingly frenzied (increasingly manic?) tone for the novel. I cannot wait to read more from this very talented author!
680463
This is quite a strange book, there are god like beings, alternate universes, people who talk to animals, and plenty of plot twists, I would consider it to be Science Fiction because of the subject matter.
I found the story to be a very immersive read, there are lots of things going on, and it is a very complex story.
The ending was a bit on the soft side considering how high energy and violent the rest of the book was, but still a good read and worth
reading more than once.

Recommended
2704957
Originally published in F&SF as The Pale Brown Thing, this novel won the World Fantasy Award for best novel of 1978. For some reason, I've not got around to reading it before this.

It concerns Franz Westen, a writer of weird fiction living in San Francisco. From his apartment building, he sees through his binoculars a pale brown thing on a distant hill. When he goes to the hill, he has some odd experiences, then trains his binoculars on his apartment ... and sees the pale brown thing waving from his window.

Surprisingly little that would be called "action" occurs in this book; indeed, well over half of it is conversation, much of it expository. Yet it's so well-written and the characters (especially Westen) so compelling that it matters not: the book will keep you in its spell to the end.
4210228
From the audience, a retired judge witnesses a long,  painful, monologue delivered by an aging, outlandish stand up comedian. Almost all of the novel is the comedian's act, which grows more and more intimate and disturbing as the evening goes on.  The experience of reading this book is unique, and the writing is compelling, but over-the-top peculiarities in details of the story, which feel like writer self-indulgences, interrupt the trajectory and kept me from full emotional engagement. Almost great, worth reading.
3041302
I found this to be a strange but interesting book. For most of the time I wondered if it was, actually, a work of fiction rather than a review of a real case. I was partly persuaded of this by the lack of robust references to support the facts , but it may be that the passage of time has meant such references are few in number. As a Scotsman myself, I applaud the writer for capturing the atmosphere in a tiny West Highland hamlet in the late 1800s. The heavy and often overbearing influence of the Church is well portrayed, as is the superstition driven attitude of so many that "providence will decide". The story of 3 brutal murders committed by an articulate young man of 17 years is skilfully laid out, and the author builds the tension very well. The poverty endured by crofters is shown in lurid detail and the vital part played by social status is subtly defined. The roles of the church, the school, the Laird and the officers of the law are superbly handled and Burnet manages to commend the integrity of the "Scotch" legal system and the quality of education ( including Latin and Greek) that was taught in tiny rural schools more than a century ago.
The verdict is in doubt right to the end and that is to the writer's credit
1199033
Unusual story; a bit disturbing, but a excellent trip back in time.
9845
This book was very strange but it was quirky and kept my attention. Eleanor's thoughts were deep and her motives questionable.  I might have to read this one again to get the full impact of what the author was trying to impart.