Friday, March 09, 2007

The mysteries of Philadelphia

Unfortunately the blogging spirit isn't strong in this one at the moment but I do have a book to add to the list.

Before I get to book number six there are a few points about The Lovely Bones that I wanted to mention that were discussed at our book club meeting this past Sunday. Overall, I loved the book and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to people however, there were some flaws. The thing I had the biggest problem with was the "fall from heaven" sex scene. If you haven't read the book I won't say much more than it caught me off guard and kind of interrupted the flow of the book for me. Several people mentioned that the characters were basically just two dimensional outlines and, while I agree in some respects, I also think if Sebold had tried to flesh them out any further the book would have been a lot longer than it was. This was an incredibly emotional read and I think this is why I enjoyed it so much - I let myself be immersed by the story rather than thinking about the details too much.

Once I finished reading The Lovely Bones I moved on to Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon which I received as a Christmas gift. I really enjoyed the movie version (even with Tobey Maguire) and have wanted to read the book. While most of the story was similar to the movie there were large chunks, as with any adaptation, that were left out. I especially enjoyed the Passover scene with his in-laws and the "rescue" of James Leer from his family. This is one of the rare times where I don't have a definite opinion on whether I liked the movie or the book better - both were highly entertaining and I will return to both again in the future.

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A. and I leave for our holiday on Monday and we couldn't be looking forward to it more. We will spend time with his parents and then we are heading into the States for a 5 day road trip. If anyone has been to Philadelphia or Washington, DC and has any suggestions of things to do or see or restaurants with fantastic food, please leave a comment.

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We have spent an obscene amount of time watching the first three seasons of 24 and A. is now hooked. I think I've created a monster.

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I took a bunch of pictures of the condo and posted them on Flickr. If you have a good eye for furniture arrangement or have any organizational ideas, please comment on the photos or let me know.

5 comments:

  1. I highly recommend The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Plus there is a superhero librarian!

    Have a great vacation!

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  2. Don't expect ANY similarites to the book in the upcoming MYSTERIES OF PITTSBURGH film... Other than the character NAMES.

    Gay Arthur has been CUT, Phlox is Art's "ex" and both Cleveland and Jane are his lovers!

    It's about as far from any book-to-screen-adpatation you can get.

    If you'd like to read the script, email me: bechstein[at]yahoo.com

    Join the MOP Film Boycott--http://groups.myspace.com/MOPfilm

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  3. well well well, who do we have here? lol! i'm gonna play a little game with you C. I've been to your house a couple of times when you lived in the NW close to Kyle's place. I've known you for a VERY long time, like we used to hang with Jamie Toye and Kurt and Andrew, and Jason J. lol, i've already said too much. let the games begin!!

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  4. WHAT!!?? how did you???? omg. you rule Courtney. did you get a hint???

    ReplyDelete

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