Suicide Books

When Anna and her younger brother Joey suddenly lose their beloved Grandpa, "Poppy," they wish they had one more day to spend with him. They think of all the things they would do, such as make matzah ball sculptures in their soup at the deli, play checkers, and listen to him play silly songs on the piano. Their mother encourages them to put all the pictures they make of these memories and wishes into a book. Anna calls this book Wishes for One More Day with Poppy. She calls them wishes rather than memories, because she says, "wishes feel closer." The Jewish custom of sitting shivah is described by her mother, who tells the children how they will light a memorial candle and have friends and family come over "to comfort them with hugs and food." The aunt is shown covering the mirror.

Readers will enjoy the cover picture of Poppy wearing his silly birthday hat with a cardboard candle sticking out of the top of it, and the gentle gouache and watercolor pencil illustrations which follow the flow of the text. This would be very helpful and comforting to use with children who have lost a grandparent or other loved one. They will be encouraged to think of their own memories of those dear to them, and will realize that they will always have those memories in their heart. For ages 6 - 10. Reviewed by Andrea Davidson

The loss of a loved one is a hard experience for a person of any age. "Wishes for One More Day" helps young and old alike grapple with the loss of a loved one in a powerful and touching way.

Anna and Joey learn of their grandfather's passing one morning. The children and adults deal with their grief in very different, yet equally effective ways. Anna gets an idea to write down all the things she would love to have done with her Poppy one more time.

Both the mother's and children's perspective are well represented in the story, making the book great for all ages. I found myself tearing up at the beauty and simplicity of the children's idea. This book serves as a great reminder of how the simple things are often the most important.

Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of SAHM I Am: Tales of a Stay-at-Home Mom in Europe, lives near Munich, Germany with her husband and two children. [..]

Like many, I purchased this novel after having read the author's magnificent book, Middlesex. I had also seen the movie, starring Kirsten Dunst, which I recall enjoying quite a bit. Whether in comparison with Middlesex, or the film version, I found the novel lacking.

Perhaps being familiar with the story resulted in a lack of suspense, though there can't really be much suspense when the author reveals the ultimate end game early in the novel. The writing was quite good, though I felt that the story dragged significantly for a good majority of the book.

Bottom line, there's really not much story there. The flowery and descriptive prose can only cover for a slow moving plot for only so long before it quite simply becomes boring. I reached that point at about page 100.

When the doctor treats Cecilia Lisbon's slit wrists, he asks why in the world she would want to kill herself?
"Obviously, Doctor, you've never been a thirteen-year-old girl," Cecilia replies.
Cecilia should have read >Huckleberry Finn< by Mark Twain. Huck had to dress up like a thirteen-year-old girl, and would understand her plight. Huck had also seen a drawing by fifteen-year-old Emmeline Grangerford, who pictured herself dressed in a white gown, poised to leap to her death from a bridge. Emmeline had done another drawing, "I Shall Never Hear Thy Sweet Chirrup Again, Alas!" of a dead bird.
"I didn't somehow seem to take to them," Huck said reluctantly about her pictures. He was on the lam with a runaway slave at the time, living hand-to-mouth, so Emmeline's obsession with death and sadness was hard for him to comprehend.
In the final chapter of >The Virgin Suicides<, the author Eugenides explains, "In the end, the tortures tearing the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple reasoned refusal to accept the world as it was handed down to them, so full of flaws."
Rudolf Rolfs' satirical German poem "Der Backfisch" also expresses angst about the "flaws:"
"I would like to despair of the whole world!
"I would like to be banished from my own home!
"I would like to throw myself in front of a car!
"But I only saw these things in a movie."
The best that can be said for >The Virgin Suicides< is that it works as a piece of browbeating exploitation-literature. Literature is after all the same as movies; it's only commerce.

The Virgin Suicides

* 1001 Books Book

Eugenides, J. (1994). The virgin suicides. New York: Warner Books.

Thanks to Oprah, I read Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides this past summer. Amazed by Eugenides, I looked to see when the movie would be coming. Well, that has not happened yet for Middlesex but there was Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides, a movie adapted from Jeffrey Eugenides' first novel by the same name. Quickly, I put my name on the waiting list for the movie. After I saw the movie, I requested the book. Both The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex are among the 1001 Books of 2006. Now, I even own a copy of The Virgin Suicides.

Narrated by a group of middle-aged men looking upon items and memories, The Virgin Suicides takes the reader through that fateful "year of the suicides." These guys were the teenage neighbors of the Catholic Lisbon family. Mr. Lisbon teaches high school math while the strict Mrs. Lisbon makes a home for her five lovely daughters. They are the "brainy Therese (17), fastidious Mary (16), ascetic Bonnie (15), libertine Lux (14), and pale, saintly Cecilia (13)," (Eugenides).

Cecilia attempts suicide and seemingly stuns all, including her older sisters. In order to cheer the glum Cecilia, the Lisbons throw a party in their basement. Cecilia excuses herself and jumps from her bedroom window, successfully taking her own life. Becoming the talk of the Grosse Pointe community, the remaining Lisbon girls grow more isolated from other kids and the grist for the rumor mill.

Again, Eugenides impressed and held me spellbound by his writing. I found myself wishing that Eugenides, not King, had written Carrie. The seamless movement of his group of narrators through interviews and attempts of understanding what has come to pass in neighborhood would have smoothed the multitude of wrinkles in Carrie. I wish my high school group projects/papers had gone so well!

Eugenides captures the dementia of obsession and elusiveness of crushes with painful poignancy. In their telling of the Lisbon girls, these guys have beautified these sisters, particularly the dazzling Lux. Memory and aura protect these girls from the scrutiny attempted by the quixotic group of men. They are still haunted by the Lisbons.

Allegorical or not, I was enthralled by the descriptions and views of the Lisbon girls. Due to rubber necking and disbelief, I could not stop reading this book. In their endeavor to solve the mystery, I learned much about the narrator. Coming away from my reading, I felt I knew much more about the telescope than the stars. Of course, people tend to tell on themselves. This is how life goes.

I give The Virgin Suicides Four and Three quarters Pearls.

For more book reviews by Jorie, go to http://JoriesReads.Wordpress.Com

"... they were bound for college, husbands, child-rearing, unhappiness only dimly perceived -- bound, in other words, for life."

The Virgin Suicides is not just a story of the loneliness of being female. It is also a story of the loneliness of life and understanding what it is to be female; the pressures, or rather, the facade of traditional values placed upon women, lead to the Lisbon sisters demise.

What makes The Virgin Suicides so compelling is the fact that it is told from the male persepctive. And, from a time, the 70's, where everyone blamed changing moraks and godlessness for the troubles with youth. This brilliant novel serves as an allegory to life. In the process of protecting our youth, or by following traditions that never truly exsisted, we cause unhappiness larger and darker than death itself.

The Virgin Suicides is a darkly comic, deeply moving novel. The ending will gnaw at your stomach. The complacency, the indifference of the world, will truly astonish. It transcends time in a mythical way, and will leave an ominous mark upon your life. Pure genius.

this is one of the saddest and truest stories I have ever read. I am so grateful to Jeffery Eugenides for telling this story of young teenage girls who choose suicide because in the end it is the one true thing that they can actually do--the one true communication that everyone "gets." Why is it so hard for the boys (the narrators) to hear the girls? Or for anyone in the novel to hear the girls? they are completely alone, not because they think of no one else or are selfish, but because there is no avenue of expression open to them; if everyone else in the novel would stop putting the girls under continual surveillance maybe they would have heard the girls, but it is hard to say for sure... to me, I see the novel really as a true representation of a period in our history and of young teenage women--at least how they appear. Someone will have to write the same novel from the girls' point of view....i found the novel heartbreaking and truly reminiscent.

Despite good qualities, the novel is not without flaws. The most obvious one is that, despite McCullers' open-minded and liberal sensibilities regarding race, hers is still a viewpoint immured in its time, less of a blacks are equals tone than a pity the poor blacks tone. This is made especially clear with Dr. Copeland, who is portrayed, in some ways, as an intellectual superman of his race, part of the old `Talented Tenth', who is frustrated at how many blacks, especially his children, accept their roles as subservient shufflers and falsely smiling yes-men. Yet, even he is not immune to McCullers' backhanded putdowns, as, early on, this doctor, is shown reading the works of the philosopher Spinoza, yet not really able to fully understand it- as if a man who can understand human biology would really struggle with such. The fact that McCullers portrays the majority of her black characters this way shows a passive racism. Now, this would not be a major flaw in the book were one of the main foci NOT race relations, but it is, and this dates the book in ways A Tree Grows In Brooklyn does not suffer from. Many critics, in fact, have lauded McCullers for her pre-Civil Rights Era racial sensitivity, and foreshadowing of the evils of McCarthyism and anti-Civil Rights demagogues, but when one gets beyond Dr. Copeland himself, the eternal exception to her rule, one sees that McCullers' view of blacks is sadly mired in its day- a sort of old style racial noblesse oblige. Another flaw is excess description, at times. Because her writing is not that poetic, such excess does not serve as a `breather' from the narrative, and often does not serve the narrative in any substantive way, merely acting as filler. Here's an example: `This was her, Mick Kelly, walking in the daytime and by herself at night. In the hot sun and in the dark with all the plans and feelings.' Is the second sentence really necessary to qualify the first? Compare that with this passage, from the last few pages of the book, and the difference is stark: `Then suddenly he felt a quickening in him. His heart turned and he leaned his back against the counter for support. For in a swift radiance of illumination he saw a glimpse of human struggle and of valor. Of the endless fluid passage of humanity through endless time. And of those who labor and of those who- one word- love. His soul expanded. But for a moment only.'

Yet, despite the fact that the book does not follow many conventional narrative tropes, it does follow a standard tripartite structure, and uses a standard third person omniscient voice. McCullers, herself, said that the book's structure was that of a fugue- where voices act antiphonally: `This book is planned according to a definite and balanced design. The form is contrapuntal throughout. Like a voice in a fugue each one of the main characters is an entirety in himself--but his personality takes on a new richness when contrasted and woven in with the other characters in the book.' In part one the characters, settings, and major themes are laid out. In part two each character's inner lives and failings are revealed, and the climax- Singer's suicide- occurs at the end of this section. And in part three the likely fates of the characters are limned.

This fatality is one of the ways this book most differs, negatively, from A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. That novel, laced with as much oppression and despair, ends on an up note (not the reason it's better) that is hopeful. Francie Nolan has a chance, a good chance, to surmount her past, even though, in many ways, her success was far less likely and less predictable than Mick's, who seems doomed. Both books are slices of life, portraits of bygone Americas in different places and times, but Betty Smith's Brooklyn seems far more vivid and real than Carson McCullers' South because it is more tightly drawn, less dated- thus more realistic, and more poetically mnemonically rendered. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter also is a bit too long and too unfocused, losing its narrative thrust by going off tangent to things not vital to the main characters' tales, and were some of its excesses trimmed, it could pack more punch in just seventy-five to eighty percent of its length (356 pages). Still, this is, in a sense, nitpicking, and shows how far American literature has fallen because compared to what is routinely published nowadays this novel, despite its flaws, is a near-great book, every bit deserving of its niche in the canon.

In rebuttal to Douglas Moran's review on this website, I have to admit I am listening to "Lonely Hunter" on audio cd. I chose it because it's quite a famous book & was pretty sensational in its day (I believe the early 40's). What makes it compelling to me is Cherry Jones's reading. I am Not Southern, therefore am both amused and admiring of her wonderful rendition of all the parts. The dialogue of the poor, blacks and whites, could get tiresome (as it does in "Tom Sawyer), but hearing Jones read the part of Portia, for example, makes you love this character. Same goes for even the crazy Jake. You can just see him!

I thought I would be bored listening to an audio book and not pay attention. I listened to this while driving 1200 miles in one weekend. It was the nicest, incredibly long drive I've ever had. The book is a little dark but I was impressed with the writing, especially since Carson McCullers was only 23 when she wrote it. My book club had selected this book and I don't think I would have listened to it otherwise. Although, I like lighter Southern Genre books. Still, having grown up in the South, I thought it was a pretty realistic portrayal of the times and the people. But just one tragedy after another and from what I have read about McCullers, somewhat autobiographical.

This is simply one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. It catches the rhythm of life for the lonely 'invisible' people, and its emotion is conveyed so forcefully that the tragedy becomes cathartic. Buy this book.

I coudn't stop thinking while I was reading this, I couldn't stand more than a hundred pages, that it was a brilliant work for a very sensitive,depressed, lonely, highly intelligenttwenty something writer. Who wasn't made like other folks, and for many artists that's a necessary evil. I havent' read anything else by her, and I don't think I will, I have a feeling life doesn't get better in the works of Carson McCuller and that's too bad.
The writing is much better than OK, but,this work is amateurish in structure. There is no impelling story of any kind, just a wearing down, gets to be boring, pastiche of miserable and semi-miserable characters going nowhere except into a future of deepening misery and despair.
Yes there are pleanty of folks like that but nothing redeems them here.
McCullers is a southern grotesque who lacks the vitality of Flannery O'Connor and the enduring humanity and brilliance of William Faulkner.

Despite good qualities, the novel is not without flaws. The most obvious one is that, despite McCullers' open-minded and liberal sensibilities regarding race, hers is still a viewpoint immured in its time, less of a blacks are equals tone than a pity the poor blacks tone. This is made especially clear with Dr. Copeland, who is portrayed, in some ways, as an intellectual superman of his race, part of the old `Talented Tenth', who is frustrated at how many blacks, especially his children, accept their roles as subservient shufflers and falsely smiling yes-men. Yet, even he is not immune to McCullers' backhanded putdowns, as, early on, this doctor, is shown reading the works of the philosopher Spinoza, yet not really able to fully understand it- as if a man who can understand human biology would really struggle with such. The fact that McCullers portrays the majority of her black characters this way shows a passive racism. Now, this would not be a major flaw in the book were one of the main foci NOT race relations, but it is, and this dates the book in ways A Tree Grows In Brooklyn does not suffer from. Many critics, in fact, have lauded McCullers for her pre-Civil Rights Era racial sensitivity, and foreshadowing of the evils of McCarthyism and anti-Civil Rights demagogues, but when one gets beyond Dr. Copeland himself, the eternal exception to her rule, one sees that McCullers' view of blacks is sadly mired in its day- a sort of old style racial noblesse oblige. Another flaw is excess description, at times. Because her writing is not that poetic, such excess does not serve as a `breather' from the narrative, and often does not serve the narrative in any substantive way, merely acting as filler. Here's an example: `This was her, Mick Kelly, walking in the daytime and by herself at night. In the hot sun and in the dark with all the plans and feelings.' Is the second sentence really necessary to qualify the first? Compare that with this passage, from the last few pages of the book, and the difference is stark: `Then suddenly he felt a quickening in him. His heart turned and he leaned his back against the counter for support. For in a swift radiance of illumination he saw a glimpse of human struggle and of valor. Of the endless fluid passage of humanity through endless time. And of those who labor and of those who- one word- love. His soul expanded. But for a moment only.'

Yet, despite the fact that the book does not follow many conventional narrative tropes, it does follow a standard tripartite structure, and uses a standard third person omniscient voice. McCullers, herself, said that the book's structure was that of a fugue- where voices act antiphonally: `This book is planned according to a definite and balanced design. The form is contrapuntal throughout. Like a voice in a fugue each one of the main characters is an entirety in himself--but his personality takes on a new richness when contrasted and woven in with the other characters in the book.' In part one the characters, settings, and major themes are laid out. In part two each character's inner lives and failings are revealed, and the climax- Singer's suicide- occurs at the end of this section. And in part three the likely fates of the characters are limned.

This fatality is one of the ways this book most differs, negatively, from A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. That novel, laced with as much oppression and despair, ends on an up note (not the reason it's better) that is hopeful. Francie Nolan has a chance, a good chance, to surmount her past, even though, in many ways, her success was far less likely and less predictable than Mick's, who seems doomed. Both books are slices of life, portraits of bygone Americas in different places and times, but Betty Smith's Brooklyn seems far more vivid and real than Carson McCullers' South because it is more tightly drawn, less dated- thus more realistic, and more poetically mnemonically rendered. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter also is a bit too long and too unfocused, losing its narrative thrust by going off tangent to things not vital to the main characters' tales, and were some of its excesses trimmed, it could pack more punch in just seventy-five to eighty percent of its length (356 pages). Still, this is, in a sense, nitpicking, and shows how far American literature has fallen because compared to what is routinely published nowadays this novel, despite its flaws, is a near-great book, every bit deserving of its niche in the canon.

It took me two months and forty-eight hours of nonstop raining to finish this "classic" set in the Deep South during the 1930s. Key characters in the novel are all struggling with embracing and understanding what makes them different from the status quo. These characters also spend a fair amount of time pondering the human condition during a time when race relations in America appear to mirror ethnic relations in Hitler's Germany. The novel is quite dense and for me probably one of the slowest reads I've encountered in a while. I'm sure the story was quite powerful when it was originally published in 1940 but I wasn't able to connect to the story much at all; I simply wanted to finish it because it was a recommended read.

While I didn't get into the story much I'm sure there is much material here for academic and historical analysis but it wasn't much of a pleasure read for me - and definitely not a summer read. I checked this out from library and even with the late fees that I've racked up it was still cheaper than purchasing it. Read it if you have to for a classroom exercise but I can't recommend that you run out a purchase it.

I first read this book as a teenager and have read it again several times over the years. There is something so deeply revealing about the human condition in the book that it is as meaningful to me in my sixties and it was in my teens - I think that something is perhaps a window into the angst of the human condition. I have read all of Carson McCuller's works, including the ones out of print.

This book deals with life in shades of gray, and my feelings about this book are also in shades of gray. Carson McCullers tackles issues that were prominent in the 1930's, including socialism, poverty, and racism. The writing is excellent, but I found this book dreary. Pretty much, it is about disappointment in life. If a positive message was tucked in, I couldn't glean it. It was hard to read - I would put it down and avoid picking it back up. The author did a good job of drawing her characters in an interesting way, and at a book club we had a lively and riveting discussion on the meaning of the deaf-mute character. I have thought about this book a lot since finishing it - a characteristic that I usually consider the mark of a great book. Nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend it to just any casual reader.

Maybe I'm just not a fan of the Southern Gothic genre to which this novel belongs, but man oh man, did I not "get" this book. I found it horribly tortuous and plodding in its pace, and felt that it all ultimately amounted to nothing special or remarkable at all. I had to force myself to finish it, and was always loathe to pick it up. I never felt invested in the characters or engaged in any of their stories, and the whole thing just left me feeling hollow inside. At times I would find particular storylines intriguing, but because of the way in which the story is told, all too soon I'd be tracking someone else's tale, and just as it got interesting, you'd have to switch gears and follow someone else's journey. Lather, rinse, repeat. None of the stories wind up being very meaty and left me incredibly hungry.

Not sure why this book is a classic or why it has received so much praise. Yes, people in very different walks of life and situations can be lonely, and loneliness can even bring people together and provide a common comfort. It's not that the message there is trite, it's just that the delivery was really not spectacular or moving at all. I couldn't help drawing parallels to "To Kill a Mocking Bird" the entire time I was reading this, and while I don't love that book either, I think you'd probably be better served reading it than this.

In my opinion, this is a perfect book. Woolf captures the characters flawlessly and depicts their relationships with pitch-perfect accuracy. The plot centers around a day in the life of Mrs. Dalloway, who is preparing for a party. However, the overall scope of the novel is much broader.

It is only a single London day in June, 1923, after World War I, and Mrs. Dalloway is out shopping for flowers for her big party to be given that evening. Even the Prime Minister will be coming because Clarissa Dalloway's husband, Richard, is a minor cog in the government. Virginia Woolf was originally going to call her breakthrough novel The Hours, a title Michael Cunningham used in his tribute novel to Mrs. Dalloway. The pealing of Big Ben and other chimes striking the hours segue this chapterless novel into different character spheres, different memories or thoughts. Big Ben's leaden circles of sound move out, widen, and wrap other characters into the narrative.
Using James Joyce's then-new technique of stream of consciousness, Woolf explores the minds of a number of her characters. Clarissa's character is probed in great detail, not only as she sees herself but also as many other characters see her.
Septimus Smith is wandering around London that June day, a veteran suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, what was then called being shell-shocked. Though they pass close by each other, Septimus and Clarissa never meet. When she hears word of this stranger's suicide through a famous doctor at the party, it has a profound effect upon her. Septimus is probably closer in his mental state to Virginia Woolf herself than to Clarissa Dalloway, but the ripples of meaning, like the reverberations of the chiming, caused by his death make her neglect her party. Clarissa, who seemed so unfeeling and superficial, turns out to have too much feeling.
This is not easy reading. Woolf wrote many essays and portions of this book are more essayistic than fictional narrative.
The story has a fluidity as one character's life and mind blends and segues into another. One character after another takes center stage in the narrative. Peter Walsh, Clarissa's old beau, passes Septimus in Regents Park, and the narrative passes from Septimus to Peter in the way that a baton would be passed in a relay race.
In the party scene I was reminded of Joyce's "The Dead" in Dubliners. Mrs. Dalloway is a richly textured book that can be reread many times. At different stages of the reader's life it will take on new meanings. Clarissa Dalloway is like a chameleon that you can never truly pin down.

Nine Lives Too Many
The Daemon in Our Dreams
The Rice Queen Spy
Clawed Back from the Dead

For the longest time, I thought I disliked Virginia Woolf's work. Typically, I am not a fan of "stream of consciousness," and being that "To the Lighthouse" was my first read, Woolf left me not wanting for more. However, in a Queer Theory course in my graduate studies, "Mrs. Dalloway" was assigned and I absolutely loved it. In fact, upon finishing this work, I ordered all of Woolf's works.
Not only is the work hauntingly beautiful and melancholy, but also rather daring. The book takes place in the course of one day in London, yet somehow, the reader becomes familiar with lifetimes of relationships, some of them homosexual relationships. Woolf's work here is gorgeously poetic.
The book generated a lot of discussion because it has so much to offer to many different kinds of readers. I once swore I would never read Woolf again, but this book has made me recant the error of my ways.
If you are a fan of poetic prose, read this book. I intend to read it again and again.

Virginia Woolf (1882 - 1941) was a well known writer, critic, feminist, and publisher. This was her fourth novel.

I read her first novel "The Voyage Out" before buying the present book, then skipped her second novel - which is considered to be a flop - then read "Jacob's Room," her third, then "Mrs. Dalloway," her fourth, and then "To The Lighthouse."

"The Voyage Out" is simple and straightforward work and it might remind the reader of a Jane Austen novel, but it set on a ship and then at a remote location. It is over 400 pages long, and has an Austen theme. After her second novel - which did not do very well - Woolf decided to be more risky and creative with the next book. She changed her style and approach to the novel and Woolf uses the stream of consciousness technique to bring a sense of the chaos and shortness of a young man's life around the time of World War I, Jacob's life, i.e.: from the pandemonium of Jacob's life as portrayed by Woolf through the use of the stream of the consciousness technique, we eventually have clarity in the novel. She carries this writing style on into the similarly chaotic story in the novel "Mrs. Dalloway."

She carries this writing style on into the similarly chaotic story "Mrs. Dalloway." Mrs. Dalloway, or simply Clarrisa Dalloway the character, was used in her first novel "The Voyage Out" but only as a minor character who the protagonist, Rachel, meets on a sea voyage. Mr. Dalloway makes a pass at Rachel and kisses her. Woolf brings them back in force here with their own novel.

The present story is set in the summer in post WWI London and it revolves around a few days in the life of Mrs. Dalloway. She has a party and during that period an old suitor, Peter Walsh, makes his return appearance from an overseas job posting in India, and does so after thirty years. Part of the story involves her thoughts about that relationship and her life choices. The second plot element is mental illness and the appearance of Septimus Warren Smith and his Italian wife Lucrezia. He is a war survivor but is suffering from depression. The third element is her present husband and his love for her.

The compressed in time and chaotic story which involves Clarrisa, her husband, Peter Walsh, and Septimus, lends itself to the stream of consciousness technique. Some make comparisons with Joyce and his stream of consciousness novel "Ulysses." In any case, Woolf uses it to advantage here. Finally, Woolf is an author who promoted aesthetic purity in fiction. But here she uses the novel as a chance to attack the care for the mental illnesses.

This is an excellent novel written by Woolf at her prime. Her approach lends itself to the subject and it is quite effective. If you want to read a conventional novel by Woolf, then I recommend her first novel, "The Voyage Out."

This was the first Woolf novel that I read and i am glad that it was. I was a college freshman who had just seen The Hours. I was immediately drawn to this author. After reading it the first time, it is possible to know what the basic story is about: a woman giving a party and wondering about the choices she has made in the past. But each reading helps bring out so many details that are easy to miss. People may claim this is a hard read, but Mrs. Woolf's books were NEVER meant to be read quickly. The word usage and details are so precise that is should be read slowly to appreciate it more. A great book to start getting into Woolf.

I loved this book. You never expect a book to touch you... this one does.

My favorite book from Coelho. Read it through almost with one go and will definitely reread it soon. It's so crazy how many people have confined their inner craziness.

This is the first novel I decided to read by Paulo Coelho. Yes, the title is very blunt, quite literal, and perhaps a bit pretentious to a jaded generation who consider such things as "cool". However, the text itself is turely far from pretension. Infact, it's quite modest and dealing with such a subject as suicide and mental institutions, the story becomes simple,honest, and life affirming.

In the first page of Coelho's novel, Veronika decides to die (no pun intended). Her attempt, though, fails, and she awakes in a mental institution where she is told by the head doctor, Dr. Igor, that in her attempted suicide, she had in fact had done serious damage to her body, her heart to be exact, succumbing her to eventual death. So it seems she did succeed. The remainder of the novel is Veronika accepting her fate and allowing herself to become free(for a lack of a better word)or liberated, uninhibited of all the things in life (including herself)that seem to follow routine. Along her "journey" of self-discovery she meets a few people in the institution that more or less guide her in her path (some more inadvertently than others). The outcome is ultimately satisfying though there is a twist that's quite predictable but that's really not the focus of the story's intention. So therefore, it holds little regard.

"Veronika Decides to Die" is genuinely a beautiful story: well written, good, reliable characters, simple but effective message. One doesn't have to be a female to enjoy the story because in the end it's fully universal to everyone including those who've never had the though of suicide in their minds. It's a quick read with much to admire.

Veronika is a young woman in her 20's that decides life has nothing left to offer her, and comites suicide, only she was not succesful, but instead she wakes up in a mental hospital. She is told that her heart was damaged though, and she has about a week to live. During this time she meets other people comited to this hospital, who do make a contribution to her life, she learns to live like this is the last day of her life, and discovers she now desires to live, so this is what unfolds here. Amazing story who leads to self discovery and to find new meaning to our lives as well as promting us to pursuing dreams that we think are out of our reach, after all what have we got to lose, is better to try reaching our dreams even if they seem improbable than not trying at all.
Living life like an adventure may get us out of our comfort zone, but what is that compared to living a dull life only so that we feel safe!
This book also talks about going deep inside of us, facing all of our feelings, whether we like them or not, not being afraid to have a good look at ourselves, bringing Light to all that we are, otherwise, whatever we are not willing to face can come back to destroy us.
Great book, another Coelho's book that you cannot stop reading until you get to the end!!!

Yes indeed! I finished this cover to cover at the bookstore while waiting to pick up my friend from the hospital (who btw is a new father congrats!)

First and foremost as a reader: understand that this book has been translated from Portuguese. Coelho is a Brazilian and of course their native language isn't english, so for all the elitist reviews here saying this is not a real piece of literature then I feel sorry for you. I'm sorry because you can't let your guard down and enjoy books for what they are.

For me, I absolutely love books that provoke strong emotions, deep thought, and introspection. This book hit me closer than any other because I've had issues regarding mental health so you better believe that the whole spectrum of emotions was felt.

I know I don't fall in love with every book I read; if I don't like it then I'll just say, "I didn't like it." Appreciate the work and thought thats been put through and move on!

I had been really excited about reading "The Winter Queen" for three main reasons: I am a huge fan of Russian literature, I loving reading books in the mystery genre, and because of all the great reviews written about this novel.

In a nutshell, I was sorely disappointed with this novel. "The Winter Queen" starts out great with its first scene of a young gentleman committing suicide in a park in front of several witnesses..... Plus the main character, Erast Fandorin, has some great adventures though out this novel.

But as a whole, this novel wasn't great. There are plenty of slow/boring scenes in the novel and many scenes didn't flow well together. Plus the last chapter/ending of "The Winter Queen" sucked!! I've noticed that some of the reviewers of this novel have read "The Winter Queen" in Russian, so perhaps there is something to be said about reading a novel in the language in which it was actually written.

I also thought the main character, Erast Fandorin, to be likable, but an unexpected main character for this novel. He is 19 years old and just out of the academy. So, Erast Fandorin is a total newbie on the police force.... Yet he has quite the detective skills to outwit his superiors in being about to determine that there was more to the young man committing suicide in the park than met the eyes.... Fandorin uncovers a lot of information that no one else uncovers, which I find unbelievable for someone his age and with such little experience in his field..... Intuition can take you only so far in this life, before you need some experience to go with it..

More incredible is the fact that Fandorin's superiors allow him to travel across Europe along without any back up in search of a lead to the case. This young man is barely out of the academy and has little experience being a police office, so why send him out to investigate a lead on his own???? The point is that as a lead character, Erast Fandorin, doesn't seem to be very credible, which is another reason why I didn't enjoy the book that much.

This period novel is mostly to be appreciated for its atmosphere. It is set in Czarist Russia with a brief detour to nineteenth century London. Erast Fandorin, a minor functionary in the Imperial police, investigates a series of curious suicides/murders. Successes lead to rapid advancement and promotion within the service. It is the first book in a series about Fandorin's adventures. The style reminded me a little of The Three Musketeers and other Dumas novels, with regard to the use of helpful coincidences. It also resembles some of the writing of Arturo Perez-Reverte which captures the atmosphere of period Spain. Most fascinating was the description of the hierarchy of Russian society. An appendix lists thirteen ranks with civil and military equivalents, so readers do not get lost. The international conspiracy elements, on the other hand, struck me as anachronistic, speaking more to a modern paranoia. Interestingly, the book is politically disengaged. Perhaps avoiding politics and religion is the best way to retain readers. The Soviet Revolution is looming yet neither rich nor poor express monarchist, revolutionary or any religious sentiments. Apart from these criticisms it is a fine read for lovers of historic novels and international literature.

I knew nothing of Erast Fandorin nor of Boris Akunin, nor of Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili, the actual author of the series until this first book. I had heard of it from LibraryThing discussions. I had asked for recommendations from the peopl on that web site for an intriguing mystery read. Someone suggested the Erast Fandorin series. I have been reading motly police procedural mysteries that are st in the modern day world. This was kind of stretching it for me. I was glad I took the chance.

The book begins with a very young very green Erast, our hero. The author puts him through a number of predicaments, as ll mystery writers are bound to do, but he does so in a very Russian and a very different way. The key attraction to this book is that no one is as they seem they are, in other mysteries, one can almost always discern the villains from the allies by the way they are described. Some obfuscation are always present, but the usual modus operandi is to inject doubt into every character. In this case the characters are written in a neutral enough or a generally positive manner. So much so that when the characters do turn, one is shocked by the turn of events.

The other attractive thing about this particular book is in its descriptions of imperial Russia and its description of the people who populate this landscape. It is all quite intersting and pulled me into the narrative.

My only probleminvolves the last little tidbit at the end of the mystery. I thought that last little episode was patched on and felt very forced and extemporaneous. The mood and the tempo of the story was disrupted unnecessarily bu the addition of the last 10-15 pages. I would assume that this last bit is going to affect the rest of the series, or else I would be quite ticked at Boris Akunin for adding that last bit.

I have to say that the translation of this book is horrible. There are numerous errors that are definitely distracting. More than that, it seems there has been very little effort made at all to take into account the considerable grammatical differences between Russian and English. Sometimes the book reads like a badly translated web page by an auto-translator. There are many long run-on sentences that verge on the incoherent and while this may read fluently in the original Russian - it just seems plodding and inexpertly done in the English language.

The translation aside and even trying to be generous, I find myself marveling at all the glowing reviews. The story itself isn't particularly original. The plot seems implausible. The "hero" seems relatively dimwitted and it seems like the story becomes (as one other reviewer put it) "sillier and sillier" as the story progresses.

I also found the historical inaccuracies very distracting - like the recasting of Russian Roulette as "American Roulette". The book blithely recounts the origins of this dangerous and suicidal game by the elder inspector declaring "I read somewhere its called American roulette. It was invented in America, in the goldfields. You put a single shot in the cylinder, give it a twirl and then - bang!" A little later in the novel, at a party - someone asks if someone knows what "American Roulette" is in reference to the youth who had previously committed suicide by these means. The response was: "It's common knowledge...You take a revolver and put in one cartridge. it's stupid but exciting. A shame the Americans thought of it before we did." I find myself wondering what the point of this is - for Russian Roulette wasn't invented in America - not in the gold fields nor anywhere else... But the beginning part of the novel is littered with references to what everyone else in the Western world know to be Russian Roulette, except that the author always calls it "American Roulette". If the rest of the book didn't seem so confoundedly earnest, I would think this was only a joke... but aside from the chapter titles, the book seems to take itself almost too seriously really, though I've heard other readers commenting that the novel is "tongue in cheek" - which leads me to wonder if this is yet another nuance that is lost in translation. But the misrepresentation of historical facts in a period novel is more than a little annoying, regardless of the motive. To be fair, there is apparently no specific evidence (that I was able to find) that "Russian Roulette" was ever actually "played" in Russia. There are many references to it in early Russian literature, but it could have been solely a fictional invention. (That's not to say that someone hasn't tried it once the idea was put out there...but that the story may have preceded anyone's actual attempts at such dangerous "historical" reenactment.) But even so - even if it *is* only a fictional invention, it is still not an American one.

This isn't to say that I'm some American flag-waving patriot who thinks somehow that America can do no wrong... I know that America has many, many embarrassing and even horrific legacies - but they're not ones I'd likely pin on another country just for the sake of telling a story - unless the story itself was clearly one of those historical "what if" stories - like "What would have happened if Hitler had won the war?" where it's obvious that the author is playing around with historical "facts" to the point where the novel can be considered more of a fantasy piece than it would be a historical novel. But for period pieces, purposefully misrepresenting facts seems odd, especially when done so casually and so consistently. It just makes it seem like some kind of cheap jab at America or some pointless tidbit of propaganda that is squeezed between other elements in the story, almost asking the reader not to notice such a howler. Indeed, when I was looking for other reviews of this book, one reviewer quipped "We learn the origin of American Roulette", without remarking on how inaccurate this is. And if I felt this misrepresentation advanced the story one bit, I might be willing to forgive or overlook this absurdity - but instead it's just repeated with certainty, as if the reader will readily accept it if it is repeated enough times.

All that aside, I wonder if later books are better - but I also wonder if it would be worth the effort for me. I still have yet to discover why others are praising this novel so much. It almost makes me feel like I should reread it in order to see more why so many others would sing the book's praises... But if I wasn't being influenced by other people's opinions, I would still give this book a D. I've read far worse novels and even worse translations. But I still can't give this novel a very high recommendation, despite other positive reviews.

In Germany it was student duelling - with sabres, as Mark Twain so vividly described. In late 19 century Russia it was suicide, sometimes performed in bizarre ways - one loaded chamber in a revolver [the reference to "American Roulette" is delicious]. In this case, the victim is a new orphan, having inherited a vast fortune. He doesn't leave life intestate, however. His will stipulates the property and money go to a British aristocrat who operates an international network of "progressive" orphanages. This raises a host of questions which will be sorted out by a new member of Moscow's Criminal Investigation Department.

In this rollicking story of a Moscow generally beyond our ken, Akunin introduces Erast Fandorin. He's a young man of aristocratic lineage lacking the financial security of Kokorin, the youthful suicide. Erast must make his way with his skills, and these are many. Language, in particular, is a significant talent, which is why he's sent to London seeking more information. He stakes out The Winter Queen - a down at heels hotel - because one of his contacts, the gorgeous Amalia Bezhetskaya seems to be using the hotel as a "drop". Tracking down people in London is risky at the best of times, but Fandorin, who is clearly too trusting, falls into one trap after another in his quest. He's also, in the best Russian tradition, too respectful of the nobility - until they prove unworthy of it.

Akunin is able to mix plot and characters with seamless talent. He builds this story and those involved with a deft touch. At less than 250 pages, to incorporate so much into such a limited space takes a rare skill. Nor, even with the economy of words, does Akunin leave anything out. The story flows and builds, starting from an incident in a Moscow park and culminating in a global conspiracy. It's a stimulating read and one which any "mystery" reader would enjoy - as would nearly everybody. stephen a. haines - [Ottawa, Canada]]

For the most part, I believe drunks like John Self in this novel, crazy people like the Australian pianist in the movie who's name I can't remember, and blow-hards like Citizen Kane don't make interesting protagonists.

It takes a Dickens to create works of art based on characters whose mental life seems so circumscribed and repetitive.

Sure Martin drops the ball at the very, very end. But, until then, this is "in my opinion" the best, the funniest, the greatest celebration of pure loutishness every written. i lent it to a friend, he read it, and i asked him what he thought. his reply was simple and encapsulating; he responded, very matter-of-factly, "it's the Bible". i couldn't concur more. now, i'm not one to burst out laughing alone on the subway, but i couldn't help myself. if you have have never read Money, you're in for a treat. Like being a thirty-year-old virgin - lot to look forward to. i once described it as "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" with a bit less drugs and a lot more sex. That one also caused me to laugh out loud. but, if you happen not to like it, don't let it discourage you from reading "Money". it's more or less a totally different experience. it has everything: sexism, racism, alcoholism - what more could you ask for in a book! oh, as far as it being politically correct, it couldn't be further from it. - david

This is a novel written in the early 80's and is one long monologue about money and what chasing money, having money( and not having money) does to John Self the central character. He is a successful Ad director but at heart a fast talking East end boozing womaniser addicted to fast food and porno. And if you still like him, he beats up women, tends to be a racist, and hates gays... and horror of horror smokes. But he does have a turbulent broth of family relationships to deal with!

This could be an echo of real life as Martin Amis had a troubled relationship with his father Kingsley Amis. Who incidentally was critical of the device of having the author as a character in the story which allows Martin to take some sly digs at the pretensions of writers and writing.

John Self meets a producer in New York and spins him a story based on his own life (drunkard father, two timing mother, time waster son) and is then embroiled in the nightmare of putting the money, script and casting together. He lurches between New York and London loving money and suffering from excesses of drink, food and sex and looses girlfriend, friends and family along the way in a glorious buffoon way.

As he tries to deal with actor's egos, money men demands and scripts he is also hounded by a stalker . Or is he? We can only understand what john understands and as he is drinking several bottles of whiskies on week long benders he is a little hazy some times on the details. During the story we get to find out what the truth of his rise to the Money as well as family secrets and who cheats who.

As the novel is set up to be a long suicide note you can sense the depths of his pain. So is this a gloomy, slash your wrist Leonard Cohen fun feast? No it's a very funny and savage satire on money, money and money and oh the film industry. Normally, I dislike first person novels but I strongly recommended this one.

Martin Amis's Money flies in the face of the nostalgic critic who would say that the best of British fiction is in the past. This meta-fictional post modern styled novel not only subverts conventional novel structures but is also able at the same time to present social messages which were relevant to its initial 1980's audience and can still find relevance in the society of readers today.

Broadly, Amis's novel satirizes the boom of consumerism and excess experienced in the 1980's. The central protagonist would-be-film maker John Self, rolls between London and New York, binging on cigarettes, alcohol, pornography, women, drugs and anything else that money can buy. John Self's complete lack of self control or restraint can be seen as reflective of the political policies of Thatcher (and to an extent Regan) which were being implemented in England and America at this time, policies which assigned a fiscal value to everything and turned virtually anything into a saleable commodity, promoting capitalist values en masse with very little attention to the development of accompanying policies of social responsibility.

Without revealing too much of the plot, Self eventually reaps the consequences of his lifestyle however it is not a social or moral lesson, Self does not develop, grow or undergo any kind of mental or emotional transformation, in moral essentials he leaves the novel, much as he entered it. This lack of moral justice inflicted upon Self is arguably one of the major centres of dislike pitted against this novel. Amis does not provide a social or (using the words of his father, realist author Kinglsey Amis) "human lesson." It presents the seamy, grimy underside of the epicentres of western (and capitalist) society but presents no exoneration or punishment for John Self or the societies which he populates. The frustration of the reader in not seeing the protagonist regretful or even adequately reflective of his lifestyle seems to deny a perceived need of the novel to distribute and/or advocate for some kind of social justice or responsibility.

Some critics (and even authors) of contemporary British literature suffer the belief that the 'hey-day' of English literature is passed, that nothing written in the present can possibly match that which was written in the past. One reason attached to this negative opinion of current British literature is that it is unable to produce a 'state of the nation' style novel, that is a book which encompasses what DH Lawrence in 1956 described as "the whole man alive."

This is ultimately a flawed ideal though, as modern society is a highly complex beast- arguably much more so than the 1950's world in which Lawrence wrote his comment. The expectation of a modern novel to be able to swallow the moral, ethical and social dilemmas faced each day by the modern citizen seems implausible and runs the risk of producing fiction which critic Nick Rennison describes as "dead on the page."

In Money, Amis seems to have disregarded these nostalgic, backward looking critics and instead of aiming for an all encompassing view of society he has set his satirical sights on a few principle social issues which were pertinent to his time. The fact that his comments on the dangers of excessive consumerism, capitalism and the potential banality and emptiness of modern life are as relevant in 2007 as they were in 1984 is testament to the sharpness of his political and social awareness.

Although the book centres around a self proclaimed 'yob' protagonist, the text is not lacking in sophistication, Martin's lush and innovative prose style and structure prove as much. His constant references to highbrow literature seem to reinforce this idea. For instance there is an underlying allegory to Shakespeare's Othello which underlies a great majority of the novel and Amis peppers the texts with the names of great writers, such as the pub named the Shakespeare, the characters Martina Twain and Fielding Goodney, as well as references to literary places such as Room 101 (from Orwell's 1984) which is also ironically, Self's hotel room.

This novel is a high speed ride through modern life as seen through the eyes of perhaps one of its worst inhabitants. It has a particular brand of satirical and ironic humour which is confronting, but also enlightening in terms of the ultimate message which the book is attempting to make.

Great style of writing, but somehow the book lost me somewhere in the middle. It is about John Self, newly rich who burns his life and chases more money. Dialogues are funny, some parts of the novel are very entertaining. But unlike "London Fields", which arouses more and more interest as the plot develops, "Money" becomes repetitive and boring. At least for me.

I have always believed that I should own my own body, even when it comes to deciding when it is time to die. As a mature adult, I should be allowed to make my own life-ending decisions. Laws in the U.S. being what they are, this can be hard to accomplish. Final Exit is a wonderful book and explains what may be difficult to understand. It also gives examples for those of us who know little about the procedure.

Chris had everything to live for except some financial troubles. He became infatuated with this book and died yesterday with it by his side.

A brilliant inventor, Chris prided himself by being self-taught by reading books.

The rest speaks for itself. If you see a friend or loved one with this book, get them help ASAP

If you are looking for an easy way to die, this book doesn't give it to you.

The world will be a better place to live when the author of this book finally takes his own advice to heart.

This has a discount, but I've read it's important to get the updated addendum info like the helium kit, which does not look like it's included here.

The ERGO site has the addendum included with the book. You can also get the addendum separately.

The reviews all say how "fast-paced" the book is. Yes it is fast paced, it jumps into action-scenes, throw 7 sets of characters at you with no character development and never gives it to you and expects you to care/get attached to the characters. The dialogue is wooden. The action scenes themselves are the only redeeming quality about the book, but again, not a legal thriller there. If you want action, fast paced thrillers, with actual interesting characters - go with Lee Child's Jack Reacher series.

I finished Bob Dugoni's book very quickly and felt it was fantastic! The story grabbed my interest right from the start and never let go. The characters are drawn out so well that you feel you are part of the action. It's like being in another world. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone as it is well worth the time to read good fiction and this book is excellent. Go Bob! Nice job on the book.

I had the pleasure to attend one of Bob's presentations on writing in Chicago not long ago. He really is an outstanding teacher and I really enjoyed his writing course. Get Bob Dugoni's books as they are worth the time to read.

This is a good thriller because it keeps you guessing until virtually the last page. David Sloane is a no-nonsense attorney who "plays" a jury to get clients cleared of negligence suits. One day he gets a call from a guy named Joe Branick. This call it important because it is the last call Branick made before "supposedly" committing suicide. Sloane is haunted by recurring dreams of helplessly trying to save the same woman from an unruly mob. The call from Branick stirs up more memories.

Meanwhile, Branick's death is being investigated by a detective Molia who is also concerned about the death of police officer Cooperman who responded to a call to the scene of Branick's "suicide." Molia is told by some Feds to stop investigating and turn everything over to them. Of course, curiousity gets the best of Molia and a sense of seeking justice for Cooperman so he continues to investigate anyway.

Meanwhile the call to Sloane and a package from Branick that arrived by mail set off calls to military type assasins to get the package from Sloane and take care of him.

Eventually, Sloane and Molia will meet up and make on odd pairing to go after the bad guys.

There is a lot of good action with vivid descriptions and the author does a good job of keeping the suspense going. A good read.

...Pick it up at a used bookstore. Preferably one where you don't have to pay more than fifty cents for it. I just finished this book and wish I'd had a peek at what the Amazon readers had to say first. Could have invested the time more wisely.

I did not read every single review written by other readers, but I read enough of them to find that the critical reviews are more honest about this book than the glowing ones. The metaphores and some other issues have been covered: I'll point out a couple more.

The law enforcement aspects of the book--meaning how the cops do things--is just dead wrong so many times it becomes a distraction. For example, a body is discovered in the hills of West Virginia with a gunshot wound to the head. Police officers are trained NOT to immediately jump to conclusion that such incidents are suicides, yet an 18 year investigator does just that initially.

Characters who are presented as otherwise very intelligent sometimes let the obvious go right past them. For example, the main character, Sloan, discovers his apartment has been broken into, but nothing is stolen; a fellow tenant advises him that she saw a phone company employee on the premisis. It doesn't occur to him to check to see if his phones have been bugged until much later. He has a 170+ IQ and is a wily attorney.

The dialogue is unbearable at times. When you are talking to another person, it is extremely rare to continue using their name over and over as you speak to them. "How are you today, Bob?" "Did you catch the game, Bob?" "Thanks, Bob, but I'm trying to cut back on the beers." Yet this is how the characters speak to each other throughout the book.

And, as previously mentioned, the title of the book is very misleading. I don't think this rates as a legal thriller and it has very little to do with the prowess of the main character in dealing with juries.

This is just Mr. Dugoni's first or second novel, so I wish him the best with future efforts. Based on his acknowledgement page at the beginning of the novel, he strikes you as a decent fellow who's made an effort to write a good book. I just happen to think he fell a bit short this time.

"The Jury Master" is a fine book and Robert Dugoni a welcome writer to the genre, but which genre? One national magazine calls this book a legal thriller, but that is only partially accurate. It is also a political thriller through politics and military. It is a police procedural. It is a psychological thriller through identity search and many unknowns in people and events woven throughout the story. But by the end it has become an engaging and satisfying whodunit and why. The jury master wins the game.

One reviewer criticized Dugoni's overuse of similes. They annoyed me, too, making me wonder why his editor did not incise those things right out. Such annoyances cause readers to shut the book in indignation as verified several times on this page, and almost by me. However, by the middle of the book those similes had ended, or I was so engrossed I did not notice them. I am addressing them because they are a clear mar of an otherwise tightly plotted book. Everything else fits together by the end!

As for the title, whose meaning is misleading, it is part of Dugoni's clever plotting. The first chapter shows the reader what a gifted attorney can do in a summation. David Sloane delivers his closing marks off the cuff, knowing when he finishes he has won the trial (he can "read" jurors) and should not have. This chapter is the last overt reference to the title. The reader can only realize its true meaning at the conclusion of the novel when all the facts are in. Only then can the reader fairly render a verdict and understand why Sloane is a jury master.

This thriller was entertaining on many levels. I enjoyed the many subplots and character revelations and how Dugoni put them together. By the way, the word "plot" comes from the French "plait" or weaving together. A talented writer weaves together two or more threads to present a whole cloth of a story. The fact that Dugoni, a first-time writer, weaves together multiple strands to create this story is an indicator of fabulous stories to come. In this one evil is outed, wrongs are righted, but oh what a journey to see these things done.

"The Jury Master" is an impressive debut. I look forward to seeing Sloane and Detective Tom Molia again in another book.