Beatrice & Virgil

Maybe you could tell us who wrote it? Or something something?

I've never heard of this book before - but judging by the title, it seems like a lengthy epic dealing with the internal struggles of horticulture and hummingbirds. I'm not sure if I want to dig into one of those that the moment.

It's a book by Yann Martel, the author of Life of Pi. The book is about a conversation between a donkey and a monkey. It is also about the Holocaust.

sounds rivetting.

I picked it up yesterday.! His first novel Life of Pi blew me away. I'm going to see him read next Wednesday, so I should be done  with Beatrice and Virgil by then and will report back.

You read it, Plummer?

interesting development. maybe i should unswallow my foot. you've got pretty good literary taste Mirka, so i'm gonna take make my sarcastic comment at this stage. speaking of your literaryy taste; i picked up Franny & Zooey the other day. well, it was about a week or two ago, but still. i still haven't read it yet, though.

The reviews I've read for it so far say it's okay, but nowhere near approaching Life of Pi. Being that I haven't read Life of Pi yet either, this means little to me. It's one of those I picked up and put down at the store 100 times but never got around to getting.

I read a mixed review in the Seattle Book section this morning. This does not sound good.."mind racing"?!

Beatrice and Virgil" has its flaws. There are occasional clichés: someone is safe and sound, Henry's mind races. And, except the taxidermist, the humans — notably the writer's wife — are stick figures (though this, of course, may be deliberate). These are minor flaws, however, in what is otherwise a novel that is ambiguous and inscrutable — but also provocative and brilliantly imagined.

But, if it's only half as good as Pi, it's still going to be great. 

Matt, glad to hear you picked up Franny and Zooey. I wonder if you'll like it. I hope so! He has a crazy, highly personal writing style that people love or loathe. Even if you loathe the style, I think it's worth it to read this one to the end. The two stories "Franny" and "Zooey" were published separately as novellas, so if you get bogged down in Franny, skip forward to Zooey. I think you'll end up returning to Franny if you go about reading it that way.

yeah. i read the first couple of pages of Franny in the bookstore. i read on the copyright page about how it was published sperately, in the new yorker, i think? i really liked what i read. the language. i'll let you know when i get around to reading it. probably soon. it is sitting up relatively high on my too-read pile.

Yep, the New Yorker. Do we have a "To Be Read" thread yet/somewhere?

i don't thnk so. an seeing as though i'm virtually the book club mod (don't tell Pete. he's trying to tax all my god ideas), i should know. haha. no, but seriously. i don't think so. but how well wouldthat work. i'd just post a million books in there everyday.

I would think the "What books did you just buy?" thread would qualify as the to-be-read thread. Otherwise things'll get redundant.

so true.

and i do the same. i'll read, on average, about 2 books a week. sometimes a lot more. sometimes a lot less. but i buy them like they'll all be extinct tomorrow.

The book was okay, I wouldn't recommend it though. The style is syrupy sweet, the characters are flat and a lot of it is written as a play. Overall, I was bored and annoyed.

I read it and kinda thought it was... fucking amazing. Like, masterpiece level. I have no idea if I'm alone in this, but I surprised myself. I did read it when jet lagged though, so maybe I was just feeling emotional and needed to like a donkey.

We have very different tastes! I read it with an open mind, I think, really trying hard not to compare it to 'Life of Pi' which I do consider fucking amazing, but I was really bored. There were some good things in it, and the idea was good, I mean I finished it, and I don't finish books if I don't like them at all. I felt relived that I was done when I finished it, not regretful like I feel when something engrosses me.

I'm glad you had that experience though. The last book that blew me away like that was last December! That's sad! I need to be moved and shaken and amazed.

Beatrice was lovely, and I liked the donkey in the manger scene towards the end when he murmurs her name.

I think you would like 'The Gargoyle' by Andrew Davidson if you liked 'Beatrice and Virgil' on an emotional level.

I'd like to read that, I've got it lying around somewhere. What was the book last December?

I remember the opening parts dragging a little bit, where it talks of his first attempt to write the book. But I loved the theatre scenes, and the Taxidermist was nicely creepy. There aren't enough taxidermists in fiction. There aren't enough taxidermists.

'Await Your Reply' by Dan Chaon was the book that almost ruined X-Mas 2009 because I would not/could not stop reading it! I love that book so very much.

Some of the writing was very beautiful in B&V, but I kind of think the book within a book thing was a little gimmicky (The Horrors), and though the play was the best part, I wanted to be reading a novel, not a play. I do agree that taxidermists are undervalued in fiction and he created a very good one! He's a character to think about for some time after finishing the book.

Yann Martel has a very simple but amazing tone to his writing. I picked up Beatrice & Virgil and read it in just 2 sittings, it was just that addictive. Not particularly long, just 200 pages and filled with script so it went very, very fast. At its core I found it to be a story of writer's block, something that will link all of us creative thinkers sooner or later. If you fancy yourself a writer I'd highly suggest it. Aside from being an amazing take on writer's block, it's got a great story to go along with it.