Helpful Score: 6
Unlike another reviewer, I did not like this book. Initially I was very excited to read another book by this author, having just finished The Life of Pi, and even bought it new. It was a big disapointment. Perhaps it should be read with a group in a book club and discussed as it proceeds. It was hard to get into, and plodded along without much action so that it was tedious to read. The main character, Henry, meets a taxidermist who has written a play. It consists of the conversation between two animals. It is a parable of sorts for the Holocoust. This author seems to use animals in his books to portray his ideas. Then towards the ending, he describes severe, horrendous torture of one of the animals so graphically that it sickened me. If you are sensitive about the suffering of animals or graphic violence, do not read this book. Just my opinion.
Helpful Score: 3
Wow! If you read one book this year, make it this one! Beatrice & Virgil is the story of an author named Henry who struggles with writer's block. While he is struggling to write a book that is both fiction and non-fiction, he takes the time to answer his fan mail. On one fateful day, he opens a letter from a fan that includes portions of a play in progress. The play concerns one donkey named Beatrice and one Howler monkey named Virgil. Henry is drawn into the play of Beatrice and Virgil, which is fairly oozing with Holocaust themes. This is a relatively short novel of just over 200 pages, but it is a powerhouse of raw emotion, life, loss, and responsibility.
This novel is probably going to be timeless because these issues are endless and ongoing around the world, but for an interesting effect, try reading this novel with the backdrop of the recent, and controversial Arizona immigration reform act.
"We did what we could. We wrote to newspapers. We marched and protested. We voted."
This wins my vote for best book of 2010!
This novel is probably going to be timeless because these issues are endless and ongoing around the world, but for an interesting effect, try reading this novel with the backdrop of the recent, and controversial Arizona immigration reform act.
"We did what we could. We wrote to newspapers. We marched and protested. We voted."
This wins my vote for best book of 2010!
Helpful Score: 1
I loved The Life of Pi, what a disappointment this book was!! The novel gets more depressing and graphic as the book nears it's conclusion, to the point of revulsion - it is one of the worse novels I've read.
Helpful Score: 1
Because of "Pi," I bought this book in hardcover the day it came out. When the panning began, I moved it to the bottom of the stack. Until last month, when I decided to skim it or sell it. Then I read it in one sitting.
I found a brilliant, daring, cunningly imagined, and beautifully written novel. Not always easy, not always pretty, had to skip some searing descriptions near the end, but an absolute tour de force, with echoes of "Waiting for Godot."
If it's literature you're looking for, look no further.
I found a brilliant, daring, cunningly imagined, and beautifully written novel. Not always easy, not always pretty, had to skip some searing descriptions near the end, but an absolute tour de force, with echoes of "Waiting for Godot."
If it's literature you're looking for, look no further.
