Warlight: A novel | 
so-soThis book is the epitome of muted danger as two siblings are left in the care of a band of misfits as their mother continues her career in intrigue. The characters are vaguely drawn and the narrator had an omniscience that was often annoying. While some of the plot strings were tied up, many were not. The writing was gorgeous, but the overall experience was somewhat unsatisfying, more so as the author clearly had the ability to do a complete job.
pickA novel from Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient) that‘s meant to be a lyrical mystery of family, adventure, and intrigue. With the end of World War II as the backdrop, Nathaniel Williams, and his sister, Rachel, learn that their parents are bound for newly liberated Singapore and then life becomes increasingly odd. A female spy story, yet nothing really happens and yet you‘re left wondering how everything happens and it is all connected.
#sorrynotsorry because I always need more books. At least two are #blameitonlitsy
“In 1945 our parents went away and left us in the care of two men who may have been criminals.”
First Line Friday (a few hours early 📚🙂)
pickAt first I thought this was going to be too dense for me to enjoy, but I ended up really liking it.
It‘s the story of Nat, who is trying to find out why his parents abandoned him, and discovers his mother especially may have a dark secret past.
There are some gritty complicated relationships, my favorite being between Nat and The Darter, a smuggler who becomes a father figure to him.
I‘m glad my aunt gave me this book.
My aunt in Vermont really liked this when her bookclub recently read it, so she sent me home with it. Adding it to the TBR shelf 📚🤪.
panThe first half of the novel reminded me of Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh, but at least in that book the main character was very unique. Some of the characters are mildly interesting but, actually no, not really. The second half is a slow finding out of what the narrator‘s mother was all about. But again, there was nothing there to grab me. I‘ve seen praise for the narrative but I dunno I think Nabokov, McCarthy & Murakami are light years ahead.
pickThis finds Ondaatje in fine form; somewhere between the more straightforward English Patient (a good read, syrupy film) and Anil‘s Ghost that has me still scratching my head; this is not nostalgic like Cat‘s Table, but rather skirts the issue in the warlight of the books title.
pick#Bookspin December list:
1. The Innocents
2. Fierce Femmes
3. Lost Children Archive
4. H is for Hawk
5. Me and White Supremacy
6. So You Want toTalk about Race
7. The Salt Path
8. Dorothy Day
9. Warlight
10. Pull of the Stars
11. When They Call You a Terrorist
12. Bush Runner
13. The New Jim Crow
14. The Mosquito
15. Reality Bubble
16. The Innocents
17. Furious Hours
18. Love Loss and What We Ate
19. Frying Plantain
20. Indians on Vacation
so-soFinally finished this book club book... it felt like it took years, but really only 5 days. It‘s not a terribly exciting story, but it is beautifully written and the audio narration is spot on. This atmospheric mystery/coming of age take is told by Nathaniel, figuring out his childhood, his mother who was some sort of secret agent during and after WWII, and what events shape us and how.
pickThis line on d last page summarises d book,its filled with half stories & you are left to fill in d gaps.This line made me wonder,although our lives r not as dramatic,but this still holds credence to truth in real life.It took a while to finish but it was quite good, not great but still good.Loved that it only gave half truths & left us to fill in the gap.It gave hints throughout,old characters re-emerging,some getting closure,some still a mystery
Uptil page 112, this was a nice easy going book with Stories of teenagers left suddenly by there parent.
The next page took a really unexpected dark turn, I did not see it coming.
I have to say this, it is not your typical historical fiction book which are usually filled with action and are fast paced but the writing is really good, characters really interesting and the prose used is beautiful!!
These came in the mail today. I believe the little pin is a book mark or is it something else, can't figure it out!! Any Ideas?
pickMy last read for round 8 of #lmpbc is setting off for home. I enjoyed this book although it wasn‘t really what I imagined. There were definitely some parts that were a little slow but overall it was an intriguing story and something different from a lot of the WWII/post WWII books I‘ve read. Thank you all for a wonderful round of #lmpbc. Tracking shows a Monday delivery.
pickReally good read!
Very different in its approach to the post WW2 years, and full.of espoionage and conspiracies.
I liked the fact that there was room for interpretation.
Interesting blurb, downloaded from our awesome library app.
Set just after WW2, two teenage siblings left in the care of a guardian... but he, and things, seem to not be as apparent as assumed.
My #bookspin for June: I've loved Michael Ondaatje's stuff in the past, but have been putting this one off. A good nudge to read it!
pickThis is somewhere between a pick and so-so, but I really enjoyed the first part, so pick it is.
We meet siblings Nathaniel and Rachel in London after the war. Their parents suddenly leaves, and they are taken care of by friends of their parents. I loved reading about the trips along the Themes.
12 yrs after, Nathaniel looks into what really happened back then. For me some of these parts dragged a little and that says something in a 300p book
#BookReport
Finished:
? The book by Høyer
? The Stranger by Läckberg
In progress:
? Warlight
? Weather on Libby
? The Hanging Girl, I didn‘t get in much audio this week
I read more than I thought I would this week. That probably has something to do with that I fell on my walk on Sunday and injured my ankle. It‘s not broken, but it hurts to walk on, so I‘ve mostly been reading with my foot up high on the sofa.
Came home after a long night of work to find this in my mail box. Thank you so much @cwarnier for all the goodies. They made me so happy 😊❤️🥰. Can‘t wait to read our #LMPBC book.
so-so#lmpbc
@shellleigh33 @Kaila-ann @Readergrrl
Thanks for the share. This was not in my normal of reading, but good for me to step out of my comfort level. I just am not a huge fan of war books. Those that do would probably like it a lot.
I was so excited to go to the mailbox this morning. Thanks @Readergrrl @shellleigh33 #lmpbc
@Kaila-ann
I totally agree that this life as an online teacher is rough.
pick#Movember Day 29: It is a coming-of-age story, a lyrical tribute to a turbulent childhood made magical by unforgettable characters who are resourceful, fearless, and lived by their own set of rules. #IllRemember. I like the unapologetic commitment to living one‘s life the best way one knows how – regardless of the fragments left behind, notwithstanding the unopened trunk of clothes that went nowhere. My review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-iUU
pickThis novel is quiet and understated. The story is about a teenage boy and the affect war has on him, his family, his relationships and his future. There are a lot of beautiful sentences and the writing and story is so well crafted that I think it's a book that would hold up to being re-read several times.
This one seems to be much more to my taste.
pickI was having trouble with this one as an audiobook so switched to print and totally loved it. Ondaatje can weave such rich and elaborate tales. Our main character narrates living through his odd childhood with absent parents and then his adulthood coming to understand who his mother was and all the strange adults that surrounded him growing up. It left me thinking of all the behind-the-scenes work of war and unsung heroes and villains.
pickIn the years after WWII, Nathaniel tries to piece together a sense of his mother‘s life after her death, and why she abandoned him. This is the sort of literary writing I‘ve not enjoyed in the past but I enjoyed this, although it left me feeling sad. The last few books I‘ve read, whilst each very different, have been about motherhood in some form. This was from the child‘s perspective and the teenage Nathaniel nearly broke my heart 💔
I just read a review that said this was dreamlike and I‘m not very good with dreamlike, so now I feel nervous. That‘s why I should never read reviews before I start the book!
Michael Ondaatje is such a gorgeous writer!
Audiobooks make transit so much more tolerable!
pick“We order our lives with barely held stories.”
Beautiful writing. There are some really vivid moments and it‘s a very atmospheric read however I wasn‘t invested in the characters or the story itself. I love the theme running throughout of memory & how we perceive events differently as an adult. I‘ll definitely read more by the author. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
It might sound weird but I had a dream about buying this a little while ago and the last time I dreamt I bought a book I hadn‘t read it was The Poisonwood Bible and that turned out to be a new favourite of mine, so I‘m hoping the same will be said about this one. 🖤
pickI loved this book. Set in post war England, it‘s an character study that really has a great story. I won‘t give too much away but there are lots of family secrets in this one. Excellent book club pic. #booked2019 #summer #bookgiftedtome
1. Warlight. Very good. 2. Beach. 3. I love them. 4. I‘m working on it. Throwing around a few. 5. Will do! #friyayintro
My ‘currently reading‘ pile.
I should really be reading Warlight right now, as my IRL book club is meeting on Thursday, but I find myself caught up in Eleanor Oliphant. I picked it up for my 87-year-old mother-in-law (she needs it for her book club! 😍) and it looks like I‘m now doing a ‘quality-control‘ preread for her. 😆
“But it was an old house. She knew each slight incline of hall, every stiff window casing, the noise of winds during different seasons. She could have walked blindfolded through its rooms into the garden and stopped with assurance an inch from a lilac. She knew where the moon hung each month, as well as which window to view it from. It was her biography since birth, her biology. I think it drove her mad.”
“And that brief moment with the hot iron poised in her hand in midair as she watched The Moth remembering their earlier days left an indelible perception.”
*note: this is a beautiful quote, but I couldn‘t resist this vintage photo because wtf 😅
“It took several days, this act of packing, and felt slow and fateful in its activity, like an endless ghost story.”
