Recently Released
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Recently Caught
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Social Links
Bookish Quotes
"I suddenly had a little epiphany: all the books we own, both read and unread, are the fullest expression of self we have at our disposal."
Man and Boy
|
Man and Boy
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
5 journalers for this copy...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Received from jblueafterglow today at a prearranged meet-up at 1138 Melville Street in Vancouver. Thanks very much!
|
|
|
|
|
I read Man and Boy while on a business trip to Ottawa (at left: MAB visits Parliament Hill!), so I read it quickly -- on the plane, and in my hotel room. I found the book an easy, enjoyable read -- kind of like reading one of those "young adult" books (S.E. Hinton and the like) you borrow from the library in high school. Parts of it were so sad and sweet, especially the descriptions of Harry's son ("my beautiful boy"), his WWII veteran Dad and his faithful Mum (does anyone have parents like that anymore?). I also enjoyed Parsons' descriptions of the little pockets of rural English countryside Harry discovered from time to time, hidden amongst the suburban sprawl.The parts I didn't like: the excessively political, Kramer vs. Kramer messaging about fathers' rights in the second half of the book, and the fact that by 2/3 of the way through the story, I couldn't see Harry as anyone other than Hugh Grant (it's impossible to believe Parsons didn't have "screenplay" in mind when he wrote this book ...). Without giving away a key piece of the story, the part of Man and Boy I found most amazing and moving was Parsons' harrowingly accurate descriptions of a cancer death. Clearly he's been there. He did an amazing job of describing -- in very few words -- the indescribably awful. If you like this book, be sure to pick up Nick Hornby's About a Boy and Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, both of which deal with very similar themes and situations (see also Four Weddings and a Funeral). |
|
|
|
|
I'm home from Ottawa, and will be mailing this book to JonAzrael in Wokingham, England today. Best wishes from New Westminster, British Columbia (at left: the Fraser River as seen from the top of my street). Home sweet home!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
