Brooklyn: A Novel

by Colm Toibin | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 1439148953 Global Overview for this book
Registered by grovalskii of Zehlendorf, Berlin Germany on 1/2/2013
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13 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by grovalskii from Zehlendorf, Berlin Germany on Wednesday, January 2, 2013
This is my choice for the 2012 Favourite Book Roundabout. I really enjoyed the tale of the girl who moves to a new country and stuggles to find her way. Maybe because the story reminds me of my own life journey.

Journal Entry 2 by grovalskii at Zehlendorf, Berlin Germany on Sunday, January 6, 2013

Released 11 yrs ago (1/6/2013 UTC) at Zehlendorf, Berlin Germany

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Mailed the book out yesterday to start it's journey on the 2012 Favourite Roundabout

Journal Entry 3 by LiniP at Schwäbisch Hall, Baden-Württemberg Germany on Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The book arrived safely today. I am looking forward to reading it soon.

Journal Entry 4 by LiniP at Schwäbisch Hall, Baden-Württemberg Germany on Saturday, January 12, 2013
I finished the book this afternoon. I especially liked the end and the way some decisions were really taken out of her hands. The book will move again at the end for January. Thanks for the good choice.

Journal Entry 5 by LiniP at Schwäbisch Hall, Baden-Württemberg Germany on Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Released 11 yrs ago (1/22/2013 UTC) at Schwäbisch Hall, Baden-Württemberg Germany

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The book is off to the next reader!

Journal Entry 6 by Lamilla at Мінск / Minsk, Minsk Belarus on Thursday, February 28, 2013
Arrived with another book from Fav. 2012 roundabout.
This is my February book, I'll be reading it in March and then pass along to the next reader.

Journal Entry 7 by Lamilla at Мінск / Minsk, Minsk Belarus on Sunday, March 24, 2013
I quitted the book after reading half of it, bored with the main character.
My favourite scene is the journey on the ship with Georgina, it made me laugh and provided some pictures I wouldn't easily forget.
I'm planning to send it further together with the other book from this roundabout.

Journal Entry 8 by Lamilla at Мінск / Minsk, Minsk Belarus on Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (3/26/2013 UTC) at Мінск / Minsk, Minsk Belarus

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Travelling to the next reader.

Track: RR953598470BY

Journal Entry 9 by lamelemon at București, Wallachia Romania on Saturday, April 6, 2013
Safely picked up this morning from the post office, thanks for sharing! And special thanks to Lamilla for the invasion of stamps :)

A new author with a familliar name (I think he has a couple of books on the 1001 lists. Will start reading it in a couple of days.

Journal Entry 10 by lamelemon at București, Wallachia Romania on Friday, April 12, 2013
As much as I hated Eilis's inertia and lack of standing up for herself, this really was for me a beautiful and well-written book. A new author is always welcome, and I'll be on the lookout for more of his work. Most characters were a bit too single-dimensioned for my taste, and I felt the novel was built up for a different ending, but then again I didn't mind too much that Eilis's fate was decided outside her own, it was so consistent with her personality. I liked reading about the post-war society's portraits in both the UK and the US.

Thanks grovalskii for choosing a special book, thanks to the rest of you guys for keeping it going. This one will travel to Merolia in a couple of days.

Journal Entry 11 by lamelemon at București, Wallachia Romania on Saturday, April 20, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (4/20/2013 UTC) at București, Wallachia Romania

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Posted to the next reader, with Marsala's favourite traveling along. Thanks for sharing!

Journal Entry 12 by Merolia at Halandri - Χαλάνδρι, Attica Greece on Thursday, May 9, 2013
Found it in my mailbox today!

Journal Entry 13 by Merolia at Halandri - Χαλάνδρι, Attica Greece on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The book is ready to travel again, please skip my review if you haven't read the book.

This was a fast, easy read, simple to follow. Perhaps too simple, and that was my objection. Every character was one-dimensional, the story itself was one-dimensional. I was expecting some kind of crescendo, some twist... something more. However, in its sheer simplicity, I felt that the story’s message was perfectly clear and well presented. I especially recognized the feeling of two different “realities” between home and a new, faraway place, when living in one place makes the other seem too distant, like a dream. Yet, for the protagonist life itself felt almost like a dream. From beginning to end, in every single occasion, she left herself being dragged by situations and by others around her, avoiding to make her own decisions or even to think too much about them. It is very difficult for me to be fond of such a heroin, although I found the idea though provoking. Such a passive character is not a victim of circumstances, or blameless for what is happening. On the contrary, in my eyes she is fully responsible for not taking decisions or speaking up her mind, ending up hurting others around her.

Overall, this was a pleasant read, it reminded me of familiar situations and made me think, though I didn’t find it particularly powerful or unique.

Journal Entry 14 by Merolia at Halandri - Χαλάνδρι, Attica Greece on Saturday, May 25, 2013
Travelling to France.

Journal Entry 15 by wingIcilawing at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France on Tuesday, June 11, 2013
The book was waiting for me safely at home along with other BC books while I was travelling in Portugal. I hope to catching up...

Journal Entry 16 by wingIcilawing at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France on Wednesday, June 12, 2013
I almost gave up yesteday evening in the middle of the book as I was bored by the lack of anything happening. I just read it after the fever tree where the heroin is really alone in the middle of nowhere in the desert of South Africa after a journey by boat, but not a minute to get bored. Perhaps is it that this book is written by a man ?
I looked at a few pages towards the end this morning ( I never do that usually) and perhaps I'll resume my reading.

Journal Entry 17 by wingIcilawing at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France on Thursday, June 13, 2013
Finally I finished the book, thanks to your entries, and I'm glad. I was just at the very begining of an improvement in the story.
For me the person responsible for this tragedy is the mother with her lack of sympathy towards her daughter and people in general.

Journal Entry 18 by wingIcilawing at La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, Pays de la Loire France on Monday, June 17, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (6/17/2013 UTC) at La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, Pays de la Loire France

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On its way to Earthcaroleanne in Scotland. Enjoy !

Journal Entry 19 by wingearthcaroleannewing at Falkirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Thursday, July 25, 2013
Sorry, I never realised I hadn't done a journal entry that I had received it.

I really enjoyed this. At first it was a little slow but it was a well told story and by part four I wanted to help Eilis get away again and stop being led in the direction everyone else wanted to her go. Of course, how was I to know if this was the right direction or not?

Journal Entry 20 by wingearthcaroleannewing at Belfast, Co. Antrim United Kingdom on Thursday, July 25, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (7/26/2013 UTC) at Belfast, Co. Antrim United Kingdom

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On it's way in the roundabout.

Journal Entry 21 by fleurdelys at Belfast, Co. Antrim United Kingdom on Monday, July 29, 2013
This arrived in the post this morning. Looking forward to reading it.

Journal Entry 22 by fleurdelys at Belfast, Co. Antrim United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 13, 2013
I'm afraid I just couldn't get into this.

Journal Entry 23 by fleurdelys at Belfast, Co. Antrim United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (8/13/2013 UTC) at Belfast, Co. Antrim United Kingdom

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Passing this on to GailRogan to read.

Journal Entry 24 by GailRogan at Belfast, Co. Antrim United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Caught in Belfast

Journal Entry 25 by GailRogan at Madrid, Madrid Spain on Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (9/6/2013 UTC) at Madrid, Madrid Spain

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I loved this one! The characters were realistic and I could easily empathise with the heroine. This is one of my favourites for 2013.

Passing on to Tubereader.

Journal Entry 26 by Tubereader at Bruxelles / Brussel, Bruxelles / Brussel Belgium on Saturday, November 30, 2013
The book arrived safely a long time ago but I had not had the time or energy to get into the website to journal it. Really sorry for that.

I finally got round to doing so and I am also happy to report that I have started reading it. I hope to finish it off as soon as possible so that I can pass it on to the next reader quickly.

Journal Entry 27 by Tubereader at Bruxelles / Brussel, Bruxelles / Brussel Belgium on Thursday, December 5, 2013
I finished reading this book, so this was a very fast read when I finally got to it.

For me it was not until the end of the book that I started feeling angry with Eilis. Difficult to feel sympathy for such a character, although it is built in a way that makes it look as if the author may want us to have sympathy for her.

Despite me not liking very much the main character (for the reasons mentioned also by previous readers), I have very much enjoyed reading this book. It will be moving onwards to Fifna soon, sorry for keeping it so long.

Journal Entry 28 by wingFifnawing at Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Saturday, December 21, 2013
Arrived today, thanks Tubereader. I hope to get to it soon, but if it is carried over into January, I will probably have to give priority to the 2014 roundabout books, so as not to delay that before it's even started.

Journal Entry 29 by wingFifnawing at Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Saturday, December 28, 2013
Although I liked the main character less as the story progressed, and wanted to shake her at times, the book is beautifully written. It's not fast paced, but when the writing is good, that's not a problem. Enjoyed it immensely and will probably seek out more of his books. Good choice for the roundabout, thanks grovalskii!

Journal Entry 30 by wingFifnawing at Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Monday, December 30, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (12/30/2013 UTC) at Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands

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On its way to marsala!

Journal Entry 31 by marsala at Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Thursday, January 2, 2014
The book arrived a couple of days ago, but I wasn't able to journal it yet because of internet problems. I allready started it and so far I'm enjoying it.

Finished it now and I thought it was a great choice for the roundabout. I liked the main character. I loved how she found her own way in America. I can relate to her because I've also spend some time abroad and the way she acts when she gets back to England feels strangly familiar. Because she obviously feels different, but all the things at home are still the same, so it's all a bit alien. And then it's easy to be pushed in a certain direction. So I'm glad in the end she goes back to America.

Journal Entry 32 by marsala at BC Meeting 2014 in Castricum, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Thursday, July 3, 2014

Released 9 yrs ago (7/6/2014 UTC) at BC Meeting 2014 in Castricum, Noord-Holland Netherlands

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Hopefully this book will find a new reader at the big annual Dutch meetup.

Journal Entry 33 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Tuesday, July 8, 2014
And that new reader is me :-)

Wow, what I well travelled book I caught! I look forward to reading it, although thoughts on this book are mixed. Will ad mine when I'm done.

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