The Enchantment of Lily Dahl
12 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Caro1 from Newark On Trent, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Thursday, March 17, 2005
Lily, a 19-year-old waitress in Minnesota, becomes enchanted with an outsider - an artist from New York. Thrust into a new world of erotic adventure and friendship, Lily finds herself the target of mysterious, frightening acts of madness as she strains against the confines of a small town.This was the first book of Siri Hustvedt's that I read and I went straight out to search for others after reading it. The Enchantment... is beautifully written, with a great plot and really engaging characters. It also contains amongst the best description of works of art that I have read and all this in only 275 pages!
Journal Entry 2 by Caro1 from Newark On Trent, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Thursday, March 17, 2005
Welcome to The Enchantment of Lily Dahl bookring!We now have 9 members. I sent the bookring to hunnyb on Tues 22nd March and hope it reaches you all safely :-) Happy Bookring Reading!
Any problems, please PM me.
The list is as follows:
hunnyb, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
wandering, Middelbeers, Noord-Brabant Netherlands
Sternschnuppe28, St. Goarshausen, Rheinland-Pfalz Germany
UrbanSpaceman, London
Winterson, Brighton
WormyOne, Brighton
Heaven-Ali, Birmingham
angellica, Worksop
chelseagirl, Farnborough
blaisezabini12, Romania
MyopicMeringue, Surrey
....then back to me.
Please remember to journal the book BOTH when you have received it (so we all know where it is) and once you have read it (so we all know what you thought of it).
I am really looking forward to hearing your feedback, thanks for participating.
Caroline
Journal Entry 3 by Caro1 from Newark On Trent, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, March 22, 2005
On its way to hunnyb. Happy reading!
Arrived safe and sound today - what a beautiful bookmark! :) Looking fwd to reading it
Not quite what I expected - suprisingly beautiful. The plot is intertwined with Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, adding to the magic/ mystery. It's going to be sent on its way now to the Netherlands - happy reading!
Received it today and I am looking forward to reading it. Nice touch, that bookmark!
Finished reading this book today and I liked it. The story leaves me with a weird feeling. What happened? The story didn't seem to be more than a desciption of a town and its inhabitants, their interrelationships and so on. A very nicely written description, that is. But in the end all these things happen that I can't put my finger on. Maybe I should read 'a Midsummer Night's Dream', so I can understand?
Thanks for sharing this book, Caro1! I allready got Sternschnuppe28's address, so it is on its way to Germany!
Thanks for sharing this book, Caro1! I allready got Sternschnuppe28's address, so it is on its way to Germany!
The book came in yesterday via mail. Thanks to Caro1 for initiating the ring and wandering for sending it to me including this lovely greeting card.
Too bad I have to prepare for a presentation today, because otherwise I would have started reading immediately ...
Too bad I have to prepare for a presentation today, because otherwise I would have started reading immediately ...
enchanting! a beautifully written book, which I enjoyed reading very much!
Hustvedt has created a very appealing, likable heroine in Lily Dahl, and the supporting cast and scenary is just wonderful. The novel begins as an erotic love story, continues to be a coming-of-age novel, is in between a sort of fairy-tale with dreamy parts and last, but not least a murder mystery. Some things are never answered or explained, but somehow even the unexplained and out-of-place parts of the novel don't irritate. Rather, they enrich the story, give it all kinds of elements.
The book has already started travelling to UrbanSpaceman this afternoon.
Hustvedt has created a very appealing, likable heroine in Lily Dahl, and the supporting cast and scenary is just wonderful. The novel begins as an erotic love story, continues to be a coming-of-age novel, is in between a sort of fairy-tale with dreamy parts and last, but not least a murder mystery. Some things are never answered or explained, but somehow even the unexplained and out-of-place parts of the novel don't irritate. Rather, they enrich the story, give it all kinds of elements.
The book has already started travelling to UrbanSpaceman this afternoon.
Just got back from a week away and this was waiting for me. I'm off travelling again in two days, so I'll probably take it with me and send it on when I get back in about a week.
This was a very well-written and engaging novel with a dark, noirish, yet at times dreamlike feel to it. It deals with desire and the effect of it on people and the power that art can have over us.
I liked the description of the town and its inhabitants and the way that Hustvedt manages to portray them in a sympathetic light, irrespective of their initial appearance.
Thanks, once again, to Caro1 for ringing this.
I'll post it on to Winterson later today.
I liked the description of the town and its inhabitants and the way that Hustvedt manages to portray them in a sympathetic light, irrespective of their initial appearance.
Thanks, once again, to Caro1 for ringing this.
I'll post it on to Winterson later today.
Journal Entry 12 by Winterson from Peacehaven , East Sussex United Kingdom on Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Received safe and well. No longer have internet access at home (oh the pain!) hence delay in journalling. This looks great and the reviews have certainly caught my interest.
Journal Entry 13 by Winterson from Peacehaven , East Sussex United Kingdom on Wednesday, July 6, 2005
I loved this too. I've not read anything by Hustvedt before, but have one on the pile that I might have to bump up a few places now.
Beautifully written, 'Enchantment' uses 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' to echo the themes of fantasy and obsession, and the blending of reality with art and play. I loved the character of Mabel, and the descriptions of Ed's paintings. I think they will stay with me for some time.
On to Wormyone.
Beautifully written, 'Enchantment' uses 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' to echo the themes of fantasy and obsession, and the blending of reality with art and play. I loved the character of Mabel, and the descriptions of Ed's paintings. I think they will stay with me for some time.
On to Wormyone.
Journal Entry 14 by WormyOne from Brighton & Hove, East Sussex United Kingdom on Friday, July 8, 2005
Yippee, another one off my wish list. :-)
Looking forward to reading this one. Will get to it as soon as I finish Larry McMurty's Lonesome Dove.
Looking forward to reading this one. Will get to it as soon as I finish Larry McMurty's Lonesome Dove.
Journal Entry 15 by WormyOne from Brighton & Hove, East Sussex United Kingdom on Wednesday, July 20, 2005
This has a wonderful, dreamlike atmosphere but also a tension that builds throughout. It blurs the line between illusion and reality so that I wasn't always sure what really happened and what was in someone's imagination. In fact, even by the end, not all was clear but I don't resent it. It seems to fit with the feel of the book.
I loved the portrayal of Lily's character. I thought it was very believable - particularly the way she is both sexually confident and knowing yet, in many ways, naive and emotionally immature.
I also loved the way small-town life was depicted - everyone knowing everyone else's business; everyone interested in everyone else's business; rumour and gossip distorting the truth so it's hard to know whether to believe what comes through on the grapevine.
I suspect there were analogies and parallels that I missed and I wish I'd chosen it for my book group (it was my turn to choose a book last time we met and I chose The Secret Life of Bees, but I think there's far more to get our teeth into here).
I loved the portrayal of Lily's character. I thought it was very believable - particularly the way she is both sexually confident and knowing yet, in many ways, naive and emotionally immature.
I also loved the way small-town life was depicted - everyone knowing everyone else's business; everyone interested in everyone else's business; rumour and gossip distorting the truth so it's hard to know whether to believe what comes through on the grapevine.
I suspect there were analogies and parallels that I missed and I wish I'd chosen it for my book group (it was my turn to choose a book last time we met and I chose The Secret Life of Bees, but I think there's far more to get our teeth into here).
Journal Entry 16 by Heaven-Ali from Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Friday, July 29, 2005
This arrived while I was away, hence the short delay in journaling. will read this next.
Journal Entry 17 by Heaven-Ali from Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Monday, August 1, 2005
I really enjoyed this intruging read. It does have a dream like quality to it, which adds to the mystique of the story. The towns people are great I love quirky characters. I liked the central character and felt such frustration on her behalf as she struggled to work out what's going on. I was also fascinated by Mabel. Thank you Caro1 for sharing this book, I read What I loved last year, and after reading this will be looking out for The Blindfold.
Will be sending to Angellica later today.
Will be sending to Angellica later today.
Journal Entry 18 by angellica from Worksop, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Saturday, August 6, 2005
Arrived safely today :)
thanks for letting me take part
thanks for letting me take part
Journal Entry 19 by angellica from Worksop, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 21, 2005
I really enjoyed this book. It took me a while to get into it, but I really looked forward to picking it up and reading it. Very enchanting and I can only echo what others have said
I will be looking for other books by this author, and looking for a copy for my Permanent Collection
Thanks Caro1 for letting me participate in this bookring and introducing me to a new author!
I have Chelseagirls address so I will be sending this on as soon as I can
I will be looking for other books by this author, and looking for a copy for my Permanent Collection
Thanks Caro1 for letting me participate in this bookring and introducing me to a new author!
I have Chelseagirls address so I will be sending this on as soon as I can
Journal Entry 20 by chelseagirl from Faringdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Arrived safely, many thanks. I've got a pile of ring books to read but will get to this asap.
Journal Entry 21 by chelseagirl from Faringdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Thursday, November 24, 2005
Finally got round to reading this, and it was well worth the effort!
This is an enchanting tale of life in a small town full of freaks and oddballs. Some of the inhabitants are truly bizarre but Siri Hustvedt manages to make them all rounded, believable and likeable, despite - or maybe because of - their strange quirks. Lily is a wonderful character who leaps off every page, so full of life and energy and curiosity yet so innocent and sweet. The ending left more questions than answers and I felt like there were lots of loose ends to be tied up: I spent a lot of time aftr finishing the novel wondering about various ideas it raised. I don't know A Midsummer Night's Dream at all so I've probably missed out on a lot of the books' depth because of that, but it didn't dint my enjoyment of what is an extremely unusual and thoroughly enjoable tale.
Many thanks for organising the ring!
I'll pass this on as soon as I have an address.
This is an enchanting tale of life in a small town full of freaks and oddballs. Some of the inhabitants are truly bizarre but Siri Hustvedt manages to make them all rounded, believable and likeable, despite - or maybe because of - their strange quirks. Lily is a wonderful character who leaps off every page, so full of life and energy and curiosity yet so innocent and sweet. The ending left more questions than answers and I felt like there were lots of loose ends to be tied up: I spent a lot of time aftr finishing the novel wondering about various ideas it raised. I don't know A Midsummer Night's Dream at all so I've probably missed out on a lot of the books' depth because of that, but it didn't dint my enjoyment of what is an extremely unusual and thoroughly enjoable tale.
Many thanks for organising the ring!
I'll pass this on as soon as I have an address.
Journal Entry 22 by chelseagirl from Faringdon, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Sunday, January 8, 2006
Juat want to say ... I'm REALLY sorry but I thought I'd sent this off weeks ago, and I've jsut found it on my bookshelf. Aaargh! Sorry :0( Anyway, it is not all packed up and I'll post it off tomorrow.
Picked up today from the post office. Thank you chelseagirl for mailing the book all the way to Romania and thank you Caro1 for allowing me to be a part of one more of your wonderful rings!
27 January 06: I wouldn't have picked up this book on my own - I decided to read it because it was one of Caro1s' rings (and I like her taste in books:)) and I don't regret it. It had some really good descriptions and I liked the setting a lot (small town, not many characters but very complex).
My only regret is that I think that Lily isn't going to leave her hometown...at least that is my feeling after reading the book; and I so hoped for her to get to New York!
Will pm the next reader on the list.
3 February 06: mailed today.
27 January 06: I wouldn't have picked up this book on my own - I decided to read it because it was one of Caro1s' rings (and I like her taste in books:)) and I don't regret it. It had some really good descriptions and I liked the setting a lot (small town, not many characters but very complex).
My only regret is that I think that Lily isn't going to leave her hometown...at least that is my feeling after reading the book; and I so hoped for her to get to New York!
Will pm the next reader on the list.
3 February 06: mailed today.
Thanks, Blaisezabini12 - I look foward to reading this.
