Black Dogs **BookRing**
12 journalers for this copy...
In 1946, a young couple set off on their honeymoon. Fired by their ideals and passion for one another, they plan an idyllic holiday, only to encounter an experience of darkness so terrifying it alters their lives forever. In this highly praised national bestseller, Ian McEwan has written his most humane and compelling novel to date.
I'm registering this one for the "BookCrossing Convention Race to a Million" Challenge, book #124.
I'm registering this one for the "BookCrossing Convention Race to a Million" Challenge, book #124.
This book is now a bookring! It's still open, there's room for three more readers. Please PM me if you still want to join.It's a small paperback, it weighs 100grams, and fits easily in a normal size letterbox.
The readerlist in order:
1. dutch-flybaby (Ede, NL)
2. Sam- (Amsterdam, NL)
3. Silvertje (Diemen, NL)
4. Croixdeguerre (Monnickendam, NL)
5. gerbie7 (Goor, NL)
6. minabomb (Lisboa-Carcavelos, P)
7. Banshee (Villar Dora, It)
8. Rrrcaron (Lancaster, US)
9. cait017 (Cincinnati, US)
10. goatgrrl (New Westminster, Can)
11. Mymlan (Helsinki, Fi)<--- Here now!
12. Torksoul (Paris, F (UK))
13. Argoitz (previously jcoelho) (Lisboa, Por)
14. ...
15. ...
16. monalisaa (Den Haag, NL)
17. MaaikeB (Zeist, NL)
18. Gnoe (Utrecht, NL)
19. maupi (Utrecht, NL)
20. Erbie (Amsterdam, NL) END
The Ring has started!!It's going to dutch-flybaby at the Dutch BC meeting on June 13th.
Journal Entry 4 by dutch-flybabe from Lent (gem. Nijmegen), Gelderland Netherlands on Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Received this book from Erbie at the bookcrossing meeting in Castricum June 13th. Thanks! I will start reading it after my current bookringbook.
Journal Entry 5 by dutch-flybabe from Lent (gem. Nijmegen), Gelderland Netherlands on Friday, June 18, 2004
I was attracted by this book because of the beautiful description in journal entry 1. In comparison the book was horrible, the actual story, which I found disappointing, is in the last part of the book and all the rest is just 'writing around it'. I did not have the patience to read it all, after page 67 I started scanning first lines of paragraphs and after page 73 I started looking for the actual incident with the dogs.Maybe it was me, maybe it's the book, but it was a disappointing experience (and I do feel bad that I had to write again that I didn't like a book).
I will pm Sam- right away, so I can mail the book to him before I leave on holiday to Turkey.
Journal Entry 6 by dutch-flybabe at A mailbox near my home in Ede, Gelderland -- Controlled Releases on Friday, June 18, 2004
Released on Friday, June 18, 2004 at A mailbox near my home in Ede, Gelderland Controlled Releases.Will mail this book later today to Sam-. Enjoy!
Received it in good order.
I saw on the handy list that the previous readr finished it in 5 days! I'm not sure I'll be as quick...
I saw on the handy list that the previous readr finished it in 5 days! I'm not sure I'll be as quick...
Journal Entry 8 by dutch-flybabe from Lent (gem. Nijmegen), Gelderland Netherlands on Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Don't worry Sam-, I didn't read much past page 73. Take your time to enjoy the book :)
Journal Entry 9 by Blue-Ink at - Per post of in persoon doorgegeven in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Released on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at controlled release in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands.
In de brievenbus, op weg naar Silvertje
In de brievenbus, op weg naar Silvertje
Thanks Erbie/Sam-!
It's on top of my TBR-pile. I'm currently reading another ringbook and this one is next.
I thought this was a very powerful, interesting yet sometimes slightly difficult book. I was intrigued by the story and finished the book within 3 days. At the point of the actual Dog Incident I couldn't put it down.
I have to agree that at some points the book tends to get a bit (I don't know how to describe it) "difficult", but I only had a few minor struggles. The strong storyline made me read it with pleasure.
In the mail to croixdeguerre!
It's on top of my TBR-pile. I'm currently reading another ringbook and this one is next.
I thought this was a very powerful, interesting yet sometimes slightly difficult book. I was intrigued by the story and finished the book within 3 days. At the point of the actual Dog Incident I couldn't put it down.
I have to agree that at some points the book tends to get a bit (I don't know how to describe it) "difficult", but I only had a few minor struggles. The strong storyline made me read it with pleasure.
In the mail to croixdeguerre!
Thaks Erbie & Silvertje. I have nothing to read right now, so I'll start tomorrow!
I've read it in France, on my holidays and I really loved this book! Above all I found the portrait of the marriage fascinating.
Thanks Erbie for sharing this book! And now on its way to gerbie7, I hope you'll enjoy it as well.
Thanks Erbie for sharing this book! And now on its way to gerbie7, I hope you'll enjoy it as well.
This one has been waiting two weeks for me to go home, I shall try to read it as soon as possible, to not stop the flow of the ring too much.
Ian McEwan – Black dogs (04-043)
Number: 04-043
Title: Black dogs
Author: Ian McEwan
Language: English
Year: 1992
# Pages: 176 (8211)
Category: Fiction
ISBN: 0-330-32959-6
We’ll start the book with the end. Our main character explains his fascination with the parents of his wife. He has lost his own, ever since has been looking for some sort of substitute. Writing the memoirs of your mother in law then seems logical. Next up a trip to Berlin, the day the Wall came down with your father in law. Brings back memories, hence a useful trip. Finally to France to find out more about what happened on their honeymoon.
It wasn’t a big book and could be read fast I was told. I didn’t manage. I don’t know why, though I do know that the book never really came alive. I tried, but kept finding my thoughts go everywhere, but stay with the story. Without giving away the plot, it seems to me that the anecdote that give the book it’s title, that is the foundation of the whole story, could have been told in a page and a bit. This should have been a short story, not a novel.
Number: 04-043
Title: Black dogs
Author: Ian McEwan
Language: English
Year: 1992
# Pages: 176 (8211)
Category: Fiction
ISBN: 0-330-32959-6
We’ll start the book with the end. Our main character explains his fascination with the parents of his wife. He has lost his own, ever since has been looking for some sort of substitute. Writing the memoirs of your mother in law then seems logical. Next up a trip to Berlin, the day the Wall came down with your father in law. Brings back memories, hence a useful trip. Finally to France to find out more about what happened on their honeymoon.
It wasn’t a big book and could be read fast I was told. I didn’t manage. I don’t know why, though I do know that the book never really came alive. I tried, but kept finding my thoughts go everywhere, but stay with the story. Without giving away the plot, it seems to me that the anecdote that give the book it’s title, that is the foundation of the whole story, could have been told in a page and a bit. This should have been a short story, not a novel.
Journal Entry 15 by gerbie7 at BookRing in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Friday, September 10, 2004
Released 19 yrs ago (9/10/2004 UTC) at BookRing in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Send it to Portugal today. Even splashed out on the 39 cents extra for priority, it is almost weekend anyway!
Send it to Portugal today. Even splashed out on the 39 cents extra for priority, it is almost weekend anyway!
i've received it today...i'll start reading it as soon as possible...i
'm reading another book at the moment...so when i'm finished i'll start this one...
then give my opinion....in the end
'm reading another book at the moment...so when i'm finished i'll start this one...
then give my opinion....in the end
i've read it...but sometimes i thought of giving up.....the writing isn't bad....the book begins with a good start ...but then, the author lost himself somewhere, and only in the last pages there is a story. Like gerbie7 said...maybe it should be a short novel and not a book...
i'll pass it on to banshee, italy
i'll pass it on to banshee, italy
many topics in this book, many stories: the life of a couple and History(Nazism, Communism); and also mysticism and rationalism, evil and God.
I like McEwan writing, it's charming, even if in a dark way.
This book made me think, too many questions and almost no answer.
thanks Erbie.
Since I can't get an answer from cait017, I send the book to Rrrcaron.
I like McEwan writing, it's charming, even if in a dark way.
This book made me think, too many questions and almost no answer.
thanks Erbie.
Since I can't get an answer from cait017, I send the book to Rrrcaron.
I received this book yesterday. It had a sticker on it that said "found in empty equipment". Maybe that explains why things get lost in the mail sometimes? Anyways, I have a few to read beforehand, but I'll get to it as soon as I can.
Ruth
Ruth
Sending this book to gaotgrrl global priority tomorrow. cait017 never responded to pm's. Hope you all enjoy the book!No excuses for holding it so long other then I am just too unorganized at the time. I'll read this one at a later date, when my slows down some.
Ruth
Ruth
Journal Entry 22 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Black Dogs arrived in today's mail. Thanks very much, Erbie and Rrrcaron, for making this book available and sending it along. I promise I'll have it read and back in the mail within the next couple weeks. Best wishes to all from New Westminster, British Columbia!
I enjoyed Black Dogs a lot, as it provided so much food for thought. In my own life, I've moved back and forth along the Bernard/June continuum so often (from excessive involvement with the mind to excessive involvement with the heart, from a relentlessly rational, scientifically-based critique of things-as-they-are to spiritual surrender, etc.), and I have yet to find an entirely comfortable perch on that line, or -- perhaps -- an acceptable compromise between the two. So I could relate to both characters, as I could to Jeremy in his overwhelming desire to find appropriate "parents" (into which I read: an emotional and intellectual home). Black Dogs strikes me as the kind of book you could read over and over, revealing different insights with each reading. I wouldn't mind picking it up again one day, and I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who thinks they've found the One Truth Path, spiritually or politically! Black Dogs was shortlisted for the 1992 Booker Prize (as were The Comfort of Strangers in 1981, Amsterdam in 1998 -- which ultimately won the Booker, and Atonement in 2001). Ian McEwan's other novels include The Cement Garden (1978), The Child in Time (1987), The Innocent (1989), The Daydreamer (1994), Enduring Love (1997) and Saturday (2005).
(Photo: tearing down the Berlin Wall, November 1989.)
Journal Entry 24 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Saturday, July 16, 2005
PMd Mymlan to ask for her address, and have now received it (July 24/05).
Sent this book by airmail to Mymlan in Helsinki, Finland this afternoon. Thanks again, Erbie.
Thanks, I had recieved the book during my abscence. I read it straight away, in one day - it's hard to put it down.
I gave the book a full ten stars, mainly because it is the kind of book I would like to write myself: a novel that treats a "philosophical" subject without losing anything of the narrative. I don't say it is a perfect book, but I thought it a very good one, I had to stop wondering about it while I was reading, and that doesn't happen often.
I'm a rationalist to the core, but the book did succeed in getting me think about it all over again. I found the division between the importance of the personal and the public in the main characters lives quite interesting as well. And I thought the story quite beautiful, about the two opposites who can't live without each other even though they can't live together either - not very realistic maybe, but beautiful. I also liked the historical insights of the book, even though I concentrated on the ideas.
I tend to forget about books quite easily, but I think I will remember this one, and I'd like to read it again, to think about it again. Thank you for sharing it Erbie!
I'm PMing Torksoul to get the book moving again.
I gave the book a full ten stars, mainly because it is the kind of book I would like to write myself: a novel that treats a "philosophical" subject without losing anything of the narrative. I don't say it is a perfect book, but I thought it a very good one, I had to stop wondering about it while I was reading, and that doesn't happen often.
I'm a rationalist to the core, but the book did succeed in getting me think about it all over again. I found the division between the importance of the personal and the public in the main characters lives quite interesting as well. And I thought the story quite beautiful, about the two opposites who can't live without each other even though they can't live together either - not very realistic maybe, but beautiful. I also liked the historical insights of the book, even though I concentrated on the ideas.
I tend to forget about books quite easily, but I think I will remember this one, and I'd like to read it again, to think about it again. Thank you for sharing it Erbie!
I'm PMing Torksoul to get the book moving again.
When I got home today, tired from work as usual (I'm a librarian by the way), I was very pleased when I got this book in the mail. That's one of the things I like from bookcrossing, receiving books in the mail to lighten up your day. This book is small so I intend to read it very fast. Bedankt Erbie and Kiitoksia Mymlan, obrigado (thanx in portuguese). I'm now reading "The Confessor" by Mario Silva. I just started today and when I finish I'll pick this one up. Will not delay the ring, I promise. See u soon.
P.S. Loved the postcard Mymlan.
P.S. Loved the postcard Mymlan.
