tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post4156500771639401624..comments2024-03-29T08:45:57.792-04:00Comments on Patricia Abbott (pattinase): What Book Touched Your Heart?pattinase (abbott)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-29279991657424712842012-09-05T15:59:27.504-04:002012-09-05T15:59:27.504-04:00I would have picked Dennis Lehane's GONE BABY,...I would have picked Dennis Lehane's GONE BABY, GONE which angered me so I threw the book across the room. Yes it did made me gasp. But despite that, it also make me think. It was a book that had me disagreeing completely with a main character's decision at the end. I can't even think about it now without getting angry. It also angered me because I felt that Lehane did this simply to make a point that didn't need to be made again.<br /><br />Never got through MYSTIC RIVER, thought it an overwrought mish-mash.<br /><br />Books that made me gasp but that I didn't throw across the room:<br /><br />1) LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL by Thomas Wolfe<br /><br />2) THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald<br /><br />3) WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams<br /><br />4) THE END OF THE AFFAIR by Graham Greene<br /><br />5) EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo<br /><br />Three more I'd add:<br /><br />DOOMSDAY BOOK by Connie Willis<br /><br />IS PARIS BURNING? by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre (non-fiction)<br /><br />THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon<br /><br />I know I've forgotten many others.<br />So many books have taught me so much about the human condition over the years...Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-9374643896073863122012-09-03T21:54:03.752-04:002012-09-03T21:54:03.752-04:00Always Coming Home (Ursula Le Guin); Just Above My...Always Coming Home (Ursula Le Guin); Just Above My Head (James Baldwin); The Girls Who Trod on a Loaf (Kathryn Davis); most V. Woolf novels, maybe especially Night and Day, Mrs. Dalloway, Flush, and Orlando; Gaudy Night (Dorothy Sayers); The Fifth Elephant (Terry Pratchett); With Child (Laurie King); Red Harvest (Hammett).Olivia V. Ambrogiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14009379233200729384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-23682897868714308142012-09-03T16:37:52.242-04:002012-09-03T16:37:52.242-04:00New to me, Dan. I remember reading Gulag stories b...New to me, Dan. I remember reading Gulag stories but not this. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-65213643950684034002012-09-03T16:00:10.607-04:002012-09-03T16:00:10.607-04:00I'll mention one that's not very famous: K...I'll mention one that's not very famous: KOLYMA TALES by Varlam Shalamov. It was a series of short stories that took place in the harshest part of the Gulag. I read it in college for a class and it froze me.Dan_Lufthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05096055160420981482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-81071270478415399572012-09-03T15:16:36.640-04:002012-09-03T15:16:36.640-04:00So true, Jeff.So true, Jeff.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-74024175092542814192012-09-03T14:58:36.993-04:002012-09-03T14:58:36.993-04:00I could not read THE ROAD. Just did not get into ...I could not read THE ROAD. Just did not get into it at all.<br /><br />I agree with the comment made above about the Tobias Wolff memoir. But if we're adding non-fiction I'd have to go with Elie Wiesel's NIGHT. That's not a book you can ever forget.<br /><br />Jeff M.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-79271994278959632272012-09-03T14:52:19.088-04:002012-09-03T14:52:19.088-04:00I'm darned if I can think of a single thing ri...I'm darned if I can think of a single thing right now.Rick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978136287154214297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-36690931476535959612012-09-03T14:40:18.579-04:002012-09-03T14:40:18.579-04:00Isn't bleak the scariest of all?
Never heard o...Isn't bleak the scariest of all?<br />Never heard of that one, Kent. Will check my library site for it. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-36770057951468767982012-09-03T14:32:27.045-04:002012-09-03T14:32:27.045-04:00The White League by Thomas Zigal is a novel set in...The White League by Thomas Zigal is a novel set in New Orleans about family, privilege, racism, guilt, evil and murder that has stuck with me.Kent Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09834261948994921554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-55015822926038585022012-09-03T14:08:17.023-04:002012-09-03T14:08:17.023-04:00THE ROAD isn't scary, Patti. It's bleak.THE ROAD isn't scary, Patti. It's bleak.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546161337366365635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-54301822650636632752012-09-03T12:33:18.077-04:002012-09-03T12:33:18.077-04:00I remember reading that one a long time ago now. G...I remember reading that one a long time ago now. Great!pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-26508874046016838752012-09-03T12:32:31.227-04:002012-09-03T12:32:31.227-04:00The first thing that comes to mind is EVEN COWGIRL...The first thing that comes to mind is EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES by Tom Robbins.Jerry Househttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482856733981933159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-51855227684922151062012-09-03T11:40:10.750-04:002012-09-03T11:40:10.750-04:00Steve suggested Stewart O'Nan's A PRAYER ...Steve suggested Stewart O'Nan's A PRAYER BEFORE DYING but it disappeared. Why does that happen? <br />A book I should not have missed as it's brilliant. Phil is a big Murakami fan. I want to read THE ROAD but I am scared. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-26610534612281435822012-09-03T11:35:08.999-04:002012-09-03T11:35:08.999-04:00Loved Silent Land, which I read after you recommen...Loved Silent Land, which I read after you recommended it on here, I think. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-55930059800817647512012-09-03T11:16:27.573-04:002012-09-03T11:16:27.573-04:00Perhaps we're already primed for bad things wh...Perhaps we're already primed for bad things when we start reading a crime/thriller novel, so we aren't quite so shocked or emotionally affected when bad things do indeed happen. The last book I definitely remember making me cry was Graham Joyce's The Silent Land, about a couple on a skiing vacation who are caught in an avalanche. The ending was both sad and life-affirming, perhaps that's what got to me.Debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-60452726913111181032012-09-03T11:06:28.119-04:002012-09-03T11:06:28.119-04:00The Swords of Night and Day by David Gemmell, Octo...The Swords of Night and Day by David Gemmell, October Country by Ray Bradbury, the Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen, THe Road by Cormac McCarthy, Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-87879154674704004512012-09-03T10:15:07.049-04:002012-09-03T10:15:07.049-04:001) Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk
2) Norwegian Wo...1) Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk<br /><br />2) Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami<br /><br />3) Mystic River, by Dennis Lehane<br /><br />4) The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami<br /><br />5) The Last Kind Words, by Tom PiccirilliBenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11483490020980574428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-2392231924948434102012-09-03T10:14:11.807-04:002012-09-03T10:14:11.807-04:00Leif Enger's Peace Like a River. What an endin...Leif Enger's <i>Peace Like a River</i>. What an ending.Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-47952360324286581512012-09-03T09:53:38.019-04:002012-09-03T09:53:38.019-04:00POSSESSION by A. S. Byatt completely blew me away....POSSESSION by A. S. Byatt completely blew me away. The movie version doesn't come close to the emotions in the novel. <br /><br />And, that's a pretty good looking couple in that photo!Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546161337366365635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-84370636201637634262012-09-03T09:29:50.475-04:002012-09-03T09:29:50.475-04:00I came close to putting REVOLUTIONARY ROAD on my l...I came close to putting REVOLUTIONARY ROAD on my list. EASTER PARADE is pretty tragic too. <br />I loved all Russo's books through EMPIRE FALLS but the last few have eluded me. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-29477444876337823842012-09-03T09:16:53.001-04:002012-09-03T09:16:53.001-04:001. A Widow for One Year, by John Irving. The descr...1. A Widow for One Year, by John Irving. The description of the car crash and the last lines are still vivid to me nine years after reading it.<br /><br />2. Empire Falls, by Richard Russo. Two other Russo books (Nobody's Fool, Mohawk) struck me with multiple "he gets it" moments, but Empire Falls went another step down that road.<br /><br />3. Revolutionary Road, by Richard Yates. I hated the first half, but stuck with it because it was so highly recommended by a trusted source. I've been glad I did ever since.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-49698634608098696662012-09-03T09:14:22.114-04:002012-09-03T09:14:22.114-04:00Great list. (Knew Shane would be on it) THE END OF...Great list. (Knew Shane would be on it) THE END OF THE AFFAIR is a terrific choice. And DANDELION WINE, oh so sad. <br />If I added another true story it would be Tobias Wolff's THIS BOY'S LIFE. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-78958050967661654962012-09-03T09:07:29.515-04:002012-09-03T09:07:29.515-04:001.) Way Uptown In Another World by Shane Stevens
...1.) Way Uptown In Another World by Shane Stevens<br /><br />“Ginny never really had a chance. The sick got her and the misery got her and then the dead got her. She didn’t know anybody much and she was scared of all the paper stuff and she was too proud to ask other people for help. She was a Southern girl who didn’t understand the strange and easy ways of the North and she never got used to the cold.”<br /><br />2.) What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson<br /><br />Completely different from the movie.<br /><br />3.) The End of The Affair By Graham Green<br /><br />4.) Boy's Life by Robert McCammon<br /><br />5.) Dandelion Wine by Ray BradburyChad Eagletonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06863680540230538227noreply@blogger.com