Grenzeloos

'Body Surfing' by Anita Shreve Cijfer: 7,5
Body Surfing opens with an evocative description of a beach house and a woman swimming, surfing her body on the ocean’s waves. Anita Shreve’s latest novel picks up on previous themes she has explored—-love, loss, marriage, the ocean—-but the story of Sydney, a young woman who is lost, and finds herself the tutor to a teenage daughter at her family’s summer beach house, is unique and textured in its own right.




Lisey's Story by Stephen King Cijfer: 8,3
Two years after her National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning husband Scott Landon has died, Lisey Landon is still grieving. She hasn't even begun to sort through his study, with his unpublished short stories, letters, journals, and perhaps even a fully-fleshed novel. Pressure from the zealous Professor Woodbody, instructor of the course "Scott Landon and the American Myth," to release Scott's posthumous papers to his university's library, only reinforces her decision to delay the longhaul clean-up. There's also her sisters to deal with, namely Amanda. Amanda the fragile, Amanda the cutter: "Because the Amandas of the world…. You kept expecting them to fall down and thinking it was a miracle they didn't, and finally the miracle got tired of happening and fell over and took a seizure and died." Amanda does cut and she does bleed and she is admitted. That's where the troubles begin.


Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos Cijfer: 7
When Martin Grace enters the hip Philadelphia coffee shop Cornelia Brown manages, her life changes forever. But little does she know that her newfound love is only the harbinger of greater changes to come. Meanwhile, across town, Clare Hobbs -- eleven years old and abandoned by her erratic mother -- goes looking for her lost father. She crosses paths with Cornelia while meeting with him at the café, and the two women form an improbable friendship that carries them through the unpredictable currents of love and life.

Love Walked In, the first novel by award-winning poet Marisa de los Santos, is bursting with keen insight and beautifully rendered prose. Invoking classic movies to illuminate the mystery and wonder of love in all its permutations.

Willekeurig uit de boekenkast gepakt, vanwege een leuke cover en een voorbeeldige titel. Helaas.. op een of andere manier kon deze mij niet boeien. Terwijl het verhaal zo veelbelovend is, is het gewoon saai geschreven..

'Sheridan Hay’s debut novel chronicles a year in the life of Rosemary Savage, a young woman who, in the wake of her mother’s death, moves to New York City, lands a job at the Arcade (a used and antiquarian bookstore modeled on the Strand), and finds herself an unwitting pawn in the quest for a lost manuscript novel by Herman Melville.'

Een van die boeken (gejat, of beter gezegd, vergetenterugtegeven aan een ex), die al jaaaren in mijn boekenkast stond.. Als een uitgedroogd sponsje zoog ik het verhaal van de tijdloze liefde op. Fijnfijnfijn; ben benieuwd hoe de film is geworden, die net uitgekomen is. Zal het net zo tegenvallen als bijna alle boekverfilmingen? Die absurdistische dialogen zijn bijna niet te doen in een film..
Toen Florentino Ariza de dertienjarige Fermina zag, werd hij getroffen door de vonk van de eeuwige liefde. Na meer dan een halve eeuw, waarin Fermina getrouwd is met een ander en Florentino zelf 622 affaires heeft, sterft Fermina’s man en kan Florentino haar opnieuw zijn eeuwige trouw beloven. Op ongeëvenaarde wijze brengt Gabriel García Márquez de grote thema’s liefde, dood, ouderdom, noodlot en begeerte samen in een mild en menselijk universum.

The old-fashioned idea of atonement doesn't get much press these days. It's even less likely to show up as the underlying theme in a modern novel. First-time Texan writer Kathy Hepinstall has taken this quaint notion and created something fresh and original in her disturbingly beautiful parable of redemption and forgiveness, The House of Gentle Men.

What if there were a place for hurt souls to go where they could find refuge, tender companionship and a balm for all their wounds without fear of exploitation? It is a fantasy particularly appealing to women, who so often bear the brunt of violence and abandonment in relationships. And what if men who had done such violence could come to this place to make up for their past sins by becoming the gentle and attentive partners their women always yearned for?

Admittedly, this is a rather strange and not particularly plausible idea, but it is a tribute to Hepinstall's skill as a writer that she puts it across so convincingly. She takes a big risk here both with premise and plot, and her bold venture pays off handsomely.

La Cucina 7,8
Exuberant and touching, La Cucina is a magical evocation of life's mysterious seasons and the treasures found in each one. It celebrates family, food, passion, and the eternal rapture of romance.





Galilee 7,5
With Galilee, Barker has spun yet another rich tale of suspense and horror. His vivid descriptions of characters and locations transport the reader into "the thick of the plot," allowing for the ultimate in escapism. Following the Barbarossa clan from the beginning of time to more current settings, you are presented with an outrageous, sometimes tittilating, and always gripping tome.

Een 7. Hoge Dan Brown gehalte, wel goed geschreven. Het einde is een beetje dunnetjes.
The Priest's Madonna, like The Da Vinci Code, takes its story from the controversial book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, imagining that there were descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene who settled in France. Whether or not there is any truth to this theory, it makes interesting fodder for novels. Hassinger's take on this theory focuses on two storylines - that of the love between Mary (Miryam) and Jesus (Yeshua), and the passionate affair between Marie Dénarnaud and the village priest, Bérenger Saunière - all of whom are mentioned in Holy Blood, Holy Grail. She primarily focuses on the story between Marie and Bérenger, while Mary Magdalene takes a smaller role in her story at the end of each chapter. It should be noted that while the novel is based on the lives of real people, Hassinger took excessive liberties with their stories. Her attention to detail and the obvious research she did for the novel are admirable.

Dank voor de boekenbonnen. Ik heb ze fijn kunnen besteden bij Selexyz!

Kruisstreekjes van Marjanne Satrapi:
"Na het eten verdwenen de mannen zoals gewoonlijk om een dutje te doen, dan konden wij vrouwen gaan opruimen." Marjane mocht altijd thee maken. Oma Satrapi, wat verslaafd aan opium om haar verdriet te verzachten, was drie keer getrouwd. Vinnige oma brengt de gesprekken altijd weer op gang."


En de spooky kinderverhalen; The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy van Tim Burton
Published by Harper Entertainment in 1997, Tim Burton's illustrated book of poems gave birth to a wide variety of loveably macabre characters, such as Stain Boy and The Boy With Nails in his Eyes. Many of these characters have also found their way into shockwave cartoons and a toy range. The twenty-three tales are equally amusing and tragic, but even when the fate of the freakish characters is grim, Burton's humour shines through, such as in this memorable line from the Robot Boy tale - He never forgave her unholy alliance: a sexual encounter with a kitchen appliance.

Alice Hoffman leest als zoete koek:
Blue Diary: een 7.5
"Secrets are the real key to BLUE DIARY, Hoffman's latest plunge into the darker mysteries of seemingly blissful love in a small New England town. Like the transcendentalists before her, Hoffman sees the connections between all things --- animals, plants, and especially people. The town of Monroe is small, and the people are gossipy. Ethan Ford's secret, which is the thing that splits the novel apart, is that he has reinvented himself, from a crime-doer to a good-doer, and yet that means nothing in the wake of the crime he committed when he was "someone else." Jorie, his previously envied wife, the stuck-up girl with the perfect blond hair and beautiful face, becomes the subject of derision and a personal breakdown that forever changes her life and that of her melancholy young son, aptly named Collie. These characters are joined by a woman overcoming cancer and finding true love with a long-suffering schoolmate, the brother of a dead girl who has never forgotten that pain, and a young girl who understands all too clearly the consequences of first love."


Here on earth: horse whisperer meets wuthering heights; een 7.5
"The bestselling author or Turtle Moon and Practical Magic tells her most seductive and mesmerizing tale yet — the story of March Murray, who returns to her small Massachusetts hometown after nineteen years, encounters her childhood sweetheart... and discovers the heartbreaking and complex truth about their reckless and romantic love."

Geweldig boek!
Een 9.5!
The novel, set in post- Spanish Civil War Barcelona, concerns a young boy, Daniel. Just after the war, Daniel's father takes him to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of old, forgotten titles lovingly preserved by a select few initiates. According to tradition, everyone initiated to this secret place is allowed to take one book from it, and must protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. That night he takes the book home and reads it, completely engrossed. Daniel then attempts to look for other books by this unknown author, but can find none. All he comes across are stories of a strange man - calling himself Lain Coubert, after a character in the book who happens to be the Devil - who has been seeking out Carax' books for decades, buying them all and burning them. In time this mysterious figure seeks out Daniel and attempts to make him part with the book. Terrified, Daniel returns the book to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. But by now Daniel is already in the middle of a story that began many years ago, starting with the life of Julian Carax, the author of "The Shadow of the Wind". As he unraps the history of the author's life, along with his friend Fermin and his love intrest, Bea, he is confronted by Fumero, an old rival of Julian's and the head of police.

Nog steeds ziek! Het gaat maar niet over! AAArgh! Nog even, en mijn huid komt los, onthullend mijn ware gezicht; glinsterende snotmassa met bubbelende holtes. Blubberdeblub. Zelfs mijn tanden doen au. Allemaal. En ik ben doof. Vandaag vreselijk op mijn kop gekregen van de dokter, dat ik me vorige week niet had gehouden aan de voorgeschreven rust. Jaja; antibiotica heeft geen zin als je gaat werken. Dat heb ik geweten ook. Na twee dagen snotterige semi-arbeid, kon ik in het weekeinde lekker plat blijven liggen. Fijn. Nu kruip ik maar weer mijn bed in, met een boek. Ik doe niets anders dan lezen.. Zo had ik mijn verjaardag niet voorgesteld. Jaja; ik word __ vandaag. Als ik in de spiegel kijk, kan ik mijn leeftijd voor de eerste keer volmondig beamen. Vooral mijn verkrachtte schilferige rudolftherednosereindeer-neus is het helemaal met me eens. Helemaal zielig & alleen, sleep ik ook de grote appel taart, waarmee ik op het werk zou trakteren, mee mijn bed in. Zooo: even troosten.

En ja hoor; weer een boek uit: Larrys party van Carol Shields. Een 8+:

Larry Weller is a passive, quiet Winnipeg florist who becomes a noted artisan--a maker of garden mazes. Even though he is a professional baffler of other people, Larry seems incapable of learning his own direction in life: he can't chart the safest path through obstacles. To Larry, even delight is just a sweeter form of nervousness. When Larry is moved to a new feeling, Shields writes, "This anxiety he identified, finally, as a welling up of happiness."
Shields is Canadian. She's scarcely a regional writer, but she does deal directly with the problems of living "in a country you wouldn't want to ask to dance a second waltz." Larry's ultra-Canadian "fever of discouragement" half-alienates other people. As Shields writes in The Stone Diaries, "It is inevitable that each of us will be misunderstood; this, it seems, is part of 20th-century wisdom."
LARRY'S GENTLE livelihood as a maze maker supports an uneventful life. Larry's world is unmarred by violent death or poverty, untroubled by religion, undisturbed by grand passions. Even the ridiculous extremes of Manitoba weather don't faze him. His two marriages are like his mazes: he emerges from them a little disoriented but mostly unchanged. It's a quiet Larry life, but Shields finds multifaceted beauty in Larry's world and career.