Isa
Administrator
Posts: 6,995
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Memoirs
Jan 1, 2007 19:23:18 GMT -5
Post by Isa on Jan 1, 2007 19:23:18 GMT -5
Has anyone read "Lucky" by Alice Sebold? I looked it up on Amazon and it's got great reviews, and if it's as well written as "The Lovely Bones", it must be a really good book. Here's the description:
When Sebold, the author of the current bestseller The Lovely Bones, was a college freshman at Syracuse University, she was attacked and raped on the last night of school, forced onto the ground in a tunnel "among the dead leaves and broken beer bottles." In a ham-handed attempt to mollify her, a policeman later told her that a young woman had been murdered there and, by comparison, Sebold should consider herself lucky. That dubious "luck" is the focus of this fiercely observed memoir about how an incident of such profound violence can change the course of one's life. Sebold launches her memoir headlong into the rape itself, laying out its visceral physical as well as mental violence, and from there spins a narrative of her life before and after the incident, weaving memories of parental alcoholism together with her post-rape addiction to heroin. In the midst of each wrenching episode, from the initial attack to the ensuing courtroom drama, Sebold's wit is as powerful as her searing candor, as she describes her emotional denial, her addiction and even the rape (her first "real" sexual experience). She skillfully captures evocative moments, such as, during her girlhood, luring one of her family's basset hounds onto a blue silk sofa (strictly off-limits to both kids and pets) to nettle her father. Addressing rape as a larger social issue, Sebold's account reveals that there are clear emotional boundaries between those who have been victims of violence and those who have not, though the author attempts to blur these lines as much as possible to show that violence touches many more lives than solely the victim's.
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shels
First piece published in the school’s newspaper
Posts: 65
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Memoirs
Jan 1, 2007 19:37:53 GMT -5
Post by shels on Jan 1, 2007 19:37:53 GMT -5
oh i really love the opposite of fate by amy tan
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Bina
First novel published
Posts: 2,472
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Memoirs
Jan 2, 2007 10:28:41 GMT -5
Post by Bina on Jan 2, 2007 10:28:41 GMT -5
I saw lucky in the store once and read the first couple of pages and it was pretty scary to read about the rape and all but it was clear that she´s a strong person. And of course it´s written from her pov which I always like. I should really buy it sometime.
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
Posts: 7,214
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Memoirs
Jan 2, 2007 15:00:26 GMT -5
Post by Kristie on Jan 2, 2007 15:00:26 GMT -5
I think that Lucky sounds graphic but interesting. I definitely think I'd read this if I can find it or get it from the library.
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bookworm148
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
"Here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of a sky of a tree called life."
Posts: 671
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Memoirs
Feb 1, 2007 23:09:53 GMT -5
Post by bookworm148 on Feb 1, 2007 23:09:53 GMT -5
Patty Duke's biography is really good.
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Memoirs
Feb 4, 2007 10:51:43 GMT -5
Post by Hanna on Feb 4, 2007 10:51:43 GMT -5
Has anyone read "Three Weeks with my Brother" by Nicholas and Micah Sparks? It's very different from what he usually write, because it's a combined memoir and a travel description. Anyway, it's about him and his brother taking this trip around the world for three weeks, and while they travel they start remembering things from the past and talking about it, and it is pretty strong at times. I would definetly recommend it.
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cauthoncrazy
First short story featured in regional newspaper
I've got the dreamers disease.
Posts: 158
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Memoirs
Feb 4, 2007 12:06:14 GMT -5
Post by cauthoncrazy on Feb 4, 2007 12:06:14 GMT -5
I love good memoirs. I would love to discover some new favorites... what ones do you love? Haven Kimmel - Absolutely wonderful...she has two memoirs (A Girl Named Zippy and sequel She Got Up Off the Couch) and both are incredible. "Zippy" has a happy childhood, not boring but not crazy. The way Haven writes about growing up in a small town and her experiences is fantastic...she writes through the eyes of the spunky child that she was, rather than a grown-up looking back. It's almost like being a kid again. Plus, these books have parts where you will laugh loudly and have difficulty controlling yourself. She has several fiction books as well, that are on my to-read list. Ooh I thought I was the only one who has read anything of hers. I haven't read She Got Up Off the Couch but I love A Girl Named Zippy. Good book.
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zeldafitzgerald
Collection of short stories bought by Random House
ancora imparo
Posts: 1,948
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Memoirs
Feb 4, 2007 16:58:48 GMT -5
Post by zeldafitzgerald on Feb 4, 2007 16:58:48 GMT -5
I love good memoirs. I would love to discover some new favorites... what ones do you love? Haven Kimmel - Absolutely wonderful...she has two memoirs (A Girl Named Zippy and sequel She Got Up Off the Couch) and both are incredible. "Zippy" has a happy childhood, not boring but not crazy. The way Haven writes about growing up in a small town and her experiences is fantastic...she writes through the eyes of the spunky child that she was, rather than a grown-up looking back. It's almost like being a kid again. Plus, these books have parts where you will laugh loudly and have difficulty controlling yourself. She has several fiction books as well, that are on my to-read list. Ooh I thought I was the only one who has read anything of hers. I haven't read She Got Up Off the Couch but I love A Girl Named Zippy. Good book. Definitely check out She Got Up Off The Couch then! It was so fun to read more of Zippy's life!
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cauthoncrazy
First short story featured in regional newspaper
I've got the dreamers disease.
Posts: 158
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Memoirs
Feb 4, 2007 20:41:37 GMT -5
Post by cauthoncrazy on Feb 4, 2007 20:41:37 GMT -5
Ooh I thought I was the only one who has read anything of hers. I haven't read She Got Up Off the Couch but I love A Girl Named Zippy. Good book. Definitely check out She Got Up Off The Couch then! It was so fun to read more of Zippy's life! K, I should definately do that. I tried reading her novel Something Rising (Light and Swift) but it wasn't too good so I'll look into the other one. Thanks.
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Memoirs
Mar 24, 2007 16:21:17 GMT -5
Post by bookaddict on Mar 24, 2007 16:21:17 GMT -5
Here's the top ten from Book Club Companion
1-Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt 2-The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to his White Mother by James McBride 3- On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King 4- Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen 5- Personal History by Katharine Graham 6- Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Book by Azar Nafisi 7- The Tender Bar:A Memoir by J.R Moehringer 8- This Boy's Life: A Memoir by Tobias Wolff 9- Truth and Beauty: A friendship by Ann Patchett 10- Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
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shels
First piece published in the school’s newspaper
Posts: 65
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Memoirs
Mar 25, 2007 11:41:26 GMT -5
Post by shels on Mar 25, 2007 11:41:26 GMT -5
i finished lucky a while back but it was really good. if you liked the lovely bones then you'll like lucky. they're a lot alike considering the fact that they're both about someone who got raped and all. but i enjoyed reading this book immensely. i guarantee anyone will like it
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Memoirs
Jun 28, 2007 10:05:17 GMT -5
Post by Dominique on Jun 28, 2007 10:05:17 GMT -5
as opposed to only having read one memoir when I posted in this thread awhile ago I have now also read: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt Insatiable by Gael Green Reading Lolita in Tehran and have nearly finished Simone de Beauvoir's Memoir of a Dutiful Daughter So I have expanded my memoir reading over the last few months
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Kristie
Novel turned into BBC miniseries
"If a book is well written, I always find it too short."
Posts: 7,214
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Memoirs
Jun 28, 2007 10:19:08 GMT -5
Post by Kristie on Jun 28, 2007 10:19:08 GMT -5
I don't think I mentioned any memoirs I've read, probably because at the time I hadn't read any. Here are the ones I have read:
-A Long Way Gone--Memories of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah -Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi -Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi -Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
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