Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow …
review of Assassin's Apprentice
4 stars
it was a painfully slow start of the story and some of the plot lines didn't pay off. but in the end a surprisingly interesting world and captivating book.
it was a painfully slow start of the story and some of the plot lines didn't pay off. but in the end a surprisingly interesting world and captivating book.
enthält: Die Doppelgänger, Der gespenstische Wald, Der Wetterbeschwörer
review of Die Doppelgängerin
3 stars
the language sounded more dated than in books from other authors of this period. but in some of the scenes the ideas and words just worked together and created a romantic horror.
a re-read, maybe the fifth or sixth time but first time in english. found this novel in a small library in a small german town during the nineties and love it since
that's what pulp is for (i guess): quite a good story wrapped in generic presentation. the mood is wildly swinging and the characters unstable or i would have enjoyed it a bit more. the last part even borrows the 'schnodderdeutsch' of 'die zwei' (the persuaders).
that's what pulp is for (i guess): quite a good story wrapped in generic presentation.
the mood is wildly swinging and the characters unstable or i would have enjoyed it a bit more.
the last part even borrows the 'schnodderdeutsch' of 'die zwei' (the persuaders).
tough choice how to rate and review this book: the life of Julie d’Aubigny is so fascinating that i would state, you really should read the book, no matter what. and the way in which Gardiner evokes the 17th century france is also convincing, less explaining, more atmosphere and anecdotes. so what's to dislike: i can't stand the attitute of the heroine, it's simple. one part of the book is Julie telling her own life on her deathbed to a priest. i'm aware, she is exceptional and to motivate and kind of explain her to the reader you want to give her a torn but free-minded character. but all i hear is an artist oscillating between self pity and hubris.
tough choice how to rate and review this book: the life of Julie d’Aubigny is so fascinating that i would state, you really should read the book, no matter what. and the way in which Gardiner evokes the 17th century france is also convincing, less explaining, more atmosphere and anecdotes.
so what's to dislike: i can't stand the attitute of the heroine, it's simple. one part of the book is Julie telling her own life on her deathbed to a priest. i'm aware, she is exceptional and to motivate and kind of explain her to the reader you want to give her a torn but free-minded character.
but all i hear is an artist oscillating between self pity and hubris.
this one needs a big warning because of it's antisemitic and racist stories (and you have to add the casual mentioning of pedophiliac acts)! mind you there a eleven stories and most of them are no more than what you might expect from a writer in the first years of the twentieth century (although the edition is from 1922, the stories were written before the great war). but two of them are far worse then the zeitgeist might had demanded.
die tomatensauce (the tomato sauce): sadly enough it's nothing about creepy spice but blood lust, surprisingly gory die herzen der könige (the hearts of the kings): lengthy story about how the french kings literally added to arts das weiße mädchen (the white girl): i would say a decadent (in the Huysman-sense) tableau about lust, but with less art (than huysman) das feenland (the land of faeries): the same, but …
this one needs a big warning because of it's antisemitic and racist stories (and you have to add the casual mentioning of pedophiliac acts)!
mind you there a eleven stories and most of them are no more than what you might expect from a writer in the first years of the twentieth century (although the edition is from 1922, the stories were written before the great war). but two of them are far worse then the zeitgeist might had demanded.
die tomatensauce (the tomato sauce): sadly enough it's nothing about creepy spice but blood lust, surprisingly gory
die herzen der könige (the hearts of the kings): lengthy story about how the french kings literally
added to arts
das weiße mädchen (the white girl): i would say a decadent (in the Huysman-sense) tableau about lust, but with less art (than huysman)
das feenland (the land of faeries): the same, but about innocence. both stories are depending on a kind of twist in the end
die herren juristen (those jurists): an emotional piece against death sentence
die wasserleiche (the body of a drowned): a kind of satire -- i think
John Hamilton Llewelles ende (The end of John Hamilton Llewelles): in my opinion one of the best in the collection. an artist falls prey to an natural mummy. several elements make this one (for the sake of our times) a proto-lovecraftian story.
aus dem tagebuch eines orangenbaumes (from the diary of an orange tree): nice executed version of the circe myth
der tote jude (the dead jew): it's the antisemitic one of course, at the core a ghost story in a unbelievable rough fraternity setting
die topharbraut (the bride of the tophar): a very nice gothic story
die mamaloi (the mamaloi): a racist voodoo story, very brutal
first impression: as in almost every kind of literature so is in christian epics to apply show-don't tell. stop feeding me the hymns and praises and tell the story already, use the scenes to bring your point. 'til now a rather hard read
first impression: as in almost every kind of literature so is in christian epics to apply show-don't tell. stop feeding me the hymns and praises and tell the story already, use the scenes to bring your point.
'til now a rather hard read