alrighty well this is my first post in this blog that kristen and i share about books we read. she is way better at reading and finishing books than i, but finally, i have finished one!
today i shall review "unbearable lightness" by portia de rossi. i got done reading it a few days ago and it was bittersweet. if you don't know what the book is about, it's her story of breaking out into the acting business and moving from australia to los angeles and being on ally mcbeal and such. anyway, the main focus of the book is her eating disorder which is her OCD with food and calories and exercising. i sort of admired her determination, until she got down to 82 pounds. then it was just too much. and i could never live on 300 calories a day, which she frequently did and i don't know how she functioned. i start shaking after several hours without food. she sprayed i can't believe its not butter on everything like jello and oatmeal and tuna. i can't describe the level of crazyness/insanity that her eating disorder put her through. but it made me feel a little better about the weird things i do, and she wrote her feelings well, and i partially related which i liked.
overall, i didn't know much about portia de rossi other than that she was married to ellen, but after this book, i really like her. i'm not sure if she had a ghost writer or whatever it's called when you briefly tell someone stories and then they write it for you, but the writing of this book was surprisingly good so kudos to whoever did write it. now if only i could get to my happy weight too....
Friday, February 4, 2011
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Portnoy's Complaint
I've started to read this book called Portnoy's Complaint and I can't say that I'm extremely in love with it. I think at page 112, I am done reading this book. I'm still uncertain of what I don't like about the book, but there is something. It's probably it's lack of plot and substance.
The protagonist, Alex Portnoy, is like an older, Jewish Tucker Max. The only problem is he doesn't tell you stories. The entire book (so far) is him retroactively talking to his parents about being Jewish or telling the reader about his perverse shenanigans as a young boy. That is basically it.
Do I want you to read this book? No, not really.
Will I finish this book? Who knows. Probably not.
The protagonist, Alex Portnoy, is like an older, Jewish Tucker Max. The only problem is he doesn't tell you stories. The entire book (so far) is him retroactively talking to his parents about being Jewish or telling the reader about his perverse shenanigans as a young boy. That is basically it.
Do I want you to read this book? No, not really.
Will I finish this book? Who knows. Probably not.
Driving with Dead People
Monica Holloway.
I was expecting this book to be a lot better than it was. I wasn't sure what to expect, but with my recent obsession with funerals and hearses, I thought this book would send me into a new career mode. I was hoping that the whole thing would revolve around funeral homes. I guess I should start reading the back cover, huh?
It started out just like any memoir should, about this girl's childhood. Normally I don't like this, unless it's funny, of course. The story progressed into her becoming a slut, she gets pregnant and has an abortion. That was the last straw for me. I realize that the book wasn't about her being a slut, but I don't like reckless people who aren't funny who pretend to be funny. Then the thing that bothered me was the whole aspect of child molestation. It disturbs me to strange levels (as I assume it should). You never even really find out if her dad molested her. Maybe they said it, and I was thinking about other things and missed it.
Other than the childhood trauma, the other thing that bothered me was the fact that the plot seemed strangely reminiscent of Twilight. From the picture, the author doesn't seem like the trophy girl, but for some reason, all of these guys were asking her out randomly. Her first boyfriend asked her out at a basketball game (ok, this was her second boyfriend, her first one ended up being gay). She was just sitting in the bleachers with her friends and Adam, a 21 year old college student, walks up to her and asks her out. Does this happen in real life? Then later when she's in college herself, she's auditioning for some acting group and this "really hot guy" (the one who gets her pregnant) says something witty to her and they end up having a fling. It just kept happening like that.
So, now that I've basically told you all the good parts, you don't have to read it. It's written well, but it's a let down if you were expecting some insight into the intricacies of a funeral home.
Would I recommend this book? I would recommend the first few chapters.
I was expecting this book to be a lot better than it was. I wasn't sure what to expect, but with my recent obsession with funerals and hearses, I thought this book would send me into a new career mode. I was hoping that the whole thing would revolve around funeral homes. I guess I should start reading the back cover, huh?
It started out just like any memoir should, about this girl's childhood. Normally I don't like this, unless it's funny, of course. The story progressed into her becoming a slut, she gets pregnant and has an abortion. That was the last straw for me. I realize that the book wasn't about her being a slut, but I don't like reckless people who aren't funny who pretend to be funny. Then the thing that bothered me was the whole aspect of child molestation. It disturbs me to strange levels (as I assume it should). You never even really find out if her dad molested her. Maybe they said it, and I was thinking about other things and missed it.
Other than the childhood trauma, the other thing that bothered me was the fact that the plot seemed strangely reminiscent of Twilight. From the picture, the author doesn't seem like the trophy girl, but for some reason, all of these guys were asking her out randomly. Her first boyfriend asked her out at a basketball game (ok, this was her second boyfriend, her first one ended up being gay). She was just sitting in the bleachers with her friends and Adam, a 21 year old college student, walks up to her and asks her out. Does this happen in real life? Then later when she's in college herself, she's auditioning for some acting group and this "really hot guy" (the one who gets her pregnant) says something witty to her and they end up having a fling. It just kept happening like that.
So, now that I've basically told you all the good parts, you don't have to read it. It's written well, but it's a let down if you were expecting some insight into the intricacies of a funeral home.
Would I recommend this book? I would recommend the first few chapters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)