The Storm by Kate Chopin (1899)
Durant un orage, une femme trompe son mari avec son voisin. Histoire tres atmospherique
8/10 : Passion
A Man without a Temperament by Katherine Mansfield
A man caring silently for a disabled woman, waiting patiently for her death.
5/10 : Demanding woman.
Lappin and Lapinova by Virginia Wolf (1939)
To make her marriage more bearable, a woman imagines a world peopled with cute rabbits.
7/10 : Good description, but silly woman.
Atrophy by Edith Warton (1930)
A woman tries to see a man, afflicted with poor health, whom she loves, but she is rebuffed by his strict sister.
7/10 : Apathic woman, seems to be the style of this writer.
Natives Don't Cry by Katy Boyle (1937)
A lonely babysitter pretends to have an eager male correspondent, who uses to send her many letters.
8/10 : A Woman living in her own fantasy, a bit like with V. Woolf's story.
The House of Clouds by Antonia White (1928)
The life and hallucinations of a woman locked in a mad-house. How she slowly turns into an inmate.
6/10
Why I Live at the P.O. by Eudora Welty (1937)
After a dispute with her family, a young woman leave her relatives to live in the tiny post office of her village.
8/10 : Social, vibrant dialogue.
The Happy Autumn Fields by Elisabeth Bowen (1944)
During WW1 a woman dreams of a vivid past reality.
8/10 : Ghost story, touching on time travel.
The Lottery by Marjorie Barnard (1943)
A woman who won the lottery loses no time to leave her selfish husband.
8/10 : Interesting POV of righteous man.
An Unpleasant Reminder by Anna Kavan (1940)
A posh woman is given 4 tablets to take. These are supposed to kill her, something she expected to receive sooner or later.
6/10 : Intriguing story, but too short.
The Petrified Woman by Caroline Gordon (1963)
During a large family reunion, two kids and their uncle visit a local circus that displays a petrified woman in a cage.
8/10 : Intriguing story.
Sunday at Home by Stevie Smith (1949)
Two women lament on their life, then experience a bout of optimism.
8/10 : Amusing dialogue.
The Ice Wagon going down the Street by Mavis Gallant (1963)
A Sahllow man falls in love with his down to earth secretary. However he prefers to reject her in order to carry out his empty life.
6/10 : Contrast between wealthy but shallow man and poor but climbing woman.
Everything that rises must Converge by Flannery O'connor (1965)
A young man tries to curb the inherent racism of his ageing mother.
8/10 : A tad old fashion, but vivid story.
The Adult Holiday by Elisabeth Spencer (1965)
An argument between a wife and a husband, witnessed by their daughter.
4/10 : Mundane and rather boring.
The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara (1972)
A teacher takes her pupils to town. There she tries to show them first hand the unfair divide between rich and poor.
9/10 : Lively and amusing dialogues between the kids.
One for the Island by Patricia Highsmith (1979)
A boat trip that ends nowhere. Does everyone die when the ship sinks?
5/10 : Paranormal.
The Weeping Child by Jane Gordam (1975)
An old woman tells the story of a ghostly moment she experienced: that of a weeping chil form the past.
9/10 : Ghost story + tension between motehr and daughter.
Diego by Julie O'Faolain (1982)
Description of a macho man, the two women in his life and his tyranical daughter.
7/10 : Amusing.
Levitation by Cynthia Ozick (1982)
During a litterature party with several jews, a woman starts daydreaming.
5/10 : Patriachs vs Matriachs concept.
Third Time Luck by Rachel Ingalls (1986)
The trials of a woman whose first two husbands have been killed. What happens with ther 3rd husband.
7/10 : Good descriptions and dialogues ; travel to Egypt.
Weekend by Fay Welson (1981)
How a woman is belittled by her husband and his friends.
6/10 : Humour, sometimes exagerated.
What I have been doing Lately by Jamaica Kincaid (1984)
Dream sequence about a rather lazy woman.
0/10 : Just a dream
My Wife is a White Russian by Rose Tramain (1984)
How a russian woman tyranises her wealthy but disabled husband.
5/10 : Different POV, but close to "The Man Without a Temperament)
Three Feminist Fables by Suniti Namjoshi (1984)
Three tales that didn't mean anything to me.
0/10
The White Doll by K. Arnold Price (1985)
Couldn't resolve myself to read it.
The Passion of Marco Z by Anne Leaton (1976)
A man is so obsessed by the book he is writing that it leads his wife to cheat on him.
4/10 : Writing obsession.
A City of the Dead, A City of the Living by Nadine Gordimer (1982)
In a poor african community, how a woman copes with a criminal who lives in her house.
6/10 : Poverty + Politics.
The Convovulus Clock by Ruth Rendell (1985)
After stealing a clock, an old woman becomes so obsessed with it that she kills one of her friends.
6/10 : Crime story with old ladies.
Paper children by Elizabeth Jolley (1983)
An old German woman who has never seen her daughter imagines what type of life she enjoys.
4/10 : Too many dream sequences.
Miles City, Montana by alice Munro (1987)
How a long var trip and the near death of their daughter ruins the mariage of a couple.
7/10 : Good description, with children.
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Livres Lus en 2008
- Talk to the Snail (Stephen Clarke) - 7/10
- Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century - SF - 6/10
- Le Chirurgien (Tess Gerritsen) - 4/10
- Merde Happens (Stephen Clarke) - 7/10
- Great Tales of Fantasy and SF - 5/10
- Worm Wood (G.P. Taylor) - Fantasy - 3/10
- A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens) - 7/10
- The Shadow over Innsmouth (H.P. Lovecraft) - 7/10
- Dans l'Abime du Temps (H.P. Lovecraft) - 5/10
- The Traveller (John twelve Hawks) - 7/10
- Forever Free (Joe Haldeman) - SF - 4/10
- The Mammoth Book of Science Fiction (Edited by Mike Ashley) - 8/10
Livres Lus en 2007
- The Algebraist (Ian M. Banks) - SF - 4/10
- The City who Fought (McCaffrey + Stirling) - SF /10- 2/10
- Description (Monica wood) - 9/10
- Pandora's Star (Peter F. Hamilton - SF - 8/10
- Best New SF 18 - 9/10
- How to plot your novel - Jean Saunders - 3/10
- Altered Carbon (Richard Morgan) - SF - 6/10
- Black Spin (Harlan Coben) - Thriller - 8/10
- Tell No One (Harlan Coben) - Thriller - 7/10
- Petrified (Barbara Nadel) - Trhiller - 4/10
- Destination 3001 - SF - 5/10
- Passage Mortel (Kathy Reich) - Thriller - 4/10
- Deuil Interdit (Michael Connelly) - Thriller - 5/10
- Foucault's Pendulum (Umberto Eco) - 7/10
- Neanderthal (John Darton) - 5/10
- The Innocent (Harlan Coben) - 5/10
- The Songs of Distant Earth (A.C. Clark) - SF - 5/10
- The Secret Shelf 2 - Short Stories - 6/10
- Science Fiction Stories (Edited by Tom Bordman Jr) - 6/10
- Grass (Sheri S. Tepper) - SF - 6/10
- The Writer's Journey (Christopher Vogler) - 9/10
- Short Fantasy Novels - 6/10
- The time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffeneger) - 7/10
- Writing a Novel (teach yourself series, Nigel Watts) - 8/10
- The Time Ship (Stephen Baxter) - SF - 4/10
- Downsize This (Michael Moore) - 6/10
Lectures pour 2009
1. Les Arcanes du Chaos de Maxime Chattam
2. Dial M for Murder par Stephen Clark
3. Pack L'Arlequin de Johwn Twelve Hawk
4. On Writing par Stephen King - En cours de lecture
5. Creating Short Fiction par Damon Knight
6. Titan de Stephen Baxter (SF) - Lecture commencée en Dec'08
7. Paradox de John Meaney (SF)
8. Gravity Dreams de L. E. Modessit (SF)
9. Revelation Space de Alastair Reynolds (SF)
10. The Solaris Book of Science Fiction, volume 2 (avec 15 histoires dedans)
11. The Twilight zone (avec 2 histoires dedans)