The Hummingbird: ‘Magnificent’ (Guardian)

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There’s much sophistication in the comedy and the darkness, too. On his marriage to Marina, Carrera muses: “But they weren’t made for each other. No one is made for anyone else, in all fairness, and people like Marina Molitor weren’t even made for themselves.” Indeed, intelligence is everywhere – in the balance of blame and guilt for the characters, in their psychological narrative and counter narrative, in the novel’s philosophical moments.

Somehow or other Sandro Veronesi pulls off the extraordinary feat of making you believe he is writing for your ears alone. I cannot tell you what The Hummingbird is about because that would be to betray a confidence. But I can tell you it's a mightily clever novel.' - Howard JacobsonWat maakt Kalme chaos tot zo'n knap boek? Het is ongeveer 12 jaar geleden dat ik het op aanraden van mijn favoriete boekhandelaar las. Hij had het boek in zijn hand toen ik zijn eregalerij met aanbevolen boeken bestudeerde. 'Dit moet je lezen. Het is ge-wel-dig.' The witty bantering and fighting that exists between Abigail and Jesse is some of the funniest and best that I've ever read. They truly dislike each other at times....or at least it seemed that way..... Gentle, loving David, promising her a happiness she'd lost hope of finding, was all a lady could wish for. E fin qui si può apprezzare lo sforzo di mettere in piedi una storia inverosimile (presumo, anzi spero, che l’autore abbia attinto a più esempi della cerchia di amici e conoscenti) ma avvincente, con un tentativo di alleggerire grazie al pastiche della corrispondenza, ma quando si fa ricorso a trucchetti da scuola-di-scrittura quali gli elenchi e le compilazioni, io sento puzza di scorciatoia. Non si ha voglia/non si è capaci di contestualizzare il personaggio, di dargli un profilo che non sia quello ritagliato con l’accetta della prima persona, e allora si fa fare il lavoro sporco all’autore. Finally, I promise you will learn a tidbit about WWII that you never knew; never heard of; and is a bit of a surprise.

This book caused me to think about reliability. Not the reliability of the main character, though that is somewhat in question in this book, but my own reliability as a reader and reviewer. Do I give every book an equal chance? The answer is sadly simple: I don't. Disclaimer: Letto su suggestione di commenti su GR e FB (ma non gliene faccio una colpa, a volte anche le suggestioni negative possono essere foriere di buone letture, e così vale anche il contrario). Nessuno come te sa essere così strenuo nel perseverare, ma anche nessuno come te sa sottrarsi al cambiamento, proprio come il verbo insidioso di cui parlano i due linguisti: rimani saldo, continui a oltranza, ma anche, fatalmente, ti sottrai alle leggi e alle decisioni degli altri.” I have to admit that it was the title that first drew me to this book as I love anything at all to do with hummingbirds. Although there was only a slight reference to the meaning of the title in the book, this gorgeous novel did not disappoint in any way.

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Behendig springt Veronesi voor- en achteruit tussen 1960 en 2030 en geeft een niet nader geduide alwetende verteller, in lange zinnen en bijzinnen aanwijzingen van naderend onheil. Door deze fragmentarische stijl in combinatie met bijtende humor is het onheil voor de lezer goed te dragen. Het bleef voor mij een licht en sprankelend boek. From the author of the acclaimed The Curiosity comes a compelling and moving story of compassion, courage, and redemption Many thanks to librarything.com for the advanced uncorrected proof of The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan in return for my honest review.

Visiškai už pakarpos pričiumpanti knygos architektūra, sodrumas meninių šaltinių net žandikaulį išnarina (pabaigoje autorius pateikia savo įkvėpimų nuorodas).So you say." He puffed out the chest in question and rubbed its furred surface as if it were spun gold. Thank God, at last I could have finished the book. I'm not sure how I am feeling about the book. I am in contradictory sentiments. :) Barclay Reed is Deb's latest patient, a retired history professor in the final stages of kidney cancer. Curmudgeon would be a kind word to use about Barclay; he is gruff, demanding and verbally abusive. Slowly, Deb is able to break through his hard shell as she patiently listens to his history lectures and reads to him from his unpublished WWII book "The Sword". Or it might be that I didn't choose the book myself, and might never have read it were it not for a bookgroup, and so I'm in a slightly querulous mood to start with, unfairly questioning the time I'm giving to the reading, and eyeing up other books I'd rather spend time with.

Thank you sooo much Jill!:) Also, I gotta thank Tammy – so glad you jumped in “with arms waving” convincing me to read this one next:)...LOL I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher William Morrow via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. The expected publication date is September 8, 2015** De titel verwijst naar de bijnaam die Marco in zijn jeugd van zijn moeder krijgt. Klein en bewegingloos als het vogeltje (een kolibrie kan op dezelfde plek blijven zweven dankzij snel roterende vleugeltjes).Threaded between each of the main chapters is a secondary story about a Japanese WWII bomber pilot and his relations with the American town he once bombed during the war. By providing an analysis on the moral implications of killing during times of war, it handily parallels the struggles that Deborah’s husband is also facing having just returned from war himself. Stephen also wrote THE BAKER'S SECRET, the story of D-Day from the French perspective: what it was like to live in occupied Normandy with no rights, little food and less hope, until one day hundreds of thousands of soldiers and sailors arrive to fight for liberation. There is a lot of synergy occurring here. Deborah helping the professor to cope with his last days and struggling to help her husband heal. The Professor helping Deborah to help her husband heal. When I was a kid, our neighbor had a Russian nesting doll on her end-table. If she was in the mood, she would let me play with those dolls. Sitting on the floor at her and my mother's feet- I would nest and un-nest those dolls over and over: big, medium, small, smaller, tiny, tiny, smaller, small, medium, biggest.