Search
Search results
Flying Colours
9.0
Rate It
Book
A humiliated and shipless captive of the French, Horatio Hornblower faces execution unless he can...
The Virgin Blue
8.0
Rate It
Book
Meet Ella Turner and Isabelle du Moulin—two women born centuries apart, yet bound by a fateful...
Ashley Catron (66 KP) rated Suite Francaise in Books
Mar 7, 2018
Suite Francaise by the talented Irene Nemirovsky is divided into two "books," so to speak. The first part, Storm in June, begins with the French fleeing parts of Paris and surrounding areas to avoid the German occupation. The story focuses on two families and one couple primarily: the Michauds, the Pericands, and Gabriel Corte with his mistress, Florence. Throughout the book the characters' stories are intertwined with one another beautifully in vignette style chapters. The first book covers June 1940 through the end of November in 1940. The main story in Storm encompasses the fear and desperation that so many French people experienced at the beginning of the war-fear they would never return home, fear they would be killed in an air raid, fear they would just not survive. In Dolce, the second part, covers how the French are handling things back at home after the Germans have begun occupying various cities and have begun living with the French in their homes. This part in the story covers Easter Sunday 1941 through the end of July 1941, so a much shorter time frame than Storm. This section focuses on a different set of characters, involving the Angelliers, the Sabaries, and the Montmorts. The main come away from this is, how do you put up with someone who may have killed your loved one in the war?
Overall, this book was incredible. I don't typically go for this type of book (war-themed), but I was intrigued and I'm so glad I gave it a chance. Irene Nemirovsky was a French-Russian who was writing these books while all of this was happening around her in France. While the characters in the stories are fictional, the emotions they feel and the thoughts they have are very real and very comparable to what others were feeling during this time. In the beginning, yoiu will find your heart racing as everyone flees their possessions, their livelihoods, their families, just to escape the Germans and the certain death they bring. Your breath will catch at the description of the sirens and the air raids, and you will be angry at these Germans for what they have done. However, in the second part, you will find yourself sympathizing with the Germans, even after the brutalities explained in the first part. You will find yourself thinking about the French and how torn they were seeing how kind and generous the Germans were, how the children loved them so, not understanding what horrors they had committed against others. Irene paints such a beautifully descriptive landscape that you will feel like you are experiencing all these accounts first hand. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in war-era books, and even those who have never read it before.
Overall, this book was incredible. I don't typically go for this type of book (war-themed), but I was intrigued and I'm so glad I gave it a chance. Irene Nemirovsky was a French-Russian who was writing these books while all of this was happening around her in France. While the characters in the stories are fictional, the emotions they feel and the thoughts they have are very real and very comparable to what others were feeling during this time. In the beginning, yoiu will find your heart racing as everyone flees their possessions, their livelihoods, their families, just to escape the Germans and the certain death they bring. Your breath will catch at the description of the sirens and the air raids, and you will be angry at these Germans for what they have done. However, in the second part, you will find yourself sympathizing with the Germans, even after the brutalities explained in the first part. You will find yourself thinking about the French and how torn they were seeing how kind and generous the Germans were, how the children loved them so, not understanding what horrors they had committed against others. Irene paints such a beautifully descriptive landscape that you will feel like you are experiencing all these accounts first hand. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in war-era books, and even those who have never read it before.
A brightly coloured, attractive book for the young reader, this book is aimed at introducing another language early on. Through both familiar and unfamiliar animals the opportunity for little one to hear French spoken and what the word looks like gives the parent a chance to expand the mind into other possibilities. I wish I’d had this a couple of years ago for my daughter.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Evan and Elle (Constable Evans, #4) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
The new French restaurant in the village is the latest victim of the arsonist hitting the area. Only this time, a body is found in the aftermath. The colorful characters are back in full force and the plot is another great puzzle.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/03/book-review-evan-and-elle-by-rhys-bowen.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/03/book-review-evan-and-elle-by-rhys-bowen.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Dean (6927 KP) rated Ravenous (2017) in Movies
Nov 30, 2019
Ok Zombie film
I checked this out on Netflix as I quite like zombie films. It is a French speaking film although there isn't a great deal of dialogue. I got the impression it was going to be quite a funny film, but it's definitely not a comedy horror. It's ok for a low budget but nothing out of the ordinary really happens. Fairly straight forward overall.
