The Confusion is the second volume in the Baroque Cycle consisting of two books: Bonanza and The Juncto. These two books are interwoven in the novel so that the timeline between them stays consistent.

I really don’t have much to say about this book that differs from my review of Quicksilver. Stephenson continues expanding on two main story lines and their corresponding characters, and at times the effects from one novel are seen in the other. The scope is now widened (mostly in Bonanza) to include the Middle East, India, Japan and Mexico / Central America. I do not want to go into too many details of the plot as the stories are long and convoluted and may spoil events in Quicksilver. The end of the novels set up well for the final volume of the series.

Again I greatly enjoyed the books and recommend them.

I waited and waited for this to come out and i jsut realized that i didn’t post about it (probably because i couldn’t remember my username and password)

So the latest for GGK (Guy Gavriel Kay). It’s a real departer for him. This novel is actually set in modern day. And somehow he manages to link together alot of my favorite things, archaeology, photography, storytelling, magic.

A photographer and crew including his son are summering in the south of France (the poor things) when Ned (the boy) stumbles into a 2500 year old love triangle that dates to when the Celts lived in France and the Greeks were just beginning to explore it.

So much is purposfully left unsaid that i dont’ feel right giving more away, but the prose is poetic and thoughtful and very refreshing.

Being that i am now in a masters program for childhood education i have been reading a lot more children’s books. I can’t say i’ve been disappointed, quite the contrary. It should be abvious to many of you why i took to this title. For those of you who don’t know, Shakespeare is one of my most favorite writers, and anything that can possibly get young people to read the bard is worth a look.

It uses historical facts, speeches, poetry and pictures to piece together who is the real Shakespeare. All while conquering the sixth grade. Set as a mystery looking for a famous diamond that belonged to none other than Anne Boleyn. For those historians among you will note that Shakespeare and Anne were not contempraries, hence the mystery. The book makes such wonderful use of primary sources, even sneaking in Emily Dickinson, who is also not contemprary to the main historical figures nor is she even English.

This story looks at the New York of the 1920s. Well written, it focuses on two families-one rich and one poor. An improbable friendship begins with Jed and David who become comrades during the War. Jed is heir to the Gates fortune and David is from a poor Jewish family who gives up this life in pursuit of becoming a soldier. Jed brings David into his family fold when they return, and from this point the stories become complex and increasingly interwoven. The plot of the story is interesting but obvious, and some of the character development is clearly lacking. The first novel from this author does not live up to its potential; however, if she chooses to write another, I would read it.

I recently saw the movie Fur, about documentary photographer Diane Arbus (pronounced Dee-ahn, played by Nicole Kidman) which was a fictional biography. A fictional biography seemed like a bit of a strange idea to me, a story that could possibly have taken place in her life, smooshed between real events, but that was in reality – fabricated.

Then, I realized (I was already about halfway through this novel) – that I was reading a fictional biography. Michael Winter’s The Big Why is really that, a description of events that may or may not (but probably mostly did not) occur during the time Rockwell Kent (a real american artist, see: Rockwell Kent ) was living in Brigus.

It was most interesting to me to see Michael Winter’s style, very modern, very sexual & raw, very diary-like, and full of philosophizing over anything and everything – which I appreciate – used to tell a story nearly one hundred years old. That takes place in a small fishing community. Without running water. In the middle of nowhere Canada.

But I was pleased, it works really well. I like thinking all of this is real, that this happened.

Kevin B (who never comes to bookgroup) recommended this as a novel of historical fiction which is a family’s story over several generations of living in Pittsburgh. This novel has a compelling story, and is an interesting read especially for everyone in Pittsburgh – as you can connect with the names and places and the history as seen from a lower class (mill worker) point of view.