I would like to start off this book review with much thanks to A.J. I have no idea who you are but you left your name (which I have not used in full) scribbled on a torn piece of paper in blue ink your name and word conspirtor (slightly misspelled, that's okay) between pages 150 and 151 of the book
Lost by Gregory Maguire. Yes,I have a copy of the note. I left the original in
the book.Scanners are wonderful inventions. No, I won't tell anyone what your real name is and it will remain a secret. Mine. And yours.
That little bit of business out of the way, I truly love Gregory Maguire's books. I have read
Wicked,
Son of a Witch,
Mirror, Mirror, and now
Lost. Thank Goddess for libraries or I would be broke buying books like
Li Qingzhao.
Yes, it is difficult to say which book I enjoyed the most. Of the four that I have read, Wicked,
Lost, and
Son of a Witch are the strongest.
Mirror, Mirror is emotionally flat. The book is too studied and self conscious of its word play. The three I enjoyed are rich in word texture and emotion. I felt deep sadness at the death of Elfie in
Wicked.
Son of A Witch was effective because there was her absence throughout the novel.
Lost was spotty in its narrative flow. There wasn't consistent thread in the story to recommend it as one of Maguire's best.
While there was the bumpy flow to the tale, Lost was still have-to-turn-another-page-just-to- see-what-happens-book. It was also a bit eerie to read. I was reading
Lost and come to a passage about a family that had lost children in a fire. The fictional family had hired an adoption agency to soothe their loss of two children. I also had read, at the time, an article in the Vancouver Sun about a family that was using IVF to soothe their loss of children in a house fire. The coincidence was creepy and strange. However, I am not surprised to have the synchronization. There have been many times when I have thought of a relative (not always with loving emotions) and the relative has telephoned. I have had strong premonitions about people that have come close to the mark. I half, and only half, joke that it is the witch blood from my father's genealogy that creates the odd happenings I have found in my life.
Yes, of course, I'm rational while I write this blog. The soughing of the British Columbia wind has not got my senses, yet. Tomorrow will be dedicated to the grind after a pleasant literary holiday with Mr Maguire.
Hélas, it is back to schlepping for hire work while trying to write the somewhat readable Canadian novel. 'Til then...
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The saga of the Greater Victoria Public Library System becomes more grim each day. There is a possibility that the Board may dissolve the library system. Essentially what will happen is that the various libraries will reorganise for each municipality of Victoria. The libraries are now tied to the main downtown library but if the charter binding them isn't renewed, each municipal body will have a library and all the books that belong to that separate library. That means that each library will have to do interlibrary loans of books that once were part of the main system. This will be costly both for patrons and for the individual libraries.
