Comments on: Seeing Stars http://blog.booklistonline.com/2007/02/23/seeing-stars/ Behind the Book Reviews--The Official Blog of Booklist Online Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:36:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Peter http://blog.booklistonline.com/2007/02/23/seeing-stars/#comment-37932 Peter Fri, 30 Mar 2007 03:53:23 +0000 http://blog.booklistonline.com/2007/02/23/seeing-stars/#comment-37932 <i>The Broken Shore</i> has an even more devastating ending than <i>Chinatown</i>, I'd say, and one that might well be tougher to put on film. Temple is excellent, and this book solves the one problem that some readers have had with him: that his plots can be diffuse and excessively complex. They're intricate here, and you picked up on two of them, but Temple manages the impressive feat of subordinating them nicely to the main plot -- an astonishing piece of work. I've been raving about <i>The Broken Shore</i> on my blog; come visit and join the rave. =================== Detectives Beyond Borders "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home" http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/ The Broken Shore has an even more devastating ending than Chinatown, I’d say, and one that might well be tougher to put on film. Temple is excellent, and this book solves the one problem that some readers have had with him: that his plots can be diffuse and excessively complex. They’re intricate here, and you picked up on two of them, but Temple manages the impressive feat of subordinating them nicely to the main plot — an astonishing piece of work.

I’ve been raving about The Broken Shore on my blog; come visit and join the rave.
===================
Detectives Beyond Borders
“Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home”
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

]]> By: Likely Stories » Blog Archive » Three Good Ones http://blog.booklistonline.com/2007/02/23/seeing-stars/#comment-30611 Likely Stories » Blog Archive » Three Good Ones Mon, 05 Mar 2007 17:44:30 +0000 http://blog.booklistonline.com/2007/02/23/seeing-stars/#comment-30611 [...] Anyway, on Thursday I filed my reviews for Shakespeare’s Kitchen, by Lore Segal; Depths, by Henning Mankell; and Writing in an Age of Silence, by Sara Paretsky. No stars this time – but all three are extremely strong works. Sometimes the difference between a starred review and an unstarred review is awfully slight, just a nagging doubt or reservation that keeps me from recommending something unreservedly. And while stars are definitely a mark of quality, they’re nothing like a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. I’ve withheld stars from some very strong books. It’s the words in the review that are your best guide to quality and affinity. [...] […] Anyway, on Thursday I filed my reviews for Shakespeare’s Kitchen, by Lore Segal; Depths, by Henning Mankell; and Writing in an Age of Silence, by Sara Paretsky. No stars this time – but all three are extremely strong works. Sometimes the difference between a starred review and an unstarred review is awfully slight, just a nagging doubt or reservation that keeps me from recommending something unreservedly. And while stars are definitely a mark of quality, they’re nothing like a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. I’ve withheld stars from some very strong books. It’s the words in the review that are your best guide to quality and affinity. […]

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