thought-provoking
Oct. 2nd, 2007 08:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snugglekittyThis week, I finished reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse and Have Mercy on us All by Fred Vargas.
Siddhartha was, in some ways, a lovely continuation of the reading I've been doing on Buddhism. I know, I know, I keep saying that - well, it keeps being true! I enjoy Hesse, I really loved the book Steppenwolfe, so I wanted to try this one as well. Anyway, I picked this up used a few years ago, and finally got around to reading it - I started it at Dark Odyssey. I liked it very well. Three stars. My favorite character was Kamala, the courtesan.
Have Mercy on Us All was a suggestion by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
7j's dad, which is really neat! I'm happy that we now know each other well enough to suggest books to each other. The book was an intriguing mystery set in contemporary Paris. It's true, I coudn't tell until the end exactly what was going on or who was responsible - but even more than that, what kept me turning the page was the relationships between the characters, both those at the police station and those in the pool of suspects. I'm pleased to see that more of this series, bestselling in France, is being translated into English. Four stars. It's nice to find good books getting translated into English, as we also saw earlier this year with Three Bags Full. I'd love to see more of that happening - I feel like we tend to live in a bubble of American and British writers.
Siddhartha was, in some ways, a lovely continuation of the reading I've been doing on Buddhism. I know, I know, I keep saying that - well, it keeps being true! I enjoy Hesse, I really loved the book Steppenwolfe, so I wanted to try this one as well. Anyway, I picked this up used a few years ago, and finally got around to reading it - I started it at Dark Odyssey. I liked it very well. Three stars. My favorite character was Kamala, the courtesan.
Have Mercy on Us All was a suggestion by
7j's dad, which is really neat! I'm happy that we now know each other well enough to suggest books to each other. The book was an intriguing mystery set in contemporary Paris. It's true, I coudn't tell until the end exactly what was going on or who was responsible - but even more than that, what kept me turning the page was the relationships between the characters, both those at the police station and those in the pool of suspects. I'm pleased to see that more of this series, bestselling in France, is being translated into English. Four stars. It's nice to find good books getting translated into English, as we also saw earlier this year with Three Bags Full. I'd love to see more of that happening - I feel like we tend to live in a bubble of American and British writers.