Thursday, Apr 22, 2010
“Reality escapes us.
It’s beyond description, even a simple pear.
Time eats everything.”
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Publish Date: 4.13.10
ISBN #: 978-1400069262
Pages: 224 Hardback
Type: Fiction
Purchase: $16.20 – Amazon.Com (Hardcover) / Kindle $9.99
The Review:
For fans of Life of Pi, as you commence Beatrice & Virgil, you wonder whether or not this is a psuedo-biography of Yann Martell. This is the story of a Henry, an author, who wrote a largely successful novel about animals. People, over the years have written Henry about this novel with their questions and thoughts sharing their admiration about the work. In an unknown big city, Henry and his wife build a life. After he wrote his next novel about the Holocaust, which was not received well by his publishers due to the format in which it was written, Henry decides to work in a chocolate shop. He also acts with a local theatre group while continuing to work on his novel.
Through his publisher, Henry is contacted by a stranger and provided a large envelope with a short story by Flaubert enclosed. Certain sections of this story are highlighted, those primarily regarding the animals within the tale. The sender also enclosed sections of a play that Henry didn’t recognize. This play eventually leads him to the author of the play, who is also named Henry. Henry-the-playwright is a taxidermist and has seemingly centered his entire life to preserving the beauty and the truth of the animals he ”restores.”
Henry-the-taxidermist/playwright asks Henry-the-author to help him by reviewing the play that he has written. It also seems that he is asking Henry to help him finish it. Yet, Henry-the-taxidermist won’t release the entire copy of the play to Henry to read. He insists on reading it aloud to Henry, not necessarily in order or a with an organized pattern behind it. As the play is unveiled to Henry-the-author, he comes to his own conclusions and draws parallels between this play, seemingly about a donkey named Beatrice and a Howler Monkey named Virgil, to the Holocaust. However, what is truly revealed to Henry is a horror that he isn’t prepared to face, but he is grasping to remember.
Wrap Up & On Sher’s “Out of 10 Scale:”
This author has a way of making you think like very few can. His stories are philosophical in nature that I simply cannot resist. After finishing this book, I was surprised to see the ending which was entitled “Games for Gustav.” I have included below some of the questions in the game for you to ponder. These, of course, tie to the horrors of the Holocaust.
Because of my on-going admiration of this brilliant author and appreciation of this book, I give Beatrice and Virgil a rating of 9 out of 10.
Interested On Hearing What Beatrice & Virgil Have to Say?
Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!
Games For Gustav
Game No. 1
Your 10 year old son is speaking to you. He says he has found a way of obtaining some potatoes to feed your starving family. If he is caught, he will be killed. Do you let him go?
Game No. 2
You are a barber. You are working in a room full of people. You shear them and they are led away and killed. You do this all day. Every day. A new group is brought in. You recognize the wife and sister of a good friend. They recognize you too. With joy in their eyes embrace. They ask you what is going to happen to them. What do you tell them?
Game No. 3
You are holding your granddaughter’s hand. Neither of you is well after the long trip with no food or water. Together, you are taken to the infirmary by a soldier. The place turns out to be a place where people are “being cured with a single pill.” As the soldier puts it, that is, with a single shot to the back of the head. The pit is full of bodies, some of them still moving. There are 6 people ahead of you in the line. Your granddaughter looks up at you and asks you a question. What is the question?
Game No. 4
An armed guard tells you to sing. You sing. He tells you to dance. You dance. He tells you to act like a pig. You pretend you are a pig. He tells you to lick his boots. You lick his boots. Then he tells you to ”_____” and it’s a foreign word you don’t understand. What action do you do?
Game No. 9
Afterwards, when it’s all over, you meet God. What do you say to God?
Game No. 12
A doctor is speaking to you. “This pill will erase your memory. You will forget all of your suffering and all of your loss. But you will also forget your entire past.” Do you swallow the pill?
I am extending the give-a-way for the extra copy of Beatrice & Virgil to April 30, 2010.
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Posted in Books Books Books, Contests
Wednesday, Mar 31, 2010
The Gods Were Smiling Upon Me.
I Received Not One…
But 2 Copies of Yann Martel’s
BEATRICE & VIRGIL
For Review
(OH MY GOODNESS!!!)
In the spirit of sharing…
And, for all of those Yann Martel Lovers…
For all those who loved Life of Pi as much as I…
I will give away my ONE EXTRA copy of
BEATRICE & VIRGIL
… and mail it to you 
A Book Review Blogger and never read Life of Pi?
That’s okay, too!
I’ve included a copy of my Life of Pi book review below.
How do you enter?
Simple…
Author: Yann MartelPublisher: Harcourt Books
Website: www.HarcourtBooks.com
ISBN #: 978-0-15-100811-7 / 978-0-15-603020-5
Pages: 401 Paperback
Type: Fiction/Fantasy
The Review:
There is simply no other way to say it… I LOVED THIS BOOK! Why, oh why, did I wait so long to read it? I only wished that I had ordered the illustrated version of this book instead of the paperback. Why? This book is a keeper! I may have to treat myself for my birthday. The twins were very interested in hearing updates on the story as I quickly read through its 401 paperback pages. Thank you, Yann Martel, for such an incredible read.
Onto the book. If you’ve never read this book, I am afraid to give too much away. So, my review will take you through Pi’s early life and up through the main turning point in the story. If you don’t want to know anything about this book, then stop reading now and just pick up the book. You should be surprised and enlightened as I was while reading it. Or, if you don’t mind a little input on the storyline, here we go!
Pi Patel is a young boy living in India with his family: father, mother and brother. They own a zoo and the father is the zookeeper. In Pi’s youth, he takes great interest in his schoolwork, the zoo, and most of all, religion. The admirable thing about Pi, however, is that he is motivated to become one with God more than anything else in his life. He learns about his Hindu religion from his culture and upbringing. He comes onto Christianity and falls in love with Jesus Christ. Although, a side note, I totally agree with Pi’s interpretation of the fig tree parable. Going on, he visits the Catholic Church and reads The Bible. Pi also visits a Mosque. He wishes for a prayer rug and comes to understand loving Allah and the peaceful aspect of the Muslim religion. Eventually, the leaders of the 3 churches meet up with Pi and his family on the 
street. They come to an argument about which religion Pi is; Pi doesn’t understand why he must choose only one. Why not love God in every way possible? Why not find your way to a closeness with God via any means possible? He asks a good question. As the 3 religious leaders argue about why you must only choose one religion, Pi is not convinced. He continues to pray outside on a prayer rug and love Jesus.
Due to the changing political and economical climate of India, Pi’s family elects to move to Canada. Before doing so, they must sell the zoo animals. It takes considerable time to accomplish this and arrange for the transport of the majority of the animals to the United States. Once this is completed, the family and a good portion of the animals are loaded onto an oceanliner to head across the Pacific Ocean to North America. One night, 
tragedy strikes. The ship sinks. For many reasons outlined in the book, Pi is thrown overboard along with a lifeboat. Once on the open sea, the creatures who manage to make it into the lifeboat are a Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, an orangutan, a hyena, and a dying zebra. There is a small rat who makes it on as a stowaway as well. And, well, there is Pi.
The remainder of the book is the story of Pi’s survival in the lifeboat and his travels across the Pacific Ocean. There are many remarkable details written about this journey that readers will really enjoy. There are some difficult aspects to the book in reading about how Pi must adapt from an animal loving vegetarian to a hunter of the sea for his means of 
survival. And, then there is Richard Parker, the amazing tiger.
The ending of this book is amazing, for me. I can’t stop thinking about it and trying to decide what I think about the stories told to the Japanese men. If you’ve read the story, you will know what I’m talking about. If not, come back after you’ve read it and leave me a comment to tell me what you think. I’d prefer to think… Richard Parker.
On Sher’s “Out of 10 Scale:”
Absolutely no doubt about it, this book is a 10 out of 10! I think that I will recommend this book to any of my friends who are looking for a good book to read. It’s like an intriguing movie, after they are done reading it, we can talk considerably about the book and I can get many of my questions answered! (Me so selfish!). Truly, I loved this book and it really got my mind buzzing. This book is a modern-day classic. It did “win international acclaim in more than 40 countries” and also won the 2002 Man Booker Prize.
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Posted in Books Books Books, Contests
Monday, Mar 15, 2010
We Have Our Darling Winners…
The Grand Prize Winners For My Beautiful Baby Contest Are…
Magellan and Penelope…
Their Mommy Shares:
Names: Magellan & Penelope
Breed: American Short Hairs
Age: A Little Over A Year Old
Gender: Boy & Girl
Why They Are So Wonderful: Magellan and Penelope are brother and sister from the same litter. Their other brother is black and white. He was adopted by someone else. They are the sweetest two kitties who are two peas in a pod. Even though they may be sitting across the room from each other -they mimic each other-from their cleaning routine to their sitting pose. Penelope loves to chatter away, making sure you are wide awake when she is at 4 AM, while Magellan likes to sleep in and sees no need to wake up until he is sure you are wide awake.
The duo also swept the Best Couple and Most Adorable Cats Categories, just barely squeaking by….
Emmy & Finn…
Their Mommy Shares:
Names: Emmy & Finn
Breed: Sacred Birman
Age: Emmy: 2 Years Old & Finn 11 Months Old
Gender: Girl & Boy (siblings)
Why They Are So Wonderful: These two kittehs are blog stars – hogging the spotlight every Tuesday at Presenting Lenore with their adorable fluffy faces and tendency to sit on everything and anything in our apartment. They are very sweet natured and love to cuddle. Everyone who meets them falls in love and wants to take them home! We are so lucky to have such a loving pair.
Because they came in SOOO close on all three categories, ANM is awarding them “Best Kitteh Story” Award! I must share that I, Sheri, am addicted to Emmy and Finn posts over at Presenting Lenore. These two are either climbing atop the frig, chasing one another, avoiding one another, or LOVING one another. Frankly, if I don’t get my Emmy & Finn fix at least once I week, I bug Lenore about it.
Speaking of stories and pictures that I’m addicted to… I can’t get enough of Raven, Goldie (and her friends the cats), and Milou.
Oh… yeah… MILOU…. THE ONE AND ONLY WINNER OF BEST DOG!
Her Book-Bloggin’ Mommy Shares:
Name:Milou
Breed: Jack Russell Terrier
Age: 14 Years Old
Gender: She’s a lovely lady
Why She’s So Special: She is quite the princess and thinks she deserves to be treated like royalty. She loves to eat, sleep and get loving.
It must be said that Milou won the prestigious title after having to go to a tie-breaker against Charlee. So… our darling Charlee gets an honorable mention in the Best Dog category.
Note: Each of the pets shown above will receive special gifts and prizes as outlined in the original contest post.
Thank you all for participating and I welcome you back next year!
THANK YOU FOR VOTING!
Why didn't we win?
That's because we did! Dogs... the unenlighted species.
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Posted in Contests
