Archive for the ‘Coming of Age’ Category
Monica Dickens – Mariana
I bought this book back in January, simply because the blurb likened it to I Capture The Castle, and ended up “saving” it for the Persephone Reading Week (hosted by Verity and Claire). I had great expectations from this book (if you may excuse the totally unnecessary pun), not only because of the blurb comparing […]
Filed under: Books 2010, Coming of Age, General Fiction, Monica Dickens, Persephone Books, Persephone Classics, Review | 33 Comments
Tags: London, Monica Dickens, Paris, World War II
Jeffrey Eugenides – Middlesex
I was born twice: first as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974. So opens Eugenides’ epic novel, Middlesex. Calliope “Cal” Stephanides was declared a girl when she came into this […]
Filed under: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, Books 2010, Coming of Age, General Fiction, Guardian 1000, Jeffrey Eugenides, National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, Pulitzer Prize Winners | 41 Comments
Tags: Greece, Jeffrey Eugenides
I’ve wanted to read this book for ages, simply for the title, which is one of the most beautiful titles I’ve ever come across. So, I finally picked it up, and it’s probably one of the most beautiful autobiographies I’ve ever read. On reading the blurb, I thought it would be similar to the Pulitzer […]
Filed under: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, ALA 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000, ALA Best Books For Young Adults, Autobiography/Memoir, Books 2010, Coming of Age, Maya Angelou, Review | 29 Comments
Tags: Maya Angelou, Racism
The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao won the Pultizer Prize for Fiction in 2008. The protagonist, Oscar, is an overweight American boy (with Dominican roots), who aspires to be the next Tolkien. His interests include writing passionately, role-playing games, comic books, sci-fi and fantasy, and of course, women. However, one bad experience with his […]
Filed under: Books 2009, Coming of Age, General Fiction, Junot Diaz, National Book Critics Circle Award, New York Times Notable Book Of The Year, Pulitzer Prize Winners, Review | 18 Comments
Tags: Dominican Republic, Junot Diaz, New Jersey
Dodie Smith’s I Capture The Castle is another one of those books with a fantastic opening line, which makes the reader want more: I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining board, which I have padded with our dog’s blanket […]
Filed under: BBC's Big Read {Best Loved Novel}, Books 2009, Coming of Age, Dodie Smith, Review, Vintage Classics, Virago Modern Classics | 17 Comments
Tags: Dodie Smith
Gyorgy Dragoman – The White King
Dragoman’s The White King is a coming-of-age tale, based in a communist Romania, under the Ceausescu rule. 11 year old Djata, the book’s protagonist, lives alone with his mother, after his father has gone away on ‘business’. While his father had told him that he will be back within a couple of weeks, months have passed with […]
Filed under: Books 2009, Coming of Age, Gyorgy Dragoman, Real World Issues, Review, Sándor Márai Prize Winners, Young Adult | Leave a Comment
Tags: Communism, Gyorgy Dragoman, Iron Fist, Romania
Haruki Murakami – Norwegian Wood
So far, this year, I’ve read two books that can only be described as ‘coming of age’ books. This year, I’ve read two books based in Tokyo, where the protagonist comes from some small village in Japan, and have come to Tokyo with a purpose. This year, I’ve read two books that have the title […]
Filed under: Books 2009, Coming of Age, Guardian 1000, Haruki Murakami, Review | 6 Comments
Tags: Haruki Murakami, Japan
