i read a lot a lot

first things first.

now on to the books, some of which i finished before my last reviews but i forgot.

xliv. the dangerous summer, ernest hemingway

non-fiction about a legendary bullfighting rivalry during one summer in spain. man, hemingway can make anything sound good, even animal torture. i went so far as to watch youtube videos of antonio ordonez and luis miguel dominguin, and my conclusion can only be that his descriptions and stylish stylish bullfighting pictures far outweigh the actual spectacle.

xlv. survivor, chuck palahniuk

i haven't read chuck palahniuk in a long time, mainly because i loved fight club and then everything else i tried after that (guts, choke) was just a bit too much gross in relation to concept. but survivor was good, i'm not surprised now that it was his next book after fight club. nice concept, still some outlandish assumptions, but made me think.

xlvi. the girl with the dragon tattoo, stieg larsson

well a friend gave this to me for my birthday (in april) which just goes to show how many books i have lined up to read. i was a little skeptical going into it given the huge popularity, obviously, and because i'd flicked through previously in a book store and not been impressed with the writing. now that i've read it the sheer force of story overcomes any misplaced qualms i had. basically i had a european, faintly german voice reading it in my head, which definitely helps with the setting. phrasing and idioms have that kind of fluent european english squareness, like colonel hans landa.