Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Dragon’s Breath

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

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Axl and Beatrice, two elderly Britons, are living out their days in a post-Arthurian England when they become obsessed with the idea of taking a trip to visit their long-departed son in his village. They embark on an arduous journey in which they encounter knights, warriors, monks, ogres, and even a dragon. Their trip is hampered by the fact that the whole country seems to be under a sort of spell. No one has much of a memory anymore. Axl and Beatrice don’t remember what […]

The Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

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Still easily one of the most brilliant novels I’ve ever read, now twice. I am often on the lookout not only for good novel, which I like of course, but perfect novels. This is a perfect novel. If you’ve never read it, Stevens is a butler from a fine old English estate. It’s after the war now though and what was once the stately manor has been sold off to a rich American, who wanted one of those famous kinds of butlers. We learn early […]

Dignity

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

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CBR14 BINGO: Adapt, because it was adapted into the wonderful 1993 film of the same name “I’m telling you, sir, you’ll be sorry if you don’t take a walk up there. And you never know. A couple  more years and it might be too late.” This advice from a stranger on a country road to the novel’s protagonist is meant to encourage the traveler to walk up a hill and enjoy a beautiful view, but it may as well be an observation about the protagonist’s […]

Humanity, Ethics, Love – Taking On All the Big Questions

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

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Best for: Those who like deep, emotional, thoughtful novels that are more character driven than plot-driven. In a nutshell: Klara is an AF waiting to be chosen by a child. Why I chose it: Never Let Me Go remains one of my absolute favorite novels. I saw all the great reviews this one was getting and decided to pick it up. Review: It’s hard to speak about specifics in this book without spoiling it, so … I think I’m going to spoil it. Before the […]

The epitome of British stoicism?

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

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I am getting married in less than a month. This is relevant because when my fiancé and I started dating, he was shocked I hadn’t read anything by Kazuo Ishiguro, and he loaned me his copy of Never Let Me Go. I thought the book was very good, and I was very impressed by my new boyfriend. I’ve been meaning to read more books by Ishiguro for ages, but only recently got around to The Remains of the Day (1990). I have vague memories of seeing the trailer […]

Grabbag

Point to Point Navigation by Gore Vidal

A Sorrow beyond Dreams by Peter Handke

For Colored Girls... by Ntozake Shange

Madea by Euripides

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Beowulf by Trans. Heaney

Beowulf by Trans. Headley

Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

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Point to Point Navigation – 4/5 This is a second and shorter memoir by Gore Vidal published a few years before he died. It wasn’t right before his death, but you get the impression that he is saying a last few things at least before he begins to wrap up his writing career. His career began when he was about 19 or so when he began writing what would become his first novel, Williwaw, a WWII short novel about a boat in the North Pacific […]



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