Customer Reviews

Night and Day

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Woolf portrays the fascinations of self-discovery through relationships with other people, and she also looks into the intricacies of love--are we aware of love? What is the importance of love in a person's life? Does one need it to be happy? Taking a peek into the answers of these questions along with adding delightful humor that made me laugh out loud made this book terrific. The characters are interesting and you can choose for yourself whether or not you like them. I would definitely recommend this book--its many levels are enjoyable for all ages and both sexes!

Virginia Woolf does such a wonderful job of revealing the many facets of an individual. In this book, she applies that task to couples in love. It is a marvel that she not only identifies the many nuances of a glance, a word, a movement, but that she also conveys them to the reader in a perfect sentence. This book, unlike some of her others, seems written to appeal to a broader audience. It is "easier" than some of her other fiction, but is by no means a bore for Woolf fans.

As in the other Virginia Woolf books I have read, what strikes me first and foremost is the wonderful writing. The descriptions are phenomenal, starting with the surroundings and continuing with the character's facial expressions. Some of the passages are pure poetry and the characters are beautifully and consistently drawn out. Oddly, although we know that Katharine is beautiful, we do not get a description of her, or of any other person in the story, with the exception of William Rodney.

Woolf became a little heavy when it went into the minds of the characters who are in crises, but as one reaches the end of the book, all is forgiven.

An excellent read!

This is the eighth installment in the "Jesse Stone" novel series and the reader can't even get past the first paragraph without the author referencing Jesse's bothersome (to readers) ex-wife Jenn. Fans of the previous "Jesse Stone" novels have long since pulled their hair out with Jesse's on going on-and-off relationship with the unfaithful... sleeps with whoever can benefit her career at the moment... Jenn. Even with Jesse's own character deficiencies... no one in even half their right mind would believe that such a righteous... logical... beacon... of small town law enforcement... like Jesse... would put up with Jenn's treatment. This Stone episode has multiple plots, ranging from a school principal who makes thirteen-year-old female students line up in a room so she can lift their dresses up to check their underwear before a school dance... to a Peeping Tom... who dubs himself... "The Night Hawk"... whose voyeuristic peccadillos... are escalating to the point that Jesse is afraid where they may lead to... and to a local wife-swapping-club that is affecting the well being of two children.

For loyal Jesse Stone fans... the endangered children... allows Jesse to once again show that despite his minimalistic dialogue... that a big caring heart... beats within. In addition to all these criminal activities that Jesse must deal with simultaneously... Jenn moves to New York for a TV opportunity... and lo-and-behold... she moves in with the TV producer. As a by-product of all these concurrent issues... the reader gets to spend many nights with Jesse in his home... meticulously mixing his scotch... sharing intimate conversations with the poster on his wall of his baseball idol... Hall Of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith... and of course... there is endless gazing out of his French doors... to the sounds and views in the harbor.

Parker threads the story with many of his characters that loyal Spenser/Randall readers have become acquainted with over the years... Rita Fiore... Sunny Randall... and the mentioning of the one and only... Susan Silverman... who luckily is only mentioned... and not involved in her normal "baby-bunny-like-nibbling-on-a-piece-of-lettuce". Price conscious potential readers may want to wait till the paperback is released or go to the library, since there really is not that much to actually read. Though the book is two-hundred-eighty-nine pages long, most of the seventy-four-chapters are four pages... and the last page is almost always 1/3 to 2/3's blank... and the first page of each chapter is ½ blank... and most of the sentences in the book are extremely short.

Here is an example of SEVENTEEN "full" lines of writing:

"And his wife," Jesse said.
"yeah, and me, for crissakes."
"Insufferable," Jesse said.
"Doesn't it make you mad?"
"I was thinking about other stuff," Jesse said.
"Like what?"
"What do you think of her story?"
Molly paused in mid-anger.
"Her story," she said.
"Yep."
Molly sat back a little and thought about it.
"He hit her," Molly said.
Jesse nodded.
"He fondled her," Molly said.
"Uh-huh."
"And"--Molly began to speak fast--"he tied her up."
"Uh-huh."

This is really a short story with probably one-hundred-twenty-five pages of complete writing. It's an enjoyable little tale (minus Jenn) that gets the reader in and out quickly. It may not get you through a one-way cross country flight.

This was just the type of detective story I was looking for, although I didn't realize that until I found it. I was hooked on this novel after the first chapter. The action starts right away, and I read the whole book in a few hours. Although it isn't quite an action packed thriller, it held my interest to the last page.
Parker writes in an easy, straightforward style. There is a lot of humor in his dialogue, which was enjoyable. I like the way he tells the story without adding unnecessary details. He creates several very likeable characters, who are a bit jaded by life, but still care enough to keep trying. The setting and the situation are mostly realistic. There are no super heroes or supernatural powers. That would be completely out of place in Parker's novels.
Paradise reminded me of my own hometown in Massachusetts, although it could be anywhere in the U.S. There are a whole host of local characters, and of course the usual suspects. As another reviewer noted, the crimes seem to be mostly sexual in nature, and the people in this town talk a lot about sex. Nevertheless, as a movie this could probably get a PG-13 rating, if certain elements were described rather than shown. The book is written from a male perspective, and I suspect that men will enjoy this more than women, although there are strong male and female characters. It would be a good choice for an airplane ride, or a vacation escape. I recommend it.

I have read this book many times over the past 25 years at different stages in my life and I have loved it every time. Virginia Woolf is my favorite author (this and To The Lighthouse are her best works, in my opinion), and have given the book to my daughter, Katharine, for Christmas. (Guess who she's named after?) This book is an "easy" read, unlike many of Virginia Woolf's other novels, and follows a conventional style. However, there is nothing conventional about her writing; I have yet to come across another novelist with her ability to touch on everyday life with such subtlety and nuance. The characters in this book are very likeable - it's as if I have known them in my own life. Love this book!

Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series has consistently built upon the world he created within the books. New readers are encouraged, especially with this new book, to begin reading with the first one in this series. The characters change and grow, not just Jesse, but Suit, Molly, and the others that live in Paradise, Massachusetts. Stone, and Parker, have settled into the role of small town police chief in what now feels like a natural fit. The police procedural parts are good, steeped in observation and patience, two of a police officer's greatest assets. Forensics doesn't play a major role in these books.

One of the best things I have enjoyed about this series, and I've come to truly appreciate, is the fact that most of the cases seems to revolve around sex and gender. And yes, those are two very separate things. Parker keeps them separate as well. Sex is a physical act, and gender is a physical and emotional state of being.

The Jesse Stone novels have become more and more an examination of how people deal with each other on a sexual level as well as emotional expectations. Of course, that has been the main crux of Jesse's personal problems. He has an ex wife that he loves, Jenn, but can't get over her even though she cheats on him again and again.

In this book, Jesse Stone deals with a peeping Tom that breaks into people's homes while the wife is alone. He forces the women strip, then takes pictures of them. Stone begins wondering why men are wired to relish a woman's nudity while women don't maintain the same interests. His questions and his views are informative and engaging without being professorial. I hadn't thought about this male trait that much myself. After having spent 50 years as a male, I just accepted it. Upon reading the book, I found myself talking to my wife and friends, male as well as female, about this predilection of the male of the species.

In addition to delivering thought provoking material, Parker also delivers a fast paced tale of investigation and deduction. As usual, the dialogue is crisp and dead on. No one writes dialogue as pared down to the bone as Parker. This is excellent in the prose form, but I have noticed that it's somewhat detrimental when listening to the stories on audio book. I really recommend reading these books and enjoying them as audio books on a second go around.

The opening pages of the book are rather shocking. I know our generation has become overly protective of our children, but I couldn't imagine my daughter going through a panty check while in high school. I would've had someone's head. I don't recall the story like this in the news lately, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that I had missed one.

Parker handles all of this well, but it's just enough to make you think deeply about both sides of the issues. As he mentions of the book, schools are being expected to raise children more and more as parents duck those responsibilities. My wife is a fourth grade schoolteacher so I'm very familiar with the problems out there. This is just a small point that Parker touches on the book, but it's one that needs more discussion.

I have to admit, that over the last few books I've gotten thoroughly irritated at Jenn and her whining ways. And I've got irritated with Jesse for putting up with them. A new crisis dawns in this arena again, which is no surprise, but things are different somewhat and I'm more interested than ever in seeing the next book. Also, Sunny Randall, Parker's female private eye, returns to the series for cameos in this book. She brings along her best friend Spike for another heartwarming cameo.

Tom Selleck plays Jesse Stone in made-for-television movies on CBS. The latest movie, JESSE STONE: THIN ICE, debuts this Sunday, March 1. This is an original story, not based on one of the novels.

I had a great time with this novel, but like with all of Parker's works, I was finished much too soon. But there will be at least three more Parker books the rest of this year, so I have a lot of good reading to look forward to.

As a devoted Robert Parker Jr fan, I thought this was a sub-standard offering. It looked like a minimum effort on the part of the author and no effort on the part of the editor. I was particulary upset with the dialogue and the "he said-she said" additions to the end of each sentence, even in a two party dialogue. It was as if the author was being paid by the word (which maybe he was-since the plot is more fitting for a short story). I agree with most reviewers that best that can be said for this book is we may have seen the last of Jenn. I recommend that you wait and buy this one when it's on the sale table.

Here is an artist at work, painting the nuances of the heart, creating living people, reacting to the subtleties of mood, ambiance, the weather, and external perceptions that make up how we live and who we are. No matter what you think of these people, you have a chance to live with them and understand them, feel their conflicts, their love, and their pains. Virginia Woolf is the ballast that offsets all the one-book-wonder authors, the cynics, the nasty moderns, and those authors who have given up on anything positive in the world. Like Shakespeare, her work will live on long after so many others are forgotten. That's because she offers us art, hope, vision, and the truth about our humanity. It's all here in this book, if you choose to read it.

Chief of Police Jesse Stone has his hands full in this book. High School principal Betsy Ingersoll is inspecting her female students' underwear. Stone would like to see the principal in court, but her husband is a big shot attorney. (Probably won't happen)
A young teenage girl is upset because her parents are members of a "swingers" club. The poor kid is upset, and can Jesse do something about it? But she doesn't want her parents to know she had this discussion with Jesse, and, of course, sex is not illegal in Paradise.
Next, Jesse is dealing with a peeping tom. The unsuspecting housewives are held at gunpoint and ordered to take off their clothes while he takes digital pictures. He looks, and takes the pictures , but doesn't touch.
Of course, Jesse is still struggling with the bottle.
And then there is is ex wife Jenn. She is off to New York City with her producer. Will she be back? And will Jesse welcome her with open arm or is she finally gone for good?
Sunny also makes a brief appearance. Stay tuned.