Wednesday, September 16, 2009

A-Z Wednesday


Reading at the Beach is hosting A-Z Wednesday where bloggers take the time to highlight one book that starts with the letter of the day. This week is the letter F. Obviously I missed the week for E. Guess my alphabet is going to be a bit sketchy! This week I'm going to highlight a book that has had a bookmark sitting in it for months. It's just that it's a darn big book (and even bigger now that it took a dip in the lake during the ill-fated boat sinking episode) and too intimidating to pick up when I have so much else here begging to be read. But I'm hoping that mentioning it for all of you will help me to get back to it and make real progress on it, especially as I have been enjoying it.

The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye is described by Amazon thusly:

When The Far Pavilions was first published nineteen years ago, it moved the critic Edmund Fuller to write this: "Were Miss Kaye to produce no other book, The Far Pavilions might stand as a lasting accomplishment in a single work comparable to Margaret Mitchell's achievement in Gond With the Wind."

From its beginning in the foothills of the towering Himalayas, M.M. Kaye's masterwork is a vast, rich and vibrant tapestry of love and war that ranks with the greatest panoramic sagas of modern fiction.

The Far Pavilions is itself a Himalayan achievement, a book we hate to see come to an end. it is a passionate, triumphant story that excites us, fills us with joy, move us to tears, satisfies us deeply, and helps us remember just what it is we want most from a novel.


Not a terribly enticing description, is it? More a bunch of fluffy words that signify nothing. But if you love stories set in India, have any fascination with the British Raj, or like sweeping epics, this is the story for you. And since it fits all three things for me, there's no excuse for me picking other books up in lieu of it. Maybe one of you should read it too and goad me along to read with you!

12 comments:

  1. No something I'd normally read either, but sometimes a change of genre is a good thing!!

    Thanks for playing!

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  2. I am interested in all of the things you describe, I will most certainly join you in reading it. Thanks for stopping by.

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  3. I loved this book when I read it a few years ago.

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  4. wow, I actually remember when that book was released. A signed Brandon Mull . . . I'm jealous

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  5. I really like this author's "death in [fun exotic place]" books, but I've always been deterred by the thickness of this book. Someday I'll read it, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

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  6. I really like this author's "death in [fun exotic place]" books, but I've always been deterred by the thickness of this book. Someday I'll read it, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

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  7. I tend to like epic novels, so this goes onto my TBR list!
    ==lennie==

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  8. It's worth it Kristen... I have an ancient copy and reread every few years...

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  9. I'm REALLY tempted by the read-a-long idea. I read this one in high school and LOVED it - wonder if it would still be that great for me.

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I have had to disable the anonymous comment option to cut down on the spam and I apologize to those of you for whom this makes commenting a chore. I hope you'll still opt to leave me your thoughts. I love to hear what you think, especially so I know I'm not just whistling into the wind here at my computer.

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