#109 ~ Immortal
October 14, 2008 at 10:29 pm | Posted in Books, Culture, Historical Fiction | 7 CommentsTags: alchemy, child prostitution, Florence, Giotto, Immortal, immortality, Leonardo da Vinci, Literate Housewives Book Club, Medici, The Literate Housewives' Book Club, the plague, Traci L. Slatton
Immortal by Traci L. Slatton
Immortal is a novel that sweeps through 150 years of Florentine history from Giotto to Leonardo da Vinci through the eyes of Luca Bastardo, whose first memories are of living in the street seemingly as an orphan. What makes Luca different is that he does not perceptively age. His long life did not start out pleasantly. While living on the streets, he made a couple of friends. His best friend ultimately sold him to a brothel owner who specialized in pedaling the flesh of young children. The only way he survived over twenty years of sexual abuse was by traveling to the gorgeous churches around Florence and through his friendship with Gioto. When Luca won his freedom from prostitution created a generations long family long vendetta against him. The discovery of alchemy, his talent for medicine and the search for his true love are what give him purpose as he keeps one step ahead of the those who want to destroy him.
This is not an easy novel to read. The scenes at the brothel and with Luca dealing with the plague were grueling. For me, the hardest parts weren’t the most emotionally difficult, but were those dealing heavily with alchemy and with Leonardo da Vinci. Alchemy most definitely had its place in this novel. Without it, Luca would never have foreseen and chose love over immortality. Luca’s dream of creating gold, however, felt hollow to me. I liked the way that played out, but that didn’t change my opinion that his interest in it was half-hearted. I also found Leonardo a difficult character to enjoy. He was much more than a precociuos child. I found his questions much too pointed and advanced for his age, even if he was a genious. Because of this, his character felt like a tool needed to move Luca along.
I finished this book over two weeks ago, but I’m still not sure how I feel about it. It was a book that felt as long as its 528 pages. The ending was amazing. It was a tremendous payoff. This wouldn’t have been dampened at all had the novel been pared down. At the same time, I was left wanting more information about the time Luca spent exiled from Florence. Despite my own ambivilence, this novel would be interesting to those who enjoy reading about Florence, art, and the Medici family. Luca’s view of the city as it changed so drastically over his lifetime and certainly provides a unique view of the city.
The best part about reading this novel was discussing it with those of you who joined The Literate Housewive’s Book Club! I enjoyed reading your posts and your reviews. If you haven’t been back in a while, please post your review there so I can compile all of the reviews for the newsletter. I’ve also posted a call for suggestions for the next book. I’m really looking forward to doing this again.
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To buy this book, click here.
Behind… My September Wrap-Up
October 1, 2008 at 11:30 am | Posted in Books, Historical Fiction, LIfe, My Life with Books, Philippa Gregory, Reading | 12 CommentsTags: behind, C.W. Gortner, Charles Henry, Christopher Meeks, Eric Van Lustbader, First Daughter, Good Person Guidebook, House and Home, Immortal, Ingrid E. Newkirk, Kathleen McCleary, Megan Kelly Hall, Months and Seasons, One Can Make a Difference, PhD, Rebecca Godfrey, Richard Bayer, Robin A. Altman, September Wrap-Up, Shrink Rap, Sisters of Misery, The Last Queen, The Torn Skirt, Traci Slatton, Will I Ever Know
My grandfather worked in tool and die. When he retired, he had his machines in his shed. One of the things he loved to make the most were cribbage and euchre boards. He gave this lovely euchre board to me quite some time ago. Although I’m not sure how to take that on a personal level ;), it really does represent the state of my blog as the month of September has drawn to a close and October is finally underway. Grandpa will be 91 on the 15th, so happy early birthday from your favorite granddaughter in Virginia!
September really was quite a month. I participated in two wonderful book tours, I read 11 books (!!!!), the Literate Housewives Book Club officially started (thanks to everyone who has signed up on the forum!), we all celebrated Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and I took a road trip to see one of my favorite authors, Philippa Gregory. While this will be a month to remember, it has left me behind on my reviews and my comments. Hopefully October will be a good catch up month. With my birthday, the girls’ birthdays (Ally – 22nd, Emma – 23rd), our 11th anniversary, a visit from my parents and Uncle Ryan, and a business trip to Boston, it’s sure to be eventful if nothing else.
I read 11 books this month, but I only wrote 7 reviews (including The Seamstress that I owed from August). That leaves me 5 reviews in the hole. I’m hoping to have those all written and published by Monday. Here’s how my reading broke down by category:
General Fiction
House and Home by Kathleen McCleary
Will I Ever Know by Charles Henry
First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader
The Torn Skirt by Rebecca Godfrey – review forthcoming
Historical Fiction
The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner
Immortal by Traci Slatton – review forthcoming
Young Adult Fiction
Sisters of Misery by Megan Kelly Hall – review forthcoming
Short Fiction
Months and Seasons by Christopher Meeks
Non-Fiction
One Can Make a Difference edited by Ingrid E. Newkirk
Good Person Guidebook by Richard Bayer, PhD – review forthcoming
Shrink Rap by Robin A. Altman – review forthcoming
Best Read of the Month:
Honorable Mentions:
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I hope that you all had a happy and prosperous September and will be enjoying the changing of this colors in October.
The Sunday Salon 09.21.08
September 21, 2008 at 1:35 pm | Posted in Books, LIfe | 12 CommentsTags: Bad Monkey, BBAW, Immortal, Matt Ruff, Megan Kelly Hall, Philippa Gregory, Sisters of Misery, The Other Queen, The Sunday Salon, The Torn Skirt Rebecca Godfrey, Traci Slatton, TSS
It is such a gorgeous day today! This is the first morning I woke up feeling chilly. A few months from now I’ll no doubt be complaining about this, but it felt really, really good. I’ll be wearing long pants and a long sleeve t-shirt today for sure. And, since I’ve finally gotten my seasonal blahs to a manageable place, I can enjoy the cooler weather and the changing of the colors. 🙂
What a week! Book Blogger Appreciation Week was an inspiration to me. Jen at Devourer of Books made my week early on and it just stayed that way. I enjoyed visiting new blogs and presenting four of the awards and two contests. It culminated in a wonderful book blogger wide shout out to Amy at My Friend Amy that was really impressive. It’s amazing what a group of people who don’t know each other can do in such a short period of time. I want to personally thank Trish at Hey Lady, Whatcha Readin’ for the gorgeous button she created for Amy. It is absolutely lovely!
The Literate Housewives’ Book Club is also back up and running. After 9 months, we’re giving it another try. In addition to the blog, I’ve created a forum and will be creating a newsletter. Our first book is Immortal by Traci Slatton. A couple of the members have finished the book, but I’m about 10 chapters in myself. We’re not actually describing the book until we’ve finished, which will probably be closer to the end of the month. So, there’s still time to join if you’re interested.
In addition to the blogging, I got a good deal of reading done. I finished Sisters of Misery by Megan Kelly Hall. I read that novel to help out Andi at AndiLit. It was really good and I just noticed that in the activity of BBAW that Amy hosted a guest post by the author. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the sequel. I also read and enjoyed The Torn Skirt by Rebecca Godfrey. I’ll be writing and posting the reviews for these novels this week.
I have a question about young adult literature for those of you who regularly read and review it. Sisters of Misery is listed in the YA Lit category. It was about a group of high school aged girls, so that fits YA to me. However, there were quite a few references to drugs, sex, rape, and gang rape. Two characters, one of whom is a high school character, smoke. What really stuck out to me as being inappropriate for a YA novel is my least favorite word, c*nt. Are these topics and the use of that kind of language acceptable or common in the YA literature of today? It’s been since the late 80s since I’ve read YA fiction and I know that a lot has changed…
I’m starting Bad Monkey by Matt Ruff and The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory in addition to Immortal for my reading this week. A lot of great reading is heading my way.
Next weekend I’ll be heading to the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. and I cannot wait! I’ll have pictures and a report back on those festivities in my next Sunday Salon. In the meantime, have a great week everyone!
Immortal ~ A Second Chance
August 9, 2008 at 7:33 am | Posted in Books | 3 CommentsTags: book giveaway, Books on the Brain, Immortal, Traci Slatton
When I had my co-workers help draw the winning names for my Immortal contest, I wished that I had enough copies for everyone.
What’s the next best thing? Another blogger having copies to giveaway! So, if you entered my contest but didn’t win a copy of Immortal by Traci Slatton, Lisa at Book on the Brain has two copies up for grabs! Her contest ends on August 15th. Click here for details on her give away. Good luck!
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