F R I D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 0 6Book Roundup -- Abundance, Raven's Gate andThe GalleryPlowed through some books in the last few weeks.Abundance: A Novel Of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund --Naslund made waves with her bestseller "Ahab's Wife," which cheekilytold a backstory from "Moby Dick." After a contemporary novel thatcame and went, Naslund has returned to a historical setting, this timeto tell the story of Marie Antoinette.</p><p> She owes a great debt to AntoniaFraser's bio "Marie Antoinette: The Journey." (It's mentioned first inthe acknowledgments.) Both are very sympathetic to Antoinette, withNaslund deftly working in some awareness of Marie's blindness to heractions.</p><p> The chapters are short and brief, much like Marie's nimble buteasily distracted mind.</p><p> It does deepen a bit towards the end as theFrench Revolution takes over, but not so much as one might want.</p><p> Thebook is ultimately a bit superficial, but pretty and distracting.Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz -- Horowitz is the creator of myfavorite TV mystery show, "Foyle's War" and the best-selling kidsbooks "Alex Rider" (think a teenage James Bond.) "Raven's Gate" startsa new five book series about another 14 year old boy with hugeresponsibilities: this time, to save the world from the Old Ones, the evilthat has been lurking behind closed Gates for millennia.</p><p> Not muchcharacter development to sink your teeth into, though the series picksup quite a bit in book two (which I've just started).</p><p> Still, there's a nicehorror movie feel to the setting, with our hero in an odd little Britishvillage where everyone is naturally up to their necks in witchcraft.</p><p> It'slike an episode of "The Avengers" or one of those Seventies Britishhorror films where menace can be found in placid country life.The Gallery by John Horne Burns -- this is a keeper.</p><p> It's a novel aboutlife in Naples in 1944, published just a few years after WW II was over.I don't know what prompted me to pick it up (maybe the reference to agay subplot - unusual in a book this old).</p><p> It's a very odd duck --chapters that serve as travelogue/essay/ memoir for Burns and what hesaw alternate with nine sketches of different people in Naples, everyonefrom a Red Cross volunteer who can't be bothered to associate withcommon soldiers to the owner of a wildly popular bar who doesn'tNext Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: Book Roundup -- Abundance, Raven's Ga...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/09/book-roundup.html 1 of 37/28/09 6:38 PMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SAaronBiboyMichael in New York POPSURFING.COM: Book Roundup -- Abundance, Raven's Ga...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/09/book-roundup.html 2 of 37/28/09 6:38 PMPOPSURFING.COM: Book Roundup -- Abundance, Raven's Ga...http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/09/book-roundup.html 3 of 37/28/09 6:38 PM
