Rating:  Summary: I adored this book Review: I read this book in less than 24 hours, I could not put it down. It was very interesting, I suppose the reason that it's such a gem is because it's about a relationship between two men, or rather many relationships between many men (I only spotted a few women, and only one had a role with a little substance) If not only for it's curiosity, it also is very well written, it just takes you away from reality for awhile (or perhaps when you've read so much so fast you go into an almost drunken state.) It's very worth it, a wonderful book.
Rating:  Summary: A first-class read Review: One of those unusual books where you lose yourself to the world in its pages. Love triumphs, the heros win, lessons are learned, social norms are in chaos as the heros walk hand in hand into a golden future(one hopes.) Laura Argiri uses words like an artist uses color. One of the most positive and engrossing reads I've enjoyed for a very long time. You can't help but win with this romantic adventure.
Rating:  Summary: Magnificent, beautifully written tale of forbidden passion. Review: The God in Flight is one of the most intriguing, well
crafted and beautifully written novels I've read in a very
long time. Erotic and extraordinary, Laura Argiri gives
us a revealing look at the power of passion between two
people. A passion so strong and undeniable that it manages
to transcend the era's staunch Victorian sensibilities.
A must read for lovers of Austen, Forster and Wilde.
Rating:  Summary: Overdramatic and divorced from reality Review: This book was suggested to me as something similar to Marion Zimmer Bradley's lovely The Catch Trap, so I picked it up with high hopes. The story I found, however, hardly deserved the recommendations it was given. Argiri has a lovely writing style, dense with description, but her dramatic narrative is far overweighted with drama.In the book, set in Victorian times, Simion, a precocious boy from an abusive home in the back woods, goes to Yale and falls in love with his (male) art professor, Doriskos. To say that drama ensues is an understatement. Every conceivable horror that can befall these men does, from exposure and persecution by peers to lovers' quarrels and the death of loved ones. To say that this all remains believable is simply untrue. Argiri throws these curves, presumably, to keep the story interesting and dramatic at the cost of any sense of reality. The book feels as though it's written about an alternate history in which these men are not affected by either the Civil War or the prejudice of the times. Though some lip service is paid to the idea that a homosexual relationship is not the Victorian norm, almost every person Simion and Doriskos interact with is also a man "of the lavendar persuasion," removing any feeling of impending danger from their situation. The God In Flight is not without its moments. Argiri's secondary characters are given appealing depth, and her writing in glorious and descriptive (though I've never seen the word "charily" used so often). The idea is noble, but it ends up feeling like a gimick, as though Argiri made both lovers men just to add a bit more drama to an already over-the-top story. If you're looking for a believeable and engaging story of men in love, skip over to MZB's Catch Trap. If you're instead thirsting for a bit of beach-reading romantic-fluff drama to read, this is the book to grab.
Rating:  Summary: Overdramatic and divorced from reality Review: This book was suggested to me as something similar to Marion Zimmer Bradley's lovely The Catch Trap, so I picked it up with high hopes. The story I found, however, hardly deserved the recommendations it was given. Argiri has a lovely writing style, dense with description, but her dramatic narrative is far overweighted with drama. In the book, set in Victorian times, Simion, a precocious boy from an abusive home in the back woods, goes to Yale and falls in love with his (male) art professor, Doriskos. To say that drama ensues is an understatement. Every conceivable horror that can befall these men does, from exposure and persecution by peers to lovers' quarrels and the death of loved ones. To say that this all remains believable is simply untrue. Argiri throws these curves, presumably, to keep the story interesting and dramatic at the cost of any sense of reality. The book feels as though it's written about an alternate history in which these men are not affected by either the Civil War or the prejudice of the times. Though some lip service is paid to the idea that a homosexual relationship is not the Victorian norm, almost every person Simion and Doriskos interact with is also a man "of the lavendar persuasion," removing any feeling of impending danger from their situation. The God In Flight is not without its moments. Argiri's secondary characters are given appealing depth, and her writing in glorious and descriptive (though I've never seen the word "charily" used so often). The idea is noble, but it ends up feeling like a gimick, as though Argiri made both lovers men just to add a bit more drama to an already over-the-top story. If you're looking for a believeable and engaging story of men in love, skip over to MZB's Catch Trap. If you're instead thirsting for a bit of beach-reading romantic-fluff drama to read, this is the book to grab.
Rating:  Summary: Decadance... Review: This has to be one of my all time favorite books. Reading it was for my soul what eating warm, melted caramel is for my mouth. There's really no way to describe the depth of emotion it carrys you to. Very well done, wish I could give it more stars.
Rating:  Summary: A Real Gem! Review: This is one of my favourite books, which I revisit often to reread most of the scenes. I am disappointed that it is out-of-print because it should be enjoyed by all of us who are romantic at heart. Beautiful, luminous, poetic and romantic, the touching love story of Simion and Dori, two fascinating characters, will always stay with me. A book to be treasured always.
Rating:  Summary: I adored this book Review: This is simply one of the best novels I've read in years...totally rivetting and emotionally true, it resonates long after you finish reading it. The writing is beautiful and sweeps you up in the narrative. The characters come alive with the turn of each page. The romance fills you with hope. This should be required reading for every gay literature class because of the way it deals so perfectly with love between men without the constraints of more current social issues, and should be on the reading list for everyone who loves great writing and a great story.
Rating:  Summary: a gem Review: This is simply one of the best novels I've read in years...totally rivetting and emotionally true, it resonates long after you finish reading it. The writing is beautiful and sweeps you up in the narrative. The characters come alive with the turn of each page. The romance fills you with hope. This should be required reading for every gay literature class because of the way it deals so perfectly with love between men without the constraints of more current social issues, and should be on the reading list for everyone who loves great writing and a great story.
Rating:  Summary: hysterical romance Review: This novel follows the standard plot of the historicial romance. An older, dark, wealthy hero is tormented into violence, while a fey young love object rises up from deprivation into the deserved level of society. After a great many misunderstandings, they come together. In other words, aside from the fact that this book has two men playing these roles, this book is completely formulaic. The endless descriptions of home interiors, food, and clothing are as tedious as they always are in a historical romance: Waistcoats and dancing slippers, ormolu and gilt, rosewood and porcelain. Enough! Can we really be expected to read twenty pages of huffy conversations that people have while one character is confined to bed by self-starvation? We do get to read some nicely written sex, though. I picked this novel up because of the raving blurbs. It was supposed to be important, transforming, unique. Instead, i found a nearly-standard romance novel that is so obsessed with how things look, both physically and socially, that I wanted to abandon it before finishing it.
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