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Infinite Country by Patricia Engel | Thoughts

   Published : 2021   ||    Format : print   ||    Location : Colombia ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆   What was it about the country that kept everyone hostage to its fantasy? The previous month, on its own soil, an American man went to his job at a plant and gunned down fourteen coworkers, and last spring alone there were four different school shootings. A nation at war with itself, yet people still spoke of it as some kind of paradise.. Thoughts : Infinite Country follows two characters - young Talia, who at the beginning of this book, escapes a girl’s reform school in North Colombia so that she can make her previously booked flight to the US. Before she can do that, she needs to travel many miles to reach her father and get her ticket to the rest of her family. As we follow Talia’s treacherous journey south, we learn about how she ended up in the reform school in the first place and why half her family resides in the US. Infinite Country tells the story of her family through the other protagonist, El

The Sunday Salon: It's the Super Bowl weekend... NOT!

The Sunday 
Salon.com

Good morning fellow readers! Seems like everyone I come across is gearing up for the Super Bowl today. The husband and I, not being any kind of football fans, will probably just do the same things we do every weekend - grocery shopping, him watching TV or playing Far Cry 4, while I will try to read, blog, and not think about going back to work tomorrow. Both of us have grand plans to clean our house today, but we'll see how that chore is going to get squeezed into the day's todo list.

This week has been mostly the same as ever - busy some days, slow other days. Couple of days I was too beat to do anything in the evenings but fall asleep on the couch. We have been going to the gym most days for three weeks now and I'm totally feeling the difference in energy thanks to that. When it's warmer outside, it will be nicer to just do some outdoorsy stuff, but for now the cold has to pass. I just hope that we get at least one good snowfall before that happens. It will be a huge bummer otherwise.

I have been reading quite a bit this week. At the gym, it's been The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. Honestly, I am glad to be reading this book because it has always been on my wishlist. But, I am hating it so much! The writer's choice of certain words and his portrayal of the protagonist is just disgusting. Still, I want to get to the end of it, if only to say that I finally read this book. Plus, if this feeling lasts until the last page, I can cross out this author's name from my authors-to-read list, and even defend my decision.

Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go is something of an enigma. His writing is beautiful - even if he wrote on the back of cereal boxes, I will read every word of it. The story is however a mixed bag right now. There's something bothering me about it, but I cannot place my finger on it. Still, it's a beautiful book to be lost in. I have about 70 pages to go and I'm hoping to finish it amidst all the things I want to do today.

A lot of my shows came back the week before last, so the TV has been running every evening. I cannot wait until The Walking Dead and, eventually, Game of Thrones come back. Did you catch the latest GoT trailer? Oh, that show is getting me all antsy and jumpy and impatient. I wish they did more than 10 episodes a season - not that there is not enough drama in those 10 episodes. The show producers make sure there is at least one scream-worthy moment in each episode.

But, when I'm not watching my usual shows, I'm continuing to watch Friends on Netflix. I'm now at the beginning of Season 4 and loving this show more every minute. I am so going to miss watching this show once it is over.

Comments

We're about the same place, with Friends, I think. Tomorrow, I have a feeling that we'll get a lot further as we're expecting about a foot of snow. Oh...and maybe some reading too.


Just curious: why continue with a book if you're hating it? Myself? I'd just drop it and move on to the next book. Life's too short and too many other potentially good books out there.
Katherine Koba said…
My issue with Never Let Me Go is that people treat it like a breathtakingly original idea when, um, we had trashy 70s movies (Parts: The Clonus Horror) about the exact same topic, or does no one remember? More to the point it seems like Ishiguro was trying to argue in a debate no one else is having.

The characters were written well and their relationships interesting, but they really deserved a better setting and a better story.
Sam_TinyLibrary said…
Hope you enjoy your day, I think you should leave the cleaning and just relax :)
I'm looking forward to the new season of Game of Thrones, but I'm more excited for the next book, whenever it's going to be released.
JoAnn @ Lakeside Musing said…
Never Let Me Go was not a favorite for me... will be curious to hear your final thoughts. Guess I'll cross White Tiger off my list, too ;-)
Mystica said…
I found Never Let Me Go very tough going!
Athira / Aths said…
It sounds to me that a lot of people struggled with this book at some level. I cannot wait to finish it.
Athira / Aths said…
My Friends watching has slowed down recently, what with some TV shows returning and me trying to read when possible. Maybe hopefully, it will last longer this way.


I generally abandon books that are not working for me, whether at 10 pages or a 100. In this case, I had this book on my list for so long that I really want to read it. It is interesting in a way, I just don't care for the author's writing. Of course, I may still give up on this one some day if I feel enough is enough, but I have this feeling (probably misplaced) that I may be missing something in this book.
Athira / Aths said…
Looks like many struggled with Never Let Me Go. I'm kind of relieved to hear that because I had this feeling that everyone loved this book. I didn't manage to finish the book yesterday but hopefully today.
Athira / Aths said…
I had that exact same thought - that Ishiguro seems to be trying to build up to something huge and momentous but it's just not hitting any chords anywhere. I am also bothered by how long he has spent on a character's memories. I am not a fan of books that have more flashbacks and less of the present.
Athira / Aths said…
I really really want to read the books. I started the first book (for the second time) last month and again got bothered by how slow Martin's narration is. This is the problem of trying to read a book after watching the TV show. I tend to try to get caught up which isn't going to happen with books this huge. I wish I had come across these books before the TV show even started. Yesterday, I bought the Untold History of Westeros which is a companion book and that one is turning out to be fun to read.
Care said…
I think Never Let Me go is a good first book for Ishiguro. The whole feeling vaguely unsettled is the point. I bought it all in that book but by the third book I tried of his, I was tired of his style. If it is a style? Anyway, hope you had a lovely Sunday. We, of course, watched the Super Bowl.
biblioglobal said…
I always see The White Tiger sitting on the shelf at the library and think that I should read it. Then I look at the description on the book jacket and think "Maybe next time", and put it back. When I first saw you were reading it I thought, "I just read a crime novel I liked, maybe I should finally read The White Tiger." But maybe not!
Ti Reed said…
Never Let Me Go bothered me too. It's cold. Sterile. I had a hard time wrapping my brain around it.
bermudaonion(Kathy) said…
We went to a Super Bowl party but I didn't watch any of the game - I just went to socialize and eat and drink.
literaryfeline said…
No football for us either. We did catch the half-time to see Katy Perry (my daughter loves her song Roar), but for the most part, it was business as usual Sunday. :-) Glad to see we weren't the only ones.

I haven't read The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, but I have a copy on my TBR shelf. I am sorry to hear it's not living up to your expectations. Makes me wonder if I should bother. :-( It's not one I am chomping at the bit to read, anyway. Never Let Me Go is one I have wanted to read for awhile now too.


I'm anxiously awaiting the return of The Walking Dead too.


I hope you have a great week! It was back to work today. I have tomorrow off though. I have a doctor's appointment and thought I'd treat myself to the whole day. I'm looking forward to it. I have too many plans for the short day though. Something will have to give. LOL
I'm with you on Friends, except much farther along. I'm watching the last three seasons for the first time since I think 2006ish, and with a few exceptions they're holding up pretty well. I remembered them being far worse than they really are. NOT TERRIBLE is my verdict.


I did watch (parts of) the Super Bowl, but my heart wasn't in it. These are maybe my two least favorite teams in the league; I didn't want anyone to win.
Lisa Sheppard said…
I read The White Tiger about five years ago and remember not liking the narrator at all but liking the book a lot. I found it to be so vivid. But I know it definitely isn't a book for everyone because it's quite a downer!
iliana said…
I love Friends. I have all DVDs and binged watched the whole show one year when I was out with surgery. It was great :) We don't do football in our house either so like you - we did grocery shopping, a bit of organizing and mainly whining about the weekend being over! haha...
Nishita said…
ACK! You are hating on one of my favorite novels!!! :( . But yes, I agree with you the protagonist is not nice at all. But that's really the whole point of the book.
Athira / Aths said…
I think it is hist style. I did read a short story written by him and this book is very similar in style and even theme to that story. I can see how it is easy to be tired of his books. What a bummer, because he writes really well. I do wish he wrote different kinds of stories.
Athira / Aths said…
It may work for you. I know many people liked it. Just as many hated it too though. Still, some parts of the book are bugging me high time. I cannot wait to finish it because the story is kind of interesting - I just don't like the way it is being told.
Athira / Aths said…
Cold is exactly what it was. And very impassionate. It was a good book though - I liked it, but I wish I had more of a connection with it.
Athira / Aths said…
You may enjoy The White Tiger. I know it's a hit or miss with most people. You may turn out to like it. I do think however that you may know whether you will like it or not within the first few pages. The tone of the book is set from the beginning.
Athira / Aths said…
My husband was watching the fifth Season and I was watching along when I thought that this show is really fun. So I started watching from the beginning - the first few episodes were meh - but then they started getting super hilarious.
Athira / Aths said…
Haha - that sounds like my weekend too.
Athira / Aths said…
The protagonist isn't really the one bothering me. Yes, he is not likable, but I haven't yet reached the part when his "unlikeableness" becomes more of the crux of the story (yeah, a review I read spoiled this detail for me). I think it is just the author's writing. It is just leaving a bad feeling within me. I feel like he could have done a better job portraying an unlikeable protagonist. Rather than make me hate the protagonist because of something he does or doesn't, he goes to great lengths to establish that i should not like this protagonist without quite telling me why (later I will find out, of course). I wanted the story to flow, but unfortunately it is following a script. The story is sort of interesting, though dragging. I do want to finish the book.
Care said…
I actually liked the movie. :)
Athira / Aths said…
I don't like the narrator either, but that hasn't bothered me yet. It's more how the author is sketching him - there is something very gross there that is bothering me.
Athira / Aths said…
That's what I like to do too. Do the socializing, maybe watch the ads. Leave the game to the die hard fans.