More book reviews

I finished three books in February:

Vanity Fair--I've already posted about Thackerey's habit of addressing the readers. He also responds to reader mail in the novel, which made me laugh. (Vanity Fair was originally published serially.) The book is enjoyable overall. It's basically a romance, with a villianess straight out of a soap opera. Unlike Austen's novels, Vanity Fair is laced with lots of contemporary references. Although the book is still understandable and pleasurable without understanding those, I would have preferred an annotated copy.

The Polish Officer--This is a World War II spy novel. I appreciate the great research that went into this book. I learned a lot about Poland. The plot is episodic, and the ending left much to be desired. The book didn't so much end as stop. But I love the writing.

"And the Clarais cousins? They're coming?" Bonneau said.
Soulier shrugged. It scared de Milja a little, the quality of that shrug. He understood it, he feared, all too well--the Clarais cousins hadn't shown up where they'd promised to be since the spring of 1285, likely tonight would be no different.

And this:

The mood in the cafes was now resignation, the defeat by the Germans called the debacle. De Milja found this a curious expression once he thought about it--just the sort of linguistic trap that the French liked to construct. It meant a complete route, a total collapse. But somewhere in the spirit of the word was a touch of the absurd, the comic: it wasn't anyone's fault, no point in assigning blame, it was just that everything went wrong all at once--a moment of Divine slapstick and poof, we lost the country.

Highland Fling--this is a British chic lit novel I checked out in anticipation of getting the stomach flu that's been sweeping through the family. And it's a perfectly servicable sick-day read. The romance seemed even stupider than usual though. Shouldn't the couple have at least two solid conversations before they get together? And why do Bristish novels always make me hungry? As Michael reminds me, the UK is not exactly known for its good food.

I've just started The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution.