And knowing is half the battle!
Lost Illusions, Balzac's lovely little story, is tres French (side note, little is a facetious comment: this book was 700 pages long; I read it in three days, which isn't too bad, but still). It wasn't exactly a favorite, but there were some fun parts. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of Paris. It made me think of French paintings and French music. Overall, I enjoy French things, though not really French food. Anyway, that element was fun.
However, it wasn't really a particularly enjoyable read. It reminded me of Oscar Wilde, though I suppose that should probably go the other way. Part of why I wasn't much of a fan, though, is that I mostly just really hated Lucien, and right from the beginning really. Unfortunately, this spilled over into me not thinking much of Eve, David, Coralie, and just about every character in the story. I did find his descriptions of journalism and its place in the world to be amusing, though.
Speaking of journalism, the other book for this post is The Midnight Examiner, which is about the employees at this tabloid publishing company and their run-in with organized crime. It's about as over-the-top and ridiculous as it sounds. I enjoyed the first half more, where we met the characters and saw the rather hilarious business and writing practices of the company. The part where they take on the mafia was also pretty amusing, but it got a bit old for me.
Anyway, it was a funny read, but I really have no idea why it is on the list. Really, if you only have time to read, say, 999 books before you die, you could probably skip this one.
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