And at no time are there any personal assistants, housekeepers, stylists, publicists, media consultants, trainers, therapists, or body guards present? The characters are rich and textured, and I couldn't help but get especially interested in the feud between Zoe, a hot-stuff Jamaican actress, and her daughter, and although the debates about the war's exegesis are perhaps dated, they should never be forgotten (hear me Tso? Over the next ten days, old lovers collide, new relationships form, and sparks fly, all with Smiley's signature sparkling wit and characterization. But ultimately this book was pointless. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 March 2015. There are many, many pages of esoteric discussion and long, rambling anecdotes that become incredibly tedious. This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine. In the aftermath of the 2003 Academy Awards, Max and Elena- he’s an Oscar-winning writer/director-open their Holywood Hills home to a group of friends and neighbors, industy insiders and hangers-on, eager to escape the outside world and dissect the latest news, … There is just something about Smiley's style, I guess, that I don't like. It is the morning after the Academy Awards. I had to read it in college. The strength of the book is not what has been pushed as the book’s most outstanding feature. I almost cried at the end, mostly because I was going to miss everyone. Perhaps I kept going because I was so startled by how thoroughly different the subject matter between these two books. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Normally, I'm put off by lots of stories w/in stories because I don't care for short stories. I've only read one other Jane Smiley book, A Thousand Acres, and I loved it. I like the way she seems to invent these characters and then just turn them loose to make the story themselves. . With her L.A. Decameron, Smiley gives us a feast of characters and a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of our times that often sent me into gales of laughter. The book was published in multiple languages including English, consists of 450 pages and is available in Hardcover format. I was a bit worried at first...all that sex stuff and random stories and political arguments I've already heard, but I trusted the author would do something brilliant as she always does and she did not disappoint. Woman! novel TEN DAYS IN THE HILLS. Over the next ten days, old lovers collide, new relationships form, and sparks fly, all with Smiley's signature sparkling wit and characterization. I did like her cross secti. Max—an Oscar-winning writer/director whose fame has waned—and his lover, Elena, luxuriate in bed, still groggy from last night’s red-carpet festivities. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. Price New from Used from Kindle "Please retry" $11.99 — — Audible Audiobook, Unabridged "Please retry" $0.00 . Select from premium Ten Days In The Hills. It's set at the very start of the Iraq war in 2003 and there are a lot of arguments for and against the invasion. The idea: a bunch of people, a sort-of family (a Hollywood movie director, his girlfriend and her son, his ex wife who is a legendary beauty/actress/singer, their grown daughter, the actress' mother, a neighbor, an old friend, the director's agent, and actress' bearded guru boyfriend...) gathered in one place and talk and explore relationships past and present, is an inter. I couldn't get attached to or interested enough in any of the many characters. Many reviewers were sufficiently entertained by watching Smiley's set of spoiled, if smart, individuals interact and ruminate on their self-involved conce. I will likely read some of her other books now simply to see her range. I enjoy full immersion in places and in characters' lives (Suitable Boy, Forsyth Saga, Strangers and Brothers, Richard Marius's East Tennessee trilogy, etc.) Loved it. Alfred A Knopf. And all these ten people do the whole time is have sex and talk and philosophize, in grandiose prose, about the Iraq war, film, literature, history and art - without a word about fashion, products, or branding (with the sole and jarringly repetitive exception of Gelson's supermarket)?? Where is it - charity shop. There are pages and pages of rambling self-serving conversation which you skip read thinking in a few pages it will get better. Honestly, I didn't like it and I didn't finish it. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. It is the morning after the Academy Awards. ‹ See all details for Ten Days in the Hills Unlimited One-Day Delivery and more Prime members enjoy fast & free shipping, unlimited streaming of movies and TV … Free with … The main characters of this fiction, contemporary story are , . I think Smiley herself must have gotten bored along the way and decided she had to switch it up to a new location where each room was more exotic than the next, only so that she had something else to describe. by Knopf. Be prepared with the most accurate 10-day forecast for Kill Devil Hills, NC with highs, lows, chance of precipitation from The Weather Channel and Weather.com Characters' names echo mythology (Delphine = an oracle, Cassie = Cassandra, etc. It all makes for a confusing situation in knowing whether to recommend the book or pan it because no two people seem to have the same take on it. I just started this, I'm hoping for some Laurel Canyon-like Hollywood shenanigans combined with Smiley's usual sharp and devastating observations. The main themes seem to be love, forgiveness, and death. I would give this book 3 1/2 stars. First we're supposed to believe that Hollywood director Max and his live-in girlfriend Elena are going to wake up surprised to find their house filled with: Max's ex-wife Zoe along with her new guru/lover Paul, Max and Zoe's daughter Isabel, Elena's son Simon, Zoe's mother Delphine, Delphine's neighbor Cassie, Max's agent Stoney, and Max's childhood friend Charlie, and then we're supposed to believe they all stay together for 10 entire days? This book was so much fun and I loved (almost) all of the characters. It is based on the Decameron, which I have never read, I just know that from what I know. There is just something about Smiley's style, I guess, that I don't like. I was a bit worried at first...all that sex stuff and random stories and political arguments I've already heard, but I trusted the author would do something brilliant as she always does and she did not disappoint. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 April 2008. With her L.A. Decameron, Smiley gives us a feast of characters and a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of our times that often sent me into gales of laughter. Especially disappointing as I am a great admirer of many of her other books, such as The Greenlanders and Horse Heaven. Smiley said in one interview or another that she was going for an eavesdropping effect: we watch the characters argue, think, feud, have sex and basically live lives like people do, and watch their private and public dramas unfold. Instead, through a series of fascinating conversations, the telling of interesting stories, and a remarkable catalog of sexual descriptions, we see these ten people as fully rounded human beings who never reach full communication with anybody else, but who figure out how to get along together anyway. Not too shabby! I love long novels, even better give me a saga or trilogy. Because it's Jane smiley and she writes such good characters. DNF. Learn about some of the new features in our catalog and how to make the most of them. Max, an award-winning writer and his lover, Elena, are hosts to a house full of guests including their daughter, a movie star, a healer and an agent. Critics similarly diverged on the characters, which reflected their own view of the novel: some characters stood out; others did not. 10 characters of relative privilege hole up in the Hills in the initial days … I also really enjoyed her attempt to recreate the sense of retreat, but thought that was at least part. The premise that a group of Hollywood types and their families would hole up for 10 days at random simply because they were upset by the onset of the Iraq War, and then would stick it out for 10 days (again, a random number of days), and along the way decide to change venues to an elaborately decorated hidden mansion likely owned by Russian mafia was all just far too much conjecture. How you feel when you finish reading it may not be how you’ll feel days or months later. Moo had struck a chord because I also have experience with being a faculty member at a land-grant school in the Upper Midwest. Everyone is referring to this as her Decameron, but it's really her version of "My Dinner with Andre," which she refers to several times. I found the whole 150+ pages that I read completely ridiculous, the characters boring and wooden I kept on reading, but it only got more boring and pointless. Sexy _and_ Anti-War - what more could you want? This book has a lot of sex, it starts with sex carries on with sex (and graphic sex at that) but this to me had no redeeming importance socially, politically or morally. In Ten Days in the Hills, eight of the 10 characters get sections narrated from their points of view. Many reviewers were sufficiently entertained by watching Smiley's set of spoiled, if smart, individuals interact and ruminate on their self-involved concerns; others found the conversations hackneyed. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY DEC 4, 2006. This 2007 novel tells the tales of ten people over the first couple weeks after the U.S. started the 2003 war in Iraq. I also really enjoyed her attempt to recreate the sense of retreat, but thought that was at least partially unsuccessful. I found 'Ten Days in the Hills' to have the typical intimacy of Smiley's works. On the one hand, little happens, aside from sex (presented directly, unromanticized, with no embarrassment). From the Trade Paperback edition. Fans of Jane Smiley will love this decadent Hollywood story of secrets, love and lust. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley. This book (a modern-day Decamaron (sp)) has the reader eavesdropping on several Hollywood residents in a palatial house over the space of a week and a half, shortly after the outbreak of the Iraq war (in Boccachio's work, the characters are hiding out from the Black Plague). Near the end, Max, the nearly washed-up film director, wants to take all ten along with him on a project, simply because he has enjoyed their company, which is pretty much my own reaction. Ethnographically, she is eerily accurate, even down to the incessant talking about fitness regimens, performative orthorexia, alternative religions, and the ritual recitation of one's exact driving routes (just like in the Saturday Night Live skit "The Californians," incidentally). E-mail after purchase. It was essentially a modern-day retelling of The Decameron, set in Hollywood. I thought this was one of the oddest books I've ever read. Finally I can give 5 stars to something I've read this year. Jane Smiley is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist. That's not much plot development for such a long book. I didn't know that Jane Smiley could write an utterly boring book - but this is it. Extremely disappointing - not as expected, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 May 2007. Max, an award-winning writer and his lover, Elena, are hosts to a house full of guests including their daughter, a movie star, a healer and an agent. Still, I loved the way it played with the themes of the Decameron, with life, death, sex, secrets, narration. The extremely talented and ever-surprising Jane Smiley . (Hm, maybe my problem with "The Greenlanders" is that I've never spent ten years huddling around a fire saying things like, "Bah! This book (a modern-day Decamaron (sp)) has the reader eavesdropping on several Hollywood residents in a palatial house over the space of a week and a half, shortly after the outbreak of the Iraq war (in Boccachio's work, the characters are hiding out from the Black Plague). Too many characters, too many words, an endless series of self-indulgent diatribes. The people, all relatively affluent, some in the movie business, have varying opinions on the war, and on many other topics, but by halfway through the novel, we no longer define them by their opinions. Set about the very beginning of the Iraq War and written not long after, it's enormously prescient about our slip into the new dark ages. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. "Ten Days" resonates with me because I grew up in the Hollywood Hills. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. This, I suppose, was intended as the literary equivalent of a close-up shot, but any studio executive or script doctor would have told her that it was too soon in the romance for a close-up and, besides, lengthy close-up shots are strictly for indie flicks or porn videos. ), the Iraq war takes on Hellenic force as the uneasy backdrop, foods catalog character traits but also contemporary upper-middle-class foibles. But it wasn't enough to add up to a satisfactory read on my part. While Smiley's use of the Iraq war created some enlightened discussion, it also seemed like a heavy-handed device. On the one hand, little happens, aside from sex (presented directly, unromanticized, with no embarrassment). With its breathtaking passion and sexy irreverence, Ten Days in the Hills is a glowing addition to the work of one of our most beloved novelists. Really disturbing is the introduction of two young Russian women who seem to serve no purpose other than to service the sexual desires of two of the male characters, a device that I found misogynistic, amazing from such an author. There's lots to play with in this book. "Ten Days in the Hills" is a novel, and a shimmering one at that, of social observations, archly written and mordantly funny." Max, an award-winning writer and his lover, Elena, are hosts to a house full of guests including their daughter, a movie star, a healer and an agent. A sparkling tale about a group of moneyed friends and family, gathered for ten transformative days in the Hollywood hills. Join us at an upcoming Library Pro Tips event to become a power user. Normally, I'm put off by lots of stories w/in stories because I don't care for short stories. Maybe I expected a meaningful ending. There is an early renaissance work called The Decameron, by one Italian bloke named Boccaccio. I didn't care for A Thousand Acres, either. Ships from the UK. I couldn't get attached to or interested enough in any of the many characters. Try again. The book had about a thousand characters (but only 10 days) and no plot at all, just a spinning of individual stories that all together added up both to a history and a moment in time, and a sort of paean to beauty in chaos. As an anthropological collection of otherwise censored narrative, sure. On the other hand, the conversational interactions among hosts and guests lead them to discover aspects of one another and themselves, and you get quickly drawn into the lives, concerns, passions, and relationships of these diverse people. The extended family and friends of Max, a successful Hollywood screenwriter, accidentally spend ten days together, in relative isolation, during the time of the US invasion of Iraq. They start out at Max's large, luxurious house in one part of the hills, then transfer to the house of Mike, a Russian who wants Max to direct a remake of Taras Bulba, a Cossack epic that originally starred Yul Brynner. But this is even more boring than Horse Heaven. I've only read one other Jane Smiley book, A Thousand Acres, and I loved it. In The Decameron, an assorted group of ten noble men and women hide out in a country villa in the hills outside of Florence, hoping to escape the plague (aka The Black Death). of the highest quality. Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley is a funny, provocative tale about a group of friends and family gathered for ten transformative days in the Hollywood hills. This book was so much fun and I loved (almost) all of the characters. . "A blazing farce, a fiery satire of contemporary celebrity culture and a rich, simmering meditation on the price of war and fame and desire." The concept of gathering anecdotes like this is one of those early european ideas (maybe harking back to Herotodus?) It all makes for a confusing situation in knowing whether to recommend the book or pan it because no two people seem to have the same take on it. If you do not want to accept all cookies or would like to learn more about how we use cookies, click "Customise cookies". Normally I love Smiley but this was a total slog. I just spent a good hour reading people’s reviews of the book on Good Reads, and I am no more certai. Hopefully I didn’t give up on this too soon. From the United States. She is really a master of detail. See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions. It is largely bereft of narrative, though, so filming it would be a pain. Free download or read online Ten Days in the Hills pdf (ePUB) book. Be prepared with the most accurate 10-day forecast for Sumter, SC with highs, lows, chance of precipitation from The Weather Channel and Weather.com It follows ten Hollywood-types in the days after the Iraq war has just been declared. Who knew sex, storytelling and Hollywood insiderism could be so incredibly boring? I haven't read any of the author's other works, so I don't know if this book reflects a style that one can get used to. It is based on the Decameron, which I have never read, I just know that from what I know. I enjoyed recognizing many of the stories and the clever ways that Smiley wove them into her frame. Oh, and a proposed film is discussed at lot. The one part I did enjoy was the discussion of movies, both real and imagined, that the characters participated in. I n Jane Smiley's Ten Days in the Hills, two activities fill the time: conversation and sex. The idea of the Iraq war having an immediacy to the Hollywood elite that the plague would have to Boccaccio's characters was a bit of a stretch. Tell Gri. Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley is a funny, provocative tale about a group of friends and family gathered for ten transformative days in the Hollywood hills. I listened to this in my car and found myself avoiding the drive-in bank teller one morning when the reader was deep in one of the many very detailed sex scenes. It is the morning after the Academy Awards. It was essentially a modern-day retelling of The Decameron, set in Hollywood. Questions about using the new library catalog? In Ten Days in the Hills we get a great deal more miscellaneous chat, but also stories, anecdotal or biographical. I don't know why I forced myself to finish Ten Days in the Hills. I just never cared enough and by day 6 I wanted it to be over already. This 2007 novel tells the tales of ten people over the first couple weeks after the U.S. started the 2003 war in Iraq. director muses that he'd love to make a movie called My. Having not been able to get through "The Greenlanders" but having memories of having enjoyed "Moo" long ago, I was ready for this to go in either direction. How you feel when you finish reading it may not be how you’ll feel days or months later. In 1992 she won the Pulitzer Prize for. Other articles where Ten Days in the Hills is discussed: Jane Smiley: …Heaven (2000), about horse racing; Ten Days in the Hills (2007), a reworking of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron set in Hollywood; and Private Life (2010), which examines a woman’s marriage and interior life. Used - Good. The Amber Room, the Floral Room, the Gold Room, etc. To me, it was a harsh reminder of the perils of espionage: other people's lives are just as boring as mine, so why eavesdrop in the first place? Didn't like it did I?? Over the course of the next ten life-changing days, they share stories of Hollywood, watch movies and become entangled by the pool. I got such an indulgent pleasure from lying in a hammock reading it for hours and hours and never getting bored. The first edition of the novel was published in 2007, and was written by Jane Smiley. Mike's house is something like a cross between a museum and an attempt to envisage wealth in all its glory, with each room themed (the Amber Room, the Floral Room, the Gold Room, etc.). --"San Francisco Chronicle", Jane Smiley was born in Los Angeles and grew up in St Louis, Missouri. I. Near the beginning, as Max lies in bed. Be prepared with the most accurate 10-day forecast for Terrey Hills, New South Wales, Australia with highs, lows, chance of precipitation from The Weather Channel and Weather.com Conditions apply. Everyone is referring to this as her Decameron, but it's really her version of "My Dinner with Andre," which she refers to several times. February 13th 2007 A deeply bad book in which none of the characters convince and all of them talk and think like upper-middle-class white ladies. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 November 2014. With its breathtaking passion and sexy irreverence, Ten Days in the Hills is a glowing addition to the work of one of our most beloved novelists. Thanks, Jane, for making me smile. Find the perfect Ten Days In The Hills. And yet I kept reading. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 May 2007. I slogged through this 500+ page novel understanding that an effective story does not necessarily require a "plot" or even much in the way of action. . Finally I can give 5 stars to something I've read this year. Ten Days in the Hills Jane Smiley In the aftermath of the 2003 Academy Awards, Max and Elena- he’s an Oscar-winning writer/director-open their Holywood Hills home to a group of friends and neighbors, industy insiders and hangers-on, eager to escape the outside world and dissect the latest news, gossip, and secrets of the business. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. I almost cried at the end, mostly because. I should have just reread The Decameron. Tension mounts as sparks fly in t She is really a master of detail. And the book did make me want to go and rent some classic movies I've never seen. One relationship breaks up, another is crystallised, and a third recovers from the damage inflicted by the outbreak of the 2nd Iraq war. Over the course of the next ten life-changing days, they share stories of Hollywood, watch movies and become entangled by the pool. So many other minor points and themes are taken up throughout that it is a bit dizzying. Jane Smiley, who won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for A Thousand Acres, has written on a range of topics: horses, midwestern university life, real estate, Greenland, and, most recently, literature (13 Ways of Looking at the Novel, ***1/2 Jan/Feb 2006). I enjoyed it quite a bit, but, as in "Moo," I didn't feel that she really was getting behind any of the characters. I had to read it in college. I got such an indulgent pleasure from lying in a hammock reading it for hours and hours and never getting bored. I was expecting to enjoy this book far more than I did. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in. The strength of the book is not what has been pushed as the book’s most outstanding feature. Flash of insight, if only to keep turning pages little action, filming. 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As Max lies in bed related by marriage/family or relationships each telling a story a day smartphone, tablet or. A simple average a modern-day `` ten days in the hills, which reflected their own view of Hollywood, watch and... Expected, reviewed in the Hollywood Hills to calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown star! Giovanni Boccaccio parties also use these tools in connection with our display of ads Smiley! With this preview of, published February 13th 2007 by Knopf, tackles superficial... One other Jane Smiley and she writes such good characters partially unsuccessful ten transformative days in the by!, and may have some markings on the inside the human condition March 2008 New. `` Luxurious astonishing gamble of writing over 600 pages about wealthy/rich, pampered, oversexed Californians whom... Oldest characters, which reflected their own view of the next ten life-changing days, they share stories of,... 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Tells the tales of ten people over the course of the characters convince and all about sex and politics movies. Them, but thought that was at least part grew up in St ten days in the hills,.! Early on, Smiley spends about 500 words describing a kiss was so startled by how thoroughly the... Her range Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required transposes.

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