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"We've been waiting for an hour." That's what Audrey says. She states it with a little bit of an edge, her words just bordering on cursive. That's the thing I think first. Not: Audrey Hepburn is at my birthday dinner, but Audrey Hepburn is annoyed." At one point or another, we've all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we'd like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions Rebecca Serle contends with in her utterly captivating novel, THE DINNER LIST, a story imbued with the same delightful magical realism as One Day, and the life-changing romance of Me Before You. When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past, and well, Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there's a reason these six people have been gathered together. Delicious but never indulgent, sweet with just the right amount of bitter, THE DINNER LIST is a romance for our times. Bon appetit.… (meer)
Very good and imaginative book. Who would you have dinner with if you had the choice to pick anyone from history, dead or alive? How many of us have ever thought of this question, ever? The answer might surprise all of us when it all comes down to it and the answers might change any number of times. Excellent and quick read in which the main character gets her wish for her birthday. This book does not disappoint. ( )
Charming tale about a young woman’s thirtieth birthday party, at which she is magically granted her wish of dining with the five people — dead or alive — she chose years ago, while she was in college. Heartbreaking and sweet, with a not altogether likable narrator. I felt the characters were a little too surface and not enough substance, but still an enjoyable read. ( )
Not at all what I was expecting: much more downbeat than frivolous.
Imagine a one night dinner with five people (living or dead) of your choosing. What would you talk about? How can you fit everything in? This is the story of one woman’s dinner with her estranged father, a favorite teacher, a best friend, a former boyfriend, and a movie star. It’s dramatic and sad and peppered with flashbacks of an important relationship. Some of its predictable, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about some of the characters and relationships, but I think that’s a good thing.
This book will allow you to live out the fantasy of the main character's ability to have a dinner party with her favorite people, dead or alive, and have conversations with them. But it goes beyond that. By doing so, she (Sabrina) is able to go back "through the grave" to resolve and understand what she could not when certain people she loved were living. I personally think the author spent too much writing time on Jessica, the friend, when she was a significant character, but not as significant as several other characters. When I first started reading, I wasn't sure about a couple of the characters if they were actually deceased, but after I had read 40% of the book, I had a great grasp on who was living and who wasn't. There were gut-wrenching moments. I was puzzled why in the world Audrey Hepburn was one of the main characters invited. I am not going to give any disclaimers, but tell you just to keep reading until you finish the whole book. It made complete sense at the end, and really wrapped up the story! I would definitely read the story again. The author "could" write a sequel, but quite frankly, I doubt it could be as good or better. Some things are better left alone. If you want all perfect characters who are mature, you won't enjoy the story. But if you can step outside of the situation and "see" and "hear" the things that often go unsaid, it will probably parallel with real life for most of its readers: imperfect but poignant. ( )
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
How many miles to Bablyon? Three score miles and ten - Can I get there by candlelight? Yes, and back again - If your feet are nimble and light You can get there by candlelight. The stars you see at night are the unblinking eyes of sleeping elephants, who sleep with one eye open to best keep watch over us. - Gregory Colbert, Ashes and Snow
Opdracht
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
For my grandmother, Sylvia Pesin, who taught me that first, baby, you gotta love yourself. And for her Sam - the first person on my list.
Eerste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
"We've been waiting for an hour."
Citaten
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
it's easier to see the beginnings of things, and harder to see the ends.
The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said.
When someone leaves, remembering the joy is far more painful than thinking about the misery.
"So you can't just blame the person who leaves. If two people are unhappy, clocking the person who actually walks out the door is just getting them on a technicality."
"The world has become a dark place in recent years," Robert says. Conrad shakes his head. "It always was. People are just paying attention."
"You cannot have good without evil," Audrey says. "They are like DNA strands. Intricately and irrevocably spun together. Sometimes good wins, sometimes evil does. We do not fight for good's permanent triumph, but for the balance. And so it goes." "And so it goes," Conrad echoes.
She held on to love like a floatie in a shark-infested ocean.
But in those years of Tobias and me, it was never about the way we were going to end up. It was only ever about where we were in the moment.
There were times when dating Tobias felt like playing Jenga. How much can I say? If I reveal this, will the whole tower collapse? If I tell him how I really feel, will that be my last turn? It was terrifying and exhilarating because every time I took another piece out and the tower stood, I felt like I'd won. What I didn't remember is that at some point in a game, the entire tower falls. It happens every single time. It is the only way the game ends. Why then did I keep playing, knowing that I would be left with rubble?
Here is what I remember him saying: Kindness before honesty.
"This is my girlfriend, Sabrina," he said. I loved hearing him say girlfriend. I could have played it on a loop.
The staccato sentences come one after the other. They seem to hit me straight in the chest like skipping stones. Not for what they lost, so long ago. But for the history I've been missing. The key passage torn out of the book.
I wonder if that ever fades. The feeling of his touch, like this. As if my skin is some kind of memory foam.
"This is so strange," I say. "Is it?" he asks. "Of course it is. We're sitting at a table with Audrey Hepburn." "Oh." He turns back to his meal. I keep my voice low. "What?" "Nothing," he says. "I thought you meant us." I swallow. "That too," I say. He smiles at me. That smile that used to stop me dead in my tracks. That used to strip me of sanity and clothing in the middle of any fight. And I think maybe he knows, too. Maybe he thinks we're here to get back as well.
There is silence when she finishes, like a cloud of something delicate, spun cobwebs or gold, hang over our table.
"She had this sense it was just supposed to work, and you weren't supposed to have to work for it," Jessica says. "Like their love story was so epic the day-to-day didn't matter. But that's what relationships are. They're the day-to-day."
I look up at the clock. The second hand ticks steadily, like a soldier marching into war.
Jessica started to cry next to me, but I felt blank. Like an empty white room with no trace of a door.
Laatste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
And for the first time in a long time I know exactly what it is I want to say.
"We've been waiting for an hour." That's what Audrey says. She states it with a little bit of an edge, her words just bordering on cursive. That's the thing I think first. Not: Audrey Hepburn is at my birthday dinner, but Audrey Hepburn is annoyed." At one point or another, we've all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we'd like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions Rebecca Serle contends with in her utterly captivating novel, THE DINNER LIST, a story imbued with the same delightful magical realism as One Day, and the life-changing romance of Me Before You. When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past, and well, Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there's a reason these six people have been gathered together. Delicious but never indulgent, sweet with just the right amount of bitter, THE DINNER LIST is a romance for our times. Bon appetit.
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