The World According to Bertie
April 13, 2009 by Apartment Life · Leave a Comment
The latest completely charming installment in the bestselling 44 Scotland Street series.
There is never a quiet moment on 44 Scotland Street. In The World According to Bertie, Pat deals with the reappearance of Bruce, which has her heart skipping—and not in a pleasant way. Angus Lordie’s dog Cyril has been taken away by the authorities, accused of being a serial biter. Unexpectedly, Domenica has offered to help free him. As usual, Big Lou is still looking for love, and handing out coffee and advice to the always contemplative Matthew. And Bertie, the beleaguered Italian-speaking six year old prodigy, now has a little brother, Ulysses, who Bertie hopes will help distract his pushy mother Irene.
Beautifully observed, cleverly detailed, The World According to Bertie is classic McCall Smith and a treat for his avid fans as well as his first time readers.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars A book full of diverse characters and wonderful stories
This is the fourth installment of Smith’s 44 Scotland Street series. 44 Scotland Street takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The title character, Bertie, is a 6-year-old boy who is growing very weary of his mother’s mindset. Bertie continually tries to come up with ways to persuade his mother to let him be and focus more on his new baby brother,
Ulysses. If you have read the previous three installments of the 44 Scotland Street series, you will be thrilled to read about what has transpired in Bertie’s life recently. The nice thing about reading a series is that, with each book, you feel more and more like you know the people you are reading about. You will enjoy not only reading about Bertie you will enjoy finding out all the “happenings and goings on” of the other residents of Scotland Street. Smith has once again given us a book full of diverse characters and wonderful stories.
Reviewed by Terri Boggs
3 Stars Characters
Alexander McCall Smith continues his delightful Scotland Street series with an enjoyable book titled, The World According to Bertie. The cast of characters familiar to fans returns, and their relationships continue to mature. What Smith does so well is bring a character to life, place the character in everyday situations, and allow the action to help readers come to know and love the character. Bertie is a character who tugs at your heart. No matter what your relationship has been with your own parents, you will wince at the challenges this 6-year-old faces, especially at the direction of his mother, Irene. Some of the Scotland Street neighbors know each other better than others, and readers will recognize personality types found in every neighborhood. Part of the pleasure in this series entails the insights that Smith allows the characters to uncover in the course of their ordinary lives. If you’ve not read the earlier books in this series, don’t be put off at all. You can start here and be quite satisfied. After reading The World According to Bertie, you may want to go back and read the others.
Rating: Three-star (Recommended)
5 Stars Pure enjoyment
Alexander McCall Smith has an amazing gift for writing readable prose. His books are artfully written and always sprinkled with lucid insights. And, as usual with this series, there is a lot of very enjoyable, gentle humor. To start one of his novels is to finish it within a matter of days. In fact, my wife and I always regret the speed with which we consume his books.
If you are looking for pure reading enjoyment I highly recommend The World According to Bertie, the latest 44 Scotland Street novel.
WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT
This book continues the adventures of Bertie the precocious and hilarious saxophone playing six-year-old. It also continues the story lines of the other characters in the previous three books. Although the Bertie story didn’t reach a full conclusion (as I hope it doesn’t for quite some time), Alexander McCall Smith did lay the groundwork for what I am sure will be an incredibly hilarious adventure in the next book.
There is a lot of budding romance in this novel which makes the stories a lot of fun. Especially the story involving Matthew and his sometimes girlfriend Pat, as well as the irrepressible Bruce and his newest interest.
FINAL ANALYSIS
While not as funny as Love Over Scotland (which so far is the best of the four) it is nevertheless extremely enjoyable and I look forward to reading many more books in the series.
5 Stars More Wisdom from Bertie
In the wonderful world created by Smith in the Scotland Street books, little Bertie never ages beyond 6. Bertie is one of the characters residing in Edinburgh, Scotland. Many of the familiar unhappy characters of previous Scotland Street stories are there, behaving in earnest, charming, or quirky ways. Bertie has a new baby brother whom he resents. In his innocent way, Bertie gets a bit of revenge against his martinet mother. You feel sympathy for Bertie’s Dad, who tries hard to spend quality time with his son. This volume is hilarious, engaging and fast reading. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Smith’s other Scotland Street books. He paints vivid scenes and well-defined charaters in a setting that seems so real and intimate. One can catch a whiff of the smells, sights, sounds and tastes of living in Edinburgh in all of his books in the Isabel Dalhoussie series. It makes you want to walk right into a scene and enjoy coffee at a cafe in Old Town.
4 Stars Yet Another Wonderful Book From AMS
I guess I’m joining the Bertie fan club. Since AMS has been publishing his series of books, from the German professor stories to the Isabel Dahlousie novels, I’ve enjoyed reading about the adventures of his characters. Bertie definitely tops my list of the 44 Scotland Street folks.
While I’m not that interested in the storyline of Pat and Bruce, I was happy that Matthew’s story was broadened. I don’t want to give anything away because fans should enjoy the experience for themselves, but suffice to say that Bertie’s adventures rival those of his trip to Paris.
Definitely another novel those who read the series should buy or borrow. It’s an improvement on the last.
Clementine
April 13, 2009 by Apartment Life · Leave a Comment
Clementine is having not so good of a week.
- On Monday she’s sent to the principal’s office for cutting off Margaret’s hair.
- Tuesday, Margaret’s mother is mad at her.
- Wednesday, she’s sent to the principal.again.
- Thursday, Margaret stops speaking to her.
- Friday starts with yucky eggs and gets worse.
- And by Saturday, even her mother is mad at her.
The Sims 2 Apartment Life Prima Official Game Guide Prima Official Game Guides
April 13, 2009 by Apartment Life · Leave a Comment
The Sims 2 Apartment Life Prima Official Game Guide Prima Official Game Guides
•Find the perfect roommate and learn how to keep them happy.
•Details on all new objects, socials, and NPCs.
•The roadmap for new objects and socials for kids and toddlers.
•Master the magical arts with our guide to Sim witchcraft.
•Social classes, groups, rewards turn neighborhoods into “communities”.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Sims 2 Apartment life
I finally have all the expansion packs installed on my computer. It’s been a hassle, via Vista. The apartment life is awesome. I doubt I’ll be going into Sims 3 considering and amount of money I’ve spent on Sims & Sims2. Think my Sims buying days are over.
5 Stars Definitely useful in guiding me.
I was completely lost in playing the Sims2 expansion until I received the guide. The book took the edge off the overwhelming feeling of all the new items, situations, etc. Everything is explained in a manner I understand. Very useful and very glad to have purchased the book.
5 Stars Awesome
The Sims 2: Apartment Life A must have for the avid Simmer. It is my favorite.
5 Stars some bugs but not EA’s fault
Awesome Game! Unfortunalty most of the errors of the game are not all EA’s Fault take into consideration what customer content is in the users machine. different video cards cpu hard drive space. Most don’t check the specs before buying and then are not happy because it doesn’t run. ALWAYS REMOVED DOWNLOADS FOLDER TO DESK TOP BEFORE INSTALLING GAME AND BACK UP THE EA/SIMS2 FOLDER BEFORE INSTALLING. play WITH OUT THE CC (CUSTOM CONTENT) FIRST.
This is an awesome expansion pack interactions are more creative and a ton more building options. Also one should know do not build Apartments on the beach lots. IT WILL CRAsH THE WHOLE GAME!!! You will have to un-intstall and re-install each and every game plus expansions!!
Other than this this game really kicks some butt!
4 Stars The Sims 2 Apartment Life: Prima Offical Game Guide
This book gives good insight and helpful hints for the expansion pack The Sims 2 Apartment Life.
Life at the Dakota New Yorks Most Unusual Address
April 13, 2009 by Apartment Life · Leave a Comment
Life at the Dakota New Yorks Most Unusual Address
This social history describes the lives of the rich and trendy who have lived at the Dakota, a New York apartment house daringly erected in 1884, “too far up” and on the wrong side of town. The book covers tenants such as the Gustav Schirmers, Boris Karloff, Judy Holliday and Lauren Bacall.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Interesting look at a famous and infamous old apartment house.
Life at the Dakota: New York’s Most Unusual Address
Very interesting. It needed to include some floorplans and some pictures of recent apartments. Some pictures of the coutyeard.
I got a floorplan off the internet, but it was old and hard to read.
5 Stars Life at the Dakota
Well written, comprehensive — this history of one of New York City’s most storied apartment houses (and one of the most expensive!) is a fascinating tale, replete with tales about some of its more celebrated tenants (e.g., John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Lauren Bacall, Jason Robards, etc.). A fitting addition to anyone’s collection of New York memorabilia — or of its author, Steven Birmingham’s, books (”Our Crowd,” “The Grandees,” “Real Lace,” etc.)
5 Stars Very Informative! What a place!
I have enjoyed getting to know the residents and history of the Dakota from Life at the Dakota. I would love to hear more of what Mr. Birmingham learned while researching this book. The word eccentric doesn’t even begin to describe the wonderful Dakota and the cast of characters that have called it home. Mr. Birmingham’s writing is easy to follow and he packs a lot of information into this great book. A must read for those curious about this “unusual address”.
5 Stars PAST PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF A TRUE NYC STAR
JUST A GREAT STORY OF A DREAMY LANDOWNER AND ALL OF THOSE WHO BROUGHT THE DAKOTA TO LIFE, FROM THE FLOOR BOARDS TO THE MARBLE TO THE MYSTERIOUS PEOPLE WHO HAVE LIVED THERE FOR WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE INCEPTION OF NEW YORK ITSELF. LOVED THE 10+ PLUS ROOMS WHERE PEOPLE, JUST LIKE US PLOPPED THEIR COATS DOWNS AND PUT THEIR FEET UP, OF COURSE THE NOD TO LENNON, LAUREN, KARLOF AND THE LIKE, THE TRUE LOVE IS THE ORIGINAL TENANTS AND THE ANTICS THAT WENT ON IN THIS DELIGHTFUL LANDMARK OF THE GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD. GREAT BOOK, LOTS OF FUN, I WANT THAT STUFFED HORSE, WORTHLESS OR NOT. I COULD ALSO USE THE MOLDINGS, MARBLE, OLD ELEVATOR CAB, JOURNALS, IS ANYTHING LEFT IN THE BASEMENT OR ATTIC? PROBABLY NOT, BUT THANKS MR. BIRMINGHAM, IT WAS WORTH THE TRIP IN MY MIND!
4 Stars More than “John Lennon’s apartment building”
A wonderfully entertaining book that chronicles the history of one of New York City’s most colorful residences. The early chapters are particularly enjoyable, with tongue-in-cheek descriptions of the (often ludicrous) rituals of high society during the Gilded Age. The last quarter of the book is not as interesting, with sometimes overlong discussion of the building’s modern-day residents. As a whole, however, “Life at the Dakota” is a vibrant and ingratiating portrait: not just for history buffs and not just for New Yorkers.
Life A Users Manual
April 13, 2009 by Apartment Life · Leave a Comment
Life is an unclassified masterpiece, a sprawling compendium as encyclopedic as Dante’s Commedia and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and, in its break with tradition, as inspiring as Joyce’s Ulysses. Structured around a single moment in time 8:00 p.m. on June 23, 1975 Perec’s spellbinding puzzle begins in an apartment block in the XVIIth arrondissement of Paris where, chapter by chapter, room by room, like an onion being peeled, and extraordinary rich cast of characters is revealed in a series of tales that are bizarre, unlikely, moving, funny, or (sometimes) quite ordinary. From the confessions of a racing cyclist to the plans of an avenging murderer, from a young ethnographer obsessed with a Sumatran tribe to the death of a trapeze artist, from the fears of an ex-croupier to the dreams of a sex-change pop star to an eccentric English millionaire who has devised the ultimate pastime, Life is a manual of human irony, portraying the mixed marriages of fortunes, passions and despairs, betrayals and bereavements, of hundreds of lives in Paris and around the world.
But the novel in more than an extraordinary range of fictions; it is a closely observed account of life and experience. The apartment block’s one hundred rooms are arranged in a magic square, and the book as a whole is peppered with a staggering range of literary puzzles and allusions, acrostics, problems of chess and logic, crosswords, and mathematical formulae. All are there for the reader to solve in the best tradition of the detective novel.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars A masterpiece of structural fiction
Almost perfect structurally, this book is a puzzle to be solved. The interwoven stories of the people in a Parisian apartment complex are compelling in themselves, but the way the stories are pulled together, and the overriding form of the book is masterful. A delightful, if quite difficult, read. At times, the lengthy lists in the book can get a bit tedious, but this didn’t decrease my enjoyment of the book as a whole.
5 Stars Unquestionably one of the greatest novels of the 20th century
I first read this book when I was 17, and have reread it more than once; I loved it the first time, and it gets better each time. Perec can be a bit frustrating, and the book is not necessarily the easiest to get into, but if you give it time, by the end you’ll be absolutely hypnotised. What I love especially is his attention to small things, everyday things, insignificant things: these are, after all, what make up life, and by portraying them with such loving care, Perec creates something very beautiful indeed, something like a love-song for ordinary life (though this is not to say there is no drama in the book - there is).
If you read Bellos’s wonderful biography, a lot of things in the book become clearer, but you don’t actually need to follow the various tricks and games (I hadn’t a clue when I first read it, but that didn’t interfere with my enjoyment). Another reviewer compared Perec to Glenn Gould; it would be equally apt to compare this work, I think, to Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (so wonderfully performed by Gould): both take the basic elements and carefully show how they are things of profound beauty.
5 Stars BEST and WORST book ever read!
This book is really a rare one. If you are not ready to spend a long time with a complex book, find another one. This book takes time and patience. But as stated in the title, I think this not only my worst but also my best read.
If you are to read the book, it is nice to know that Perec was a member of the Oulipo philosophical group in France, who believed in constrained writing. Constrained writing means that by adding a constraint, the story will be “easier” to write, because you have ruled out many options. In this book the story revolves around jigsaw puzzles and this is the main theme & constraint in the book. Each chapter is like a little piece: in itself almost completely incomprehensible, but the more pieces you see, it suddenly seems to make sense. Until you understand the even greater motif and (metaphorically) see that the sea you thought you were matching together was actually a painting on the wall.
The book is very intelligently written, and very enjoyable. But at the same time is it not written in a way to make it nice to read, but written to follow the set of rules constructed.
To summarize: if you are into COMPLEX but REWARDING literature - READ THIS BOOK!
5 Stars la vie mode d’emploi
[This book still ranks as one of the greatest novels I've read, so I'm re-publishing the review I put on this site nearly ten years ago. The bracketed text has been added to the original review.] This is the second most fascinating novel I’ve ever read [my favorite was The Possessed by Dostoyevsky], the best one I’ve read in twenty [now thirty] years. If you revel in complexity, this book is for you. [Check out the edition of Perec's sketches for this book, published by the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.] Perec prompts introspection on many levels. The plot(s) are some of the most intriguing anywhere. The human condition is probed to the greatest possible depth. Despite certain minor [really minor] infelicities, Bellos has done an excellent job translating, consistently capturing the atmosphere (and there is a lot of atmosphere) of the original. (The title is one of the few translating gaffes. The original French does not convey the image of a computer manual and the term “user’s manual” was not in general use in English until after the novel was written.) Once you’ve read it you will be on the constant look-out for others who know Perec. [Read all of Perec and try Harry Mathews.]
5 Stars Written by a rich imagination
It is possible to fall in love with this book. As an intellectual exercise it is a triumph as it is never stuffy and self important but infinitely compassionate, humourous and inclusive. Little touchs like the index of all the different stories contained in the book are delightful and enable you to dip back into a particular moment.
Life a User’s Manual is a description of one moment in time. Perec takes you through all the rooms of an apartment block, leads you to scenarios and objects and then into their histories back through other stories and objects as if you were a ghost moving through time and space.
If you enjoy quirky eccentric characters that have been created with a rich original imagination this is the book for you. I would also recommend The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potoki for further enjoyment.
