The Lake of Dead Languages

by Carol Goodman | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0099435594 Global Overview for this book
Registered by rem_XGD-219596 on 8/9/2005
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This book is in a Controlled Release! This book is in a Controlled Release!
6 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by rem_XGD-219596 on Tuesday, August 9, 2005
From the back:
"Jane Hudson never thought she would return to Heart Lake. Her years there as a scholarship ended in a double tragedy.
Now she is back, struggling to adjust to her new life teaching Latin and as a single mother. But the events that haunted her memories for so many years begin to recur in front of her eyes. It seems that she alone can see what is happening, and only she will be able to prevent a second catastrophe...
Surrounded by the lake that gives the school its name, steeped in history and overflowing with the emotions of teenage girls, Heart Lake guards its past - but cannot keep it hidden."

Journal Entry 2 by rem_XGD-219596 on Saturday, January 28, 2006
I must say I really enjoyed this book. I picked it up in a charity shop a while ago because the title attracted me to read the summary on the back; and having gone to a Latin school myself this seemed interesting - it's not particularly a subject you come across a lot in novels... There is a lot of Latin - quotes, verses, declensions etc (usually with translations following) - worked into the text and it was really great fun reminiscing over them! A lot of the activities described in this imaginary school also rang a bell..., so it was quite like a bit of my own past coming to life again. Now, seeing that this book - quite a clever thriller-type murder mystery - is all about the past coming to life, this in itself was sometimes a bit creepy; and got even more so when quite early on I discovered that the heroine shares my name as well! It's not a name commonly found in novels...

Anyway, after all this personal gabble I should say that what I liked about the book were the unexpected twists and turns; the strong and really unusual characters; and the relations between them, and between most of them and the various layers of past. What I didn't like is the fact that it was very poorly proofread, probably just run through a spellchecker. I admit I'm a stickler for language and if I constantly come about typos and wrong words - a few of them so bad you had to stop and think - then it severely interferes with my enjoyment of reading! Just an example: the heroine is doing some sewing and keeps the pins handy in her mouth. Somebody asks her a question, so she "takes the pins out of her mother"... Grrr. See what I mean about the spellchecker...?

Well, the book is now going to shnedwards as a swap for The Last Battle.

Journal Entry 3 by wingshnedwardswing from Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Received with thanks from coolboxuk!

Edit: Making this a bookring. Will read it on its return.

Mailing order:

Totje2, Netherlands
LilyKlip, Germany
Icila, France
Lunar73, Australia <---here
wendyv, Australia
seayork2002, UK
stubee, UK

then back to me

Journal Entry 4 by wingshnedwardswing at bookray/bookring, A Bookray -- Controlled Releases on Friday, July 16, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (7/16/2010 UTC) at bookray/bookring, A Bookray -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to its first reader. Hope you enjoy it!

Journal Entry 5 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Thursday, July 22, 2010
Just like coolboxuk I had my share of Latin in my teens. I look forward to dive into good memories through this book.
I hope to be able to miss the typos etc. that were mentioned. In Dutch that won't work,but maybe in a language that's not my own, I'll get lucky :-)

Journal Entry 6 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Wednesday, September 1, 2010
I liked this book a lot. It did not stun me, it wasn't very exciting or surprising, but once I started reading, I couldn't putthe book away.
It is a calm detective-like story about how things that happened in the past, influence things happening in the present.

Despite the slowness of the book it didn't bore me at all. For me it wasn't clear from the beginning how the pieces of the puzzle fitted together, and that made me read on and on and on. The Latin parts brought back sweet memories of my own time in grammar school learning Latin (the first years, that is :-P). I also liked the style of writing. Nothing bomabastic, of with 'difficult' of odd words, even good for a bed time read.(Since English is not my native language, that's a rare thing!!)

I liked the shifting of perspective between the young Jane and the older one. The description of winter, ice forming on the lake, how the girls are drawn to that lake for many reasons, but one of them is the legend of the Crevecoeur sisters.

The outcome of the mysteries (past and present) were kinda natural, I did not even have my toes curl in my shoes because of the happy ending. Usually with a happy ending it feels so 'forced'. No, I loved it and I intend to try more books by this author.

I have PMed LilyKlip for her address, when I get it, this book will continue its journey. Got the address, but personal circumastances have prevented me from sending it on yet. I'm terribly sorry for the delay.

Journal Entry 7 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (9/22/2010 UTC) at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book is on its way to LilyKlip
I really enjoyed this book! Hope you like it as much as I did.

Journal Entry 8 by LilyKlip at Leipzig, Sachsen Germany on Sunday, September 26, 2010
First of all I'd like to say that I enjoyed reading the book. However, I was very disappointed about the charcters (and more so about the author). I was quite excited when I read the comparison to Donna Tartt in the blurb of the book. I only read her "The Secret History" not so long ago and loved it. Unfortunately, it was more than obvious that Carol Goodman had also read the book. A lot of the charcters were extremely similar, some practically identical. That annoyed me a lot and it spoiled the reading experience quite a bit for me as it gave away some developments in the story. I just expected certain characters to act in a certain way and I guess I have a problem with Carol Goodman so shamelessly copying so much from Donna Tartt.


Journal Entry 9 by LilyKlip at Leipzig, Sachsen Germany on Monday, October 25, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (10/25/2010 UTC) at Leipzig, Sachsen Germany

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Will post to Icila tomorrow. Thanks again for sharing this book.

Journal Entry 10 by wingIcilawing at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France on Monday, November 8, 2010
Arrived safe this morning. Thanks LilyKlip !

Journal Entry 11 by wingIcilawing at Nantes, Pays de la Loire France on Wednesday, December 1, 2010
I can say I liked this novel. A bit too difficult perharps to go back and forth with the characters and their latin names. I guessed the twist a long time before the end but anyway...
I liked also the descriptions of the weather in the Adirondack and the ice-forming upon and into the lake.

Thanks for sharing.

PMing Lunar73

Journal Entry 12 by wingIcilawing at La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, Pays de la Loire France on Monday, December 6, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (12/6/2010 UTC) at La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, Pays de la Loire France

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

In charge of the Post Office.

Journal Entry 13 by Lunar73 at Sheffield, Tasmania Australia on Friday, December 31, 2010
This book arrived over a week ago, sorry for late post. I'm probably nearly a month away from reading it, so I'm happy to send onto the next person if you want to keep it moving quickly shnedwards. Just let me know.

Journal Entry 14 by Lunar73 at Sheffield, Tasmania Australia on Saturday, March 19, 2011

Released 13 yrs ago (3/18/2011 UTC) at Sheffield, Tasmania Australia

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to seayork2002

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