At the start of 2013 - I set myself a challenge, that challenge was to clear a backlog of books that had been laying about my house for some time, before I allowed myself to buy more - I listed the books I had and proceeded to cross them off.
Along the way a few things happened - I became infinitely busier as my personal circumstances changed and I had a lot less time for reading. I joined some book clubs and the library, as well as continuing to volunteer in a charity bookshop and therefore had other books not on the list to read.
More than this though - 2013 was in general what I would class as a "poor year" in terms both of how many books I read (66 - with the last 2 unreviewed) but also in terms of how much I enjoyed what I did read, in no longer buying books, or rather buying them less, I narrowed the scope of what I had to choose from - and found myself frequently disinterested in my limited choices.
Also, I played Candy Crush Saga way too much. FACT.
The challenge backfired - and I think this may be the year I fell out of love with reading. Many of the books I read were either average or below par - or in certain cases above average yet not my cup of tea.
The full roster is as follows :
December/January
1)Exodus by Leon Uris
2)The 100 Most Pointless Things In The World by Armstrong/Osman
3) The Song Of The Lark by Willa Cather
4) The Grass Is Singing by Doris Lessing
5) The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham
6) The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
7) The Minds Eye by Oliver Sacks
8) Tender Is The Night by F.Scott Fitzgerald
9) The Angels Cut by Elizabeth Knox
10) A Perfectly Good Man by Patrick Gale
11) The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett
12) And When Did You Last See Your Father? by Blake Morrisson
13) All Fall Down by Voss/Edwards
14) The Personal History Of Rachel Dupree by Ann Weisgarber
15) Restless by William Boyd
I got off to a great start in 2013 reading 15 books over the festive season up to the end of January. January's WINNER is Patrick Gale's A Perfectly Good Man, the affecting story of a local vicar which connects to his previous work Notes On An Exhibition.
February
16) A Place Of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
17) In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
18) Shadows Of The Workhouse by Jennifer Worth
19) Farewell To The East-End by Jennifer Worth
February is a short month but my reading was already slowing by this point. In part this was due to the length of time February's WINNER : Hilary Mantel's A Place Of Greater Safety took to read. An engrossing tale of the architects of the French Revolution the complexities of the politics of the day occasionally make it a difficult read.
March
20) Beautiful Creatures by Garcia/Stohl
21) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
22) Hawthorn & Child by Keith Ridgeway
23) We Bought A Zoo by Benjamin Mee
24) The Stand by Stephen King
25) The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window & Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
26) Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
I liked no book that I read in March enough to declare it a winner, and found them all no better than average. Gone Girl had plotholes. Agnes Grey bored. The 100 yr old man annoyed me. Hawthorn & Child was pretentious. The malaise which pervaded my year in books had begun.....
April
27) The Back Road by Rachel Abbott
28) American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
29) The Mayor Of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
30) Shattered Blue by Jane Taylor Starwood
31) C by Tom McCarthy
32) HHhH by Laurent Binet
33) Fatherland by Robert Harris
The malaise continued into April and none of these books particularly shone for me. I HATED American Psycho passionately - and was disappointed in the Hardy after my high expectations were not met. Again, I can't really single out a book during this month for particular praise.
May
34) Perfume by Patrick Suskind
35) Bright Young Things by Scarlett Thomas
36) The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
37) No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Though the final three books here are listed on the blog as June they were read on holiday during May and reviewed in June. Perfume is a terrible book, a disaster, and the others are middling to good. No stand outs here either.
June
My records show that no books were read in June - and it feels like Huh?! This is me! This must be some kind of mistake - but actually it just goes to show that 6 months into my challenge - and 37 books in - having had about 8 books stand out and most of those in January that I was becoming well and truly fed up. Reading and I were on a break. I even took to posting favourite lists to remind myself why I love books.
July
38) The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss
39) 1984 by George Orwell
40) The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory
41) Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
42) The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness
43) Notes On A Scandal by Zoe Heller
44)Weight by Jeanette Winterson
45) When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman
In July I tried to pull my socks up and it became the best month I had both in terms of what I read and how many books I read. All the books I read in July are very very much worth reading but having had no winners in March/April/May/June, I'm declaring a FOUR WAY TIE between reincarnation story Life After Life, modern fable The Crane Wife, obsession story Notes On A Scandal and myth retelling Weight. All of these books were brilliant and well worth reading.
August
46) The Red House Mystery by AA Milne
47) Memories Of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
48) Broken Homes by Ben Aaronvitch
49) A Room Of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
50) The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Rian Malan
51) Stoner by John Williams
This months WINNER has got to be Memories Of My Melancholy Whores. Original and touching, this book was the surprise of the year for me.
September
And yet in September the tumbleweed returned and I have no books listed for this month at all.......
October
52) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
53) To Say Nothing Of The Dog by Connie Willis
54) The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
55) The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
56) The Whole Day Through by Patrick Gale
October's WINNER has got to be the Agatha Christie which genuinely beat out all the others listed or this month for sheer entertainment value
November
57) The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
58) The Rapture by Liz Jensen
59) Absolution by Patrick Flanery
60) The Lady Of The Rivers by Philippa Gregory
61) The White Princess by Philippa Gregory
62) Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
63) The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
64) Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield
In this month I resorted to buying two Philippa Gregory's just so that I knew I would probably enjoy something I also enjoyed the two Diane Setterfield's.
In December I read Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson and The Quality Of Mercy by Barry Unsworth but I haven't even reviewed them. For one, I was too busy, and for two my apathy and despair at nothing really lighting my fire all year save for the books I read in January and July had meant I was too frustrated to care.
So far my challenges have been to read 100 books (failed 2011, passed 2012) and to clear my book mountain (spectacularly failed in 2013)
For 2014 - The Roz Reading Challenge will simply be - ENJOY READING AGAIN and start to really assess what it is about a book that excites me or just leaves me cold, with reviews that talk more about the experience of the book than simply what it is about.
Please, regular readers, help me enjoy reading again, by making suggestions as to things that might light my fire.
Happy New Year - And Happy Reading In January.
Thank you all for your continued support of the blog - I promise to resume normal service shortly!
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Book #64 Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield
Bellman & Black
Length Of Time In Possession : 2 weeks
In this follow up to 'The Thirteenth Tale' Diane Setterfield writes another spooky story set in the Victorian era.
We are introduced to William Bellman - the happy child of a single mother who grows up to be well liked and successful.
But, when William Bellman was 10 he created the perfect catapult and accidentally killed a rook with a well aimed shot. As we learn William's story the narrative is interspersed with prose about the intelligence and behaviour of rooks. William may have pushed his childhood transgression out of mind but the rooks have not forgotten as soon he will learn.....
The intriguing thing about Bellman & Black is that William and those around him attribute their bad fortune to the way of the world, preventable deaths for example were common of the age. The reader however is in on the secret, the idea that something more sinister that is unbeknownst to the characters is actually in play here.
The novel does have its problems, events become slightly repetitive in both of its halves, yet the prose itself is continuously engaging and you stick with it.
There is something genuinely unsettling about the proposed notion that a mistake that you make as a child and do not recall can literally have repercussions across your life through unseen forces that you can chase but never quite grasp...
It's an interesting novel, worth reading and has an original concept. It is not entirely perfect in its execution however.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : ebook storage
Length Of Time In Possession : 2 weeks
In this follow up to 'The Thirteenth Tale' Diane Setterfield writes another spooky story set in the Victorian era.
We are introduced to William Bellman - the happy child of a single mother who grows up to be well liked and successful.
But, when William Bellman was 10 he created the perfect catapult and accidentally killed a rook with a well aimed shot. As we learn William's story the narrative is interspersed with prose about the intelligence and behaviour of rooks. William may have pushed his childhood transgression out of mind but the rooks have not forgotten as soon he will learn.....
The intriguing thing about Bellman & Black is that William and those around him attribute their bad fortune to the way of the world, preventable deaths for example were common of the age. The reader however is in on the secret, the idea that something more sinister that is unbeknownst to the characters is actually in play here.
The novel does have its problems, events become slightly repetitive in both of its halves, yet the prose itself is continuously engaging and you stick with it.
There is something genuinely unsettling about the proposed notion that a mistake that you make as a child and do not recall can literally have repercussions across your life through unseen forces that you can chase but never quite grasp...
It's an interesting novel, worth reading and has an original concept. It is not entirely perfect in its execution however.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : ebook storage
Book #63 The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Midnight Palace
Length Of Time In Possession : About 8 months
'The Midnight Palace' is a ruin which provides the headquarters of a club for a group of teenage orphans who when about to age out of their orphanage, discover that one of their number, Ben, is the victim of a curse.
I read a lot of books and I read across genres and age ranges. Certain books are published for and marketed specifically at young adults but in many cases this has not prevented me from enjoying them, and I do really like discovering young adult books with the potential to crossover and have meaning to readers of all ages. I've read another Carlos Ruiz Zafon young adult novel 'The Prince Of Mist' before and really rather enjoyed it
Unfortunately this was not the case with this book : the plot repeatedly made no sense, events were often ludicrous and the book as a whole had this sense of melodrama and hysteria about it. For a ghost story it didn't scare particularly, the villain was a little panto & the box opening denouement was just bizarre.
When I read this book I was so annoyed with it that I tweeted that I just wanted to write 'This book was shit' and nothing else as my review - given that I was never its target audience that seemed a little uncharitable, but it is after all my opinion!
There are at the moment some great books out there aimed at this age range ( I recommend Patrick Ness & John Green) this just sadly, for me, was not one of them
Verdict 3/10
Destination : Charity Shop
Length Of Time In Possession : About 8 months
'The Midnight Palace' is a ruin which provides the headquarters of a club for a group of teenage orphans who when about to age out of their orphanage, discover that one of their number, Ben, is the victim of a curse.
I read a lot of books and I read across genres and age ranges. Certain books are published for and marketed specifically at young adults but in many cases this has not prevented me from enjoying them, and I do really like discovering young adult books with the potential to crossover and have meaning to readers of all ages. I've read another Carlos Ruiz Zafon young adult novel 'The Prince Of Mist' before and really rather enjoyed it
Unfortunately this was not the case with this book : the plot repeatedly made no sense, events were often ludicrous and the book as a whole had this sense of melodrama and hysteria about it. For a ghost story it didn't scare particularly, the villain was a little panto & the box opening denouement was just bizarre.
When I read this book I was so annoyed with it that I tweeted that I just wanted to write 'This book was shit' and nothing else as my review - given that I was never its target audience that seemed a little uncharitable, but it is after all my opinion!
There are at the moment some great books out there aimed at this age range ( I recommend Patrick Ness & John Green) this just sadly, for me, was not one of them
Verdict 3/10
Destination : Charity Shop
Book #62 Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 month
Despite being labelled as a 'fiction' novel this Jeanette Winterson's debut novel bears more than a passing resemblance to the authors own life story. Adopted as a baby and raised in an extremely religious household, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit is a coming-of-age story about a girl who was moulded to be what her mother hoped for her : 'a missionary'. Yet when puberty comes, 'Jeanette' discovers that she prefers women to men and find herself at odds with her faith, the church she played such a part in and her domineering mother.
A short but extremely enjoyable read with great turns of phrase; it illuminates a world that is alien and jaw dropping to many and highlights in many ways how easy and unquestioning the indoctrination of young children is.
Having heard a lot of what Jeanette Winterson's childhood was like through recent media coverage; it is no less shocking set down upon the page even Mrs Winterson's own congregation thought she was mad and it is alarming how much Jeanette's life was impacted by her mother's religious mania though she tries to deal with it all with a certain Northern humour.
I would definitely recommend this book to other readers because of the unique oddity of the story it has to tell.
Verdict 7/10
Destination : Keeping this book.
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 month
Despite being labelled as a 'fiction' novel this Jeanette Winterson's debut novel bears more than a passing resemblance to the authors own life story. Adopted as a baby and raised in an extremely religious household, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit is a coming-of-age story about a girl who was moulded to be what her mother hoped for her : 'a missionary'. Yet when puberty comes, 'Jeanette' discovers that she prefers women to men and find herself at odds with her faith, the church she played such a part in and her domineering mother.
A short but extremely enjoyable read with great turns of phrase; it illuminates a world that is alien and jaw dropping to many and highlights in many ways how easy and unquestioning the indoctrination of young children is.
Having heard a lot of what Jeanette Winterson's childhood was like through recent media coverage; it is no less shocking set down upon the page even Mrs Winterson's own congregation thought she was mad and it is alarming how much Jeanette's life was impacted by her mother's religious mania though she tries to deal with it all with a certain Northern humour.
I would definitely recommend this book to other readers because of the unique oddity of the story it has to tell.
Verdict 7/10
Destination : Keeping this book.
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Book #61 The Lady Of The Rivers by Philippa Gregory
The Lady Of The Rivers
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 day
I've had a cold this last week and I've been miserable so I rewarded myself with what I class as 'easy reading' in two Philippa Gregory's, this The Lady Of The Rivers and The White Princess reviewed below.
The Lady Of The Rivers is a prequel and takes us back to the very start of the Cousins War as seen through the eyes of Jacquetta Of Luxembourg, a young woman of a noble house who draws the attention of the Duke Of Bedford then the most powerful man in France which was under English rule. Having married the Duke Of Bedford Jacquetta finds herself a senior member of the English Royal Family and the House Of Lancaster and from there on is at the centre of most of the big events of that time despite very little being known of her historically.
This is the point of most of Philippa Gregory's history novels, how little there is on record of the women who were part of the big events of the day and how much they shaped them. Through Jacquetta she says a lot about women, how they had to be careful not to appear 'too clever' is the eyes of men, how they had to be above suspicion and yet how they could alter the course of events in their own way without men really realising.The strength that Margaret Of Anjou exhibits in the face of adversity is shown equally to be her downfall as the people of London shun a woman out of keeping with her place in the world.
Jacquetta is constantly mindful of drawing attention to herself because she has inherited The Sight and fears being burned as a witch like Joan Of Arc before her. The Tarot Card The Wheel Of Fortune runs as a symbol throughout the book as a symbol of the fortunes of the men and the women they took along with them on the journey as they rise very high and fall very low.
A strong, likeable, character who features across The Cousins War novels Jacquetta is easy to respect and admire, to marvel at in terms of how extraordinary her life was. I did find it so odd that in the end she was the undoing of her own best friend and how that must have felt for her & whether she just accepted it as the hand that Fate dealt them all.
History is full of interesting women about whom little is known and I hope Gregory keeps up this documentation (albeit within fictional parameters) of them.
I liked this one.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : ebook storage
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 day
I've had a cold this last week and I've been miserable so I rewarded myself with what I class as 'easy reading' in two Philippa Gregory's, this The Lady Of The Rivers and The White Princess reviewed below.
The Lady Of The Rivers is a prequel and takes us back to the very start of the Cousins War as seen through the eyes of Jacquetta Of Luxembourg, a young woman of a noble house who draws the attention of the Duke Of Bedford then the most powerful man in France which was under English rule. Having married the Duke Of Bedford Jacquetta finds herself a senior member of the English Royal Family and the House Of Lancaster and from there on is at the centre of most of the big events of that time despite very little being known of her historically.
This is the point of most of Philippa Gregory's history novels, how little there is on record of the women who were part of the big events of the day and how much they shaped them. Through Jacquetta she says a lot about women, how they had to be careful not to appear 'too clever' is the eyes of men, how they had to be above suspicion and yet how they could alter the course of events in their own way without men really realising.The strength that Margaret Of Anjou exhibits in the face of adversity is shown equally to be her downfall as the people of London shun a woman out of keeping with her place in the world.
Jacquetta is constantly mindful of drawing attention to herself because she has inherited The Sight and fears being burned as a witch like Joan Of Arc before her. The Tarot Card The Wheel Of Fortune runs as a symbol throughout the book as a symbol of the fortunes of the men and the women they took along with them on the journey as they rise very high and fall very low.
A strong, likeable, character who features across The Cousins War novels Jacquetta is easy to respect and admire, to marvel at in terms of how extraordinary her life was. I did find it so odd that in the end she was the undoing of her own best friend and how that must have felt for her & whether she just accepted it as the hand that Fate dealt them all.
History is full of interesting women about whom little is known and I hope Gregory keeps up this documentation (albeit within fictional parameters) of them.
I liked this one.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : ebook storage
Book #60 The White Princess by Philippa Gregory
The White Princess
Length Of Time In Possession : A day
The White Princess is the latest installment of the Cousins War Saga, picking up where The Kingsmaker's Daughter left off; Anne Neville and Richard the Third have died, and Henry Tudor has finally fulfilled his mothers desperate single minded determination to see him on the throne.
Margaret Beaufort the King's Mother, and Elizabeth the Dowager Queen have already made an alliance that would see Henry Tudor marry Elizabeth Of York thus cementing any doubts about his claim to power.
Here things get somewhat muddled I think, and a lot of people's characters get besmirched by the unfortunate authorial decisions Gregory makes. Firstly, young princess Elizabeth it seems would far rather be getting it on with her dead uncle than with her new young man. Allegations of incest between Richard III and Princess Elizabeth went unproved and seem entirely unlikely. They were probably largely invented by dramatists such as Shakespeare looking to paint Richard III in a poor light.
Next Henry Tudor turns rapist, determined to get Princess Elizabeth pregnant before marriage to prove she's not barren. Margaret Beaufort encourages this and Elizabeth Woodville complies and so the whole sorry affair reflects well on no-one. Elizabeth Woodville had 8 children and her mother before her had 12, it seems highly unlikely in those times that the fertility of the young princess would ever have been questioned, and also more than unlikely that the religious Margaret would have encouraged sex before marriage.
Following their poor start Henry and Elizabeth have a difficult relationship flying in the face of what is known of them historically. Unlike her mother, Elizabeth Of York is not a power player in her own right and does not really carve out a path of any interest for herself. There is very little hint at the powers of the water goddess that her mother and grandmother had except in being warned of death. The court is controlled by the King's Mother and so Elizabeth has little to do.
The plot itself becomes exceptionally repetitive. During the novel The White Queen Gregory gave us the idea that one of The Princes In The Tower : Richard in fact survived, a theory that given later events seems quite likely. Throughout his reign Henry is chased by the spectre of 'the boy' and pretty much the entire novel is devoted to various boys popping up out of the woodwork claiming to be Richard Plantagenet. As each of these emerge, Henry rants at Elizabeth she simpers about not knowing anything, the pretender is defeated and it all starts again. This wears thin.
I do find the idea that Richard survived plausible and certainly of these Pretenders, the one they called Perkin Warbeck may well have been the real thing which is pretty much what is suggested here.
In the end I think that possibly the things that I found the most interesting about The White Princess are the continuation of the idea that Elizabeth effectively cursed her own line by accident & that this book in itself acts as a natural conduit between Gregory's Cousins War and her Tudor Saga the next story chronologically being that of Catherine Of Aragon in 'The Constant Princess' whose marriage to Prince Arthur is being prepared for at the close of this novel.
Not perfect by any means, but still another enjoyable addition to the canon.
Verdict 7/10
Destination : ebook storage
Length Of Time In Possession : A day
The White Princess is the latest installment of the Cousins War Saga, picking up where The Kingsmaker's Daughter left off; Anne Neville and Richard the Third have died, and Henry Tudor has finally fulfilled his mothers desperate single minded determination to see him on the throne.
Margaret Beaufort the King's Mother, and Elizabeth the Dowager Queen have already made an alliance that would see Henry Tudor marry Elizabeth Of York thus cementing any doubts about his claim to power.
Here things get somewhat muddled I think, and a lot of people's characters get besmirched by the unfortunate authorial decisions Gregory makes. Firstly, young princess Elizabeth it seems would far rather be getting it on with her dead uncle than with her new young man. Allegations of incest between Richard III and Princess Elizabeth went unproved and seem entirely unlikely. They were probably largely invented by dramatists such as Shakespeare looking to paint Richard III in a poor light.
Next Henry Tudor turns rapist, determined to get Princess Elizabeth pregnant before marriage to prove she's not barren. Margaret Beaufort encourages this and Elizabeth Woodville complies and so the whole sorry affair reflects well on no-one. Elizabeth Woodville had 8 children and her mother before her had 12, it seems highly unlikely in those times that the fertility of the young princess would ever have been questioned, and also more than unlikely that the religious Margaret would have encouraged sex before marriage.
Following their poor start Henry and Elizabeth have a difficult relationship flying in the face of what is known of them historically. Unlike her mother, Elizabeth Of York is not a power player in her own right and does not really carve out a path of any interest for herself. There is very little hint at the powers of the water goddess that her mother and grandmother had except in being warned of death. The court is controlled by the King's Mother and so Elizabeth has little to do.
The plot itself becomes exceptionally repetitive. During the novel The White Queen Gregory gave us the idea that one of The Princes In The Tower : Richard in fact survived, a theory that given later events seems quite likely. Throughout his reign Henry is chased by the spectre of 'the boy' and pretty much the entire novel is devoted to various boys popping up out of the woodwork claiming to be Richard Plantagenet. As each of these emerge, Henry rants at Elizabeth she simpers about not knowing anything, the pretender is defeated and it all starts again. This wears thin.
I do find the idea that Richard survived plausible and certainly of these Pretenders, the one they called Perkin Warbeck may well have been the real thing which is pretty much what is suggested here.
In the end I think that possibly the things that I found the most interesting about The White Princess are the continuation of the idea that Elizabeth effectively cursed her own line by accident & that this book in itself acts as a natural conduit between Gregory's Cousins War and her Tudor Saga the next story chronologically being that of Catherine Of Aragon in 'The Constant Princess' whose marriage to Prince Arthur is being prepared for at the close of this novel.
Not perfect by any means, but still another enjoyable addition to the canon.
Verdict 7/10
Destination : ebook storage
Book #59 Absolution by Patrick Flanery
Absolution
Length Of Time In Possession : 18 months
What first struck me when I started reading Absolution was the identical nature of the basics of the story to Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale which I have just read. Successful elderly writer Clare Wald, summons young journalist Sam Leroux to her home with the intent of allowing him to be her biographer, and their conversations illuminate her back story. There the similarity ends because whilst The Thirteenth Tale is shrouded in a kind of Gothic old fashioned mystique, the mysteries of Absolution are of a starker, bleaker variety.
Set in modern day South Africa the events of the novel are placed against the backdrop of the fairly recent political upheavals of that nation, the findings of the Truth And Reconciliation Commission for example are referenced often. The novel is constructed in an odd way, and at times this made it difficult to read. Split into three sections it at times has sections from Clare's perspective and then Sam's interspersed with excerpts from Clare's final novel, a 'faction' named 'Absolution'.
Clare did not choose Sam for the task for no apparent reason Sam & Clare have a link, a link neither is able to discuss, and as Sam's narrative contradicts what Clare sets forth in 'Absolution' it becomes harder to know what really happened, and in some respects this is the point of 'Absolution' how, when in absence of the facts, we make up fictions in our minds of events we know to have happened but do not know the detail.
Another strand of Absolution revolves around guilt and responsibility, how responsible is a person when a remark they make sets forth a chain of events they didn't foresee culminating in disaster.
The problem with 'Absolution' as a novel and what makes it become hard work as a read is that these points about history and responsibility become laboured and the making of them ultimately occurs at the cost of the narrative : the plot becomes damaged and skewed by the authors apparent need to make them. A lengthy diatribe about censorship for example is just entirely out of step with the rest of the plot.
By far the most interesting aspect of 'Absolution' is the fate of Laura, a fate that is ultimately left hanging in mid air, with the onus on the reader to infer what they can.
All in all the novel is something of a mixed bag that does not entirely flow together very well despite containing excellent ideas.
Verdict 7/10
Destination : ebook storage
Length Of Time In Possession : 18 months
What first struck me when I started reading Absolution was the identical nature of the basics of the story to Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale which I have just read. Successful elderly writer Clare Wald, summons young journalist Sam Leroux to her home with the intent of allowing him to be her biographer, and their conversations illuminate her back story. There the similarity ends because whilst The Thirteenth Tale is shrouded in a kind of Gothic old fashioned mystique, the mysteries of Absolution are of a starker, bleaker variety.
Set in modern day South Africa the events of the novel are placed against the backdrop of the fairly recent political upheavals of that nation, the findings of the Truth And Reconciliation Commission for example are referenced often. The novel is constructed in an odd way, and at times this made it difficult to read. Split into three sections it at times has sections from Clare's perspective and then Sam's interspersed with excerpts from Clare's final novel, a 'faction' named 'Absolution'.
Clare did not choose Sam for the task for no apparent reason Sam & Clare have a link, a link neither is able to discuss, and as Sam's narrative contradicts what Clare sets forth in 'Absolution' it becomes harder to know what really happened, and in some respects this is the point of 'Absolution' how, when in absence of the facts, we make up fictions in our minds of events we know to have happened but do not know the detail.
Another strand of Absolution revolves around guilt and responsibility, how responsible is a person when a remark they make sets forth a chain of events they didn't foresee culminating in disaster.
The problem with 'Absolution' as a novel and what makes it become hard work as a read is that these points about history and responsibility become laboured and the making of them ultimately occurs at the cost of the narrative : the plot becomes damaged and skewed by the authors apparent need to make them. A lengthy diatribe about censorship for example is just entirely out of step with the rest of the plot.
By far the most interesting aspect of 'Absolution' is the fate of Laura, a fate that is ultimately left hanging in mid air, with the onus on the reader to infer what they can.
All in all the novel is something of a mixed bag that does not entirely flow together very well despite containing excellent ideas.
Verdict 7/10
Destination : ebook storage
Book #58 The Rapture by Liz Jensen
The Rapture
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 year
The Rapture by Liz Jensen is the second of her novels I have read after the Ninth Life Of Louis Drax which I read two years ago and greatly enjoyed.
Set in a none too distant future, in The Rapture art therapist Gabrielle Fox is trying to have a fresh start following becoming paralysed in an accident. She takes a job at a psychiatric institution for disturbed children and patient Bethany Krall becomes her client. Bethany is already notorious, a child who murdered her own mother and Bethany also has visions, visions which she claims are of the coming rapture.
The Rapture packs A LOT of themes into a short book : disability issues, including the sexual politics of disability, the horrific state of psychiatric care, particularly of children (I compared Bethany Krall and Louis Drax throughout) the climate change crisis & how much of that is man made, the events of the book made me consider fracking for example, and finally the rise of the religious right, probably more prevalent now in the USA than here, but having found a voice in the UK as per the parameters of this story.
I came to the Rapture from an interesting angle I suppose given that I am a wheelchair user. Though I cannot deny that some of Gabrielle's insecurities regarding her sexuality were very well drawn, I found myself irritated that as the scientists around her debated the end of the world she dwelt morosely upon whether she was still sexy, and took that out on innocent people she suspected of screwing her boyfriend. I felt like shaking her and saying "SO WHAT IF HE SHAGGED HER?! YOU'RE ALL ABOUT TO DIE YOU SILLY COW"
I suppose for one thing it did show honestly that even in big moments in life people do still focus upon their personal issues.
There was good characterisation, and I found it really easy to get into and keep reading, but it's fairly lightweight and a little bit silly, to be honest. It's not as good as Louis Drax but I would still definitely buy & read another Liz Jensen as she really does take on big, interesting ideas.
Verdict : 7/10
Destination : Charity Shop
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 year
The Rapture by Liz Jensen is the second of her novels I have read after the Ninth Life Of Louis Drax which I read two years ago and greatly enjoyed.
Set in a none too distant future, in The Rapture art therapist Gabrielle Fox is trying to have a fresh start following becoming paralysed in an accident. She takes a job at a psychiatric institution for disturbed children and patient Bethany Krall becomes her client. Bethany is already notorious, a child who murdered her own mother and Bethany also has visions, visions which she claims are of the coming rapture.
The Rapture packs A LOT of themes into a short book : disability issues, including the sexual politics of disability, the horrific state of psychiatric care, particularly of children (I compared Bethany Krall and Louis Drax throughout) the climate change crisis & how much of that is man made, the events of the book made me consider fracking for example, and finally the rise of the religious right, probably more prevalent now in the USA than here, but having found a voice in the UK as per the parameters of this story.
I came to the Rapture from an interesting angle I suppose given that I am a wheelchair user. Though I cannot deny that some of Gabrielle's insecurities regarding her sexuality were very well drawn, I found myself irritated that as the scientists around her debated the end of the world she dwelt morosely upon whether she was still sexy, and took that out on innocent people she suspected of screwing her boyfriend. I felt like shaking her and saying "SO WHAT IF HE SHAGGED HER?! YOU'RE ALL ABOUT TO DIE YOU SILLY COW"
I suppose for one thing it did show honestly that even in big moments in life people do still focus upon their personal issues.
There was good characterisation, and I found it really easy to get into and keep reading, but it's fairly lightweight and a little bit silly, to be honest. It's not as good as Louis Drax but I would still definitely buy & read another Liz Jensen as she really does take on big, interesting ideas.
Verdict : 7/10
Destination : Charity Shop
Book #57 The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
The Thirteenth Tale
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 month
In The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield mousy bookshop assistant Margaret Lea works for her father and writes the occasional biography. She attracts the attention of renowned writer Vida Winter who summons her north to act as her biographer.
Vida Winter is a mysterious figure in the literary world, a writer of many massively popular novels she is also known for giving multiple fictional accounts of her own past in every interview she has ever given. Now dying, she has decided to tell the truth about her unusual past.
I really, really liked the Thirteenth Tale, the story of Vida's ancestry and childhood had enough intrigue and mystery to keep me engrossed throughout and I read it in two sittings.
I really loved its remarks about reading, readers, and the importance of books many of which I identified with.
Yet, I read this book for my book club, and it came in for heavy criticism from many of my fellow readers, and I had to concede that many of these criticisms were unfortunately legitimate.
The central conceit itself lacks much real world plausibility. It is unlikely that a life could be that concealed.
There is perhaps a too heavy push to draw comparison with and to emulate the classic novels, particularly Jane Eyre and on occasion this feels forced.
The sub plot around the character Aurelius is quite stuff and nonsense really, particularly Margaret's apparent luck in happening to encounter him as well as his back story.
One of the men in book club called it 'a girls book' - and I think I have to ruefully accept there may be truth to that.
My personal feeling about the book however is that it is 'a ripping good yarn' and I've already recommended it to two people. If you like 19th Century novels, it is likely you'll enjoy the Thirteenth Tale, despite its flaws I definitely did and as a reading experience I would probably still give it top marks.
Verdict : 10/10
Destination : ebook storage
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 month
In The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield mousy bookshop assistant Margaret Lea works for her father and writes the occasional biography. She attracts the attention of renowned writer Vida Winter who summons her north to act as her biographer.
Vida Winter is a mysterious figure in the literary world, a writer of many massively popular novels she is also known for giving multiple fictional accounts of her own past in every interview she has ever given. Now dying, she has decided to tell the truth about her unusual past.
I really, really liked the Thirteenth Tale, the story of Vida's ancestry and childhood had enough intrigue and mystery to keep me engrossed throughout and I read it in two sittings.
I really loved its remarks about reading, readers, and the importance of books many of which I identified with.
Yet, I read this book for my book club, and it came in for heavy criticism from many of my fellow readers, and I had to concede that many of these criticisms were unfortunately legitimate.
The central conceit itself lacks much real world plausibility. It is unlikely that a life could be that concealed.
There is perhaps a too heavy push to draw comparison with and to emulate the classic novels, particularly Jane Eyre and on occasion this feels forced.
The sub plot around the character Aurelius is quite stuff and nonsense really, particularly Margaret's apparent luck in happening to encounter him as well as his back story.
One of the men in book club called it 'a girls book' - and I think I have to ruefully accept there may be truth to that.
My personal feeling about the book however is that it is 'a ripping good yarn' and I've already recommended it to two people. If you like 19th Century novels, it is likely you'll enjoy the Thirteenth Tale, despite its flaws I definitely did and as a reading experience I would probably still give it top marks.
Verdict : 10/10
Destination : ebook storage
Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Book #56 The Whole Day Through by Patrick Gale
The Whole Day Through
Length Of Time In Possession : around 8-12 months
This book is the third Patrick Gale I have read, following sister novels 'Notes From An Exhibition' and 'A Perfectly Good Man' both of which I greatly enjoyed. Separated into different intervals in everyday life (such as Lunch Break, and Evensong) it covers a longer, yet not wholly specified period.
I did struggle to identify why the book should be separated out in such a way as a device to weave the plot around, having considered it I think perhaps it is there to reflect how the life of a carer is often mapped out in such a way.
Laura and Ben find themselves reacquainted after a twenty year hiatus after each comes to Winchester to look after a relative, Laura her ailing mother and Ben his vulnerable younger brother.
Restrained and elegant, The Whole Day Through is a novel about yearning and loss, how tiny coincidental acts meant that the stars kept two people who were perfect for each other apart.
The writing is as high quality as I have come to expect from him, and he may eventually come to be one of few writers whose entire output I've read.
As a reader I understood the emotions conveyed so well, and yet, I felt almost cheated, cheated on, by the ending which was highly unsatisfactory!
I understand that real life is messy, and so it many ways it is an honest story about reality: real people, real situations. Life rarely turns out the way you plan, God laughs!
And yet, Patrick Gale, REALLY? Did you HAVE TO?
Verdict : 7/10
Destination : Shelves
Length Of Time In Possession : around 8-12 months
This book is the third Patrick Gale I have read, following sister novels 'Notes From An Exhibition' and 'A Perfectly Good Man' both of which I greatly enjoyed. Separated into different intervals in everyday life (such as Lunch Break, and Evensong) it covers a longer, yet not wholly specified period.
I did struggle to identify why the book should be separated out in such a way as a device to weave the plot around, having considered it I think perhaps it is there to reflect how the life of a carer is often mapped out in such a way.
Laura and Ben find themselves reacquainted after a twenty year hiatus after each comes to Winchester to look after a relative, Laura her ailing mother and Ben his vulnerable younger brother.
Restrained and elegant, The Whole Day Through is a novel about yearning and loss, how tiny coincidental acts meant that the stars kept two people who were perfect for each other apart.
The writing is as high quality as I have come to expect from him, and he may eventually come to be one of few writers whose entire output I've read.
As a reader I understood the emotions conveyed so well, and yet, I felt almost cheated, cheated on, by the ending which was highly unsatisfactory!
I understand that real life is messy, and so it many ways it is an honest story about reality: real people, real situations. Life rarely turns out the way you plan, God laughs!
And yet, Patrick Gale, REALLY? Did you HAVE TO?
Verdict : 7/10
Destination : Shelves
Sunday, 13 October 2013
Book #55 The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 week
I picked up The Reluctant Fundamentalist in the train station because I needed something for the journey, and at slightly over 200 pages, had half read it in a couple of hours.
Our protagonist is Changez, and in the opening sentences of the novel he offers his assistance as a local to an American tourist in the city of Lahore, Pakistan, when they sit down to dinner in a restaurant, Changez begins to fill in this American on his back story.
At 18 Changez left Pakistan to become a student at the prestigious Princeton upon graduation he gets a job at an elite firm where he is the most successful junior and from there embarks on a relationship with a white American girl. He has wholeheartedly embraced the American Dream, so why does it feel so good when he sees the Twin Towers fall?
The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a great idea, and by no means an unlikeable read, however, so much of its construct feels artificial. For a start, its very title practically hands you the plot, and it's not hard to figure out quite early on that his American companion is more than what he seems, and more than that, what he actually is. What feels most artificial is the dialogue itself, a one sided affair that drags on into the night, it's hard to imagine that it would actually take place. I also saw the ending a mile off. The novel seeks to make a point, but in the end it's not a very complex or nuanced one.
The blurb on the back of the book says the woman he loves betrays him. But she doesn't. At all. Fundamentally she is mentally ill, she genuinely loves Changez, but is convinced she still loves another man who is gone and her problems thwart them. I think she can be exonerated from any kind of deliberate "betrayal".
Despite these complaints I did actually enjoy this book so it's odd that this review is so critical, I think its because its heart and purpose are in the right place but its execution is fundamentally flawed and lacking in subtlety.
Verdict : 7/10
Destination : Charity Shop
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 week
I picked up The Reluctant Fundamentalist in the train station because I needed something for the journey, and at slightly over 200 pages, had half read it in a couple of hours.
Our protagonist is Changez, and in the opening sentences of the novel he offers his assistance as a local to an American tourist in the city of Lahore, Pakistan, when they sit down to dinner in a restaurant, Changez begins to fill in this American on his back story.
At 18 Changez left Pakistan to become a student at the prestigious Princeton upon graduation he gets a job at an elite firm where he is the most successful junior and from there embarks on a relationship with a white American girl. He has wholeheartedly embraced the American Dream, so why does it feel so good when he sees the Twin Towers fall?
The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a great idea, and by no means an unlikeable read, however, so much of its construct feels artificial. For a start, its very title practically hands you the plot, and it's not hard to figure out quite early on that his American companion is more than what he seems, and more than that, what he actually is. What feels most artificial is the dialogue itself, a one sided affair that drags on into the night, it's hard to imagine that it would actually take place. I also saw the ending a mile off. The novel seeks to make a point, but in the end it's not a very complex or nuanced one.
The blurb on the back of the book says the woman he loves betrays him. But she doesn't. At all. Fundamentally she is mentally ill, she genuinely loves Changez, but is convinced she still loves another man who is gone and her problems thwart them. I think she can be exonerated from any kind of deliberate "betrayal".
Despite these complaints I did actually enjoy this book so it's odd that this review is so critical, I think its because its heart and purpose are in the right place but its execution is fundamentally flawed and lacking in subtlety.
Verdict : 7/10
Destination : Charity Shop
Memoirs Of A Geisha by Arthur Golden
Memoirs Of A Geisha
I haven't given Memoirs Of A Geisha a number because I first read it and loved it when I was either 20 or 21, so it doesn't count towards the challenge. The reason I'm reflecting on it again now is because I re-read it for book club last month.
It is the story of Chiyo, a young girl from a fishing village sold into the geisha culture by her elderly father as her mother lays dying. Her older sister Satsu fairs worse - directly sold into prostitution. Geisha are not prostitutes in traditional Western understanding terms more entertainers for wealthy men.
What I loved about it the first time round was the elegance of the prose which I found poetic and evocative - a portrait of a time, place and tradition which has all but disappeared. It has the qualities which I so like about literature in general, a sense that the existence of the novel enables the reader the time travel.
On a second read it was surprising to me that I did not empathise with Chiyo anymore after she transforms into Sayuri, I found the life of the Geisha girls shallow and repetitive and Sayuri herself an ungrateful and at times nasty character.
There are certain points I think at which the reader is meant to be cheering Sayuri on but I couldn't help but feel concern for those who had been damaged by her actions rather than rejoice in her triumphs.
I hated her ultimate vindictiveness towards a character who had always, always taken care of her and I felt her "romance" with the Chairman lacked foundation, substance or credibility.
It's a really, really odd thing to love a book on first read and feel less enamoured of it on second read and I have to say that I think it must be something to do with maturity and the way your views on life and what you see as love change as you age.
My different opinions on the events in the book have shown me how much I have changed in ten years, and that's a really odd sensation. Try it with a book you once loved and see if the book is a different book because you are a different person.
Verdict : Still a good read 8/10
Destination : Keep, maybe I'll read it again in my 40s!
I haven't given Memoirs Of A Geisha a number because I first read it and loved it when I was either 20 or 21, so it doesn't count towards the challenge. The reason I'm reflecting on it again now is because I re-read it for book club last month.
It is the story of Chiyo, a young girl from a fishing village sold into the geisha culture by her elderly father as her mother lays dying. Her older sister Satsu fairs worse - directly sold into prostitution. Geisha are not prostitutes in traditional Western understanding terms more entertainers for wealthy men.
What I loved about it the first time round was the elegance of the prose which I found poetic and evocative - a portrait of a time, place and tradition which has all but disappeared. It has the qualities which I so like about literature in general, a sense that the existence of the novel enables the reader the time travel.
On a second read it was surprising to me that I did not empathise with Chiyo anymore after she transforms into Sayuri, I found the life of the Geisha girls shallow and repetitive and Sayuri herself an ungrateful and at times nasty character.
There are certain points I think at which the reader is meant to be cheering Sayuri on but I couldn't help but feel concern for those who had been damaged by her actions rather than rejoice in her triumphs.
I hated her ultimate vindictiveness towards a character who had always, always taken care of her and I felt her "romance" with the Chairman lacked foundation, substance or credibility.
It's a really, really odd thing to love a book on first read and feel less enamoured of it on second read and I have to say that I think it must be something to do with maturity and the way your views on life and what you see as love change as you age.
My different opinions on the events in the book have shown me how much I have changed in ten years, and that's a really odd sensation. Try it with a book you once loved and see if the book is a different book because you are a different person.
Verdict : Still a good read 8/10
Destination : Keep, maybe I'll read it again in my 40s!
Thursday, 3 October 2013
Book #54 The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao
Length Of Time In Possession : 10 months (Part Of A Blogging Good Read)
For a brief period when he was in kindergarten Oscar was a hit with the ladies, but that quickly died away, until he grew up to be a fat, lonely, socially outcast virgin with dreams of being Tolkien.
The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao examines Oscar's life from four angles, his own story, that of his sister, that of her ex boyfriend (his college roommate) and the background of his mother and how she came to the USA from the Dominican Republic.
I have never read any novel related to the Dominican Republic before so it was original and refreshing to me from that angle. On the whole it was well written but it seemed to me that the parts that were best written were the ones that were not about Oscar. His room-mate's sense of guilt, frustration and responsibility, his mother's life as the orphaned daughter in Santo Domingo, and his sisters retreat there during her adolescence were all far more interesting to me than that of Oscar, the geeky outcast whose story feels like a well worn one, covered in a variety of storytelling.
Particularly in the stories of Oscar and his mother, I felt a sense of compassion fatigue, it seems to me that of late what it takes for a work of literature to be considered worthy of note is for the protagonists lives to be as unrelentingly bleak and dissatisfactory as possible.
In addition, I didn't really particularly like any of the main characters, not even Oscar himself, perhaps actually, especially not Oscar. I found the motivations for his sisters ex boyfriends behaviour later on in the novel lacking in credibility and I also found the curse angle similarly lacking.
It is a good novel but it is not without faults, there is a tendency to use Spanish without giving the reader a translation, which frustrates and ultimately it was not all that memorable to me.
Verdict 8/10
Destination : Charity Shop
Length Of Time In Possession : 10 months (Part Of A Blogging Good Read)
For a brief period when he was in kindergarten Oscar was a hit with the ladies, but that quickly died away, until he grew up to be a fat, lonely, socially outcast virgin with dreams of being Tolkien.
The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao examines Oscar's life from four angles, his own story, that of his sister, that of her ex boyfriend (his college roommate) and the background of his mother and how she came to the USA from the Dominican Republic.
I have never read any novel related to the Dominican Republic before so it was original and refreshing to me from that angle. On the whole it was well written but it seemed to me that the parts that were best written were the ones that were not about Oscar. His room-mate's sense of guilt, frustration and responsibility, his mother's life as the orphaned daughter in Santo Domingo, and his sisters retreat there during her adolescence were all far more interesting to me than that of Oscar, the geeky outcast whose story feels like a well worn one, covered in a variety of storytelling.
Particularly in the stories of Oscar and his mother, I felt a sense of compassion fatigue, it seems to me that of late what it takes for a work of literature to be considered worthy of note is for the protagonists lives to be as unrelentingly bleak and dissatisfactory as possible.
In addition, I didn't really particularly like any of the main characters, not even Oscar himself, perhaps actually, especially not Oscar. I found the motivations for his sisters ex boyfriends behaviour later on in the novel lacking in credibility and I also found the curse angle similarly lacking.
It is a good novel but it is not without faults, there is a tendency to use Spanish without giving the reader a translation, which frustrates and ultimately it was not all that memorable to me.
Verdict 8/10
Destination : Charity Shop
Book #53 To Say Nothing Of The Dog by Connie Willis
To Say Nothing Of The Dog
Length Of Time In Possession : 2/3 weeks (Part of A Blogging Good Read)
To Say Nothing Of The Dog has all the hallmarks of a book that I should really love. A time travel element, a historical/academic element and a 19th Century novel element, everything about it seems designed to appeal to me and I approached it with enthusiasm.
Imagine my disappointment therefore that I spent weeks on this novel barely getting through a few pages at each attempt and stopped before page 200 or so.
In many ways I saw it as a waste of a great opportunity. Time travel has been invented and yet all anyone does with it is research Coventry Cathedral on the whim of some rich woman who is trying to rebuild it in the future, with particular emphasis on 'the bishop's bird stump' a missing artefact.
In some ways this is part of the point & its all supposed to have a kind of tongue in cheek wit to it, but instead of being amused by it, I found it asinine and at times twee. I cared neither for the characters or the outcome and exited the novel shortly after the introduction of the superbly punchable Tossie at which point I decided the degree to which it was not worth the effort was painful.
Time spent in manfully attempting to read this book has meant a real shortfall in the usual number of books I would read in September which has caused it to aggravate me even further!
Other people I imagine might enjoy this book & the book it reminded me most of was Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series of which I am not a fan but many are.
Verdict : Not for me
Destination : Charity Shop
Length Of Time In Possession : 2/3 weeks (Part of A Blogging Good Read)
To Say Nothing Of The Dog has all the hallmarks of a book that I should really love. A time travel element, a historical/academic element and a 19th Century novel element, everything about it seems designed to appeal to me and I approached it with enthusiasm.
Imagine my disappointment therefore that I spent weeks on this novel barely getting through a few pages at each attempt and stopped before page 200 or so.
In many ways I saw it as a waste of a great opportunity. Time travel has been invented and yet all anyone does with it is research Coventry Cathedral on the whim of some rich woman who is trying to rebuild it in the future, with particular emphasis on 'the bishop's bird stump' a missing artefact.
In some ways this is part of the point & its all supposed to have a kind of tongue in cheek wit to it, but instead of being amused by it, I found it asinine and at times twee. I cared neither for the characters or the outcome and exited the novel shortly after the introduction of the superbly punchable Tossie at which point I decided the degree to which it was not worth the effort was painful.
Time spent in manfully attempting to read this book has meant a real shortfall in the usual number of books I would read in September which has caused it to aggravate me even further!
Other people I imagine might enjoy this book & the book it reminded me most of was Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series of which I am not a fan but many are.
Verdict : Not for me
Destination : Charity Shop
Book #52 And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
And Then There Were None
Length Of Time In Possession : 2 weeks or so
This month I participated in something called 'A Blogging Good Read' run by Alex in which 3 bloggers each choose a book and then each read all 3 and share their thoughts.
The choice of 'And Then There Were None' was not made by me, and via this choice I learned yet another lesson in the evils of book snobbery. My immediate reaction was : "An Agatha Christie? Really? Seriously? Why?" and I entered in to this novel with fundamentally low expectations and low desire. Inevitably I was forced to eat humble pie when at the end of this experiment, And Then There Were None proved to be the one of the three I most enjoyed.
In this novel, in classic Agatha Christie style, ten people are invited to one of those old fashioned Downton Abbey type country getaways. Nobody seems to have been perturbed to have been invited to a soiree held by someone they've never heard of, but I guess those were the times amidst a certain social class. Also nobody seems to have twigged that the name of the host U N Owen might be a problem, but in order to legitimise the parameters of the mystery you kind of have to accept that this is a logical decision for these people to accept these invites and in some cases more than others, it is.
Once they arrive on the isolated island, they are all accused of the same thing, namely, that they once got away with murder, and then, as revenge for their crime, they all begin to die......
I liked the style of this novel and I enjoyed trying to work out who was responsible for bringing them all to the island.The poem which we are introduced to before the story begins, was a nice structure to weave the story around, though I do hear it was a decidedly more offensive poem upon original publication!
At times the deaths are too rapid in a way that starts to seem farcical, but this hyperbolic aspect by no means ruined it for me. I congratulated myself afterwards on identifying the culprit early on, but Christie's repeated use of bait and switch meant that you constantly questioned the conclusions you drew and changed your mind. I thought I knew who it was, but not how it was, and kept looking for possible solutions
It's very cleverly done, as a story it's quite a hard thing to pull off, but pull it off she does, the epilogue explaining how it was done is really necessary.
I can't say that I'll be rushing out and buying the entire chronicles of Hercule Poirot or anything, I think I'll be sticking to my usual genres, but I'm not sorry I read it and have already passed it on to a friend.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : Passed to a friend.
Length Of Time In Possession : 2 weeks or so
This month I participated in something called 'A Blogging Good Read' run by Alex in which 3 bloggers each choose a book and then each read all 3 and share their thoughts.
The choice of 'And Then There Were None' was not made by me, and via this choice I learned yet another lesson in the evils of book snobbery. My immediate reaction was : "An Agatha Christie? Really? Seriously? Why?" and I entered in to this novel with fundamentally low expectations and low desire. Inevitably I was forced to eat humble pie when at the end of this experiment, And Then There Were None proved to be the one of the three I most enjoyed.
In this novel, in classic Agatha Christie style, ten people are invited to one of those old fashioned Downton Abbey type country getaways. Nobody seems to have been perturbed to have been invited to a soiree held by someone they've never heard of, but I guess those were the times amidst a certain social class. Also nobody seems to have twigged that the name of the host U N Owen might be a problem, but in order to legitimise the parameters of the mystery you kind of have to accept that this is a logical decision for these people to accept these invites and in some cases more than others, it is.
Once they arrive on the isolated island, they are all accused of the same thing, namely, that they once got away with murder, and then, as revenge for their crime, they all begin to die......
I liked the style of this novel and I enjoyed trying to work out who was responsible for bringing them all to the island.The poem which we are introduced to before the story begins, was a nice structure to weave the story around, though I do hear it was a decidedly more offensive poem upon original publication!
At times the deaths are too rapid in a way that starts to seem farcical, but this hyperbolic aspect by no means ruined it for me. I congratulated myself afterwards on identifying the culprit early on, but Christie's repeated use of bait and switch meant that you constantly questioned the conclusions you drew and changed your mind. I thought I knew who it was, but not how it was, and kept looking for possible solutions
It's very cleverly done, as a story it's quite a hard thing to pull off, but pull it off she does, the epilogue explaining how it was done is really necessary.
I can't say that I'll be rushing out and buying the entire chronicles of Hercule Poirot or anything, I think I'll be sticking to my usual genres, but I'm not sorry I read it and have already passed it on to a friend.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : Passed to a friend.
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Book #51 Stoner by John Williams
Stoner
Length Of Time In Possession : Week and a half
Stoner, by John Williams published in 1965 has been experiencing something of a renaissance in 2013, finding itself suddenly acclaimed as a forgotten modern classic and rocketing up best seller lists all over the place. It was picked for one of my book clubs.
Stoner is the story of an ordinary man who lives an unfulfilled life, his narrow existence on a farm leads him unexpectedly to university where he discovers English Literature and enters teaching.
What one would expect then here is the uplifting story about the transformative power of literature in one man's life, but Stoner is very much not that book.
William Stoner is a nice man and a good man, yet his life though he escaped the farm remains narrow, unhappy, disappointing and unfulfilled, and academia proves his only refuge.
There are some nice moments of action, his dispute with fellow academic Hollis Lomax for example and the early stages of his relationship with Edith and his relationship with Katherine.
The most interesting and heartbreaking character is Grace Stoner, William's unhappy daughter with whom his special connection is deliberately sabotaged. There is a wonderfully written paragraph towards the end about her failure to blossom.
I found myself repeatedly furious with Stoner's apparent inertia and inability to turn his life around. The novel is inherently sad in fact I would go as far as to call it depressing. As a reading experience I would probably compare it to is Bernard Malamud's The Assistant. Like The Assistant I didn't so much enjoy it as appreciate it on an intellectual level.
It's a tale which examines the ordinary man and the ordinary, slightly unrewarding life. I found it hard to understand the idea espoused at the start : that he was forgotten shortly after dying by all who knew him; given that his rivalry with Lomax achieved near mythic status at the university.
Many things have been said about Stoner of late that it is a great book, that it is almost perfect that is a work of art, and perhaps it is all those things, but it's very sad and it made me sad and therefore I didn't like it very much. It made me miserable.
Verdict: 10/10 for the writing and probably 6 for enjoyment
Destination : Charity Shop
Length Of Time In Possession : Week and a half
Stoner, by John Williams published in 1965 has been experiencing something of a renaissance in 2013, finding itself suddenly acclaimed as a forgotten modern classic and rocketing up best seller lists all over the place. It was picked for one of my book clubs.
Stoner is the story of an ordinary man who lives an unfulfilled life, his narrow existence on a farm leads him unexpectedly to university where he discovers English Literature and enters teaching.
What one would expect then here is the uplifting story about the transformative power of literature in one man's life, but Stoner is very much not that book.
William Stoner is a nice man and a good man, yet his life though he escaped the farm remains narrow, unhappy, disappointing and unfulfilled, and academia proves his only refuge.
There are some nice moments of action, his dispute with fellow academic Hollis Lomax for example and the early stages of his relationship with Edith and his relationship with Katherine.
The most interesting and heartbreaking character is Grace Stoner, William's unhappy daughter with whom his special connection is deliberately sabotaged. There is a wonderfully written paragraph towards the end about her failure to blossom.
I found myself repeatedly furious with Stoner's apparent inertia and inability to turn his life around. The novel is inherently sad in fact I would go as far as to call it depressing. As a reading experience I would probably compare it to is Bernard Malamud's The Assistant. Like The Assistant I didn't so much enjoy it as appreciate it on an intellectual level.
It's a tale which examines the ordinary man and the ordinary, slightly unrewarding life. I found it hard to understand the idea espoused at the start : that he was forgotten shortly after dying by all who knew him; given that his rivalry with Lomax achieved near mythic status at the university.
Many things have been said about Stoner of late that it is a great book, that it is almost perfect that is a work of art, and perhaps it is all those things, but it's very sad and it made me sad and therefore I didn't like it very much. It made me miserable.
Verdict: 10/10 for the writing and probably 6 for enjoyment
Destination : Charity Shop
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Repost : A Sense Of An Ending by Julian Barnes
A Sense Of An Ending
I don't normally repost anything but, I read A Sense Of An Ending 2 years ago, and read it again for book club this weekend, so it counts as having been read this year too. I have added extra detail upon second reflection, and made some edits.
Winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize, Julian Barnes broke the curse having previously been unsuccessful with Flaubert's Parrot in 1984, England, England in 1998 and Arthur and George in 2005. I hadn't read any of his previous work but I really enjoyed this book, and will on the strength of it absolutely seek out some of his other works.
It is essentially a short novel, coming in at just 150 pages, which makes me wonder whether it is in fact a novella or an extended short story. It definitely does have the 'feel' of a short story about it. And it is therefore difficult to review without spoilers, but I'm going to try my best.
Tony Webster is an ordinary middle aged man who has had a fairly unremarkable life, he married, he had a child, he divorced as so many do. But when something occurs out of the blue, the past returns to haunt him and he is forced to re-examine his history in relation to his former schoolfriend Adrian Finn; a charismatic, clever, serious boy from a broken home whose life story became linked to his in a way that Tony had never imagined nor even given consideration to.
This book is in a way about the transgressions of youth, but it also has relevance to anyone of any age. In a temper Tony said some thoughtless and spiteful things, which, in many ways would be the default reaction of most people who are placed in the situation he is placed in, particularly a young man of his age at the time. But, this act of thoughtlessness, an act that he never really dwelt upon in the years that followed had massive repercussions for several lives thereafter.
One thing I noted on the second read was the important things it has to say about history. At one point Adrian Finn calls history "the point where the failures of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation" Particularly in individual lives as opposed to accepted global history. The recollections of 2 individuals about the one incident in both their lives may vary widely, what for one person is a terrible regret that they have pondered at length is for the other but a blip on their radar that they never dwelt upon.
This book gave me real pause for thought, as it made me think about the impact that our actions have on other people's stories. Even if what we say about the person is true, though in Tony's case it wasn't so much that; a selfish need to "get back" at someone or to find a means of expressing our feelings can cause a chain reaction the likes of which we never expected or were never aware. What happens is not Tony's "fault" per-se, he couldn't possibly have anticipated it, but yet it wouldn't have happened without that one action on his part, or....would it? It's a novel about making an error in the heat of the moment.
Then, as an older man this is something he is left to consider possibly the rest of his life, and never get the sense of an ending, the facts he possesses about the past are not entire yet it is clear that one person at least places the burden of blame squarely upon his shoulders. Is it really Tony's fault? We at book club said no...there were extenuating circumstances, but, the wounded recipient only cares about placing blame and not about the multitude of actions by many people that led ultimately to the conclusion. At the same time, they have every right to seek to place blame, and so, like everything in life the situation exists in shades of grey.
The consequence of this book has caused a certain level of guilt by proxy for me. An examination of points in my life whereby I did or said or wrote something with only thought for my own feeling and not the feelings of the person on the receiving end. Even if you are "in the right" factually, morally, or just in your own mind, you don't know what chain reaction of events you may have unwittingly sparked.
For a book to have an impact of this kind upon you, to make you consider your own life and psychology, it rises above being "just a story" and I was delighted to see this win the prize. 10/10 for the simple fact it is a book you will continue to think on long after you've closed it.
I don't normally repost anything but, I read A Sense Of An Ending 2 years ago, and read it again for book club this weekend, so it counts as having been read this year too. I have added extra detail upon second reflection, and made some edits.
Winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize, Julian Barnes broke the curse having previously been unsuccessful with Flaubert's Parrot in 1984, England, England in 1998 and Arthur and George in 2005. I hadn't read any of his previous work but I really enjoyed this book, and will on the strength of it absolutely seek out some of his other works.
It is essentially a short novel, coming in at just 150 pages, which makes me wonder whether it is in fact a novella or an extended short story. It definitely does have the 'feel' of a short story about it. And it is therefore difficult to review without spoilers, but I'm going to try my best.
Tony Webster is an ordinary middle aged man who has had a fairly unremarkable life, he married, he had a child, he divorced as so many do. But when something occurs out of the blue, the past returns to haunt him and he is forced to re-examine his history in relation to his former schoolfriend Adrian Finn; a charismatic, clever, serious boy from a broken home whose life story became linked to his in a way that Tony had never imagined nor even given consideration to.
This book is in a way about the transgressions of youth, but it also has relevance to anyone of any age. In a temper Tony said some thoughtless and spiteful things, which, in many ways would be the default reaction of most people who are placed in the situation he is placed in, particularly a young man of his age at the time. But, this act of thoughtlessness, an act that he never really dwelt upon in the years that followed had massive repercussions for several lives thereafter.
One thing I noted on the second read was the important things it has to say about history. At one point Adrian Finn calls history "the point where the failures of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation" Particularly in individual lives as opposed to accepted global history. The recollections of 2 individuals about the one incident in both their lives may vary widely, what for one person is a terrible regret that they have pondered at length is for the other but a blip on their radar that they never dwelt upon.
This book gave me real pause for thought, as it made me think about the impact that our actions have on other people's stories. Even if what we say about the person is true, though in Tony's case it wasn't so much that; a selfish need to "get back" at someone or to find a means of expressing our feelings can cause a chain reaction the likes of which we never expected or were never aware. What happens is not Tony's "fault" per-se, he couldn't possibly have anticipated it, but yet it wouldn't have happened without that one action on his part, or....would it? It's a novel about making an error in the heat of the moment.
Then, as an older man this is something he is left to consider possibly the rest of his life, and never get the sense of an ending, the facts he possesses about the past are not entire yet it is clear that one person at least places the burden of blame squarely upon his shoulders. Is it really Tony's fault? We at book club said no...there were extenuating circumstances, but, the wounded recipient only cares about placing blame and not about the multitude of actions by many people that led ultimately to the conclusion. At the same time, they have every right to seek to place blame, and so, like everything in life the situation exists in shades of grey.
The consequence of this book has caused a certain level of guilt by proxy for me. An examination of points in my life whereby I did or said or wrote something with only thought for my own feeling and not the feelings of the person on the receiving end. Even if you are "in the right" factually, morally, or just in your own mind, you don't know what chain reaction of events you may have unwittingly sparked.
For a book to have an impact of this kind upon you, to make you consider your own life and psychology, it rises above being "just a story" and I was delighted to see this win the prize. 10/10 for the simple fact it is a book you will continue to think on long after you've closed it.
Saturday, 17 August 2013
Book #50 The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Rian Malan
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 day
My Traitor's Heart, by Rian Malan is the single best autobiography I've ever read. It's stunning. I had never seen any further work by Rian Malan for sale until I spotted The Lion Sleeps Tonight in Waterstones about a month ago. I couldn't afford to buy it at that moment, and as luck would have it, saw it in my library two days ago.
The Lion Sleeps Tonight is a collection of essays and articles that Malan has written for various publications including The Spectator since My Traitor's Heart came out 23 years ago.
These articles cover a range of topics from the titular story which is a reference to the famous song by The Tokens but was actually written by a South African Zulu who received no recompense, to articles about Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, the Miss World Competition, the film Invictus, and Winnie Mandela.
By far the most fascinating of these are two articles written about the problem of AIDS in Africa. Malan, not a fan of Thabo Mbeki, is offered a chance to mock his AIDS denying stance by the magazine Rolling Stone, and jumps on it, but as he engages in his research he discovers that the globally accepted AIDS statistics and the actual picture do not match up.
Malan has always been an interesting character, owing to his descendancy from one of the main architects of Apartheid - Daniel Malan. At times he is a pessimist, prophesising a forthcoming ethnic cleansing in South Africa and at times he seems overtly racist referring affirmatively in one instance to Ian Smith's remarks about the future of Rhodesia. Malan's openly acknowledged and honest struggle against the racist indoctrination of his past is one of the things which makes his voice such a unique one to hear.
In spite of these issues, his perspectives from the "other side of the colour divide" are consistently fascinating as is the picture he builds of the modern post-Apartheid, struggling and confused, yet weathering it out nation.
I have always enjoyed anything about Africa and this collection is well worth a read.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : Return To Library
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 day
My Traitor's Heart, by Rian Malan is the single best autobiography I've ever read. It's stunning. I had never seen any further work by Rian Malan for sale until I spotted The Lion Sleeps Tonight in Waterstones about a month ago. I couldn't afford to buy it at that moment, and as luck would have it, saw it in my library two days ago.
The Lion Sleeps Tonight is a collection of essays and articles that Malan has written for various publications including The Spectator since My Traitor's Heart came out 23 years ago.
These articles cover a range of topics from the titular story which is a reference to the famous song by The Tokens but was actually written by a South African Zulu who received no recompense, to articles about Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, the Miss World Competition, the film Invictus, and Winnie Mandela.
By far the most fascinating of these are two articles written about the problem of AIDS in Africa. Malan, not a fan of Thabo Mbeki, is offered a chance to mock his AIDS denying stance by the magazine Rolling Stone, and jumps on it, but as he engages in his research he discovers that the globally accepted AIDS statistics and the actual picture do not match up.
Malan has always been an interesting character, owing to his descendancy from one of the main architects of Apartheid - Daniel Malan. At times he is a pessimist, prophesising a forthcoming ethnic cleansing in South Africa and at times he seems overtly racist referring affirmatively in one instance to Ian Smith's remarks about the future of Rhodesia. Malan's openly acknowledged and honest struggle against the racist indoctrination of his past is one of the things which makes his voice such a unique one to hear.
In spite of these issues, his perspectives from the "other side of the colour divide" are consistently fascinating as is the picture he builds of the modern post-Apartheid, struggling and confused, yet weathering it out nation.
I have always enjoyed anything about Africa and this collection is well worth a read.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : Return To Library
Book #49 A Room Of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
A Room Of One's Own
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 day
I did a module on Virginia Woolf at university. I read Jacob's Room, Orlando, To The Lighthouse, Mrs Dalloway and Between The Acts, I also read a lot of general remarks by her, but I did not read A Room Of One's Own. I actually got a first in the essay I wrote on Woolf, a fact that still baffles me to this day, as I generally found no particular affinity for her as an author.
I saw A Room Of One's Own up for grabs in the library, and as it's rather slight, thought : Why Not?
It's an extended essay over several chapters, and interesting from a number of perspectives. It is borne of a much shorter address that Woolf was asked to give to Oxbridge on Women And Fiction, and generally is a feminist perspective on the historical progress of women as authors. Ironically, it's now a historical piece in itself, and one far detached from the realities of today's female writers.
Woolf, from a wealthy, well connected background argues that to succeed as a female writer one needs an independent means, (Woolf rather quaintly recommends £500 a year) and a room of one's own to write in.
She talks about Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen, how in Austen's case writing, prior to her fame, was almost a dirty secret, how Charlotte's frustrations at the limitations of her sex can be seen in Jane Eyre almost to its detraction as a work of fiction. (I've always thought Jane Eyre over-rated)
The male reaction to female writing and how it was seen as an intellectual threat is a diverting topic and the sexism of even Woolf's own era extraordinary.
Perhaps the most interesting of all her reflections is on that of "Shakespeare's Sister" - a fictional entity who if she had wished to pursue the same career as her brother would have been laughed at and degraded, and would have most likely died a victim of sexual exploitation on a roadside near Elephant and Castle. Bleak as this is, I believe Woolf is correct nonetheless.
Where 'A Room Of One's Own' gave me most cause to reflect was in the discussion of women pre-Bronte and pre-Austen who were routinely silenced and had no creative outlet and were expected to have no opinion. It made me think that women today with literary ambitions should pursue them to the fullest, because we are lucky to live in far more enlightened times.
Woolf slightly misses the mark towards the end with the idea that even so, women's writing would remain the province of the upper class, working class women having no time for such pursuits with their poverty and life of drudgery. Snobbish though this may sound to our ears, Woolf even though she was a progressive simply could not conceive of two things : the world women know in 2013 and the literary world of 2013, a world were gender, sexuality and every social class is represented without any notion that this is something remarkable. If at times we grow complacent with the ways of the modern world we should remember just how huge a social and cultural transformation occurred throughout 20th Century Britain and just how fortunate, women particularly, are as a result.
One wonders what on earth Virginia Woolf would have made of it.
Verdict : 9/10
Destination : Return To Library
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 day
I did a module on Virginia Woolf at university. I read Jacob's Room, Orlando, To The Lighthouse, Mrs Dalloway and Between The Acts, I also read a lot of general remarks by her, but I did not read A Room Of One's Own. I actually got a first in the essay I wrote on Woolf, a fact that still baffles me to this day, as I generally found no particular affinity for her as an author.
I saw A Room Of One's Own up for grabs in the library, and as it's rather slight, thought : Why Not?
It's an extended essay over several chapters, and interesting from a number of perspectives. It is borne of a much shorter address that Woolf was asked to give to Oxbridge on Women And Fiction, and generally is a feminist perspective on the historical progress of women as authors. Ironically, it's now a historical piece in itself, and one far detached from the realities of today's female writers.
Woolf, from a wealthy, well connected background argues that to succeed as a female writer one needs an independent means, (Woolf rather quaintly recommends £500 a year) and a room of one's own to write in.
She talks about Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen, how in Austen's case writing, prior to her fame, was almost a dirty secret, how Charlotte's frustrations at the limitations of her sex can be seen in Jane Eyre almost to its detraction as a work of fiction. (I've always thought Jane Eyre over-rated)
The male reaction to female writing and how it was seen as an intellectual threat is a diverting topic and the sexism of even Woolf's own era extraordinary.
Perhaps the most interesting of all her reflections is on that of "Shakespeare's Sister" - a fictional entity who if she had wished to pursue the same career as her brother would have been laughed at and degraded, and would have most likely died a victim of sexual exploitation on a roadside near Elephant and Castle. Bleak as this is, I believe Woolf is correct nonetheless.
Where 'A Room Of One's Own' gave me most cause to reflect was in the discussion of women pre-Bronte and pre-Austen who were routinely silenced and had no creative outlet and were expected to have no opinion. It made me think that women today with literary ambitions should pursue them to the fullest, because we are lucky to live in far more enlightened times.
Woolf slightly misses the mark towards the end with the idea that even so, women's writing would remain the province of the upper class, working class women having no time for such pursuits with their poverty and life of drudgery. Snobbish though this may sound to our ears, Woolf even though she was a progressive simply could not conceive of two things : the world women know in 2013 and the literary world of 2013, a world were gender, sexuality and every social class is represented without any notion that this is something remarkable. If at times we grow complacent with the ways of the modern world we should remember just how huge a social and cultural transformation occurred throughout 20th Century Britain and just how fortunate, women particularly, are as a result.
One wonders what on earth Virginia Woolf would have made of it.
Verdict : 9/10
Destination : Return To Library
Friday, 16 August 2013
Poem : And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
I am blogging this poem because it's been in my head all week. Aside from the fact that my ancestors were not slaves, this poem reminds me of my own story of strength, courage, and survival.
You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15623#sthash.XVkQJBjy.dpuf
You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15623#sthash.XVkQJBjy.dpuf
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15623#sthash.XVkQJBjy.dpuf
Sunday, 11 August 2013
Book #48 Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch
Broken Homes
Length Of Time In Possession : 2 weeks
Broken Homes is the 4th in Ben Aaronovitch's Folly Series, following PC Peter Grant, a young copper who at the beginning of the series, met a ghost and suddenly found himself a member of the Metropolitan Police's magic division.
The novel carries on the storylines from previous books, so I won't delve too far, for there would be spoilers. This time the mystery revolves around a housing estate called Skygarden.
It continues to expand the magical universe it is set in as Peter, Lesley, and Nightingale continue to hunt the Faceless Man, and the Little Crocodile society, it also brings back the always good value Rivers sisters, Fairy Zach, and others we met in the previous novels which is nice.
I also liked how we are given more detail about how Peter is slowly learning and studying his magical craft, necessary in the development of a clumsy apprentice.
There is good characterization of newly introduced surrounding players who pop off the page easily with pithy but greatly visual description.
I really enjoyed this one, having had some issues with both books two and three, I loved a certain passage which made a remark about schizophrenia, applicable to mental illness in general.
I also really loved the twist, which I never saw coming at all.
I knew if I stuck with this story it would pay off if I ignored the bits about the first two sequels I found a bit shaky, and kept up with it. I think Broken Homes is a return to form for this saga, but obviously if you've not read it you do have to start with Rivers Of London.
I'd absolutely love to see this optioned as a TV series, its sense of Britishness would work more on the small screen than the large.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : ebook storage
Length Of Time In Possession : 2 weeks
Broken Homes is the 4th in Ben Aaronovitch's Folly Series, following PC Peter Grant, a young copper who at the beginning of the series, met a ghost and suddenly found himself a member of the Metropolitan Police's magic division.
The novel carries on the storylines from previous books, so I won't delve too far, for there would be spoilers. This time the mystery revolves around a housing estate called Skygarden.
It continues to expand the magical universe it is set in as Peter, Lesley, and Nightingale continue to hunt the Faceless Man, and the Little Crocodile society, it also brings back the always good value Rivers sisters, Fairy Zach, and others we met in the previous novels which is nice.
I also liked how we are given more detail about how Peter is slowly learning and studying his magical craft, necessary in the development of a clumsy apprentice.
There is good characterization of newly introduced surrounding players who pop off the page easily with pithy but greatly visual description.
I really enjoyed this one, having had some issues with both books two and three, I loved a certain passage which made a remark about schizophrenia, applicable to mental illness in general.
I also really loved the twist, which I never saw coming at all.
I knew if I stuck with this story it would pay off if I ignored the bits about the first two sequels I found a bit shaky, and kept up with it. I think Broken Homes is a return to form for this saga, but obviously if you've not read it you do have to start with Rivers Of London.
I'd absolutely love to see this optioned as a TV series, its sense of Britishness would work more on the small screen than the large.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : ebook storage
Book #47 Memories Of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memories Of My Melancholy Whores
Length Of Time In Possession : 2 weeks
I have wanted to read Marquez for some years but on each occasion I have tried to read either Love In The Time Of Cholera or A Hundred Years of Solitude, I have failed in the early stages of the novel. This failure is an ongoing source of personal embarrassment and I do still fully intend to read both.
I came across Memories Of My Melancholy Whores in the library and given that it is relatively slight, just over 100 pages thought I'd give this a crack at finally losing my Marquez virginity.
The novel concerns an elderly journalist, unnamed throughout the novel who has only ever had sex with whores. On his 90th birthday he decides that what he most wants, as a gift to himself, is to deflower an adolescent virgin.
At the beginning of this novel, I thought I was about to read an extremely distasteful tale of a dirty old man, engaging in a vile abuse that was tantamount to rape. I was fully prepared to throw the book aside in disgust.
But then, when he meets his again unnamed whore, whom he christens Delgadina, she has taken valerian out of fear, and has fallen into a deep sleep, and the two do not have intercourse.
What follows as a result of this failure to fulfill his plans turns into a love story of incredibly unusual parameters and is on occasion very touching and fable-like.
I don't think I've read a story like this before, and I really admired and enjoyed it.
Odd and unique, I think I would recommend this to people who enjoy reading stories that are a bit different from the norm and the mainstream.
I hope that in the rest of this year, I can finally read one of his larger novels.
Verdict : 9/10
Destination : Return To Library
Length Of Time In Possession : 2 weeks
I have wanted to read Marquez for some years but on each occasion I have tried to read either Love In The Time Of Cholera or A Hundred Years of Solitude, I have failed in the early stages of the novel. This failure is an ongoing source of personal embarrassment and I do still fully intend to read both.
I came across Memories Of My Melancholy Whores in the library and given that it is relatively slight, just over 100 pages thought I'd give this a crack at finally losing my Marquez virginity.
The novel concerns an elderly journalist, unnamed throughout the novel who has only ever had sex with whores. On his 90th birthday he decides that what he most wants, as a gift to himself, is to deflower an adolescent virgin.
At the beginning of this novel, I thought I was about to read an extremely distasteful tale of a dirty old man, engaging in a vile abuse that was tantamount to rape. I was fully prepared to throw the book aside in disgust.
But then, when he meets his again unnamed whore, whom he christens Delgadina, she has taken valerian out of fear, and has fallen into a deep sleep, and the two do not have intercourse.
What follows as a result of this failure to fulfill his plans turns into a love story of incredibly unusual parameters and is on occasion very touching and fable-like.
I don't think I've read a story like this before, and I really admired and enjoyed it.
Odd and unique, I think I would recommend this to people who enjoy reading stories that are a bit different from the norm and the mainstream.
I hope that in the rest of this year, I can finally read one of his larger novels.
Verdict : 9/10
Destination : Return To Library
Book #46 The Red House Mystery by AA Milne
The Red House Mystery
Length Of Time In Possession : 2/3 Days
The Red House Mystery is from the pen of AA Milne, legendary Winnie-The-Pooh author. Personally, I was unaware he had ever written a novel for the adult market.
The novel is an amateur detective story, in the introduction Milne writes :
"It is the amateur detective who alone can expose the guilty man, by the light of cool inductive reasoning and the logic of stern remorseless facts"
Quite right too, some might say.
The amateur sleuth in question is one Antony Gillingham who, hearing his good friend Bill Beverley is staying at The Red House decides to pay him a call. Upon entering the house, he discovers he is in the immediate aftermath of a murder, but to Gillingham, something doesn't feel quite right and he pursues his own investigation into the matter.
Published in the 1920's the novel makes innumerable references to Sherlock Holmes, indeed Gillingham appoints Beverley his Watson and constantly refers to him as such. For me, personally, this endeared me to the novel but when we discussed this at Book Club some people felt that this weakened the novel and made it rather derivative.
Indeed, it is hard to know whether Milne intended simply to pay homage to Arthur Conan Doyle or whether it is a pale rip off of Doyle's genius and this was our ongoing debate.
Personally, I found it quite charming and as it's a fairly slight read, worth reading if you like posh types in country houses engaging in an Agatha Christie type scenario.
Verdict 7/10
Destination : ebook storage
Length Of Time In Possession : 2/3 Days
The Red House Mystery is from the pen of AA Milne, legendary Winnie-The-Pooh author. Personally, I was unaware he had ever written a novel for the adult market.
The novel is an amateur detective story, in the introduction Milne writes :
"It is the amateur detective who alone can expose the guilty man, by the light of cool inductive reasoning and the logic of stern remorseless facts"
Quite right too, some might say.
The amateur sleuth in question is one Antony Gillingham who, hearing his good friend Bill Beverley is staying at The Red House decides to pay him a call. Upon entering the house, he discovers he is in the immediate aftermath of a murder, but to Gillingham, something doesn't feel quite right and he pursues his own investigation into the matter.
Published in the 1920's the novel makes innumerable references to Sherlock Holmes, indeed Gillingham appoints Beverley his Watson and constantly refers to him as such. For me, personally, this endeared me to the novel but when we discussed this at Book Club some people felt that this weakened the novel and made it rather derivative.
Indeed, it is hard to know whether Milne intended simply to pay homage to Arthur Conan Doyle or whether it is a pale rip off of Doyle's genius and this was our ongoing debate.
Personally, I found it quite charming and as it's a fairly slight read, worth reading if you like posh types in country houses engaging in an Agatha Christie type scenario.
Verdict 7/10
Destination : ebook storage
Saturday, 27 July 2013
Book #45 When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman
When God Was A Rabbit
Length Of Time In Possession : Roughly 8 months
Two years ago, Amazon must have emailed me suggesting I buy When God Was A Rabbit more than ten times. I got annoyed, and decided never to read it on that basis. I also thought its title was incredibly twee and irritating.
If one should not judge a book by its cover one should also not judge a book by its title, a friend insisted on my lending it, promising it was good, and actually, though it almost embarrasses me to admit it, given how ill disposed I was to it, it is!
I've seen complaints around the internet that it was disappointing and didn't live up to the hype, but, as I entered it with incredibly low expectations, the novel had the opposite effect on me.
It is a coming of age story about Elly, a quirky off beat damaged little girl who feels she doesn't belong anywhere or to anyone except her brother Joe. Their father struggles with depression, believing he is cursed and their mother is openly in love with both their father and their aunt.
Both Joe and Elly have one special friend in Joe's case Charlie and in Elly's, Jenny Penny and for them, that is enough. The novel moves through their childhood into adulthood, and, like Elly's later newspaper column is about 'Lost And Found' that which we lose and find again, in the best of ways.
It is about love too, and love in all the forms it exists within. I felt envious of what Elly and Joe had within each other, a relationship special and vital to each.
Throughout the prose there is this sad nostalgia, but a kind of beautiful sadness if that makes any sense? Thoroughly engaging, I'm not sorry I read it, and perhaps ought to have listened to Amazon's automated recommendations, damn you for knowing me too well!!!
Verdict : 9/10
Destination : Return to Owner
Length Of Time In Possession : Roughly 8 months
Two years ago, Amazon must have emailed me suggesting I buy When God Was A Rabbit more than ten times. I got annoyed, and decided never to read it on that basis. I also thought its title was incredibly twee and irritating.
If one should not judge a book by its cover one should also not judge a book by its title, a friend insisted on my lending it, promising it was good, and actually, though it almost embarrasses me to admit it, given how ill disposed I was to it, it is!
I've seen complaints around the internet that it was disappointing and didn't live up to the hype, but, as I entered it with incredibly low expectations, the novel had the opposite effect on me.
It is a coming of age story about Elly, a quirky off beat damaged little girl who feels she doesn't belong anywhere or to anyone except her brother Joe. Their father struggles with depression, believing he is cursed and their mother is openly in love with both their father and their aunt.
Both Joe and Elly have one special friend in Joe's case Charlie and in Elly's, Jenny Penny and for them, that is enough. The novel moves through their childhood into adulthood, and, like Elly's later newspaper column is about 'Lost And Found' that which we lose and find again, in the best of ways.
It is about love too, and love in all the forms it exists within. I felt envious of what Elly and Joe had within each other, a relationship special and vital to each.
Throughout the prose there is this sad nostalgia, but a kind of beautiful sadness if that makes any sense? Thoroughly engaging, I'm not sorry I read it, and perhaps ought to have listened to Amazon's automated recommendations, damn you for knowing me too well!!!
Verdict : 9/10
Destination : Return to Owner
On My All Time Favourite Books (Part 2)
A follow up post to the one from last Saturday before I resume normal service, to include all the ones I didn't have time to do last week! I haven't nearly finished - which means there WILL be a Part 3!
So here are some more :
My Traitor's Heart by Rian Malan
Reading Cry, The Beloved engendered in me a deep fascination with Africa, particularly South Africa, a country/continent I still long to visit.
Rian Malan's autobiographical piece reflects upon the difficulties faced by the white man living in the Apartheid system and the guilt within. Rian's guilt is amplified on this issue because one of his ancestors was Daniel Malan - one of the original architects of the Apartheid system. In this book Malan confronts both history and his own conscience - the struggle to break free of the racist thoughts that have been bred into him from childhood. Very, very, moving.
Tess Of The D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
I studied Thomas Hardy's poetry at A Level and this filled me with contempt for him - as a consequence, I had deliberately read none of his novels, convinced I would hate them. In a way, I only read Tess because "I had to" as I used to attend literature masterclasses for fun and this book happened to be chosen. Tess had a very profound effect on me in many ways, leaving me a total wreck at its conclusion. Aside from its plot, its general descriptive prose is utterly beautiful. It's heartbreaking though, devastating, in fact.
Middlemarch by George Eliot
I remember, in my final year of university, shutting myself away in the evenings for a week just to read Middlemarch.
A great many better people than I have called Middlemarch the greatest novel ever written in the English Language, although it is not, ultimately, my favourite novel - they are not wrong, it is.
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Gregory David Roberts broke free of a maximum security prison in Australia and went on the run, spending a considerable amount of time in India. He writes how when he ultimately was recaptured, prison guards repeatedly destroyed his manuscript. The persistent redrafting of this tale honed it into an absolute gem of a novel, a beauty. I say novel and not autobiography as Roberts freely admitted taking a level of literary and dramatic licence. Unputdownable.
Fall On Your Knees by Anne Marie Macdonald
When Materia is 13 yrs old, she elopes with James Piper and is promptly disowned by her family. Following the birth of their first daughter Kathleen, James becomes an obsessed with her, an obsession which grows dark. Kathleen is followed by Mercedes, Frances and Lily and the story is of the four sisters, the damage inflicted upon them and the damage they inflict on each other. A relentlessly tragic, intense, novel, but one that is well worth the read.
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
David Copperfield is, of those I've read, my favourite Dickens, though I have still by no means read them all. Another 'bildungsroman' about a young boy growing into young man and the characters he encounters along the way; I cannot understand why Great Expectations, which I think is pretty over-rated, actually, often supercedes this in the general pecking order of Dickens novels in the nation's affections. I have a friend who was unable to take to Dickens at all, because she hated the two she had read, one being Great Expectations. I insistently pressed David Copperfield on her, and she loved it!
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
I've owned a signed copy of Birdsong which was a personal gift to me from Sebastian Faulks since I was 16. The definitive Great War novel, there's also an amazingly smutty bit right at the start as our hero Stephen has an affair with his bosses wife Isabel before being conscripted into the military. I just couldn't watch the recent TV adaptation - I couldn't bear to see another person's imagining of it, because I loved the version in my head, as with Fall On Your Knees, I really need to reread this soon, it's been a long time.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres
I remember struggling to get into this : The first few opening chapters are quite random, including a chapter on Mussolini and on the daughter of a politician, neither of which are in any way relevant to the novel as a whole. When it gets going however it's a different story and so many of the different plots are wonderful and say so many important things about love not just the love between the two romantic leads, Antonio & Pelagia but also the love shown by Carlo Piero Guercio to others over the course of the novel. Like Birdsong, Cry The Beloved Country, The Poisonwood Bible and Fall On Your Knees, I read this novel as a teenager, and I'm wondering whether the novels you read at a highly impressionable age are ultimately the ones which leave the most lasting impression.
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Vanity Fair, Thackeray's scathing attack on 19th Century high society as seen through the eyes of manipulative social climber Becky Sharpe whilst it has much social comment to make is also a thumping good read with fascinating characters.
Light A Penny Candle And The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy
OK, soooo my literary guilty secret is Maeve Binchy, one of the reasons I was so incensed when Amanda Craig had the temerity to be scathing of her when she died. I read them as a teenage girl, and no, they aren't all good but these two, particularly, are:
In Light A Penny Candle, loner Violet sends her only child Elizabeth to Ireland as an evacuee in World War 2 to her only friend Eileen O'Connor. Eileen's daughter Aisling is the same age and the two bond for life. Growing up in Ireland changes Elizabeth's life as Irish culture and Catholic customs seep into her during her most formative years. I do love this book, but then, I love Ireland!
In The Glass Lake, Eleven year old Kit becomes aware that her parents marriage is not normal and her mother suffers from depression. When one night her mother vanishes it is believed she has committed suicide in the Lake. But Kit's mother had a secret, and it's not the end of her story quite yet... Another great coming of age family saga from Binchy- and perhaps a suggestion for those of my readership who arent always "up for" heavier tomes.
PART 3 COMING SOON!
So here are some more :
My Traitor's Heart by Rian Malan
Reading Cry, The Beloved engendered in me a deep fascination with Africa, particularly South Africa, a country/continent I still long to visit.
Rian Malan's autobiographical piece reflects upon the difficulties faced by the white man living in the Apartheid system and the guilt within. Rian's guilt is amplified on this issue because one of his ancestors was Daniel Malan - one of the original architects of the Apartheid system. In this book Malan confronts both history and his own conscience - the struggle to break free of the racist thoughts that have been bred into him from childhood. Very, very, moving.
Tess Of The D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
I studied Thomas Hardy's poetry at A Level and this filled me with contempt for him - as a consequence, I had deliberately read none of his novels, convinced I would hate them. In a way, I only read Tess because "I had to" as I used to attend literature masterclasses for fun and this book happened to be chosen. Tess had a very profound effect on me in many ways, leaving me a total wreck at its conclusion. Aside from its plot, its general descriptive prose is utterly beautiful. It's heartbreaking though, devastating, in fact.
Middlemarch by George Eliot
I remember, in my final year of university, shutting myself away in the evenings for a week just to read Middlemarch.
A great many better people than I have called Middlemarch the greatest novel ever written in the English Language, although it is not, ultimately, my favourite novel - they are not wrong, it is.
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Gregory David Roberts broke free of a maximum security prison in Australia and went on the run, spending a considerable amount of time in India. He writes how when he ultimately was recaptured, prison guards repeatedly destroyed his manuscript. The persistent redrafting of this tale honed it into an absolute gem of a novel, a beauty. I say novel and not autobiography as Roberts freely admitted taking a level of literary and dramatic licence. Unputdownable.
Fall On Your Knees by Anne Marie Macdonald
When Materia is 13 yrs old, she elopes with James Piper and is promptly disowned by her family. Following the birth of their first daughter Kathleen, James becomes an obsessed with her, an obsession which grows dark. Kathleen is followed by Mercedes, Frances and Lily and the story is of the four sisters, the damage inflicted upon them and the damage they inflict on each other. A relentlessly tragic, intense, novel, but one that is well worth the read.
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
David Copperfield is, of those I've read, my favourite Dickens, though I have still by no means read them all. Another 'bildungsroman' about a young boy growing into young man and the characters he encounters along the way; I cannot understand why Great Expectations, which I think is pretty over-rated, actually, often supercedes this in the general pecking order of Dickens novels in the nation's affections. I have a friend who was unable to take to Dickens at all, because she hated the two she had read, one being Great Expectations. I insistently pressed David Copperfield on her, and she loved it!
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
I've owned a signed copy of Birdsong which was a personal gift to me from Sebastian Faulks since I was 16. The definitive Great War novel, there's also an amazingly smutty bit right at the start as our hero Stephen has an affair with his bosses wife Isabel before being conscripted into the military. I just couldn't watch the recent TV adaptation - I couldn't bear to see another person's imagining of it, because I loved the version in my head, as with Fall On Your Knees, I really need to reread this soon, it's been a long time.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres
I remember struggling to get into this : The first few opening chapters are quite random, including a chapter on Mussolini and on the daughter of a politician, neither of which are in any way relevant to the novel as a whole. When it gets going however it's a different story and so many of the different plots are wonderful and say so many important things about love not just the love between the two romantic leads, Antonio & Pelagia but also the love shown by Carlo Piero Guercio to others over the course of the novel. Like Birdsong, Cry The Beloved Country, The Poisonwood Bible and Fall On Your Knees, I read this novel as a teenager, and I'm wondering whether the novels you read at a highly impressionable age are ultimately the ones which leave the most lasting impression.
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Vanity Fair, Thackeray's scathing attack on 19th Century high society as seen through the eyes of manipulative social climber Becky Sharpe whilst it has much social comment to make is also a thumping good read with fascinating characters.
Light A Penny Candle And The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy
OK, soooo my literary guilty secret is Maeve Binchy, one of the reasons I was so incensed when Amanda Craig had the temerity to be scathing of her when she died. I read them as a teenage girl, and no, they aren't all good but these two, particularly, are:
In Light A Penny Candle, loner Violet sends her only child Elizabeth to Ireland as an evacuee in World War 2 to her only friend Eileen O'Connor. Eileen's daughter Aisling is the same age and the two bond for life. Growing up in Ireland changes Elizabeth's life as Irish culture and Catholic customs seep into her during her most formative years. I do love this book, but then, I love Ireland!
In The Glass Lake, Eleven year old Kit becomes aware that her parents marriage is not normal and her mother suffers from depression. When one night her mother vanishes it is believed she has committed suicide in the Lake. But Kit's mother had a secret, and it's not the end of her story quite yet... Another great coming of age family saga from Binchy- and perhaps a suggestion for those of my readership who arent always "up for" heavier tomes.
PART 3 COMING SOON!
Friday, 26 July 2013
Poem - One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
I haven't posted a poem in a long time but this one wouldn't leave my head today, so here it is :
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
Saturday, 20 July 2013
On My All Time Favourite Books (Part 1)
I've been running this blog since 2011 now and the books I review are all the books I read that month. I've never done a blogpost about my favourite novels. So, I thought I'd do one now! Though some of the books I've read over the course of the blog have earned a special place with me, like Genus, A Song Of Ice And Fire, The Crane Wife and Fingersmith, this post is just for the ones that have been with me some time.
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
This novel has been my favourite novel since I was 14 years old. Written in 1948, during Apartheid in South Africa, I have read it easily more than 10 times. In this novel humble Stephen Kumalo is a pastor in a declining village which has struggled to cope with the coming of modern more Westernised society and the erosion of tribal culture. His sister, his brother and his son have all left the village for Johannesburg in hopes of a better life. Their contact with Stephen initially frequent, became sporadic and then vanished entirely. One day another priest from the city writes to Stephen and tells him his sister is ill and he must come to Johannesburg, and so begins a beautiful tale of forgiveness and redemption, beautiful not only in what it says but how it says it. In 18 yrs, I have not read a book that I deem better than it.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
I wrote my university dissertation on these two novels, which was rather apt as I was living in Yorkshire at the time. Though Emily never married and rarely left her home, she managed to write a tale of incredible, though often dark, passion, between foster siblings Cathy Earnshaw and Heathcliff that both Charlotte and Anne were said to be horrified by. It is Anne's reaction that makes it all the more interesting. Anne and Emily were very close and The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall can be seen as both a companion and a response to Wuthering Heights as evidenced by 'The Key Of H' used in both novels. Anne's reaction was to write a novel removing all romance from the nature of a man like Heathcliff and accurately portray what a marriage to a man like that would be like in real life via the marriage of Helen Graham to Arthur Huntingdon. The lasting impression given by The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall is sheer astonishment that something as realistic as this was written in 1848. It caused a scandal at the time with writer Charles Kingsley saying "Every man should read this and every man should prevent his wife from reading this"- if Charlotte felt deep unease at Wuthering Heights she hated The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, sought to suppress it both before and after Anne's death, and admitted if she had her way it would be destroyed. The contemporary distaste for it has led to a situation whereby Tenant is almost a "forgotten classic" - whilst Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights often get celebratory editions, Tenant gets ignored. And it's the best of the three, a truly feminist novel, a long, long time before the concept of feminism even existed.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
In the world today, many people worship a god, be it the Christian deity, Allah or the many gods Hinduism offers. Once upon a time people worshipped the Greek Gods, the Egyptian Gods, the Norse Gods and other mythical beings. The question Neil Gaiman poses is : What happened to the gods that people stopped worshipping? And what a brilliant answer he offers, as protagonist Shadow leaves prison and goes on a journey of mythical discovery.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
In 1959, Nathan Price travels to the Congo with a single minded determination to convert as many people to Christianity as he can, but he is a petty, cruel, zealot ill suited to the nature of his mission. He drags his wife and their four daughters along in his wake and the novel is their story. There's Rachel : shallow, vain and spoilt; Leah, wise, honest and eager, her disabled twin Adah, deeply cynical and deeply intelligent, and sunny child Ruth May, the baby of the family. This novel follows the fates of the four girls through to adulthood and is engrossing and heartbreaking and wonderful.
Gilead and Home by Marilynne Robinson
I was introduced to Gilead and Home by Marilynne Robinson in 2009. Gilead won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize and is a novel in which dying preacher John Ames writes a letter about his life to his 7 year old son, often theological in tone, those who are not religious should not be put off, as it has so much to say about the human condition in general. What elevates Gilead to greatness is the inclusion of Home which followed, a novel set at exactly the same time, from the perspective of Glory Boughton the daughter of John Ames best friend. Home is the story of her childhood and reflects upon prodigal son of the family Jack who has recently returned. Home made me cry at least 3 times, Gilead needs to be read first as once you have that in your head, the ending of Home packs a devastating punch.
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Marukami
"I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me" - Toru Watanabe is on a plane when he hears the famous Beatles song and is taken straight back to his youth, a time when he loved Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. A modern day classic, Norwegian Wood is a story of teenage angst and depression set in Japan.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Richard is from California and comes from a very ordinary background, when he goes to a college in New England he finds himself an alien in an privileged world. He manages to force his way into an elitist group within an elitist place, becoming one of six students of Greek Language tutor Julian, and is drawn into a dark cerebral world. It is hard to explain to those who haven't read it the sheer greatness of this novel, perhaps the best novel published during the 90s, the best novel about the transition between childhood to adulthood provided by university and the best novel about the struggles of intellectualism versus social opportunity. It remains a travesty that her second novel 'The Little Friend' was such a damn let down. Her third novel is due this year, I do wish she'd stop writing one novel per decade!
TO BE CONTINUED
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
This novel has been my favourite novel since I was 14 years old. Written in 1948, during Apartheid in South Africa, I have read it easily more than 10 times. In this novel humble Stephen Kumalo is a pastor in a declining village which has struggled to cope with the coming of modern more Westernised society and the erosion of tribal culture. His sister, his brother and his son have all left the village for Johannesburg in hopes of a better life. Their contact with Stephen initially frequent, became sporadic and then vanished entirely. One day another priest from the city writes to Stephen and tells him his sister is ill and he must come to Johannesburg, and so begins a beautiful tale of forgiveness and redemption, beautiful not only in what it says but how it says it. In 18 yrs, I have not read a book that I deem better than it.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
I wrote my university dissertation on these two novels, which was rather apt as I was living in Yorkshire at the time. Though Emily never married and rarely left her home, she managed to write a tale of incredible, though often dark, passion, between foster siblings Cathy Earnshaw and Heathcliff that both Charlotte and Anne were said to be horrified by. It is Anne's reaction that makes it all the more interesting. Anne and Emily were very close and The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall can be seen as both a companion and a response to Wuthering Heights as evidenced by 'The Key Of H' used in both novels. Anne's reaction was to write a novel removing all romance from the nature of a man like Heathcliff and accurately portray what a marriage to a man like that would be like in real life via the marriage of Helen Graham to Arthur Huntingdon. The lasting impression given by The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall is sheer astonishment that something as realistic as this was written in 1848. It caused a scandal at the time with writer Charles Kingsley saying "Every man should read this and every man should prevent his wife from reading this"- if Charlotte felt deep unease at Wuthering Heights she hated The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, sought to suppress it both before and after Anne's death, and admitted if she had her way it would be destroyed. The contemporary distaste for it has led to a situation whereby Tenant is almost a "forgotten classic" - whilst Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights often get celebratory editions, Tenant gets ignored. And it's the best of the three, a truly feminist novel, a long, long time before the concept of feminism even existed.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
In the world today, many people worship a god, be it the Christian deity, Allah or the many gods Hinduism offers. Once upon a time people worshipped the Greek Gods, the Egyptian Gods, the Norse Gods and other mythical beings. The question Neil Gaiman poses is : What happened to the gods that people stopped worshipping? And what a brilliant answer he offers, as protagonist Shadow leaves prison and goes on a journey of mythical discovery.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
In 1959, Nathan Price travels to the Congo with a single minded determination to convert as many people to Christianity as he can, but he is a petty, cruel, zealot ill suited to the nature of his mission. He drags his wife and their four daughters along in his wake and the novel is their story. There's Rachel : shallow, vain and spoilt; Leah, wise, honest and eager, her disabled twin Adah, deeply cynical and deeply intelligent, and sunny child Ruth May, the baby of the family. This novel follows the fates of the four girls through to adulthood and is engrossing and heartbreaking and wonderful.
Gilead and Home by Marilynne Robinson
I was introduced to Gilead and Home by Marilynne Robinson in 2009. Gilead won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize and is a novel in which dying preacher John Ames writes a letter about his life to his 7 year old son, often theological in tone, those who are not religious should not be put off, as it has so much to say about the human condition in general. What elevates Gilead to greatness is the inclusion of Home which followed, a novel set at exactly the same time, from the perspective of Glory Boughton the daughter of John Ames best friend. Home is the story of her childhood and reflects upon prodigal son of the family Jack who has recently returned. Home made me cry at least 3 times, Gilead needs to be read first as once you have that in your head, the ending of Home packs a devastating punch.
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Marukami
"I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me" - Toru Watanabe is on a plane when he hears the famous Beatles song and is taken straight back to his youth, a time when he loved Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. A modern day classic, Norwegian Wood is a story of teenage angst and depression set in Japan.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Richard is from California and comes from a very ordinary background, when he goes to a college in New England he finds himself an alien in an privileged world. He manages to force his way into an elitist group within an elitist place, becoming one of six students of Greek Language tutor Julian, and is drawn into a dark cerebral world. It is hard to explain to those who haven't read it the sheer greatness of this novel, perhaps the best novel published during the 90s, the best novel about the transition between childhood to adulthood provided by university and the best novel about the struggles of intellectualism versus social opportunity. It remains a travesty that her second novel 'The Little Friend' was such a damn let down. Her third novel is due this year, I do wish she'd stop writing one novel per decade!
TO BE CONTINUED
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Book #44 Weight by Jeanette Winterson
Weight
Length Of Time In Possession : 2 weeks
Weight by Jeanette Winterson belongs to "The Canongate Myths" series from whence also came Philip Pullman's The Good Man Jesus And The Scoundrel Christ and Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad, both of which I had already read. Therefore I can say with utter certainty that this novel is far superior to both those works by a country mile.
I have seen Jeanette Winterson on television twice - once interviewed by Anne Robinson for 'My Life In Books' and then interviewed by Alan Yentob for Imagine. Her Imagine episode was one of the most heartbreaking and moving interviews of an author I have ever seen. I was fascinated by her and also, for a variety of reasons, saw her as a fellow survivor on the road who I deeply identified with.
Therefore, it was to my great shame, though I had wanted to and been prevented from reading 'Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit' as a 12 yr old, that I had not read a single one of her novels. I spied Weight in a charity shop and it was an instabuy not only because it was Jeanette Winterson but because I loved Greek Mythology when I did it first in primary school, then at university.
Weight takes the myth of Atlas and Heracles and retells it in a new and more literary way. At certain points Winterson interjects and speaks about how in many ways, the myth of Atlas is "her myth"- the one bearing most comparison to her own life, and that, too, I found I identified with.
Weight may be rather short but there is utter beauty in its brevity. Some of the one line sentences in this novel are stunning. As prose it is gorgeous, lyrical, emotive, resonating.
There is little I feel I need to say further about this book except this :
It is wonderful. Please read it.
Verdict : 10/10
Destination : Keeping this, FOREVER
Length Of Time In Possession : 2 weeks
Weight by Jeanette Winterson belongs to "The Canongate Myths" series from whence also came Philip Pullman's The Good Man Jesus And The Scoundrel Christ and Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad, both of which I had already read. Therefore I can say with utter certainty that this novel is far superior to both those works by a country mile.
I have seen Jeanette Winterson on television twice - once interviewed by Anne Robinson for 'My Life In Books' and then interviewed by Alan Yentob for Imagine. Her Imagine episode was one of the most heartbreaking and moving interviews of an author I have ever seen. I was fascinated by her and also, for a variety of reasons, saw her as a fellow survivor on the road who I deeply identified with.
Therefore, it was to my great shame, though I had wanted to and been prevented from reading 'Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit' as a 12 yr old, that I had not read a single one of her novels. I spied Weight in a charity shop and it was an instabuy not only because it was Jeanette Winterson but because I loved Greek Mythology when I did it first in primary school, then at university.
Weight takes the myth of Atlas and Heracles and retells it in a new and more literary way. At certain points Winterson interjects and speaks about how in many ways, the myth of Atlas is "her myth"- the one bearing most comparison to her own life, and that, too, I found I identified with.
Weight may be rather short but there is utter beauty in its brevity. Some of the one line sentences in this novel are stunning. As prose it is gorgeous, lyrical, emotive, resonating.
There is little I feel I need to say further about this book except this :
It is wonderful. Please read it.
Verdict : 10/10
Destination : Keeping this, FOREVER
Book #43 Notes On A Scandal by Zoe Heller
Notes On A Scandal
Length Of Time In Possession : 12-18 months
Like 1984 before it, the reason I came to Notes On A Scandal after a waiting period was because I had been significantly spoilered by media coverage of it, and already knew the ending. I'm not sure if this is because it featured in 'Faulks On Fiction' or if it's because I was accidentally spoilered during the time the film, starring Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench was around. I avoided the film, wanting to read the book first, as is the correct way to go about it!
Knowing the ending meant that I didn't want to pick it, but on my big List For 2013 it was nestled in between several books that had already been crossed out. Therefore it looked like it was lonely and had no friends so I picked it. (Yes, that's how my mind works....)
In Notes On A Scandal, respected but lonely teacher Barbara hopes that with the arrival of new art teacher Bathsheba she may have finally found a "Kindred Spirit" and hopes they will be "Bosom Friends" just this alone offers an insight into Barbara's psyche as it's all very 'Anne Of Green Gables' the difference being Anne is 11, and Barbara is in her Fifties.
Barbara eventually inveigles her way into Bathsheba's life and becomes her confidante, but the secret Bathsheba entrusts to her leads to Barbara slowly wielding total power over her "friend".
Like Ian McEwan's Enduring Love before it and recent offering Alys, Always from Harriet Lane - Notes From A Scandal offers an insight into the mind of the dangerous obsessive who fixates on one individual. I'm sure we've all had at least one friend in our time who proved to be just that bit "too" intense.
Barbara is just the right amount of sinister, without it becoming melodramatic, but there is a lot of pathos in her situation too. There is an excellent paragraph on how sometimes the perceived freedom of a single person can be it's own kind of jail. Able to spend money on going to theatre whenever you want, for example, yet always going alone.
There is no twist to this ending, it is quite open ended, yet the ending shows how completely Barbara's machinations have succeeded and in some ways the plain, unremarkable sentence upon which the novel closes is quite terrifying.
This book was massively easy to read whilst remaining intelligent and compelling, way better than a lot of books out there directly marketed as psychological thrillers and ultimately way more creepy.
I really enjoyed this novel.
Verdict : 10/10
Destination : Passing to a friend
Length Of Time In Possession : 12-18 months
Like 1984 before it, the reason I came to Notes On A Scandal after a waiting period was because I had been significantly spoilered by media coverage of it, and already knew the ending. I'm not sure if this is because it featured in 'Faulks On Fiction' or if it's because I was accidentally spoilered during the time the film, starring Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench was around. I avoided the film, wanting to read the book first, as is the correct way to go about it!
Knowing the ending meant that I didn't want to pick it, but on my big List For 2013 it was nestled in between several books that had already been crossed out. Therefore it looked like it was lonely and had no friends so I picked it. (Yes, that's how my mind works....)
In Notes On A Scandal, respected but lonely teacher Barbara hopes that with the arrival of new art teacher Bathsheba she may have finally found a "Kindred Spirit" and hopes they will be "Bosom Friends" just this alone offers an insight into Barbara's psyche as it's all very 'Anne Of Green Gables' the difference being Anne is 11, and Barbara is in her Fifties.
Barbara eventually inveigles her way into Bathsheba's life and becomes her confidante, but the secret Bathsheba entrusts to her leads to Barbara slowly wielding total power over her "friend".
Like Ian McEwan's Enduring Love before it and recent offering Alys, Always from Harriet Lane - Notes From A Scandal offers an insight into the mind of the dangerous obsessive who fixates on one individual. I'm sure we've all had at least one friend in our time who proved to be just that bit "too" intense.
Barbara is just the right amount of sinister, without it becoming melodramatic, but there is a lot of pathos in her situation too. There is an excellent paragraph on how sometimes the perceived freedom of a single person can be it's own kind of jail. Able to spend money on going to theatre whenever you want, for example, yet always going alone.
There is no twist to this ending, it is quite open ended, yet the ending shows how completely Barbara's machinations have succeeded and in some ways the plain, unremarkable sentence upon which the novel closes is quite terrifying.
This book was massively easy to read whilst remaining intelligent and compelling, way better than a lot of books out there directly marketed as psychological thrillers and ultimately way more creepy.
I really enjoyed this novel.
Verdict : 10/10
Destination : Passing to a friend
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Book #42 The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness
The Crane Wife
Length Of Time In Possession : 3 months
I have previously read 4 of Patrick Ness's "young adult" novels, the dystopian trilogy Chaos Walking and A Monster Calls, a book about grief from the perspective of an adolescent. All of these novels are brilliant and well worth a read. This is his first foray into the adult market.
I feel I must state that I met Patrick at World Book Night in April and he signed my copy of The Crane Wife then, he was extremely lovely to both me and my friends, but this review is a genuine reflection of how I felt about the book.
The Crane Wife is a Japanese folk tale of which there are several variants, this one is 'Tsuru Nyobo" - a story in which a man finds and rescues an injured crane only to then enter a relationship with a mysterious stranger.
In this modern retelling of the story, all round ordinary nice guy George, who runs a small printing business, rescues a crane he finds in his garden. In the coming days a mystery woman, an artist named Kumiko, enters his shop, and they begin to date.
Kumiko's artwork created in conjunction with George begins to cause a sensation, but Kumiko has a secret.....
The Crane Wife reminded me of its predecessor 'A Monster Calls' in that it weaves contemporary life together with fable. This is a strength of Ness, and something I hope he continues to pursue in the way Gregory Maguire has with his fairy tale novels. By far the best written sequences of The Crane Wife are the fable sequences related to the crane and the volcano.
Again, like A Monster Calls, a certain line of the prose in The Crane Wife caught me and felled me entirely, on a personal level.
When literature does this : when it can resonate with you in terms of things you have felt on a personal level or if as in this case it gives language to feelings you knew you had inside but had been unable to express, it is magical, it is the beauty of the written word.
This book, at least to me personally, is magical and transformative and has enabled me to look at a situation I have experienced from a fresh angle, and this new perspective has been key to the beginning process of healing an old wound, my own arrow in my wing.
Once again, many thanks Patrick Ness : a round of applause.
Verdict : 10/10
Destination : Keeping this book
Length Of Time In Possession : 3 months
I have previously read 4 of Patrick Ness's "young adult" novels, the dystopian trilogy Chaos Walking and A Monster Calls, a book about grief from the perspective of an adolescent. All of these novels are brilliant and well worth a read. This is his first foray into the adult market.
I feel I must state that I met Patrick at World Book Night in April and he signed my copy of The Crane Wife then, he was extremely lovely to both me and my friends, but this review is a genuine reflection of how I felt about the book.
The Crane Wife is a Japanese folk tale of which there are several variants, this one is 'Tsuru Nyobo" - a story in which a man finds and rescues an injured crane only to then enter a relationship with a mysterious stranger.
In this modern retelling of the story, all round ordinary nice guy George, who runs a small printing business, rescues a crane he finds in his garden. In the coming days a mystery woman, an artist named Kumiko, enters his shop, and they begin to date.
Kumiko's artwork created in conjunction with George begins to cause a sensation, but Kumiko has a secret.....
The Crane Wife reminded me of its predecessor 'A Monster Calls' in that it weaves contemporary life together with fable. This is a strength of Ness, and something I hope he continues to pursue in the way Gregory Maguire has with his fairy tale novels. By far the best written sequences of The Crane Wife are the fable sequences related to the crane and the volcano.
Again, like A Monster Calls, a certain line of the prose in The Crane Wife caught me and felled me entirely, on a personal level.
When literature does this : when it can resonate with you in terms of things you have felt on a personal level or if as in this case it gives language to feelings you knew you had inside but had been unable to express, it is magical, it is the beauty of the written word.
This book, at least to me personally, is magical and transformative and has enabled me to look at a situation I have experienced from a fresh angle, and this new perspective has been key to the beginning process of healing an old wound, my own arrow in my wing.
Once again, many thanks Patrick Ness : a round of applause.
Verdict : 10/10
Destination : Keeping this book
Book #41 Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Life After Life
Length Of Time In Possession : 4 months
Prior to reading Life After Life the only Kate Atkinson novels I had read were her Jackson Brodie private detective series beginning with Case Histories, a literary spin on the crime genre. I really liked those books, but had not managed to get "into" Behind The Scenes At The Museum when I tried it many, many years ago.
The premise of Life After Life (what if we could do it again and again until we got it right?) proved too enticing to me to resist. Instead of the Buddhist principle of moving from one life to another, this novel has more in common with parallel universe ideas and quantum theory : "Everything that can happen does happen" - the idea that you can go back and change your destiny from the point at which two paths were open to you.
Ursula is born on a snowy night in 1910, the midwife is unable to reach her mother, and Ursula does not survive. The novel rewinds, Ursula is born on a snowy night in 1910, she survives and goes on to grow up with her siblings Maurice and Pamela. At age 5 she drowns. Ursula is born on a snowy night in 1910.....and so on and so forth.
This novel is tremendously interesting : the impact of multiple lives begins to affect Ursula in her "next time around". She does things such as tell the maid Bridget her boyfriend is unfaithful or pushes her down the stairs. She does not know why she does this at the time, but in previous cycles, Bridget's relationship had dire consequences which Ursula instinctively knows she must prevent, but she is not psychic, and only has a vague idea, a deja vu.
Why do we, as people, experience deja vu? What is our mind REALLY trying to tell us? That vague sense of knowledge that we cannot quite grasp.....
There is also the idea that though destinies can change, certain things are set in stone. Elder brother Maurice is never anything more than despised, Auntie Izzy is always "a free spirit", Ursula always has a close bond with younger brother Teddy.
It reminded me about certain comments made in Doctor Who that some events are unalterable, but why them and not all? It's an intriguing question.
Who hasn't thought things like - what if I'd gone to a different university? What if that relationship had succeeded? What if I had been hit by that car that night? What would have changed? Who would I be, and would I still be the same me that I am now?
As a piece of prose the novel I thought this bore most comparison to was The Children's Book by AS Byatt, set within a similar era, a similar family and against the backdrop of history. There the likeness ends as they are very different novels, but I make the reference because I adored The Children's Book and equally loved Life After Life.
I thought this book was beautiful, eloquent and intelligent, both in terms of what it was saying and how it said it. I read this book in two sittings, and in a year when I've struggled to find things I've loved think this may be my book of 2013 thus far. I even wrote a poem inspired by it. Go buy it!
Verdict : 10/10
Destination : Ebook storage
Length Of Time In Possession : 4 months
Prior to reading Life After Life the only Kate Atkinson novels I had read were her Jackson Brodie private detective series beginning with Case Histories, a literary spin on the crime genre. I really liked those books, but had not managed to get "into" Behind The Scenes At The Museum when I tried it many, many years ago.
The premise of Life After Life (what if we could do it again and again until we got it right?) proved too enticing to me to resist. Instead of the Buddhist principle of moving from one life to another, this novel has more in common with parallel universe ideas and quantum theory : "Everything that can happen does happen" - the idea that you can go back and change your destiny from the point at which two paths were open to you.
Ursula is born on a snowy night in 1910, the midwife is unable to reach her mother, and Ursula does not survive. The novel rewinds, Ursula is born on a snowy night in 1910, she survives and goes on to grow up with her siblings Maurice and Pamela. At age 5 she drowns. Ursula is born on a snowy night in 1910.....and so on and so forth.
This novel is tremendously interesting : the impact of multiple lives begins to affect Ursula in her "next time around". She does things such as tell the maid Bridget her boyfriend is unfaithful or pushes her down the stairs. She does not know why she does this at the time, but in previous cycles, Bridget's relationship had dire consequences which Ursula instinctively knows she must prevent, but she is not psychic, and only has a vague idea, a deja vu.
Why do we, as people, experience deja vu? What is our mind REALLY trying to tell us? That vague sense of knowledge that we cannot quite grasp.....
There is also the idea that though destinies can change, certain things are set in stone. Elder brother Maurice is never anything more than despised, Auntie Izzy is always "a free spirit", Ursula always has a close bond with younger brother Teddy.
It reminded me about certain comments made in Doctor Who that some events are unalterable, but why them and not all? It's an intriguing question.
Who hasn't thought things like - what if I'd gone to a different university? What if that relationship had succeeded? What if I had been hit by that car that night? What would have changed? Who would I be, and would I still be the same me that I am now?
As a piece of prose the novel I thought this bore most comparison to was The Children's Book by AS Byatt, set within a similar era, a similar family and against the backdrop of history. There the likeness ends as they are very different novels, but I make the reference because I adored The Children's Book and equally loved Life After Life.
I thought this book was beautiful, eloquent and intelligent, both in terms of what it was saying and how it said it. I read this book in two sittings, and in a year when I've struggled to find things I've loved think this may be my book of 2013 thus far. I even wrote a poem inspired by it. Go buy it!
Verdict : 10/10
Destination : Ebook storage
Monday, 1 July 2013
Book #40 The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory
The Kingmaker's Daughter
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 week
I am a huge fan of the royal dynasty historical novels by Philippa Gregory. I have read all her Tudor Court novels except The Other Queen and in 2010, prior to the advent of this blog, read the the first two of her 'Cousins War' novels The White Queen and The Red Queen.
I adored The White Queen and though I liked The Red Queen slightly less largely due to a dislike of Margaret Beaufort as a character, was still really 'into' Gregory's novels. I saw Gregory speak at World Book Night, we had to leave as the next session was starting, and she was surrounded but I whispered 'I love her' as I went by!
I hadn't yet got round to either the prequel 'The Lady Of The Rivers' or the next in sequence 'The Kingmaker's Daughter'. The BBC is currently showing an exceptionally high quality adaptation combining the 3 novels in sequence (excluding the prequel) and I felt I HAD to get the third book read before I saw the series in full. I am glad I did because I read it in between watching episodes 1 and 2 and episode 2 contains a lot of content directly from The Kingmaker's Daughter.
What I particularly like about these novels from Gregory is that though history marks the achievement of the men, in all of these historical novels events are seen through the eyes of women, and generally in the case of the Cousins War women whose fates and destinies were largely decided by their fathers, husbands and sons.
Though Elizabeth Woodville 'The White Queen' makes her own destiny, Margaret Beaufort is regularly left trapped by decisions taken out of her hands. This novel brings us Anne Neville, daughter of the Earl Of Warwick. Warwick becomes a mortal enemy of the Queen when following their marriage he loses the ability to puppeteer his cousin King Edward IV and rule through him.
As he plots against kings, earning the title "Kingmaker" Anne and her elder sister Isobel become merely pawns in his general masterminding, if unable to take the throne in his own right, to take it through his blood, his descendants. Their fortunes change like the weather, as their decisions are made for them and they are forced into hard and unpleasant situations beyond their control.
Elizabeth Woodville is the heroine of The White Queen, but in this the alternate perspective of her enemies, she is the antagonist, which is really interesting. Anne and Isobel, are terrified of Elizabeth, believing her (rightly) to be a witch, and more than that, a witch who has directly cursed them both.
Anne Neville is beautifully realised and the novel is a full on pageturner, which genuinely makes you feel and root for Anne despite your prior loyalty to Elizabeth, which is a genuine skill from any writer to be able to present two sides of argument really well. Anne just desperately wants to fulfill her beloved father's dream, and pays a heavy price.
Despite not 'loving' The Red Queen' Philippa Gregory has me fully back on board with this one and I can't wait for The White Princess due out this year, and to catch up with 'Lady Of The Rivers' and 'The Other Queen'
Verdict : Awesome 10/10
Destination : Pass to my friend
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 week
I am a huge fan of the royal dynasty historical novels by Philippa Gregory. I have read all her Tudor Court novels except The Other Queen and in 2010, prior to the advent of this blog, read the the first two of her 'Cousins War' novels The White Queen and The Red Queen.
I adored The White Queen and though I liked The Red Queen slightly less largely due to a dislike of Margaret Beaufort as a character, was still really 'into' Gregory's novels. I saw Gregory speak at World Book Night, we had to leave as the next session was starting, and she was surrounded but I whispered 'I love her' as I went by!
I hadn't yet got round to either the prequel 'The Lady Of The Rivers' or the next in sequence 'The Kingmaker's Daughter'. The BBC is currently showing an exceptionally high quality adaptation combining the 3 novels in sequence (excluding the prequel) and I felt I HAD to get the third book read before I saw the series in full. I am glad I did because I read it in between watching episodes 1 and 2 and episode 2 contains a lot of content directly from The Kingmaker's Daughter.
What I particularly like about these novels from Gregory is that though history marks the achievement of the men, in all of these historical novels events are seen through the eyes of women, and generally in the case of the Cousins War women whose fates and destinies were largely decided by their fathers, husbands and sons.
Though Elizabeth Woodville 'The White Queen' makes her own destiny, Margaret Beaufort is regularly left trapped by decisions taken out of her hands. This novel brings us Anne Neville, daughter of the Earl Of Warwick. Warwick becomes a mortal enemy of the Queen when following their marriage he loses the ability to puppeteer his cousin King Edward IV and rule through him.
As he plots against kings, earning the title "Kingmaker" Anne and her elder sister Isobel become merely pawns in his general masterminding, if unable to take the throne in his own right, to take it through his blood, his descendants. Their fortunes change like the weather, as their decisions are made for them and they are forced into hard and unpleasant situations beyond their control.
Elizabeth Woodville is the heroine of The White Queen, but in this the alternate perspective of her enemies, she is the antagonist, which is really interesting. Anne and Isobel, are terrified of Elizabeth, believing her (rightly) to be a witch, and more than that, a witch who has directly cursed them both.
Anne Neville is beautifully realised and the novel is a full on pageturner, which genuinely makes you feel and root for Anne despite your prior loyalty to Elizabeth, which is a genuine skill from any writer to be able to present two sides of argument really well. Anne just desperately wants to fulfill her beloved father's dream, and pays a heavy price.
Despite not 'loving' The Red Queen' Philippa Gregory has me fully back on board with this one and I can't wait for The White Princess due out this year, and to catch up with 'Lady Of The Rivers' and 'The Other Queen'
Verdict : Awesome 10/10
Destination : Pass to my friend
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