Tarantula
Tarantula by French writer Thierry Jonquet is the novel upon which Pedro Almodovar based his 2011 film The Skin I Live In.
When I saw The Skin I Live In I thought it was quite breathtakingly original and I was floored by the films central twist.
To read Tarantula was odd then because I knew exactly what was coming and was unsurprised which takes the central shock value of the book away, but even without the foreknowledge of the having seen the film, the books events are heavily signposted in a way that the film just wasn't (at least for me)
The film made several departures from the book too, and with the exception perhaps of the end, which should have stayed true, were just better ideas.
Those parts which focused on Alex over Richard and Eve were just plain dull at times.
You'll note that I have said very little of the plot or events in this review, that's because The Skin I Live In was just such a jaw dropping film that I would hate to ruin it for anyone.
I feel that I cannot say the same of Tarantula which just doesn't have the same impact.
Verdict : 6/10
Showing posts with label Adaptations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adaptations. Show all posts
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Sunday, 14 July 2013
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
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
Thursday, 13 June 2013
Book #37 No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
No Country For Old Men
Length Of Time In Possession : 3 weeks
No Country For Old Men is the novel from which the fantastic Academy Award Winning Coen Brothers film starring Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin came. I urge you to watch the film.
Does the novel measure up? By and large, yes, the Coen Brothers did a faithful adaptation and though for me, the film has a slight edge, the book is a worthwhile read.
Llewellyn Moss stumbles upon a crime scene, everyone is dead but there is a substantial amount of money and seizes the opportunity unwittingly sealing his fate. Because recovering that money is tasked to Anton Chigurh, a man who doesn't forgive, doesn't forget and shows no mercy.
My favourite sections belonged to the musings of Sheriff Bell, an aging law man who has seen too much and sees what he believes as terrible social decay, the USA is No Country For Old Men. His philosophical outlooks and ultimate choices are the best written aspects of the book, several parts of which are eminently quotable, but I do not have the book to hand.
Fast moving but yet still at times with a sense of slow reflection, the novel is highly enjoyable and well worth reading.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : Charity Shop
Length Of Time In Possession : 3 weeks
No Country For Old Men is the novel from which the fantastic Academy Award Winning Coen Brothers film starring Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin came. I urge you to watch the film.
Does the novel measure up? By and large, yes, the Coen Brothers did a faithful adaptation and though for me, the film has a slight edge, the book is a worthwhile read.
Llewellyn Moss stumbles upon a crime scene, everyone is dead but there is a substantial amount of money and seizes the opportunity unwittingly sealing his fate. Because recovering that money is tasked to Anton Chigurh, a man who doesn't forgive, doesn't forget and shows no mercy.
My favourite sections belonged to the musings of Sheriff Bell, an aging law man who has seen too much and sees what he believes as terrible social decay, the USA is No Country For Old Men. His philosophical outlooks and ultimate choices are the best written aspects of the book, several parts of which are eminently quotable, but I do not have the book to hand.
Fast moving but yet still at times with a sense of slow reflection, the novel is highly enjoyable and well worth reading.
Verdict : 8/10
Destination : Charity Shop
Friday, 15 March 2013
Book #23 We Bought A Zoo by Benjamin Mee
We Bought A Zoo
Length Of Time In Possession : 1 year
I bought 'We Bought A Zoo' after seeing the 2011 film adaptation by Cameron Crowe starring Matt Damon. Inevitably whenever I see a film adaptation first my thoughts on the book end up becoming a cross comparison of the two.
When Mee's family realised that Dartmoor Zoo was for sale, their curiosity led them to enquire as a collective into purchasing it. After jumping through many hoops, they acquired the park, and 'We Bought A Zoo' chronicles the period between buying a run down zoo and preparing it for visitors.
In the midst of this, Mee's wife Katherine became terminally ill with cancer, and so the book also covers the emotional issues regarding illness and death occurring at an incredibly busy time in their lives.
The thing is, when they made the film, they transplanted it to America, which feels like a betrayal of a very British story. As well as this, the 'Benjamin Mee' in the film is already widowed when the film begins, and his mother who lived on the site with them does not feature.
To erase these pivotal figures from the narrative, as well as the process of the loss of Katherine feels again like a betrayal of the Mee's story.
Aside from the changes the film has made, the memoir is a very likeable, touching, easy read, with a unique against the odds story to tell, marking it out from other grief or project building memoirs for sale.
Verdict 8/10
Destination : Ebook storage
Book #20 Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Beautiful Creatures
Length Of Time In Possession : 3 weeks
At the age of 31, I should be perhaps too old for books aimed at the teenage market, but there have been several franchises I have really enjoyed : Harry Potter, Twilight (for my sins), The Hunger Games Trilogy, The Chaos Walking Trilogy, and Julianna Baggott's 'Pure' series, thus far.
I rather hoped that in the Beautiful Creatures novels I would find either books which transcend age ranges like Chaos Walking or an addictive guilty pleasure like Twilight.
I found myself disappointed :
In Beautiful Creatures, small town teen Ethan, reeling from the death of his mother falls in love with an enigmatic and unusual outsider who moves to the town. So..Twilight in reverse. The object of his affection Lena Duchenne, like Edward Cullen, is hiding supernatural abilities.
Lena belongs to a family of "Casters" - witches and wizards basically, who have the power to cast spells. A heavy curse was laid upon Lena's family generations earlier, after which, unlike other Caster families when their family members come of age they don't get to choose whether they will be Dark or Light and are instead claimed by whichever side wins.
I really like the premise of this book, yet I found it slightly tedious, the prose didn't pop off the page, the dialogue was flat, and I didn't become emotionally involved in the fates of the characters. The Civil War aspects dragged the book down and could have been explained in a much quicker way.
When I start a series I usually aim to read all the books, but I was so unenamoured of the novel, that what I did was look up synopses on Wikipedia. What I found was that even with the fantasy parameters which the book lies within; the plotlines of the following books descend into utterly ludicrous tripe.
Verdict : Not for me, I'm afraid 5/10
Destination : Passed to friend's child
Length Of Time In Possession : 3 weeks
At the age of 31, I should be perhaps too old for books aimed at the teenage market, but there have been several franchises I have really enjoyed : Harry Potter, Twilight (for my sins), The Hunger Games Trilogy, The Chaos Walking Trilogy, and Julianna Baggott's 'Pure' series, thus far.
I rather hoped that in the Beautiful Creatures novels I would find either books which transcend age ranges like Chaos Walking or an addictive guilty pleasure like Twilight.
I found myself disappointed :
In Beautiful Creatures, small town teen Ethan, reeling from the death of his mother falls in love with an enigmatic and unusual outsider who moves to the town. So..Twilight in reverse. The object of his affection Lena Duchenne, like Edward Cullen, is hiding supernatural abilities.
Lena belongs to a family of "Casters" - witches and wizards basically, who have the power to cast spells. A heavy curse was laid upon Lena's family generations earlier, after which, unlike other Caster families when their family members come of age they don't get to choose whether they will be Dark or Light and are instead claimed by whichever side wins.
I really like the premise of this book, yet I found it slightly tedious, the prose didn't pop off the page, the dialogue was flat, and I didn't become emotionally involved in the fates of the characters. The Civil War aspects dragged the book down and could have been explained in a much quicker way.
When I start a series I usually aim to read all the books, but I was so unenamoured of the novel, that what I did was look up synopses on Wikipedia. What I found was that even with the fantasy parameters which the book lies within; the plotlines of the following books descend into utterly ludicrous tripe.
Verdict : Not for me, I'm afraid 5/10
Destination : Passed to friend's child
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Book #100 The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
The Silver Linings Playbook
I went to see the film adaptation of this novel last month, absolutely loved it and then the friend I went with went on to buy me the book.
The book and the film are very similar, protagonist Pat has been in a psychiatric facility for some time when his mother calls time on it and checks him out. Post-breakdown Pat has a new philosophy : he is determined to look for silver linings and happy endings and he's going to turn himself into the perfect husband to his wife Nikki. The thing is, Nikki is nowhere to be seen, there's more than one restraining order in place, and what exactly happened to send Pat to "the bad place" is never spoken of. Living not quite in-step with reality, Pat strikes up a friendship with the equally damaged Tiffany.
The film of this book made me howl with laughter and was really popular with the audience I was in, and the film has been true to the book in the sense that it recreates some of the books best moments like "the Hemingway scene". This is however among some of the rare cases where film beats book, the book gets dragged down by the sporting side of the narrative, players and scores etc, in a way that the film doesn't, and is so well acted that it is easier to take the characters into your heart.
The differences towards the end give the book the edge in terms of realism, and particularly Pat's struggle with the concept of time is left out of the film presumably because it would be hard to express visually, but adds weight to the extent of his delusion in the book yet ultimately for me the heartwarming humorous film is a 10/10 but the book is only a 7.
I went to see the film adaptation of this novel last month, absolutely loved it and then the friend I went with went on to buy me the book.
The book and the film are very similar, protagonist Pat has been in a psychiatric facility for some time when his mother calls time on it and checks him out. Post-breakdown Pat has a new philosophy : he is determined to look for silver linings and happy endings and he's going to turn himself into the perfect husband to his wife Nikki. The thing is, Nikki is nowhere to be seen, there's more than one restraining order in place, and what exactly happened to send Pat to "the bad place" is never spoken of. Living not quite in-step with reality, Pat strikes up a friendship with the equally damaged Tiffany.
The film of this book made me howl with laughter and was really popular with the audience I was in, and the film has been true to the book in the sense that it recreates some of the books best moments like "the Hemingway scene". This is however among some of the rare cases where film beats book, the book gets dragged down by the sporting side of the narrative, players and scores etc, in a way that the film doesn't, and is so well acted that it is easier to take the characters into your heart.
The differences towards the end give the book the edge in terms of realism, and particularly Pat's struggle with the concept of time is left out of the film presumably because it would be hard to express visually, but adds weight to the extent of his delusion in the book yet ultimately for me the heartwarming humorous film is a 10/10 but the book is only a 7.
Sunday, 16 December 2012
Book #97 Flashforward by Robert J Sawyer
Flashforward
In 2009, the US TV network ABC ran a short lived dramatic adaptation of the Robert Sawyer novel "FlashForward" in which everyone on the entire globe suffers a black out for 2 mins during which they have a simultaneous vision of a day in the future.
Though the series shares its basic concept with the novel it was based upon, the novel is actually very different. The series "Americanizes" the idea, the drama focusing on ordinary Americans, and has a wide ranging scope of individual stories, but the novel focuses directly on protagonist Lloyd Simcoe and his colleague Theo; two physicists at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN who are shocked to find an experiment they have conducted has had far reaching and inexplicable consequences.
The fact that all of the focus is upon the workers of CERN throws away the global aspect of event impact. I have to say that in spite of some thought provoking passages on free will and existentialism, I didn't think much of Flashforward as a novel, it is a fascinating concept suffering from terribly poor execution. Neither its prose nor dialogue are up to much and its central whodunnit mystery is a sad, lazy reduction of the many possibilities for plotlines that the Flashforward idea gives rise to.
Additionally I didn't invest much in the characters whatsoever, and aspects of the ending made no logical sense. Probably the most interesting aspect of it is its historical context, the hysteria/superstition that built up around the Large Hadron Collider that fed a fear that "something bad" would happen as a result of searching for the Higgs Boson, which in reality nothing did. Passed a Sunday afternoon for me but will be going back to the charity shop from whence it came 4/10
In 2009, the US TV network ABC ran a short lived dramatic adaptation of the Robert Sawyer novel "FlashForward" in which everyone on the entire globe suffers a black out for 2 mins during which they have a simultaneous vision of a day in the future.
Though the series shares its basic concept with the novel it was based upon, the novel is actually very different. The series "Americanizes" the idea, the drama focusing on ordinary Americans, and has a wide ranging scope of individual stories, but the novel focuses directly on protagonist Lloyd Simcoe and his colleague Theo; two physicists at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN who are shocked to find an experiment they have conducted has had far reaching and inexplicable consequences.
The fact that all of the focus is upon the workers of CERN throws away the global aspect of event impact. I have to say that in spite of some thought provoking passages on free will and existentialism, I didn't think much of Flashforward as a novel, it is a fascinating concept suffering from terribly poor execution. Neither its prose nor dialogue are up to much and its central whodunnit mystery is a sad, lazy reduction of the many possibilities for plotlines that the Flashforward idea gives rise to.
Additionally I didn't invest much in the characters whatsoever, and aspects of the ending made no logical sense. Probably the most interesting aspect of it is its historical context, the hysteria/superstition that built up around the Large Hadron Collider that fed a fear that "something bad" would happen as a result of searching for the Higgs Boson, which in reality nothing did. Passed a Sunday afternoon for me but will be going back to the charity shop from whence it came 4/10
Monday, 12 November 2012
Book #92 Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Darkly Dreaming Dexter is the first of a sequence of books about Miami serial killer Dexter Morgan, upon which the US series "Dexter" is based. I have seen the first season of Dexter and read the book on that basis. This isn't something I generally like doing (in this order) because if you see someone else's interpretation of a novel before you read it, it is liable to stick with you and effect your feelings about the book during the reading. This happened with Darkly Dreaming Dexter which is why I always try to read the book first.
I really enjoyed the first season of Dexter and so I thought I'd enjoy it equally in written form, I've often wished that The Wire or Breaking Bad textually rich series original to the small screen had novelisations so suited are they to a literary form that they are visual novels.
Dexter Morgan isn't any old serial killer hiding in the shadows, Dexter is the adopted son of a cop, who works in the forensic department of the local police, he has a girlfriend, named Rita, a sister named Debra, also a cop in the same force, and a Code, the Code given to him by his father Harry, who recognised that Dexter had a dark desire in him, a Dark Passenger, which couldn't be tamed, but might be controlled.
Harry, a jaded cop who has seen too many people get away with murder, or be too lightly sentenced, instills in Dexter that he can kill, but he must only ever kill bad people.
So that's the premise, and it's a good, original, one. The writing quality is solidly good, I particularly liked the opening paragraphs beginning with :
To begin with the novel more or less follows the series, but a huge deviation occurs at the midway point when, though the outcome is roughly the same, the road it takes to that outcome massively differs from on screen. Having had both versions, dare I say it that the series brought us to the conclusion in a much more believable way.
I dare say I will read the rest of the Dexter novels in time as I did enjoy it and it was well written 8/10
Darkly Dreaming Dexter is the first of a sequence of books about Miami serial killer Dexter Morgan, upon which the US series "Dexter" is based. I have seen the first season of Dexter and read the book on that basis. This isn't something I generally like doing (in this order) because if you see someone else's interpretation of a novel before you read it, it is liable to stick with you and effect your feelings about the book during the reading. This happened with Darkly Dreaming Dexter which is why I always try to read the book first.
I really enjoyed the first season of Dexter and so I thought I'd enjoy it equally in written form, I've often wished that The Wire or Breaking Bad textually rich series original to the small screen had novelisations so suited are they to a literary form that they are visual novels.
Dexter Morgan isn't any old serial killer hiding in the shadows, Dexter is the adopted son of a cop, who works in the forensic department of the local police, he has a girlfriend, named Rita, a sister named Debra, also a cop in the same force, and a Code, the Code given to him by his father Harry, who recognised that Dexter had a dark desire in him, a Dark Passenger, which couldn't be tamed, but might be controlled.
Harry, a jaded cop who has seen too many people get away with murder, or be too lightly sentenced, instills in Dexter that he can kill, but he must only ever kill bad people.
So that's the premise, and it's a good, original, one. The writing quality is solidly good, I particularly liked the opening paragraphs beginning with :
Moon. Glorious Moon. Full fat, reddish, moon, the night as light as day, the moonlight flooding down across the land, and bringing joy, joy, joy. Bringing too the full throated call of the tropical night, the soft and wild voice of the wind roaring through the hairs on your arm, the hollow wail of starlight, the teeth grinding bellow of the moonlight off the water.Dexter may be a killer, but his voice is often a poetic one. What is amusing and perhaps disturbing is that there is a feature on the Kindle which shows which sections of the novel have been most highlighted. All Darkly, Dreaming Dexter's most highlighted are insights into the disconnect from normality experienced by the sociopath, so clearly there is a readership out there identifying with the character! I liked some of these asides, also used as voice over "If I had feelings I'd have them for Deb". Somehow Dexter does have feelings, he just doesn't realise it himself
To begin with the novel more or less follows the series, but a huge deviation occurs at the midway point when, though the outcome is roughly the same, the road it takes to that outcome massively differs from on screen. Having had both versions, dare I say it that the series brought us to the conclusion in a much more believable way.
I dare say I will read the rest of the Dexter novels in time as I did enjoy it and it was well written 8/10
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Book #81 When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
When Will There Be Good News?
Wanting to take a break from the often heavy tones of Booker nominees I returned to Kate Atkinson's sequence of novels about Jackson Brodie the former soldier, cop and private detective in search of something none too difficult to read.
In this the third novel, Jackson has given up living off his inheritance in France and somewhat vaguely works as a private security consultant. He haplessly boards a Edinburgh train rather than a London one and finds himself in a serious train crash and reunited with Louise Monroe the detective and love interest he encountered in One Good Turn.
Like other Jackson Brodie novels the theme is "lost girls" or women generally in peril. We have :
Joanna Hunter, a kind motherly doctor with an unspeakable past, and an entrepreneurial husband, who is mixed up with dubious associates.
Her "mothers help" Reggie Chase, a sixteen year old wise beyond her years, struggling to escape from the tough hand she has been dealt.
and Alison Needler, a victim of a violent crime whose nerves are in ribbons and whose husband and attacker is still on the loose.
The heart of this novel is Reggie Chase, and as with previous Jackson Brodie novels I liked the blend between contemporary literary and crime. The crimes are occurring but the focus is these characters and their lives. Reggie Chase is a great little character and was portrayed brilliantly by Gwyneth Keyworth in the recent BBC adaptation. She embodies all the girls you feel could stand a chance at "becoming something" if it weren't for their terrible backgrounds and lack of support.
Unlike in One Good Turn when Jackson's presence at every crime seems ridiculous, in this case he is a victim, who then tries to help the person who saves him (Reggie). This then gives him an excuse to reconnect with Louise Monroe and the two regret the fact that the changes in their lives mean it is again impossible to take things further.
There is a small subplot involving Julia Land, Jackson's ex client and ex girlfriend, she now has a child Nathan which she swears isn't Jackson's but Jackson isn't so sure. Strangely, this plot goes absolutely nowhere, so why include it?
Likewise the Alison Needler case, a story of a woman whose husband went beserk at a children's party is a really interesting storyline but is barely explored, the story of Reggie and Joanna is front and centre. It seems wasted, like if it had been done in more detail in a separate book it would have been better and Marcus features so little as to make his storyline a bit "So what?"
As with other novels that I have discussed previously Emma Donoghue's Room and Stephen Kelman's Pigeon English, there is an issue with art mirroring life. With this book I was extremely uncomfortable with the way in which the old crime described at the start of the novel mirrored the "Josie Russell case" from some years ago, in which she survived but her mother and sister died. Show some imagination, write your own crime, don't just exploit what someone else went through.
The Reggie/Jackson dynamic and the Reggie/Joanna dynamic are really lovely though and make the book an enjoyable undemanding read. I would really have appreciated more Louise and Jackson time though. The conclusion of the book, almost presses the reset button on the way Jackson's life has changed since Case Histories, and so it will be interesting to see where Started Early, Took My Dog and other subsequent novels take him. I still really like him as a character
A good if flawed novel with characters you care about : 7/10
Wanting to take a break from the often heavy tones of Booker nominees I returned to Kate Atkinson's sequence of novels about Jackson Brodie the former soldier, cop and private detective in search of something none too difficult to read.
In this the third novel, Jackson has given up living off his inheritance in France and somewhat vaguely works as a private security consultant. He haplessly boards a Edinburgh train rather than a London one and finds himself in a serious train crash and reunited with Louise Monroe the detective and love interest he encountered in One Good Turn.
Like other Jackson Brodie novels the theme is "lost girls" or women generally in peril. We have :
Joanna Hunter, a kind motherly doctor with an unspeakable past, and an entrepreneurial husband, who is mixed up with dubious associates.
Her "mothers help" Reggie Chase, a sixteen year old wise beyond her years, struggling to escape from the tough hand she has been dealt.
and Alison Needler, a victim of a violent crime whose nerves are in ribbons and whose husband and attacker is still on the loose.
The heart of this novel is Reggie Chase, and as with previous Jackson Brodie novels I liked the blend between contemporary literary and crime. The crimes are occurring but the focus is these characters and their lives. Reggie Chase is a great little character and was portrayed brilliantly by Gwyneth Keyworth in the recent BBC adaptation. She embodies all the girls you feel could stand a chance at "becoming something" if it weren't for their terrible backgrounds and lack of support.
Unlike in One Good Turn when Jackson's presence at every crime seems ridiculous, in this case he is a victim, who then tries to help the person who saves him (Reggie). This then gives him an excuse to reconnect with Louise Monroe and the two regret the fact that the changes in their lives mean it is again impossible to take things further.
There is a small subplot involving Julia Land, Jackson's ex client and ex girlfriend, she now has a child Nathan which she swears isn't Jackson's but Jackson isn't so sure. Strangely, this plot goes absolutely nowhere, so why include it?
Likewise the Alison Needler case, a story of a woman whose husband went beserk at a children's party is a really interesting storyline but is barely explored, the story of Reggie and Joanna is front and centre. It seems wasted, like if it had been done in more detail in a separate book it would have been better and Marcus features so little as to make his storyline a bit "So what?"
As with other novels that I have discussed previously Emma Donoghue's Room and Stephen Kelman's Pigeon English, there is an issue with art mirroring life. With this book I was extremely uncomfortable with the way in which the old crime described at the start of the novel mirrored the "Josie Russell case" from some years ago, in which she survived but her mother and sister died. Show some imagination, write your own crime, don't just exploit what someone else went through.
The Reggie/Jackson dynamic and the Reggie/Joanna dynamic are really lovely though and make the book an enjoyable undemanding read. I would really have appreciated more Louise and Jackson time though. The conclusion of the book, almost presses the reset button on the way Jackson's life has changed since Case Histories, and so it will be interesting to see where Started Early, Took My Dog and other subsequent novels take him. I still really like him as a character
A good if flawed novel with characters you care about : 7/10
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Book #69 Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Sarah's Key
So, I went to see Terence Mallick's The Tree Of Life on Wednesday, and one of the trailers was for Sarah's Key starring Kristin Scott Thomas, who seems to be having a remarkable second career in French films. It looked like something I would watch and then the trailer stated it was adapted from a novel by Tatiana de Rosnay so I then went and bought it after I got out of the cinema.
Sarah's Key is set in Nazi-Occupied France and on a particularly dark episode of French history called the Vel d'Hiv roundup. The Vel d'Hiv roundup involved the forced corralling of French Jews into a stadium were they were kept in degrading conditions before being deported to their deaths at Auschwitz and other camps.
The majority of my knowledge of Nazi Occupied France comes from 'Allo! Allo!' that bizarre attempt to make both the courageous French Resistance and the sinister Nazi officers look like harmless simple minded clowns. I knew very little of actual occurrences within Nazi occupied France in the 1940's and neither does the main character of Sarah's Key, Julia Jarmond.
Julia is an American journalist who has lived in Paris for many years and is assigned to write a 60th anniversary piece on the Vel d'Hiv massacre. Alternating chapters with investigator Julia is the story of Sarah, a little girl rounded up with her family and taken to Vel d'Hiv. When they are arrested, Sarah hides her younger brother in a cupboard to protect him, intending to return for him. As Julia uncovers more and more about Vel d'Hiv it is Sarah's story and the way in which her present links to Sarah's past that drags Julia in and refuses to let her go.
It is a very well told tale with obvious cinematic qualities. Although it is called Sarah's Key the novel is much more about Julia and the way in which people deal with the guilt of the past crimes of themselves, their family, and in this case their nation. Much is made of the fact that it was not in fact the Nazis who rounded up these people but the French Police and authorities even though most of the memorial plaques blame the Germans alone, and make no acknowledgement of the French involvement.
Julia herself has an interesting story, an American married to a Frenchman with standoffish in laws and things turning sour, but the truly affecting parts of the novel are Sarah's. Although all Holocaust stories are sickening this particular story in the way in which it is told, the events which take place and the reverberations into the future has a unique feel, like it has something new to say and contribute to the records of that sorry period of history.
It is sentimental without being mawkish and tragic without being depressing to read, I'm really glad that I stumbled upon it in this way. I loved the character of Sarah and I look forward to seeing it on the big screen. 9/10
So, I went to see Terence Mallick's The Tree Of Life on Wednesday, and one of the trailers was for Sarah's Key starring Kristin Scott Thomas, who seems to be having a remarkable second career in French films. It looked like something I would watch and then the trailer stated it was adapted from a novel by Tatiana de Rosnay so I then went and bought it after I got out of the cinema.
Sarah's Key is set in Nazi-Occupied France and on a particularly dark episode of French history called the Vel d'Hiv roundup. The Vel d'Hiv roundup involved the forced corralling of French Jews into a stadium were they were kept in degrading conditions before being deported to their deaths at Auschwitz and other camps.
The majority of my knowledge of Nazi Occupied France comes from 'Allo! Allo!' that bizarre attempt to make both the courageous French Resistance and the sinister Nazi officers look like harmless simple minded clowns. I knew very little of actual occurrences within Nazi occupied France in the 1940's and neither does the main character of Sarah's Key, Julia Jarmond.
Julia is an American journalist who has lived in Paris for many years and is assigned to write a 60th anniversary piece on the Vel d'Hiv massacre. Alternating chapters with investigator Julia is the story of Sarah, a little girl rounded up with her family and taken to Vel d'Hiv. When they are arrested, Sarah hides her younger brother in a cupboard to protect him, intending to return for him. As Julia uncovers more and more about Vel d'Hiv it is Sarah's story and the way in which her present links to Sarah's past that drags Julia in and refuses to let her go.
It is a very well told tale with obvious cinematic qualities. Although it is called Sarah's Key the novel is much more about Julia and the way in which people deal with the guilt of the past crimes of themselves, their family, and in this case their nation. Much is made of the fact that it was not in fact the Nazis who rounded up these people but the French Police and authorities even though most of the memorial plaques blame the Germans alone, and make no acknowledgement of the French involvement.
Julia herself has an interesting story, an American married to a Frenchman with standoffish in laws and things turning sour, but the truly affecting parts of the novel are Sarah's. Although all Holocaust stories are sickening this particular story in the way in which it is told, the events which take place and the reverberations into the future has a unique feel, like it has something new to say and contribute to the records of that sorry period of history.
It is sentimental without being mawkish and tragic without being depressing to read, I'm really glad that I stumbled upon it in this way. I loved the character of Sarah and I look forward to seeing it on the big screen. 9/10
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Book #64 One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
One Good Turn
If you have not read Case Histories, then this post contains spoilers.
I'm going to be frank and say from the off that One Good Turn was a disappointment. It isn't that the recent TV adaptation diverged from it (not much, but enough) but that largely it lacks much plausibility.
Our hero Jackson Brodie an ex soldier, ex cop and now ex private detective is living off his inheritance in France. He travels to Edinburgh to see his former client and now girlfriend Julia Land in a play of dubious quality at the Fringe.
This novels mystery surrounds Graham Hatter an outwardly respectable privately unscrupulous builder of houses similar to Redrow or Barratt. He arrives in A and E with a Russian dominatrix little to his wife's surprise.
Marty Canning, a weak dissatisfied writer whose life is dull and without excitement, is involved in a violent incident in a car park, this leads to his name becoming attached to a series of crimes, in a way that is all very unlikely.
Jackson Brodie, whilst out sightseeing finds a dead Russian girl in the water. Somehow all these people are connected, but how?
And this is essentially the issue. They are all connected or all end up connected, Jackson Brodie and Marty through the carpark incident, the Russian girls to Graham Hatter, employees of Hatter to incidents which befall both Brodie and Canning. It's just too many coincidences and too implausible.
Jackson, no longer a private eye has no reason to be where he is most of the time and even new heroine Louise Munroe tells him he's "becoming a professional witness". It's not just unlikely that he would become embroiled in all these events it's borderline impossible, statistically. It just made me roll my eyes a bit.
I hope it isn't too spoilery to say there is a crime scene near the end; but the fact that not one, not two, but three witnesses are able to walk from said crime scene without police intervention beggars total belief. I understand now why the BBC adaptation made the changes it did and consider them an improvement in terms of believability.
I now feel more certain in my belief that Atkinson or at least her publisher, regretted retiring Jackson Brodie in Case Histories. He remains charismatic, loveable and with plenty of creative mileage as a character. But, in bringing him back in such a way, without rank or reason to be involved doesn't hold water. Because Brodie admits he feels unmanned by his new elevated station in life, it would have made more sense for him to first return from France, re-establish his agency and go from there.
I will read the next two novels When Will There Be Good News? and Started Early, Took My Dog, but this will be because I like Jackson Brodie as a character; not because this novel which is ultimately disappointing and weak has induced me to do so. 6/10
If you have not read Case Histories, then this post contains spoilers.
I'm going to be frank and say from the off that One Good Turn was a disappointment. It isn't that the recent TV adaptation diverged from it (not much, but enough) but that largely it lacks much plausibility.
Our hero Jackson Brodie an ex soldier, ex cop and now ex private detective is living off his inheritance in France. He travels to Edinburgh to see his former client and now girlfriend Julia Land in a play of dubious quality at the Fringe.
This novels mystery surrounds Graham Hatter an outwardly respectable privately unscrupulous builder of houses similar to Redrow or Barratt. He arrives in A and E with a Russian dominatrix little to his wife's surprise.
Marty Canning, a weak dissatisfied writer whose life is dull and without excitement, is involved in a violent incident in a car park, this leads to his name becoming attached to a series of crimes, in a way that is all very unlikely.
Jackson Brodie, whilst out sightseeing finds a dead Russian girl in the water. Somehow all these people are connected, but how?
And this is essentially the issue. They are all connected or all end up connected, Jackson Brodie and Marty through the carpark incident, the Russian girls to Graham Hatter, employees of Hatter to incidents which befall both Brodie and Canning. It's just too many coincidences and too implausible.
Jackson, no longer a private eye has no reason to be where he is most of the time and even new heroine Louise Munroe tells him he's "becoming a professional witness". It's not just unlikely that he would become embroiled in all these events it's borderline impossible, statistically. It just made me roll my eyes a bit.
I hope it isn't too spoilery to say there is a crime scene near the end; but the fact that not one, not two, but three witnesses are able to walk from said crime scene without police intervention beggars total belief. I understand now why the BBC adaptation made the changes it did and consider them an improvement in terms of believability.
I now feel more certain in my belief that Atkinson or at least her publisher, regretted retiring Jackson Brodie in Case Histories. He remains charismatic, loveable and with plenty of creative mileage as a character. But, in bringing him back in such a way, without rank or reason to be involved doesn't hold water. Because Brodie admits he feels unmanned by his new elevated station in life, it would have made more sense for him to first return from France, re-establish his agency and go from there.
I will read the next two novels When Will There Be Good News? and Started Early, Took My Dog, but this will be because I like Jackson Brodie as a character; not because this novel which is ultimately disappointing and weak has induced me to do so. 6/10
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Book #49 Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
Dolores Claiborne
I have been asking a variety of people to recommend me books and particularly their favourite books so I can, if I haven't already read them, include them in the blog. This was my friend Jimmy's pick, and he has insisted I read Dolores Claiborne to the point of harassment, I faithfully promised I would, and now, eventually, have fulfilled that promise.
My problem I suppose, and the reason I delayed reading it is from certain prejudices I hold against Stephen King. I'm not a horror fan, I think the real world is scary enough, I know a lot of people who read King read him because they want to be scared, but frankly it doesn't take a whole lot to scare me.
In my university years, a group of us watched shark B-movie thriller 'Deep Blue Sea', I jumped so often that afterwards my friends said watching me watch Deep Blue Sea was more fun than watching the actual film. Another problem with Stephen King is that many of his books have entered popular culture in such a way that you already "know" their story. How many people don't know the ending of Carrie? How many people don't know what Misery is about, or The Shining, or know that when you say a dog is like 'Cujo' that you mean he resembles King's canine? It's almost like you don't need to read the books, even if you haven't seen the adaptations.
I'm a little bit prejudiced too against his output, he has in his 38 year career written 49 novels, more than one a year, it seems a case (maybe) of quantity over quality, the unfortunate consequence of popularity being high demand for new material...despite not being a fan, or really a regular reader, I had somewhat labelled him in my mind as a 'churns them out on a conveyer belt for the cash' writer. Perhaps I have no right to say so having read so little of his work, but one of my best friends who has read nearly all of his books assures me that the quality of his recent work pales in comparison to his early novels.
Prior to Dolores Claiborne, I had read 'The Green Mile' (later a Tom Hanks vehicle) and 'Different Seasons' - a non horror short story collection which gave birth to the films: The Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil and Stand By Me. My overall verdict was that each film adaptation was better than the writing it came from, and I'm pretty much somebody who says the book always beats the film (with certain exceptions like The Godfather, and, somewhat controversially, The Lord Of The Rings)
It was many years later that I started the Dark Tower Series, a series of seven books with a legion of ardent fans. It begins with The Gunslinger, a dark post apocalyptic novel which is beyond a doubt a fantastic book. If a book, or its imagery lives in your mind long afterward then it is a fantastic book. Unfortunately, I was less impressed with the second and third novels The Drawing Of The Three, and The Waste Lands, and the fourth book Wizard and Glass lost me entirely, on the grounds that I felt it was over-blown and given that from the first three novels we already knew much about the fall of Gilead, I felt that venturing into Roland's past was to tell a story with an already established outcome.
Stylistically, I felt that the flashbacks should perhaps have been punctuated by the ongoing journey story with the four main leads, as it would have prevented the book from dragging as much.
I haven't entirely written Stephen King off, the book I hear people most praise is The Stand, and I have that book ready and willing to be read. I came to Dolores Claiborne (through Jimmy) first though, and with no real idea of what to expect.
The book is written in monologue form, its protagonist Dolores, is being interviewed by the police regarding the death of her employer, and the words are entirely "her own". There is no descriptive prose and it features no dialogue from the three people in the room with her. Dolores is the storyteller, they, are her audience.
The narrative voice succeeds well, an elderly housekeeper who though not particularly educated is wily, bitchy, and has a don't-give-a-fuck attitude. The kind of cantankerous old biddy you wouldn't want to cross. It sounds authentic and effortless, as though King has a good ear for picking up the rhythm of the older woman who likes to tell a good story.
The story itself is pretty simple, told in the present and the past Dolores talks of the difficulties of working for a demanding and bitchy boss, and of how the two came to be kindred spirits in more ways than one. The story flicks between the two, when Dolores first began working for Vera as a pregnant young wife, and her days as her carer and companion at the end of her life. It is really two stories as well..the story of how demanding it is to be a carer and the story of how suffocating a bad marriage to a bad husband can be. Despite this, the story holds few surprises, the problems in Dolores's marriage are the usual cliches and Vera's early characterisation as the wealthy domineering boss is cliched too.
What is quite heartwarming is the way in which these two women become the glue that holds the other together, and the way in which they keep each others secrets.
It's a short book, and an easy read. I enjoyed it, but I don't think it's a extraordinary book. I'm glad I read it, it has a potboiler quality that sort of drags you in. It's a page turner, but it doesn't make waves with any originality, except for perhaps in the very well executed use of the monologue form.
Can't decide between a 6/7 out of 10
I have been asking a variety of people to recommend me books and particularly their favourite books so I can, if I haven't already read them, include them in the blog. This was my friend Jimmy's pick, and he has insisted I read Dolores Claiborne to the point of harassment, I faithfully promised I would, and now, eventually, have fulfilled that promise.
My problem I suppose, and the reason I delayed reading it is from certain prejudices I hold against Stephen King. I'm not a horror fan, I think the real world is scary enough, I know a lot of people who read King read him because they want to be scared, but frankly it doesn't take a whole lot to scare me.
In my university years, a group of us watched shark B-movie thriller 'Deep Blue Sea', I jumped so often that afterwards my friends said watching me watch Deep Blue Sea was more fun than watching the actual film. Another problem with Stephen King is that many of his books have entered popular culture in such a way that you already "know" their story. How many people don't know the ending of Carrie? How many people don't know what Misery is about, or The Shining, or know that when you say a dog is like 'Cujo' that you mean he resembles King's canine? It's almost like you don't need to read the books, even if you haven't seen the adaptations.
I'm a little bit prejudiced too against his output, he has in his 38 year career written 49 novels, more than one a year, it seems a case (maybe) of quantity over quality, the unfortunate consequence of popularity being high demand for new material...despite not being a fan, or really a regular reader, I had somewhat labelled him in my mind as a 'churns them out on a conveyer belt for the cash' writer. Perhaps I have no right to say so having read so little of his work, but one of my best friends who has read nearly all of his books assures me that the quality of his recent work pales in comparison to his early novels.
Prior to Dolores Claiborne, I had read 'The Green Mile' (later a Tom Hanks vehicle) and 'Different Seasons' - a non horror short story collection which gave birth to the films: The Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil and Stand By Me. My overall verdict was that each film adaptation was better than the writing it came from, and I'm pretty much somebody who says the book always beats the film (with certain exceptions like The Godfather, and, somewhat controversially, The Lord Of The Rings)
It was many years later that I started the Dark Tower Series, a series of seven books with a legion of ardent fans. It begins with The Gunslinger, a dark post apocalyptic novel which is beyond a doubt a fantastic book. If a book, or its imagery lives in your mind long afterward then it is a fantastic book. Unfortunately, I was less impressed with the second and third novels The Drawing Of The Three, and The Waste Lands, and the fourth book Wizard and Glass lost me entirely, on the grounds that I felt it was over-blown and given that from the first three novels we already knew much about the fall of Gilead, I felt that venturing into Roland's past was to tell a story with an already established outcome.
Stylistically, I felt that the flashbacks should perhaps have been punctuated by the ongoing journey story with the four main leads, as it would have prevented the book from dragging as much.
I haven't entirely written Stephen King off, the book I hear people most praise is The Stand, and I have that book ready and willing to be read. I came to Dolores Claiborne (through Jimmy) first though, and with no real idea of what to expect.
The book is written in monologue form, its protagonist Dolores, is being interviewed by the police regarding the death of her employer, and the words are entirely "her own". There is no descriptive prose and it features no dialogue from the three people in the room with her. Dolores is the storyteller, they, are her audience.
The narrative voice succeeds well, an elderly housekeeper who though not particularly educated is wily, bitchy, and has a don't-give-a-fuck attitude. The kind of cantankerous old biddy you wouldn't want to cross. It sounds authentic and effortless, as though King has a good ear for picking up the rhythm of the older woman who likes to tell a good story.
The story itself is pretty simple, told in the present and the past Dolores talks of the difficulties of working for a demanding and bitchy boss, and of how the two came to be kindred spirits in more ways than one. The story flicks between the two, when Dolores first began working for Vera as a pregnant young wife, and her days as her carer and companion at the end of her life. It is really two stories as well..the story of how demanding it is to be a carer and the story of how suffocating a bad marriage to a bad husband can be. Despite this, the story holds few surprises, the problems in Dolores's marriage are the usual cliches and Vera's early characterisation as the wealthy domineering boss is cliched too.
What is quite heartwarming is the way in which these two women become the glue that holds the other together, and the way in which they keep each others secrets.
It's a short book, and an easy read. I enjoyed it, but I don't think it's a extraordinary book. I'm glad I read it, it has a potboiler quality that sort of drags you in. It's a page turner, but it doesn't make waves with any originality, except for perhaps in the very well executed use of the monologue form.
Can't decide between a 6/7 out of 10
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