Far To Go
Far To Go tells the story of the Bauer family, there is a connection to the true life story of the family of Alison Pick who escaped Czechoslovakia for Canada during the war. In this, it bears some similarity to Anne Michaels Fugitive Pieces which I read at the end of last year.
In Far To Go, the Jewish Bauer family find their lives both metaphorically and literally under threat as German aggression begins to absorb Czechoslovakia into its borders. Pavel Bauer who has lived a secular life does not really believe it will happen to him, but begins to identify with and explore his Jewish heritage when it comes under threat. Initially, he is unwilling to part with his precious son Pepik but as the threat of the Holocaust marches closer, he begins to consider to try placing his son on the Kindertransport, the initiative of a British man who saved the lives of many Jewish children.
Far To Go was longlisted last year for the Man Booker Prize last year but didn't make it to the shortlist and though it is not a bad book and is eminently readable, it is flawed and its potential is wasted I can see why it wasn't shortlisted.
The Kindertransport is a really different angle to take on the stories of the Second World War and would make an involving book. Unfortunately this isn't that book, the bulk of this book concerns Pepik's nanny Martha, her loyalty or in my opinion lack thereof to the Bauer family. It also covers the well trod ground of the encroaching fear and sudden oppression of Jewish communities in Nazi Occupied Europe.
Both Pepik and first cousin Tomas make it out of Europe on the Kindertransport but little to nothing is made of that experience and what that was like for children. In fact the first page of the book informs us that Tomas reached a family in the UK, he is never referred to in the novel again, and Pepik's experience is completely truncated. It just seems like a totally missed chance. Towards the end of the book it becomes all about main character Lisa's research, and how the story was pieced together as best she could from her research. In fact though the title Far To Go implies the journey and the front cover is of a child with a suitcase the novel is barely about the Kindertransport at all. And thats the disappointment. I think I would like to read a novel that is actually about that experience.
I also disliked the manner in which Martha is painted as a heroine of sorts at the end, when in point of fact she wasn't and ultimately sabotaged the safety of her beloved Pepik and Pavel.
So, yes, this novel whilst a very readable very well written book is a pretty big disappointment and though somewhat based on the Pick family experience is lacking in terms of anything new to say. It's still worth a read but if you wanted to read a novel about that era and asked me for a recommendation, I would recommend Markus Zusak's The Book Thief among others and this novel would not spring to mind instantly 7/10
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Book #5 Disputed Land by Tim Pears
Disputed Land
*slight spoiler alert*
Disputed Land by Tim Pears is frankly, to me, a bit of an oddity of a novel. It begins with a man intent upon recording some aspect of his family's history for his children, who seem bemused by this.
At this point I anticipated a story set in the 1970's about the man's past in connection to the current present. However, when we flashback we are in 2008 our "present day". Theo, the story's author and main character is a teenager and is meeting up with his relations, a rare occurrence, for Christmas at his grandparents home. It transpires that his Grandmother has cancer and has brought them all together so that they can divide her possessions prior to her death. There is bluff selfish businessman Uncle Jonny his obnoxious twins Xan and Baz and his beautiful wife Aunt Lorna. Theo's Aunt Gwen who has newly become a lesbian, her partner Melony and her daughters Sid and Holly with golden child and favoured grandson Matt set to follow on.
What bugged me is that with the reveal or twist in the closing pages of this novel, like Theo's children I wondered what precisely the point was of this particular story he told. It didn't seem to bear any relevance or importance to the lives which his children and grandchildren now led, and would seem in many ways likely to anger them with the laissez faire arrogance of the past and the almost fairytale like plenty. The truly interesting story for me was Theo's present in relation to his past, of the past there is plenty but of the present there is next to nothing.
What remains is essentially the story of your average middle class privileged Christmas with everyone trying to be civil and get along. And the strange, uncomfortable yet important act of sorting out someone's possessions when their death hasn't yet occurred but is known to be impending.
Though these are common experiences, it's a bit boring, and nothing special. The idea that Theo is writing this from a future that was predicted yet not heeded is supposed to be what makes this special. If there had been a continual juxtaposition of this concept throughout the novel it might have become moving even alarming but instead it just feels like a juvenile sensational addendum to a thirteen year olds short story, and a riff on the ideas of the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present.
Sadly the bulk of this novel is very Aga Saga esque and its failed attempt at a decent twist doesn't save it. If it were a paperback and not an ebook it would be off to Oxfam tomorrow I'm afraid. 5/10
*slight spoiler alert*
Disputed Land by Tim Pears is frankly, to me, a bit of an oddity of a novel. It begins with a man intent upon recording some aspect of his family's history for his children, who seem bemused by this.
At this point I anticipated a story set in the 1970's about the man's past in connection to the current present. However, when we flashback we are in 2008 our "present day". Theo, the story's author and main character is a teenager and is meeting up with his relations, a rare occurrence, for Christmas at his grandparents home. It transpires that his Grandmother has cancer and has brought them all together so that they can divide her possessions prior to her death. There is bluff selfish businessman Uncle Jonny his obnoxious twins Xan and Baz and his beautiful wife Aunt Lorna. Theo's Aunt Gwen who has newly become a lesbian, her partner Melony and her daughters Sid and Holly with golden child and favoured grandson Matt set to follow on.
What bugged me is that with the reveal or twist in the closing pages of this novel, like Theo's children I wondered what precisely the point was of this particular story he told. It didn't seem to bear any relevance or importance to the lives which his children and grandchildren now led, and would seem in many ways likely to anger them with the laissez faire arrogance of the past and the almost fairytale like plenty. The truly interesting story for me was Theo's present in relation to his past, of the past there is plenty but of the present there is next to nothing.
What remains is essentially the story of your average middle class privileged Christmas with everyone trying to be civil and get along. And the strange, uncomfortable yet important act of sorting out someone's possessions when their death hasn't yet occurred but is known to be impending.
Though these are common experiences, it's a bit boring, and nothing special. The idea that Theo is writing this from a future that was predicted yet not heeded is supposed to be what makes this special. If there had been a continual juxtaposition of this concept throughout the novel it might have become moving even alarming but instead it just feels like a juvenile sensational addendum to a thirteen year olds short story, and a riff on the ideas of the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present.
Sadly the bulk of this novel is very Aga Saga esque and its failed attempt at a decent twist doesn't save it. If it were a paperback and not an ebook it would be off to Oxfam tomorrow I'm afraid. 5/10
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Book #4 Coconut Unlimited by Nikesh Shukla
Coconut Unlimited
Coconut Unlimited by Nikesh Shukla was nominated for the 2010 Costa First Novel Award. It tells the story of Amit, preparing for his wedding to Alice, Amit is visited by childhood friends Anand and Nishant and reminisces about their youth.
The novel reminded me a lot of Stephen Kelman's Pigeon English, like said novel, Coconut Unlimited is set within an immigrant community, Amit is first generation British and is of Gujarati heritage. Like Pigeon English the focus is on adolescence and the trials and tribulations of growing up. I failed to identify with Harrison Opoku and his friends in Pigeon English, their concerns and interests being somewhat post my era. With Coconut Unlimited however our protagonists are around age 15 in 1994, when I would have been 13, so there were aspects of their experience I could relate to.
On the one hand though Coconut Unlimited like Pigeon English offers a rare literary glimpse into a growing part of Britain's immigrant community, some stereotypes were in action. Amit and Anand for example are under intense pressure from their Indian parents to perform highly academically, a well known cliche. But, with this stereotype particularly it wouldn't have become such a cliche, if there wasn't some truth behind it. The school racism from both pupils and staff would still have been realistic around this time also, but Amit and his friends face the most ridicule for attempting to pretend they are of a different culture by getting into the rap and hip/hop scene and starting a hip/hop band. Amit's sister calls him a coconut "brown on the outside, white on the inside" and so the band Coconut Unlimited is born.
This concept of trying to find a subculture to be part of as a teen is very true to the teenage experience. I myself was into "indie" music and had a friend who was into the subculture which sprang up around Nirvana. Everytime you went into the city on Saturdays there were gangs of "goth" kids with skateboards being "alternative" outside Quiggins but also conforming to rules of their new tribe. So, whilst I wasn't into Nas, or Public Enemy or Tupac, I understood the nature and authenticity of the experience Shukla conveys. Though I am white I was also part of a minority and so I felt the realism of the outsider experience also.
Despite being a very identifiable piece about adolescent angst, Coconut Unlimited is frustrating as a novel because ultimately the plot goes nowhere and terminates abruptly, although many teenage bands and friendships do ebb away by nature I felt that neither the main book or the epilogue had a particularly erudite conclusion and it was somewhat disappointing, as were character outcomes.
It is a book I think many men of my age would enjoy reflecting as it does elements of the 90's teen experience but it isn't knock your socks off special and I wouldn't be in a huge rush to obtain it. It is fun and humourous but having made comparison to Pigeon English I would say the latter is the better written and more endearing work 6.5/10
Coconut Unlimited by Nikesh Shukla was nominated for the 2010 Costa First Novel Award. It tells the story of Amit, preparing for his wedding to Alice, Amit is visited by childhood friends Anand and Nishant and reminisces about their youth.
The novel reminded me a lot of Stephen Kelman's Pigeon English, like said novel, Coconut Unlimited is set within an immigrant community, Amit is first generation British and is of Gujarati heritage. Like Pigeon English the focus is on adolescence and the trials and tribulations of growing up. I failed to identify with Harrison Opoku and his friends in Pigeon English, their concerns and interests being somewhat post my era. With Coconut Unlimited however our protagonists are around age 15 in 1994, when I would have been 13, so there were aspects of their experience I could relate to.
On the one hand though Coconut Unlimited like Pigeon English offers a rare literary glimpse into a growing part of Britain's immigrant community, some stereotypes were in action. Amit and Anand for example are under intense pressure from their Indian parents to perform highly academically, a well known cliche. But, with this stereotype particularly it wouldn't have become such a cliche, if there wasn't some truth behind it. The school racism from both pupils and staff would still have been realistic around this time also, but Amit and his friends face the most ridicule for attempting to pretend they are of a different culture by getting into the rap and hip/hop scene and starting a hip/hop band. Amit's sister calls him a coconut "brown on the outside, white on the inside" and so the band Coconut Unlimited is born.
This concept of trying to find a subculture to be part of as a teen is very true to the teenage experience. I myself was into "indie" music and had a friend who was into the subculture which sprang up around Nirvana. Everytime you went into the city on Saturdays there were gangs of "goth" kids with skateboards being "alternative" outside Quiggins but also conforming to rules of their new tribe. So, whilst I wasn't into Nas, or Public Enemy or Tupac, I understood the nature and authenticity of the experience Shukla conveys. Though I am white I was also part of a minority and so I felt the realism of the outsider experience also.
Despite being a very identifiable piece about adolescent angst, Coconut Unlimited is frustrating as a novel because ultimately the plot goes nowhere and terminates abruptly, although many teenage bands and friendships do ebb away by nature I felt that neither the main book or the epilogue had a particularly erudite conclusion and it was somewhat disappointing, as were character outcomes.
It is a book I think many men of my age would enjoy reflecting as it does elements of the 90's teen experience but it isn't knock your socks off special and I wouldn't be in a huge rush to obtain it. It is fun and humourous but having made comparison to Pigeon English I would say the latter is the better written and more endearing work 6.5/10
Book #3 Boy A by Jonathan Trigell
Boy A
On the last day of last year I read and was thrilled by Jonathan Trigell's latest novel Genus, a work of speculative fiction about the future of "designer babies". I gave it a rave review. This review was subsequently read by Jonathan who retweeted it on his own Twitter feed and followed me. I nearly cried I was that pleased. So, Jonathan has two other novels Boy A and Cham, neither of which I had read. The controversial and critically acclaimed Boy A was adapted into a drama starring Andrew Garfield, I didn't watch it because I hadn't read the book as that is the choice I usually make: read the book first.
Boy A is the story of "Jack Burridge" a man who referred to as Boy A in court has adopted said alias upon his release from prison because his true identity cannot be known for his own safety. At the age of 12, he and another boy killed a fellow child and a national furore arose.
In the past I have been critical of the ethics involved in taking a well known crime and using it for the sake of fiction. The ethics and also the originality. A prime example of this is the way in which the back story of the character Joanna echoed that of Josie Russell in the Kate Atkinson novel "When Will There Be Good News?" I didn't like it.
Boy A however is a very different beast. Whereas in the case of the Atkinson and a couple of other novels with similar elements I have read in the last 18 months, the crime is treated in a somewhat tawdry manner, as one more ingredient in the pot, for Trigell it isn't a throwaway nod, it's a real, multi-layered look into a crime which rocked British society. Though Jack Burridge is fictional so much of his story correlates to the original crime that Boy A is rather more a piece of faction beneath which lies both psychological analysis of a perpetrator and a modern social commentary. Boy A is not a sensationalist exploitative piece is my point, but a novel with something relevant and important to say about a crime so shocking it affected the national psyche.
The crime I am of course referring to is the murder of toddler James Bulger by schoolboys Robert Thompson and Jon Venables in 1993. I grew up not far from the area in which he was killed and I remember the local as well as national reaction, and I was only a year older than his killers at the time.
Some of the factional echoes Trigell describes include a Sun campaign to prevent the release of "Burridge" - something which actually occurred in real life. The novel also makes reference to the manner in which many adults gathered to hurl abuse at the police van carrying the two boys, I remember being asked to reflect upon the morality of this in an RE class: Should grown men and women be hurling profane abuse at two children no matter what they had done? Shouldn't they be questioning themselves their politicians and community leaders about the breakdown in society that had led us to this tragic situation? Didn't their behaviour further illustrate unnerving social decay?
In Boy A Jack Burridge is released from prison and tries to establish a new life, a job, friends, a girlfriend, but his past follows him almost as if he were under surveillance from it. Haunted and hunted Burridge will never escape his past actions.
The remarkable prescience shown by Jonathan Trigell in Genus is also bizarrely evident in Boy A. I took main character Burridge to be based more upon the life of Venables than that of Thompson. In the media coverage Thompson was more demonised and Venables depicted as the softer boy who was led along. In Boy A, Burridge only admits a share in the responsibility for the little girl's death when his contact with a kindly support worker is threatened. His psychologist is also hoping for something good to write for the sake of career progression. In the novel, though perhaps not in real life, there is a hint of doubt as to his guilt.
Boy A was published in 2004, in 2010 Jon Venables new identity was blown, he was also revealed to have violated his parole, had been involved in viewing child pornography and was returned to prison. A six year difference between the events of Boy A and a similar yet not quite real life mirroring. With this, alongside the riots of Genus if I were Jonathan Trigell, I'd be a bit worried I was psychic at this point. Boy A also reflects upon the hounding nature of the British press, a hot topic in the UK over the last 12 months.
With its real life counterpart set aside, Boy A is an intriguing novel about the human capacity for forgiveness, individual forgiveness, national forgiveness, and most importantly the forgiveness of ourselves. I was reminded of a quote from one of my favourite films 'The Shawshank Redemption' said by aging criminal Red as played by Morgan Freeman :
On the last day of last year I read and was thrilled by Jonathan Trigell's latest novel Genus, a work of speculative fiction about the future of "designer babies". I gave it a rave review. This review was subsequently read by Jonathan who retweeted it on his own Twitter feed and followed me. I nearly cried I was that pleased. So, Jonathan has two other novels Boy A and Cham, neither of which I had read. The controversial and critically acclaimed Boy A was adapted into a drama starring Andrew Garfield, I didn't watch it because I hadn't read the book as that is the choice I usually make: read the book first.
Boy A is the story of "Jack Burridge" a man who referred to as Boy A in court has adopted said alias upon his release from prison because his true identity cannot be known for his own safety. At the age of 12, he and another boy killed a fellow child and a national furore arose.
In the past I have been critical of the ethics involved in taking a well known crime and using it for the sake of fiction. The ethics and also the originality. A prime example of this is the way in which the back story of the character Joanna echoed that of Josie Russell in the Kate Atkinson novel "When Will There Be Good News?" I didn't like it.
Boy A however is a very different beast. Whereas in the case of the Atkinson and a couple of other novels with similar elements I have read in the last 18 months, the crime is treated in a somewhat tawdry manner, as one more ingredient in the pot, for Trigell it isn't a throwaway nod, it's a real, multi-layered look into a crime which rocked British society. Though Jack Burridge is fictional so much of his story correlates to the original crime that Boy A is rather more a piece of faction beneath which lies both psychological analysis of a perpetrator and a modern social commentary. Boy A is not a sensationalist exploitative piece is my point, but a novel with something relevant and important to say about a crime so shocking it affected the national psyche.
The crime I am of course referring to is the murder of toddler James Bulger by schoolboys Robert Thompson and Jon Venables in 1993. I grew up not far from the area in which he was killed and I remember the local as well as national reaction, and I was only a year older than his killers at the time.
Some of the factional echoes Trigell describes include a Sun campaign to prevent the release of "Burridge" - something which actually occurred in real life. The novel also makes reference to the manner in which many adults gathered to hurl abuse at the police van carrying the two boys, I remember being asked to reflect upon the morality of this in an RE class: Should grown men and women be hurling profane abuse at two children no matter what they had done? Shouldn't they be questioning themselves their politicians and community leaders about the breakdown in society that had led us to this tragic situation? Didn't their behaviour further illustrate unnerving social decay?
In Boy A Jack Burridge is released from prison and tries to establish a new life, a job, friends, a girlfriend, but his past follows him almost as if he were under surveillance from it. Haunted and hunted Burridge will never escape his past actions.
The remarkable prescience shown by Jonathan Trigell in Genus is also bizarrely evident in Boy A. I took main character Burridge to be based more upon the life of Venables than that of Thompson. In the media coverage Thompson was more demonised and Venables depicted as the softer boy who was led along. In Boy A, Burridge only admits a share in the responsibility for the little girl's death when his contact with a kindly support worker is threatened. His psychologist is also hoping for something good to write for the sake of career progression. In the novel, though perhaps not in real life, there is a hint of doubt as to his guilt.
Boy A was published in 2004, in 2010 Jon Venables new identity was blown, he was also revealed to have violated his parole, had been involved in viewing child pornography and was returned to prison. A six year difference between the events of Boy A and a similar yet not quite real life mirroring. With this, alongside the riots of Genus if I were Jonathan Trigell, I'd be a bit worried I was psychic at this point. Boy A also reflects upon the hounding nature of the British press, a hot topic in the UK over the last 12 months.
With its real life counterpart set aside, Boy A is an intriguing novel about the human capacity for forgiveness, individual forgiveness, national forgiveness, and most importantly the forgiveness of ourselves. I was reminded of a quote from one of my favourite films 'The Shawshank Redemption' said by aging criminal Red as played by Morgan Freeman :
I recommend reading Boy A, Sarah Waters called it :Cause not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here; or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try to talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that left. I gotta live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word. So go ahead and stamp your forms, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit.
I love Sarah Waters anyway and can only concur. But beware if you had or have strong feelings regarding that crime or type of crime, you may find yourself having sympathy for the devil..... 10/10"a compelling narrative, a beautifully structured piece of writing, and a thought-provoking novel of ideas. It's a wonderful debut."
Book #2 The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth
The Etymologicon
When I was 17 or so I did a bit of etymology (study of word origin) at A Level and rather enjoyed it, "Santa came from St Nick which is related to Old Nick which means Devil" that sort of thing. Some of these books which make a splash around the festive season can be gimmicky but when I noticed that The Etymologicon was 99p on Kindle, I got it I first thought that it was perhaps a etymological dictionary but at that price : a bargain. It isn't quite that though.
Author Mark Forsyth a clear aficionado etymologist takes us on a circular journey through the origin of popular words, phrases and cultural references, beginning and ending with book and phrases which use terms like "to throw the book" and "cooking the books"
The book is often amusing and gives the sensation of a man with a passion for his subject talking at you incessantly about it at a party or something, but, far from being annoying this machine gun fire discourse is really interesting and often entertaining, Forsyth certainly has a way with words and can often be amusing.
I found out many interesting factoids from Mr Forsyth: the contributions made by Milton and Shelley to the English language, why Wendy isn't a real girls name but Neverland is a real place, why a computer boots up and gets bugs and computer users experience Spam, why all guns are female and where the phrases "in the buff" and "before you can say Jack Robinson" come from.
There was one that I already knew in there though : the correlation between the Starbucks coffee house chain and Herman Melville.
The Etymologicon takes the style of some radio features I have seen where the song played on one day has a roundabout connection with the song played the next day and each chapter tends to end with the word which will be explained in the next. The trouble with this book is that though it is entertaining its rapid fire style can feel relentless and you can forget quite quickly what you've just been told, though I read the book in a linear way over a few days, it is much more the sort of book to be dipped in and out of, a coffee table or toilet book sort of thing. (I know of people who have kept books in their loo though I've never done it)
I enjoyed this book which also has a cryptic crossword style quiz at the back and would recommend it to readers and wordsmiths everywhere. I've already decided to buy this for a couple of people and if he brings out a follow up I will definitely get it. 9/10
When I was 17 or so I did a bit of etymology (study of word origin) at A Level and rather enjoyed it, "Santa came from St Nick which is related to Old Nick which means Devil" that sort of thing. Some of these books which make a splash around the festive season can be gimmicky but when I noticed that The Etymologicon was 99p on Kindle, I got it I first thought that it was perhaps a etymological dictionary but at that price : a bargain. It isn't quite that though.
Author Mark Forsyth a clear aficionado etymologist takes us on a circular journey through the origin of popular words, phrases and cultural references, beginning and ending with book and phrases which use terms like "to throw the book" and "cooking the books"
The book is often amusing and gives the sensation of a man with a passion for his subject talking at you incessantly about it at a party or something, but, far from being annoying this machine gun fire discourse is really interesting and often entertaining, Forsyth certainly has a way with words and can often be amusing.
I found out many interesting factoids from Mr Forsyth: the contributions made by Milton and Shelley to the English language, why Wendy isn't a real girls name but Neverland is a real place, why a computer boots up and gets bugs and computer users experience Spam, why all guns are female and where the phrases "in the buff" and "before you can say Jack Robinson" come from.
There was one that I already knew in there though : the correlation between the Starbucks coffee house chain and Herman Melville.
The Etymologicon takes the style of some radio features I have seen where the song played on one day has a roundabout connection with the song played the next day and each chapter tends to end with the word which will be explained in the next. The trouble with this book is that though it is entertaining its rapid fire style can feel relentless and you can forget quite quickly what you've just been told, though I read the book in a linear way over a few days, it is much more the sort of book to be dipped in and out of, a coffee table or toilet book sort of thing. (I know of people who have kept books in their loo though I've never done it)
I enjoyed this book which also has a cryptic crossword style quiz at the back and would recommend it to readers and wordsmiths everywhere. I've already decided to buy this for a couple of people and if he brings out a follow up I will definitely get it. 9/10
Friday, 6 January 2012
Book #1 Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Warm Bodies
If you wished to give Warm Bodies a pithy popular culture summation, you might say "It's like Twilight but with a Zombie" though this gives the general gist as to what the novel is about, it is unfair to both it and its author Isaac Marion.
Warm Bodies has been a resounding success for Marion, he originally self published it, but it took off by word of mouth to such a degree it has received a physical publication both here and in America and in February next year the movie adaptation starring British actor Nicholas Hoult in the lead will be released. This book was mentioned in passing (just author and title) to me on Twitter, but after looking it up and seeing it was a zombie novel and a romance at that, it took me mere seconds to buy it, and I'm not in the least ashamed of this!
Warm Bodies begins with the line :
One day he goes hunting with his friend of sorts M. Zombies savour the brains of their victims because they see their memories as they consume them giving them a fleeting remembrance of what it was like to be human once. Having done this to one man R recognises his next potential victim as his previous victim's girlfriend, deciding not to kill her, he drags her home to his unusual lodgings and our romance develops from there.
Warm Bodies is in many ways inherently flawed not least because a zombie by definition cannot have the feelings and behaviours which R exhibits, but neither realistically can a vampire. So you have to let that canon slide if you want to enjoy this book. It has some other mild issues it lacks a level of profundity at times despite good quality prose, is a little episodic in nature as opposed to a steady ongoing plot flow and I was torn over whether it's homage to the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet was utterly genius or utterly corny. I did read it in one sitting though, will watch the movie and would read other novels by Marion.
It is an endearing novel and certainly an original concept 9/10
If you wished to give Warm Bodies a pithy popular culture summation, you might say "It's like Twilight but with a Zombie" though this gives the general gist as to what the novel is about, it is unfair to both it and its author Isaac Marion.
Warm Bodies has been a resounding success for Marion, he originally self published it, but it took off by word of mouth to such a degree it has received a physical publication both here and in America and in February next year the movie adaptation starring British actor Nicholas Hoult in the lead will be released. This book was mentioned in passing (just author and title) to me on Twitter, but after looking it up and seeing it was a zombie novel and a romance at that, it took me mere seconds to buy it, and I'm not in the least ashamed of this!
Warm Bodies begins with the line :
so right there in the opening line it gets you as all good novels are supposed to do, and thus begins the absorbing and slightly melancholic tale of R, a zombie living among a hive of fellow soulless beings at an airport. He doesn't have much of a vocabulary nor much of a thought process, but he has a wife, sort of, and kids, sort of.I'm dead but it's not so bad. I've learned to live with it.
One day he goes hunting with his friend of sorts M. Zombies savour the brains of their victims because they see their memories as they consume them giving them a fleeting remembrance of what it was like to be human once. Having done this to one man R recognises his next potential victim as his previous victim's girlfriend, deciding not to kill her, he drags her home to his unusual lodgings and our romance develops from there.
Warm Bodies is in many ways inherently flawed not least because a zombie by definition cannot have the feelings and behaviours which R exhibits, but neither realistically can a vampire. So you have to let that canon slide if you want to enjoy this book. It has some other mild issues it lacks a level of profundity at times despite good quality prose, is a little episodic in nature as opposed to a steady ongoing plot flow and I was torn over whether it's homage to the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet was utterly genius or utterly corny. I did read it in one sitting though, will watch the movie and would read other novels by Marion.
It is an endearing novel and certainly an original concept 9/10
Sunday, 1 January 2012
New Year, New Rules
Because in my last challenge, I found myself highly stymied by the need to finish a book I thought weak or atrocious once I had begun it, for 2012 there will be no such rule. If I decide to abandon a book mid way through, I will blog it and state why, but it won't count to the overall total, they will have to be REALLY terrible though in order for this to happen.
Some patterns emerged in last years reading, I read less non fiction than I had intended, posted less poems, and read several books by the same authors 5 by George RR Martin, 4 by Kate Atkinson, 3 by Sarah Waters and Suzanne Collins and 2 by Doris Lessing, Patrick Ness, Willa Cather and Ben Aaronovitch. It is highly likely that I will revisit several of the authors I have read this year but I will try not to overly do this in order to maintain variety.
I also read very few "classics" this year with Brideshead Revisited and Northanger Abbey proving the only two "proper" ones. I also hope to remedy this in the forthcoming year and hopefully throw in some Dickens and some Hardy, as always recommendations are welcome.
Roz
Some patterns emerged in last years reading, I read less non fiction than I had intended, posted less poems, and read several books by the same authors 5 by George RR Martin, 4 by Kate Atkinson, 3 by Sarah Waters and Suzanne Collins and 2 by Doris Lessing, Patrick Ness, Willa Cather and Ben Aaronovitch. It is highly likely that I will revisit several of the authors I have read this year but I will try not to overly do this in order to maintain variety.
I also read very few "classics" this year with Brideshead Revisited and Northanger Abbey proving the only two "proper" ones. I also hope to remedy this in the forthcoming year and hopefully throw in some Dickens and some Hardy, as always recommendations are welcome.
Roz
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