Book Reviews - Full of Phonies

So I've been a bit lax on the book reading front and I think I've currently got four on the go at the moment.

To go back to a book from a while ago, Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. A couple of weeks ago I went to a talk as part of Literary Leicester, on Catcher in the Rye. When I read it a few months back I honestly didn't get it.

I got that Holden was trying to find his place in life and his apathy meant that all the things he deemed to be phony would never be tackled. His solution was to hole up in a cabin in the wilderness, come on!

But I didn't get why it was so acclaimed, however, after attending this talk, I sort of now do. Dr Sarah Graham, University of Leicester, explained the context in which the book was written and what came before it. I can now see that at that time, it was one of better books which encapsulated the teenage experience and it's sense of disassociation from the world when dealing with grief. (Flip, that sounds vaguely academic for me! eek!)

I think this is one of the books which I needed the classroom atmosphere to digest fully, or at least a copy of the footnotes! Not sure who I would recommend read this, I wouldn't say it's a universal book because the book demands a certain empathy from its reader, because let's face it, some people won't really care about a teenage dropout drinking his way around Manhattan.

I'm currently reading Moby Dick so lead on Ishmael ...

Carried Away to Distant Lands

Recently, I visited Georgia, USA with Scarlett O'Hara and the South American jungle with the Buendia Family.

First of all, a disclaimer, Gone with the Wind is like the film - it's a bit of an epic! (1000+ pages)

I have watched the film, many many moons ago when I stumbled upon it one Christmas eve on the telly, but I don't remember it at all. The book was brilliant.
I enjoy reading books which have a historical context and although the amount of history did get a bit much at times, it was absolutely essential for those of us who haven't been taught about the American Civil War in school.
This book will take you a long time to read, but it is so worth it. Scarlett O'Hara is, to begin with, a heroine most unlikely and not one you want to relate to, but as the story develops, you begin to understand who she is and support her, even if you think marrying Frank Kennedy was a bad idea!

As for the Buendia family, or One Hundred Years of Solitude. This was definitely an interesting book and the family tree at the beginning definitely helping trying to decipher the Jose Arcadios from the Aurelianos.
I admit my attention waned when the story focussed on the male characters.
This is one of those books that sort of documents a history instead of a story. It also has a moral message coming all thr way through which for those of you who are Star Trek fans, would contervene the Prime Directive (yes, I know, geek!)In other words, let people be and don't interfere in less advanced societies, it doesn't always work out for the best.

Out of the two books I'm backing Gone With the Wind the whole way.

I'm now nearly a third of the way through the books, phew!

BTW I have read Catcher in the Rye but I am saving the review until I have been to this Catcher in the Rye seminar being held at work. Maybe another perspective will help me to appreciate it more.

An Intellectual Debate with Holmes and Langdon

As I'm writing this post I am thinking of the million and one things I need to get done in this next week so apologies if it's brief.

Right, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Three main points came from this book :

1 - Didn't know Sherlock Holmes enjoyed cocaine - it's in there, trust me
2 - Definitely would read to my children (minus mentioning the above point!) as little short adventure stories
3 - The one negative point is that some of the stories felt a bit predictable, but is this due to the template Conan Doyle created being used in other examples of the crime genre? Either way, some of the stories I guessed the endings to, but not all.

When I was reading the book I was reminded of the series I watched several years ago, Murder Rooms : Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes, if you can catch it, definitely worth a look.

As for Robert Langdon, now infamous as the main character in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

Yup, this one lived up to the hype. I've never been to the Louvre and the description in the book had me walking through the galleries alongside Fache and Langdon. I only wished I hadn't seen the movie and spoiled the identity of "The Teacher" but other than that, it drew me in and wouldn't let me go until I'd finished it - damn my day job!


And no, Agatha Christie is not on my list! Diary of a Phoneless Week coming soon ...

Cathy and Heathcliff versus Harry?

As you may have guessed, I've finished Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling.

So which one did I prefer?

Wuthering Heights was very easy to read, I just flew through it. I think this was due to the story being narrated by the housekeeper Nelly. There ain't nowt like a common person to talk proper like!

Not sure if I actually liked the story, I think if Heathcliff was around today he'd have been given a restraining order, and possibly some anger management classes. As for Cathy, I think she was definitely missing a few shillings. Although I love my husband etc etc, I don't think I've ever been in an all-consuming love to the point where if we weren't together we'd hurt other people as well as each other. I'm kinda glad about that.
Who would I recommend it to? I don't honestly know is the answer. It is one of those books you "should" read but I don't know if I'd actually tell people to do so. Hmm .....


As for Harry Potter, again flew through the book. It filled in some gaps in my Harry Potter knowledge as up to this point I have only ever seen the films. The only downside I found was that my imagination wasn't really invoked as I pictured the characters as the actors (if that makes sense). I was surprised at almost how slow the story progressed, half way through and we'd only just reached Hogwarts. But as we got to the third corridor and past Fluffy, the story raced along.
Definitely would recommend this book, particularly for children who haven't seen the film and therefore can use their own imagination to bring the book to life and not rely on the box in the corner of the room.

As a final note if anyone hasn't seen this, have a giggle ....

Without a Shadow of a Wind of a Doubt

Here is my very belated post on Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Two words - READ IT!

I didn't know what to expect from this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I can't wait to read the other book by him from the list.

The story follows a young boy in his pursuit of the man behind the book. As he delves into the writers past, echoes appear in his own life going from child to young man. The writer is very good at adding twists and turns into the story, entwining the characters even tighter.

Would recommend it to anyone, and if you don't read a lot, it's a perfect book for holiday - especially if you're going to Barcelona.

Having a ball

Hope you all had a lovely weekend, I have to admit I didn't accomplish much as I spent most of Saturday preparing for a Summer Ball and Sunday lying on the couch trying to catch up on sleep!

I've recently finished Cold Comfort Farm and Tess of the d'Urbervilles and the reason why I've not written up their reviews is I'm feeling somewhat frustrated by the books from the list at the moment. So I've been sneaking in some pleasure reading and discovering a couple of new authors.

So here are some micro reviews of two two books :

Cold Comfort Farm - The ending leaves you a bit bewildered and then you realise you don't really care about the main character as they are just a bit blah.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Too much additional text detracting away from essentially a good story, you feel for Tess and her tragedies and want to punch certain character's lights out!

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Can anyone suggest the next book for me to read from the list that won't p*** me off?

Bumper Book Review

To make up for the slackness of my literary reviews, I've decided to put three together.

Over the past week I've read "A Brave New World", "Northern Lights" and "Brideshead Revisited", all with varying reactions.

To begin with, Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World is along the lines of 1984, in that it is set in a quite possible future where no-one has snoo snoo anymore to have children. All children are created in test tubes and conditioned from embryo into the person they will become - as required by society.
The book follows a character who, like in 1984, begins to feel constrained by the order of things and causes issues when he rebels.
I have to admit I did enjoy this book, although I wish I'd had a guide which laid out the different castes in the society as I got a little bit lost - maybe I wasn't reading it closely enough (!)
This book could be viewed as a warning to society of how obsessed we have become with perfection and where do you draw the line on inteference with nature's design? It would be interesting to review this book in 20 years time and see how it correlates with society then.
Definitely worth a read - go, get it now!


Philip Pullman's Northern Lights I thought would be an easy read, given that it's written for children. Eek, I was a bit wrong on that front. The story follows Lyra and her daemon Pantaleimon as she becomes embroiled in children being kidnapped and sent to the Arctic North.
I enjoyed the story, and loved the idea of humans having a familiar with whom they could never be separated, but I struggled with the language. I like to read books that are "properly" written and flow. Lyra's colloquialisms kept tripping up my flow of reading. A friend of mine said once I'd read the first I would be dying to read the rest of the trilogy. I'll be honest, as curious a cat as I normally am, I'm not that bothered.
Is it worth reading? If you like your fantasy grounded in a bit of reality, or don't mind your reality enhanced with a bit of fantasy it's definitely worth a look.


And finally, Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Omg, I just could not understand the point of that book at all. The main protagonist is Charles Ryder and follows him from his time as an undergraduate at Oxford to adulthood and his experiences at the country house Brideshead via the various members of the family which live there. I admit I failed to get excited about what would be seen as significant events in the book when the characters themselves don't get excited. I persevered through this book and I think my mum has the DVD of it. Maybe after watching it I'll get some excitement and enjoyment from the story.
I wouldn't recommend this book, it's too bland to be of any excitement.

Anyhoo, I'd better leave you for this post.

Catching up

Sorry I've been absent, between the Bank Holiday and Space School I've not been able to look at a computer.

So what's been happening this week?

Firstly, we spent Bank Holiday not relaxing but busy, busy, busy. In preparation for seeing our friends and their new baby, I "Japlac'd" my hands. Note to self, read instructions before covering hands (accidentally) in high gloss paint. Three hours of scrubbing and soaking and my hands are now no longer white. Hindsight, I should have had a picture taken but we were too busy worrying it wasn't going to come off!

We then went to see said friends and their baby - who's a big ball of noms with not so tiny feet.

And then Bank Holiday Monday was spent tidying the house, glamorous I know but it had to be done. Our spare room now has an ensuite - ie the new bathroom pieces are in there as there isn't anywhere else to put them, no plumbing involved so Padz? - please don't use them when you come over!

I've knocked another two books off the list this week which I'll post reviews of tonight.

I was looking at the list the other day and realised that I haven't really hacked into it all that much yet so I put it to you readers (few and valued as you are) which of these should I do next :

1. Make and properly ice a cake
2. Spend an evening on Chat Roulette
3. Make the perfect batch of cookies
4. Create your family tree
5. Turn off my mobile for a week
6. Smile at 100 strangers
7. Get Christmas and birthdays organised
8. Tie a note to a balloon and let it go

Answer in the comments below!

Thanks

Have you met Miss Jones?

As I said in my previous post, I have flown through some books already this week. Before I begin however, I need to confess that I started a book from the list and was unable to continue with it.

I picked up Lolita and didn't get much further than the second chapter. The plot is about a paedophile essentially and despite the acclaim this book has received, I couldn't stomach reading it.

Onto a lighter topic now and I've finally read Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding. As with The Color Purple, I flew through this book in record time.

Most of you know the rough plot, if not from the film, with the events covering a year in Bridget's life as she has an affair with her boss, changes job and ends up with Mr Darcy whilst her mother goes through a midlife crisis.

I'm glad that I've read it as there were some very funny parts, however, I was exhausted by it. Helen Fielding's style is very quickfire and you certainly go through the book at a quick pace because of it.
I did love the entries where Bridget was drunk,

"Argor sworeal brilleve with Shazzan Jude"

Definitely a book of its generation, as younger readers won't remember a time without SkyPlus, mobile phones, email and no smoking allowed in public places, but is funny nonetheless. What a shame there aren't any other chick-lit books on my list as it was a welcome bit of light relief.

Don't walk past The Color Purple and not notice it

I've done well this week, started off with three books from the list and have read two of them, plus another for pleasure reading.

But first, The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

I'd been wanting to read this book since I sort of saw the film on the plane coming back from America, and I wasn't disappointed.
The book is written in the form of letters, with the majority being written by the main character Celie and then later by her sister Nettie to Celie.

The book covers about 30 years of their history, beginning when Celie is married off unvoluntarily to Mr. ___ (his character only gets a name towards the end of the book) to tend his house and look after his kids. She lives a hard life and is redeemed in the end as she achieves independence.

The language of the book took a little bit to get used to as Celie writes somewhat phonetically, in order to show her lack of literacy. Her sister has received a better education and as such her letters are written "normally".

I was also expecting a larger book when I went to get it from the library, but it was quite slim (maybe that's why I read it so quickly) and the format of the letters meant it was easy to get through as you could stop after a letter, rather than having to wait until the end of a chapter.

So why the title? The quote below from the book goes some way to explain it :

"I think it pisses God off when you walk by the colour purple in a field and don't notice it."

It is as though the writer is saying that just because you haven't noticed it, doesn't mean it isn't there, and it was put there to be noticed. The book covers various different issues which this statement could apply to; homosexuality; racism; exploitation; abuse and fundamentally religion.

For a small book, it is certainly profound and everyone should read it - regardless of who you are or what you believe in - you can take something from it.

"There's a dead man in my tent"

Otherwise known as the review of Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

This is one of the funniest books retrospectively I have read in a long time. It didn't make me laugh out loud during reading but looking back on the book as a whole it's pretty bonkers!

The book is set in WW2 in an American Air Force camp based in Italy and follows various different characters who fill in bits of the story which don't always make sense from another character's perspective.

So why did I find it funny? It was the complete lunacy which runs throughout the book. The enlisted men are seen as savage creatures, as opposed to those who were already in service before the war. At one point the chaplain explains that the enlisted men believe in the same God as the officers and should also take part in the prayer sessions. The Colonel is horrified and promptly cancels them!
Another character is declared legally dead by a commanding officer, even though he is alive and quite well and stood right next to him, because according to the records he was in a plane that crashed.

It could be seen as a bit sexist as the only women in the book are whores, and even the nurses are treated as the same but just go with it - there's a twist in the tale!

If you are even slightly anti-establishment or revel in seeing a perfect system being unravelled this book is for you. One recommendation is go through it a chapter at a time, don't stop in the middle of a chapter because it causes great confusion when you're reading about the same event for the second time.

Has anyone else read it?

Contemplating Atonement

Apologies again, I need more smacked hands for this, bad blogger Kiri!

Anyhoo, just finished Atonement by Ian McEwan. It was another one of those books where I'd already seen the film, but unlike most books, the film is a very faithful rendition.

The story is at its heart very simple, a young girl misconstrues something she sees and ends up condemning an innocent man, as she gets older she realises her error and is trying to atone for her injustice.

I loved reading the book and enjoyed seeing all the minute detail which had been portrayed accurately in the film. I would thoroughly recommend reading the book though as you get the insight into the characters heads that you don't quite get watching a film.

Has anyone else seen the film/read the book? What did you think?

Dracula - Let me introduce you to the Count ...

Some of you may know I am very much enjoying plowing my way through the Urban Fantasy section of Waterstones at the moment and that vampires, werewolves etc figure quite highly in my book collection.

However, I have a confession to make, up until Monday 18th April 2011, I had never read Bram Stoker's Dracula.
I'm not even sure why, I've only been obsessed with vampires since the age of 11.

First of all, I must point out if you haven't read it, the movies aren't anything like the book (isn't that always the case?) I kept making unfair comparisons between the film starring Gary Oldman which I deserve to have rapped hands for!

The book is written from several main character's perspectives in the form of their diaries. With each character adding their views and progressing the story along. I wasn't expecting this, but once I got into it, it made a good deal of sense.

What is a surprise, and what ultimately adds to the terror of this book, is that the Count's viewpoint is never shown; we don't know the motives behind his actions.

My only other point about this book is that I think I've been spoiled. Particularly in JR Ward's series of books, I have come to expect fantastic fighting scenes to climax the book. Dracula had all the right ingredients; a chase, trapping him at the end, fancy weapons, but it fell decidedly flat.

I would recommend this book to someone who isn't used to the vampire genre of books and/or the level of violence present in books. Again, as with 1984, I can see how it would have impacted back when it was first released, but I feel it just lacks that bit of oomph we've come to expect with vampires and the whatnot.

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So, after having found Dracula a disappointment who are your favourite vampires?