Month: September 2009

Categories
2009 Books in Translation Chunkster Other Prizes

2666 – Roberto Bolaño. Part 4: The Part About the Crimes

Steph and Claire are hosting a read-along for the highly acclaimed book, 2666, by Chilean author Roberto Bolaño. The novel is 900 pages long, and divided into 5 parts. We are reading one part a month.

Here are my thoughts on Part 4: The Part About the Crimes

I loved Part 3, I felt that all the random, seemingly unconnected events of the first two parts were finally coming together. The end of the third section was such a cliffhanger that for the first time in this read-along I was tempted to dive straight into the fourth part. I had also read many reviews for 2666 which stated that all the action finally occurred in Part 4.

Unfortunately, Part 4 did not live up to my expectations, and I found it to be the weakest section so far.

As suggested by the title, this section focuses on the crimes. Throughout the first three sections we had heard snippets of information about the chain of women murdered in the town of Santa Teresa, but no specific facts. This section corrects that by giving detailed information about every victim. Almost every paragraph introduces us to a new victim, noting the month they were murdered, their physical appearance and the way in which they were killed. Instead of giving a voice to each of these unfortunate woman I felt that the repetition distanced me from each of them. The continual jumping from one person to the next meant that I didn’t connect with any of them, and they became of blur of names, dates and physical attributes.

I had been worried about the violence in this section, as several people had warned me about the graphic detail, but because I felt no emotional connection to the victims the violence did not bother me at all. Some of the descriptions were more brutal than others, but none of them affected me at all. In fact this entire section left me cold. It felt more like police notes than a novel and I gained little enjoyment from reading it at all.

I made a note of several quotes that I thought would be representative of this chapter and was interested to discover that they all sounded more beautiful and profound when taken out of context:

I’m talking about visions that would take away the breath of the bravest of brave men. In dreams I see the crimes and it’s as if a television set has exploded and I keep seeing, in the little shards of screen scattered around my bedroom, horrible scenes, endless tears.

It seemed as though being surrounded by the details of the crimes reduced the beauty of everything.

I am now apprehensive about reading the final section. I am really hoping that everything comes together in a complex and impressive way, as otherwise I think I will be disappointed by the book as a whole.

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Were you affected by the graphic violence in this section?

Are you looking forward to reading the final part?

Categories
Other Science Fiction

Science Fiction Challenge

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Mish from Stage and Canvas is hosting the Sci-fi challenge, which encourages participants to read “3.14 or 8 sci-fi books from August 28 2009 to August 8 2010″.

I’m not normally a fan of science fiction, but recently a few titles have grabbed my attention, so I’m going to take the plunge and give it a go.

I think 3.14 books is a very appropriate number for me and I think I may find the 0.14 part of a book quite easy to achieve!!

The books I plan to read are:

Perdido Street Station– China Mieville

Ender’s Game– Orson Scott Card

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick

Can anyone recommend any other good books for a non-science fiction lover like me?

Do you enjoy science fiction?

Categories
2009 YA

Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins

I loved The Hunger Games, so was really looking forward to reading Catching Fire. Unfortunately I was disappointed. Perhaps because I have been immersed in the Bookers, I was immediately struck by the poor quality of the writing. I don’t remember having the same problem with The Hunger Games, but then I didn’t read 13 Bookers before starting it!

The first half of the book was also quite slow. It has been 6 months since I read The Hunger Games, so I probably did need to be reminded of some of the smaller plot details, but I became irrated by the continual references to the first book. I felt patronised and bored. It took almost half the book before the plot began to take off, but when it did I was again disappointed. Catching Fire just seemed to take all the best bits from The Hunger Games and repeat them in a less convincing way.

There was a point in the middle when district 13 was mentioned that I began to think things would take a turn for the better, but sadly it veered away from this potentially great thread to follow a much more disappointing one. I am sure that the third book in the trilogy will be great, but I don’t think this one was necessary – it felt like they had taken a great two book story and padded it out into a trilogy, as by the end the plot didn’t seem to have made any progression from the first book.

If you loved The Hunger Games then you’ll have to read this anyway, but please be warned that you may be disappointed. Catching Fire is a quick, mildly entertaining read, but the frustration and disappointment I felt meant that I can’t recommend it.

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If you haven’t read Catching Fire yet: What do you hope will happen in it?

I know I’m in the minority with my opinion. What made you love Catching Fire?

Are you more or less excited about the final book in the trilogy after reading this one?

Categories
2008 Audies Audio Book Book Prizes Books for Children Other Prizes

The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman (Audio Book)

 

Winner of the Hugo Award 2009 for Best Novel, Newbery Medal 2009,  Locus YA book of the Year 2009, Audie Audiobook of the Year 2009.

The Graveyard Book seems to have won every prize going in the past year. I haven’t read any of Neil Gaiman’s books before, so was really interested to find out what they were like. When I discovered that The Graveyard Book had won audio book of the year at The Audies, I decided that I had to listen to it straight away.

I was immediately impressed by Neil Gaiman’s narration. It is great to discover an author who is able to skillfully read his own books.

The story begins with a toddler escaping from home after his family have been murdered. The little boy seeks refuge in a graveyard and it’s ghostly residents decide to look after him; protecting him from the killer who continues to search for him.

The plot is quite gentle and although there are some potentially scary scenes, only the smallest of children would be afraid. I think this is a lovely children’s book, but the simplicity of the storyline makes this an unsatisfying adult read.

I enjoyed listening to it, as Neil Gaiman’s narration added to the atmosphere, but I think I would have been disappointed had I read the book. I think even teenagers would find this book too light to appeal.

If you know any 10-year-olds then go and buy them the audio book straight away, but I’m afraid I can’t recommend this to adults.

Adult rating: stars3h

10-year-old rating: stars4h

Did you enjoy The Graveyard Book?

Have you read any of Neil Gaiman’s other books?

Would I find any of them more satisfying?

Categories
Booker Prize Other

The 2009 Booker Shortlist

The 2009 Booker shortlist has just been announced. The six books chosen were:.

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I am so disappointed that my favourite books didn’t make it. I had hoped that at least one of my top three would, but unfortunately they didn’t, so I’ll just have to remind you that I recommend these three books:

The Wilderness – Samantha Harvey stars51

Heliopolis – James Scudamore stars4h

How to Paint a Dead Man – Sarah Hall stars4h

This year’s shortlist contains all the big names and I am so sad that the lesser known, but equally talented, authors were ignored. Coetzee, Byatt and Mantel are all great authors, but their books concentrate on writing, at the expense of a good plot. A really talented author is capable of producing a book which everyone enjoys. For that reason I am hoping The Glass Room wins.

Simon Mawer has produced an amazing book, which manages to combine stunning prose with a compelling plot. I really hope the judges can make up for their poor shortlist selection by crowning Mawer the Booker winner 2009!

What do you think of the shortlist?

Do you think they made the right choice?

Which book would you like to win?

Categories
1960s

The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar was the first book chosen by my new book group. I apologise for the length of time it has taken me to write this review (more than a month – I have just posted the review for the second book group choice!), but I was so busy with the Bookers that this review kept getting pushed to the bottom of the pile.

The Bell Jar was originally published in 1963, just a few weeks before the author committed suicide. I had avoided this book in the past, as I thought it would be a dark, depressing book, but I was pleasantly surprised. The book does deal with some difficult subject matter, but it never felt oppressive. I found myself smiling at several sections, and never felt sad.

The book begins with Esther Greenwood,  a young woman, heading to New York to begin an internship with a New York Fashion magazine. Despite being set in 1953 the writing felt very modern. The majority of this section could easily have happened yesterday and I was immediately drawn to her. 

Instead of enjoying her new life Esther quickly becomes overwhelmed by it. She spirals into a depression and makes several feeble, almost comical, attempts at suicide. The treatment she receives for her depression is a stark reminder of how much mental health care has improved in the last 50 years. There were also some interesting sections showing how life for women has changed over the years.

Finally I decided that if it was so difficult to find a red-blooded intelligent man who was still pure by the time he was twenty-one I might as well forget about staying pure myself and marry somebody who wasn’t pure either. Then when he started to make my life miserable I could make his miserable as well.

This book was easy to read, and due to the large number of discussion points, perfect for book groups.

Recommended.

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Have you read The Bell Jar?

Did you find it depressing?

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