Month: March 2011

Categories
2011 Historical Fiction Recommended books

The Report – Jessica Francis Kane

Five words from the blurb: crowd, crushed, testimony, guilt, community

Shortly after writing my predictions for the Orange Prize I received an email from the publisher of The Report. She had high hopes it would make the Orange long list and having read the book I can see why – if I was on the judging panel I would have put it straight on the list. 

The Report is a fictional story based around the Bethnal Green Tube disaster – a tragedy in which 173 people were crushed to death trying to get inside the station during an air raid. It was the worst civilian disaster in Britain during WWII and I’m ashamed to say that I hadn’t even heard about it before.

The book personalises the terrible event by focusing on the experience of a mother and her two daughters, as well as those in charge of overseeing proceedings at the station. I immediately connected with the characters and felt their emotions very clearly.

Bertram stretched up as tall as he could, trying to see what was keeping the crowd back. All he could see was a jostling mass darker than the night. He smelled sweat on his shirt, and the breath and sweat of the people all around. His stomach heaved, his mouth convulsed as if it were not his own. He knew this street; it had always seemed so spacious. He remembered a bus accident that had once blocked the junction for hours, but that was a crowd paralysed by tragedy. This was a crowd in motion, a crowd with a destination, unprepared to change its course. Bertram felt elbows and shoulders; tears and sweat covered his cheeks, but he couldn’t raise his hands to wipe them – his arms were pinned.

The book also covers time after the incident  – showing the way in which authorities tried to cover up the tragedy and details of the subsequent enquiry. I found the testimonies gathered for this enquiry particularly interesting, as everyone responsible for making a tiny mistake that night felt an incredible weight of guilt. It showed our society’s terrible habit of needing to attribute blame when something like this happens, but also the futility of it all. I found this insight into our culture of blame thought-provoking and it has altered my perception of accidents like this – we should all just feel sadness; pointing the finger at someone does nothing to help.  

The Report is very well researched and totally gripping. If you like thought-provoking books with an emotional punch then I guarantee you will not be disappointed by it. Highly recommended. 

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The thoughts of other bloggers:

….somehow manages to play for its’ readers the full symphony of motivations, emotions, personalities and perspectives… Book Sexy Review

….a moving novel about a horrible event, and without any flowery description, Kane is able to generate much emotion. Diary of an Eccentric

….a surprisingly compelling novel about a seemingly unlikely subject. Devourer of Books

Categories
2000 - 2007 Books in Translation

The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers

 Translated from the German by John Brownjohn

Five words from the blurb:  Bluebear, marvels, myth, satire, entertaining

This book is crazy! It is like walking through a series of the strangest dreams and fantasies that are possible to imagine.

The book begins with a tiny baby blue bear floating on the sea in a walnut shell. Suddenly he feels the shell start to rotate and he is dragged towards a whirlpool. At the last minute he is rescued by Minipirates – exceptional seafarers who try to capture other vessels, but are so small that no-one notices their valiant attempts at piracy. The Minipirates teach Bluebear all about knots and waves, but he grows fast and soon becomes too big for their ship. This leads to Bluebear being abandoned on an island, but as with everything in this book, it isn’t a normal island.

After breakfast I made a regular habit of touring my domain. The island wasn’t very big, only a few hundred yards in diameter, perhaps, but chock-full of minor sensations. The singing flowers learned a new song every day, and I spent hours listening to their silvery voices and watching the butterflies perform their flirtatious aerial ballets. The squirrels, too, were fond of showing off their acrobatic skills. Most of the time one sat perched on my head or shoulder and let me carry it around.

Each section in the book describes one of Bluebear’s lives, so by the end we have witnessed the first 13 1/2 of of his 27 lives. The creatures that Bluebear meets and the situations he encounters are weird, varied and frequently stretch the imagination to breaking point. This could have been a problem for me, but I found it all very entertaining and I loved the fact that anything was possible.

I should probably warn you that this book is almost 700 pages long, but don’t be too daunted – it is illustrated throughout and so is much shorter than it seems.

 

It took me a long time to read this book because I found I needed time to absorb each bizarre new world. By taking it slowly I was rewarded by noticing the deeper meaning behind the words. It all seemed totally mad, but with careful analysis a lot of insight into the human psyche was revealed. It also worked as a fabulous satire of fairy tales and science fiction novels.

If you are willing to try something completely new then I recommend that you give this a try. I’m sure you’ll be charmed by this cute Bluebear!

 

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The thoughts of other bloggers:

The reader is allowed the unique experience of witnessing a character learn to speak, cry, feel fear, and so forth all for the first time.  Adventures in Reading

If you can imagine The Odyssey crossed with Doctor Who then you’ll have a pretty good idea of what this book is like.  Old English Rose Reads

Now this is just brilliant!  Now this is just brilliant! Bogormen

Categories
2010 Audio Book Memoirs

BBC Radio Dramatisation of Direct Red by Gabriel Weston

I have been wanting to read this book ever since I heard Gabriel Weston talk at a library event last year; so when I spotted that the BBC had created a dramatised version I started listening immediately. This book is just as witty, intelligent and insightful as I had hoped it would be and I urge you to listen to it before it disappears from the BBC iplayer* tomorrow evening (10:00PM GMT Fri, 18 Mar 2011).

Direct Red is a memoir of the author’s life as a surgeon. In a series of short stories she reveals the truth about life inside a hospital. She explains exactly what doctors are thinking about as they deal with patients – revealing everything from the initial embarrassment of dealing with genitalia to the heartbreak of seeing people die. I’m sure that some people in the medical profession will object to the public learning that their minds are not always on the task in hand, or that lives are often put in danger by a lack of staff, but I found the insight into hospital life fascinating.

If you are squeamish then this book probably isn’t for you as there are many graphic descriptions of medical procedures. I must also warn you that some of the scenes are very distressing and most do not have a happy outcome.

If you have ever thought that audiobooks are a waste of time then I urge you to give this a try – the cast of excellent actors add an extra dimension to the text.

This is a well written, emotional, insight into the mind of a surgeon. Highly recommended.

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* I think there may be problems listening to this outside the UK. If this is the case then I’m sure the text version is worth reading.

Categories
Book Prizes Orange Prize Other

The 2011 Orange Prize Longlist

Last week I predicted which books would make the Orange longlist. I correctly guessed eight of them, which I thought was quite good considering that I didn’t even know which books had been submitted.

The longlisted books:

  • Room – Emma Donoghue
  • The Birth of Love – Joanna Kavenna
  • Annabel – Kathleen Winter 
  • Louise Doughty – Whatever You Love 
  • Nicole Krauss – Great House DNF
  • Roma Tearne – The Swimmer DNF
  • Téa Obreht – The Tiger’s Wife DNF
  • Emma Henderson – Grace Williams Says it Loud DNF
  • Leila Aboulela – Lyrics Alley
  • Carol Birch – Jamrach’s Menagerie
  • Tishani Doshi – The Pleasure Seekers
  • Jennifer Egan – A Visit from the Goon Squad
  • Aminatta Forna – The Memory of Love
  • Tessa Hadley – The London Train
  • Samantha Hunt – The Seas
  • Lola Shoneyin – The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives
  • Wendy Law-Yone – The Road to Wanting
  • Julie Orringer – The Invisible Bridge
  • Anne Peile – Repeat it Today with Tears
  • Karen Russell – Swamplandia!

NB: DNF = Started book, but did not finish it.

My immediate thoughts on looking at the list were of disappointment. Why didn’t the outstanding The History of History by Ida Hattemer-Higgins make it? What about the quirky, entertaining When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman?

 

 

 

 

 

I was very happy to see Room by Emma Donoghue and The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna, but many of the other books on the list have failed to engage me. I have tried and given up on a surprising percentage. It looks as though the Orange Prize judges all share a taste in books as I can see many similarites in style and have noticed that plot isn’t a high priority for any of them. This worries me when I think about tackling the rest of the long list.

 

 

 

 

 

Are any books with fantastic plots hiding in the longlist?

Have I just been unlucky in reading books with a similar style? Is the rest of the list more diverse?

I am going to try the entire longlist, but I am not going to complete them all. I love the way these prizes introduce me to many books that I haven’t heard of, but I’m no longer going to force myself to complete anything that I’m not enjoying. I’m especially looking forward to reading  The Invisible Bridge, A Visit from the Goon Squad and Swamplandia!, but I am also interested in trying the ones that I haven’t heard of before.

Which books are you looking forward to reading?

What do you think of the Orange longlist?

Categories
2011 Other Prizes

Annabel by Kathleen Winter

 Shortlisted for the 2010 Giller Prize

Five words from the blurb: baby, secret, boy, girl, struggle

Annabel begins in 1968 with the birth of a baby in a remote part of north-west Canada. Everything about the infant is normal, apart from the fact it has both male and female sexual organs. In order to fit in the parents decide to bring their child up as a boy called Wayne, keeping the dual sex a secret from almost everyone – including Wayne. This book is a coming-of age story in which Wayne slowly learns the truth about his birth and battles against the inner female feelings he calls “Annabel”.

The writing was very crisp and precise, with many beautiful descriptions of life in this harsh, cold community. Unfortunately the distant, almost clinical writing style made it hard to connect with the characters on an emotional level. I longed to know what was going on inside Wayne’s head, but instead the reader is just an outside observer, witnessing only the major events in his life. I wanted to know his thoughts on a day-to-day level, but unfortunately I was only able to get brief glimpses of his inner turmoil. 

The child knew that a grim, matter-of-fact attitude was required of him by his father, and he learned how to exhibit such an attitude, and he did not mind it because it was the way things were, but it was not his authentic self. His authentic self loved to fold paper in half and cut out elaborate bilaterally symmetrical shapes: curlicues, geometrics, architectural planes that bore elaborate sills at the bottom and came to luxurious apexes.

Much of the book was written from the perspective of the parents and this raised some complex parenting issues. I initially enjoyed thinking about the pros and cons of letting a child be themselves versus the importance of fitting into society, but I quickly realised that I really wanted the book to concentrate on Wayne. Every time the narrative followed another character I became frustrated and longed for the focus to switch back to him. The last few chapters almost managed to satisfy my craving for knowledge of Wayne, but it was too little, too late.

Annabel was compelling enough to draw me through to the end, but I was left unsatisfied by the novel as a whole. In comparison to the wonderful Middlesex this book was lacking depth and emotion.

Recommended to those who like their fiction restrained, without any hint of melodrama.

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Opinions were mixed on this one:

The whole story was heartbreaking and beautiful. Amy Reads

To be honest, I had a hard time with the first half of this rather large book. The Mookse and the Gripes

I feel like I’m doing a lot of gushing lately, but I really, really loved this book. Reading Through Life

Categories
Other

Things I Love From Japan

For the last two days I have been glued to the TV and Internet, watching the horrific events unfolding in Japan. It doesn’t feel right to let the situation pass without mention, but I don’t feel I can add much to the extensive media coverage that is already out there. Instead I’ll briefly explain why I love Japan and introduce you to a few of my favourite Japanese things.

I have been to Japan three times and so have spent a reasonable amount of time in the country. I love it there! The scenery is beautiful, the culture is fascinating and the food is delicious. Basically it has everything you could ever want in a holiday. I can only begin to imagine the suffering that is taking place there now. It is all so sad.

It will be a long time before I stop thinking about Japan so I thought I’d try to add some positivity to the situation and highlight a few things from the country that you can enjoy without going there:

Out by Natsuo Kirino


This is the best thriller I’ve ever read. It contains numerous moral conundrums on top of vivid characters and a compelling plot. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Sesame Sauce

I used to bulk buy bottles of this sesame sauce whenever I went to Japan, but I have now discovered that I can buy it at The Japan Centre in Piccadilly. This means I always have some available and can spread it all over my salads without fear of running out.  

Kodamas

I love Japanese mythology – their stories always seem so much more exciting than ours. Kodamas are tree spirits and they are so cute! Here is a short video explaining a bit about them.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

This was my first introduction to the bizarre world of Murakami. Weird and wonderful. Everyone should experience Murakami.

The Films of Miyazaki

The above kodama clip comes from Princess Mononoke, but I have loved every Miyazaki film that I’ve seen. You never know what will happen next and the stories are so different from anything I’ve watched before. Highly recommended.

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 Which things from Japan do you love?

You can donate to the Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal here.