Categories
1990s Classics

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

Birdsong

Five words from the blurb: WWI, affair, mud, doomed, love

I’ve wanted to read this book for a long time, but I kept postponing the event because I worried that I wouldn’t enjoy it. For some reason I thought it would be a slow romance and so I was surprised to discover that most of this book is set in the trenches of WWI and it contains some of the most vivid battle scenes I’ve ever come across.

The book begins with Englishman, Stephen Wraysford, travelling to France on business. He falls in love with the wife of his host and their secret love affair forces them to make difficult choices about what really matters in their lives. Fast-forward a few years and Stephen finds himself deep in the trenches of WWI. He must put his thoughts of love aside and concentrate on the lives of the soldiers around him.

I found the experience of reading this book very strange as although I had no emotional connection to the characters I still wanted to know what happened to them. In each scene I didn’t care whether or not an individual lived or died, but the tension was mounted perfectly and it frequently had my heart racing.

The descriptions of what life was like for those fighting in the trenches were outstanding and I don’t think I’ll ever forget them.

The men loved jokes, though they had heard each one before. Jack’s manner was persuasive; few of them had seen the old stories so well delivered. Jack himself laughed a little, but he was able to see the effect his performance had on his audience. The noise of their laughter roared like the sea in his ears. He wanted it louder and louder; he wanted them to drown out the war with their laughter. If they could shout loud enough, they might bring the world back to its senses; they might laugh loud enough to raise the dead.

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy the sections set in the 1970s. Every time the book entered this more modern era I became bored and longed for it to return to the gritty realism of the war. In the end I could see why these bits were added, but I think the book would have been better without them.

The last WWI scene was particularly poignant and is one of the most important pieces of war writing I’ve ever read.

This is a modern classic and I can see why it keeps cropping up on those lists of books everyone should read. It has its faults, but these are far outweighed by the positives.

Highly recommended.

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This book was given to me by the BBC shop in exchange for an honest review.

Categories
Orange Prize Other

Who will be longlisted for the 2012 Orange Prize?

The longlist for the 2012 Orange Prize will be announced on the 8th March.

The prize is awarded to the woman who, in the opinion of the judges, has written the best, eligible full-length novel in English.

Here is my prediction for the 20 novels that will be selected on Thursday:

State of WonderThe Buddha in the AtticSarah ThornhillThe Forgotten Waltz

Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright

 

Gillespie and IA Cupboard Full of CoatsThere but for theCaleb's Crossing

Gillespie and I by Jane Harris

A Cupboard Full of Coats by Yvvette Edwards

There but for the by Ali Smith

Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

 

The Land of DecorationPainter of SilenceThe Good MuslimAll is Song

The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen

Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding

The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam

All is Song by Samantha Harvey

.

The Roundabout ManAll That I Am22 Britannia RoadThe Snow Child

The Roundabout Man by Clare Morrall

All That I Am by Anna Funder

22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

.

SolaceThe DovekeepersMr FoxThe Lifeboat

Solace by Belinda McKeon

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

Mr Fox by Helen Oyeyemi

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

 

Which books do you think will make it onto the Orange longlist?

Have I missed any obvious contenders?

Categories
2012 Uncategorized

The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson

The Orphan Master's Son

Five words from the blurb: North Korea, kidnapper, spy, glory, love

After reading the outstanding Nothing to Envy I found myself craving more stories from North Korea. The Orphan Master’s Son fitted the bill perfectly and so I dived straight in.

The story revolves around Jun Do, the son of an orphanage manager, who joins the military. Initially he is combat trained in the tunnels of the de-militarised zone between North and South Korea, but he is then sent on secret missions to kidnap Japanese citizens from the beaches of Japan.

At first, Jun Do had been thinking, Grab her here, pressure her there, but then a sick feeling rose in him. As the two rolled, Jun Do could see that she had wet herself, and the rawness of it, the brutality of what was happening, was newly clear to him.

These first hundred pages were fantastic. The atmosphere and emotions were perfectly captured in tense, vivid scenes that highlighted the horrible situations that North Koreans have to endure.

Unfortunately everything went downhill after this. Jun Do’s transfer to a fishing boat retained the vivid descriptions, but I felt the writing became overly masculine, veering towards that of a spy thriller. The ending of this section pushed the boundaries of believability and introduced an American senator. The American scenes jarred with the rest of the book and I found them very irritating. The continual comparisons between life in America and life in North Korea were unnecessary and I found them patronising.

Things deteriorated further in the second half. This section focused on Commander Ga, a military official, and an actress called Sun Moon. Their lives in Pyongyang were obviously satirical, but I’m afraid I didn’t find it amusing. The wonderful realism of the first few chapters were a distant memory as I read stories about Korean citizens that were either obviously untrue, or worse, were acting like Americans dropped in a difficult situation rather than people who had grown up with communism their entire lives. 

The more I read, the more annoyed I became. I’m sure other readers will appreciate this section, but I’m not a fan of satire and the way their lives were parodied made me sad. It felt as though the reader was supposed to laugh at various aspects of their lives and I don’t think this is right.

I’m sure this book will generate a lot of attention, especially in America, but I’m not sure this is a good thing. I don’t think people have a strong enough knowledge of North Korea to know which parts are true and which are fabricated. I wish that this book had been limited to its first half; that way people would just read a fantastic book with a slightly disappointing ending, instead of an overly long book with numerous unrealistic impressions of this mysterious society.

First 100 pages:  

Remaining 300 pages:

Overall:

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The thoughts of other bloggers:

The book is a remarkable achievement and perhaps give more idea about daily life in North Korea than anything else on the market. A Common Reader

With accurate descriptive language, Johnson describes unsettling scenes throughout the entire novel in a way that actually makes you feel and taste the fear the characters encounter. Where Pen Meets Paper

I had an incredibly difficult time getting through this one.  Take Me Away

 

Categories
Other

February Summary and Plans for March

February has been a very enjoyable reading month for me. I’ve kept to my strict abandonment policy and been rewarded with one good book after another.

Book of the Month

Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea 

Books reviewed in February:

Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick 

The Death of Grass by John Christopher 

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey 

Do No Harm by Carol Topolski 

Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles 

Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson 

A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé 

Purgatory by Tomás Eloy Martínez 

The Twyborn Affair by Patrick White DNF

 

Plans for March

I’m going to finish The Half Brother, an amazing Norwegian book, which has been dominating my February reading time because it contains 750 pages of tiny type. I also hope to read most of these:

A Death in the Family by Karl Ove Knausgaard

The Golden Scales by Parker Bilal

The Great Singapore Penis Panic by Scott Mendelson

The Boy Who Fell To Earth by Kathy Lette

Death in Breslau by Marek Krajewski

The Roundabout Man by Clare Morrall

We the Animals by Justin Torres

I hope that you have a wonderful March!