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The difference between Murakami in Japan and the rest of the world.

Booker drop their sponsorship of the Man Asian Literary Prize.

David Mitchell talks about seeing Cloud Atlas on screen and about books/reading.

Lab Lit: Fantastic website dedicated to accurate portrayal of laboratory culture/science in literature, media.

Book published in 1899 tries to predict what the world will be like in 1999.

Infographic showing how to win the Booker prize

The world’s smallest book, “Teeny Ted from Tunip Town,” is thirty pages long and as wide as a strand of human hair.

Rovio, the producers of Angry Birds, announce their first book app.

The longlist for the 2013 DSC South Asian Literary Prize has been announced.

Felix Baumgartner’s Jump Re-enacted in Lego:

I hope you enjoy browsing these links.
Have a great weekend!!

Categories
2000 - 2007

The Portrait by Iain Pears

The Portrait

Five words from the blurb: art, critic, sitting, power, canvas

I loved Stone’s Fall when I read it a few years ago and so was excited about trying one of his other books. Unfortunately, although it was written just as skillfully, The Portrait wasn’t to my taste.

The Portrait is set at the beginning of the 20th century and the entire book takes the form of a monologue given by portrait painter, Henry Morris MacAlpine. Henry has summoned William Naysmith, a highly-influential art critic, to his home in order to paint his portrait. The pair used to be friends, but as the book progresses the reader learns the truth about their history together.

The writing quality was excellent throughout, but the style grated on me. It sounds odd to say this, but it felt a bit impolite to have someone speaking non-stop at me. I longed to hear the other side of the conversation, or a description, or anything other than his endless musings.

If you want to break with the past, exterminate history beyond all hope of recovery, there is no better way of accomplishing it than a good conversation, I find. I think it was the discipline of it which attracted me. I was, after all, living in this house on my own, without any attachments, and I needed to give some form to the week. You’ll see that it has influenced my painting considerably.

The fact I’m not an art fan probably didn’t help. References to famous painters went over my head and discussions of painting techniques bored me. I only made it to the end because it was a short book and because I’d heard about the surprising ending. Unfortunately I didn’t find the ending surprising – it had been hinted at from the beginning.

If you aren’t put off by the sound of a 200 page monologue on portrait painting then you’ll probably love this, but I’m going to put this experience to the back of my mind and look forward to reading An Instance Of The Fingerpost.

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The thoughts of other bloggers

The Portrait is an easy novel to underrate. Winged Centaur

No doubt it is probably more pretentious than some people will care for, but I rather enjoyed it nonetheless. A Librarian’s Life in Books

…..an entertaining little book! Bibliolatry

Categories
Booker Prize Other

Hilary Mantel wins 2012 Booker Prize

Bring up the Bodies

Hilary Mantel won the 2012 Booker Prize for the second book in her Tudor trilogy, Bring up the Bodies.

I’m a bit surprised that they’ve given her the prize for the second time and am feeling a little deflated about the result. I guess this means I’ll be trying Wolf Hall on audio at some point in the near future. Hopefully I’ll have better luck with that format as the text version didn’t do much for me.

Categories
2012 Non Fiction Other Recommended books

1001 Books: You Must Read Before You Die

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (1001 Must Before You Die)

Last year I bought 1001 Children’s Books: You Must Read Before You Grow Up and spent many happy hours (and far too much money!) investigating books for my children. I therefore jumped at the chance to review the adult version, 1001 Books: You Must Read Before You Die.

Weighing nearly 2kg, this chunky book contains a wealth of information. It is divided into four sections (pre 1800, 1800s, 1900s, and 2000s); with each book summarised in around 300 words. As an example, (and a great excuse to mention my all-time favourite book!) here is where it mentions A Fine Balance:

The text gives a brief summary of the plot (without a hint of spoilers) and then goes on to explain why the chosen book is important. Each review is bursting with positivity.

a beautiful and devastating novel whose genius lies in its refusal to allow the reader to escape into either pathos or cynicism.

It is easy to get swept up in the enthusiasm of each page, buying lots of books on a whim (I know that from my year-long relationship with the children’s version!). I’ll take that as a good sign – anything that encourages reading is fantastic.

The wonderful thing about this book is that it doesn’t just focus on classics from the English speaking world and so, although I was familiar with the majority of the titles mentioned, there were still lots of interesting books for me to investigate.

Don’t these sound interesting?

The Taebek Mountains by Jo Jung-rae
A Korean epic which “skilfully conveys intimate personal dramas” whilst playing them “out in a climax of suspicion and terror”

Lady Number Thirteen by Jose Carlos Somoza
A Cuban novel “full of supernatural portents”. “A novel as exciting as it is intelligent.”

The only problem with this is that many of the books (including the two mentioned above) aren’t actually translated into English yet and this can be frustrating. This isn’t the fault of the person compiling the book, in fact I admire them. It just highlights the number of amazing books that we are missing out on in the UK. I hope that the stigma around translated books reduces with time and more of these outstanding books can make their way onto our shelves.

Overall I can’t fault this book – it is perfect for all bibliophiles. The only problem is the fact it highlights how many amazing books there are and simple calculations show it will be difficult to fit them all in before we die.

 

 

Categories
Booker Prize Other

Who will win the 2012 Booker Prize?

Who will win the 2012 Booker Prize? I don’t know! For the first time in several years there isn’t a clear front runner and I wouldn’t be surprised to see any of the books win. That isn’t a bad thing – I think it is wonderful that all the books on the shortlist have their own merits. Trying to decide which of the books, each with their own different style and function, should take the top spot is a tricky decision, but that doesn’t stop me trying!

Here’s how I’d order the shortlist:

6. The Lighthouse by Alison Moore

The Lighthouse (Salt Modern Fiction)

This book was actually my second favourite from the shortlist, but I found the symbolism a bit heavy-handed. It is a fantastic book club choice, but I don’t think it has the originality or power to win the Booker.

My rating:

5. Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Bring up the Bodies

I admit that I didn’t even try this one. Having abandoned Wolf Hall I know that Mantel’s style isn’t for me, but I think the judges would have to be very brave to give an author a second Booker Prize. The book would have to be outstanding and there would have to be unanimous agreement that it was head and shoulders above the other contenders. I don’t think that is the case. This book may be more focused and enjoyable to read, but with a shortlist this strong I can’t see justification for it winning.

My rating: Did not start

4. Umbrella by Will Self

Umbrella

I abandoned this one. I struggle with stream-of-consciousness at the best of times, but found this impenetrable. The majority of people seem to agree so I can’t see it receiving enough love for an entire panel of people to vote it into the top position.

My rating: Did not finish

3. Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil

Narcopolis

This book was wonderfully atmospheric, but the dream-like, hallucinogenic nature of the writing didn’t appeal to me. I abandoned it, but can see that the star quality of the writing could easily justify a Booker win. This could be a surprise winner.

My rating: Did not finish

 2. Swimming Home by Deboragh Levy

Swimming Home

I found this book too skeletal, but as a reflection on the last century of literature it is genius. There are so many little references for fiction lovers to spot and I know this appeals to more scholarly people (Booker judges?). I wouldn’t be surprised to see this win.

 My rating:

1. The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

The Garden of Evening Mists

This book has everything I like to see in a Booker winner. It has an outstanding quality of writing, the depth and complexity to sustain multiple re-readings, and is clever without being pretentious. The fact it sheds light on a different culture is an added bonus. I can’t think of any reason why it shouldn’t be awarded the prize. I’m keeping all my fingers and toes crossed for it.

My rating:

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Who do you think will win the Booker Prize?

What do you think of the order I have the books in?

 

 

 

 

Categories
2012 Booker Prize

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

The Garden of Evening Mists Shortlisted for 2012 Booker Prize

Five words from the blurb: Malaya, Japanese, war, gardener, tattoo

The Garden of Evening Mists is set in a remote region of Northern Malaya. It is here that Yun Ling Teoh, the sole survivor of a Japanese concentration camp, discovers a Japanese garden. She meets the skilled craftsman who created it, but because the tranquility of the garden is in stark contrast to the horrific way she was treated by the Japanese during the war her relationship with him is difficult and emotional. As the book progresses the story becomes more complex; involving escalating violence within the country, mysterious tattoos and Yun Ling’s terrible experiences in the concentration camp.

I’m not a fan of gardening so this book didn’t appeal to me initially, but the more I read, the more I fell under its spell. By the end I was transfixed and impressed by the depth and complexity of the narrative. I was also surprised by the way the author made me interested in both the construction of Japanese gardens and horimono tattoos – it takes a skilled author to bring such diverse topics to life.

The descriptive passages in the book were wonderful – they described the Malayan jungle and the Japanese garden beautifully. Unfortunately the dialogue didn’t seem to be of the same high standard – I found it clunky and irritating. The following passage is a good example of the way dialogue ruined a good descriptive passage:

The lights in the garden came on, dizzying the flying insects. A frog croaked. A few other frogs took up the call and then more still until the air and earth vibrated with a thousand gargles.
‘Ah Cheong’s gone home,’ said Frederik. ‘He’ll come tomorrow morning. I brought you some groceries. I imagine you haven’t had time to go to the shops yet.’
‘That’s very thoughtful of you.’
‘There’s something I need to discuss with you. Perhaps tomorrow morning, if you’re up to it?’
‘I’m an early riser’
‘I hadn’t forgotten.’ His eyes hovered over my face. ‘ You’re going to be alright on your own?’
‘I’ll be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
He looked unconvinced, but nodded. Then he turned and walked away, taking the path I had just come along, and disappeared into the shadows beneath the trees.

As I made my way further into the book the dialogue became less of a problem. I can’t decide whether this is because I got used to it and so it began to feel natural, or because the plot became more gripping and so I could overlook any problems I had.

I wasn’t very familiar with the history of Malaya before starting this book, but the historical events were seamlessly blended into the plot and I didn’t find my lack of previous knowledge to be a hindrance. It was wonderful to read such a culturally rich book and I loved learning  little snippets of information about both Malaya and Japan.

The Garden of Evening Mists is a fantastic novel. It is beautifully structured, packed with complex characters, and contains a haunting narrative that introduces the reader to a period of history that is often overlooked. I hope it wins the Booker Prize next week.

(I nearly gave it 4.5 stars and can see that my appreciation of it may grow with time)

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The thoughts of other bloggers:

The over-arching sense of place spans the whole book beautifully – there were times I felt I could close my eyes and see the whole estate laid out before me. Alex in Leeds

The Japanese-style garden of the title, located in a mountainous region of Malaysia, displays characteristics of organization, order, and beauty that the author mirrors in his construction of the text: absences, internal borrowings, sudden revelations through carefully revealed scenes, and many other attributes of artful design. Read, Ramble

 Although this book is reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day I thought Tan brought something extra to the piece. He brought more culture, more plotting. JoV’s Book Pyramid