Month: June 2013

2013 Books in Translation

The Dinner by Herman Koch

Post author By Jackie
Post date June 12, 2013
21 Comments on The Dinner by Herman Koch

Translated from the Dutch by Sam Garrett

Five words from the blurb: teenage, sons, crime, protect, responsibility

The Dinner is a fast paced roller coaster of a read. It is set over a single evening in which two couples get together for dinner in a fancy restaurant. They need to discuss what to do about their teenage sons, who have committed a terrible crime. Over the course of the evening the reader slowly finds out what happened and sees the effect this has on the different members of the family.

The book is a psychological thriller that looks at parental responsibility and questions how far parents should go to protect their children. The dynamics of the relationships between the different individuals were captured perfectly and it was interesting to see how their interactions changed as they revealed secrets to each other.

There were wonderful snippets of humor and observational insight, particularly around restaurant etiquette. This added a lightness that prevented the otherwise dark subject matter from becoming overbearing:

The guests, however, pretended not to notice; in a restaurant where you had to pay ten euros for the apertif of the house, the rules of etiquette probably didn’t allow for an open display of recognition. They all seemed to lean a few fractions of an inch closer to their plates, all apparently doing their best at the same time to forge ahead with their conversations, to avoid falling silent, because the volume of the general hubbub increased audibly as well.

I can’t fault the structure or pacing of the book, but I’m afraid that the content was dwarfed by the genius of We Need to Talk About Kevin. Although The Dinner was highly entertaining, it didn’t have the same emotional impact as Kevin and it failed to add anything new to the discussion on parental responsibility. I also found the twists towards the end a little unrealistic and so this reduced my enjoyment of it slightly.

I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a gripping read. It has more depth than the average thriller and the number of discussion points make it the perfect book club choice.

The thoughts of other bloggers:

…a very well-balanced read, that touched a number of different taste buds. Kevin from Canada

There are many inner monologues that, while interesting, halt the flow. Dog Ear Discs

The repressed violence and cold manipulation that infects and bursts out of the characters in The Dinner is chilling. Words of Mercury

2013

Dirty Work by Gabriel Weston

Post author By Jackie
Post date June 10, 2013
11 Comments on Dirty Work by Gabriel Weston

Five words from the blurb: abortion, taboo, confronts, truth, tribunal

Before reading My Notorious Life I don’t think I’d read a book with the central theme of abortion, so it was slightly strange to discover another book, published on exactly the same day, covering the same theme. Is this a strange coincidence, or have we reached a point in time where authors finally feel comfortable talking about this emotive subject?

Two years ago I listened to a Radio 4 adaptation of Gabriel Weston’s memoir, Direct Red, and was very impressed. Dirty Work is much slower in pace, but gives the same wonderful insights into the mind of a doctor.

The book follows Nancy, a gynaecologist, who finds herself performing abortions. One day a routine termination goes horribly wrong and Nancy must take part in disciplinary proceedings so she and her management can understand what happened.

As I was reading the book I was slightly confused as to its purpose; it was only when I finished the final page that I appreciated how clever it was. The book doesn’t look at arguments for or against abortion, instead it looks at things from an entirely new perspective: that of the abortion provider. It made me feel deep empathy for those who perform abortions as they go from performing life saving gynaecological surgery one minute to termination the next. They often hide their profession from friends and family and face persecution from society. There are no easy answers, but any book that asks such difficult questions is well worth reading.

Julia’s fond of saying I did my first abortion with my eyes half shut. That I never signed up for the events that dominate my life now. It makes her angry that no one ever sat me down and asked explicitly whether I wanted to learn how to perform a termination. And of course I see her point. It is surprising, with all the namby-pamby talk in the medical world these days, the communication skills this, and cultural diversity that, that no such discussion ever took place.

For a book containing such a disturbing theme the writing was surprisingly quiet. The only section containing a graphic description of abortion was right at the end. This passage was written in italics so could easily be avoided by the squeamish or those who don’t want disturbing images in their head, but I felt this section was extremely important and I’m glad I read it.

Overall, this is an important, thought provoking book. It asks many difficult questions and I recommend it to anyone who’d like an insight into the mind of a gynaecological surgeon.

Tags Abortion

2013 Historical Fiction Recommended books

My Notorious Life by Kate Manning

Post author By Jackie
Post date June 7, 2013
14 Comments on My Notorious Life by Kate Manning

Five words from the blurb: poverty, midwife, controversial, trust, downfall

My Notorious Life is the best 2013 release I’ve read so far. It is an atmospheric and engaging story about Axie, a midwife in 19th century New York who begins to perform abortions.

Axie has a difficult start in life. After the death of her mother she is separated from her brother and sister and finds herself working as an apprentice to a midwife. She learns the craft and begins to realise that some women face persecution, and even death, if they continue with a pregnancy. Axie begins her own clinic performing a wide range of midwifery services, but spends some of her time performing secret and controversial acts that prevent or terminate pregnancy.

The wonderful thing about this book is the sensitive way it handles such a difficult subject. It skillfully shows both sides of the abortion argument, leaving the reader to make their own judgement about what is right or wrong. Much of this book is based on historical fact and it is heartbreaking to know that so many women suffered in the ways described within these pages. I think this book will make many people look at abortion in a new light, or at least help them to realise what a difficult choice these women made – with both decisions leaving deep emotional scars for life.

The writing was wonderfully vivid and I loved the way the sights, sounds and smells were described so evocatively that the reader is made to feel as though they are there:

-It is so dark, said the Gentleman when he started up our stairs. I saw the wrinkle of his toffee nose as the smells choked him in the nostrils, the cabbage cooking and the p*** in the vestibule, the chamber pots emptied right off the stair. Mackerel heads and pigeon bones was all rotting, and McGloon’s pig rootled below amongst the peels and oyster shells. The fumes mingled with the odors of us hundred-some souls cramped in there like matches in a box, on four floors, six rooms to a floor. Do the arithmetic and you will see we didn’t have no space to cross ourselves. As for the smell we did not flinch, we was used to it.

If that’s not enough to persuade you to give this book a try then I should also add that all this is rounded off with a satisfying plot, characters you really care about, and fascinating snippets of information about life in 19th century New York. This wonderful book will appeal to a wide range of readers and I can see it becoming a modern classic.

Highly recommended.

Tags Abortion

Other

Genetic Testing using 23 and Me

Post author By Jackie
Post date June 4, 2013
20 Comments on Genetic Testing using 23 and Me

In a break from the books I thought you might be interested to hear about my experiences with genetic testing….

I have always been interested in genetic testing, watching with jealousy as TV personalities had them done for various one-off programmes. I had no idea that it was possible for members of the public to get their genetic profile until I saw a post on Alex from Leed’s blog. I began researching the company and it quickly became obvious that it was something I wanted to do. I managed to persuade my husband to get the test too, so that I’d know his health risks and we’d have a vague idea of what we might pass onto our children.

23 and Me are based in the US, but it was surprisingly quick and easy to buy the test kits ($99 each) and post saliva samples back ($80 for DHL courier for two test kits). After about six weeks we received our results. Luckily there were no big surprises and it was nice to discover so much information about how our genes are likely to affect us.

The Results

The results are divided into five sections:

Health Risk
Drug Response
Inherited Conditions
Traits
Ancestry

The first four sections give reports on over 240 health conditions and traits as well as testing for over 40 inherited conditions. The results are listed in tables, with every item linking to an explanation of the scientific research behind each result. To give you an idea, here is the top of my ‘Health Risk’ table, showing my relative risk of developing each condition.

What was interesting was how unsurprising these results were. I suffered from Restless Legs Syndrome during pregnancy and the 4 other conditions in the top 5 have all occurred somewhere in my family before. Many people seem to be worried about learning unpleasant information, but if you are familiar with your family history then chances are that you’ll know most of the details already. I’d also rather be prepared and know which diseases I should keep an eye out for.

For me the most interesting section was the traits. At 5’11” I wasn’t surprised to discover that I have the ‘tall gene’, but it was interesting to know that I am unlikely to lose weight from a Mediterranean diet and have the muscle twitch of ‘an elite athlete!’ I love the fact that 23andMe update your results as new scientific discoveries are made as each time I log on there appears to be new information.

The final section is the ancestry one. Unfortunately mine was very boring. I’m 98.7% European, with the remaining 1.3% ‘unassigned’. If you’re of mixed race then this section will provide you with far more interest, but I’m afraid knowing I’m mainly British wasn’t that exciting!

My friends and family have all been interested in the results and many have ordered test kits for themselves. If you are interested in registering with 23andMe please use this link, as I receive $10 for each person who does so (apart from the test I have had no direct contact from 23 and Me and was planning to tell you about their service before they launched their referral scheme this week).

Genetic testing is almost unheard of in the UK, but is far more common in the US where there are debates around how much should be revealed to medical insurance companies. I am pleased to be one of the early adopters of this test and look forward to comparing my results with others.

Have you had a genetic test?

Are you interested in getting one?

1970s Classics

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Post author By Jackie
Post date June 3, 2013
20 Comments on Watership Down by Richard Adams

Five words from the blurb: rabbits, leave, warren, journey, danger

I wanted to read Watership Down as a teenager, but several friends warned me about how sad it was and so I avoided it. Even as an adult I’d been scared to read it or watch the film. Recently I realised how ridiculous this aversion was, especially given the number of disturbing books I read, so I bought a copy and settled down to read it in the sunshine.

Watership Down is the story of a group of rabbits who decide to leave their warren and set up home in a new field. Along the way they meet numerous dangers, including foxes, owls and people. It is a wonderful story for children, but unfortunately it didn’t have the same impact on me as an adult.

The main problem was that it was a bit predictable. It quickly became obvious that they would encounter every threat possible, suffer mild peril, but ultimately be OK. I’m afraid I became a cynical reader and started looking for the patterns, groaning as each new predator approached and they escaped AGAIN!

I also found the plot too slow and meandering. It probably didn’t help that I already knew the ending (a sign that this classic book has become so important to our society) or that there were so many rabbits it was hard to bond to any of them individually.

On a positive note, the writing was good and there were some lovely ideas about rabbit mythology.

Rabbits (says Mr Lockley) are like human beings in may ways. One of these is certainly their staunch ability to withstand disaster and let the stream of their life carry them along, past reaches of terror and loss. They have a certain quality which it would not be accurate to describe as callousness or indifference. It is, rather, a blessedly circumscribed imagination and an intuitive feeling that Life is Now.

I’m glad I’ve read it, but I wish I’d done so as a fourteen-year-old.

Other

May Summary and Plans for June

Post author By Jackie
Post date June 1, 2013
18 Comments on May Summary and Plans for June

May has been a busy month reading-wise. The slim list below hides the massive number of pages I’ve actually read. I’ve nearly finished The Noonday Demon, which is 1000 pages long, and both Encounter with Tiber (656 pages) and A Tale for the Time Being (400 pages) were long reads. I plan to continue reading chunksters as I tend to enjoy them more.

Book of the Month

This piece of science fiction felt extremely realistic. It combined Buzz Aldrin’s experiences in space with his knowledge of shuttle technology to produce a compelling insight into the future, showing what might happen if humans came into contact with alien life. It isn’t perfect, but the ideas will stay with me for a long time.

Books reviewed in May:

Encounter with Tiber by Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes