Categories
1910s Audio Book Classics Novella

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (Audio Book)

The Metamorphosis

Five words from the blurb: salesman, transformed, insect, trapped, room

The Metamorphosis is a book I’d always avoided as I suspected it would be disturbing and/or impenetrable. I’m pleased I decided to give it a try as neither of these preconceptions were true. The Metamorphosis is actually easy to read and isn’t very dark at all – in fact it is quite funny in places. 

The book begins with Gregor, a travelling salesman, waking up to discover that he’s been transformed into a giant insect. It is one of those rare cases where an author manages to take a fairly unrealistic concept and make it feel real. I loved Gregor’s confusion and the way he slowly learnt what life as an insect felt like. 

….when he lifted his head a little he could see his dome-like brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes.

It is a short book (just two discs in the audio version) and the plot is very simple, but I was entertained throughout. Martin Jarvis’ narration was excellent and I recommend this book to anyone looking for something a bit different.

.

Categories
Other

Can you recommend some positive stories about flying?

Kiefer_Lufthansa_WM2014_Special_Livery_-Fanhansa-_(14249323456)

I’m scared of flying. It is a phobia that has been getting gradually worse over the years and I really want to reverse this trend. I’ve realised that almost all my interaction with planes is negative – from seeing plane crashes/terrorism plots in the news; to reading about crash survivors in literature. If you watch TV dramas and films it is even worse, with about 50% of planes crashing over the course of an episode. I know this isn’t  a realistic reflection of air travel and so I want the images stored in my brain to be more positive. 

Can you recommend any books about flying where there are NO plane crashes? 

I want to read happy, positive books about life in the air. Perhaps the memoirs of a pilot or cabin crew? (as long as there are no scary situations) or maybe a book about someone who uses air travel as part of their job? Wildlife researcher? Delivery person? Cartographer?

Please help me to think of air travel in a more positive light!

Categories
2014 Recommended books

After the Bombing by Clare Morrall

After the Bombing

Five words from the blurb: WWII, Exeter, girls, school, destroyed

Clare Morrall is a fantastic author. I’ve enjoyed all of her books – especially Astonishing Splashes of Colour, a book packed with wonderfully dysfunctional families. She has a talent for constructing realistic, flawed characters that you can’t help forming a deep attachment to. After the Bombing is equally rich in character development and I loved it, despite the fact it tells a story I’ve heard many times before.

After the Bombing is set in Exeter during the extensive bombing raids of WWII. It tells the story of Alma, a fifteen-year-old girl who is forced to evacuate her boarding school when it is damaged during an air raid.

The plot is very simple, but this didn’t matter as the characters were so strong. I felt as though I knew Alma and her friends so well I could predict their thoughts and actions. Some sections of the book showed what life was like for Alma in the 1960s and in many ways these were the most interesting. They showed how the war continued to affect the adults decades later and how quickly the past was forgotten by the younger generation who hadn’t lived through the trauma of war.

The book was very well researched, with beautiful details of everything from the food they ate to the music they listened to. I’m not familiar with Exeter, but I’m sure that those who know the city will be interested in the local history and the descriptions of how landmarks were changed by the war.

At the top of the bank, it’s possible to see the rose garden and the statue of the Goldwyn’s girl that used to stand outside Merrivale. An iconic photograph of this statue was published in the Western Morning News after the bombing. The young girl stood triumphantly in the midst of chaos, miraculously untouched, a symbol of Exeter’s ability to survive and rise again.

After the Bombing was packed with atmosphere and is one of the most vivid books about ordinary people living through the war that I’ve read. Much of the book reminded me of The Night Watch by Sarah Waters, but I think After the Bombing is the better of the two as its simpler structure left the characters to shine.

Overall, this is a wonderful piece of story-telling and is proof that Clare Morrall is capable of turning the simplest of stories into an emotional delight. Highly recommended.

.