Author: Jackie

Two Abandoned Bookers

The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman

Five words from the blurb: experimental, theatres, mysteries, cosmic, noir

The Teleportation Accident is a bizarre book! It is so weird that I’m not sure I really know what it is about and that was my main problem with the book. So many different themes were covered: from 17th century inventors, through 1930s Germany, to Paris and Los Angeles. It also included science fiction, romance, sex, mystery and violence. I thought there was too much going on and struggled to see the connection between all the different aspects of the book.

The writing lacked subtly – everything seemed to bounce off the page and I became drained by the over-enthusiasm of it all. It often came across as pretentious and I’m afraid that lots of little things that were probably supposed to be amusing/clever just annoyed me (for example naming the central character’s girlfriend Adele Hitler).

Some of the descriptions were vivid, but some made no sense to me:

The problem was his legs, which were just beginning their slow transmutation into the elongated pine cones that can be found glued to the pelvis of anyone with Loeser’s desultory level of physical fitness who wakes up in the morning after a four-hour hike, and were therefore in no condition to perform a sudden vengeful charge.

I abandoned the book after about 80 pages, but skim read some other sections. Perhaps it all makes sense once you’ve finished the book, but I’m afraid the writing style was too bizarre for me.

DNF

Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil

Five words from the blurb: Bombay, opium, poor, underworld, broken

Narcopolis is set in Bombay’s underworld. It is filled with a cast of characters who live in this world of drugs, prostitution and poverty. The writing is outstanding and the book is filled with quotable passages:

He enjoys flowers but he worships trees. He wants to be the banyan’s slave. He wants to think of time the way a tree does, a decade as nothing more than some slight addition to his girth.

It captured the atmosphere of the opium dens perfectly, but I struggled with the number of characters – there were so many that I couldn’t connect with any of them. The plot also seemed non-existent. It meandered from one beautifully rendered scene to another, but there was no hook to keep my attention.

The dream-like, hallucinogenic nature of the writing will appeal to many people, but I struggled to follow what was happening and became frustrated by the amount of information that was going over my head. I abandoned it after about 100 pages.

This book is deserving of its Booker longlisting and I’m sure that anyone willing to put in the effort to read (and re-read) this book will be rewarded, but I’m afraid I prefer books with a more compelling plot.

DNF

Have you read either of these books?

Did you enjoy them more than I did?

Other

A Day Out in London

It takes abut 30 minutes for me to travel into London on the train and I tend to go into the city once or twice a month, but yesterday was different from my normal trips so I thought I’d share it with you.

The Book Maze

Our first stop was the Southbank Centre where they have constructed a maze using 250,000 books. The maze isn’t particularly big or complicated, but my boys loved seeing the walls of books. Reading the ones on the top layer is encouraged and it was lovely to see so many people talking about books and recommending them to their friends. There were even shorter walls packed with books for children – if you’re in the area it is worth popping in for half an hour.

The book maze will be at the Southbank Centre until 25th August

The Lego Map

Outside the Southbank Centre they are building a lego map of the world. Children are encouraged to build a square and then place it amongst the others. Here are my boys finishing their square and then placing it with the others on the world map.

You can help to build the map between 12 and 4pm for the next few days and the completed map will be on display for a further 2 weeks.

The Olympic Park

We then braved the crowds at the Olympic Park. The atmosphere was amazing and I was really impressed with the organisation – there weren’t even queues to get on the trains. I have never seen London so clean and crowds of people so happy.

I hope that the excitement and happiness continues after the Games have finished.

London is a fantastic place to be at the moment!

1980s Historical Fiction

Restoration by Rose Tremain

Post author By Jackie
Post date August 4, 2012
17 Comments on Restoration by Rose Tremain

Shortlisted for 1989 Booker Prize

Five words from the blurb: King Charles II, Court, love, mistresses, grace

Restoration is a special piece of historical fiction that manages to be entertaining whilst retaining plenty of period atmosphere. Set in 17th century England, the book follows Robert Merivel, a medical student, who finds himself inside the court of King Charles II. Merivel is desperate to find favour with the King and agrees to his demands, no matter how extreme they seem. This book is slow, but engaging and unlike a lot of historical fiction it does not focus on war or tragedy.

The book is written in a distinctive style, but is never difficult to understand. The tone remains light throughout and I frequently found myself smiling at the joyful enthusiasm of it all.

I shall not dwell upon the details of our journey, except to record that, as we came to Mile End and Will saw in the distance the tower and turrets of London, he grew most childishly excited thinking of the marvels he was about to witness for the first time, he having passed all thirty-nine years of his life in Norfolk.

The subject matter occasionally gets a little darker, but despite the appearance of the plague and the fire of London, the tone never becomes overbearing and quickly returns to its entertaining style.

There are a few brief descriptions of homes and personal belongings, but the book concentrates on Merivel’s relationships – showing the importance of loyalty and trust in the 17th century.

My only problem with the book was that the plot was slow and meandering. I was engaged throughout, but I prefer my books to have a little more pace and forward momentum.

Merivel is a fantastic character. I didn’t always like him, or agree with his choices, but I loved following his journey through life. The sequel, Merivel, is published in September and I’m looking forward to finding out what happens to him next.

Have you read Restoration?

Are you looking forward to reading the sequel?

Other

July Summary and Plans for August

Post author By Jackie
Post date July 31, 2012
17 Comments on July Summary and Plans for August

I’ve been going through a non fiction phase this month. I’ve loved learning so many new facts and think this shift in my reading focus will continue to some extent for a while.

I’ve read an eclectic mix of books this month and all are worth reading for different reasons. I was disappointed that The Colour of Milk didn’t make the Booker longlist, but I hope it will be rewarded by other book prizes later in the year and encourage you to give it a try soon.

Books of the Month

Books Reviewed in July

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

The Colour of Milk by Nell Leyshon

Merchants of Culture by John Thompson

The Hand of Fatima by Ildefonso Falcones

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

The Doctor Will See You Now by Max Pemberton

Wonder by RJ Palacio

The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey

Lacrimosa by Regis Jauffret

Plans for August

August will mainly be devoted to trying books on The 2012 Booker Prize Longlist. I have a copy of The Teleportation Accident here and so will try that first. Communion Town is in my local library system and winging its way towards me now. I will then work my way through the rest of the list, adding a few random choices from my TBR pile whenever I’m in need of something lighter.

On a personal note, things are very busy for me at the moment. My youngest son was five this week and I’m busy planning his party. We’re also out most days, enjoying the Summer holidays. I have plans to go to the Olympics next week and I’m heading up to the Edinburgh festival later in the month. I’ll try to blog when I can, but I’m afraid it might be intermittent for a few weeks.

I hope you have a wonderful Summer!

Happy reading!

Tags Monthly Summary, Summary

2011 Non Fiction Recommended books

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Five words from the blurb: Hurricane Katrina, flooded, neighbours, nightmare

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans. Zeitoun is the true account of what happened to one man, a hard working resident who stayed in the city to protect his property and ended up in prison suspected of terrorism. This is the kind of unbelievable story that you’d never find in fiction. The twists and turns are staggering and it is shocking to discover that the events of this book happened in a modern American city.

Zeitoun begins by introducing the reader to Abdulrahman and his family. Abdulrahman was born in Syria, but emigrated to New Orleans where he set up a successful decorating business, employing a number of people around the city. The book covers the few days preceding the storm; goes on to show the effects of the strong winds and flooding on Abdulrahman’s neighbourhood; and culminates in the shocking way that Abdulrahman was treated by American authorities.

The writing was engaging throughout, the pace slowly building towards the shocking climax. I was worried that I’d find much of this book disturbing, but that wasn’t the case. Several distressing events were mentioned, but they were written so skillfully that they never traumatised me.

The book is well researched, with each account fact checked against many others. It is all intelligently written, but never becomes overburdened with statistics as the emotions of the people involved remains the priority throughout.

This book is narrative non-fiction at its best. It highlights the way that American authorities managed to make a natural disaster even worse than it already was, but also shows the strength of the human spirit. I found many sections extremely poignant and found this quote from near the end especially moving:

It could have been avoided, she thinks. So many little things could have been done. So many people let it happen. So many looked away. And it only takes one person, one small act of stepping from the dark to the light.

Zeitoun does a fantastic job of showing the Muslim religion in a positive light whilst highlighting the racism that is present in some sections of American society. It is compelling, shocking and insightful.

Highly recommended.

Booker Prize Other

The 2012 Booker Prize Longlist

Post author By Jackie
Post date July 25, 2012
45 Comments on The 2012 Booker Prize Longlist

The 2012 Booker Prize longlist has just been announced as:

The Yips by Nicola Barker
The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman
Philida by André Brink
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
Skios by Michael Frayn
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy
Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
The Lighthouse by Alison Moore
Umbrella by Will Self
Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil
Communion Town by Sam Thompson

Part of me is really happy to see several books that are new to me (The Lighthouse, Communion Town and Swimming Home) and another part is disappointed to see so many light, comic reads.

I have read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Skios and whilst both were entertaining, neither stood out as anything special. I didn’t get around to reviewing either as I didn’t have much to say about them. I don’t think that is a good sign for a Booker longlistee.

Narcopolis was one of the only books that I correctly predicted would be on the longlist. I started reading it last week and was immediately impressed by the writing quality. Unfortunately I went on to abandon it because the characters didn’t engage me, but I think it is worthy of its place on the longlist and I can see it being enjoyed by people who like meandering, atmospheric books.

It isn’t a surprise to see these two on the longlist. I haven’t enjoyed books written by Nicola Barker or Hilary Mantel in the past and I’ve heard these are similar in style to their previous work, so am not planning to try either of these at the moment.

André Brink is an author I have heard many positive things about. He has been shortlisted for the Booker prize twice before and this book sounds like one I’ll really enjoy.

Tan Twan Eng’s debut novel, The Gift of Rain, was longlisted for the Booker prize and this new one has received a lot of praise in the blogosphere. I’m looking forward to giving it a try.

Ned Beauman has a very bizarre writing style. I abandoned his debut novel because it was too dark and weird for me, but his second is supposed to be a lot more comic (notice that word again!) and so I’m willing to give him another try. I’ll let you know what I think soon!

I’m not surprised to see Will Self on the list. He is one of those authors that I’ve wanted to try for a while, but never done so. I’m looking forward to finally finding out what his writing style is like.

I’m looking forward to trying many of the books on the longlist and hope they are of a high enough literary standard to justify their position.

What do you think of the longlist?

Have you read any of these books?

Which ones do you think I’ll enjoy?