Author: Jackie

Five Discarded Oranges

The Orange longlist was recently announced and I’m making an effort to try every book in the hope I’ll discover a few gems. I’m aware that many of the books won’t be to my taste and so am abandoning any that fail to excite me.

These are the books that I’ve abandoned so far:

The Flying Man by Roopa Farooki

Five words from the blurb: man, charm, Pakistan, escapes, game

I haven’t had much success with books written by Roopa Farooki in the past and so I didn’t hold out much hope for this one. I tried the first 20 pages and discovered that her writing style is as light as usual. I’m sure this will be a reasonably entertaining read (as confirmed by cardigangirlverity), but I’m afraid I’m looking for books that really sparkle.

The Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay

Five words from the blurb: motherhood, faith, love, emotional, London

I can’t fault this one – the writing was excellent and the characters sprung to life. But after 40 pages I realised that I wasn’t excited about picking it up and carrying on, so I didn’t. Tiny Library describes this as a: Quiet, understated read about faith and family.

Her review confirms that I made the right choice in abandoning this book – quiet and understated rarely work for me.

There but for the by Ali Smith

Five words from the blurb: dinner party, stranger, satirical, perspective, memory

I’ve been avoiding this book for a while. Lots of people love it, but I know that I don’t normally enjoy Ali Smith’s experimental style. In an effort to give her the benefit of the doubt I got a copy of the audio book from the library and took it with me on a long car journey. Unfortunately I discovered that I dislike her style on audio as much as I do in print. It felt pretentious and I just didn’t get it. I forced myself to listen to all of disc one, but Ali Smith will never be for me – I prefer more conventional narration. This book divides opinion. If you want to know why others love it I suggest you read Simon’s review.

Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon

Five words from the blurb: horses, racing, steal, fast, winners

I’m not a big fan of horse racing and so was nervous about starting this one. Luckily I was quickly bowled over by the impressive writing. Unfortunately my enthusiasm was short lived. Beautiful, profound statements were scattered throughout the text, but I failed to connect to any of the characters. Reading became a real chore and so I abandoned it after 60 pages. This is another book that divides opinion. The Mookse and the Gripes describes this as: a remarkably unique novel.

Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick

Five words from the blurb: teacher, New York, divorce, family, love

This book has a very strange beginning involving a series of letters in which one character abuses and rants at another. The story progresses to include an annoying woman travelling to Europe to look for her nephew. It’s safe to say that this story will never be for me, but as it is a satire of The Ambassadors by Henry James (a book I haven’t read) I suspect that fans (or enemies!) of that book would find a lot to enjoy. Unabridged Chick enjoyed the book, despite disliking the characters. Perhaps you will too?

Remaining Oranges

I’ve nearly finished my trial of this year’s Orange longlist. I’m currently half way through Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg, and hope to post a review in the next week. I then just have On the Floor by Aifric Campbell, The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard, and The Grief of Others by Leah Hager Cohen left. I hope to finish in time to predict the shortlist, but I admit that I’m distracted by books (like Salvage the Bones and Running the Rift) that commenters on my Orange longlist prediction post were especially passionate about.

Did you love any of these books?

Was I wrong to abandon any of them?

2011 Uncategorized

The Submission by Amy Waldman

Post author By Jackie
Post date March 23, 2012
18 Comments on The Submission by Amy Waldman

Longlisted for 2012 Orange Prize

Five words from the blurb: 9/11, memorial, Muslim, conflict, tragedy

The Submission is a topical book, detailing the outcome of a “what if” scenario in which a Muslim wins the competition to design the 9/11 memorial. The plot switches between multiple narrators, giving the reader the opportunity to see the situation from every side.

I had very mixed feelings about this book – swinging between loving it and hating it at frequent intervals. It was packed with interesting discussion points and some of the scenes were beautifully described, but the characters were flat and I failed to connect to any of them.

The writing quality was also variable. Some passages were beautifully written, but I frequently found too much detail and longed for the sentences to be a bit shorter:

“I know the concerns,” he said gruffly: that it was too soon for a memorial, the ground barely cleared; that the country hadn’t yet won or lost the war, couldn’t even agree, exactly, on who or what it was fighting. But everything happened faster these days – the building up and tearing down of idols; the spread of disease and rumor and trends; the cycling of news; the development of new monetary instruments, which in turn had speeded Paul’s own retirement from the chairmanship of the investment bank. So why not the memorial too?

Flashbacks to 9/11 were tastefully done, with virtually no details given. I loved the way these scenes ended with the phone ringing, the terrible news implied without ever being described.

I expected this to be a thought-provoking book, but unfortunately I didn’t find that to be the case. The sad thing is that most of the events described in this book have happened already, either with the plans for a mosque near the World Trade Centre site, or with other events in London/around the world. This meant that the “what if” scenarios weren’t especially ground-breaking and I felt as though I’d heard all the arguments many times before.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is unaware of the shocking way in which Muslims in our society are treated, but for a book about such an emotive subject I found it surprisingly flat.

The thoughts of other bloggers:

…this is a book that literally moved me to tears and I honestly can’t remember the last time a book did that. Steph & Tony Investigate

Despite a strong premise and beginning, Waldman’s overwrites this novel to a frustrating point. Nomadreader

Waldman gives her novel it’s own unique voice and memorable cast of characters that makes it stand out from any other non-fictionalized story it may resemble. Literary Musings

Discussions Other

Is reading about an event as good as being there?

Post author By Jackie
Post date March 21, 2012
17 Comments on Is reading about an event as good as being there?

A few days ago I read a fascinating article about how reading affects the brain. Recent neurological research suggests that:

The brain, it seems, does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life.

At first I dismissed this as nonsense. I have read lots of books about the Holocaust, but I can’t imagine this comes close to the true horror of being there. I know that many people avoid books with a darker subject matter and I wonder if this is because the effect is stronger in them. I think I’d avoid dark books if my brain ended up thinking I’d been caught up in such horrific events. Surely I’d have a massive case of post-traumatic stress disorder if this research was true?

Just like the body, the brain needs to be kept agile. Just like a muscle, it needs to be used in order to develop and remain healthy. Specifically target your brain health by frequently presenting it with new cognitive challenges. Work a crossword or Sudoku puzzle. Memorize a new poem, speech, or passage from a book. Play games that challenge your memory or require problem-solving skills. Research has shown that regular mental challenges produce a healthier brain, and this leads to a slower cognitive decline – even when dementia’s impact on the brain is factored out. Think of things that you do every day without really having to think about what you’re doing – and do them differently. Instead of moving automatically through your routine, work your brain in order to keep it really healthy and to help improve its ability to change to the constantly altering world. The brain we have depends to a large part on what we ask it to do. You can check out here for more detail about the brain health treatment.

We remain in the process of understanding exactly how the brain and nervous system function, and which aspects we can shape and control. It’s an exciting field of research that is giving us new ways to impact on everything from memory loss to mental health to IQ. As our understanding continues to progress, it is certain to offer us many new ways to improve the health of our brain – and our quality of life.

Empathy

The research also claims that reading helps people to understand the thoughts of others and can change the way we act. This I can believe.

Reading about the same event from multiple perspectives has definitely increased my tolerance for different behaviours. I am far more likely to have empathy with those on both sides of any given argument than my non-reading friends.

Cinnamon-other — Photo credit: Sam Mugraby, Photos8.com

Vivid

I have always favoured books containing vivid descriptions. The research suggests that is because they affect multiple areas of the brain.

Words like “lavender,” “cinnamon” and “soap,” for example, elicit a response not only from the language-processing areas of our brains, but also those devoted to dealing with smells.

This makes a lot of sense, but also makes me wonder why some people enjoy simpler books that don’t contain these trigger words. I like to be transported into the lives of other people and this is far harder if I can’t picture their surroundings.

Is it worth skim reading a section of any book your thinking of reading to check for words that affect multiple areas of the brain?

Remembering

The interesting thing happens when I try to remember books that I’ve read and compare them to real life experiences. With recent events the difference is massive, but if I think back five or ten years I realise the research might be true. Over time the details from both books and real life fade to leave very similar impressions. I can imagine exactly what life is like in India, despite never having been there, and I think I know what it would be like to live in Victorian London. Sometimes I’m sure I confuse some of the more realistic scenes from books with those from my own life.

So the big questions are:

Do you think reading about an event as good as being there?

Does the author have to be especially talented to manage this or will most writing achieve it?

2011 Other Prizes Recommended books

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Post author By Jackie
Post date March 19, 2012
2 Comments on Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Winner of 2011 National Book Award

Five words from the blurb: hurricane, threatening, family, pregnant, pit bull

When the Orange longlist was announced last week several people voiced their surprise that Salvage the Bones was missing. Intrigued by their passion I decided to give it a try and having read it, I agree. This book stands head and shoulders above everything else published this year. It deserved to win the Orange prize and I’m disappointed that it didn’t even make the longlist.

Salvage the Bones is set in Mississippi and follows one family as they prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina. The unconventional and potentially unlovable family are the owners of a prize pit bull, renowned for her fighting skills. At the start of the book she gives birth to a litter of valuable puppies that they attempt to protect as the hurricane approaches.

I worried that I might be subjected to endless descriptions of wind and destruction, but this book is very cleverly structured. The hurricane hits in the final few pages and the power is in what is left unsaid. The details of the destruction are brief, but their lightness still manages to convey the devastation.

The hurricane laughed. A tree, plucked from its branches, hopped across the yard and landed against Daddy’s truck with a crunch, stopped short like it had won a game of hopscotch without stepping out of the lines. The sky was so close I felt like I could reach up and bury my arm in it.

One of the most impressive things about this book was that it made me care about a family who take part in dog fighting. It takes great skill for an author to enable me to connect with people I’d normally abhor, but somehow Jesmyn Ward made me to see past their cruelty and I connected with them on an emotional level.

The atmosphere in the book was perfect. The dialogue gave a fantastic sense of place and the descriptions were vivid throughout:

“We ain’t going nowhere.” Skeetah unlashes his arms and they come whipping out from his sides, and his voice is loud, and he’s like those little firecrackers we get on the Fourth of July that throw out sparks from all sides and jump in bright acid leaps across the hard dirt yard.

This isn’t a happy book. It is a powerful insight into the lives of a family who had numerous problems before the arrival of a hurricane. The ending left me wondering how they’d cope once the waters receded and, given the news articles I’ve seen, I can only imagine the horrors a sequel would contain. I’m sure I’ll remember the characters in this book for a long time to come.

Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys emotionally powerful insights into the lives of other people.

The thoughts of other bloggers:

…stunning, beautiful, tragic, heartbreaking, and wholly absorbing. Caribousmom

There is abusive sex and there is violence. At times I wanted to stop reading but found I could not. Page247

This novel absolutely broke my heart, but at the same time I can’t help but recommend that you read it too. Book Addiction

I also recommend listening to this NPR interview with Jesmyn Ward

(Thanks to Caribousmom for drawing it to my attention)

BBC Shop Reviews Other

Earthflight by John Downer

Post author By Jackie
Post date March 17, 2012
No Comments on Earthflight by John Downer

Earthflight is a stunning picture book created to accompany the recent BBC series. Using groundbreaking technology the programme makers managed to follow birds into the air and see the world through their eyes.

The book covers a wide range of birds from around the globe, capturing each in action in their natural surroundings. The majority of the book is made up of whole page photographs, organised by continent, with small captions describing the bird pictured:

ARFICAN FISH EAGLE: Victoria Fall, Zambia – Zimbabwe
Some fish eagles migrate seasonally to avoid areas affected by particularly heavy rain, while those in drier areas stay put all year round. The Victoria Falls offers especially rich pickings.

The photographs are a combination of traditional close-ups, taken from ground-level, and images of birds in flight, taken from the air. These aerial shots offer a new view from the bird’s perspective, but many of them were of a lower quality; either because they were taken using smaller cameras attached to the bird or because the ground was blurred/less interesting.

I thought some of the photographs were impressive, but as I’m not an ornithologist I began to lose enthusiasm as I leafed through dozens of photographs that were essentially the same, but each with a different species of bird. For this reason I think it has less appeal than books like Frozen Planet, where almost every picture was outstanding.

The final chapter detailed the techniques used to capture the images, explaining how people with special relationships to individual birds encouraged them to take to the air using microlights and how model planes/gliders were adapted for photographic use. This section was the most interesting to me and I enjoyed reading about the problems faced by the team and how they overcame them.

This is a good accompaniment to the series, but I’d only recommend it to people who have a special interest in birds.

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

2012

The Roundabout Man by Clare Morrall

Post author By Jackie
Post date March 15, 2012
2 Comments on The Roundabout Man by Clare Morrall

Five words from the blurb: childhood, books, reclusive, past, truths

I loved Astonishing Splashes of Colour, so was keen to try Morrall’s new book. Unfortunately it isn’t in the same league, but it is still an enjoyable read.

The book introduces Quinn, a man living an isolated life in a caravan on a roundabout. Quinn has few possessions and relies on food scavenged from the nearby motorway service station. He is befriended by its employees, who wonder why he leads this bizarre existence. The truth has something to do with the fact that his mother was a famous author who immortalised his life (and that of his triplet sisters) in a series of very successful children’s books.

Clare Morrall has an amazing ability to create eccentric characters. They are well-rounded and believable, but also sensitively portrayed, without a hint of sensationalism.

Much of the book reminded me of the film, Enid, which showed how Enid Blyton’s hectic schedule of writing and publicity led to her children being largely ignored.

When I was about three, I kept trying to sneak into the drawing room where my mother was writing, shuffling along the floor on my bottom, humming softly to myself, trying to be quiet but needing to imagine the motor of a car beneath me.
‘Not now, Quinn, I’m busy.’
Sometimes I reached the desk before she saw me, and once I even managed to lean my head against her legs.
‘Go away, please, Quinn. I need to concentrate.’
Why didn’t she just tolerate my presence for a while, let me stay there, even put out a hand and stroke my hair? I know she was busy, but I wouldn’t have disturbed her.

The first half of the book was very good, creating an interesting story with layers of mystery. Unfortunately the plot petered out in the middle and I found that the more I knew, the less interested I was in carrying on. I was initially going to criticise the book for its slightly disappointing revelations, but as I normally complain about unlikely coincidences, I should probably praise their realism!

Things picked up towards the end and I thought the final page was especially good. The quietness of the plot meant that I actually appreciated the book more after I’d had a few days to let the general themes settle in my head.

Recommended to Clare Morrall fans. Everyone else should read Astonishing Splashes of Colour first.

The thoughts of other bloggers:

…a really clever fusion of urban legend, news story and popular history. The Book and Biscuit

Sometimes the story rambled. Sometimes it became a little too fanciful……But its strangeness and charm kept me holding on. Fleur Fisher in her World

This is a beautifully written story with fully realised and engaging characters. Lovely Treez Reads