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Victorian Challenge Complete!

The Victorian Challenge is being hosted by Alex, and it’s aim is to encourage people to read more books written during, or based in the Victorian Era.

I signed up to the Walk in Hyde Park level – 4 books, although I actually managed to read five books:  

1. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

Irritating characters, and a miserable plot – I don’t think I have ever read a book where there isn’t at least one tiny ray of light somewhere! It’s a classic though, so I’m glad I read it.

2. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher – Kate Summerscale

The true story of the crime which inspired the first detective novel (The Moonstone– see below). Meticulously researched, and packed with interesting facts and observations about Victorian life. Highly recommended.

3. The Moonstone– Wilkie Collins

2003 Paperback

The first ever detective novel. Slow in places, but tightly plotted. Recommended.

4. Three Men in a Boat – Jerome K. Jerome

Slightly silly story about a journey up the  River Thames. Recommended to anyone who has a knowledge of the river.

5. The Seance– John Harwood

Mysterious Gothic Tale, packed with twists and turns. Recommended.

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I have really enjoyed taking part in this challenge. All the books were worth reading, although I particularly recommend The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher.
This is the first challenge I have ever completed, so I’m pleased I enjoyed it so much. I look forward to taking part in it again next year.

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Meme Other

Booking Through Thursday – The Worst ‘Best’ Book

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 “What’s the worst ‘best’ book you’ve ever read — the one everyone says is so great, but you can’t figure out why?”

There are two books that stick out for me:

 

Out Stealing Horses was almost universally raved about, not only by people on Amazon, but also many of my most trusted blogging friends. I was really looking forward to reading it, but was very disappointed. There were a few good scenes in the book, but for the majority of it I was really bored.

I also seem to get irritated by all Mitch Albom books. They are overly sentimental, and just seem like one long lecture on appreciating your mother, (in the case of For One More Day) or various other members of your family/friends (all his other books). Everyone else seems to love them, but they are just far too fluffy and obvious for me.

I recommend you read these book though, as I think I am just about the only person on the planet who has these opinions!

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The Seance – John Harwood

The Seance is a dark, Gothic tale, set in Victorian England.  The central character is Constance, who on becoming an orphan, begins to suspect that her family history is not as simple as she was led to believe. She inherits a crumbling,  country house called Wraxford Hall, which is central to the book’s plot; it’s eerie, dilapidated state adds to the mysterious atmosphere. Constance vows to discover the truth behind her ancestry, and unravel the mysterious events which have taken place in the house.

The book is full of things which cannot be explained. Why does anyone who see the ghost of a monk in the grounds of the house die within a month? Why have previous owners of the mansion disappeared in thunderstorms? and what role does the suit of armor play in it all?

I loved the historical detail in the book. The Victorians’ understanding of the spirit world was fascinating, and very well researched. I felt totally immersed in the world of clairvoyants and mysticism. Constance’s character behaved realistically, and I quickly grew to love her. 

I didn’t find it very scary, (perhaps that’s because I read Blindness recently!) but it was definitely a bit creepy. It was a real page turner, and there were times when I had to stop myself from racing ahead to find out what happens. There was the odd occasion when I lost myself a little bit by doing this, and had to re-read sections to understand exactly what was going on. This was only a minor flaw, and probably due to the fact that it is so tightly plotted. I didn’t spot many of the clever twists, although there were a few that I saw a mile away!

This is a well constructed, Gothic mystery which I recommend to anyone who likes reading about Victorian life, or who is just after a well written story, packed with secrets.

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I haven’t read John Harwood’s first novel, The Ghost Writer, but I’ve added it to my wish list already.

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Other

Prize Winning Book Suggestions

I was looking through the books I plan to read for the Book awards reading challenge, and noticed that almost all of them have won different prizes.

 

Technically I’ve completed this challenge already, as I have read multiple Bookers, Orange and Pulitzer books, but I thought it would be great if every book had won a different prize. This would be more of a challenge for me, and I like the thought of completing book award BINGO!

 

Can anyone recommend a book to complete my set? It needs to have won one of the eligible awards on the challenge site (see link above), and be amazing!

 

  1. The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood (Winner of Booker Prize, 2000) completed 29th October 2008
  2. Out Stealing Horses – Per Petterson (Winner of IMPAC Dublin Prize, 2007) completed 20th November 2008
  3. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay – Micheal Chabon (Winner of Pulitzer Prize, 2001) completed 27th November 2008
  4. The Fingersmith – Sarah Waters (Winner of the CWA Ellis Peters Dagger for Historical Crime Fiction) completed 14th December 2008
  5. We Need to Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver  (Winner of Orange Prize, 2005) completed 14th January 2009
  6. Blindness – Jose Saramago (Nobel Prize, 1998) completed 5th March 2009
  7. The Secret River – Kate Grenville (Winner of Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, 2006) 
  8. Theory of War – John Brady (Winner of Costa/Whitbread Award, 1993) 
  9. Peace Like a River – Leif Enger (Alex Award, 2002) 

10. PLEASE HELP ME TO DECIDE!

I look forward to hearing all your suggestions!

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Other Weekly Geeks

Weekly Geeks – Worst Movie Adaptation

 

 

 

The weekly assignment for Weekly Geeks:

Worst movie adaptations: The recent release of Watchmen based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore got me thinking about what I thought were the worst movie adaptations of books. What book or books did a director or directors completely ruin in the adaptation(s) that you wish you could “un-see,” and why in your opinion, what made it or them so bad in contrast to the book or books?
 

The Golden Compass was one of the worst film adaptations of a book I have seen. Entertainment Weekly agree with me, and voted it the most disappointing movie adpatation of all time. I loved the book; it’s rich, original plot was packed with great characters, vivid descriptions and thought provoking topics, making it one of my favourite novels of all time.

The film failed to come anywhere close to my expectations. It was so short, that it felt as though everything was being crammed in as quickly as possible. Many of the most interesting religious aspects of the book were not included, or glossed over really quickly. I’m not sure how anyone who has not read the book would have have managed to follow the plot, but I urge you to read the book, and ignore the film.

 


I’m not sure that it counts, as I haven’t actually seen the film, but I can’t imagine how they managed to make a screen version of Blindness, which I read recently. The reviews seem to indicate that they haven’t. The unique feature of this excellent, but scary book, is that the characters have been affected by an epidemic of blindness, and so cannot see a thing. This leads everything in the book to be described through the other five senses, making the reader effectively blind too. Showing the action on camera will ruin this main feature of the book, diliuting the intensity of its message. Many of the scenes were powerful and disturbing, and I find it hard to imagine how they could have been sensitively shot. If you have read the book, and seen the movie, then I’d love to know your opinion of them.

 


The Cat in the Hat has to be the worst movie adaptation of a book for me. The book is a delightful, rhyming children’s story about a mischievous cat who entertains a young boy and girl with ever more daring and messy games. My children love listening to it again and again, so we were really looking forward to watching the film together over Christmas. My boys lost interest in it very quickly. The film is too slow, wih nothing remotely funny happening for half an hour. The action, when it does occur, is so spread out that I found myself clock-watching the majority of the time. None of the magic of the book is present, there is no rhyming, and the cat come across as annoying, rather than endearing.

The Cat in the Hat is my most disappointing movie adaptation. What’s yours?

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Chunkster Other

Gone with the Wind – Why I’m not attempting to keep up with everyone else!

Matthew from A Guys Moleskine Notebook is hosting a Gone with the Wind read-along. I have never read Gone with the Wind, or seen the film, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to attempt this 1000+ page chunkster.

The idea was to read 200 pages a week, starting on the 1st March. So in theory we should all be at around page 400 today. I’ve only made it to around page 150 – so I am well behind the group! I’ve decided that I am not  even going to attempt to catch up with everyone anymore because… (and this reason may seem strange to you)…I’m enjoying it too much!

I think Gone with the Wind may become one of my all time favourite books, so I want to savour ever sentence. Each page is crammed with information, and I want to absorb it all. This means that I can only read about 10 – 20 pages at a time, which in turn means that it may take me a month or two to finish it, but I don’t care – I’m enjoying it so much!