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April Summary and Plans for May

I apologise for the unplanned blogging break – I’ve been ill for the last few weeks. Yesterday I was finally able to read, but I haven’t been able to do so for two weeks. This means I haven’t got any books to review, so my posts may be sporadic until I’m back to full health.  

Despite these problems I still managed to read a nice range of books. My favourite was A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson. It is an important book that warns of the crisis facing bumblebees in the world today. I urge everyone to read it and hope that it inspires people to look after these wonderful creatures.

Book of the Month

A Sting in the Tale

Books Reviewed in April:

A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson 

The Giraffe’s Neck by Judith Schalansky 

From the Fatherland, With Love by Ryu Murakami 

When Rain Clouds Gather by Bessie Head 

Dept of Speculation by Jenny Offill 

Feeding the Ghosts by Fred D’Aguiar 

The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Richard Flanagan 

Idiopathy by Sam Byers 

The Tell-Tale Heart by Jill Dawson 

Plans for April

I’m going to finish the last few books on the Desmond Elliott Longlist and then read a few books for Kim’s Australian and New Zealand Literature Month. There probably won’t be time for much else, but I may need to squeeze in a few lighter reads before I’m back up to the full health required to concentrate on anything too complex.

I hope you have a wonderful May!

 

 

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1960s Uncategorized

When Rain Clouds Gather by Bessie Head

When Rain Clouds Gather And Maru (VMC)

Five words from the blurb: Botswana, outsiders, help, community, farming

When Rain Clouds Gather is an African classic. It was first published in 1968 and gives an insight into life in rural Botswana. The book follows Makehaya, a South African convict who escapes across the border into Botswana. In a small village he meets Gilbert, an Englishman determined to help the local community by introducing modern farming methods. They work together to try to improve lives in this rural area, but a severe drought threatens to starve them all.

This book was very easy to read. The writing was compelling and deceptively simple, but there was depth and symbolism buried just beneath the surface:

‘Even the trees were dying, from roots upwards,’ he said. ‘Does everything die like this?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘You may see no rivers on the ground but we keep the rivers inside us. That is why all good things and all good people are called rain. Sometimes we see the rain clouds gather even though not a cloud appears in the sky. It is all in our heart.’

I was initially concerned that everything was seen through the eyes of outsiders. I longed to know what the native community thought of these newcomers and to find out what life was like before they arrived, but by the end of the book I realised that the writing encouraged me to think more about these issues than if it had been explained to me. I missed the raw emotion, but the book was probably stronger without it.

Another minor problem was that this book failed to explain the political situation of the country. Botswana became an independent country in 1966 and a knowledge of events leading up to this would increase the reader’s appreciation of the book. I read a potted history online, but still felt I was missing out on something.

Overall this is a very important book. The issues were all mine and I’d encourage everyone to read this classic piece of African literature.

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Books in Brief

All the King's Men (Penguin Modern Classics)

All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren

Five words from the blurb: politics, American, community, corruption, success

I really wanted to finish this classic, but after 6 months I think I must finally admit defeat. I started to read the paperback, but found the dialogue confusing. I wondered if this would be improved by the audio version so I imported a copy from America (at great expense as I really did want to get the best from it) but, although this was an improvement, I still found the story painfully slow. Politicians and their power games irritate me and I’m afraid the period detail wasn’t enough to hold my attention. I listened to 9/18 of the CDs before finally giving up. It’s an important book, but it wasn’t for me.

DNF

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Dept. of Speculation

Dept of Speculation by Jenny Offill

Five words from the blurb: letters, married, family, facts, changes

Dept of Speculation is a slim book in which the story of one woman’s breakdown is explained via a series of passages, most just one paragraph long. I don’t normally enjoy experimental books, but there was something about the writing that compelled me to read on. I loved the inclusion of random facts and sped through the entire book in a single sitting. Unfortunately it had no lasting impact and just two weeks on I’ve forgotten almost everything about this book. It’s an entertaining distraction, but I’m afraid it didn’t have the emotional power I like to see.

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The Tell-tale Heart

The Tell-Tale Heart by Jill Dawson

Five words from the blurb: teenager, dies, heart, transplanted, stranger

The Tell-Tale Heart began really well, with an emotional scene in which a man wakes up after heart surgery. Unfortunately this emotional atmosphere failed to be carried through the rest of the book. It was all a bit predictable and ordinary. There were a few interesting observations about life, but overall it was all too simple and subtle for me.

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March Summary and Plans for April

March was a mixed month, mainly due to me trying the final books on the 2014 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist. Overall it included a fantastic range of books and it was nice to see the variety, despite the fact they weren’t all to my taste.

I also read a lot of solidly good reads and I particularly recommend Cold Skin by Albert Sánchez Piñol, a beautifully creepy book with a gripping plot that raises interesting questions about humanity – and it includes giant humanoid toads!

Book of the Month

Cold Skin 

Books Reviewed in March

Cold Skin by Albert Sánchez Piñol 

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters 

The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt 

Eleven Days by Lea Carpenter 

Labor Day by Joyce Maynard 

Good Kings, Bad Kings by Susan Nussbaum 

Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement 

Reasons She Goes to the Woods by Deborah Kay Davies 

The Dogs of Littlefield by Suzanne Berne 

The Shadow of the Crescent Moon by Fatima Bhutto 

Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen 

Plans for April

On Friday the longlist for the Desmond Elliott Prize (for debut fiction) will be announced. I’m going to be trying all the books on the list with Dan from Utterbiblio, Kaite Welsh, Heather from Between the Covers and Sarah Noakes. It will be interesting to compare notes and see if we reach the same decision as the real judges.

I’m currently reading two chunksters:

From the Fatherland With Love by Ryu Murakami
The Quick by Lauren Owen

They couldn’t be more different, but I’m loving them both so far.

I probably won’t have time for much else, but I’m sure I’ll be able to squeeze a random read in some where.

Have a wonderful April!

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Uncategorized

The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt

The Blazing World

Five words from the blurb: female, artist, experiment, conceals, identity

The Blazing World investigates society’s attitude to women; showing how preconceptions affect our opinion of work produced by the different sexes. The book centres on Harriet Burden, an artist who decides to conceal her identity and pretend that her works of art have been created by men. Through a series of texts, compiled after her death, the reader discovers her motivations and how the secret changed the way her art was received.

The writing in this book was fantastic! The book raised important questions about society’s treatment of women and I found myself highlighting many different passages:

It is easy to claim that those who are swept up in these beliefs are ignorant, but belief is a complex mixture of suggestion, mimicry, desire and projection. We all like to believe we are resistant to the words and actions of others. We believe that their imaginings do not become ours, but we are wrong.

Every page was brimming with new ideas and I was interested in events throughout. The fragmented approach meant I wasn’t emotionally invested in the characters, but this didn’t seem to matter. The intelligence of the writing shone through and I enjoyed reading a book that treated the reader with respect; introducing complex thoughts without pausing to explain them. It was more like a collection of essays than a novel, but the concept was so strong that I found myself thinking about certain aspects long after finishing it. This is very unusual for me as I often struggle with books that don’t have a strong narrative thread. It is a testament to the quality of the writing that I remained engaged throughout.

Another thing I loved about the book was the way the Hustvedt referenced herself in it. Authors often come across badly when they try to include themselves in their work, so I was charmed when she described herself as “an obscure novelist and essayist”.  I really hope this book provides her with the publicity she needs to gain the wider audience she deserves.

I have no interest in art and I normally dislike books with a fragmented structure, but the quality of the writing overcame these issues. That is a rare occurrence and the reason why I highly recommend this book.

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2000 - 2007 Non Fiction Uncategorized

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

In the Heart of the Sea: The Epic True Story that Inspired 'Moby Dick'

Five words from the blurb: whaleship, sinking, crewmen, dramatic, survival

In the Heart of the Sea is an account of the events that inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick. In 1820 the whaleship Essex was attacked by a spermwhale. By combining historical narratives, Philbrick gives a shocking insight into the plight of the twenty crewmen who escaped into lifeboats in the middle of the Pacific. It is a gripping story that shows what happens to the human body when it is starved of food and water, but it is also a chilling reminder of what people are capable of doing in order to survive.

I found the first third of this book slow going. This was because it gave a solid introduction to the whaling industry – facts I was already familiar with from reading the outstanding Leviathan by Philip Hoare. I can’t fault this section and don’t feel it should have been written differently, it is just unfortunate in being the second to inform me of these facts.

Luckily the story quickly began to take a route I was unfamiliar with. The book clearly explained what life at sea was like and I was gripped to the adventure, willing the men to survive. The details of what happened to them as they became dehydrated were disturbing to read, but I also found them strangely fascinating:

Morning came quickly and, with it, a return to the agonies of hunger and thirst. They were now so severely dehydrated that they had begun to lose the ability to speak. “Relief,” Chase wrote, “must come soon, or nature would sink.” They wandered the beach like ragged skeletons, pausing to lean against trees and rocks to catch their breath. They tried chewing the waxy green leaves of the shrubs that grew in cliffs, but they were bitter to taste. They found birds that made no attempt to escape when they plucked them from their nests. In the crevices of the rocks sprouted a grass that, when chewed, produced a temporary flow of moisture in their mouths. But nowhere did they find fresh water.

The period detail was fantastic and the life of a whaler was brought vividly to life. I also liked the way it documented what happened to the women who had been left behind on Nantucket. Their independent life was inspiring to read, showing how a community coped without men in a time when many thought it wrong/impossible.

If you like historical fiction packed with adventure then this is for you. The fact it is all true only adds to its brilliance.