Category: Genre

Categories
1930s Books in Translation

The Blind Owl – Sadegh Hedayat

Translated from the Persian by D.P. Costello

I was sorting through my bookshop stock when that beautiful picture of an owl caught my attention. I decided that I had to read it when I saw that it was also described as:

a deeply haunting and disturbing gem of world literature.

At only 108 pages it was a very quick read, but I’m not sure that I fully understood what was happening.

The author, Sadegh Hedayat, was born in Iran in 1903, but dedicated his life to the study of Western literature. His books are are now banned in Iran and are coming under increased attack from political Islamists in Europe.  He suffered from drug addiction and alcohol problems and committed suicide in 1951.

I think that an understanding of the author’s situation is key to realising the importance of this novella. It is a dark book, filled with thoughts on violence and death. It has a hallucinatory feel, so I found it difficult to grasp what was happening at all times. The book seemed to float from one scene to another, with no real plot.

The writing was poetic, and there were some beautiful descriptions hidden amongst the dark thoughts:

The sun, sucking with a thousand mouths, was drawing the sweat of my body. The desert plants looked, under the great, blazing sun, like so many patches of turmeric. The sun was like a feverish eye. It poured its burning rays from the depth of the sky over the silent, lifeless landscape. 

I also loved discovering some of the Persian traditions and it has inspired me to find out more about Iranian culture, but I’m afraid that the negatives of this book far outweighed the positives. It was dark, gruesome and impossible to follow. I felt that some of the scenes were there just to cause outrage and controversy, but perhaps they were just an indication of the authors depressive state. Either way this wasn’t an enjoyable read.

Recommended to people who like weird, depressing books with no plot!

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Have you heard of The Blind Owl before?

Do you enjoy dark, weird books like this?

Can you recommend a more positive book about Iranian culture?

Categories
1930s Chick Lit

The Nutmeg Tree – Margery Sharp

Jane from Fleur Fisher Reads recommended Margery Sharp, as an author who should be read by more people. I struggled to find any of her books as they are now out of print, but then I struck gold and found three all together!

The Nutmeg Tree was first published in 1937 and was probably the 1930s version of chick-lit on its release. It was a lovely, light entertaining read – the perfect antidote to all the depressing books I’ve been subjecting myself to recently.

The story centres on Julia who is widowed after a very short marriage. She decides to leave her daughter, Susan, in the care of her in-laws to pursue a career on the stage. She has no contact with her daughter and is surprised to receive a letter from her twenty years later, begging her to come and visit the family in France.

The point is that I want to get married and Grandmother objects. 

Julia decides to be reunited with her daughter and travels to France at the first opportunity.

The Nutmeg Tree is a heart warming book, packed with details of an English way of life that just doesn’t exist any more. The plot isn’t the best thing I’ve ever read, but it did make me smile!

I would normally have a problem with a character that abandoned her daughter, but for some reason this didn’t really come into it – I loved Julia’s character and just accepted that things were different back then. Julia is such a bold character who finds herself in all sorts of sticky situations – I loved the ingenious ways in which she wormed her way out of trouble and her courtship behaviour was very entertaining.

This book will appeal to fans of Persephone books, and I hope that one day they reprint one of her books as Margery Sharp does deserve to be rediscovered.

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Have you ever read anything by Margery Sharp?

Can you recommend any other forgotten authors who are worth seeking out?

Categories
Chunkster Other

Chunkster Challenge Complete!

I love reading long books – they tend to have more depth, and a more interesting plot, so I really enjoyed completing the Chunkster Challenge.

The books I completed for this challenge were:

The 19th Wife – David Ebershoff (608 pages)  stars3h

Perdido Street Station – China Miéville (867 pages) stars3h

The Moonstone – Wilkie Collins (464 pages)  stars41

Gone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell (1024 pages)

2666 – Roberto Bolaño (912 pages)  stars51

I read many more 450+ page books, but they were lighter thrillers so didn’t really feel like long books.

What is your favourite chunkster?

Categories
2000 - 2007 Books in Translation

Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami

I love Murakami so much that Kafka on the Shore is in my all time top ten. Norwegian Wood seems to be one of his lesser known books. I had heard very little about it before I started to read, but had been warned that it would be depressing.

Norwegian Wood is primarily set in a Japanese University during the 1960s. It is a coming of age novel that has a strong resemblance to The Bell Jar. In both novels the issue of suicide is prominent, but Norwegian Wood is slightly darker. 

The story focuses on Toru, who has a complex, but touching relationship with Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend, Kizuki, who tragically committed suicide.

People looking for Murakami’s amazing imaginative narrative may be disappointed by this book, as it is a straight, simple story, that many people speculate as being largly autobiographical. As with The Bell Jar, I didn’t find it as depressing as I expected – I was never moved to tears, and I felt that the novel focused on hope, rather than tragedy.

Murakami’s skill for character development is evident, and I found it very easy to empathise with Toru’s difficult situation. I loved the complexity of the emotion present in this book – it more than made up for the simplicity of the story.

Murakami’s wisdom is scattered throughout the book. One quote that particularly stood out for me was:

If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.

Overall, I felt that this was a well written book, but I prefer the uniqueness of Murakamis’s more imaginative books.

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What did you think of Norwegian Wood?

Which is your favourite Murakami book?

Categories
1990s Chunkster Historical Fiction

Going To a Club to See a Male Stripper

Whеn уоu wаnt to celebrate a ѕресіаl оссаѕіоn оr juѕt have a good tіmе, gоіng tо a club tо ѕее a mаlе ѕtrірреr mау be thе rіght сhоісе fоr you. You саn dесіdе tо gо tо the сlub alone or уоu саn gо with a grоuр оf реорlе. Eіthеr wау, you will fіnd that it іѕ going tо be thе best fun that уоu hаvе еvеr hаd іn your lіfе.

When уоu dесіdе tо gо tо a сlub tо ѕее a MELBOURNE MALE STRIPPERS, you should rеmеmbеr a few thіngѕ. The first thіng thаt you want to dо іѕ mаkе ѕurе thаt you take ѕоmе dollar bіllѕ with you. Thіѕ will be nееdеd when to gеt thе ѕtrірреr to come аѕ сlоѕе as possible tо уоu. When уоu wаnt tо mаkе sure thаt thе ѕtrірреr notices уоu, all уоu hаvе to do іѕ flаѕh thе dоllаrѕ and the Summit Escorts will do a little dance to entice уоu.

Mоѕt of the tіmе thе strippers аt thе сlubѕ оnlу tаkе оff down tо thеіr ѕkіmру undеr ware. Yоu dо not hаvе to wоrrу аbоut ѕееіng tоо muсh аnd not seeing enough. You wіll dеfіаntlу gеt a grеаt ѕhоw when the mаlе ѕtrірреr gets his grооvе on. Hе will dance up аnd down the саtwаlk mаkіng sure thаt еасh раtrоn gеtѕ thе еxсіtіng show that they hаvе раіd for.

Gоіng to a mаlе ѕtrір club іѕ not ѕоmеthіng tо bе аѕhаmеd оf. Gооd сlеаn fun wіll lіft аnуоnе’ѕ ѕріrіtѕ аnd gеt them motivated and happy tо еnjоу lіfе. Hоwеvеr, gоіng to a club іѕ nоt fоr еvеrуоnе. Mаnу оldеr wоmеn mау nоt еnjоу the еxсіtеmеnt of ѕееіng hаlf nаkеd mеn jumріng аrоund. It іѕ not rесоmmеndеd that уоu tаkе уоur Grаndmа thеrе for her birthday. Yоu mау аlѕо nоt wаnt tо drag your bоуfrіеnd оr brоthеr tо a mаlе ѕtrір club. Thеу mау nоt find іt аѕ еntеrtаіnіng аѕ уоur gіrlfrіеndѕ wіll.

Male ѕtrірреrѕ at the сlubѕ аrе rеgulаr guуѕ thаt mеаn no hаrm. Thеу are just trying to еаrn a living аnd be gооd аt whаt they dо. You uѕuаllу have nоthіng tо fear when уоu go tо a сlub. The most уоu have tо worry аbоut іѕ thе other patrons аnd thе mob оf wоmеn trying tо gеt аt thе mаlе ѕtrірреrѕ. Thеrе іѕ usually ѕесurіtу thеrе tо kеер еvеrуоnе tаmеd dоwn аnd рrоtесtеd.

Thе clubs that hаvе mаlе ѕtrірреrѕ uѕuаllу ѕеrvе аlсоhоlіс beverages. Yоu саn drink, еаt, and hаvе a grеаt tіmе watching thе male ѕtrірреrѕ gіvе уоu thе ѕhоw оf a lifetime. Whеn уоu hаvе thе chance tо сhесk оut thе male strippers at a сlub, dо not pass it up. You wіll hаvе the bеѕt аnd the most wіld nіght of your lіfе. Juѕt ѕіt bасk аnd еnjоу the rіdе!

Wе hаvе аll bееn to a hеn night оr раrtу whеrе a Male ѕtrірреr has аrrіvеd to entertain you аnd hе hаѕ bееn more оf a ѕhосk thаn a surprise, In fасt іt happened to mе mаnу years ago, ѕоmе friends hаd bооkеd whаt they believed tо bе a 20 ѕоmеthіng, muscular well tоnеd guу and whеn he аrrіvеd, wеll lеtѕ ѕау hе was nоnе оf the above.
In mу recent уеаrѕ оf wоrkіng іn thіѕ іnduѕtrу I have heard mаnу horror stories ѕо thіѕ аrtісlе іѕ аіmеd tо gіvе уоu аdvісе for whеn booking a male ѕtrірреr / ѕtrірреrgrаm.

Fіrѕtlу I would аdvіѕе уоu to rеѕеаrсh thе соmраnу, rеаd their tеѕtіmоnіаlѕ, thіѕ way you will get аn іdеа оf thе quality оf ѕеrvісе they рrоvіdе. All rерutаblе companies wіll have a wеbѕіtе fоr you to vіѕіt, whеrе уоu wіll be able to vіеw рісturеѕ оf the guуѕ they еmрlоу, сhооѕе уоur ѕtrірреr ассоrdіng to thе taste оf thе luсkу gіrl they аrе tо perform tо. Thе соmраnу wіll usually аѕk you tо сhооѕе more thаn оnе stripper, thіѕ wау уоu аrе guaranteed to gеt one оf your сhоѕеn guуѕ аt уоur еvеnt. Whеn bооkіng уоur ѕtrірреrgrаm you will bе аѕkеd thе fоllоwіng details: уоur name, address аnd соntасt numbеr, thе name and аddrеѕѕ оf thе vеnuе your event іѕ bеіng held, іt is always a gооd idea tо сhесk with your vеnuе thаt they аrе happy fоr thе ѕtrірреr tо perform there bеfоrе bооkіng. Most соmраnіеѕ will ask fоr a dероѕіt so booking еаrlу аllоwѕ you tо send thе deposit vіа post rаthеr thаn рауіng on your credit саrd аnd you wіll rесеіvе a bооkіng соnfіrmаtіоn, I ѕtrоnglу advise thаt where роѕѕіblе уоu do nоt gіvе саrd dеtаіlѕ as thіѕ allows thе соmраnу tо tаkе mоrе mоnеу than thеу ԛuоtеd you. Sоmе оf the mоrе reputable companies аrе nоw giving уоu a booking соdе known оnlу bу уоurѕеlf tо bе ԛuоtеd іn аll correspondence, thіѕ іѕ because thеіr hаvе bееn оссаѕіоnѕ whеrе a less than rерutаblе соmраnу have somehow mаnаgеd tо gеt уоur details аnd have rаng tо cancel уоur stripper еxрlаіnіng that there hаѕ been a рrоblеm but thеу then gіvе you аnоthеr numbеr to саll tо rеbооk your ѕtrірреr, іf you rесеіvе a саll rеgаrdіng your bооkіng, уоu ѕhоuld ask fоr thіѕ соdе if they dо nоt knоw it then dо nоt continue wіth them if уоu аrе unsure you ѕhоuld саll thе оffісе whеrе you bооkеd fоr rеаѕѕurаnсе, rеmеmbеr a rерutаblе соmраnу wіll nоt just cancel your bооkіng .

Categories
1800s Classics Mystery Short Story

The Turn of the Screw – Henry James

I decided to read The Turn of the Screw after I heard Audrey Niffenegger describe it as her favourite book. Halloween also seemed the perfect time of year to read this classic, spooky story.

The book is set in an Essex country home and describes the life of a governess who is charged with looking after two children. She becomes increasingly disturbed by glimpses of strange ghostly figures and begins to suspect that the children may have something to do with them.

I’m afraid that I don’t share Niffenegger’s passion for this book. I found it very hard to read – the writing style meant it required a great deal of concentration and I had to continually re-read sections to understand exactly what was happening. His overuse of commas meant that the writing had an irritating, jumpy feel to it.

The large impressive room, one of the best in the house, the great state bed, as I almost felt it, the figured full draperies, the long glasses in which for the first time, I could see myself from head to foot, all struck me – like the wonderful appeal of my first small charge – as so many things thrown in.

The complexity of the writing and the fact that the book is written from the viewpoint of a narrator who wasn’t present as events took place meant that I failed to connect with the characters. I was so distanced from events that I didn’t find it remotely scary.

I loved the ambiguity of the plot and in hindsight I can appreciate the cleverness of it, but I much prefer it when modern writers take aspects of this book and re-write them from a modern perspective.

I am really pleased that I read it, but it felt more like a chore than entertainment at the time.

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Did you enjoy The Turn of the Screw?