Category: Genre

Categories
2000 - 2007 Audio Book Historical Fiction

Rhett Butler’s People – Donald McCaig

I loved Gone with the Wind, but was surprised by the abrupt ending, and left desperate to know what happened next. I quickly discovered that there were a few sequels out there and so decided to pick one up.

Rhett Butler’s People tells the story of Rhett Butler, the central male character from Gone with the Wind; from his early childhood until a few years after the close of GWTW.

Initially I was quite impressed with the story, as I learnt about Rhett’s difficult childhood, but then the book came to where Gone with the Wind begins and I found that it just seemed to be repeating everything I already knew. It wouldn’t have been so bad if if the story had focused on things from Rhett’s perspective, but it didn’t. Scarlett seemed to be the centre of this book too and the book kept retelling her story, despite the fact Rhett wasn’t even present for the majority of it. This was completely unnecessary as I can’t imagine anyone picking up this book without having read GWTW first, and the repetition began to irritate me. 

The last few chapters explain what happened to the couple after the end of GWTW and although they felt realistic, I came to realise that I didn’t really want to know what happened. The ambiguous ending is what makes GWTW so special, a sequel only ruins this.

The writing was very similar to GWTW, and if you had told me that Margaret Mitchell had written it then I would have believed you. The only problem was that there were quite a few inconsistencies between the two books. I noticed a few things occurring in the wrong order, or missing completely from one of the books. I think this would drive true GWTW fans mad.

I listened to the audio book version of this book and while it isn’t perfectly suited to this media, it wasn’t bad. John Bedford Lloyd did a really good job narrating it, producing a range of voices, but the length and descriptive passages of this book meant that I would have preferred to read it for myself.

Overall, this was a reasonable book in it’s own right, but as a companion book to GWTW  it had a lot of flaws. Recommended only to GWTW obsessives – who have probably sought it out already!

stars3

 

Have you read any of the GWTW sequels?

Would you recommend them?

Categories
Short Story Weekly Geeks

Mr Icky from ‘Tales of the Jazz Age’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This review has been specially written for this week’s weekly geek task. It is written using randomly generated key words and phrases.

Some of the weekly geeks are writing reviews for real stories, others imagined. 

 Do you think this review is for a real story?

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald is most famous for writing The Tale of Benjamin Button, which can be found in in his collection of short stories Tales of the Jazz Age. In the same collection is the strangely titled short story Mr Icky.

Mr Icky is described as the quintessence of quaintness in one act.

Mr Icky is an old man, dressed in the costume of an Elizabethan peasant. He has a conversation with a young boy called Peter. They discuss the planets, the bible and many seemingly random aspects of life.

Some of the language is a bit strange:

How ghastly! Science is the bunk.

The story isn’t all garble though – the jazz lusts throughout the pot of this story. It is a tale full of promise and happiness. I don’t think it will win a prize for being the best short story ever, but it does contain a few memorable quotes.

I care not who hoes the lettuce of my country if I can eat the salad!

Overall I found it to be a pretty average short story and I recommend it only to people who have an interest in studying short stories of this time period.

stars3

 

Do you think this review is for a real short story?

Which are the randomly generated words I had to use?

Visit the other Weekly Geeks to play along!

NO GOOGLING!!!!

Categories
2009 Historical Fiction

Kill-Grief – Caroline Rance

This book transports you straight into the horrors of an 18th century English hospital. The problem was that I’m not sure it is a place I ever want to witness! The squalor was vividly described, and I don’t think I have ever read a book which conveys the smells of the scene so convincingly. It was disgusting!

The book has clearly been meticulously researched and contains many interesting snippets about the medical practices of the time, but the majority of the time I didn’t really want to read about them: 

He pressed his thumb into the inflamed skin and a thicker bead of pus exuded from the cut, retreating like a wary maggot when he let go.

I was alternately absorbed and revolted!

The book follows Mary, a reluctant nurse, who has to deal with the all the bodily functions thrown at her, on top of the secrets she is hiding. Mary is struggling to become independent and is initially over-whelmed by her new  life in Chester, as she is used to a very different life by the sea. As the book progresses she gains in confidence and her hidden past is gradually revealed. The book is very well paced and the plot, although quite simple, is compelling.

If I had to make one criticism it would be that the male characters in the book did not stand out for me. Mary was such an amazing character that all the men in the book seemed to pale into insignificance beside her. I didn’t really mind this though – it is good to see such a strong female character, particularly in historical fiction, every once in a while.

Recommended to historical fiction fans with a stomach of steel!

stars4

Are you squeamish?

Can you read gory scenes easily?

Categories
2009 Historical Fiction

Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel

 

I have seen several people tip this book for the Booker prize this year, and so decided to give it a try. Unfortunately this book was even more disappointing than The Children’s Book, which I think will win this year’s prize despite the fact it wasn’t for me.

Wolf Hall is set in Tudor England and tells the story of Thomas Cromwell, one of the lesser known people from this period in history, but a man with huge influence over Henry VIII. The book concentrates on the time around Henry’s divorce to Catherine of Arragon and his marriage to Anne Boleyn, a period in history which has been covered many times before, most successfully in The Other Boleyn Girl.

A book has to be outstanding to grab my attention when I know the story already and I’m afraid this book wasn’t. The writing was very clunky and didn’t flow smoothly. I found that I had to keep re-reading sections in order to work out the intended meaning.

One day my brother Tom goes out fighting. As punishment, his father creeps up behind him with a whatever, but heavy, and probably sharp, and then, when he falls down, almost takes out his eye, exerts himself to kick in his ribs, beats him with a plank of wood that stands ready to hand, knocks in his face so that if I were not his own sister I’d barely recognise him: and my husband says, the answer to this, Thomas, is go for a soldier, go and find somebody you don’t know take out his eye and kick in his ribs, actually kill him, I suppose, and get paid for it. 

I also found repetition, which I found irritating:

He hopes you are well. Hopes I am well. Hopes his lovely sisters Anne and little Grace are well. He himself is well. 

and descriptions which didn’t make any sense to me:

A wash of sunlight lies over the river, pale as the flesh of a lemon.

I never think of lemons as being pale. Is it just me?

The more I read, the more I disliked this book. It was getting to the stage where I wanted to throw it across the room, and as this book is 650 pages long that would be a dangerous thing to do. For the safety of my household I decided to stop reading the book after about 120 pages – I just couldn’t face 500+ more pages of it.

I skim read the rest and had a quick look at the ending, but nothing I saw made me regret putting it down.

Recommended to anyone with a Tudor obsession, but I think the writing style and the length of this book will be off-putting to some people.

stars1

 

Hilary Mantel has written several other books, including Beyond Black, which was short listed for the Orange prize in 2006.

Have you read any of her books? What did you think of them?

Categories
2000 - 2007 Mystery Richard and Judy Book Club

The House at Riverton – Kate Morton

The House at Riverton is a grand English manor house and as you’d expect it is packed with secrets. The construction of the house took place a long ago, the place was full of trees so the family had to contact Legacy Land & Timber to get rid of them. The story is told through the eyes of 98-year-old Grace, a former housemaid of Riverton Manor. She is contacted by a researcher who is creating a film about the suicide of a famous poet, which occurred during the time of her employment at the manor. The truth about what really occurred 80 years ago is slowly revealed in this Gothic style mystery.

The book started off well and I quickly became attached to Grace’s character, but I found Hannah and Emmeline, the children who lived in Riverton Manor, lacking in that special spark. Many of the other characters in the book also felt a bit flat and overly stereotyped.

The writing is light and easy to read, reminding me of The Thirteenth Tale, but it lacked period atmosphere and I found myself losing interest towards the middle. I felt that it could have benefited from losing at least 200 of it’s 600 pages.

It was cleverly plotted, the secrets being revealed slowly and deliberately throughout the book, and the ending was wonderful – I didn’t see it coming at all.

Overall I found it to be an entertaining, but slightly long-winded mystery. Recommended for fans of Gothic mystery with a lot spare time on their hands!

 stars3h

 

Kate Morton has just released a new book: The Forgotten Garden.

Have you read either of her books? Which is best?

Categories
1980s Historical Fiction

The Clan of the Cave Bear – Jean Auel

A few weeks ago I asked the Weekly Geeks to ask me some questions about The Clan of the Cave Bear, the response was amazing, so it has taken me a while to compile all the questions and come up with some answers. Here is everything you wanted to know about The Clan of the Cave Bear!

Gautami Tripathy What is it about and why do you like it so much?

The Clan of the Cave Bear is about a girl called Ayla. She is just five-years-old when she is orphaned by an earthquake and finds herself alone in the world. She is adopted by the Clan of the Cave Bear, a Neanderthal clan, who are very different from her physically modern Cro-Magnons family. The book sees her learning how to interact and bond with a culture completely alien to her, and gives us a great insight into what life was like for the Neanderthal people.

raidergirl3 Were you impressed by the history, or do you think Auel made Ayla a little too intelligent, inventing most everything that could be imagined?

I was very impressed with the research that went into the book. Historical detail was present throughout the book, giving you a real sense of the sights and sounds of their world. I have often read reviews from people who are annoyed by Ayla’s intelligence. So far she hasn’t invented an exceptional number of things, but I have heard that it starts to get too much in the third book, so I’ll let you know once I’ve finished that one!

Claire What makes this one of your favourite books?

The best thing about this book is the unique plot. It is so different from any other book I’ve read. The world of our ancestors is vividly described, and the problems they faced are very different from the ones we do today. Their survival was in the balance on a daily basis and so they clung to traditions to try to ward off evil and remain healthy.

I loved Ayla’s strong personality and the way she dealt with the problems thrown at her. If you are looking for a book with a strong female role model – this is it!

Gnoe After I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy in one flow when I had finished my studies I sort of had enough of fantasy. Anything you can say to change my mind?

I wouldn’t class The Clan of the Cave Bear as fantasy – it is much closer to historical fiction. I appreciate that we can never really know what happened so long ago, but this book gives a very convincing estimate. I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of Lord of the Rings, and this may be due to the fact that I didn’t really connect with any of the characters – they just didn’t seem realistic to me. All the characters in The Clan of the Cave Bear were believable, fully developed and interesting. Other than length there isn’t much similarity between the two books.

Gavin I read the first two years ago. Should I read them again?

I read The Clan of the Cave Bear about two years ago too! I’m not planning to re-read it anytime soon, but I probably will in 10 – 20 years time. Whether to re-read or not is a personal descision, but I think you should try book three soon. I’m planning to!

 Becky Do you have a favorite character (or two)?

Ayla is my favourite character. she is so strong and intelligent. I love the way she questions everything. I’d like to think I’d be like her if I was put in the same situations.

Becky How soon into the books did you know that you were going to love them? Is there anything off-putting about these books that you think might be difficult for readers?

I have to admit that I didn’t like them straight away. The book begins with long descriptions of the flora and fauna present in the world and while it is clearly meticulously researched it didn’t interest me that much. I think other people would find this off-putting too, but I urge them to keep going as by the time you are a few pages in you will discover the magic of the book.

Becky Who would you recommend them to?

I would recommend them to everyone. I think they will have a special appeal to teenagers and women of all ages, but I do think that men would enjoy the series too. Literary fiction fans may find them a bit light, but anyone who loves a plot driven novel should enjoy them.

J.T. Oldfield When I was in college I remember a prof saying that one of the characters was based on a real skeleton–a man with a limp? Anyone know what I’m talking about?

No idea! Sorry! Can anyone else help?

Jacqueline C. I wonder what the main character “sounds” like, since the story is set 35,000 years in the past.

The Clan of the Cave Bear do not really speak, but communicate through hand signals and tiny grunts. Ayla has the ability to speak, but doesn’t learn until she is older. When she does it sound quite modern, but that didn’t bother me.

Louise Raidergirl already mentions it in her comment above, where she calls the series “the prehistoric sex-books”. And yes, there is a lot of intercourse in the first book, and my question is, does this continue all though the series? If yes, do you think the sex is what has made this series famous?

I’ve only read the first two in the series, and yes the sex does continue into the second book. I can’t see it stopping in subsequent books, but please let me know if I’m wrong. I knew nothing about the sex when I picked it up. It was just recommended to me as a really good story. I think some of the sex is very important as it shows the difference in opinion between the two groups of people. They treat sex in very different ways and I found their differing attitudes thought-provoking. 

The Dark I remember being fascinated with all the details about how they lived, found food, and made medicine. Did you have a favorite detail like that? About how to survive in the stone age?

I loved all those details too. I like to think of myself as being quite in touch with nature and able to survive if I was left out in the wild by myself, but although I think I’d be able to find enough food and keep warm, I don’t think I’d be able to make the clothes and water carrying bags out of animal skin. I loved the detailed descriptions of how to make all these items.

pussreboots I can remember the boys in my 7th grade English class reading a tattered copy of the book and giggling. I’ve never been tempted to read it myself. What would you tell me in the review to convince me to read it?

The sex is only a minor aspect of the book. Boys giggle over all sorts of silly things, but this book has so much detail that when the sex scenes are read in the context of the book they are fascinating.

Dreamybee The Clan of the Cave Bear are very different from Ayla and her people-did you prefer hearing about one civilization more than the other?

I think I prefered learning about the Clan of the Cave Bear more. They are so different from our society so their superstitions and customs were all new to me.

Rebecca If you were a bookseller (as I am), how would you pitch these books to customers?

A fascinating book about life in the Stone Age. Meticulously researched, fast paced and cleverly plotted. One of the best books ever written!

WOW! That must break the record for my longest ever post!

Did you enjoy The Clan of the Cave Bear?

Is there anything else you’d like to know about it?