Category: 2000 – 2007

Categories
2000 - 2007 Commonwealth Writer's Prize Historical Fiction Recommended books

Haweswater – Sarah Hall

 

Winner of the 2003 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize First Book Award and 2003 Betty Trask Award

I spent my teenage years living in the Lake District and so I have a soft spot for anything set in Cumbria. Haweswater is one of many lakes in the Lake District, but unlike the majority it is man-made; created by the construction of a dam and the subsequent flooding of the valley in the 1930s. Haweswater gives a moving account of how the remote farming community came to terms with the fact that their village was going to be destroyed and describes their final months as they prepare to leave a home that has been theirs for generations.

Photo Credit: Trevor Rickard

Haweswater had an extra impact on me as I visited the village of Mardale when it was revealed during a drought. The photo above shows a typical view of Haweswater as it is today; whilst the one below shows a similar view during a drought – with the roads, demolished houses and farm walls revealed.

Photo Credit: Janet Richardson

I loved the Cumbrian dialect in this book. You don’t hear it on television very often and I think it is the first time I have read a book containing it.

Teddy’s gone fer Frithy. Nowt else to dyah but wait. Thowt aboot garn misell, Sam. Twa arms better un yan, eh? Even auld bugger like misell?

When I first moved to Cumbria I couldn’t understand a word the locals were saying and I suspect that many readers will struggle to understand the dialect in this book. The good news is that the majority of the novel is written in beautiful, descriptive prose and so you will still understand everything that is happening even if you don’t catch what they are saying!

For the last three hundred years or more there often could be seen a man or a child pausing on the bridge to look below at the water, idling in conversation with a companion, or as a solitary, watching the trout rise and flick between the reeds under the bridge. Casting an eye over the river, as if for no other reason than there was water flowing past.

Despite the fact that you know what happens in the end, this is a fantastic story. The characters are very well developed and I felt a strong emotional connection to them. A dark sense of foreboding builds as the novel progresses and the ending is heartbreaking. This is a beautiful portrait of a lost community.

I’m slightly biased, but I highly recommend that you read it.

Have you read any books set in the Lake District?

Categories
2000 - 2007

All My Friends Are Superheroes – Andrew Kaufman

All My Friends Are Superheroes seems to have developed a cult following. The book’s biggest fan is Scott Pack, but the premise didn’t really appeal to me and so I resisted reading it. All this changed when I saw the author, Andrew Kaufman, at the Fire Station book swap event. Andrew Kaufman had me crying with laughter for several hours and so I decided to give his book a chance. Unfortunately, I didn’t find his writing as funny as his real life appearance, but I admire the book’s originality.

All My Friends Are Superheroes is a heartwarming romance. The characters aren’t the flying, invisible, super-strength superheroes we are all used to seeing in Hollywood films – they are just normal people with an extreme aspect to their personality. Tom has married The Perfectionist, but at their wedding her ex, Hypno, hypnotized her into believing that Tom is invisible. Unable to see her husband the Perfectionist thinks Tom has abandoned her and so Tom has to do everything within his powers to show The Perfectionist that he does exist and that he still loves her.

It is a clever idea for a book, but I think the magic relies in the humor and this book failed to make me laugh. The book is peppered with examples of Tom’s superhero friends, many of which were very cleverly thought-out, but I’m afraid I failed to see the funny side.

THE PROJECTIONIST
The Projectionist can make you believe whatever she believes. If she believes interest rates are going to fall, and you have a short conversation with the Projectionist, you will too. If she believes that, no, in fact, you didn’t signal when you turned left, causing the Projectionist to ram her car into the back of yours, so will you.
Her downfall began when she fell in love with the Inverse. She absolutely, 100% fell in love with the Inverse. She projected all this emotion onto him but the Inverse, being the Inverse, simply reflected the opposite of everything she was sending.
Strangely, neither the Inverse nor the Projectionist can let go of the relationship. 

This quirky humor really clicks with some readers, so if you found the above extract amusing then I highly recommend that you get this book.

It is very short (100 well-spaced pages) and I read it in under an hour, so it will be appreciated by those looking for a quick, light read. I thought the ending was lovely, but I’m afraid that most of the rest of the book fell flat for me.

Recommended to those who like quirky, humorous books.

Would it be wrong to suggest that men seem to enjoy this more than women?

…..an utter treasure of a book… Bart’s Bookshelf

What starts off as a seemingly clunky metaphor, becomes a beautifully surreal examination of the complexities of relationships. ResoluteReader

…a wonderfully quick read… Winstonsdad’s Blog

 

Categories
2000 - 2007 YA

Pretties – Scott Westerfeld

 The second book in the Uglies quartet

I really enjoyed Uglies, the first book in this quartet, so was disappointed to discover that Pretties wasn’t in the same league. It is impossible to give any details of the plot without spoiling Uglies, so I’ll just point you in the direction of my Uglies review if you are interested in starting the series.

Uglies was packed with thought provoking scenes, giving a scary prediction for the future of a society that places beauty as a high priority. Pretties contained nothing that got me thinking.  It was a fast paced, but felt shallow and by the end of the book I felt as though the plot hadn’t made any progression from the end of Uglies.

I also found “pretty talk” to be very irritating. Words like “bogus” and “bubbly” were over used and began to wind me up:

Tally tried to be bubbly, but the thought of the costumed special lurking her was too dizzy-making.

….she knew it would be bogus not to agree. And that with a totally bubbly costume like a real-life Smokey sweater to wear, there was no way anyone would vote against her…..

They thought it was totally bubbly that real-life Specials were at the party….

Aaaaarrrggghhh!!  I can’t remember such annoying writing in Uglies, but perhaps the fantastic plot made me forget about it.

Pretties was so disappointing I’ve almost decided not to read the rest of the series.

Do you think I’d enjoy Specials or Extras?

 Pretties is dividing opinion in the blogging world: 

….this book just felt like filler. Kiss My Book

….ends with a cliffhanger that sends you scurrying for the next book in the series. Rhapsody in Books

This book was un-put-down-able. Books and Movies

Categories
2000 - 2007 Booker Prize Recommended books

Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro

 Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2005

I have been wanting to read this book for ages, but for some reason it never made it to the top of my reading pile. I’m making a conscious effort to ensure that this doesn’t happen to the most important books in my collection and so Never Let Me Go became a priority. I’m so happy that it lived up to my expectations and that I will be joining the hoards of people who rave about this book.

Never Let Me Go is set in an English boarding school, but things aren’t quite as you’d expect them to be. Over the course of the book we slowly discover that it isn’t set in our world, but in one with subtle differences. I won’t say any more than that as I’d hate to give it away. All I can say is that it is an incredibly well constructed book, where the power is in what is left unsaid, as much as what is.

Maybe from as early as when you’re five or six, there’s been a whisper going at the back of your head, saying: “One day, maybe not so long from now, you’ll get to know how it feels.” So you’re waiting, even if you don’t
quite know it, waiting for the moment when you realise that you really are different to them; that there are people out there, like Madame, who don’t hate you or wish you any harm, but who nevertheless shudder at the very thought of you – of how you were brought into this world and why–and who dread the idea of your hand brushing against theirs.

It was such a subtle book that I found myself reading it very slowly, studying each paragraph for clues about what was happening. The ending left me with more questions than answers, but I quite liked the way some things were left open –  it means that it can be discussed for longer, making it a perfect book group choice.

I had expected the text to be challenging and so I was impressed by how easy and accessible it was to read. This combined with a thought provoking and original plot make Never Let Me Go a modern classic.

Highly recommended.

The Never Let You Go movie is released in the US on 1st of October and in the UK on 14th January 2011.

WARNING!! DO NOT WATCH THE AMERICAN TRAILER FOR THIS FILM IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK – IT GIVES EVERYTHING AWAY!

The UK trailer for the film is below – it is almost spoiler free:

I was quite worried about how the adaptation would be handled, but I’ve been reassured by watching the trailers and am looking forward to seeing the film.

Did you enjoy Never Let Me Go?
What did you think of the trailer?

Categories
2000 - 2007 Historical Fiction Other Prizes Recommended books

Sweetness in the Belly – Camilla Gibb

 Finalist for the 2005 Giller Prize

I hadn’t heard of this book, but during a discussion on Canadian literature Claire recommended it and kindly lent me her copy.  I’m so pleased that she brought it to my attention as it was a fantastic read.

Sweetness in the Belly is set in Ethiopia, Morocco and England. The main theme of the book is identity and what it means to be accepted in a community, but this book looks at things from a slightly different angle to other books on immigration.

The central character is Lilly, born to white British parents keen to explore the world. From birth Lilly travels the globe with them, but at the age of eight her parents are killed in Morocco, leaving Lilly to be brought up at a Sufi Shrine. This leads Lily to become a devout Muslim. Political unrest in Morocco forces her to leave the country as a teenager and so she heads for the Ethiopian holy city of Harar. She eventually finds a place for herself in this ancient walled city, but the start of Mengistu’s reign of terror leads her to return to London, a country that feels very alien to her.

It sounds as though I’ve just told you the whole plot, but we learn these facts quite quickly. The book flips forwards and backwards in time, showing us Lilly’s life in each country. It was fascinating to compare the traditions of each country and to learn a bit more about the terrible situation in 1970s Ethiopia. (I first learnt about of Mengistu’s reign of terror by reading Cutting for Stone earlier this year.)

“There is never anything about Ethiopia,” he laments as we watch the world morphing before our eyes. “It is as if it does not exist.”
“Ethiopia doesn’t matter to the West,” I say, stating the obvious. “We offer them nothing they can exploit.”
This has proved both a blessing and a curse. We can feel proud that Ethiopia resisted Europe’s colonial overtures, but then we have to accept that the country does not exist in the European imagination as anything but a starving, impoverished nation with just about the highest rates of infant mortality, the lowest average life expectancy and the lowest rates of literacy in the world. As a story of famine and refugees.

I loved Lilly’s character and was touched by the difficulties she faced. Sweetness in the Belly was easy to read, thought provoking and became gripping as it progressed.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves epic tales of love and loss and those interested in cultural identity.

Have you read anything written by Camilla Gibb?

I loved this book and so plan to seek out as many of her books as I can.

Which ones do you recommend?

 

 

Categories
2000 - 2007

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell

I have heard so many people raving about this book that I’m afraid I have forgotten who first brought it to my attention, but I’m really pleased that I have discovered Maggie O’Farrell as I’m sure I’ll enjoy working my way through her back catalogue.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is set in Edinburgh and follows Iris, a young woman who discovers that she has a great-aunt living in a psychiatric unit. Iris was unaware of her existence and so decides to find out why her family have hidden Esme Lennox away for all these years.

I was initially surprised at how readable this book was. For some reason I’d assumed that this was a very literary book, requiring a lot of attention, but it was much lighter than I had imagined and I flew through it.

A draught of cold air snakes in, curling about her ankles. She lifts her head and looks around the shop. The blank, featureless heads of the hatstands stare down at her, a silk coat hung from the ceiling sways slightly in the breeze. She lifts the flap and the seal gives easily. She unfolds the single white sheet, glances down it. Her mind is still running on the beer, on how she’s going to clean it up, how she must learn not to kick cans in the street, but she catches the words case and meeting and the name Euphemia Lennox. At the bottom, an illegible signature.

Despite its modern setting it had a very Gothic feel to it, reminding me of books like The Thirteenth Tale and The Behaviour of Moths.

My only criticism is that I thought the ending was a bit predictable. I had heard about the amazing twist and so was quite sad to discover that I had worked it out quite early on.

Overall this was a light, entertaining read. Recommended.

Maggie O’Farrell has just released a new book: The Hand That First Held Mine

I’m looking forward to reading it in the near future.

Which Maggie O’Farrell book have you enjoyed the most?

Are her other books just as easy to read?