Category: 2010

Categories
2010 Books in Translation Novella Recommended books

Beside the Sea – Veronique Olmi

 Translated from the French by Adriana Hunter

Beside the Sea is the best book I have read in a long time. It tells the story of a single mother who wants to ensure her two little boys enjoy a holiday by the sea.

Beside the Sea has the most intense narrative I have ever read. The words pull you in, leading you towards an ending that you know will be devastating. A dark sense of foreboding dominates the text, but when I finally reached the conclusion it was far more poignant than I could ever imagine.

Not much happens in this book. Regular readers of my blog will know that this is normally a very bad thing for me, but in the hands of such a fantastic writer this didn’t matter; the ordinary was given an emotional dimension and made to come alive.

In fact, the kids are frightened of other people. I can’t fault them for that. You’re never what they want you to be. You irritate them, disgust them. The whole world’s disappointed by its neighbours. Sometimes, no one knows why, someone exactly matches what everyone expected. And everybody loves them, they cheer them and put them on the telly. It’s very rare. The rest of the human race is all mistrust and hate, what I mean is love’s nothing like as common as hate.

The simple descriptions of taking two little boys to a hotel or out for a hot chocolate were amazingly accurate, perfectly capturing the behaviour of two brothers. I think the fact that I have two little boys meant that this book had a far greater impact on me. I have had similar experinces of loving them, but at the same time being frustrated by their behaviour.

Beside the Sea is just over 100 pages long, but the effects of reading this book will last far longer than the short time it takes to finish. Those little boys touched my heart and just thinking about them brings tears to my eyes. 

I will remember this book for the rest of my life.

Highly recommended to anyone who likes books that provoke an emotional response.

Everyone seems to love this book:

I can’t think of many books where the atmosphere and intensity of the novel come off the page so instantly. Savidge Reads

I’m not sure I’ve ever read anything quite like it… Dove Grey Reader

However, I still found the ending so powerful, so intense and so quietly devastating that I’m still thinking about it a week down the line… Reading Matters

Have I managed to persuade you to read it?

What is the most intense book you have ever read?

 

 

Categories
2010 Crime

Blueeyedboy – Joanne Harris

I have been wanting to read a Joanne Harris book for a long time – I own almost all of them! For some inexplicable reason they never seem to make it to the top of the TBR pile. I then spotted that Blueeyedboy was going to be the first bookclub choice on The Wright Stuff (a morning UK magazine show) and so made the effort to read it in time for programme on Friday 14th May.

Blueeyedboy is written in the form of blog entries with each chapter ending in the comments the post received. The posts are written on a site called badboysrock which encourages people with murderous fantasies to engage with one another.

Initially I loved the descriptions of the little boy growing up; the insecurities he felt and the pressure of being the only one of his siblings to still be alive. Unfortunately, about 150 pages in, everything began to fall about. The book began to concentrate on his murderous fantasies and the line between what he’d made up and what had happened became increasingly blurred. I’m sure this was deliberate, but it confused me.

I think the message of the book was that we can’t trust what we read online, that we can all pretend to be whoever we want to be; but as a reader I’d have liked to know which bits were supposed to be true. The further into the book I got the more muddled everything became and the plot just seemed to disappear into increasingly dark areas. This confusion made it almost impossible for me to engage with the characters, most of whom I already disliked.

The comments at the end of each chapter ruined the flow of the book for me and I didn’t find them very realistic. I also found the big reveal at the end to be a disappointment.

It was an interesting premise, but I’m afraid it didn’t work for me.

Opinions seem to be very mixed….

I loved the whole unsettling process! Lovely Treez Reads

….it felt too chaotic… The Book Whisperer

…difficult to really care about what happens to any of the characters in the book Euro Crime

Joanne Harris is clearly a very skilled writer and I have heard wonderful things about her other books, so I plan to try another one soon.

Which Joanne Harris book should I try next?

I think the mixed opinions make this a fantastic book club choice. I am really looking forward to seeing the discussion on The Wright Stuff tomorrow morning.

Updated 14th May

I’ve just watched The Wright Stuff and was very impressed by the discussion of this book. It was quite sad that they didn’t manage to find someone who loved it as that would have added to the debate, but I admired their honesty, their professionalism and their ability to focus on the book. I thought it was a much better discussion than the TV Book Club and look forward to following the rest of the series.

Did you watch the show?

Categories
2010

Hector and the Search for Happiness – Francois Lelord

 Translated from the French by Lorenza Garcia

Hector and the Search for Happiness is a short, quirky book about one man’s search for happiness.

Hector is a young psychiatrist who decides to travel around the world finding out what makes people in other countries happy. As he learns about their feelings he makes notes, developing a set of rules which he uses to find happiness within himself.

The writing was very simple, almost child-like and the entire book can be read very quickly. 

I think my main problem with this book was that it wasn’t really a novel. It had much more in common with a self-help guide, a type of book that I avoid. Perhaps I’m just lucky enough to already know that the secret of happiness relies on strong relationships and not material wealth, but I felt I gained nothing from reading this book.

I found the lessons to be patronising and there were several points when I wanted to throw this book across the room.

Lesson no. 12: It is harder to be happy in a country run by bad people.

and possibly even more annoying:

Lesson no. 22: Women care more than men about making others happy. 

I think this book will appeal to fans of Mitch Albom and self-help guides, but I found it to be overly sentimental.

It seems as though I’m the only one that didn’t enjoy it….

It was very sweet and I think it had a number of good lessons in it. Medieval Bookworm

 ….has a genuine edge to it, with on-the-button observations about human beings and the way they think and behave. Vulpes Libris

…. it is warm and insightful, and it cleverly avoids the pitfalls of silliness and sentimentality. Fleur Fisher Reads

Did you enjoy Hector and the Search for Happiness?

Categories
2010 Booker Prize

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet – David Mitchell

David Mitchell is one of my favourite authors, so I was very excited about the release of this new book. Unfortunately I think that David Mitchell has matured as an author very quickly and so this book will disappoint much of his broad fan base.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is set on the island of Dejima at the beginning of the 19th Century. Dejima is the Japanese trading post, the only place where Europeans are allowed to exchange goods with the Japanese. The small island is inhabited only by translators, prostitutes and traders; with access to mainland Japan over a small fiercely guarded bridge. To Buying or reselling authorized user trade Jacob de Zoet is a Dutch clerk trying to prevent corruption on the island, but his life is changed when he falls in love with Orito, a young midwife.

The first chapter is a gripping, but graphic account of a childbirth in which Orito breathes the life back into a seemingly dead baby. Unfortunately the next 150 pages of the book lack this vivid story telling and I found it very hard to understand what was happening. New characters seemed to be added on every page, their names changing based on who referred to them.  The added problem of the Dutch and Japanese misunderstanding each other only compounded my confusion.

As a piece of historical fiction this book is a masterpiece. It is very well researched, but at times I felt the accuracy was its downfall. It took me six weeks to read the first section as I had to re-read it several times. If I hadn’t been a massive David Mitchell fan then I admit that I might have given up at this point, but I am pleased I made the effort.

The next 200 pages were a big improvement. The story of Orito’s imprisonment in a monastery and the shocking baby farm that existed there was a satisfying read. I loved Orito and wish the whole book had concentrated on her.

I was quite disappointed by the ending, but I’m afraid I can’t let you know about that without giving things away. All I can say is that I wasn’t a big fan of any section including Jacob de Zoet. The complexity of the text meant that  I couldn’t generate an emotional response and so I didn’t connect with him. I found all his sections confusing and almost impossible to follow with a single reading.

Overall this is an impressive book which deserves to win the Booker prize, but I think the complexity will put off all but the most determined reader.

Are you a big David Mitchell fan?

Do you hope this wins the Booker prize?

 

Categories
2009 2010 Orange Prize Recommended books

Hearts and Minds – Amanda Craig

 Long listed for the Orange Prize 2010

Hearts and Minds seems to be one of the most praised books on the Orange long list this year. It’s London setting appealed to me and so I decided to read it, despite the fact it didn’t make the short list.

Hearts and Minds gives a snap-shot of life in London today. Its range of characters shows the diversity of people living in the capital city and the problems faced by them. We see asylum seekers, teachers, prostitutes, taxi-drivers and a whole range of other people. I normally struggle to cope with this many characters, but the vividness of the writing meant that each one jumped off the page and I had no trouble keeping track of them all.

The book impressively manages to combine a murder mystery with literary fiction. In many ways it reminded me of The Road Home by Rose Tremain, but I actually think that Hearts and Minds is the better book.

The story is split into several narratives which at first seem independent, but as it progresses connections are made until everything comes together in the final poignant chapters.

This isn’t a pleasant read; we witness the worst of London society, but the power of the words had me gripped from beginning to end.

He thinks about how, all along the street, there must be flats like this one in which other girls have been raped and beaten, flats that are perhaps now occupied by happy couples or successful professionals or pensioners, all with the same sash windows and lumpy corniced ceilings; and yet this horror has happened here. A sensation of lives layered on top of each other, which he will never know about, overwhelms Ian momentarily.

I have no idea why this book didn’t make the Orange short list. It deserved to be there.

The Thoughts of Other Bloggers

…even more gripping and packs more of a punch than anything I’ve read in 2010 so far. The B Files

It is page after page of unrelenting misery. Books Please

….characters so well-drawn that they become so close to you It’s a Crime!

…somehow Amanda Craig touches on the reality and the truth of this and you really do want to weep. Dovegreyreader

Are you planning to read Hearts and Minds?

Why didn’t this make the Orange short list?

Categories
2010

Even the Dogs – Jon McGregor

I have seen a few people raving about this book, describing it as their favourite of the year so far and a certainty for the Booker short list. I can’t ignore comments like that and so reserved a copy from my local library.

Even the Dogs is certainly an original novel. Written mainly from the first person plural point-of-view and often with a stream of consciousness flow of words, it has a distinctive style:

We stand together in the hallway, uncertainly. We can hear the two policemen talking outside, the crackle and mutter of their radios. We can hear footsteps moving around upstairs, and someone laughing.

Even the Dogs has a dark theme, focusing on drug addicts, alcoholics and the homeless. The book begins with the discovery of Robert’s dead body and the simple plot describes the events leading up to his death.  From a distance we see how he became an alcoholic, opened his home up to drug addicts and eventually lost his life.

This book is packed with graphic descriptions, swear words and misery. I know this will not appeal to a lot of people, but I found it to be a compulsive read. It is quite short (less than 200 pages), but it is an impressive description of a wasted life.

I prefer books with a more complex plot, but as a snapshot of the lives of these people I can’t fault it.

Do you think this will make it onto the Booker long list this year?