Category: Publication Date

Categories
2009 Fantasy

Tender Morsels – Margo Lanagan

Winner of The World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, 2009

I first saw Tender Morsels on Nymeth’s blog. Her passionate review was enough for me to add it straight to the wish list.

Tender Morsels is a beautiful, but dark, fairy tale. The book begins with one of the best pieces of writing I’ve seen in 2009. In the first few chapters we learn about Liga, a young woman living with her abusive father in the woods. Abused and raped, Liga finds herself pregnant and ends up alone in the world with two daughters. I loved this section so much that I thought this book would become one of my all time favourites. The scenes were vivid, without being graphic, and were packed with emotion.

Unfortunately, everything started to go wrong at about the hundred page mark, when, to make up for the terrible suffering that she had endured, Liga was transported to another world – one in which she was safe from harm.

I struggled to empathise with Liga at this point. The introduction of talking bears and other fairy-tale characters meant that all the tension and emotion just vanished for me. I found my reaction to be summed up really well by one of Liga’s daughters:

‘All the people do at home is smile and smile, and be kind. They have no opinions, and never want to go anywhere or do anything new. It is terribly dull.’

The writing was beautiful throughout and I can see why so many people love this book, but I’m afraid that the alternate world section just didn’t work for me. The book picked up a bit towards the end, but never regained the magic of the first few chapters.

I’m pleased that I read it, and recommend it to everyone, but I think you just need to be warned that it might not be for those who like their books to be based on reality.

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Have you read Tender Morsels?

Do you have a problem with talking bears?!

Categories
2010 Recommended books

The Best Books of 2010? Part 2: Debut/Lesser Known Authors

Last week I posted the first half of the list of 2010 books I’m looking forward to:

The Best Books of 2010? Part 1: Authors We Know and Love

This week it is the turn of lesser known authors.

Skippy Dies – Paul Murray 

Skippy Dies will instantly grab your attention in a book shop as it is going to be packaged in a boxed set of three books. The story centres on an overweight genius who attempts to open a portal into a parallel universe. His roommate Skippy falls in love, but then tragedy strikes (is the book’s title a plot spoiler?!) and all kinds of secrets are brought to light. This sounds like a great premise and I look forward to reading it.

 

Rupture – Simon Lelic

A challenging and disturbing novel about an investigation into a school shooting. There have been many books about these incidents in the past few years, but this sounds as though it combines the best aspects of them all. I’m hoping it will be as good as We Need to Talk About Kevin.

The Birth of Love – Joanna Kavenna

Set in Vienna in 1865, London in 2009, and in 2153, this novel shows how childbirth has changed over the centuries. I can’t wait to see how the ‘breeding centres’ of the future are depicted. A contender for the Orange prize this year?

Good to a Fault – Marina Endicott

Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book, Canada and Caribbean, and short listed for the Giller Prize in 2009 this is a book I have been anticipating for a while. It is released in the UK in March.

The Return of Captain John Emmett – Elizabeth Speller 

A story of love, suicide and mystery set in 1920s England. I think this is an author worth keeping an eye on.

The Temple-goers – Aatish Taseer

A novel about upper-class corruption in modern-day Delhi. The dazzling story of a city quietly burning with rage. Will this be a contender for the Booker prize this year?

The Boat to Redemption – Su Tong

Winner of the Man Asian Prize 2009, this book is a dark comedy about the Chinese Revolution. I’m a big fan of Asian Literature, so this book will be one of my first reads in 2010.

 

Black Mamba Boy – Nadifa Mohamed

Set in 1930s Somalia, this book spans a decade of war and upheaval. Everything is seen through the eyes of a ten-year old boy, so this sounds like one you’ll need the tissues for.

Luke and Jon – Robert Williams

A coming of age novel with a difference. Jon is very strange – he wears 1950s clothes, has a side parting and a twitch. Luke is grieving the loss of his mother. I think this might be one of the most unique releases in 2010.  


The Great Perhaps – Joe Meno

The story of an American family in the run up to the 2004 US presidential election and the Iraq war. It’s a heartfelt story about just how complicated and ambiguous modern life can be.

Ilustrado – Miguel Syjuco

Winner of the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize, this is a book I’m really looking forward to reading when it is released in June.


This Bleeding City – Alex Preston

A debut novel about a hedge fund manager who sees potential to escape from the financial world when the markets crash. A heartbreaking love story and a touching contemplation of how good people end up doing terrible things.


The Whole Wide Beauty – Emily Woof

The story of one woman’s passionate affair with a poet. An unforgettable debut novel about searching for fulfillment in love, art and life. It doesn’t sound like my sort of thing, but I think that others will love it and it could end up on the Orange list.

 
The Slap – Christos Tsiolkas

Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2009, this controversial book is released in the UK in May. I bought a copy from New Zealand last year, so you can read my review here. I guarantee that everyone will be talking about this one!


Ruby’s Spoon – Anna Lawrence Pietroni

This book sounds like a lovely fairy tale. It is about a witch, a mermaid and their hunt for a missing woman. The cover is beautiful too!


Advice for Strays – Justine Kilkerr

I think this is a book for cat lovers – especially those who enjoy ghostly stories too. This sounds like an fantastically original debut novel.


We, The Drowned – Carsten Jensen

Carsten Jensen has had huge success in Denmark, winning many literary prizes. This epic novel about life at sea promises to become a lasting classic of seafaring literature.

 
Jasper Jones – Craig Silvey

This book won numerous accolades on its release in Australia. Set in an Australian mining town during the 1960s it deals with issues of racism and social exclusion. I think this has the potential to be one of my favourite reads in 2010.

Do any of these appeal to you?

Which books by debut authors are you most looking forward to in 2010?

Categories
1980s

The Mosquito Coast – Paul Theroux

I have loved Marcel Theroux’s books, enjoyed watching Lois Theroux on television and so have always been curious about books written by their father, Paul. Paul Theroux is the most famous of the three, so it is strange that he is the last one I have discovered, but now that I have, I will be keeping an eye out for as many of his books as possible.

I have always been intrigued by Mosquito Coast, but for some reason assumed it would be a dark thriller involving machetes, cannibals and malarial fever. I have no idea why I thought that, because it turns out that none of those are present in the book. I was surprised at how literary it was, having more in common with The Poisonwood Bible than any action film.

Mosquito Coast tells the story of a family who move from America to the jungles of Honduras. The father is an eccentric inventor, who is convinced that his family would benefit from leaving civilisation and becoming self sufficient. He has a bizarre plan that involves trading ice with the Hondurans.

I loved the first half of the book; the descriptions of their move into the jungle were perfect – atmospheric, emotional and realistic.  I was convinced that the book was going to become one of my all time favourites, but unfortunately the second half of the book wasn’t as good. It lost the plot – literary! The father’s eccentricity became the focus of the story and I thought the book lost a lot of the magic. It was still a fantastically written book, but it was just a bit too weird for me.

There were many thought provoking observations about our society:

He said, ‘It’s savage and superstitious to accept the world as it is. Fiddle around and find a use for it!’ God has left the world incomplete, he said. It was man’s job to understand how it worked, to tinker with it and finish it. I think that was why he hated missionaries so much – because they taught people to put up with their earthly burdens. For Father, there were no burdens that couldn’t be fitted with a set of wheels, or runners, or a system of pullies.

It is amazing how relevant the book is to life today, considering that it was written almost 30 years ago. It must have been ground-breaking back then, but even now the messages about the fragility of society and our desire to conform to the norm are relevant.

Recommended to lovers of literary fiction.

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Have you read Mosquito Coast?

Which Paul Theroux book should I read next?

Categories
2008

Right to Die – Hazel McHaffie

Right to Die is the about a young man who is dying from Motor Neurone Disease. Written in the form of a diary, it shows how his thoughts and emotions change as his health deteriorates.

The book is essentially a study of the euthanasia debate. It is packed with arguements on both sides, but ultimately results in a powerful pro-euthanasia message.

The book is very well researched, with medical and legal facts sprinkled liberally, but appropriately throughout. It was very emotional and I found that I couldn’t read much of it at once, as it was too sad.

I do not want to be relegated to the rank of a dumb animal because I can no longer plead my cause. I do not want to be pitied by the gentle ones, resented by the hard ones, tolerated by the indifferent ones.

The medical professionals in this book were all portrayed as incredibly helpful, caring individuals and this jarred with me initially, as I am so used to hearing about them behaving negligently. I still feel that the GP in the book was unrealistically attentive, but in the end  it was refreshing to see the medical profession in a positive light.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in exploring the euthanasia debate, or looking for an emotional read.

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Categories
2000 - 2007 Memoirs

The Inner Circle – T.C. Boyle

The Inner Circle is the autobiography of the fictional John Milk, a sex researcher, working alongside the famous Alfred Kinsey. Regular readers of my blog will know that I have recently had problems with a few fictional biographies (Summertime and An Equal Stillness) and so had decided to avoid them for a while, but luckily I had already started The Inner Circle and so didn’t miss out on this fascinating book.

Alfred Kinsey was a zoologist at Indiana University in the 1930s, when he embarked on a study of human sexuality. His controversial research brought many taboo subjects out into the open for the first time and generated a huge amount of public interest.

Publishers are forever using the cliche “eagerly anticipated” to describe ordinary and humdrum volumes of which no one is even remotely aware, but I can say, without doubt, that Sexual Behaviour of the Human Female was the most feverishly awaited and explosive title of the century.

I think the key difference between this book and the two mentioned above, is that this is an autobiography and so all the emotion is there. We are not passively hearing the facts about their lives, but are living inside their head, feeling their emotions.

This book does contain a lot of sex, but it is all scientific, and not in any way titillating. I found the attitudes to sex in the 1930s fascinating. The differences were striking and I don’t think I’d realised how much things had changed until I read this book. Kinsey’s lectures on the basic biology of sex are something we are all used to having at a young age, but in order to get into his class, the University students had to be married, or at least engaged. These young adults were so in the dark about things that they formed phantom engagements just to be able to listen to him and learn the basic facts about the birds and the bees.

It did slightly annoy that I didn’t know how much of this book actually happened, but after finishing, I realise that it didn’t matter – I enjoyed reading the book and learnt a lot about life during the 1930s and 40s.

Recommended to anyone interested in the development of early sexual research.

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This is the first T.C. Boyle book that I have read and I was very impressed.

Have you read anything by T.C. Boyle?

Which Boyle book should I read next?

Categories
2000 - 2007 Books in Translation Chunkster Crime

Grotesque – Natsuo Kirino

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Translated from the Japanese by Rebecca Copeland

Out is one of my favourite books and so I was very excited about reading Kirino’s second novel, < ?php echo amazon('0099488930','Grotesque’); ?>. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to my expectations.

Grotesque is very different in style to Out. It is slower, less gritty and without the moral dilemmas that made Out so special.

Grotesque centres around the murder of two prostitutes in Tokyo. The unnamed narrator was the sister of one of the victims and the best friend of the other. Her life becomes dominated by their deaths, as it is all anyone wants to talk about with her. We find out who the killer was very early on, so this book isn’t really a thriller, it is more like a character study. It deals with the motivations for prostitution and the process of grief following the murders of people who are close to you.

It sounds like a fascinating book, but unfortunately I found it quite boring. Some people think it is clever that the narrator was unreliable and meandered from one reflection to the next, but I found it very frustrating. There was no plot thread to drive the story forward and the ending was disappointing.  I think this quote gives you a good sense of the apathetic attitude present in this book:

You imagine Yuriko’s death shocked me, but it didn’t. Did I hate her murderer? No. Like my father, I didn’t really care about learning the truth.

I felt as though I was wading through depressive thoughts and didn’t see the point of the seemingly random snippets of their childhood lives.

There were several theoretically shocking scenes in this book, but they had no effect on me as I hadn’t bonded with any of the characters.

The writing was of a high quality and I didn’t find any of the jarring Japanese translation problems that I encountered with Out. I also loved the first chapter and her imaginative predictions of what her children would look like if she decided to sleep with various men. There were many other good paragraphs, but I’m afraid that overall the book was disappointing.

If you are interested in reading an investigation into the thoughts of a disturbed young woman then you might enjoy this book, but if you are looking for the best thriller on the planet I suggest you try Out.

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Have you read any of Natsuo Kirino’s books?

What do you think of them?