Category: Publication Date

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2009

Far North – Marcel Theroux

Paperchase was one of my favourite reads of 2008 and so I have been on the library waiting list for Marcel Theroux’s latest book from the moment I discovered it had been printed.

Far North is set in the near future, in a post-apocalyptic world. The central character, Makepeace, lives in a dying town in Siberia. Struggling against the cold and isolation she fights for survival, but without law and order she lives in constant fear.

I loved the way in which the world we live now was discussed. Stories of flags on the moon and cities of glass were passed around like unbelievable fairy tales. The people left fighting for survival struggled to imagine a world of luxury and plenty. This book gave a strong reminder to be grateful for everything we have now and how easily it could all be taken away.

I told him that from what I had observed, it only took three days before desperation and hunger overturned all civilized instinct in a person. He smiled and said I had a bleak view of human nature, and that in his experience, it was nearer to four days. 

Marcel Theroux is an amazing story teller; all the characters were strong, believable individuals and the plot was compelling. Unfortunately, the book was quite depressing throughout; any hope seemed to be squashed as soon as it appeared. It wasn’t a tear-jerker – just a depressing view of a possible future for the human race.

Recommended for the thought-provoking story, but don’t read it if you are feeling a bit down.

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Categories
2009 Booker Prize Memoirs

Me Cheeta – James Lever

 Long listed for the Booker Prize 2009

This book caused quite a stir as soon as it was discovered on the Booker long list. It is a spoof memoir of the chimp who starred alongside Tarzan during the golden age of Hollywood. It has been described as:

…the finest Hollywood memoir ever written. Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday

but it’s inclusion on the Booker long list has divided people. I was immediately intrigued, although was unsure which side of the fence I’d fall with this book.

Unfortunately it quickly became obvious that this book wasn’t for me. I am not a fan of actor memoirs, do not pay much attention to what goes on in Hollywood and do not share the same sense of humour as the author. This book is well written, and it is a very clever idea, but without being able to appreciate the satire, this book was lost on me.

The coarse language will also offend a few people, but I can see why it was present. The chimp was anthropomorphised more than I would have liked. I think I would have found a book written from the point of view of real chimp (as opposed to one which sounded like a Hollywood actor) far more interesting.

I’d never liked the goddamm English anyway, with their razor-wire elocution, their total lack of humour and their godawful pedantic spelling.

I lost interest in this book quite quickly and began to skim read after about 50 pages. The book did draw me back in occasionally, but not enough to persuade me to read it all.

If you are a fan of Hollywood memoirs then you will probably enjoy this book, but it wasn’t for me.

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What did you think about this book’s inclusion on the Booker long list?

Are you tempted to read it?

Categories
2008 2009 Orange Prize

The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam – Lauren Liebenberg

 Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers 2008.

I picked up this book purely based on the great title, and only later noticed that it had been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers 2008.

The book is set on a remote farm in Rhodesia, and is narrated by Nyree, an eight-year-old girl. Nyree and her younger sister, Cia, are left to roam inside the farm’s large fences, and together they discover the sights and sounds of Africa. The girls know little about the world on the other side of the fence until their orphaned cousin, Ronin, arrives and their world is changed forever.

The book is simply written and is very short, so I read it in one evening. It flows along quickly, but the lack of depth, or perhaps the fact that my own childhood was so different to theirs, meant I didn’t fully engage with the story. The book is clearly well researched, but I felt like I was being fed one African cliche after another, which is a shame as the author clearly knew Rhodesia well.

The ending was so sad, but seemed pointless. I don’t know why the book needed such a tragic ending and felt as though I was being depressed just for the sake of it.

Great title, but I’m afraid it wasn’t for me.

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This has to be one of my favourite book titles.

Have you spotted a really good title?

Did it persuade you to read the book?

Categories
2009 Booker Prize Recommended books

How to Paint a Dead Man – Sarah Hall

Long listed for the Booker Prize 2009

The great thing about reading the Booker long list is that I read books I would never normally pick up and am occasionally rewarded by finding a gem like this. I shouldn’t have liked this book – it has virtually no plot and has whole chapters about a person who paints bottles. It sounds like the sort of book I’d run a mile from, but for some reason I loved it!

I was transfixed from the first page. The heart-breaking emotions of a woman who has lost her twin brother affected me straight away. I think I had the tissues out within a few pages and it is so rare for me to be moved by a book that I knew this was going to be something special.

The second chapter introduces the life of an Italian painter, and while I found this section the weakest of the three, it was an important lull in the heightened emotions of the surrounding sections.

The final scene describes the father of the twins and his battle for survival after he becomes trapped in the hills. The book weaves together these three separate scenes, and that is all they are really, exceptionally well. There is no plot – just glimpses into the lives of these three characters.

I don’t know how this book managed to grip me from beginning to end when so many seemingly similar books have failed. I can only assume that Sarah Hall has an outstanding talent, or is perfectly in tune with my fears and emotions.

Sarah Hall is from Cumbria, so the occasional snippets of dialect may prove difficult for some to understand, but as I spent my teenage years in the Lake District this wasn’t a problem for me.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It deserves it’s place on the Booker long list and I plan to seek out all her previous books.

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Have you read any books written by Sarah Hall?

Which one was your favourite?

Categories
2000 - 2007 Books in Translation Nobel Prize

The Double – José Saramago

José Saramago won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.

Translated from the Portugese by Margaret Jull Costa

Blindness is one of my favourite books and so I have been keeping an eye out for Saramago’s other books ever since I finished reading it. Unfortunately I haven’t been very successful – they never seem to turn up!  Then,  last week I finally spotted one in the library.

The Double is the story of a history teacher who sits down to watch a rented video one evening and is shocked to discover that one of the actors is identical to him in every physical detail. He tracks down his look-alike and confirms that they are exact copies of each other – so alike that even their wives cannot tell them apart.

As with Blindness, Saramago’s writing style takes a bit of time to get used to. There are very few paragraphs and the words just seem to flow together at times, each page just packed with a sea of words:

Although he does not really believe in Fate, distinguished from any lesser destiny by that respectful initial capital letter, Tertuliano Máximo Afonso cannot shake off the idea that so many chance events and coincidences coming all together could very well correspond to a plan, as yet unrevealed, but whose development and denouncement are doubtless already to be found on the tablets on which that same Destiny, always assuming it does exist and does govern our lives, set down, at the very beginning of time, the date on which the first hair would fall from our head and the last smile die on our lips.

It doesn’t take long to adapt to his style though, and I quickly became caught up in this imaginative plot. It doesn’t have the pace or fearful adrenaline rush I experienced with Blindness, but it is just as thought-provoking. If it were possible, would you want to swap lives with someone? Would you feel threatened by someone who was identical to you in every way? What would you do to protect your identity?

I loved the ending – it was cleverly written and left me with lots to think about.

The Double isn’t in the same league as Blindness, but it  is a very good book.

Recommended.

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Is Blindness one of your favourite books?

Have you read any of Saramago’s other books?

Categories
2008 Audio Book

Testimony – Anita Shreve (Audio Book)

I sometimes struggle to find good audio books, so when Sandy recommended Testimony I bought a copy straight away. Sandy is right – this book is perfect for listening to.

The book begins with the headmaster of a school discovering a tape of three 18-year-old boys having sex with a 14-year-old girl. The story then unfolds via the ‘testimonies’ of  various people affected by the incident. Each person reveals how they experienced the events in the first person, something which I don’t like when reading a book, but this worked really well when listening to the story. I felt like each character was just explaining things to me, so I connected really well with them and it seemed very realistic.

There are a large number of characters, but the different voices helped me to identify with each one, so I didn’t get confused at any point. Had I been reading the book I think I would have become confused by the number of characters, irritated by the first person voice and possibly given up on it.

The book raises many thought-provoking questions, including who is to blame when teenagers mis-behave? Is it possible for a 14-year-old to seduce an 18-year-old, or is it always rape? Should a single action be held against someone for the rest of their lives?

The narrator held my attention throughout, encouraging me to continue listening to the extent that I listened to this faster than any other audio book in the past.

I highly recommend the audio book version of Testimony, and think it would make an interesting book club choice.

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What is the most gripping audio book you have ever listened to?

This is the first Anita Shreve book I have tried. Are any of her others really good?