May 8
The next stop on our world tour of reading is India! This month, we have a special guest contributor: Aarti. Aarti is from Pune, India and will be sharing some fun facts about her country, Indian literature, and her personal recommendations for books to help immerse you in your “travels.” Book Worm and I will chime in with our pick of the month and our reviews for that book.
One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night by Christopher Brookmyre
Published in: 1999
Page Count: 384
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: 3.5 stars
Find/Buy it here:One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night
Synopsis from Amazon: Like a highball mix of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen, Christopher Brookmyre hits you hard and fast. Now Brookmyre is back with his most lethal book yet: One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night. Gavin Hutchinson had it all planned out. A unique “floating holiday experience” on a converted North Sea oil rig, a haven for tourists who want a vacation but without the hassle of actually going anywhere. And what better way to test out his venture than to host a fifteenth-year high school reunion, the biggest social event of his life, except no one remembers who Gavin is. That, and his wife has discovered his philandering ways and plans to leave him with a very public announcement in front of his assembled guests. Throw in a band of mercenaries who crash the party even though they aren’t on the guest list, and you have a wicked farce of a thriller from one of the most original voices in mystery fiction.
Review: I chose to read this book because according to this website, it’s one of the top 10 Scottish novels. While it was not a 5 star read, it was definitely entertaining and well worth reading, especially if you have a dark sense of humour.
This is a story about a school reunion on of all places an oil rig that has been converted into a holiday complex (can you imagine being stuck with former school mates in a hotel with no escape?). Unfortunately sinister plans are afoot and it turns out a reunion in “paradise” is anything but predictable.
I really enjoyed this story, the humour is dark and made me chuckle several times, the writing is fast paced and the story line compelling, which made it an easy read.
Despite really enjoying it, I am only giving it 3 stars as I felt there was nothing spectacular about it. An enjoyable and humorous read but not great literature.”
My favourite quotes;
“It’s so exclusive, big man. So’s scrotes like you an’ myself cannae get near the fuckin’ thing. Like wan o’ thae wee islands, whit dae ye cry them? There’s hunners o’ them. The Endives.
“Maldives, ya fuckin’ eejit. Endives are in salad”
“So that would be thousands of islands then?”
“Aye very fuckin’ funny, Eddie”
“George Eliot? That’s the one whose husband jumped oot the windae on their weddin’ night. She must have threatened tae read him her new book”
“nor were the locals going to flog the Jocks much paella until they’d sussed a way to batter and deep-fry the stuff”
Want to try it for yourself? Find it here: One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night
After reading and hating Henderson the Rain King, I approached The Victim with a sense of dread. I read this book as part of a reading challenge. Henderson the Rain King is one of those books that made me mad. I resented the author for putting me through that awful experience and desperately wanted the lion to just go ahead and eat Henderson, so I could be put out of my misery. I know lots of people love Bellow but he strikes me as a pretentious author who enjoys battering readers over the head with his philosophical musings.
So I approached The Victim with a sense of apprehension and resentment for the fact that I had pulled this particular author for one of my challenge books. Expectations, whether they be negative or positive, influence how we evaluate books. So, when I didn’t hate this one, I was pleasantly surprised and almost wanted to write a glowing 5-star review. However, had I not been basing my rating on my prior experience, this would not be a 5-star rating for me. So in an effort to be somewhat more objective, I settled on a 3-star rating.
Here’s my review:
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Have you ever noticed how some books seem to drive a wedge between people? You check the reviews and find almost no middle-of-the-road ratings. Instead people either seem to love it or hate it. Well, welcome to the Love it or Hate it post category! Each month, we’ll pick one book to review and two contributors will battle it out to convince you to pick it up or throw it out. Last month we discussed The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and for the first time we ended up with a tie. Many thanks to Nicole D and Charisma for their wonderful reviews.
This month we will be discussing: Gone with the Wind
Synopsis (modified from Amazon.com): Widely considered The Great American Novel, and often remembered for its epic film version, Gone With the Wind explores the depth of human passions with an intensity as bold as its setting in the red hills of Georgia. It vividly depicts the drama of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
This is the tale of Scarlett O’Hara, the spoiled, manipulative daughter of a wealthy plantation owner, who arrives at young womanhood just in time to see the Civil War forever change her way of life. A sweeping story of tangled passion and courage.
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Apr 29
Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light by Ivan Klima
First Published in: 1994
Original Language: Czech
Reviewed by: Jen
Rating: 4 stars
Find it here: Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light: A Novel
I read Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light about a month ago but have delayed in writing this review because I found the book rather complicated and it required some reflection on my part. The story is set in Czechoslovakia during and after the velvet revolution of 1989. The protagonist, Pavel, is a middle-aged camera man who is living with his girlfriend, her son, and her ex-husband. As a young man, Pavel tried to escape his repressive regime but when we meet him, he is working for a state-run television network producing state sponsored propaganda news. In his spare time Pavel dreams about the movies he wants to make. The novel alternates between sections of Pavel’s real life and his life as imagined by the movies he wants to make.
I don’t want to say too much more about the plot so you can enjoy it for yourself. This was a pretty dark and bleak read but with humor injected throughout. There is a touch of surrealism throughout the book which makes it a more interesting read. Klima does a wonderful job capturing the atmosphere of ordinary people living in a repressive regime while at the same time blurring lines between the reality and fiction. I do have to admit that I was really confused for the majority of the book. It wasn’t until about 3/4 of the way in that I realized how the book was structured. This was a problem for me since the character names overlapped between versions with facts changing throughout. Even after realizing that parts of the book were Pavel’s imagined film, the boundaries were never crystal clear and had me questioning which events were real and which were imagined.
Another interesting element about this book was that it covered a period of transition between the old and new regime and it highlighted the feeling of being stuck between two different eras. His characters are trapped in a system that only allows for self-defeat. At one point the protagonist states:
The system never allowed you to win, and so it saved you from defeat as well.
Characters feel impotent and turn to dreams and fantasy in order to imagine how their lives could have been different.
Despite it’s rather complicated message, plot, and structure, it is a book that is easy to read and doesn’t feel overly dense (unlike many other Eastern European classics). I highly recommend this book, particularly for those readers who enjoy fiction with ties to political realities.
Additional quotes
A picture was a motionless record of motion. An arrested representation of life. A picture was the kiss of death pretending to possess immutability.
You can rule with a firm hand, or you can rule through consensus. Those with neither the strength nor the courage for firmness take refuge in the belief that they can remain somewhere in between. But that is an illusion.
Life is waiting for the light, not for the dark,’ she said. ‘My Indian teacher told me that. He was blind.’
It was like a spider’s web with a lot of spiders in it, not just one. They lay in wait for you at every corner of the web. Once you got caught in it you couldn’t get free. And they didn’t suck your blood right away, they’d just very slowly wind you into their web.
Want to try it for yourself? Find it here: Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light: A Novel
A little over a month into the challenge and as a group, you’ve all read 4o books. New followers and readers, there’s still lots of time to join in the challenge! A little less than two months to go and reading even one book will count for the prize draw. Find the instructions in the challenge tab.
It’s a tough race for first place between Tracy and Kate. Remember that the first place reader gets a prize but the grand prize will be drawn randomly from everyone who reads at least one book. The more books you read, the more entries you get for the grand prize draw. Below are our current standings. Participants: let me know if you notice any errors in your scores.
Kate – 10
Tracy – 9
Becky – 4
Ellen – 3
Nicole D – 3
Anita -2
Andrea – 2
Lynsey – 2
Sushicat – 2
Brandy – 1
Tessa – 1
Tricia – 1
What do you think of the challenge thus far? Have you been surprised by any books (pleasantly or unpleasantly)?
Please take the time to read the reviews of books read thus far (since last update). You might find something you’d like to read.
Apr 26
Published in: 2014
Reviewed by Jen
Rating: 3.5 stars
Find it here: Station Eleven: A novel
A flu pandemic called the Georgia flu has killed off 99.9% of human population. Those who remain have had to learn to survive in a world without any modern day comforts. Apocalyptical and post-apocalyptic novels seem to be all the rage and Station Eleven is no exception. St. John Mandel’s fourth novel made many “best of” lists for 2014 and it was a National Book Award Nominee for fiction in 2014. The novel spans many years and weaves in various time points together from pre-apocalypse events to 20 years post-collapse.
This was an entertaining but not particularly novel idea for a book. I found the twists and turns fairly predictable although I did like how the author connected the various elements of the story together in the end. I have read a fair amount of post-apocalyptic novels and found Station Eleven to be a bit too optimistic and sugar-coated to be believable (or as believable as possible for these kinds of scenarios). Although there was mention of an “evil” prophet and some mild violence, there was no sense of real struggle or adversity that came through in Mandel’s version of the end of days (or beginning of days). Starvation, poverty, and violence were mentioned but often in mild or offhanded ways. Maybe I’ve been watching too much Walking Dead (and granted there are no zombies in Station Eleven), but it all felt just a little too rosy.
Those looking to this book for a good old apocalyptic novel will be disappointed. However, this book will appeal to many who don’t typically read this genre. It’s not really a book about world collapse, it’s a book about human connections, memory, and loss and there are true moments of beauty in storytelling related to these themes.
Have you read Station Eleven? What did you think? What are your recommendations for this genre?
Want to try it yourself? Find it here: Station Eleven: A novel
Apr 24
The Lost Honour of Katherina Blum by Heinrich Böll
First Published in: 1974
Original language: German
Find it/Buy it here: The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (Penguin Classics)
Synopsis (from Amazon): In an era in which journalists will stop at nothing to break a story, Henrich Böll’s The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum has taken on heightened relevance. A young woman’s association with a hunted man makes her the target of a journalist determined to grab headlines by portraying her as an evil woman. As the attacks on her escalate and she becomes the victim of anonymous threats, Katharina sees only one way out of her nightmare. Turning the mystery genre on its head, the novel begins with the confession of a crime, drawing the reader into a web of sensationalism, character assassination, and the unavoidable eruption of violence.
Jen’s Review:
Rating: ★★★★
Katharina Blum is an upstanding young woman who seems to be the model citizen but she just happens to have murdered a man. Don’t worry, this is not a spoiler! The book begins with the disclosure of the murder and works back and forth in time to uncover the events that led up to the murder. Böll poses the question of how ordinary people may be driven into acting in violent ways. The novel is a short, quick, and engaging read that probes into the responsibility of the media in creating stories that impact the lives of people in a harmful way.
I really enjoyed the book. The narrative style was unique and engaging and it resembled an investigative journalism piece with seemingly objective reporting. The story was pieced together with flashbacks, written statements and transcripts, lists, and commentary from the narrator, some of which was humorous. The book raises interesting questions about a) what the role of the media is and should be, b) which sorts of information should be private/public, and c) how media and social opinion can impact the lives of individuals. Very relevant to today’s society and in an interesting perspective on journalistic ethics and sensationalism.
I find Böll to be an extremely skilled author who is remarkably adept at capturing social issues in a believable way. His ability to craft complex characters and to understand the human psyche is impressive. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1972 and in my opinion is a must-read author.
Book Worm’s Review:
Rating:★★★★
Opening with the confession of Katharina to the murder of a journalist in her flat, this novel presents the events that lead to the murder and asks the reader to decided who committed the biggest crime: Katharina or the people whose actions drove her to it?
This novel, told by a detached narrator, contains a warning about believing everything you read or hear in the news. It illustrates how lives can be destroyed by the manipulative actions of both the media and those with a vested interest in keeping the real story hidden.
Katharina is an ordinary woman, a house keeper by profession whose life is destroyed by being misrepresented in the media, her only crime falling in love with the wrong man.
This is a powerful read and is still relevant today. This morning I was watching a news article about Jeremy Clarkson. The report claimed he had said that being fired from Top Gear was “worse than losing a child.” What he actually said was “Top Gear was my baby, I am lost without it” or words to that effect. I find that kind of manipulation and misrepresenting reprehensible and entirely unnecessary.
Have you read this book? What did you think? Have you read others by Boll? Share your thoughts with us.
Want to try it for yourself? You can find a copy here: The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (Penguin Classics)
I had never read any books by noted author Rebecca West. Then in the last month I read two of her books almost back to back for a reading challenge. Rather than post them as two separate reviews, I have decided to combine them here along with a brief blurb about the author.
Dame Rebecca West was a renowned British author, journalist, literary critic, and travel writer. She was born in 1892 and died in 1983. She was incredibly prolific as a writer and her works span many genres. Her books are notable for their feminist leanings and critique of social and political issues. I can also say that the two books I have read are fairly remarkable in their treatment of psychological issues and themes — being ahead of her time in her treatment of these issues.
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The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Published in: 2011
Awards: Pulitzer Prize Nominee for Fiction (2013)
Format: audio book narrated by Debra Monk
Reviewed by: Jen
Rating: 3.5 stars
Find/Buy it here:The Snow Child: A Novel
Eowyn Ivey’s debut novel, The Snow Child, is a retelling of a classic Russian fairy tale updated and set in the context of harsh wintery Alpine Alaska. The novel follows Jack and Mabel, a middle-aged childless couple, who have relocated to Alaska several years after losing their only child. Jack and Mabel struggle to survive in the harsh conditions of the Alaskan Alpine. Just when it looks like they won’t make it through the winter, torn apart by hunger and loneliness, they share a moment of playfulness in the snow and create a child out of snow that ultimately changes their lives forever. Read more
The Reader's Room 