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Ben's Book Bonanza, 2013.


Ben

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Decided to read Linda Gillard's Emotional Geology which I've heard great things from on here. I can't believe I haven't ever gotten around to it before now - but better late than never. Also, added thanks to Hayley (chaliepud) for sending this out to me what seems like a very long time ago. I'm finally doing your efforts justice.

 

Synopsis:

 

Rose Leonard is on the run from her life. Taking refuge in a remote island community, she cocoons herself in work, silence and solitude in a house by the sea. But she is haunted by her past, by memories and desires she'd hoped were long dead. Life and love are offered by new friends, her lonely daughter, and most of all Calum, a fragile younger man who has his own demons to exorcise.

But does Rose, with her tenuous hold on life and sanity, have the courage to say yes to life and put her past behind her?

 

--

 

Excited to get start with this, I have a feeling I'll enjoy it immensely..

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So I finished Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard and I thought it was wonderful (I most certainly regret not getting to it when everyone else on here did). In any case, I want to review this properly, because it deserves it, and I'll reserve this post for a later review. For the moment, however, I will say that it was haunting, but beautifully so. Linda has such an elegant, poetic ("lyrical" as Isla Dewar puts it) style of writing, and the story for me was very touching.

 

I'll elaborate more in the near future, but this is definitely a novel I'd recommend away..

 

★★★★☆.

Edited by Ben
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Decided to read Lev Grossman's The Magicians. I don't have much prior knowledge of this guy, other than a (I think) positive word here or there. It's just one of the many books I picked up from my Auntie after her passing. I have absolutely no idea if she ever read it or not (which is quite sad) but I will anyway and let you all know how I get on. :smile2:

 

Synopsis:

Quentin Coldwater's life is changed forever by an apparently chance encounter: when he turns up for his entrance interview to Princeton he finds his interviewer dead - but a strange envelope bearing Quentin's name leads him down a very different path to any he'd ever imagined. The envelope, and the mysterious manuscript it contains, leads to a secret world of obsession and privilege, a world of freedom and power and, for a while, it's a world that seems to answer all Quentin's desires. But the idyll cannot last - and when it's finally shattered, Quentin is drawn into something darker and far more dangerous than anything he could ever have expected..

 

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Looking forward to this. Had an interest in magic when I was a child that has since dwindled, but I'm sure a thriller set in a world of mystery and intrigue can't go amiss..

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Finished A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin (of course!), another that I started while exams were on and assignments were due in (I'm such a wise person sometimes *laughs*) and never had chance to get anywhere with it. With time on my hands I raced through book four of Martin's acclaimed series. I didn't think it was as good as the first three, but I still thought it was a very accomplished, enjoyable fantasy with its far share of shock-gasp moments.

 

I think the reason I didn't think it was quite as good as its predecessors was because of the decision to split the narrative between this and A Dance with Dragons, resulting in some of the 'better' characters not having any parts in this book. I mean, I still thought it was great and I never found myself particularly bored with any of the sections, I was just sometimes imagining how some of the characters were getting on in the next book (probably another key factor in me finishing it so quickly). 

 

I now feel like I've under-sold it but it's a solid addition to the series in my eyes. As you can see, I've chosen to not properly review it because I think by this stage it would be virtually impossible to make my comments spoiler-free for those that haven't attempted this series yet and would still like too. For those in that position, though, I would urge you to immediately set to work on A Game of Thrones.

 

★★★★☆.

Edited by Ben
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Nice review :)! Thanks for not spoiling anything. I'm currently reading the first book and am quite enjoying it. It's going a bit slow (reading progress), partially because I've seen the first season of the TV series and so know what's going to happen so it's less tense to read on. However I am curious what'll happen in the rest of the books so I should get on reading so I can read the rest of the books out so far. I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed the first four books, even if book four wasn't as good as the ones before it. I didn't know the narrative will split up, that's good to keep in mind.

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Nice review :)! Thanks for not spoiling anything. I'm currently reading the first book and am quite enjoying it. It's going a bit slow (reading progress), partially because I've seen the first season of the TV series and so know what's going to happen so it's less tense to read on. However I am curious what'll happen in the rest of the books so I should get on reading so I can read the rest of the books out so far. I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed the first four books, even if book four wasn't as good as the ones before it. I didn't know the narrative will split up, that's good to keep in mind.

 

I'd recommend reading the rest of the books before you watch the series' if you have chance. :smile2: Thanks, though, it is definitely a great series but now I've really got into them a lot I'm starting to see why people get frustrated with how quickly he writes the books. I sure hope he doesn't take six years (it's two so far) to follow A Dance with Dragons. :mellow:

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So I finished Lev Grossman's The Magicians and thought it was excellent. I can't be bothered reviewing it properly at the minute (because it's late I'm lazy) but I will say that it's a very clever, often witty exploration of mystery, magic and intrigue. It reads like it should be a three-part fantasy epic due to how rich it is, but despite the detail it's taut and moves at a not-stopping-for-breath pace. All in all, very enjoyable. I'll write some more on this (and the others pending) when I get a little more time.

 

★★★★☆.

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'It reads like it should be a three-part fantasy epic..'

 

That might be because it is. *laughs* Just noticed that there's a sequel entitled The Magician King and a third book planned for 2014.

 

Oops. I suppose that's another book that'll have to be added to the wish-list..

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Decided to read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Seen a highly-positive review from poppyshake on Goodreads and as I finished Stardust not so long ago, and loved it, I don't think I'll be able to go wrong with this. Seems to be more high-end fantasy in the vein of The Magicians too, so will follow on nicely from that.

 

Synopsis:

When Richard Mayhew stops one day to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London pavement, his life is forever altered, for he finds himself propelled into an alternative reality that exists in a subterranean labyrinth of sewer canals and abandoned subway stations. He has fallen through the cracks of reality and has landed somewhere different, somewhere that is Neverwhere.

 

--

 

Let's see if Gaiman can deliver up something wonderful once again. I have a feeling that this is very possible..

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So I finished Lev Grossman's The Magicians and thought it was excellent. I can't be bothered reviewing it properly at the minute (because it's late I'm lazy) but I will say that it's a very clever, often witty exploration of mystery, magic and intrigue. It reads like it should be a three-part fantasy epic due to how rich it is, but despite the detail it's taut and moves at a not-stopping-for-breath pace. All in all, very enjoyable. I'll write some more on this (and the others pending) when I get a little more time.

 

★★★★☆.

I was looking into getting this series myself.

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I was looking into getting this series myself.

 

Was good. Very Narnia-esque if you've read the Lewis books. I liked the different spin on it, though. There's a lot of books about magic and a lot of books about going into different or alternate worlds. Hence it's refreshing when a book manages to do something neat with the same genres. I think The Magicians does this, and Grossman definitely has a very easy-going, witty style of writing.

 

I do hope that if you decide to give it a go that you enjoy it as much as I did. :smile2:

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I also finished Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere in the quiet, early hours of this morning. I read far too late, really, but I was quite enraptured by the authors 'duel worlds' idea; the concept of London Above and London Below seems quite silly and ridiculous for the most part, but at the same time weirdly believable. In the sprawling metropolis that is London, it doesn't seem inconceivable that there are many things unknown - even if Gaiman's delightfully fantastical mind pushes this to its boundaries.

 

Neil Gaiman is rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors, from the recently-read Stardust with mad witches and floating ships, to American Gods with its wonderful exploration of mythical Gods. Neverwhere teases and delights in the same fashion as we wander through the sewers to the underground world of London Below. His characters are excellently formed - from the creepy and dangerous Messrs Croup and Vandemer, to the fragile, mysterious girl named Door, who's lands bloody, hurt and dying - seemingly out of nowhere - into the path of our protagonist Richard Mayhew.

 

Richard is man who is truly under the thumb; his fiancé Jess ("don't call me that") - that'll be Jessica then - is beautiful, successful and ambitious. She is also cold, commanding, and has no time for the childish attitudes of her husband-to-be. It stands to reason, then, that when they spot a young girl in obvious trouble lying on the ground on their way to an important business meeting with Jessica's boss, she suggests moving straight on. Richard, on the other hand, is disturbed, and carries the girl away in his arms, without a single glance back at his furious fiancé.

 

Soon after, Richard is thrown into a weird and wonderful world that he could have never known would have existed. As it turns out, the young girl he has so kindly helped is in serious trouble, and Richard has already got himself much too involved - his own safety is now seriously on the line. When his world starts to tumble and crash around his shoulders, his grip on reality begins to slip, his options dwindle one by one. Richard resolves to find his way to London Below, and in no time at all his adventure into the unknown truly begins.

 

From the realm of the Rat-speakers and across the mysterious Night's bridge, to a giant candle-lit hall and the Floating Market that is never quite easy to pin down, Richard explores the world of London Below with his new 'friends', Door and the marquis da Carabas - an enigmatic chap that seems to have friends and contacts in the most unlikeliest of places. Richard must face The Ordeal set by the Black Friars and bow in an Earl's Court that wasn't quite what he was expecting, all the time keeping his wits about him and mastering his own dark nightmares.

 

Gaiman writes with a masterful touch, creating a high-end fantasy novel that bubbles with excitement and tension all at once. He keeps the twists and the turns coming, the whole while offering the reader new delights around every dusty corner, as we wonder whether our protagonist will ever get his life back to normal - whatever normal actually is. Wonderfully crafted with a neat ending, I'd recommend this to anyone who involves a bit of light, fun, escapist fiction now and again.

 

★★★★☆.

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Decided to read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Seen a highly-positive review from poppyshake on Goodreads and as I finished Stardust not so long ago, and loved it, I don't think I'll be able to go wrong with this. Seems to be more high-end fantasy in the vein of The Magicians too, so will follow on nicely from that.

Oh dear! I'm worried now :D *

 

I like the sound of The Magicians Ben .. will be looking it up for sure :)

 

* Ahh .. just in time .. you've posted a positive review .. phew!

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Oh dear! I'm worried now :D *

 

I like the sound of The Magicians Ben .. will be looking it up for sure :)

 

* Ahh .. just in time .. you've posted a positive review .. phew!

 

:haha: Yep, you can smile contentedly - it was every bit as good as your review suggested. :D

 

The Magicians is great, can't wait to hear your thoughts if/when you get around to it..

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Decided on Of Mice and Men next. Seems like one of those I should have already read (it seems like a lot of people studied it at school). I have a friend that thought it was decidedly average but there's a couple of glowing ratings from friends on Goodreads (including a 'highly recommended' review by Kylie). Synopsis sounds appealing so I'm thinking I'm okay in Steinbeck's hands.

 

Synopsis:

'Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place'. George and his large, simple-minded friend Lennie are drifters, following wherever work leads them. Arriving in California's Salinas Valley, they get work on a ranch. If they can just stay out of trouble, George promises Lennie, then one day they might be able to get some land of their own and settle down some place. But kind-hearted, childlike Lennie is a victim of his own strength. Seen by others as a threat, he finds it impossible to control his emotions. And one day not even George will be able to save him from trouble.

 

--

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'Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been."'

- Kurt Vonnegut.
 

So I finished Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck this evening, and I'm currently rather disappointed that I wasn't one of those people offered the chance to read and study this at school. A beautiful, thoughtful, moving, and ultimately heartbreaking narrative like this deserves its place on any reading list. As it happens, I mercifully knew next-to-nothing about what to expect in this novella before I began, but by the end I was left wondering how it's possible to pack so much emotional charge into so few pages.

 

John Steinbeck's novella tells the story of kind-hearted, brave George - the leader, the carer - and his big, childlike, mentally-limited friend Lennie as they travel across the lands in a hopeful search for their own tragic version of the American Dream. Forced to move between ranches looking for work because of Lennie's tendency to get them in trouble, George looks after Lennie like a brother - teaching, instructing, cooking, and caring. Despite his frustrations, it is clear that their bond is close - George loves Lennie with all his heart, and will do whatever it takes to look after him.

 

Their goal is a simple one: to raise a small stake large enough to get their own land - ultimately, their freedom. Lennie, a simple-minded soul, merely wants some rabbits to pet and look after in peace - nothing more. It seems a small ask, and despite their trials and tribulations in the past their capacity for hope remains limitless. They both believe - in their different ways - that somehow, against the odds, if they keep their heads down they'll achieve their dreams. Unfortunately, as has been the case so far in their lives, the reality is so much harsher than their aspirations.

 

Steinbeck writes with the suggestion that camaraderie is essential in one's life - solidarity against the struggles that are put in our path. That if we just stick together then things can work out positively in the end. Ultimately, the saddest thing about Of Mice and Men is not how Lennie is misunderstood (in the same vein as John Coffey is in King's The Green Mile) or how George's best efforts to keep Lennie out of trouble are tragically never quite enough. It is, instead, that things might have been. Life is a cruel mistress, when it's all said and done.

 

★★★★☆.

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Now, this might seem a strange thing to say but I can still not quite remember if I've ever read George Orwell's Animal Farm. I've always leaned on the 'no' side with the inclination that my familiarity with it comes from some kind of stage production, or play of some sorts. However, it's a short one, so I'm finally going to give it the proper time of day and put the issue (for me!) to bed.

 

Synopsis:

'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.' Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten. And something new and unexpected emerges..

 

--

 

Even if I have read this before it must have been when I was much younger and I feel like I'll get a lot more out of it now.

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Was good. Very Narnia-esque if you've read the Lewis books. I liked the different spin on it, though. There's a lot of books about magic and a lot of books about going into different or alternate worlds. Hence it's refreshing when a book manages to do something neat with the same genres. I think The Magicians does this, and Grossman definitely has a very easy-going, witty style of writing.

 

I do hope that if you decide to give it a go that you enjoy it as much as I did. :smile2:

The author sounded familiar to me, and now I know why. I have The Magicians King which is one of the books in the series yes?

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The author sounded familiar to me, and now I know why. I have The Magicians King which is one of the books in the series yes?

 

Second, I believe. One I need to get hold of soon. :D

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Great review of Of Mice and Men, Ben.  Is your Kurt Vonnegut quote in the front of your book?  I believe the actual title comes from a Robert Burns poem.  :)  

 

I read this first when I did GCSE English about 7 years ago as a mature student.  We did a piece of coursework on it - I wrote an essay entitled:

 

(To anyone who has not read the book, do not click on the spoiler  :)  )

 

Why did George have to kill Lennie? 

 

 

Have you seen a film adaptation or was this completely new to you? 

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Thanks, Janet. I found it really difficult to review but it's one of those books where I felt like I had to write some thoughts down.

 

I actually stumbled unintentionally on the Vonnegut quote on Goodreads while searching for a quote from the novel - but I thought it suited well. I believe it's from his book Cats Cradle and taken from 'Maud Muller' by John Greenleaf Whittier. I know it comes in part from the Burns poem too, so I think it's widely suspected that it's a conflation of the two.

 

That is one fantastic essay title - I'd love to write something along those lines. I know it's unlikely, but do you still have the essay in some form of typed format? I'd love to read it and see what your thoughts are. The questions of why and if were ones I asked myself numerous times when I got to the end of the novella, and I bet they'd make a fascinating assignment.

 

As for the adaptation I hadn't seen it, so went in totally blind. I know a lot of people that haven't read this and still know the story, but incredibly I'd managed to avoid all mention of it and had no idea what would happen in the text. I definitely think I'll watch the adaptation at some stage - a friend of mine said it's rather good and very well-cast.

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Decided to read Zadie Smith's NW - a novel that I picked up in WH Smiths the other day partly because it had the funkiest cover I've seen for a while, and also because I read White Teeth for university this year and thought it was fantastic. This is apparently a bit different, though, so we'll see..

 

Synopsis:

Zadie Smith's brilliant tragi-comic "NW" follows four Londoners - Leah, Natalie, Felix and Nathan - after they've left their childhood council estate, grown up and moved on to different lives. From private houses to public parks, at work and at play, their city is brutal, beautiful and complicated. Yet after a chance encounter they each find that the choices they've made, the people they once were and are now, can suddenly, rapidly unravel. A portrait of modern urban life, "NW" is funny, sad and urgent - as brimming with vitality as the city itself.

 

--

 

Interestingly, this is set in the same area as White Teeth so I'm intrigued to how this one differs.

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That is one fantastic essay title - I'd love to write something along those lines. I know it's unlikely, but do you still have the essay in some form of typed format? I'd love to read it and see what your thoughts are. The questions of why and if were ones I asked myself numerous times when I got to the end of the novella, and I bet they'd make a fascinating assignment.

I do still have it. I'm not sure how good it is, especially to someone of university standard like yourself (it had been 24 years since I left school when I did GCSE English) - it's probably not detailed enough and I haven't read it for years. :blush: I got an A for it so it can't have been too bad! :hide: PM me your email address and I send you a copy. :)

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Now, this might seem a strange thing to say but I can still not quite remember if I've ever read George Orwell's Animal Farm. I've always leaned on the 'no' side with the inclination that my familiarity with it comes from some kind of stage production, or play of some sorts. However, it's a short one, so I'm finally going to give it the proper time of day and put the issue (for me!) to bed.

Not at all strange .. weirdly I'm in the same predicament. Sometimes I cross it off lists as read but then I think 'have I actually read it or do I just know it'. Like you I intend to read it anyway .. just to be sure :D

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