frankie Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami Synopsis When a man's favourite elephant vanishes, the balance of his whole life is subtly upset. A couple's midnight hunger pangs drive them to hold up a McDonald's. A woman finds she is irresistible to a small green monster that burrows through her front garden. An insomniac wife wakes up in a twilight world of semi-consciousness in which anything seems possible - even death. In every one of these stories Murakami makes a determined assault on the normal. (taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts As the movement of jar users has swelled this week It was fitting that I finished my 3rd randomly selected book. The book in question was The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami. I was delighted at this selection as I really like what I have read so far by Murakami. I will put my hands up and admit that I tend to prefer his less surreal work even if that is considered blasphemous by some. For example my most loved Murakami book are Norwegian Wood and South of the Border, West of the Sun. On opening this book I was surprised to discover that it is a collection of short stories, a first for me. I'll keep this review relatively short with my general feeling being that I enjoyed some stories and others less so. In the same way as my previous feelings I preferred the less surreal ones but I wouldn't say there were any duds. There is something about some of Murakami's ethereal characters that really grabs me and there were plenty in evidence here. I can't put my finger on what it is and for me that only adds to the magic. I think that essentially, short stories are not really my thing as I much prefer characters to develop over time. That is not to say that I didn't enjoy this book but I felt as though it was a collection of ideas that could become novels in their own right over time. I was always left a little disappointed when one of the stories I particularly liked came to an end so quickly. I enjoyed this book but it isn't one of my favourites from Murakami. 3/5 (I liked it). Great review I didn't know it was a collection of short stories. Like you, reading a good short story can be irksome because they end so quickly and sometimes even at the exact moment you've just started to warm to the piece. Drats! And no, I don't consider it blasphemy... I've only read one book by Murakami so far (Sputnik Sweetheart) but I have a feeling I will be like you and enjoy his less 'out-there' novels more than the really cooky ones. The jar has selected Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Your jar's great, do you mind if we swap? I hope you enjoy the novel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 The jar has selected Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I've not long finished that. I really enjoyed it. Will be intrigued to see your opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) ha ha I am the opposite... That's one reason I love short stories... but then again, I don't mind when I don't know the end of a book, either Edited January 21, 2015 by Anna Begins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 I've not long finished that. I really enjoyed it. Will be intrigued to see your opinion. Well I am about 60 pages in and I'm getting on with it ok at the moment but no more than that so far. Great review I didn't know it was a collection of short stories. Like you, reading a good short story can be irksome because they end so quickly and sometimes even at the exact moment you've just started to warm to the piece. Drats! And no, I don't consider it blasphemy... I've only read one book by Murakami so far (Sputnik Sweetheart) but I have a feeling I will be like you and enjoy his less 'out-there' novels more than the really cooky ones. Your jar's great, do you mind if we swap? I hope you enjoy the novel. If we swapped I would probably never reach the end of the TBR pile. I don't expect to be completely through with mine this year but I am hoping to reduce it by more than 50%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 Gone Girl by Gillian FlynnSynopsisOn a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?(taken from Goodreads)My Thoughts I was offered this book by a colleague at work who read it very quickly and said he thought it was very good. Normally I turn down these offers as I feel obliged to read the book right away and my mood often dictates that I read something else. However, since this book had gained such good reviews and was given to me I decided to accept it. My TBR pot decided that now was the right time to read it which I was glad about as I want to watch the movie when it becomes available on DVD but I wanted to have read the book first. The first thing I must declare is that I came very close to abandoning this book twice. Normally I give a book 100 pages before it gets cast aside and once I had reached this point I wasn't moved by it at all. I considered that perhaps because I was ill, my feelings towards it might have been a bit unfair so I pressed on. After about 175 pages it had started to grate on me a little but I decided to stick with it until half way (233 pages). Once I got over about 200 pages it started to come together for me and I read the rest of the book in a day and a half. I was interested in what was happening and I wanted to know what happened next. I also developed an appreciation of the plotting by both characters. There were also a few occasions where I thought I knew what was going to happen and then something else, completely different occurred. As the story grew towards a close I really wanted to know how everything was going to end and was determined to finish it before I went to bed. However, I have some reservations about the book which are spoilers. I found the initial setup of the story too long winded and drawn out. I really feel that this part of the book would have benefited from being edited down to a more succinct form. This is the main reason why I felt like abandoning the book early on. Shortening the name Margo down to Go was very distracting. I felt the ending was a huge cop out. It needed to end in a definite manner and I felt cheated by the ending. It almost felt as is the author didn't know which direction to go it and so decided not to take one. Finally, and this is the biggest gripe for me, the book read like she had spewed up a thesaurus. This feeling struck me quite early on and got no better as the book continued. I don't get on particularly well with wordy books but I get on less well with them when it feels forced, and this felt forced. It actually reminded me of the scene in Friends where Joey uses a thesaurus to write a reference for Monica and Chandler. That is not to say that I didn't enjoy the book because I did, eventually. I really don't know where to rate this book on the scale I use but I am leaning towards 2 and I suspect that this might be an unpopular opinion on here. It was ok, very good in parts, but ultimately I felt let down by it even if there is a very good book in there. 2/5 (It was OK). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) Interesting review I definitely agree about the name Go - that really irritated me! I really enjoyed it but felt the ending was by far the weakest part of the book. I wasn't entirely sure how I wanted it to end, But then, the writer is supposed to decide that for me Edited January 23, 2015 by Alexi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Nice review, Brian. I agree with you about a few things - mostly the ending, and referring to Margo as Go rings a bell. But aside from those, I really enjoyed the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 24, 2015 Author Share Posted January 24, 2015 The TBR pot has spoken - The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Interesting review for Gone Girl. I agree about the ending but I did enjoy the rest of the book. You have another great read coming up! I liked the Martian Chronicles although it was quite different to what I was expecting. I hope you enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 That's interesting that you give a book 100 pages before you consider abandoning Brian .. this was something I was wondering .. how long to give a book to catch fire (as I'm new to this abandoning lark .. I haven't really done it yet ) I wouldn't want to be hasty. Gone Girl is one of my jar books .. not sure if I'll be pleased to see it come out now or not but I'll try and give it a bit longer than the 100 pages if I find I'm not getting on with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 24, 2015 Author Share Posted January 24, 2015 Interesting review I definitely agree about the name Go - that really irritated me! I really enjoyed it but felt the ending was by far the weakest part of the book. I wasn't entirely sure how I wanted it to end, But then, the writer is supposed to decide that for me I'm not sure why she decided to go with 'Go' and I don't recall an explanation for it either. Nice review, Brian. I agree with you about a few things - mostly the ending, and referring to Margo as Go rings a bell. But aside from those, I really enjoyed the book. I enjoyed it once it got going, it just took a long time for that to happen for me. Interesting review for Gone Girl. I agree about the ending but I did enjoy the rest of the book. You have another great read coming up! I liked the Martian Chronicles although it was quite different to what I was expecting. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks. The only other Bradbury I've read was Fahrenheit 451 so it will be interesting to see how this compares to it. That's interesting that you give a book 100 pages before you consider abandoning Brian .. this was something I was wondering .. how long to give a book to catch fire (as I'm new to this abandoning lark .. I haven't really done it yet ) I wouldn't want to be hasty. Gone Girl is one of my jar books .. not sure if I'll be pleased to see it come out now or not but I'll try and give it a bit longer than the 100 pages if I find I'm not getting on with it. I try to avoid abandoning a book but sometimes I just have to. I find 100 pages to be about right because if it's a long book and I've struggled to get that far I know the rest of it will probably be a struggle. If its a shorter book then I will sometimes stick with it anyway just to complete it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 It's a shame Gone Girl wasn't as good as you'd hoped. I have The Martian Chronicles on my wishlist / want-to-read list. I've never read a book by Ray Bradbury before though I own The Illustrated Man. I hope you enjoy this one better than Gone Girl! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 The Martian Chronicles by Ray BradburySynopsisThe strange and wonderful tale of man’s experiences on Mars, filled with intense images and astonishing visions.The Martian Chronicles tells the story of humanity’s repeated attempts to colonize the red planet. The first men were few. Most succumbed to a disease they called the Great Loneliness when they saw their home planet dwindle to the size of a fist. They felt they had never been born. Those few that survived found no welcome on Mars. The shape-changing Martians thought they were native lunatics and duly locked them up.But more rockets arrived from Earth, and more, piercing the hallucinations projected by the Martians. People brought their old prejudices with them – and their desires and fantasies, tainted dreams. These were soon inhabited by the strange native beings, with their caged flowers and birds of flame.(taken from Goodreads)My Thoughts I think I picked this book up in November while on a last (I promise) book buying spree. After filling my basket with general fiction I decided to peruse the Sci-Fi and see if anything grabbed my attention. I recalled reading a review about this book and decided that I should give Bradbury another chance as Fahrenheit 451 didn't really move me in the way I expected it to. The book is a collection of short stories about man's attempts to explore and colonize Mars. The stories are laid out in chronological order, starting in 1999 and ending in 2057. I really enjoyed the early stories about how man set off on the mission to Mars and the experiences of both the astronauts and those watching the launch. The book was written in 1951 and I think that the mood in these parts of the book was captured perfectly. The story about when man first landed on Mars (The Earth Men) was also really good as the Martians assumed that the men from Earth were crazy Martians. The stories after this really lost my imagination and at times I found myself reading the book just to finish it. I got frustrated at the lack of character development. I also like my Sci-Fi to work with the physics of space travel and this is missing in a big way. There are very few female characters and the ones that are there are done a massive disservice in my opinion. I feel a little mean giving this 2 out of 5 but I guess that Bradbury just isn't for me. 2/5 (It was OK). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Interesting review. I know what you mean about the lack of character development. It really is just a collection of short stories, and more about the ideas than the characters or even plot (if I remember correctly). I found it a strange quirky little read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 It's a shame you didn't enjoy it as much as you'd hoped . Great review though. I hope your next read will be more enjoyable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Shame you didn't enjoy it, I like the sound of the premise, but not so much the book after your review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Interesting review. I know what you mean about the lack of character development. It really is just a collection of short stories, and more about the ideas than the characters or even plot (if I remember correctly). I found it a strange quirky little read. It's definitely a collection of ideas about the future and mankind rather than anything else. Quirky is a good way of describing it. It's a shame you didn't enjoy it as much as you'd hoped . Great review though. I hope your next read will be more enjoyable! Thanks Gaia. I'm sure my new book will be more my think. Shame you didn't enjoy it, I like the sound of the premise, but not so much the book after your review. I think that Ray Bradbury just isn't for me, I wouldn't let my review out you off the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Adventure Travel (AA Travel Guides) by William GraySynopsisYou want a holiday that is more thrilling than lying beside the pool but you are concerned about the impact on the environment. From husky sledding in Lapland to sea-kayaking in New Zealand. Adventure Travel, written by award-winning travel writer William Gray, will stir your wanderlust. Ethical travel dilemmas will challenge your perceptions with tough questions on topics such as carbon offsetting and wildlife conservation, while first-hand accounts of fascinating adventures will fire your imagination.There's also advice on how to be a responsible traveler and plenty of practical information, whether you are an experienced adventurer or a beginner.(taken from Goodreads)My Thoughts I've got a few travel books reserved at my local library and I'm currently waiting for them to come in. On the off chance they had turned up I popped into the library to check and saw this in the travel section. I hadn't noticed it before and it isn't from one of the usual publishers like Lonely Planet so I decided to give it a shot. The book is a collection of adventure travel activities divided into categories along with examples of common ones ie walking the Appalachian Trail. Each activity has an opening introduction explaining the basics of what is involved and how strenuous the activity is. What follows is a slightly more in depth look at how to do the activity and what training or equipment may be required. Throughout the book there are plenty of photographs and sources for further information. The book is by no means a guide to any of the activities but more a broad spectrum of what is out there to try. I disagree that the book is suitable for experienced adventurers but it has provided me with sources for an area I am interest in. 3/5 (I liked it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 It would seem that my jar has decided that I should read short stories as it selected Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolano. That makes 3 short story collections already this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury 2/5 (It was OK). Crikey, we're almost polar opposites on this one Shame you didn't enjoy it - as you say, maybe Bradbury just isn't for you. Shame you didn't enjoy it, I like the sound of the premise, but not so much the book after your review. Oh go on, give it a go! For another point of view Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 (edited) Crikey, we're almost polar opposites on this one Shame you didn't enjoy it - as you say, maybe Bradbury just isn't for you. I think it may have been your review that I had in mind when I saw it/bought it. Edited February 4, 2015 by Brian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Crikey, we're almost polar opposites on this one Shame you didn't enjoy it - as you say, maybe Bradbury just isn't for you. Oh go on, give it a go! For another point of view Hmmmmmmm. Not mad about dated science fiction. I did really like another Bradbury book I read though, Something Wicked This Way Comes - I think the plot was 'good', by my reckoning, but I *loved* his writing. So maybe I will! I think it may have been your review that I had in mind when I saw it/bought it. It's all your fault, Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 It's all your fault, Steve! It usually is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto BolanoSynopsis"The melancholy folklore of exile," as Roberto Bolaño once put it, pervades these fourteen haunting stories. Bolaño's narrators are usually writers grappling with private (and generally unlucky) quests, who typically speak in the first person, as if giving a deposition, like witnesses to a crime. These protagonists tend to take detours and to narrate unresolved efforts. They are characters living in the margins, often coming to pieces, and sometimes, as in a nightmare, in constant flight from something horrid.In the short story Silva the Eye, Bolaño writes in the opening sentence: "It's strange how things happen, Mauricio Silva, known as The Eye, always tried to escape violence, even at the risk of being considered a coward, but the violence, the real violence, can't be escaped, at least not by us, born in Latin America in the 1950s, those of us who were around 20 years old when Salvador Allende died."Set in the Chilean exile diaspora of Latin America and Europe, and peopled by Bolano's beloved "failed generation," the stories of Last Evenings on Earth have appeared in The New Yorker and Grand Street.(taken from Goodreads)My Thoughts I bought this book after a few failed attempts to read 2666 by Roberto Bolano. I quite liked the writing in 2666 but due to the intimidating size of the book I always put it aside after a while. I decided that I wanted to read something else by him but I have to admit that I didn't realise that this was a collection of short stories instead of one, longer story when I bought it. Much like 2666, most of the stories feature a writer of some kind or another who is struggling in life. The writers tend to be poets or short story writers instead of novelists and I suspect that most of the stories are autobiographical in some way or another. They are based around Europe or South America, with my favourites being the ones based in Barcelona, a city I love. There is a good level of consistency with the stories with none of them being poor in my opinion. One in particular did stand out for me and that was the title story, Last Evenings on Earth. The characters features are interesting, complex individuals with a somewhat dark undertone which is something which always appeals to me. I zipped through this book in no time at all and it makes me want to read The Savage Detectives at some point in the future. 3/5 (I liked it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 The jar of destiny has selected Octopussy by Ian Fleming as my next book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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