Willoyd's Reading 2015

[Athena]

I know you wrote it for Alexi but I liked reading about your experiences .

[Alexi]

That helps enormously - thank you so much for sharing

 

Considering taking the plunge myself, but these things seem a lot scarier than they did a few years ago - major life decisions I mean! Somehow it all seemed easier 10 years ago to make monumental decisions at the drop of a hat. Must be something about responsibilities and mortgages and things.

 

Some soul searching to be done....

[Janet]

I was also interested to read your post, Willoyd.    In parts of Somerset (not the part I live in) they have a three-tier system.  I'd never heard of Middle Schools until I moved here but they seem to me to be a good idea. 

[willoyd]

That helps enormously - thank you so much for sharing

 

Considering taking the plunge myself, but these things seem a lot scarier than they did a few years ago - major life decisions I mean! Somehow it all seemed easier 10 years ago to make monumental decisions at the drop of a hat. Must be something about responsibilities and mortgages and things.

 

Some soul searching to be done....

 

It's a huge decision, and obviously individual circumstances are always very different, but I've certainly never regretted the change.  I have been lucky though in a number of ways, not least in landing up in a great school (a good quarter of my cohort at college didn't even manage to find jobs!).  Whatever you decide to do, I really hope it works out for you.

 

In parts of Somerset (not the part I live in) they have a three-tier system.

They've done well to retain them!

Edited May 28, 2015 by willoyd

[chesilbeach]

Shows how out of the loop I am, with not having children … I never even knew there wasn't a three tier system any more 

[willoyd]

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks ***

Birdsong is often lauded as a modern day classic, studied in schools and colleges. It is certainly a popular read, coming in at 13th in the BBC's Big Read poll, whilst, of some 765 reviewers on Amazon at the time of writing, 649 rated the play 4 or more stars. It's a book that I've intended to read for some time, and with seats booked to see the play, reading it seemed pretty much a necessity.

 

A relatively small minority aren't so enamoured, and I have to say that, I would now class myself as one of those. It's not a 1 star read by any means (although some 4% on Amazon reckon so!), but, whilst it provided a fairly solid read, there's too much that doesn't quite work for me to rate in the higher echelons.

 

The first part, set in 1910 Amiens, works reasonably enough. The second part, set some 6 years later, provides a dramatic shift into the midst of the trench warfare of the Western Front. I had no problem with its evocation of the time and place, but fairly soon I found myself getting restless: Where's the connection? How is this moving us on? How much more repetition is needed to make the point? Scene after scene was certainly closely described, as were characters, but the narrative travelled absolutely nowhere very slowly, and I was being told everything, shown nothing. In fact, the forward movement seemed to stagger pretty much to a standstill, especially in relation to the first hundred or so pages. Maybe this was deliberately so, commensurate with the stagnation of the trenches, but, having expected much, I can't say I was enthralled.

 

Gradually, the connection is revealed, just as others are also developed through a second time shift, or, more precisely, a series of shifts backwards and forwards between the First War and the 1970s. This builds to an ending that, in plot terms, was reasonably satisfying, with reveals that did sustain my interest sufficiently to keep me reading, even though those overwrought descriptions still kept coming! In the end, it felt to be a somewhat better book than I had anticipated about halfway through, but I remain hard pushed to see the classic potential.

 

Incidentally the play proved for me a much stronger option (not often I say that in relation to a book!). Inevitably and of necessity somewhat pared down compared to the novel, the adaptation recovered all the focus, pacing and emotion that had been written out of the original. It was a profoundly more moving and memorable experience, much enjoyed by both of us, a reader and non-reader - highly recommended!

Edited June 3, 2015 by willoyd

[willoyd]

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy *****
Anna Karenina is undoubtedly a big book, just over 800 pages in the edition that I read (the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation in Penguin Classics). It felt big too, which may sound obvious, but War And Peace didn't, being a much easier read, even if some 50% longer. It certainly gets off to a cracking start, characters are both superbly and rapidly developed, and the contrasting narratives of Anna and Konstantin Levin are solidly established. This initially looked like a sustained gallop similar to Tolstoy's other masterpiece.

However, somewhere in the middle I found that I was on occasions getting somewhat bogged down.  This was, no doubt, partly due to Tolstoy's agrarian philosophising, using Levin as his mouthpiece, and enabled by Levin's retreat to his estate. The pace also dropped once Anna had left Karenin for Vronsky, and considerable time was given over to subsequent developments. I suppose this was inevitable - it was important for Tolstoy to have the space to show the changes in a realistic timeframe, as was emphasised when I went to see the play (see below), but, coupled with some of what my twenty-first century mind felt were some irritatingly silly squabbles in the Levin household, there was, for me, a significant hiatus mid-novel where I felt it dragged - but then a part of me realised that some at least of this was deliberate; it needed to be to contrast with the rapid accumulation of events in the latter stages, when Tolstoy re-established all the drama and power of the earlier sections.

It sounds like I didn't particular enjoy the book - but actually I did, and it was rather more than mere 'enjoyment'. Whilst the plot of Anna Karenina can be summed up fairly simply, being a strongly character based social novel, it's fascinatingly complex. I found the virtually parallel stories of the Karenin-Karenina-Vronsky triangle and Levin household (with the Oblonsky family acting as some sort of lynch-pin) particularly satisfying. Characters are explored in real depth, and the way they changed and developed was all too believable.

I've meant to read this book for some time, but have not got round to it, not least because of the need to be able to put some time aside to get fully stuck in. However, having decided to go and see the play at the end of May in Leeds, I really felt the time was ripe, even if it wasn't exactly the best time to get stuck into such a tome. I actually managed to finish it on the morning of our theatre visit, so the book was fresh in mind. The play itself was excellent - it must have been difficult to compress such a massive novel into such a small space of time, and it certainly caught much of the spirit of the book. Indeed, I found it valuable in helping me clarify some parts of the novel, not least some of Tolstoy's philosophising. Yet, there was no doubt that some of the richness was lost. In going for a lean, taut interpretation, performed in the round with a limited cast, sacrifices were needed. In particular, the characters were much more stereotypical, less rounded and varied, a product perhaps of the limited time available - the way they changed too was just a bit too rushed (but then I find that in Hamlet too!).  It was an interesting contrast to the play/book combination of Birdsong, where the play was a distinct improvement on an insufficiently edited book. Here, the play, whilst an interesting and valid interpretation, was definitely in the shadow of the book. However, the contrast also proved valuable in underlining why Tolstoy took the time he did in moving his characters on, and helped me appreciate the book all the more. So, whilst not quite a favourite, and, indeed, not one I will rush back too, it was a pretty stunning read.

Edited June 6, 2015 by willoyd

[Alexi]

Great review Willoyd - interesting to see the comparisons with the play especially as the book was so fresh!

 

I must admit, Anna Karenina is one that intimidates me but I would like to read it one day. As you say though, it's one you need to get properly stuck into time wise.

[Athena]

Great review of Anna Karenina, Willoyd! I have the book on my shelf, though I don't know if it's readable translation into English. Otherwise though I'm sure my library might have a Dutch copy. I'm glad you liked the book as well as the play !

[willoyd]

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg ***** (see edit below)

A monthly choice for my bookgroup, OH read this some time ago, so a copy has been sat on our shelves for a while. It's not a book or title that I'd have otherwise picked up, which just goes to show how serendipitious reading can be, as this proved a highly successful choice, one that received a unanimously positive reaction.

 

Evelyn Couch accompanies her husband on regular visits to a retirement home to visit her mother-in-law, but finds herself talking to another resident, Ninny Threadgoode, who starts telling her something (everything!) of her earlier life. The book then intercuts these conversations with scenes and extracts from newspapers, newsletters etc to tell the story surrounding the Whistle Stop Cafe, set up by two women, Idgie (Ninny's sister in law) and Ruth. In format, it's very like an epistolary novel, although it does not sustain a continuous chronological thread, jumping backwards and fowards in time somewhat, a technique which helps the author to pace her various reveals very successfully.

 

Although it addresses, if somewhat sideways at times, a number of serious issues, (including racism, domestic abuse, sexuality, poverty), and has more than its fair share of darker moments, Fried Green Tomatoes has a strong 'feel good' thread running throughout, with a whole host of characters that one finds it difficult to do anything but empathise with. The story fairly gallops along - it is one of the most readable books I have read so far this year - rounding off in an ending that, whilst deliberately leaving a few questions hanging, suited the tenor of the book as a whole; the level of satisfaction will be very much in the eye of the beholder! One aspect I particularly enjoyed was how Evelyn's character seemed initially to exist very much as a simple vehicle for telling the rest of the story, but gradually revealed her to have an important narrative in her own right.

 

The lightness of the book and the positiveness of the characters in sometimes extremely trying, indeed dangerous, circumstances did, on occasions, leave me a little concerned: were some of these isues being treated almost too casually, perhaps brushed over somewhat? I'm still not sure, but, whereas in Kathryn Stockett's book The Help I was left distinctly unhappy with the author's approach, one that I found worryingly patronising, on this occasion I reckon the author got the balance about right, not least because not all ills were put right, as they are not in real life, whilst the characters themselves felt more three dimensional, with some decidedly mixed up, but all too human, sides to them.

 

The only big dilemma I really had/have over Fried Green Tomatoes (and I just love that title) is how to rate it. I do sometimes find myself raving about a book like this, and then later on wondering whether it was quite as thoughtful, even as memorable, as I originally thought. As a result, I've probably graded it quite conservatively, giving it 4, rather than my initial instinct to give it 5, stars, but am more than ready to upgrade if the book sticks with me as strongly as I think it might. One to come back to later this year.

 

Later edit (November 2015): no doubt about it, this is a five star novel for me. Almost 6 months after reading it, and it retains its vividness and personality in my mind; I am sure it will continue to do so. Also, I've been thinking about my books of the year (yes, already!), and it definitely rates above a couple of other 5 star books, which I still feel are worthy of that grading.

Edited November 14, 2015 by willoyd

[Athena]

It is an interesting title! I'm glad you enjoyed this book . Great review! I have another book by the author on my TBR, Standing In The Rainbow, which I bought on a whim in a charity shop once, but GoodReads has told me it's part of a series, so I'm not in a big rush to read it. It's great though you liked this one by the author, that seems promising.

[willoyd]

It is an interesting title! I'm glad you enjoyed this book . Great review! I have another book by the author on my TBR, Standing In The Rainbow, which I bought on a whim in a charity shop once, but GoodReads has told me it's part of a series, so I'm not in a big rush to read it. It's great though you liked this one by the author, that seems promising.

 

I may be wrong, but I think that it's only marked as part of a series because some of the characters appear in Welcome to the World, Baby Girl.

 

It's very much a standalone novel, otherwise.

[Kylie]

Great review of FTG, Willoyd. I have this book on my TBR pile, although I've already seen the movie, which I thought was terrific.

 

I understand what you mean about the difficulty of rating books sometimes. I always rate according to how I feel when I finish the book, but occasionally when I'm going through past lists, I'll see a book that I rated, say, 5 stars, and think 'Really? But I don't remember a single thing about that book'. Is it really a 5-star book if I can't recall anything about it a couple of years later, and should I then review my rating? The dilemmas of being a bookworm!

[willoyd]

I understand what you mean about the difficulty of rating books sometimes. I always rate according to how I feel when I finish the book, but occasionally when I'm going through past lists, I'll see a book that I rated, say, 5 stars, and think 'Really? But I don't remember a single thing about that book'. Is it really a 5-star book if I can't recall anything about it a couple of years later, and should I then review my rating? The dilemmas of being a bookworm!

 

I know exactly what you mean.  That's mainly why I'm rating a bit more conservatively nowadays.  I go up to 6 stars for my absolute favourites (I've only about a hundred so rated), and what I've done for a while now is tended to rate at 5* (still means an excellent read!) and then wait and see what my feelings are a month or so later as I find books sometimes grow on me even after reading, most stay the same, but a few others diminish in stature - sometimes, as you say, to the extent that I can't even really remember what they were about.  I'm now starting to do something similar with the lower ratings: be a bit conservative, and allow myself to uprate later if the book grows at all.  Experience suggest that the majority will stay where they were originally allocated!

[Athena]

I may be wrong, but I think that it's only marked as part of a series because some of the characters appear in Welcome to the World, Baby Girl.

 

It's very much a standalone novel, otherwise.

Thanks for this !

 

I understand what you mean about the difficulty of rating books sometimes. I always rate according to how I feel when I finish the book, but occasionally when I'm going through past lists, I'll see a book that I rated, say, 5 stars, and think 'Really? But I don't remember a single thing about that book'. Is it really a 5-star book if I can't recall anything about it a couple of years later, and should I then review my rating? The dilemmas of being a bookworm!

That is very true, it's a dilemma.

 

As a rule I don't often change the ratings of my books, but sometimes I do think, a while after I've read the book, if I should up it or lower it, based upon how fondly or not fondly I remember the book.

 

Willoyd's way of doing it sounds nice too.

[frankie]

What a superb review of Fried Green Tomatoes! You've done the book justice with your words, and I'm really happy you liked the novel so much. I have to ask: have you seen the movie, and if you haven't, do you think you will? I would heartily recommend it, it's really, really good  

[willoyd]

What a superb review of Fried Green Tomatoes! You've done the book justice with your words, and I'm really happy you liked the novel so much. I have to ask: have you seen the movie, and if you haven't, do you think you will? I would heartily recommend it, it's really, really good

 

I ordered it online, and it's just arrived.  Hope to watch it in the next couple of weeks, but not immediately as I'm up to my eyeballs writing school reports this week.  BTW, Thank you for your kind words!.

Edited June 14, 2015 by willoyd

[frankie]

I can't wait to hear how you like the movie when you get to it!  

[Nollaig]

I'm having the same trouble with rating already - I rate a book based on how I feel about it objectively, but when I place that rating subject to all my other ratings, everything tends to get a bit skewed and I feel like adjusting ratings all over the place I'm leaving them alone for now, but I might reflect and adjust the end of the year according to how I feel about all my reads by then.

[willoyd]

Two books on the Napoleonic Wars

 

The Napoleonic Wars - A Very Short Introduction by Mike Rapport ***

One of those books that does exactly what it says on the tin: a concise, clear, functional introduction to The Napoleonic Wars. Hard to say much else really: I found it very useful, as I realised there were some real holes in my personal chronology and understanding of the wars. This pretty much answered all my questions, and thus did the job I wanted it to. It was also, in its own rather spartan way, eminently readable. These books are generally excellent for that - a great series that nicely fills an important hole.

 

Waterloo - The Aftermath by Paul O'Keeffe ****

This takes an interesting perspective on the battle. Rather than rehash the same ground as umpteen books on the battle, this really starts where most others leave off: at the end! What Paul O'Keeffe does is take a more in depth look at what happened in the few days, weeks, months after the battle. He doesn't really go into the long term view - but rather examines matters at a more immediate level, with chapters looking at: the battlefield in the days following along with the human remains including the injured, dying, looters and mourners; how the news got back to England; the follow-up campaign as the French were forced back into Paris; what happened to Napoleon, and a short 'coda' looking at what happened to other key individuals.

 

Inevitably, whilst very readable, this is not exactly a cheerful book. Indeed it left me rather oddly saddened, especially over the way Napoleon was treated (yes, I know I should be more concerned with others. However, it still all seems rather too wrong, especially the restoration of the Bourbons, even if one can understand why he came to be exiled to St Helena). I also felt that there was room to have covered something more of the longer term implications: it all rather focuses exclusively on the immediate post-Waterloo period.

 

However, overall, this remains an enjoyably written book which certainly filled in plenty of the holes in my knowledge. A good book for reading on the 200th anniversary!

Edited June 21, 2015 by willoyd

[willoyd]

 

Memento Mori by Muriel Spark ***

Muriel Spark's books are never long (or at least I've not come across one thus!) but she always packs a lot in. At a few pages over two hundred, MM is no exception. Spark's writing is always incisive, often employing a mordant wit to tear into some aspect of the social structure, on this occasion the old and attitudes to death: an increasingly large group of elderly people are regularly beset by directed phone calls warning the recipients of the calls to "Remember, you must die". Some are disturbed by them, some take them in their stride, but nobody knows who is making the calls, and, with the police either unwilling or unable to investigate sufficiently, a retired detective inspector is employed to take up the case.

 

Spark's books are always both thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking. With its focus on death, this one is certainly the latter, challenging many of our prejudices and stereotypes, forcing one to stare an all too uncomfortable topic full in the face. Spark's ever-present humour is thoroughly dark, as befits the subject.

 

The book is generally thought to be funny, and I suppose it is. Yet I also found it rather disturbing, leaving me distinctly uncomfortable on occasions. Much of this was self-inflicted, mainly because I'm now within a year of the age when my father died, young at just fifty-eight but so like most of his ancestors. Thus, some of this was just a little bit too close to the bone to enjoy to the full (although maybe I needed to?!). I also found the plotting, initially intriguing, gradually seemed to lose its way, petering out into a somewhat indecisive ending. Having said that, it may have been more me losing the way, but whichever aspect one looks at this from, the second half felt rather less satisfying and somewhat more directionless than the first. Having said that, it's not an unenjoyable book, and I particularly appreciated the skill with which it was put together; it may simply have been me hitting the book at the wrong time. Even then, Muriel Spark is such a good writer, that there was much to enjoy about the novel, and I'm already looking forward to tackling one of her other novels in the near future.

[Alexi]

The Waterloo readings sound really interesting and particularly timely! May have to look out the library's offerings on that subject.

[willoyd]

Marriage Material by Sathnam Sanghera ***

 

Marriage Material is a 21st century take on Arnold Bennett's Old Wives' Tale which I intended to read beforehand, but ran out of time as I needed to finish this in time for my book group meeting this month.

 

It's essentially a family saga, covering three generations of a Sikh family in Wolverhampton, the hinge of which are the lives of two sisters, Surinder and Kamaljit, all told by Kalmajit's son Arjan. The story switches backwards and forwards in time between the present and the two sisters' childhood chapter by chapter, something that took me a while to get the hang of, as there is no indication this is happening, so I was somewhat confused initially.

 

Sanghera's writing is very easy to read, light and ironic in tone, even when dealing with some fairly heavy issues, usually racial. Indeed, it only gradually dawned on me (I can be horribly slow on occasions!) how dark some of these issues actually were! Interestingly, they weren't just about racial prejudice, but intra-racial and intra-religious prejudice: I for one didn't know that the caste system could be so strongly divided in Sikhism.

 

Once I'd got used the the chronological switchback, the narrative rattled along equally easily, leavened by some wonderful set pieces (the scene when Surinder's mother visits Surinder's headteacher, and the level of communication dropped to almost zero, was a particular standout!), suggesting that Sanghera has the potential for writing some great comedy (not something I'd hear myself say ever, not being great on humour in books!). However, although really well told, the plot itself was pretty predictable, so much so that, however good the writing, I found myself skimming sections, not particularly gripped. The big exception was the ending, which provided a twist I hadn't expected, and definitely picked the book up in my eyes.

 

Characterisation was somewhat patchy too: aunt Surinder came over loud and clear, whilst others were distinctly less so, and more than once I felt that somebody did something a bit out of character. Freya, Arjan's white fiancee, proved to be a total cardboard cutout. While that may have been deliberately so, as we only ever see her second hand through Arjan's thoughts (a bit like certain characters in The Archers who never actually appear, but are frequently mentioned), it proved a bit frustrating. I also had to take completely on trust his portrayal of Sikh culture, knowing little and having experienced less. Reviews suggest that some Sikhs could relate to the author's views, others less so. Pretty much par for the course for any writer then! What did feel 'real' though was the dating, the contrast between 21st century and 1970s life: the latter was the period I grew up in, and it felt horribly accurate on occasions, even if I didn't live in the same culture or place as the characters concerned.

 

Overall, then, this proved a solid enough read, with some flashes of brilliance. I was particularly impressed in how the author tackled some pretty serious issues, whilst still maintaining such a light touch. He certainly gave my book group much to think about, and generally the book was pretty highly rated: 7-8 out of 10. Personally, I was at the bottom end of the range, more like 6-7. That's no reflection on the quality of the book, which I might rate higher, simply how much I 'enjoyed' it. Any book that leaves me wanting to skim simply can't get above 3 stars. However good the characterisation, chronological detail etc, if it doesn't sufficiently engage me to keep me hooked on reading, that's its maximum, even if some specific passages might score 5 stars (or more!). However, I would certainly read a book of his again, and would certainly recommend it as one worth trying out.

 

BTW, he was definitely worth going to see live: I went to his presentation at the Ilkley Literature Festival in 2014, and he was one of the few fiction writers I found really entertaining. I bought the book on the back of it, and am glad I did.

Edited July 5, 2015 by willoyd

[frankie]

I've only ever read one book by Muriel Spark and I disliked it: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. It was for uni and so it was mandatory reading... Had that not been the case, I would've given it up and not perhaps disliked it so much, for not having finished it. Anywho... Your review of Memento Mori has made me think that should I ever try another of Spark's novels, I might go with this one. Great review  Although, you had your own problems with it... But you made it sound like it might be worth a read. Well done, for a Spark novel! 

Edited July 7, 2015 by frankie

[willoyd]

Two slim volumes that have much in common, coming from masters of different genres. Worked perfectly as end of academic year reads, as there's no way that I could have dealt with anything much longer or more demanding.

 

The Grand Banks Cafe by Georges Simenon ****

A classic Maigret story with bags of atmosphere and the big man's psychological skills working to the full. In similar vein to the slightly earlier A Crime in Holland he's working away from Paris on his own. This time he's taking time out on holiday to investigate the murder of a fishing captain in Fecamp, on the northern French coast, where friends of the accused are convinced the young man is innocent. If you like Maigret, this is one to enjoy.

 

 

The Small Hand by Susan Hill ****

Another slim volume with a story that reads pretty much exactly to type, in this case the classic ghost story. The plot itself may be somewhat predictable, but the book as a whole is no less enjoyable as Susan Hill writes beautifully, similarly generating bags of atmosphere.

Edited July 12, 2015 by willoyd