Alex's 2016 Reading

[chesilbeach]

I'm also intimidated by The Mill on the Floss!  I think it comes of having been intimidated by Middlemarch for so long, even though I thoroughly enjoyed it when I actually read it.

 

I've downloaded the audiobook of North and South - I read Cranford a while back, and struggled as it felt very dry, and I read it after watching the television series, which had much more life in it for me, however, I've never seen the adaptation of North and South so I'm going in with higher hopes especially after your review.

[Alexi]

I keep getting one recommended that is read by Juliet Stephenson - I imagine she would be excellent.

 

I've never seen any TV adaptations of Cranford so I hope I may enjoy it more than you did.

 

It's only The Mill on the Floss and Mrs Dalloway that intimidate me now from the list - and the latter is my own alternative having read the actual choice so close to when we all started.

 

Oh, and I'm nervous about Mrs Chatterley's lover, but only because of the negative reviews! I'm not intimidated by it. I suspect I may leave that one for a while

[Alexi]

Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

 

Synopsis: In 2008, the presidential election became blockbuster entertainment. Everyone was watching as the race for the White House unfolded like something from the realm of fiction. The meteoric rise and historic triumph of Barack Obama. The shocking fall of the House of Clinton—and the improbable resurrection of Hillary as Obama’s partner and America’s face to the world. The mercurial performance of John McCain and the mesmerizing emergence of Sarah Palin. But despite the wall-to-wall media coverage of this spellbinding drama, remarkably little of the real story behind the headlines has yet been told. (From Goodreads)

 

Thoughts: My OH has been watching the 2016 presidential debates avidly. He finds it fascinating, I find it vaguely abhorrent. It's a distinctly different style and system to what we're used to here - and while I'm not suggesting our way is better, the constant sniping takes some getting used to. 

 

Also, I find, our Conservative party tends to be more closely allied to the Democrats in the US - the Republican party are so much further to the right than anything we're exposed to as a rule here in the UK. Anyway, I'm trying to educate myself and this book, detailing the election eventually won by Obama in 2008, piqued my interest. 

 

This is actually a pretty fun read. It's told in a compelling narrative style and reads more like a soap opera than a political tome. Welcome to modern politics!

 

None of the main players emerge with too much credit, except perhaps the Obamas. Certainly the Clintons, their aggressive behaviour and screaming matches don't emerge well and let's not get started on John Edwards and Sarah Palin!

 

What this book does is take us on each candidate's journey from 2006 through to 2008, the highs and the lows. The access the authors have is incredible, with lengthy interviews meaning whole meetings, conversations and strategies and recreated for the reader. 

 

The swells in emotion, from euphoria and elation to despair and panic, are handled perfectly. It's a fascinating and absorbing read, one that worked for me as an outsider although reviews suggest political junkies got a lot out of it as well. 

 

Apparently Halperin has done a similar book about the 2012 election and I will definitely get around to that at some point. I hope he does one about 2016 eventually - that really would be a soap opera!

 

4/5 (It was really, really good)

[Alexi]

Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming

 

Synopsis: Beautiful, fortune-telling Solitaire is the prisoner (and tool) of Mr Big—master of fear, artist in crime and Voodoo Baron of Death. James Bond has no time for superstition—he knows that this criminal heavy hitter is also a top SMERSH operative and a real threat. More than that, after tracking him through the jazz joints of Harlem, to the everglades and on to the Caribbean, 007 has realized that Big is one of the most dangerous men that he has ever faced. And no-one, not even the mysterious Solitaire, can be sure how their battle of wills is going to end…  (From Goodreads)

 

Thoughts: Having enjoyed the first book in the original Bond series, Casino Royale, I continued the series on audiobook - listening to Live and Let Die narrated by the wonderful Rory Kinnear. 

 

I enjoyed this one more than the first, but I suspect Kinnear's narration was what swayed it. He was perfect, with the clipped English accent of Bond, as well as the US and Caribbean accents for the other major players and he really added a lot to the story. 

 

This book is definitely of its time - the amount of racism in it is quite horrendous to be honest, now listening in the 21st century, and there's a large dollop of misogyny to go around as well. This is fiction, written when both of those things were accepted and commonplace, but it is still jarring to the modern mind. I did gulp at various passages, the one that sticks out, given I listened to this about a month ago, is blacks being portrayed as uneducated and unable to use big words - nearly caused me to drive off the M61. 

 

It's very noticeable that the Bond films have the leading man acting, well, quite differently from book form. I did get used to it as the book went on and because Kinnear read it in the style of Bond, I felt like a racist Bond was telling me the story and it made more sense in my own head that way. It is very easy to think of white British man in 1950s looking down on women and black people, unfortunately. 

 

However, all said and done, it's an adventure yarn of its time. It's good versus evil criminal, with some loopholes and convenient timing thrown in, and a beautiful girl for good measure. 

 

Definitely I think it benefited from audiobook form. Kinnear's narration brought the story to life, introducing tension in all the right moments. I doubt this would have scored beyond a 3 if I'd read it. 

 

4/5 (I really enjoyed it)

Edited March 26, 2016 by Alexi

[Alexi]

Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes

 

Synopsis: Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up on a patch of open ground, alive and well. Things have changed – no Eva Braun, no Nazi party, no war. Hitler barely recognises his beloved Fatherland, filled with immigrants and run by a woman.

People certainly recognise him, albeit as a flawless impersonator who refuses to break character. The unthinkable, the inevitable happens, and the ranting Hitler goes viral, becomes a YouTube star, gets his own T.V. show, and people begin to listen. But the Führer has another programme with even greater ambition – to set the country he finds a shambles back to rights.

Look Who’s Back stunned and then thrilled 1.5 million German readers with its fearless approach to the most taboo of subjects. Naive yet insightful, repellent yet strangely sympathetic, the revived Hitler unquestionably has a spring in his step. (From Goodreads)

 

Thoughts: Well, this gets mixed reviews! Making satire out of Hitler will definitely do that, I suppose. 

 

It's an intriguing concept, made more so by the fact the author is German, and as a rule the country doesn't go near it. But this book does, and treads a very fine line with it. 

 

Hitler is back, the original one, who wakes up in 2011 and finds himself at a loss. He doesn't understand TV, never mind the internet and has to get to grips with this new society. But he decides providence is at work here, and he has been sent to save modern day Germany from this dreadful state where the population contains a large percentage of immigrants and it is (gasp!) led by a woman. 

 

Of course, he gets picked up by a TV company, who he thinks are helping him to power and delivers many a speech on the ills of modern day society. Much of the comedy of this book is built on the misunderstandings - it is far from a laugh out loud comedic novel. 

 

That said, I enjoyed it. I think it's a very clever play on our obsession with celebrity, personality, reality TV culture and a chilling reminder of how susceptible we are to someone with a powerful personality who speaks well. 

 

Weird ending though. 

 

4/5 ( I really liked it)

[Nollaig]

Look Who's Back sounds like one of the most bizzare concepts for a novel I've ever heard of - but I kinda wanna read it! 

[Alexi]

That's exactly the reaction I ad when I first heard about it

[Anna Begins]

That sounds fun! I think I'll check out the sample

[Nollaig]

It's on my tablet Haven't started reading it yet, though.

[Kylie]

I enjoyed your last few reviews, Alexi. Race of a Lifetime sounds like someone I might enjoy. I read Fleming's Casino Royale, and it was OK, but I don't think I'll ever continue with the rest of the series. I don't really remember any racism in it, but I remember the sexism. I've been wanting to read Look Who's Back since it came out, and I found a good, cheap copy recently, so hopefully I'll get to it sooner rather than later.

[Alexi]

Thanks Kylie!  

 

The disadvantage with kindle books is that I can't send on my copies of books to others when done Of course, the advantage is I have room for a lot more books, so swings and roundabouts  

[Alexi]

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

 

Synopsis; Raised from birth in the orphanage at St. Cloud's, Maine, Homer Wells has become the protege of Dr. Wilbur Larch, its physician and director. There Dr. Larch cares for the troubled mothers who seek his help, either by delivering and taking in their unwanted babies or by performing illegal abortions. Meticulously trained by Dr. Larch, Homer assists in the former, but draws the line at the latter. Then a young man brings his beautiful fiancee to Dr. Larch for an abortion, and everything about the couple beckons Homer to the wide world outside the orphanage ... (From Goodreads)

 

Thoughts: First of all, I reckon this has the potential to be quite triggering for anyone who has gone through with an abortion. Sometimes the descriptions of these are a little...graphic. 

 

However, I loved this book. It's my first Irving, and certainly will not be the last. It centres on the topic of abortion, illegal in Maine in the first half of the 1900s, so Dr Larch - following an upsetting incident early on his career - decides to perform them for desperate women, horrified at some of the other clinics they are forced to visit. For those who don't want an abortion but can't keep their child, he brings them up in his orphanage and adopts them out. 

 

Then there is Homer Wells, unable to find an adoption family after several aborted attempts. It is his life we follow, inside and outside the orphanage. 

 

What makes this novel so rewarding is the characters. They got inside my head and refused to leave. I found myself thinking about them when I wasn't reading the book and the 600 pages flew by, and left me wanting more at the end. Always the sign of a good writer, and a good read. 

 

It's certainly a novel which force you to consider the issue of abortion, wherever you stand on it - although it is very pro-choice, so anyone extremely opposed might not find it as rewarding as I did. But there is so much more to it than that. This is a novel rich in detail, in characters, in plot, and leaves you fully immersed in the world of early 20th century Maine. 

 

I only wish I could read it again for the first time. 

 

5/5 (I loved it)

[Alexi]

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier

 

Synopsis: Orphaned at an early age, Philip Ashley is raised by his benevolent older cousin, Ambrose. Resolutely single, Ambrose delights in Philip as his heir, a man who will love his grand home as much as he does himself. But the cosy world the two construct is shattered when Ambrose sets off on a trip to Florence. There he falls in love and marries - and there he dies suddenly. Jealous of his marriage, racked by suspicion at the hints in Ambrose's letters, and grief-stricken by his death, Philip prepares to meet his cousin's widow with hatred in his heart. Despite himself, Philip is drawn to this beautiful, sophisticated, mysterious Rachel like a moth to the flame. And yet... might she have had a hand in Ambrose's death? (From Goodreads)

 

Thoughts: This was my third read from Du Maurier, and I came to it with extremely high expectations after adoring both Rebecca and Jamaica Inn. 

 

And this just didn't live up to it. 

 

This novel retains the element of mystery over did she/didn't she until the final pages, and there is an air of tension that builds throughout the book. It's narrated by Philip, who ultimately I couldn't root for. Sure, he's drawn to her, but does that mean his entire character and motives change and he abandons any sense of intelligence? 

 

I've fallen in love before, I've watched other people do it and it's not pretty to watch on occasion, but seriously, this really took the biscuit. I wanted to shake him! But I think the main problem was length - although this isn't a long novel I think it could have been better by some serious editing and cutting down. 

 

Judging by the reviews on Goodreads, I'm obviously in the minority, but Rebecca is clearly head and shoulders above this novel. For those who said they liked it better, are you kidding me?!

 

It's an enjoyable yarn and I don't regret reading it, but unfortunately one of those occasions when the author has written better and left me expecting better. 

 

3/5 (I liked it)

[Alexi]

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper

 

Synopsis: On holiday in Cornwall, the three Drew children discover an ancient map in the attic of the house that they are staying in. They know immediately that it is special. It is even more than that -- the key to finding a grail, a source of power to fight the forces of evil known as the Dark. And in searching for it themselves, the Drews put their very lives in peril. This is the first volume of Susan Cooper's brilliant and absorbing fantasy sequence known as The Dark Is Rising. (From Goodreads)

 

Thoughts: I listened to this on audiobook to prepare for reading The Dark is Rising, which is on the English Counties Challenge list. 

 

It's set in 1970s Cornwall, and given the next in the series comes under Buckinghamshire in the counties, I'm intrigued as to how they fit together! I have checked it out from the library however, so not long to wait and find out

 

No surprise to see why this is such a hit with kids, and continues to be carried in my library today. Three children work together to defeat evil adults - you never notice as a kid how odd it actually is for grown adults to explicitly threaten children and wave goodbye to the consequences! - and complete a quest. In this case, deciphering an ancient map which leads to the Holy Grail of Arthurian times. 

 

In the background of course is the sympathetic figure of Great Uncle Merry, who is on the side of the children but always seems to disappear at the most inopportune moments! 

 

I never read this as a child and I think that's a shame, I think I would have got a lot out of it then. Now, I'm not the target audience but it was still a very enjoyable listen on the way to and from work. 

 

Looking forward to the next in the series now. 

 

4/5 (I really liked it)

[Alexi]

Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie 

 

Synopsis: Normally, a mere outbreak of petty thefts in a youth hostel wouldn't be enough to interest the great detective Hercule Poirot. However, the warden of the hostel is sister to Poirot's secretary Miss Lemon, and concern for her sister is interfering with Miss Lemon's typing abilities. Poirot finds himself with an intriguing puzzle on his hands, and before long, murder increases the mystery. (From Goodreads)

 

Thoughts: I've read quite a few Christie's now and I reckon I'm about halfway through her collected works. This one is written in the 1950s and it is noticeably different to some of her earlier work, in that we now have males and females all living together in student housing and lots of women studying or even forging a career without getting married first. 

 

Alas, while I don't think she means to be racist here, there are a lot of foreign characters, and due to the length of the book and the sheer volume of characters, they aren't very fleshed out which makes them all a little one-dimensional. 

 

Another good read from the Queen of Crime where she only leads you up the garden path twice. Good of her. 

 

What brings this one down a notch is simply the lack of Poirot. He is very much on the periphery, with lots of questioning done by the inspector and lots of chat between characters when the sleuth is absent. Of course, he still finds the solution in the end!

 

3/5 (I liked it)

[Alexi]

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

 

Synopsis: Wuthering Heights is a wild, passionate story of the intense and almost demonic love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling adopted by Catherine's father. (From Goodreads)

 

Thoughts: I came to this book knowing little about it except for the above sentence. As anyone who has read it will know, there is an awful lot more to it than that and I gobbled up this story in only a few sittings. 

 

How sad that Bronte only ever wrote this one novel! What a talented writer she is. The characters were brilliantly-drawn and you really get a sense of the lonely world in which they live. Rather than a love story, this is all dangerous passion and revenge and it has a properly gothic feel. 

 

It's a bit slow to start, because you have a character who isn't really a central figure relating the story and you wonder where on earth this is going. The fact that our narrator, Nellie, was absent for a good portion of events is a little odd but no matter, this is a novel where the whole transcends the little piffling details of an odd beginning. 

 

The character of Heathcliff might be one of my favourites in ages. What a complex character, filled with hatred and evil yet bizarrely fond of Hareton, who he treats disgracefully as part of his revenge plot. Catherine is just as bad, and it's easy to see why some people struggle with the book, because these two characters are indeed HORRENDOUS humans. Selfish, evil, whatever you want to throw at them is probably fair. Yet they are fascinating for all of that. 

 

The setting of the moors is perfect, because it really ups the ante. It leaves you with a sense of darkness and foreboding, and of characters that live largely out of society's grip. 

 

And yet there is hope here too. It's definitely a book I'll reread some day. 

 

5/5 (Likely to be one of my absolute favourites)

[Athena]

Great reviews !

 

The Cider House Rules is one I might want to pick up at some point, it sounds good .

[Anna Begins]

I liked your review of Wuthering Heights! Makes me want to 're- read.... I'm glad you liked it so much.

[chesilbeach]

So glad you enjoyed Over Sea, Under Stone, Alex.  I actually read The Dark is Rising first, then went back to this one, but it really didn't make much difference to be honest, although if you have like this one, I think you will *love* The Dark Is Rising!  You have such a treat ahead of you.

[bobblybear]

Great reviews! I've never read any John Irving. I did have a couple of his on my book shelf but they went to the charity shop recently when I needed the space.

 

I read Wuthering Heights last year....thought it was ok, but then again I'm not madly keen on classics.

 

 

[Alexi]

Thanks guys (On phone, so can't multi quote...)

 

The Cider House Rules looks pretty intimidating I think, both in size and themes, but it's massively rewarding.

 

I didn't think I was a massive fan of classics but I'm starting to come round to them. I really didn't like Far From the Madding Crowd though I thought Wuthering Heights stood up much better than the majority actually - even if the amount of cousin marrying that goes on is a little... Gross by today's standards!

 

Claire - I'm really looking forward to The Dark is Rising now! It's next on the list after The Art of Racing in the Rain.

[chesilbeach]

I'm excited for you! . Really hope you enjoy it

[Janet]

I didn't think I was a massive fan of classics but I'm starting to come round to them. I really didn't like Far From the Madding Crowd though I thought Wuthering Heights stood up much better than the majority actually - even if the amount of cousin marrying that goes on is a little... Gross by today's standards!

 

Claire - I'm really looking forward to The Dark is Rising now! It's next on the list after The Art of Racing in the Rain.

I'm sorry to hear you didn't like Far from the Madding Crowd (I might have said that to you before...?).  I love Thomas Hardy (well, the three I've read so far) but I can see why he might not be to everyone's taste.

 

The Art of Racing in the Rain is a lovely book - I hope you enjoy it.    I hope you enjoy The Dark is Rising too - it's a great read - it's very atmospheric.  I wondered about reading Over Sea, Under Stone - I might see if our library have that on audio book!

[Nollaig]

I loved Over Sea, Under Stone, when I read it, but when I got to the second book in the series and it started off (I think, if I recall correctly) with a whole new character, I just couldn't get into it. Should probably give it another go at some stage.

 

Again, so glad you loved Wuthering Heights so much! Really is a phenomenal book.

[frankie]

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

 

 

I went to a flea market today and there was a copy of a John Irving book and I was mildly tempted to buy it... But I figured I could find a copy easily at the library. The Cider House Rules I find terribly intimidating, though... Back in my days at the uni, someone did their thesis on this very novel and by the end of our seminar classes I was thoroughly fed up with the author and the novel, even though I'd never read anything by him... I've come to be rather curious about his novels after that, though, and so I'm mildly encouraged by your favorable review. Glad you enjoyed it!  

 

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier

 

Oh wow... This is, I think, to the day, the only Daphne Du Maurier book I've ever read and I loved it and gave it 5/5 I believe... And I could never get into Rebecca even though I've tried at least 4-5 times! I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it all that much... But I'm curious to see how you fair on with her other novels when and if you choose to read them