Lucy's books '09/'10

[Lucybird]

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Josy, a twelve year old girl, has an inexplicable illness and vanishes without trace from her doctor’s office during treatment. Four years later: Josy’s father, well-known psychiatrist Viktor Larenz, has withdrawn himself to an isolated North Sea island in order to deal with the tragedy. Until he’s paid a surprise visit from a beautiful stranger. Anna Glass is a novelist and she suffers from an unusual form of schizophrenia: all the characters she creates for her books become real to her. And in her last novel she has written about a young girl with an unknown illness who has vanished without a trace.

 

Is the inconceivable possible? Do Anna’s delusions describe Josy’s last days? Reluctantly Viktor agrees to take on Anna’s therapy in a last attempt to uncover the horrible truth behind his daughter’s disappearance . . .

 

Review

 

I'm not really a big reader of crime stories. The nearest I usually get is Jasper Fforde, which sn't exactly typical crime. I'd read a few good reviews of this one though and it sounded a bit different. I must admit though that I wasn't very impressed with it. It's not that it was bad. It had some good twists and turns, although I was able to predict most of them. I never really cared about the characters though, except Josy, and only really because you can't not care about a missing child. It was an easy read, and towards the end I found the twists less predictable so it became more interesting, but still nothing special.

 

2.5/5

As an added note the review of this on the BCF blog is quoted on Amazon

 

Edited November 17, 2010 by Lucybird

[Lucybird]

Synopsis (from Amazon)

It’s Jack’s birthday, and he’s excited about turning five.

 

Jack lives with his Ma in Room, which has a locked door and a skylight, and measures 11 feet by 11 feet. He loves watching TV, and the cartoon characters he calls friends, but he knows that nothing he sees on screen is truly real – only him, Ma and the things in Room. Until the day Ma admits that there's a world outside . . .

 

Told in Jack's voice, Room is the story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible. Unsentimental and sometimes funny, devastating yet uplifting, Room is a novel like no other.

 

Review

 

This is the first book in quite a long time that I can say I've devoured. I wanted to just keep reading it, I didn't want to put it down. I had to force myself to put it down before going to sleep (I always read in bed before going to sleep). It went far too fast, I almost wish that the story had continued, but, although it could have continued and still been interesting, I think it did end in the right place. I thought Donoghue got Jack's voice just about right, I could really believe that the story was being told by a 5 year old boy. Maybe he was a bit too bright, but some kids really are that bright- and I can understand with all that one-on-one time with his Mum, with nothing to do that he would learn pretty quickly. I found the actual topic really interesting, I don't want to give it away but I found the later chapters more interesting than the first, although they were interesting in other ways. There were quite a few references to childhood today that may be better read by parents but not knowing them wouldn't really matter, and most of them could well be familiar from your own childhoods.

 

Read it!

 

5/5

 

Edited November 19, 2010 by Lucybird

[Weave]

Great review Lucy, 'Room' definitely sounds my kind of read

[Lucybird]

Oh do read it Paula. I think you'd like it

[lauraloves]

I've just added Room to my wishlist, it sounds brilliant!

[Pixie]

I've added Room to my wishlist as well. I'm going to wait until it comes out in paperback.

 

I noticed that you gave The Elegance of the Hedgehog 5 stars, Lucybird. Since I agree with you on that one, I'm sure Room must be great as well.

[Lucybird]

Yay! I'm sure you'll both love it.

[lopeanha]

Room is going straight to my wishlist

[Weave]

Room does sound interesting, thanks again Lucy

[Lucybird]

Wooo more people wanting to read Room!

[Louiseog]

Great review Lucy.

I cannot tell you how much this book blew me away, chilled me and could not put it down. Went away with two friends who were reading and they were the same. Not sure if enjoyed is the right word but will stay with me for a long time, the language was incredible.

[Lucybird]

Yes I think it will stay with me for a long time too. I'm glad you 'enjoyed' it.

[Lucybird]

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Insomnia, exhaustion, recurring nightmares – Stephen Sharkey is suffering the aftereffects of his career as a war reporter, most recently in Afghanistan, where Ben Frobisher, war photographer and friend, has been shot dead on assignment. Hanging up his flak jacket and turning his back on the everyday reality of war, Stephen moves into a quiet and peaceful cottage in the north of England. It seems the perfect environment in which to write his book on the representations of war – one that will be based largely on Ben Frobisher’s work. But Stephen’s supposed isolation offers no protection from other people’s suffering or the shattering effects of human brutality . . .

 

Review

 

Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy was a favourite of mine while in college, and I always have high hopes when I come across other novels by her. I thought I may have found it on reading 'Winner of the 1995 Booker Prize' on the front cover of Double Vision. As I into the novel though I began to think this couldn't be true. For one thing the book spoke of 9/11 which of course hadn't happened in 1995. On further research I found that Barker did win the 1995 Booker award, but for The Ghost Road, not Double Vision. I did think the cover was very misleading however and it probably effected somewhat how I approached the book.

 

The book started off quite well. I liked Kate and found her interesting. I think a whole story focussing on her would have been interesting, and I ended the book wanting to know more about what had happened to her, and about the mystery to do with her sculpture. Steven I liked well enough but was more interested in him as a vehicle for Ben's story. In fact I had the impression that most of the story would be about him and Ben and felt let down that Ben's story was only really given a mention a few times. I think in this sense the blurb was very misleading. I thought Peter was a really interesting character and I would have loved to see his view point, and found out what his motivations were, although there is something I like about the mystery there and I am happy to imagine.

 

I got the feeling that Barker started this story with one idea in mind, but gradually got distracted by different story lines, meaning that none were ever really completed to my satisfaction. Although I generally enjoyed the progression of the storys I was disappointed with the conclusion of them. The actual ending that was there I found pretty pointless, in fact it felt like Barker believed she needed some action and added the end of the story simply to give that.

The whole robbery idea seemed completely out of sorts with the rest of the story and I didn't really care enough about Justine for it to be acceptable as another storyline. I also didn't understand that suddenly Stephen was in love with Justine. It was never about love before, they both knew it wasn't going to last, they didn't really want it too. It felt misogynist that Stephen suddenly loved her when she was venerable. It felt like he loved her because she was venerable and liked the idea of being the big strong man. The Stephen/Justine storyline was never one of romance for me, and I was happy with that until the end when Barker seemed to was to make it into a romance.

 

I do think a lot of what I disliked was to do with the way the book was presented. From the synopsis I expected more of a 'war' book (which in general I enjoy). From the cover I expected an award winner.

 

If you're not a reader of Barker please don't start with this one. Start with Regeneration. Please. The series is fantastic. Life Class isn't bad, but not a patch on Regeneration. This one feel free to read, but don't expect too much, I think half my dislike was caused by my expectations.

 

3/5

 

Edited November 25, 2010 by Lucybird

[Lucybird]

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Kafka on the Shore follows the fortunes of two remarkable characters. Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy. The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down. Their parallel odysseys are enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerising dramas. Cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghostlike pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since WWII. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle. Murakami's novel is at once a classic quest, but it is also a bold exploration of mythic and contemporary taboos, of patricide, of mother-love, of sister-love. Above all it is an entertainment of a very high order.

 

Review

 

In a way this is a coming of age novel, but to call it that is far too simple, and to compare it to any other coming of age novel would be pretty much impossible. As with my previous experiences with Murakami this book is completely bizarre and like nothing else I've ever read- even, to some extent, Murakami's other novels. I found this one a little more logical than the others. Maybe it's just because I am used to Murakami's style. It's not that the story itself was 'normal' but that the events fitted together more logically than in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles for instance. I can't say I could exactly predict things most of the time but what happened didn't surprise me. There was one point when I was able to predict what would happen but when it did happen the way it was written was as if Murakami expected you to have guessed, almost like he was saying 'yeah you thought you'd got to the point where you understood me but I'm way ahead of you, I meant for you to guess'.

 

As far as characters go I felt much more attached to the characters in Kafka on the Shore than I have in previous Murakami novels. I think there was something sort of more realistic about them, except they weren't like anyone I've ever known, at least for the most part. I guess what I mean is that I got a clearer view of them as characters. I really liked Hoshino, mainly because he seemed like the reader, completely confused by everything going on but still enthralled.

 

In a way I think Hoshino was the reader. Murakami speaks a lot of the importance of metaphors and I think that explains his writting to a certain extent, although God knows how long it would take to get to the bottom of the metaphors. I did get the sense by the end that everything had been a metaphor for something Kafka has to go through on his journey. In a way though I think the metaphors are a little misleading and Kafka puts too much emphasis on them and gets into trouble for it.

 

Every time I read a new (to me) Murakami I love it even more than the next. I think I forget how beautiful and engrossing his writing is. If you have the chance you should really give him a try.

 

5/5

 

 

Edited December 4, 2010 by Lucybird

[frankie]

Wow, a great review of Kafka on the Shore, Lucy! I have it on my wishlist already (like all the other Murakami novels I don't yet own) but I feel like now I want to buy it asap. It sucks to be poor! Anyways, happy to hear that you're enjoying Murakami so much, every book being even better than the previous ones

[Kylie]

I thought you already owned Kafka on the Shore Frankie? That book seems to cause a lot of confusion for me. Didn't I try to keep buying it when you were here and you had to keep reminding me I already had it?

 

Great review Lucy.

[frankie]

I thought you already owned Kafka on the Shore Frankie? That book seems to cause a lot of confusion for me. Didn't I try to keep buying it when you were here and you had to keep reminding me I already had it?

 

Great review Lucy.

 

I did own it, but it was one of those bigger paperbacks which I gave up. You had a copy of it that was smaller in size. How on earth do you manage without me in the bookshops??

[Kylie]

I did own it, but it was one of those bigger paperbacks which I gave up. You had a copy of it that was smaller in size. How on earth do you manage without me in the bookshops??

 

Ohhh, OK, I remember now.

 

I don't manage without you. I've already bought a second copy of the Katherine Howe book I already own. I know that wouldn't have happened if you were here.

[Lucybird]

Kafka on the shore is great Frankie!

[Lucybird]

 

Disclaimer: War on the Margins was given to me free in exchange for an honest review

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

France has just fallen to the Nazis. Britain is under siege. As BBC bulletins grow more and more bleak, residents of Jersey abandon their homes in their thousands. When the Germans take over, Marlene Zimmer, a shy clerk at the Aliens Office, must register her friends and neighbours as Jews while concealing her own heritage, until eventually she is forced to flee. Layers of extraordinary history unfold as we chart Marlene's transformation from unassuming office worker to active Resistance member under the protection of Surrealist artists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, who manage to find poetry in the midst of hardship and unimaginable danger. Drawn from authentic World War II documents, broadcasts and private letters, 'War on the Margins' tells the unforgettable story of the deepening horror of the Nazi regime in Jersey and the extraordinary bravery of those who sought to subvert it.

 

Review

 

Well it certainly has taken me a long time to read this book considering it has less than 250 pages. Part of this is because I've been ill and have had no concentration for any reading at all (even facebook was taxing at times!), and partly because I had real trouble getting into it. I was really hoping to like this one. I enjoy historical fiction focused around this time and started reading it when I was in primary school. This one sounded like it would have a good balance of historical fact and story, plus I hadn't read anything set in Jersey before so was interested to see what the UK was like during occupation. I must say on the second point I did get my wish and the book gave me a good sense of what it was like to be in an occupied country. However I felt the novel read more like a history book than a story, you could really tell that it started off as Cone's masters dissertation. I didn't feel particularly connected to the characters, I didn't care much about what happened to them, although I was

happy when Lucy and Susanne's sentence was lowered.

 

I didn't really like Lucy and Susanne, I found them kind of fake. Like they were purposely trying to be 'different'. Although I did admire their action.

I did however like the authentic documents included in this novel. It backed up what Cole was writing and gave a security with what to take as fact that isn't given in most other historical fiction.

Overall there are probably better history books, and there is better historical fiction, but you wouldn't do badly with this.

 

3/5

 

Edited December 14, 2010 by Lucybird

[frankie]

Aww, too bad you didn't enjoy your latest read, Lucy. I hope you are feeling better by now? Drink loads of hot fluids and keep inside, nice and warm

[Lucybird]

I'm feeling much better thanks frankie, my new read is going much better too

[frankie]

I'm glad to hear it, Lucy, happy reading!

[Lucybird]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- JK Rowling

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

arry has been burdened with a dark, dangerous and seemingly impossible task: that of locating and destroying Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes. Never has Harry felt so alone, or faced a future so full of shadows. But Harry must somehow find within himself the strength to complete the task he has been given. He must leave the warmth, safety and companionship of The Burrow and follow without fear or hesitation the inexorable path laid out for him.

 

In this final, seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectactular fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited. The spellbinding, richly woven narrative, which plunges, twists and turns at a breathtaking pace, confirms the author as a mistress of storytelling, whose books will be read, reread and read again.

 

Review

 

I am a complete Harry nut but all the same it’s been a couple of years since I last read a Potter book, and I’ve only read Deathly Hallows a couple of times. Part of it is that there’s a sadness to this book other than the story itself. It’s the end of something which has been in my life for so long, and which has effected my life. If it wasn’t for Harry I would probably never be a member of BCF because it’s Harry that started my internet life. I wanted to re-read Deathly Hallows after seeing the film, I felt I wanted to know it better- as well as I know the other books, and I wanted the satisfaction that doesn’t some from the film. I never really like the films, they just don’t match up to the books.

 

As far as the book itself is concerned it’s not my favourite (that jumps between Chamber of Secrets and Half-Blood Prince….can you see the common theme?) but it’s not my least favourite either. There is a lot of time when there isn’t actually that much happening. When they have no idea where to find a horcrux- or at least no probable idea. In fact finding out where the next horcrux is was pretty much good luck really, and not that much they actually worked out for themselves. That’s not to say it was boring. Maybe it’s my love for Harry that kept me reading, that I had to know how it ended? But I don’t think that would keep me reading a second and third time. I think that there was the right balance of realistic timing and events which kept the reader reading.

 

This book is by far the saddest for me. In a way it is sadder after the first reading because you anticipate what is coming. You’re sad before what makes you sad has actually happened. There was one bit which was less sad than the first time for me because I know what was about to happen, although it was still somewhat upsetting.

This was when Harry thought he was going to die. I can remember being so shocked the first time and trying to convince myself that he couldn’t die , and I really thought he might.

Deaths wise this book was so sad because there was a realism there. That war isn’t fair and the people who ‘shouldn’t’ die aren’t exempt. It’s not nice but it seems right, I think I would have disliked it if only people we didn’t care for died, because it would be like Rowling was trying to stop fans from being upset.

 

As for the controversial epilogue? I’m not a fan. It answered very little for me, and somehow made everything as the fans expected- not that that’s a problem, but it’s kind of too perfect, and it’s what I would have presumed for myself- I wanted to know other things. Some of it Rowling has revealed in interviews but I am still hoping for the rumoured encyclopaedia. I like to debate but it would be nice to know.

 

5/5

 

Edited December 22, 2010 by Lucybird

[Lucybird]

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

The indispensable compendium of popular misconceptions, misunderstandings and common mistakes culled from the hit BBC show, QI. The noticeably stouter QI Book of General Ignorance sets out to show you that a lot of what you think you know is wrong. If, like Alan Davies, you still think the Henry VIII had six wives, the earth has only one moon, that George Washington was the first president of the USA, that Bangkok is the capital of Thailand, that the largest living thing is a blue whale, that Alexander Graeme Bell invented the telephone, that whisky and bagpipes come from Scotland or that Mount Everest is the world’s tallest mountain, then there are at least 200 reasons why this is the book for you.

 

Review

 

Seeing as I love the TV show QI I was hopeful for this book, but actually loving the show probably made the book not so good for me. Most of the facts were copied from the show so I already knew them- especially as I watch the repeats on Dave. The book was a little dry too. Although the facts were interesting, and it's kind of amazing to think that all these things that you think you know aren't actually true. The way it's presented is just not as good as the TV show which I find funny, and of course quite interesting! If you haven't seen the show you probably wouldn't think to read the book, but if you have seen the show you'll get little from the book. If you haven't seen the show then the book is worth the read- but I'd say go for the TV show if you can.

 

3/5

 

Edited December 24, 2010 by Lucybird