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Poppy's Paperbacks 2011


poppyshake

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I love travel writing and I really like the sound of this, so it's going on my Wish List! I just wish I hadn't got carried away and read your whole review! :)

 

Sorry Janet, but there's lots of stuff in the book that I left out I promise you (I know it's hard to believe) and it really is a wonderful book, I'm sure you'll love it :)

 

Hee hee, the bit about the poisoned samosas made me laugh :giggle2: Did you choose the book because Rebecca's a descendant of Jane Austen or have you read other stuff by her ?

 

No, I only found out later. I think it was the title that attracted me, I love books set in cafe's. It's a job I'd love (to own a cafe/bookshop) and so I can dream a bit at the same time.

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The Complete Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby

Waterstones Synopsis:
In his monthly accounts of what he's read - along with what he may one day read - Nick Hornby brilliantly explores everything from the classic to the graphic novel, as well as poems, plays, sports books and other kinds of non-fiction. If he occasionally implores a biographer for brevity, or abandons a literary work in favour of an Arsenal match, then all is not lost. His writing, full of all the joy and surprise and despair that books bring him, reveals why we still read, even when there's football on TV, a pram in the hall or a good band playing at our local pub.

Review: Oh I do love reading these sorts of books, it's wonderful to be able to have a nose around an author's bookshelves. This is the complete collection of monthly columns (which were entitled Stuff I've Been Reading) that Nick wrote for 'The Believer' magazine spanning from September 2003 to June 2006. Each month starts with two columns ... a list of books he's bought and a list of books he's read and just like the rest of us it seems he can't resist buying books even when there are hundreds waiting to be read on his shelves. He's also a serial abandoner and unfinisher, not seeing the point of plodding on with a novel he's not enjoying ... his view is that reading will never survive as a leisure activity if we all think we have to continue reading books which are a trial for us. I loved the description of his struggle with Iain M. Banks' Excession ... 'the urge to weep tears of frustration was already upon me even before I read the short prologue, which seemed to describe some kind of androgynous avatar visiting a woman who has been pregnant for forty years and who lives on her own in the tower of a giant spaceship. By the time I got to the first chapter which is entitled 'Outside Context Problem' and begins '(CGU Grey Area signal sequence file #n428857/119)' I was crying so hard that I could no longer see the page in front of my face, at which point I abandoned the entire ill-conceived experiment altogether. I haven't felt so stupid since I stopped attending physics lessons aged fourteen' ... although I did get further than the first chapter this is exactly how I felt when I tried reading Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon .. it may as well have been written in Greek for all I understood it.

Because of the books chatty style and magazine column format, it's a book you can dip in and out of easily (though you'll probably prefer to hoover it up all at once like I did :blush2:) It's quite informal and you just feel like you're chatting with a friend over coffee, albeit a friend with an incredible knowledge of books and writing. He's not smug or pretentious at all, he's got a great sense of humour and that comes over in abundance ... saying stuff like (about Motherless Brooklyn) ... 'it wasn't just up my street, it was actually knocking on my door and peering through the letterbox to see if I was in' :D I was constantly laughing. He makes some great points too about the need not to be sniffy about other people's book choices which I know I can sometimes be guilty of, it's the same with music .. if it's making someone happy and entertaining them then that's all that matters.

The books that he read and discussed for the most part were new to me but his enthusiasm for those he enjoyed is simply infectious, you will find yourself jotting down book titles and authors constantly and I have a feeling that I'll be trying books that I never would have thought of otherwise (and that's one of the themes of this book .. Nicks belief that reading one book often leads you to another.)

I'll try and gloss over the fact that he's an Arsenal supporter and therefore my sworn enemy (by rights I should have docked a point for that) It's a great book and I just wish the column had run and run. 10/10

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Sorry Janet, but there's lots of stuff in the book that I left out I promise you (I know it's hard to believe) and it really is a wonderful book, I'm sure you'll love it :)

Sorry, I wasn't moaning at you - only my inability to skip through your excellent review! Normally I try not to read reviews (especially on Amazon) before I read a book, but sometimes it's just not possible! :)

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The Diary of a Nobody - George & Weedon Grossmith

Waterstones Synopsis:
'Why should I not publish my diary? I have often seen reminiscences of people I have never even heard of, and I fail to see - because I do not happen to be a 'Somebody' - why my diary should not be interesting.' The Diary of a Nobody (1892) created a cultural icon, an English archetype. Anxious, accident-prone, occasionally waspish, Charles Pooter has come to be seen as the epitome of English suburban life. His diary chronicles encounters with difficult tradesmen, the delights of home improvements, small parties, minor embarrassments, and problems with his troublesome son. The suburban world he inhabits is hilariously and painfully familiar in its small-mindedness and its essential decency. Both celebration and critique, The Diary of a Nobody has often been imitated, but never bettered. This edition features Weedon Grossmith's hilarious illustrations and is complemented by an enjoyable introduction discussing the book's social background and suburban fiction as a genre.

Review: Bless him, you can't help but be rather fond of Charles Pooter. He's a bit pompous and forever getting his knickers in a twist but he means well and his pathetic little attempts to rise above his rather ordinary suburban life are rather touching. He has a terrible sense of humour, making puns which are not very funny but which keep him amused for hours .. at one point he even wakes up laughing in the middle of the night so tickled is he by a pun he'd made during the evening (you won't be tickled .. you'll just groan.) His diary entries early on are laughably banal, just basic recounting of his terribly dull days at the office and terribly dull evenings at home with his wife Carrie and their fairweather friends Mr Cummings and Mr Gowing (who are habitual visitors unless they're at home sulking over some perceived slight.) So exciting are his days that twice he starts his diary entry with 'mustard-and-cress and radishes not come up yet' :D and all his little tiffs and disagreements with Gowing, Cummings and the maid are written down and chewed over. But for all that you can't help but become engrossed in his tales, you sort of cheer him on and hope that tomorrow will be a better day because he is forever suffering little (and large) disappointments and embarrassments (there's a good deal of farce and buffoonery.) Whatever grand schemes he and Carrie embark on .. disaster and disappointment often follow. Some of these disappointments involve his son Lupin, who is a bit of a cad. Charles and Carrie (Carrie especially) are apt to think the best of him (naturally) but the reader can see from a long way off that Lupin is a a scoundrel.

The humour is subtle but it actually entertained me far more than a lot of so called hilarious books. It helps if you're fond of the characters and I was. How can you not love a man who buys some red enamel paint on his way home from work and then proceeds to paint practically everything in the house in it (including book spines) ... just because it looked so nice on the flowerpots (ok ... if he's your husband then obviously you would kill him but as a literary character you can't help but feel indulgent towards him.) It's one of the 1001 books that I've been told I must read before I die and I have to agree with them .. it's a peach. 9/10

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In Tearing Haste: Letters between Deborah Devonshire & Patrick Leigh Fermor

Waterstones Synopsis:
In spring 1956, Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire - youngest of the six legendary Mitford sisters - invited the writer and war hero Patrick Leigh Fermor to visit Lismore Castle, the Devonshires' house in Ireland. This halcyon visit sparked off a deep friendship and a lifelong exchange of sporadic but highly entertaining letters. There can rarely have been such contrasting styles: Debo, unashamed philistine and self-professed illiterate (though suspected by her friends of being a secret reader), darts from subject to subject while Paddy, polyglot, widely read prose virtuoso, replies in the fluent, polished manner that has earned him recognition as one of the finest writers in the English language. Prose notwithstanding, the two friends have much in common: a huge enjoyment of life, youthful high spirits, warmth, generosity and lack of malice. There are glimpses of President Kennedy's inauguration, weekends at Sandringham, stag hunting in France, filming with Errol Flynn in French Equatorial Africa and, above all, of life at Chatsworth, the great house that Debo spent much of her life restoring, and of Paddy in the house that he and his wife Joan designed and built on the southernmost peninsula of Greece.

Review: I've read quite a lot by and about the Mitford's over the years .... Mary S. Lovell's The Mitford Girls (which, for me, rates as one of the best biography's ever), Letters between Six Sisters, Decca: The letters of Jessica Mitford, Hons and Rebels and two of Nancy's novels The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate ... I always enjoy their writing enormously and so when I saw this at the bookshop I got my purse out immediately.

This is a collection of letters between Deborah Devonshire (Debo), the youngest and now sole surviving Mitford sister who married Andrew Cavendish and later inherited (or at least Andrew did) the beautiful Chatsworth house in Derbyshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor (Paddy) the author most known for his travel writing. They start off quite haphazardly and random, in fact the first letters are only from Paddy indicating that he was probably less meticulous about keeping Debo's early correspondence, but their letters soon become more frequent and confidential.

Debo writes like all the Mitford's, wittily and newsy, recounting a lot of her day to day worries and frets about the running of Chatsworth (she's a great lover of chickens and rare breed sheep) plus accounts of her occasional dinners and lunches with Prince Charles and 'Cake' (the Queen Mother) and a description of her day out at the inaugaration of President Kennedy in which, to her wild excitement, she was summoned from the back to come and sit with him during the parade (in Debo's words 'it fuddled the commentators on the telly as they only knew politicians and film stars and when strange English ladies loom they are stumped'). I probably enjoyed reading her letters more, they're briefer but more chatty and amusing. Paddy is a keen observer too and a wicked gossip but he has a tendency to enclose long accounts of his latest travel exploits which interrupt the rapid flow of the letters and sometimes make for tedious reading (I'd be happy to read them in his travel books .. just not attached to the letters) still, obviously, Debo was anxious to hear all about them .. I'm just not sure we needed to :giggle: They both love words and wordplay and so puns, sketches, and comic verse flow back and forward and they're always on the lookout for things that will amuse the other.

The later letters deal a lot with old age, the sad inevitability of the loss of loved ones and the ever increasing visits from 'Dr Oblivion'. They both find writing more difficult now, Paddy especially as he suffers from tunnel vision but at the time of the book going to press they were still corresponding aged 88 (Debo) and 93 respectively.

There are lot's of lovely photo's too which is always a treat because it helps to put faces to names. 8/10

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Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

Waterstones Synopsis
: Charlie Gordon, IQ 68, is a floor sweeper, and the gentle butt of everyone's jokes, until an experiment in the enhancement of human intelligence turns him into a genius.

Review: I think I'll keep this one short (hooray :giggle:) The key to reading this book is not to know any details of what happens to Charlie after he undergoes the operation which is hoped will greatly improve his intelligence. I had been wanting to read it for some time so was glad when the Reading Circle picked it as their read for this month .. it gave me the nudge I needed.

More detailed reviews and opinions can be read here (**but there are plenty of spoilers and revelations so don't read unless you are happy to know the outcome**)
Reading Circle - Flowers for Algernon

I loved reading it and devoured it in a couple of sittings. Charlie narrates the whole story via his daily progress reports and you find yourself, within no time, rooting for him and hoping that everything will work out well. It gave me back my hope that I can read and enjoy science fiction novels as long as they're not too deep and complicated (science with a very small s in other words :blush2:) 9/10

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Enjoyable reviews as always, Poppyshake. I'm glad you enjoyed Hornby, Grossmith and Keyes; I loved them all too. :) I don't know much about the Mitford sisters, but I think I read a review of another book about them recently and became curious. This book of letters sounds quite interesting. :)

 

I've been meaning to ask you for ages if you've read anything by Walter Moers? He writes utterly brilliant children's novels (the type to be equally read and appreciated by adults). I first found out about him through Weave's review of The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear. I must admit that the cover is part of what attracted me to it. It was such a brilliant read that he immediately became one of must-read authors. I've bought 3 other books of his but have yet to read them. I think Giulia has read/was reading The City of Dreaming Books, which I'm planning on reading shortly. They're very cleverly written and have excellent illustrations. I haven't come close to doing them justice here, but I have a feeling you might enjoy them and I wanted to bring them to your attention. friends3.gif

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Great reviews Poppyshake, I enjoyed your review of 'Flowers of Algernon', its a book that stays with you, I agree with Kylie, you would enjoy Walter Moers, I have the next two books (which I have still to read) ~ 'Rumo' & 'The City of Dreaming Books' and I just noticed 'The Alchemaster's Apprentice' on amazon, its on the wishlist :)

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Enjoyable reviews as always, Poppyshake. I'm glad you enjoyed Hornby, Grossmith and Keyes; I loved them all too. :smile: I don't know much about the Mitford sisters, but I think I read a review of another book about them recently and became curious. This book of letters sounds quite interesting. :smile:

 

I've been meaning to ask you for ages if you've read anything by Walter Moers? He writes utterly brilliant children's novels (the type to be equally read and appreciated by adults). I first found out about him through Weave's review of The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear. I must admit that the cover is part of what attracted me to it. It was such a brilliant read that he immediately became one of must-read authors. I've bought 3 other books of his but have yet to read them. I think Giulia has read/was reading The City of Dreaming Books, which I'm planning on reading shortly. They're very cleverly written and have excellent illustrations. I haven't come close to doing them justice here, but I have a feeling you might enjoy them and I wanted to bring them to your attention. :friends3:

 

Thanks Kylie :smile: The Mitfords are fascinating, I'd recommend reading 'The Mitford Girls' by Mary S. Lovell because it's just engrossing and I've bought it a couple of times as presents for people and they always love it. Let's just say they're an eclectic and eccentric bunch ... six altogether (with one brother poor fellow) Nancy of course the novelist, Diana the most beautiful .. much taken with Hitler ... who divorced her husband the month Hitler came to power and married the leader of the British fascist party Oswald Mosley (and who's son is Max Mosley one time president of the FIA governing body for motorsports including Formula One and much talked about here because of his alleged Nazi role play sex games which were videoed) Pam who was wooed by John Betjeman but who went on to perhaps be the most ordinary of them and much more of a homebody, Unity .. perhaps the most notorious ... whose infatuation with Hitler (she sought him out and became a close confidante) led to tragedy, Decca .. the rebel of the family and a staunch communist who ran away with her cousin to fight in the Spanish Civil War and eventually lived out her life in America and Debo .. whose letter's I've just been reading. There were loads of fights especially about politics and they were often on 'non-speakers' with each other. Strangely the two that had the most radically different political opinions .. Unity and Decca .. were perhaps the closest, maybe because of the bond they'd forged in childhood .. they had their own secret language. Decca never really condemned her sister for her association with Hitler .. it was Diana that she railed against (Stephen Fry says that Diana said to him once .. 'of course, you didn't know Hitler did you?' :biggrin: ) They are all extremely funny women though .. sharp and witty and your eyes will be out on stalks reading about their exploits.

 

As for 'The 1312 Lives of Captain Bluebear' .. I've seen it in the shops (well, of course I've seen it who could resist that cover) and been tempted but it's the first time I've read anything about it or the author. It's definitely going on my list :smile: I feel like I should be like those people who say they can't make any more friends until some of the one's they have have died .. I shouldn't really collect any more authors until I've read all the books by the one's on my list .. but bother that .. it will take me forever to read all of Iris Murdoch's and I'm definitely squeezing Walter Moers on and anybody else for that matter that takes my fancy. Actually, I have a birthday coming up soon and that means birthday money to spend on books and so I'm looking for suggestions .. thank you Mistress :smile:

 

Great reviews Poppyshake, I enjoyed your review of 'Flowers of Algernon', its a book that stays with you, I agree with Kylie, you would enjoy Walter Moers, I have the next two books (which I have still to read) ~ 'Rumo' & 'The City of Dreaming Books' and I just noticed 'The Alchemaster's Apprentice' on amazon, its on the wishlist :smile:

 

Thanks Weave :smile: .. well that's two recommendations in one day, which is irresistible laugh.gif I've put 'The 1312 Lives of Captain Bluebear' on my wishlist and it's bound to lead me to the others. I'm quite excited now .. actually I've just been to Amazon and provisionally put it in my basket, I'll finalise it when I know how much birthday money I'm getting .. it's my favourite part of the day .. people say what did you do and they look a bit puzzled when I tell them that the best bit was sitting in front of the computer with a large cup of tea and an even larger slice of chocolate cake, ordering all my birthday books (I think some of my friends and family feel sorry for me that my favourite hobby is reading .. it's like I'm missing out :rolleyes: ) This year, as a bit of a treat, hubby is taking me to Hay-on-Wye (the town of books) for a few days .. I can't tell you how excited I am. It's got over thirty bookshops there .. I think I'll faint with joy.

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I'm sure you'll love it Frankie, it's very unusual but a great read. I feel just the same as you and Kylie do about you both being ahead of me, and I daren't read your lists .. well I have, but I daren't write them down or make similar lists for myself. I'd be so daunted, that it would take a darkened room and a Rupert bear annual to make me believe that I could ever read anything again . The only way I can keep going forward is to pretend that there are just a few handfuls of books I haven't read yet. To see all my unreads and must reads written down in their entirety would probably tip me over the edge and if hubby saw it he'd confiscate my purse permanently and tell Amazon I've moved. Actually I have got the 1001 list printed out and I've highlighted the one's I've read in orange and it's pathetic .. most pages haven't got any orange on them at all .. I stare at them and think 'you dunce'.

 

I quite understand you, not writing down all the books you own and want to read, and the ones you'd like to have is for you a basic coping method :empathy: The alternatives sound too drastic, and unthinkable! Let's change the subject, quickly, before you're reading this post for too long and your hubby will have a chance to glance at your screen and read what you've confessed :giggle2: Moving on now!

 

I snorted with laughter when I was reading your account of watching the episode of 'Faulks on Fiction' with your parents. A parent snoring, what's more endearing than that? :lol:

 

 

I would definitely have put Atticus Finch on my list and Sydney Carton.

 

When I think about literary heroes, I immediately think of Sydney Carton. He's so heroic, he does this utterly astounding thing eventhough he doesn't personally gain anything by doing it, except the fact that he knows other will. He's my hero <3 And yes, now that you mention it, I'd like to second Atticus Finch, please. And why not Boo Radley, as well? :)

 

I'm imagining that Alec D'Urberville will come under the 'The Villain' category, I guess it's possible that Tess and Angel could come under the 'The Lover' category but imo their story is really dreary. Angel could come under the 'Hero's You Would Like to Slap' category and Tess might well be chosen for the female equivalent (though there's some pretty stiff competition) but Sebastian's not doing those .. not until next series anyway :lol:

 

Well I definitely agree about Tess of the D'Urbevilles & I'd like to be first in the queue for slapping Angel & Tess :giggle2:

 

I'm with you guys on the slapping of those people! I'd also like to nominate Thomas Hardy himself for a bit of slapping, for writing such an awful, tedious, hideous novel. Shall I go and buy us some shovels? :P

 

The books that he read and discussed for the most part were new to me but his enthusiasm for those he enjoyed is simply infectious, you will find yourself jotting down book titles and authors constantly and I have a feeling that I'll be trying books that I never would have thought of otherwise (and that's one of the themes of this book .. Nicks belief that reading one book often leads you to another.)

 

I'm happy to see you enjoyed The Polysyllabic Spree so much, although I'm not surprised :P I also agree on not having heard of most of the novels he bought/read, but I definitely wrote down at least 10 titles I'd like to read myself some day. And coincidentally, I was just thinking about how one books leads one to another, this morning, and almost wrote something about the subject on my reading blog but then got too lazy.

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Giulia indeed has experienced, at least in part, The City of Dreaming Books, and is over the moon others are tapping into that minefield of whimsical genius that is the imagination of Walter Moers. The man is a legend, his work a treasure. You won't regret it.

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When I think about literary heroes, I immediately think of Sydney Carton. He's so heroic, he does this utterly astounding thing eventhough he doesn't personally gain anything by doing it, except the fact that he knows other will. He's my hero <3 And yes, now that you mention it, I'd like to second Atticus Finch, please. And why not Boo Radley, as well? :smile:

I don't see why Boo shouldn't be on the list .. he deserves his place much more than some already on it.

 

I'm with you guys on the slapping of those people! I'd also like to nominate Thomas Hardy himself for a bit of slapping, for writing such an awful, tedious, hideous novel.

Yes, it's his fault after all. I think it's his worst book ... though I haven't read them all by a long chalk .. there may be other horrors lurking. I enjoyed 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' though you couldn't call it uplifting and someone recommended 'The Woodlanders' .. actually I can't remember who .. I think it was recommended in a book I've recently read but bother, I can't remember which one *checks January's reading list* ... I think it may have been Iris's husband John Bayley during one of his meditative rambles through literature. I can't help but think that Hardy suits male readers more than female ... men are far more likely to tolerate a soppy (but beautiful) heroine.

 

I'm happy to see you enjoyed The Polysyllabic Spree so much, although I'm not surprised :tongue: I also agree on not having heard of most of the novels he bought/read, but I definitely wrote down at least 10 titles I'd like to read myself some day. And coincidentally, I was just thinking about how one books leads one to another, this morning, and almost wrote something about the subject on my reading blog but then got too lazy.

I really enjoyed Nick's writing, he's such great company and it was refreshing to read that a writer has the same reading dilemma's as the rest of us mere mortals. I would just love to know what he's reading now although for the sake of my TBR's .. it's probably best that I don't.

 

Giulia indeed has experienced, at least in part, The City of Dreaming Books, and is over the moon others are tapping into that minefield of whimsical genius that is the imagination of Walter Moers. The man is a legend, his work a treasure. You won't regret it.

I'm looking forward to reading him ... I'm not looking forward to the dent he is undoubtedly going to make in my bank balance though :biggrin:

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Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord - Louis de Bernieres

Waterstones Synopsis
: Dionisio Vivo, a South American lecturer in philosphy, is puzzled by the hideously mutilated corpses that keep turning up outside his front door. To his friend, Ramon, one of the few honest policement in town, the message is all too clear: Dionisio's letters to the press, exposing the drug barons, must stop; and although Dionisio manages to escape the hit-men sent to get him, he soon realises that others are more vulnerable, and his love for them leads him to take a colossal revenge.

Review: Goodness gracious me :o  This was a torrid, surreal, and at times harrowing, read. I knew I was in for something different when the first paragraph read ... 'Ever since his young wife had given birth to a cat as an unexpected consequence of his experiments in sexual alchemy, and ever since his accidental invention of a novel explosive that confounded Newtonian physics by loosing its force at the precise distance of 6.56 feet from the source of its blast, President Veracruz had thought of himself not only as an adept but also as an intellectual. His speeches became peppered with obscure and recondite quotations from Paracelsus and Basil Valentine; he joined the Rosicrucians, considering himself to be a worthy successor to Doctor John Dee, Hermes Trismegistus, Sir Francis Bacon, Christian Rosencreuz, and Éliphas Levi. He gave up reading his wife's women's magazines, from which he had previously derived most of his opinions, and took up reading La Prensa .'

The book tells the story of Dionisio Vivo, who is annoyed but unworried, when he finds his front lawn repeatedly littered with grotesquely disfigured, dead bodies. His friend, the local policeman Ramon, tries to tell Dionisio that these killings are warnings, sent because of Dionisio's regular letters to the press condemning the local drug barons and criticising the corrupt government. Dionisio however, refuses to be frightened or to believe that the two things are in any way connected and he continues to go on with his life as before. Well, almost as before, he has in fact fallen in love with the beautiful Anica and is determined to settle down and shape up (in other words he has to give up his frequent visits to the town prostitutes.) There are desperate and repeated attempts on his life but inexplicably they all fail and his enemies, plus the local townspeople, begin to believe that he is in fact a 'brujo' ... a magical being who is kept free from harm by the spirits. The hit men are advised to target his loved ones instead with terrifying and far reaching consequences. For a book that's so steeped in violence it's surprisingly funny. The thugs are often bumblingly stupid and there's an element of farce in their early assassination attempts but just as you begin to get accustomed to the almost cartoonish violence things take a sickening turn. At times I found it very, very reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, there's a mix here of humour, lust and violence which is very like the writing in One Hundred Years of Solitude especially when you add in the huge dollop of magical realism that weaves through both.

Obviously de Bernieres is keen to expose the evils of drug trafficking and he manages to get his point across here loud and clear without it seeming at all preachy or sanctimonious.
I've only just learnt that this book is the central one of a trilogy .. I didn't know this as it was lent to me but I thought the story stood by itself anyway. Perhaps it would have been less confusing at the start if I had read The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts ... it did take me a few chapters to get the feel of the writing but the story grips you within no time (literally by the throat.)

Like Marquez, de Bernieres's tale is full of red blooded males, hot blooded women, tarts with hearts, slow witted thugs, calculating evildoers and ridiculous despots. There is plenty to make you blush and if you don't like sex in novels then this one definitely isn't for you. There's violence too in abundance .. including a particularly harrowing scene near the end which I couldn't actually make it through. Somehow the humour still comes through and so does the magical, mystical elements.

Action packed and absurdly funny but not for the faint hearted.
9/10

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Speaking for Themselves : the Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill Vol One (Unabridged Audio) read by Michael Jayston and Eleanor Bron

Audible Synopsis:
This is a fascinating collection of the personal correspondence between Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine between 1908-1929.

Review: Though this is only volume one and so contains only half of the letters, it's still an engrossing sixteen hours long. What I loved about the letters most was how lovable and affectionate Winston's were, for all his rather serious public persona he was obviously a deeply devoted (as he often liked to sign himself) husband and father. It's often said that Winston's unhappy childhood and the lack of affection felt from his mother and father made him all the more appreciative of the love he felt for and received from Clemmie. Clementine's letters were affectionate too but what struck me most about hers was the fact that she wasn't afraid to give out political advice to Winston or to strenuously write in favour of taking said advice when she thought it was going unheeded.

In the main though their letters are full of love and concern for one another. Winston being referred to as pug, dog or pig often and Clemmie being his puss or cat. The children (five in all) are the precious PK's (puppy kittens) which now I've written it down all seems rather silly but doesn't come across so at all because the letters are full of such sound good sense. They are wonderfully romantic letters though for the most part. There were very few that were terse or cross .. none at all I think from Winston (though he could be resolute, in the face of her disapproval, about sticking to his guns politically.) I think I fell in love with him a bit myself just listening to him telling her how lucky he was and how beautiful she is :wub: Then again some letters were burnt or destroyed - both Clemmie and Winston sent letters to each other that were meant for each other's eyes only but these were of a mostly political nature and at times of great political sensitivity and secrecy - others have been edited or weeded out so it's not a complete picture but a pretty detailed one all the same.

The first few letters are about their early (quite short) courtship and marriage, then we follow Winston through to his cabinet position in Asquith's Liberal government, his disastrous involvement in the Gallipoli campaign which devastated him and forced him to leave government and his time spent serving on the Western Front commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. These letters from the trenches and dugouts are fascinating. Sometimes Winston sends home lists of the things he needs and my mind was boggling at the thought of Clemmie parcelling up sleeping bags, sturdy boots, brandy and cigars .. though quite possibly she didn't have to go and queue up at the post office and wait interminably for 'cashier number four please' to become vacant :D

This particular volume of letters ends with Winston as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Baldwin's Conservative party. I'm looking forward to downloading the second half of the letters which will take me through his time as prime minister to their end days. 9/10

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News From Nowhere - William Morris

Waterstones Synopsis:
'The only English utopia since More's that deserves to be remembered as literature.' News from Nowhere (1890) is the best-known prose work of William Morris. The novel describes the encounter between a visitor from the nineteenth century, William Guest, and a decentralized and humane socialist future. Set over a century after a revolutionary upheaval in 1952, these 'Chapters from a Utopian Romance' recount his journey across London and up the Thames to Kelmscott Manor, Morris's own country house in Oxfordshire. Drawing on the work of John Ruskin and Karl Marx, Morris's book is not only an evocative statement of his egalitarian convictions but also a distinctive contribution to the utopian tradition. Morris's rejection of state socialism and his ambition to transform the relationship between humankind and the natural world, giveNews from Nowhere a particular resonance for modern readers. The text is based on that of 1891, incorporating the extensive revisions made by Morris to the first edition.

Review: Until I saw this on the 1001 list, I didn't know that William Morris had written any fiction. This is William's idea of Utopia, and it's a million miles away from the futuristic science fiction novels/films that we're used to. It seems he was inspired to write the book after reading Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward.. it has a similar premise to News from Nowhere in that the central character awakes to find himself a few hundred years in the future in a world where poverty and corruption have been eradicated. William didn't much like Bellamy's version of Utopia though and thought it vulgar and materialistic but still the book obviously sowed the seeds of an idea in his mind. William's central character William Guest falls asleep after returning from a meeting of the Socialist League, when he awakes the next day, he finds himself in a very different world indeed.

He meets Dick who undertakes to row him on the Thames, from Hammersmith through London and onwards to Kelmscott (Morris' true home) stopping frequently along the way. He learns from Dick that things have much changed .. though Dick doesn't know he is a traveller in time .. he passes himself off as a foreigner or jokingly as a being from another planet to account for his ignorance and wonder.
Cities have been transformed, the urban sprawl has been eradicated and there is more 'elbow room', the buildings are handsome and there is a heavy emphasis towards arts and crafts in all their forms but always beautifully and simply done (especially clothing ... women are no longer upholstered like furniture. Work is undertaken for pleasure rather than payment, in fact there is no monetary system at all and food and goods are shared willingly. Everyone is content and happy, there is no discord, no prisons, no courts, no crime and everyone, especially the women, are extremely good looking and long lived (he would be shocked if he walked down Swindon high street on a Friday night to see how far away from his idyll we are :D) There is no schooling in the literal sense, children are encouraged to learn for themselves by being in and of the world instead of stewing inside and those more inclined to further their knowledge do so.

I'm not sure how I felt about William's ideal world. On the whole I didn't think it could ever possibly work and I'm not sure I'd want it to. He still saw the woman's role as the child bearer and nurturer but though in this new world women were free from oppression by men (and vice versa) and their opportunities were varied and unconstrained, domestic labour was still seen as the job they were most fitted to (because it was the job they most enjoyed :confused:) But of course, this is the author's vision and it's not a picture of what he thought would happen or thought should happen, it's just a version of his ideal world.

When William reaches London he meets Dick's kinsman, Old Hammond, and learns from him how this new change came about. It's a tale full of civil unrest, revolt and bloodshed which takes up several chapters. Though interesting to begin with, this part of the book dragged for me and I was glad when William returned to the Thames and his journey (which just illustrates how empty headed I am :blush2:)

It's an interesting book, he writes lovely prose, using delicious words such as slumbrous, thitherwood, behoof and wherry. I've always lived near to the Thames so his journey was familiar to me, I used to live at Lechlade which is fairly near to Kelmscott and visited his gorgeous manor house and garden. There is a craft barn in the garden and I couldn't help but think he'd be dismayed if he saw it. Anything that could be covered in a William Morris pattern had been ... you know the sort of thing .. toaster covers and draft excluders and peg bags ... I suppose they do come under the heading of useful .. I'm not sure all of them are beautiful :giggle: .. but he hated clutter and fuss. In contrast his house was just lovely, so simple (if a house that grand can be simple) but absolutely gorgeous with the most beautiful tapestries and embroideries that I've ever seen.

Actually I did a tapestry of one of William's designs some years ago which is one of the few things that I've managed to put up in our new home .... I'll try and include a pic later. I do love his designs and the whole arts and crafts movement in general. 7/10



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It's called 'Woodpecker' and it's approx three feet tall. Alan made a frame for it out of reclaimed floorboards which seemed more fitting than an off the peg frame. It was a labour of love and took me weeks but it was worth it. The original tapestry that this is taken from is breathtakingly gorgeous.

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I'm just back from a glorious few days in the town of books .. Hay on Wye on the Welsh/English border. It's an absolute book lovers paradise, there are about thirty seven bookshops and anywhere they can squeeze in a bookshelf they do.

 

I took my list of books with me and though I didn't stick to it religiously, it helped me to focus because to be honest you could just go mad in a place like Hay. Alan took my list and went off searching for the books I wanted ... I tried to rely on memory to help me out (not always successfully.) The bookshops are often housed in buildings that are ancient (one is in a ruined castle) and there are tottering piles of books everywhere. You find yourself halfway up a rickety staircase .. craning your neck sideways to look at the book lined walls .. there's no room for superstition, you get passed on the stairs a hundred times. Nearly all the books are filed alphabetically (by author) so that makes life a lot easier but sometimes they're just mish mashed together and you have to work a bit harder. Every day we went back to the hotel Alan photographed my book haul so far (see pics) .. day one looks a bit pathetic but we only reached Hay at half past two in the afternoon and had to book in etc so I thought I'd done pretty well to find anything. I bought some more before I left for home so the pics aren't quite up to date but almost. The little card that's in some of the photographs is an early birthday card for me from Alan, he looked especially for one with books on (he's spoiled me so much, I'm beginning to get suspicious :biggrin:

 

The hotel was lovely, there were bookcases everywhere .. even in the loo and you were free to borrow any of the books to read (which I did .. I bought fifty odd books over three days and took my own reading books with me and was still delving into theirs ... other people's books always look more exciting than your own.)

 

It is such a lovely place and we had a great time there, we're tempted to go back when the festival is on but the hotelier warned us that it gets really busy. I'm saving up my pennies to return though .. it's a great place to hunt for books.

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List of Books Bought at Hay-on-Wye

 

From the 1001

 

Amis, Kingsley - The Old Devils

Atwood, Margaret - Surfacing

Carey, Peter - Oscar and Lucinda

Cunningham, Michael - The Hours

Fitzgerald, F. Scott - Tender is the Night

Greene, Graham - Brighton Rock

Keneally, Thomas - Schindler's Ark

Kureishi, Hanif - Gabriel's Gift

Lawrence, D.H. - Women in Love

Murdoch, Iris - A Severed Head (already read a library copy)

Orwell, George - Keep the Aspidistra Flying

Stein, Gertrude - The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

Updike, John - Rabbit Run

Woolf, Virginia - Mrs Dalloway

 

Books from my Wishlist

 

Barnes, Julian - The Pedant in the Kitchen

Bullington, Jesse - The Sad Tale of the brothers Grossbart

Byrne, Paula - Mad World : Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead

Comyns, Barbara - Our Spoons Came from Woolworths

Dahl, Roald - Boy : Tales from Childhood

Ferguson, Rachel - The Brontes Went to Woolworth's (Bloomsbury group)

Fforde, Jasper - The Big Over Easy

Graves, Robert - Goodbye to All That

Hay, Sheridan - The Secret of Lost Things

Hemingway, Ernest - A Moveable Feast

Hoffman, Alice - Practical Magic

McCourt, Frank - Angela's Ashes

Naipaul, V.S. - A House for Mr Biswas

Woodsford, Frances - Dear Mr Bigelow : A Transatlantic Friendship

 

Books Bought Not on Lists (oh dear!!)

 

Adams, Richard - Watership Down (better copy)

Baker, Frank - Miss Hargreaves (Bloomsbury group)

Benson, C.F. - Mrs Ames (Bloomsbury group)

Bronte, Emily - Wuthering Heights (better copy)

Conradi, Peter - A Writer at War : The Letters & Diaries of Iris Murdoch 1939-1945

de Bernieres, Louis - The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Gazman

Dennys, Joyce - Henrietta sees it Through (Bloomsbury group)

de Rhodes, Danuta (Dan Rhodes) - Little White Car

Dickens, Monica - One Pair of Feet

Gallico, Paul - Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (Bloomsbury group)

Jensen, Liz - Ark Baby (already read a library copy)

Jensen, Liz - My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Crime

Mosley, Diana - The Pursuit of Laughter

Murdoch, Iris - An Unofficial Rose

Murdoch, Iris - The Flight from the Enchanter

Orwell, George - Animal Farm

Pasternak, Boris - Letters to Georgian Friends

Rhodes, Dan - Gold (better copy)

Spark, Muriel - Far Cry from Kensington

Spark, Muriel - Robinson

Spark, Muriel - The Comforters

Starling, Belinda - The Journal of Dora Damage

Stevenson, D.E. - Mrs Tim of the Regiment (Bloomsbury group)

Taylor, G.P. - Mariah Mundi : the Midas Box (better copy)

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Thanks for posting the list of books! I was straining my eyes somewhat trying to read the titles in the photos. Although I didn't need the list to notice all the Bloomsbury books you bought. Colour me jealous!! In fact, I'm rather jealous of all the books you bought, and your entire trip.

 

I remember the castle from my extremely brief visit. Oh how I would love to go for a proper visit and stay at least a couple of days to browse the entire town. <sigh> What a magical place. :smile2:

 

 

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Thanks for posting the list of books! I was straining my eyes somewhat trying to read the titles in the photos. Although I didn't need the list to notice all the Bloomsbury books you bought. Colour me jealous!! In fact, I'm rather jealous of all the books you bought, and your entire trip.

 

I remember the castle from my extremely brief visit. Oh how I would love to go for a proper visit and stay at least a couple of days to browse the entire town. <sigh> What a magical place. :smile2:

Thanks Kylie, I was so happy to get the Bloomsbury books, they didn't all come from the same shop and I still haven't got them all but what a result. I only paid about £2.50 each and they haven't been read :smile: Most people (ordinary mortals that is not proper book reading one's) nearly fainted when I told them I'd bought fifty books. I feel a bit daunted by them now I'm home (which usually happens after Christmas when I've bought a lot of books) and the situation has been compounded because I got more books bought for me for my birthday and I've just put in an order at Amazon using some of my birthday money (did you feel like that when you got home from the bookfair?) I can hear the unread books in the house .. the one's that were on the shelves when I left for Hay .. tutting and grumbling. I don't have a plan at all for my TBR's, I'll just have to see what leaps out.

 

I hope you get to visit Hay again for an extended visit, it's just book heaven.

 

Great pics Poppy, I'd love to go To Hay on Wye but would probably want to go on my own so I could browse uninterrupted :biggrin:

Thanks Kidsmum :smile: Hay's a lovely place and I would imagine it would be somewhere nice to go on your own because it's nicely busy without being crowded and everyone there is obsessed by books. There's lots of squashy sofas and chairs to sit in and cafe's for refuelling and no-one thinks it at all odd if you stick your head in a book every five minutes. We'll probably go back for the day, go early and then browse all day and have dinner and then come home (it's about a two hour drive so though it'll be tiring it's do-able.) I'll have to save and save though before then and figure out where the extra bookshelves are going to go :biggrin:

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