frankie Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 What an excellent review of The Alchemist! I definitely agree with you and Kylie on everything you said about the book. And I think the fact that it's so hyped and everyone seems to think it's some sort of wonderful find-the-true-meaning-of-life book made me even madder. What utter crock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 Thanks again Frankie; it is a very over-rated book. Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor Fascinating slice of Southern Gothic, savage and comic in turns. It is the story of Hazel Motes, a 22 year old war veteran, who had a conservative upbringing and returns from the war deeply disillusioned. He goes to a small Southern town that he does not know and starts as an itinerant preacher. The twist is that he starts the Church of Christ without Christ because he does not believe and there is no redemption. The novel raises a colourful cast of characters; Asa Hawks, a pretending to be blind charlatan preacher with his "daughter" Sunday, Enoch Emery, a disturbed young man who latches onto Hazel Motes; Mrs Flood,a rather odd landlady and so on. The story contains casual violence, routinely vicious racism of the type common in the south at that time, implied sex with a minor and much general unpleasantness and unhappiness. All the makings of a great novel you might think! It has been heavily criticised for being anti-religious. However I think the deeper meaning is more traditional. Hazel Motes, like many zealots, meets an unpleasant (redemptive? probably not, more likely judgement)end. O'Connor was a practising Catholic. What is the result of Hazel Motes rejecting Jesus; misery, violence, unhappiness, blindness by his own hand, seduction by a 12 year old and a nasty end. This particular Gothic parable teaches that straying from religion into nihilism has rather nasty consequences. 5 and a half out of 10 Starting Fruits of the Earth by Andre Gide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 American Pastoral by Philip Roth I struggled to rate this. Not Roth at his best. It is narrated by one of Roth's periodic protagonists, Zuckerman and is about one of his schoolfriends Seymour (Swede) Levov. Swede embodies the American dream; sports star, marine, businessman who marries Miss New Jersey and has what seems to be a perfect life. This comes to a crashing halt during the protests when his teenage daughter commits an act of terrorism and life begins to fall apart. There is a great deal of rage in this book, but exactly what it is directed against is not clear. The book sort of fizzles out and the actual ending takes place earlier in the book. I just felt there was a lack of direction in it all; the main point, I think, being that life makes no sense. Also, for me, the female characters were not so well drawn; Swede's daughter, Merry, in particular seems to be far too two-dimensional. That felt like an opportunity missed. There are a few minor characters that are interesting; Jerry Levov is under utilised and the school reunion is suitably cringemaking. Vonnegut got that one right (true terror is waking up and finding your high school class are running the country). On the whole glad I read it; won't re read it. 7 out of 10 Starting The Ghost of Memory by Wilson Harris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arukiyomi Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I think you've been very generous here. I hated this book. It almost made me never want to read Roth again, which would have been a shame. My review is at http://johnandsheena.co.uk/books/?p=215 FWIW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted May 27, 2012 Author Share Posted May 27, 2012 I think you may be right Arukiyomi, on reflection. Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow This is the first Bellow I have read and I enjoyed the experience. It concerns Charlie Citrine, a chap in his 50s, a writer and intellectual who has an ongoing divorce, an unpredictable girlfriend, an acquaintance in the mob who decides he quite likes Charlie, various bloodsucking lawyers, friends who want money for hare-brained schemes and his relationship with his old mentor (now dead), the poet Von Humboldt Fleischer. It is an erudite book with lots of ideas in play and Bellow has great fun with all sorts of sacred cows. There are lots of comedic moments and some pure slapstick (the fate of Chalie's mercedes). Humboldt's gift from beyond the grave presents an interesting dilemma for Charlie the intellectual, as his girlfriend runs off with an undertaker (steady job, guarenteed income, no shortage of customers). At times this was not an easy read and Bellow plays with some off the wall ideas as well (Steiner et al). Profound and funny; and I really loved Cantabile the gangster and Charlie's astute comments, despite his inertia in the face of Cantabile's ravings. charlie's musings will stay with me for some time. 9 out of 10 Starting The Intended by David Dabydeen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arukiyomi Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 have you read Seize the Day by Bellow or Herzog? They're the only ones I've read and I'd be interested to know how Humboldt's Gift compares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 I haven't read any more Bellow, but both of the above are on my to be read list. Fruits of the Earth by Andre Gide An odd little book, two books actually. The first written by Gide in his 20s (1890s) and the second written later in life in the 1930s. The book is a set of aphorisms, brief descriptive passages, reflections, meditations, poetry and exhortation. There is a touch of The Prophet and Jonathon Livingston Seagull; but it is an argument for a simple hedonistic lifestyle. The first part is certainly influenced by Nietzsche, but it argues for a simple rustic/non-urban hedonism. An argument for simple pleasures. The poetry reminded me a little of Lawrence. The narrator's simple pleasures include nature and the countryside, the sea, deserts, oases, cafes and the carnal pleasures of life. Some of Gide's pleasures left me feeling a little uncomfortable, he clearly talks about being in the arms of young boys. Gide had acknowledged his homosexuality in North Africa in the early 1890s, before he met Wilde in Paris in 1895. The age range/maturity of the young boys in question isn't clearly defined, but may well have been early teens or even younger. This particular nobel prize winner would, these days, be on the sex offenders register for similar behaviour. So how do we judge Gide's exhortations? Do we say, as some do with language, that it was of its time and we can't judge by modern standards. Today Gide may have obeyed the law. I am not sure I have the answer, but I am trying rather clumsily to express my discomfort and unease. Fruits of the Earth has three characters; an unnamed narrator, the narrator's teacher Menalcas and Nathaniel, a young friend of the narrator. Menalcas is similar to Menalque for Gide's The Immoralist and some have argued he may represent Wilde. However the original Menalcas dates back to Virgil and was a shepherd. The pastoral nature of the book make this a more likely link. Nathaniel comes from the hebrew and means God has given. Gide argues that it is excess, adventure and sensuality that should be sought; move away from family (Gide had escaped his own oppressive upbringing) and rules and regulations. God is pretty much equated with one's own interior life and happiness; leastways the almighty is on the sidelines cheering "Go for it lads, enjoy yourselves, it is your destiny and it's the meaning of life." It may feel like a self-centred philosophy, but then we all are to some extent self-centred. There are some interesting reflections, good poetry and some languid descriptions of nature that stand out and some parts that grate and make me feel uncomfortable. But there is a call from the book which says; "Go on, do something out of the ordinary/exciting/outrageous/for yourself", which is rather attractive to an old stick in the mud like me. 7 out of 10 Starting Homo Faber by Max Frisch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share Posted June 7, 2012 The Intended by David Dabydeen A touching and rather poignant novel about rites of paasage in the asian community in mid 80s London (identifiable from the video shop with VHS and Betamax!). It is semi-autobiographical and the firat part of the book is set in the rural Guyana of Dabydeen's childhood. The chilhood descriptions are vivd and startling and often humourous. Throughout there are sad and hilarious descriptions of rites of passage issues; discomfort with bodies, what the hell do you do with the opposite sex (and why), clothes, casual racismin England, moving to manhood by getting a job, the author's struggle to get into Oxford. Conrad's Heart of Darkness is one of the backdrops, the title being taken from Kurtz's Intended; the awfulness of slavery and colonialism are not far away. The whole book is haunted by the character of Joseph; naot a dominant character, but such a powerful creation (not sure if it is based on a real person). Joseph has been in jail, he becomes fascinated with the author and his books and learning; insisting on hearing the stories as he cannot read himself and then immediately grasping the deeper meaning for himself. joseph is sublimely intelligent and innocent and his fate truly awful. There is a twisting together of hope and terrible loss and Kurtz's last words "the horror, the horror" are discernible in Joseph. The author moves on to Oxford and leaves his teenage years in London behind him; he is reflecting later in life. The novel jumps around a little, but in a connected sort of way when you remember the Conradian backdrop. Loved it. 8 and a half out of 10 Starting Hallucinating Foucault by Patricia Duncker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted June 10, 2012 Author Share Posted June 10, 2012 The ghost of memory by Wilson Harris This is the last novel Wilson Harris has said he will ever write. It is a short and as always with Harris, very dense novel; packed with ideas, possibilites and allusions. It is a reaction/reflection on the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian who was mistakenly shot by police not long after the 7/7 bombing. The man who is shot falls through time and space into a picture in an art gallery in a city that is not named.The story is the characters record of sporadic and partial conversations with other characters on the canvases and visitors to the gallery. It is a meditation on the states of consciouness between dream and death. There ia a colourful cast of characters. Christopher Columbus is a visitor to the gallery and the nature of art is debated with him. On the canvases there are converstaions and observations with and about characters from Greek mythology; Tiresias, Jason and Medea, Prometheus. There are Arawak indians, an Olmec head and lots of South American references. This is a book stuffed full of ideas, magic realism, incendiary throw away lines and questions. Difficult to read but fascinating; typical of Harris and encapsulates a lot of his thought. 7 and a half out of 10 starting Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted June 10, 2012 Author Share Posted June 10, 2012 India in the caribbean edited by David Dabydeen Interesting and rather academic tome on the history of Asian communties in the Caribbean. There are essays on indentureship, trade unionism, the role of women, cricket and "Caribbean Man". The main body of work deals with Trinidad and Guyana, but there are essays on Surinam and jamaica as well. There is also a section of poetry which fits slightly unesaily with the rest of the book. Published in the mid 80s and dealing with the 70s and before the work does at time feel out of date, but nevertheless it was revealing and at times provocative. 6 out of 10 Starting The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 Hallucinating Foucault by Patricia Dunckner This book took me by surprise; I really wasn't expecting much of it, how wrong I was! It is a love story, well more than one love story actually. It is also based on, wound around the philosophy of Foucault, which is not always an easy read, but there is a simplicity and directness here and complex ideas are expressed beautifully simply. There are touches of Nietzsche, Freud and I think Sartre. In fact reading it took be back to when I was 19 and read Nausea; there was a similar feel; especially in the dream sequence at the end. The unnamed narrator is studying the work of Paul Michel who Dunckner neatly slots in the late 60s and 70s effectively post Sartre and who is gay. The narrator falls in love with another student he meets in the library and she pushes him in his study of Michel. This lov e story is a pale reflection of what comes later. He discovers that Michel is now incarcerated in an institution and is mentally unwell. Briefly, the narrator goes to France and finds Michel. The Paul Michel character is a strong one who initially appears predatory, but as time goes on the reader understands the particular "madness" and how he has become as he is. There is also proof here that sex scenes don't have to be crude, steamy or be contenders for the bad sex award. The description is electric, but understated and rests on the unsaid. There are some thought provoking reflections; the thoughts on loneliness for me were pure existentialism; but there is much there that is not. There is also a simple statement of true love that lasts over the years and survives distance; "If you love someone--you know where they are and what has happened to them. And you put yourself at risk to save them if you can. If you get into trouble, I promise that I'll come to save you." The promise is kept; eventually and there is a surprising and very moving twist at the end. Don't read the end first it will ruin the whole book! On a lighter note; Harry Potter fans; if you want to know what happened to the owl ..... Intelligent, poetic, beautiful, love story. 9 and a half out of 10 Starting Sheepshagger by Niall Griffiths (ok, I know it's a bit of a contrast, but that's the fun of reading!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Homo Faber by Max Frisch On the surface a straightforward story, simple and resembling a parable; but like a parable capable of many interpretations and readable on more than one level. Walter faber is a rational man who believes in technology, a creature of habit. A series of events disrupt his settled life. A plane crash, a chance meeting with the brother of an old friend, a visit to the friend in central america, whose body they discover at his home. Then there ia a boat journey across the Atlantic. Faber, a middle aged man, meets a 20 year old woman and they hit it off and continue to travel together and an affair develops. It transpires that the girl is his daughter, he didn't know he had (he thought the mother had an abortion). This isn't like the incest Laurie Lee describes in rural England; only a problem when the roads were bad, but is purely coincidental and enough to test any pure rationalist. Then tragedy strikes in the form of a snake; a serpent strikes at the heart of the tale. This is man vs machine; but as the narrator, Mr Faber gives the plot away as you go along, it's a bit like watching a car crash in slow motion! One thing I did notice; Faber just never stayed still, always on the move. Faber realises he cannot control his environment as life continues to conspire against him. He is dislocated with no family or home. he does become close to someone who might be family but ... Faber has avoided responsibility and fate makes him pay. A striking novel with an unsympathetic protagonist (perhaps a debateable point) but a gripping and thought provoking story 8 out of 10 Starting Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 (edited) Beatrice and Virgil by Jann Martel; beware there are spoilers ahead! I disliked Life of Pi, but I thought, well let's give this one a try; it can't be worse. To be fair, it probably wasn't, but it was no better. I think most available literary devices were used and you can have great fun spotting the various references to other works; many are blindingly obvious, others less so. In brief, the two main protagonists are both called Henry; one is an author with writer's block and the other an aging taxidermist, usually refered to as the taxidermist. The taxidermist sends Henry part of a play he is writing and the two spend time together going through the taxidermist's writing and his craft. Everyone else seems to hate the taxidermist, even Henry's wife (Henry is clearly not a good judge of character) and it eventually transpires the taxidermist is a Nazi war criminal. This is an attempt at looking at the holocaust using animals as characters. Beatrice and Virgil of the title are a Donkey and a Howler Monkey (both stuffed). Perhaps it should add up to something profound, but it's all such a dislocated jumble. There is a short story by Flaubert heavily featured about Julian the Hospitaller, which describes the mass slaughter of animals. The play which is cenral to the book involving Beatrice and Virgil (I'm ignoring Dante) is basically Waiting for Godot. There is a spot of Proust in there. However the one image I kept getting, especially towards the end was from the film Marathon Man where a creepy Lawrence Olivier is asking Dustin Hoffman "Is it safe?" whilst flourishing a dental drill. Most of the violence is principally towards animals and seemed pointless; the torture scene with the donkey ( I almost felt I was moving genres at that point into a whole new perverted world) was rather too well thought out and imaginative. What really irritated me were the cards at the end with the "profound" questions on them. Examples being; your family is starving, your young son says he knows where he can get potatoes. To do this will place him in grave danger; do you let him go? Alternatively, your whole family is about to be taken into the gas chamber and your young daughter asks what is happening; do you tell her? And so it goes on. There is even a blank one at the end for you to make your own up. I was so tempted! This sort of device was, I recall, greatly used in counselling courses and motivastional training. I remember participating in a few of these in the 80s when we would be sat in groups and given one of these questions to discuss. My mate and I would look at each other with a glance that said; "Time for the pub". This has turned from review to rant and I haven't even mentioned the horrific fate of Henry the author's pets! 3 out of 10 Starting Hunger by Knut Hamsun Edited June 24, 2012 by Books do furnish a room Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 Sheepshagger by Niall Griffiths This novel is a real kick in the stomach; bleak, visceral, intense, at once compelling and repulsive. A very uncomfortable book. The dialect is difficult to follow and the language very strong throughout. The violence is intermittent, very graphic and stomach churning. Trainspotting without the humour, although there are some funny and tragi-comic moments. It is set in Wales and is the story of Ianto, a young man who has been brought up by his grandmother, but who has lost his birthright; an old cottage, repossessed and sold to the middle class English for a weekend cottage (The English don't come out of this too well! The title comes from an insulting English term for the Welsh). Ianto is a loner who divides his time between the Northern Welsh hills and countryside, squats and his "friends". The story is told from a variety of perspectives; Ianto's friends looking back, Ianto as a child in flashback and long passages describing a series of events. It is set in the 1990s and depicts an underclass created by Thatcherism. A lost generation steeped in crime, petty violence, drink, drugs, benefits, casual sex and hopelessness. Ianto's friends are just as lost as he is. There is one pretty accurate description of an illegal rave; E and weed are the main drugs of choice, washed down by whisky. The explanations given for Ianto's actions are a little simplistic, but the point about the sheer meaninglessness of the lives of the main protagonists is well made. the victims are in the wrong place at the wrong time. The descriptions of the Welsh landscape and wildlife, and especially the birds of prey are magnificent. The birds of prey are symbolic in their viciousness and fragility. The intense natural descriptions linked to the human despair reminded me of Blake and in particular Jerusalem. Not the hymn murdered yearly by the WI and last night of the proms, but the full poem in all its imaginative intensity; "A building of eternal death whose proportions are eternal despair" and "But they cut asunder his inner garments: searching with their cruel fingers for his heart". Ianto's internal constructions are horrifying and given the complete absence of any sort of support for him and his kind, his demise is inevitable and as predictable as the actions of his friends. But still the jump the reader is asked to make at the end, is, for me, just a little too simple. Nevertheless, this is a startling, shocking novel, but is worth reading; with a glass of something strong in your hand. 8 out of 10 Starting Thye Bridge over the Drina by Ivo Andric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope Last of the Palliser novels, not the strongest by far, but a good read. The female characters in this book are fairly predictable, but Trollope almost makes up for it with his male characters. On the first page of the novel Trollope kills off the strongest female character in the series, Lady Glencora Palliser, the Duchess of Omnium. This gives him scope to develop the character of the Duke from a mere politician to a family man who has to relate to his children who are now grown and stepping out into the world. Here Trollope creates two of the most stupid and vacuous sons of aristocrats in literature in the Duke's heir Lord Silverbridge and his brother Gerald. They would grace any P G Wodehouse novel with ease. We follow them and their too good to be true sister Mary through the 19th century marraige market (for Silverbridge and Mary) and through the ways the manage to distress and let down their long suffering father. Trollope draws useless aristocrats rather well and we come across several in this book, usually hunting or shooting; activities which the Duke seemed completely unable to grasp; unlike his sons. A counter point is set up with Mary's suitor Frank Tregear who is poor, but "worthy". Trollope has great fun with them all and ties up all his loose ends; apart from poor Mabel Grex who sets her sights on silverbridge and Frank Tregear and manages to lose them both; ending up embittered. Very readable, but missing some spark; the Duchess killed off on page 1, I suspect. 7 and a half out of 10 Starting The Leopard by Guiseppe de Lampedusa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot This is an important book about an important subject. Not being of a particularly scientific bent I only had a limited understanding of HeLa and the ethical implications. Rebecca Skloot provides an understandable explanation of the the history of HeLa and the person behind the science. The book looks at the struggles of the Lacks family as well as the history of the cells. At times the narrative jumps around a bit and the author's presence in the story can be something of an irritant. However she has done a great service in telling the story of Henrietta Lacks and opening up the ethical issues in an understandable way. The not so casual racism of the medical profession in the 1950s is clearly illustrated as is the experience of the Lacks family in their own struggles with the health services. Parts of the American health system still look too close to Eugenics for my liking and this book highlights areas for ongoing debate. 8 out of 10 Starting On Human Finery by Quentin Bell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 The Poisonwood Bible by barbara Kingsolver Rating this was difficult because instinctively I wanted to score it highly because it so irritated a certain conservative christian, anti communist lobby who so irritate me. However I couldn't, because the characters were just so unbelieveable that I think they would have been dead within a month. My background means I have come across this sort of missionary who wanders off to another culture because the Lord has called them to spread the word with no regard to local custom or belief. But the Price family were a spectacularly disasterous example, even by those standards. And to the old Belgian Congo as well. I had real prtoblems suspending belief. I think the book is so well known that I don't need to outline the story. Having said all of that the book is well written, the characters do have a spark; the real star is Africa and the backdrop the historical events surrounding the departure of the Belgians, the election of Lumumba and his CIA inspired murder. I felt the book lost its way when things started to go badly wrong. Electing to use the voices of the four daughters and occasionally the mother was an interesting ploy, but I really wanted to hear the interior dialogue of Nathan Price, who was by far the most interesting character because he was by far the most flawed. An easy enough read, but just too unbelieveable; the juxtaposition of the Price family and their new setting was just too sharp and lacking in nuance. The author was also way too preachy, even though I agreed with her. 6 out of 10 Starting The Mystic Masseur by V S Naipaul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arukiyomi Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 good review... However, I know people like Nathan Price so I believed the character. have you read Things Fall Apart by Achebe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 Sadly, I have also met people like Nathyan Price! Things Fall Apart is on my tbr list. Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah A curious and surprising novel, which I think can be easily misunderstood, if the reviews are anyhing to go by. It concerns Yusef, a boy who is taken by his "uncle" from his parents to pay a debt. He works in his uncle's shop with Khalil an older boy in a similar situation. As Yusef grows it is clear that he is very attractive to women and men. Uncle Aziz takes him on one of his trading expeditions through what is now Tanzania and we encounter jungle, strange and wonderful people; Yusef stays with a trading partner of Aziz for a time, where his growing attractiveness continues to be a problem. He then goes on a journey with Aziz and his trading caravan and has further adventures. They return to the uncle's home after some time and Yusef's beauty continues to be a problem. There is a, on the surface, puzzling end. Yusef is a narrator who is a little apart and things happen to him in an oddly detached way. The Europeans are very much a background threat until the end; an ominous absence. There was a richness and depth to the story and there are parallels to another story. Even with my limited knowledge of the Koran, there were obvious similarities with the story of The Prophet. However this is all about corruption; the worm in the bud, the rotting fruit. Yusef seems so innocent and acted upon, but there is something at his core that he sees that no one around him does. The end is completely baffling if you do not see it. Enjoyable read which asked more questions than I initially thought it would. 8 out of 10 Starting Washington Square by Henry James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 Hunger by Knut Hamsun This is a classic, that I had been looking forward to reading. I thoroughly enjoyed Victoria, one of Hamsun's other novels. Alleged to be the first 20th century novel, employing stream of consciousness; compared to Dostoevsky (the protagonist has been compared to Raskolnikov). It is an account of a starving writer/journalist set in Kristiana (Oslo) at the end of the 19th century. It is pretty much a book of one idea; the aspiring writer who suffers for his art to the point of almost starving to death. This affects his mental health and his relationships with those around him. Hunger has been raved about and the reviews on here indicate its popularity and influence. However this did absolutely nothing for me and the main character was just too unlikeable and self-absorbed and spent most of the novel whinging about his situation. He wasn't really an unreliable narrator; an irritating one, certainly. The tortured soul suffering for his calling doesn't impress me in this case as most of the suffering was self inflicted. Humour, madness and absurdity usually do for me and I can think of many novels where they have; but not this one. I don't usually mind novels without a plot, but there usually needs to be something to replace it. Hunger, when it is self inflicted, is not particularly edifying or profound. 4 and a half out of 10 Starting American Gods by Neil Gaiman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 The Leopard by Guiseppe de Lampedusa A rich and luscious novel about a decaying aristocratic family in nineteenth century Sicily. The main protagonists are the Salina family and especially Don Fabrizio (the Leopard of the title) the head of the family. Most of the novel takes place in the early 1860s and there is great descriptive detail throughout capturing the heat and dust of the Sicilian countryside. Lampedusa's descriptions of scents and smells and a decaying grand house are sublime. Religion and the ritual of the Catholic church runs throughout the book as a theme and backdrop, dominating some characters. The events leading up to the unification of Italy and the exploits of Garibaldi are also part of the background and illustrate how the aristocracy adapted to the new order.Don Fabrizio dominates the book and his thoughts and feelings about the advent of modernity and the idionsyncracies of his rather repressed family and subtly and cleverly expressed. The other strand of the plot is the courtship and eventual marraige of Tancredi (Don Fabrizio's nephew) and the beautiful Angelica. There is a delicious passage where the courting couple are exploring the palace of Don Fabrizio at Donnafugata. There are hundreds of empty and abandoned rooms, not used for years. they stumble into the playroom of a libertine (probably eighteenth century). The walls are covered in mirrors, some broken, strategically placed beds and several whips (50 shades of Sicilian Grey no doubt). Nearby they find another room; smaller and much more sparse. There is a cross on the wall and I think a prie-dieux for prayer. On the wall is another whip; for self flagellation during prayer; only this time there are small lead balls fixed into the ends of the leather thongs; the church is so much more imaginative when it comes to pain and bondage (50 shades darker?) The last two chapters change the tone. We move to the 1880s and the death bed of Don Fabrizio. As death bed scenes go this one isn't bad; but the cliches of a generally peaceful death with family around are still there; as is the mandatory priest to pronounce the last rites. The sand running out description is interesting because it is taken to a different level and the fading of the noise in the room is cleverly described. The aloneness in a crowd feeling of the dying man is a little reminiscent of Beckett in Malone Dies. It is certainly different to Dickens' death bed scenes (I think it was Wilde who said that anyone who could read the death bed scene of Little Nell (Old Curiosity Shop) without laughing has to have a heart of stone). Having been at a number of death beds as a result of two of my former occupations; there is a little accuracy here. For a better description of death beds see Keizer's excellent Dancing with Mister D. However in this novel it works well. The last chapter takes us into the early twentieth century and Don Fabrizio's three unmarried daughters are still living in increasingly decaying circumstances; the gradual destruction of a way of life is almost complete. Worth a read; it captures a long gone way of life. 8 out of 10 Starting Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 (edited) The Mystic Masseur by V S Naipaul Naipaul's first novel; a comic satire set in the Indian community on Trinidad in the 1930s and 1940s. Ganesh Ramsumair stumbles through life and marraige and into the masseur of the titile, quite by accident. His political career is also entirely accidental.There is a splendid cast of colourful characters and thr comice and slaprtick element is high. There is also an undernote of satire. The characters have been described as Dickensian, however I felt that there was just a touch of P G Wodehouse about the book; because it dealt with quite a small enclosed group within a wider society, which generally did not intrude into the story. The story ends in Oxford, as the author himself ended up in Britain and I wondered if there was just a shade of the authors own journey from his homeland here. The satire is a little cruel at times and there is an element of cynicism underlying the whole story. The book was certainly amusing, but I was not quite sure whether Naipaul actually liked his characters or meant us to like them; I probably need to read more of his work to make a judgement. However, it is well written and was a quick and easy read. 7 out of 10 Starting Shattered by Dean Koontz Edited July 17, 2012 by Books do furnish a room Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 Swann's Way by Proust Brilliant; and this is only the beginning! Proust writes so beautifully and hypnotically and the descriptive passages are superb. There is an excellent evocation of a late nineteenth century French childhood and the obsessions of childhood. Combray and its surrounds come to life and I felt that I was almost there. The description of the love affair between Swann and Odette again explores the nature of obsession and of loving someone hopelessly who does not really love you back in the same way; I suspect many of us have been there. The narrator's description of his own first love, Gilberte is similarly inspired. Proust describes hopeless misery very well! There is also the famous passage about involuntary memory, when the narrator tastes the madeleine cake dipped in tea and childhood memories come flooding back. That set me thinking about what triggers these memories for me; 1) The cartoons of Oliver Postgate (an underrated genius in my opinion) 2) The taste of stale ribena (work that one out!) 3) Bowie on Top of the Pops singing Starman with Mick Ronson. 4) The opening of Anarchy in the UK (not God Save the Queen for me) 5) Far from the Madding Crowd 6) The Wilfred Owen poem Dulce In Decorum Est 7) Seeing a debate on TV between Tony Benn and Enoch Powell; a political awakening We all have them and Proust's genius is that he simply explains and describes the mechanism. This is getting self-indulgent, but part of Proust's magic is that he draws you inside yourself; and the writing is just brilliant. 10 out of 10 Starting the second volume; Within a Budding Grove Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Great review. I hope to tackle Proust one day. Did you find it a difficult read? I mean, does it require a lot of concentration? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books do furnish a room Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 Thank you Kylie! it wasn't difficult, but rather slow and did require a certain level of concentration; but it was worthwhile. On Human Finery by Quentin Bell Interesting and idiosyncratic history of fashion from the nephew of Virginia Woolf. It ranges over the last 400 years or so and up to the 1970s. Bell wrote this in the late 1940s and updated it in the early 1970s. Somr of the language is a little dated, but other parts feel very modern. Bell uses the economic arguments of Veblen to underpin his arguments, and especially, he transfers Veblen’s argument about the “conspicuous consumption” of the leisure class to fashion. He looks at how wealth is displayed on the person in terms of conspicuous consumption, conspicuous leisure, conspicuous waste and conspicuous outrage. The latter idea is an addition of Bell to Veblen’s theories and relates to one of the functions Bell feels that fashion performs. Bell also looks at the role of fashion and clothing in revolution and times of war and at uniforms of various types. At times this can be heavy going if you know little about theories of fashion (like me!), but Bell has fun with a few sacred cows and marshals his facts well. There are some interesting oddities. He takes a couple of paragraphs to discuss the rising and falling hemlines of the skirts of nuns (I kid you not). There is also a discussion about the picture purporting to show fairies at the bottom of a garden, taken by two young girls. This was the picture that took in luminaries like Conan Doyle and wasn’t shown to be a fake until the early 90s I believe when one of the girls involved confessed in great old age. Bell in the 1940s showed the picture to a historian of fashions in hair styles who dated the hair styles of the fairies to between 1918 and 1922 (the picture was taken in the 1920s). There are discussions about the future of fashion and the rise of mass markets. An interesting book by a thoughtful and amusing writer which has prompted me to look out for his biography of his aunt Virginia Woolf. 7 out of ten Starting Edith Sitwell by Richard Greene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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