frankie Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Great review of A Pale View of Hills, Alexistar! Seems like it made us all curious to know more; you and bobblybear had to google for the interpretations of other readers, I googled the atomic bombing. Books are successful if they make us feel, but when they also make us think, it's all the better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Book 13: Cloudstreet by Tim Winton (Australia) 4/10 Synopsis: From separate catastrophes, two rural Australian families flee to the city and find themselves sharing a great, breathing, shuddering joint called Cloudstreet, where they begin their lives again. (From Goodreads) Thoughts: Judging by my recent forays into the Reading Circle thread and comments in the book activity thread, my thoughts will be unpopular. But here they are anyway... Ugh. What a struggle this book was to complete. I considered abandoning throughout the book. I think the saddest thing was I got to 20 pages before the end and still wasn't that bothered about finishing it to find out what happened! I found it hard to engage with the characters, and the premise for the book in telling the meandering lives of these two families just made it feel like it had no plot. The Pickles family (Rose apart) made me want to shake them all. I found few redeeming factors in allowing the children to struggle through refusing to take a control of gambling and alcohol addictions. Obviously these are difficult illnesses, but there was very little remorse shown about children living through poverty and being forced to leave school early through their actions. The most interesting part of the book for me was Rose's struggles against depression and how she brought herself out of them. The rest of the book felt like a load of meandering stories fitted together with no real plot or purpose, and I didn't connect enough with the characters for them to save that. Reading on an electronic device means you don't get the satisfaction of throwing the book down when done, but I did take great pleasure in deleting it from my Kindle app! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Great review of A Pale View of Hills, Alexistar! Seems like it made us all curious to know more; you and bobblybear had to google for the interpretations of other readers, I googled the atomic bombing. Books are successful if they make us feel, but when they also make us think, it's all the better Sorry, Frankie, I missed this. Yes, I totally agree. I like a book to stay with me for a while after I've read it. (In a good way, not because I shudder at how bad it was ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Aww. Oh well. Thank you for giving Cloudstreet a try and for reading it to the end! I feel somewhat responsible because it was my nomination. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it more, and I hope you have much better luck with whatever you choose to read next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 I don't think you should feel bad, Kylie! I joined in with the reading circle to read things I might otherwise not read, and most people really enjoyed it, it seems. I pick plenty of books for myself I don't get on with too I certainly didn't have any issue with the misery element, as you've pointed out elsewhere that's just reflective of what was a very difficult time, and to ignore that would be irresponsible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Thanks, Alexistar. I did read Cloudstreet a couple of years ago, so I have possibly forgotten how depressing it is. It's quite likely I wouldn't enjoy it as much now. I only seem to be able to read light and happy books these days. Have you ever read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck? It's similarly depressing (possibly more so!) but it's also one of my favourite books. I was just wondering how you thought the two compared, if you've read TGoW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 No, it's one of those books I've always wanted to read and not got around to. When I do read it, I'll remember to come back to you! One of my favourite books of 2011 was about a man who had severe depression and committed suicide (biography) so I'm not sure the misery element plays too much of a part - but then as you say, it might be at the time I read it I couldn't stomach that much misery...tricky to say. Hopefully the 1001 list (and app) will focus my mind on reading these classics I have always meant to get around to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Can I please ask the title of that biography? It sounds like something I might be interested in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke by Ronald Reng. I feel I should warn you it's about a German professional goalkeeper in case that changes your mind! Apparently, before he died he had talked with the author about doing a book one day, so they had already started the process. As a result, the biographer has huge access to his wife/diaries in writing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke by Ronald Reng. I feel I should warn you it's about a German professional goalkeeper in case that changes your mind! Apparently, before he died he had talked with the author about doing a book one day, so they had already started the process. As a result, the biographer has huge access to his wife/diaries in writing it. I got that shortly after it was translated into English after reading an article about the story written by Raphael Honigstein. It was one of my favourite books last year and it was great to see the subject matter treated with the care that it was. It also changed my perception a little with regard to modern footballers. Sure, a lot of them are still over paid, self important egomaniacs but equally they are as vulnerable as everyone else to things like mental health issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 Yeah, I agree on both points Brian I think what was so shocking about it was he was at a top level. There are plenty touted as the next big thing who don't make it, and their lives are inevitably quite difficult (MUTV are currently screening a series of documentaries about those who came through the academy at Manchester United, didn't make it and most of them seemed to struggle throughout their 20s at least) but here was a footballer a lot of people recognised who was struggling on such a grand scale. It was treated with great sensitivity too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 Book 14: Room by Emma Donoghue (Ireland) 9/10 Synopsis: Jack is five. He lives in a single, locked room with his Ma. (from book jacket) Thoughts: Wow. Ok, ok, I'll expand The book jacket said very little, and I simply read the book without knowing anything further based on the many recommendations from friends and family. I think it enhanced my enjoyment to know that little, so this review is quite general to avoid spoiling for anyone else. I don't think it's too spoilery to say there is subject matter that is rather harrowing that are described within the pages, so it feels wrong to say I enjoyed the book, but it completely absorbed me. I wanted to pick it up all the time and hated being forced to put it down. It really made me think too, and as we've discussed before, quite a few of us take that as an indication of a bloody good read. Seeing the world through the yes of a five year old is fascinating. But Jack doesn't describe a regular world, he describes a tiny room, which is his entire world. And through his eyes we learn about that world, and slowly the reasons why his entire world is contained in a single room become evident, though the eyes of a five year old who has never breathed fresh air. It sounds like a gimmick, but it just works. It does make the book quirky, but it's handled brilliantly. This one will stay with me for a while I suspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted August 26, 2012 Author Share Posted August 26, 2012 Book 15: Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke (China) 7/10 Synopsis: Here, China's most controversial novelist takes as his subject the contemporary AIDS blood-contamination scandal in Henan province, where villagers were coerced into selling vast quantities of blood and then infected with the AIDS virus as they were injected with plasma to prevent anaemia. Whole villages were wiped out in this way, with no responsibility taken or reparation made. Dream of Ding Village focuses on one village, and the story of one family, torn apart when one son rises to the top of the Party pile as he exploits the situation, while another is infected and dies. Narrated by a dead boy and written in finely crafted, affecting prose, the novel presents a powerful absurdist allegory of the moral vacuum at the heart of Communist-capitalist China as it traces the life and death of an entire community. (from Amazon) Thoughts: I did enjoy this, but thought it promised more than it delivered. The story is fantastic, but the execution was poorer than the plot deserved, in my opinion. Before picking this book up, I had never heard of the blood controversy in China ( a bit before my time) and I think that made it all the more heart rending. It is a devastating story, as villagers die in their droves thanks to the blood drive. They sell their blood to people who don't have any knowledge about AIDS, so needles are shared between the donators. Additionally, you get those who take advantage of villagers willingness to make money from selling their blood to make even more money for themselves through very dubious means. We come into the story (although their are flashbacks and background of what went before) at the point where villagers are already ill and dying. It's a terrible time, and a brilliantly-woven, emotional story. However, while we get wonderful, flowing descriptions of 'blood-red plains', the tale of the villagers feels very much told as if 'we did this, then we did that'. Often we have to infer the emotional descriptions. This is particularly frustrating when you consider who the dead boy narrator is. We get very little about how he feels about his surviving relatives and friends, until the last few pages, and then it's about an isolated event, not the disgusting actions that led up to it. But the plot was fantastic, tragic and really made me think. Glad I read this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 Book 16: City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende (Peru) 8/10 Finished this a while ago but moved house and forgot to review! It's a young adult book set in the Amazon rainforest. An American teenager is sent on a journey with his (crazy) grandmother while his Mum has chemotherapy. The grandmother really is crazy - he's about 14, flies to New York from a small town. She doesn't pick him up from the airport and ignores his calls to see if he can get to her house alone! He's robbed of everything so ends up walking til midnight! It's a fantasy, and a very enjoyable one. Mythical beasts, a sinister plot to kill Indians so that settlers can exploit the land, hunt for treasure - this one has it all. I don't often read young adult, but I really enjoyed this foray into the genre. Discovering something about the Indian cultures in the Amazon was a real plus too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 Book 17: This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski (Ukraine) 9.5/10 Synopsis: Tadeusz Borowski’s concentration camp stories were based on his own experiences surviving Auschwitz and Dachau. In spare, brutal prose he describes a world where where the will to survive overrides compassion and prisoners eat, work and sleep a few yards from where others are murdered; where the difference between human beings is reduced to a second bowl of soup, an extra blanket or the luxury of a pair of shoes with thick soles; and where the line between normality and abnormality vanishes. Published in Poland after the Second World War, these stories constitute a masterwork of world literature. Thoughts: Enjoying this book is the wrong word. But when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. It shocked me, it horrified me, it upset me. It was really powerful. I've read war literature in the past, but nothing really focusing on the concentration camp experience. The fact that this is based on the author's experiences really hammers the horrors home. The first short story leads us in with a transportation of new detainees, who are robbed and then led to the gas chambers. The treatment was brutal and upsetting. But the narrator is shocked and horrified with the reader. as the book went on, what was more upsetting was the acceptance of such atrocities, the crimes humans will do to others in the name of survival, or just an extra piece of bread. Heart rending stuff, that really affected me. (Is also on the 1001 list ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Book 17: This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski (Ukraine) 9.5/10 Great review. I've added this to my World Challenge Wish List - thanks Alex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Book 18: The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo (Norway) 8/10 Synopsis: 1944: Daniel, a soldier, legendary among the Norwegians fighting the advance of Bolshevism on the Russian front, is killed. Two years later, a wounded soldier wakes up in a Vienna hospital. He becomes involved with a young nurse, the consequences of which will ripple forward to the turn of the next century. 1999: Harry Hole, alone again after having caused an embarrassment in the line of duty, has been promoted to inspector and is lumbered with surveillance duties. He is assigned the task of monitoring neo-Nazi activities; fairly mundane until a report of a rare and unusual gun being fired sparks his interest. Ellen Gjelten, his partner, makes a startling discovery. Then a former soldier is found with his throat cut. In a quest that takes him to South Africa and Vienna, Harry finds himself perpetually one step behind the killer. He will be both winner and loser by the novel’s nail-biting conclusion. The Redbreast won the Glass Key prize for the best Nordic crime novel when it was first published, and was subsequently voted Norway’s best crime novel. The Devil’s Star, Nesbø’s first novel featuring Harry Hole to be translated into English, marked Nesbø as a writer to watch in the ever more fashionable world of Nordic crime. (From Goodreads) Thoughts: My Dad has been urging me to read this series for a while, and I've had this sat on my iPad since Apple distributed it as a free gift last Christmas. I'm sorry I waited so long to pick it up. The characters were well-written and believable, the tale twisting and intricate. This is the third in the series, but the first that was translated into English (although the first in the series has now been translated as well). I dnt feel I missed out reading this one as my taster for the series, although I would like to go back and read the previous two at some stage. The character of Harry Hole hooked me in before the plot even got going, and I immediately borrowed the rest of the series published to date to see what cases he guides us through next. Great thriller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Book 19: By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolano (Chile) 3/10 Synopsis: A deathbed confession revolving around Opus Dei and Pinochet, By Night in Chile pours out the self-justifying dark memories of the Jesuit priest Father Urrutia. (From Goodreads) Thoughts: I hated this book from beginning to end. I forced myself to read 130 pages and felt deeply unsatisfied that I'd wasted my time. Chile has a fascinating, complex and tragic history during the time Father Urrutia is alive. I wanted to share in that history and culture, not be taken around Europe for 30 pages to learn about pigeons (the point of this episode was to illustrate the dissatisfaction of both the lead character and the diaspora in continental Europe I'm sure, but to me it felt forced and dull). The writing style felt at times like a 10-year-old's comprehension. 'Then we did this and then we did that and then this poet wrote that'. Total dirge. Given this book has an average rating of 3.88 out of 5 on Goodreads my opinion is clearly in the minority, but I am extremely vexed that Bolano appears on the 1001 list. I shall certainly be leaving him until last on the good chance I am in my coffin before I finish the list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Fantastic review of By Night in Chile, Alex! I agree totally - I can't actually remember what it was about now, it was so dull! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted November 18, 2012 Author Share Posted November 18, 2012 Lol Janet, I would have been hard pressed to tell you what it was about 10 minutes after finishing!! I find it such a wrench abandoning a book once started, but I finished that and could think of hardly anything to redeem it, so in many ways I wish I hadn't continued. Maybe I'll read another book from a Chilean author at some point and replace it. Book 20: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Ethiopia) 9/10 Synopsis: My brother, Shiva, and I came into the world in the late afternoon of the twentieth of September in the year of grace 1954. We took our first breaths in the thick air of Addis Ababa, capital city of Ethiopia. Bound by birth, we were driven apart by bitter betrayal. No surgeon can heal the would that divides two brothers. Where silk and steel fail, story must succeed. To begin at the beginning... Thoughts: After the total disaster that was Chile, I picked up this with some trepidation. But it was a wonderful return to the challenge. It's a 550 page epic with small print, but it is worth every page. The twins are born, with an Indian nun mother and British surgeon father, in Ethiopia, which is set to see turmoil, horror and revolution during their lifetime. The book spans 50 years and weaves it's way through the family's personal tragedies, as well as those of the country. The writing style is gorgeous, the narrative entertaining and harrowing. It is narrated by Marion, but his life is so entwined in the lives of his twin brother Shiva and the other main character, girl next door Genet, no matter how far around the world he is from them. His life is also influenced significantly by the events occurring in Ethiopia at the time - and so the history and culture is explored by the author without feeling in any way like you're reading from a history textbook. These are ordinary people, but they cannot escape the decisions made by their leaders and fighters. I deducted a Mark because it took me a little while to get into, but once I did it was a fabulous read. Really recommend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 This sounds like my kind of book - I shall have to see if it's available on Kindle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted November 18, 2012 Author Share Posted November 18, 2012 It's not available on UK Amazon - not sure about the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Never mind - I am sure there will be other books from, this country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I've had Cutting for Stone on my Wish List for some time now, but I'm put off by the small type. I have now clicked on the "I'd like to read this book on Kindle" button on Amazon - I don't suppose it'll help! Maybe I could start a campaign and get people to go and click on it for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I click that button all the time, and it has never as far as I know made a difference ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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