Alexi's Reading 2013

[Alexi]

#22 Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA by Richard English

 

Synopsis: The IRA has been a much richer, more complexly layered, and more protean organization than is frequently recognized. It is also more open to balanced examination now--at the end of its long war in the north of Ireland--than it was even a few years ago.

 

Richard English's brilliant book offers a detailed history of the IRA, providing invaluable historical depth to our understanding of the modern-day Provisionals, the more militant wing formed in 1969 dedicated to the removal of the British Government from Northern Ireland and the reunification of Ireland. English examines the dramatic events of the Easter Rising in 1916 and the bitter guerrilla war of 1919-21, the partitioning of Ireland in the 1920s, and the Irish Civil War of 1922-23.

 

Here, too, are the IRA campaigns in Northern Ireland and Britain from the 1930s through the 1960s. He shows how the Provisionals were born out of the turbulence generated by the 1960s civil rights movement, and examines the escalating violence that introduced British troops to the streets of Northern Ireland. He also examines the split in the IRA that produced the Provisionals, the introduction of internment in 1971, and the tragedy of Bloody Sunday in 1972.

 

He then discusses the struggle over political status, culminating in the Hunger Strikes of the early 1980s and describes the Provisionals' emergence as a more committed political force throughout that decade, a politicization that made possible the peace process that has developed over the last decade. English offers a dazzling synthesis of the motives, actions and consequences of the IRA. Neither romanticizing the IRA nor condemning them outright, this is a balanced, definitive treatment of one of the world's leading revolutionary movements.

 

Thoughts: I went into this with embarrassingly little knowledge of the situation in Ireland, or the troubles. I was recommended this as a text which deals thoroughly with the background which led up to the bits that had first intrigued me - the bombing of the north west of England in the 1990s.

 

One of the reviews on goodreads tells me it's not a book for beginners, but I thought it was absolutely excellent. It packs in a mountain of facts and it isn't one to be skimmed, but it's richer for that.

 

Starting with the 1916 Easter Rising, this book takes us right through to 2002 and is (as far as this novice could see) a balanced, fair account. The author goes to great pains to explain the awful discrimination Catholics faced in Northern Ireland and the role of the police and army, while emphasising the dreadful violence which the IRA carried out and the suffering they consequently caused.

 

You definitely need to have a big interest in the subject (although mine lies in politics in general), but if so this book is definitely worth a read.

 

4.5/5

[Alexi]

Officially given up with Money by Martin Amis. I'd worked my way through to page 100 but it was becoming a chore to pick up.

 

I've started Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson instead.

[Alexi]

#23 Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson

 

Synopsis: Memories define us.

 

 

So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?

 

Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten overnight.

 

And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story.

 

Welcome to Christine's life. (From Amazon)

 

Thoughts: Wow. Loved this one. It feels really cheesy saying I couldn't put it down, but I stayed up hours past my bedtime to finish it and even shed a tear on public transport!

 

Christine wakes up every morning not knowing where or who she is, as she can't store memories while she sleeps. The book is told from her perspective, so we get a taste of the confusion, embarrassment and difficulty she faces as a result.

 

I'm not going to say anything else about the plot, because I think it's important to go into this one unspoiled, but I loved it. The pacing was great, slow enough that I raced on eager to see if my theories were correct, but fast enough to keep me interested.

 

I think the reason this book works is the author's ability to tap into our heroine's emotions - I was really rooting for her, and felt the sadness, confusion and anger she felt as she endeavoured to unwind the mysteries surrounding her life and the people in it.

 

One of my favourites of 2013 so far!

 

4/5

Edited June 14, 2013 by Alexi

[Athena]

Nice review, I'm glad to hear you liked it! I own it but haven't read it yet, really ought to get on with reading it .

Edited June 15, 2013 by Athena

[bookmonkey]

Interesting review, Alex. I have a real aversion to gambling (not, I hasten to add, other people doing it - it's just the way it makes me feel - I can't even watch programmes like "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" or "Deal or no Deal") so part of me thinks I should try this to push me a bit - but I'm not sure I could do it.

I don't like gambling either.  My marriage broke up due to exes gambling addiction, so I know how serious it can be.  His father was an alcoholic, so addiction seems to run in the family.  

[Janet]

I don't like gambling either.  My marriage broke up due to exes gambling addiction, so I know how serious it can be.  His father was an alcoholic, so addiction seems to run in the family.  

Oh gosh, it must have been so hard to go through something like that, knowing there was nothing you could do to help.   I'm not surprised you don't like it. 

[Alexi]

Nice review, I'm glad to hear you liked it! I own it but haven't read it yet, really ought to get on with reading it .

 

 

I've had it on the TBR for 18 months! I wish I'd read it sooner now, but I feel I enjoy books more by picking them up when I fancy the,, and not stressing about how long they've been on the shelf for. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

 

 

I don't like gambling either.  My marriage broke up due to exes gambling addiction, so I know how serious it can be.  His father was an alcoholic, so addiction seems to run in the family.  

Sorry to hear that addiction of any form can be so damaging.

[Alexi]

#24 and #25 Mrs 'Arris Goes to Paris and Mrs Harris Goes to New York by Paul Gallico

 

Synopsis: Mrs Harris is a salt-of-the-earth London charlady who cheerfully cleans the houses of the rich. One day, when tidying Lady Dant's wardrobe, she comes across the most beautiful thing she has ever seen in her life - a Dior dress. In all the years of her drab and humble existence, she's never seen anything as magical as the dress before her and she's never wanted anything as much before. Determined to make her dream come true, Mrs Harris scrimps, saves and slaves away until one day, after three long, uncomplaining years, she finally has enough money to go to Paris. When she arrives at the House of Dior, Mrs Harris has little idea of how her life is about to be turned upside down and how many other lives she will transform forever. Always kind, always cheery and always winsome, the indomitable Mrs Harris takes Paris by storm and learns one of life's greatest lessons along the way. This treasure from the 1950s introduces the irrepressible Mrs Harris, part charlady, part fairy-godmother, whose adventures take her from her humble London roots to the heights of glamour. (From Amazon)

 

Thoughts: I'm reviewing these two together because they came in the one book (Bloomsbury edition) and I read them in quick succession. Plus I'm lazy.

 

I picked this one up at the library after seeing it discussed favourably on BCF recently - the first of the two is also on the 1001 list.

 

Mrs 'Arris is a fabulous character, and the story holds based on that rather than any particularly unique plot. A hardworking London char, our title character saves for three years to go to Paris and buy a Dior dress - not to war, just to own! - and leaves her mark on a host of characters along the way.

 

It is almost saccharine sweet this one, and I think you definitely have to be in the right mood for a story which does have a moral feel in places. That said, I went straight on to the next one and I think enjoyed that more, even if the ending was thoroughly predictable!

 

This time, she's smuggling a boy who has been abandoned by his mother and left with foster parents who beat him over to America to search for his father.

 

A decent enough read, with a fabulous cast of characters who gave a real flavour of 1950s Paris and New York for a range of classes. I'm not sure what made the first in the series sneak onto the 1001 list though.

 

3/5

[Roland Butter]

You're the only person I've come across who's ever read that (apart from me, of course!).  I bought it on holiday a couple of years back because it had a nice bright cover and because I'd never read any Gallico.  I thought it was OK but a bit forced - Cockney accents don't transfer well to the page, do they, particularly in the hands of an American writer!

[Janet]

I think a few of us downloaded it when it was Amazon's Kindle deal.     I haven't read it yet.

[Alexi]

Oh gosh yes, I find I read almost clumsily as I get my head round the author's written interpretation of a cockney accent!!

 

Here goes...

 

#26 And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

 

Synopsis:

So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one...

 

 

Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pari live with their father and stepmother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters. To Abdullah, Pari - as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was named - is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night they sleep together in their cot, their heads touching, their limbs tangled.

 

One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pari and Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart; sometimes a finger must be cut to save the hand.

 

Crossing generations and continents, moving from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of Tinos, with profound wisdom, depth, insight and compassion, Khaled Hosseini writes about the bonds that define us and shape our lives, the ways in which we help our loved ones in need, how the choices we make resonate through history and how we are often surprised by the people closest to us.

(From Amazon)

 

Thoughts: Let me begin by saying I've found this review very hard to write, to articulate what I felt about Hosseini's third novel, so I apologise if it sounds a bit convoluted.

 

I read the Kite Runner a few years ago and was blown away, to the point where I put off reading A Thousand Splendid Suns for a long time after it was published for fear of being disappointed by my own expectations. It was better than the predecessor, so I downloaded this one for my kindle just weeks after release and got straight to it.

 

My expectations for this were therefore incredibly high, and if this has been the debut novel of another author, perhaps I would have raved about it, rated it full marks and urged you all to read it. I enjoyed this read, but I felt it was much weaker than the other two.

 

We begin so promisingly, and I had tears in my eyes within the first 50 pages as in 1952, siblings Abdullah and Pari are separated despite their strong bond. I was devastated for them both, and keen to follow their lives. At this point, we abruptly switch to the point of view of someone else, who tells his life story (which intersects with Pari's for a few years) from 1949 to the early 2000s. And then we switch again, and so on and so forth.

 

I didn't find this confusing per se, but I did find it frustrating. I yearned to know what had happened to little Abdullah, and although we eventually catch up with him we don't see the detail as to how and why he got there. So while I found too little time was devoted to some characters (Abdullah being top of the list), it was a tad galling to devote 50 pages to the backstory of a character who would prove so peripheral to the others.

 

Ultimately, the power of the first two novels was in the emotion they sparked in me, and I felt this constant chopping between characters (several of whom take us further away from the story we started with) detracts from that.

 

That said, I enjoyed the read and comparing pre-war Afghanistan with the post-Taliban era when the Americans have already moved in, as well as viewing the country through the eyes of those who were forced to flee when young. I've looked at the reviews on Amazon, and most are 5*, so I'm obviously in the minority!

 

The character of Pari was fabulously woven, as was the multi-layered Nila, and it does tug on the heart strings (although not as much as the previous two!)

 

Undoubtedly, this book would benefit from being treated as a separate entity (it is, after all not a sequel), and that's maybe reflected in my rating.

 

4/5

[Brian.]

Thanks for the Hosseini review, it makes me want to read his latest book even more now. I completely understand what you mean with regards to a book standing up to his previous work. I adored The Kite Runner, so much so that every time I saw a copy in a charity shop I bought it and gave it to someone I knew. I'm not sure too many of the recipients actually read the book, I suspect most of them thought I was a bit nuts

Then I read A Thousand Splendid Suns and like you I thought it was even better. Following these two books with something as good is a particularly hard thing to pull off.

[Alexi]

Personally, I would have been delighted rather than thinking you were nuts!

 

Glad you were encouraged to read it after the review - I will be very interested to see what you make of it.

[Brian.]

Personally, I would have been delighted rather than thinking you were nuts!

 

Glad you were encouraged to read it after the review - I will be very interested to see what you make of it.

 

You share the love of books, pretty much all of my friends and family don't.

[Alexi]

#27 The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

 

Synopsis: When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking. To save someone else's life.

(From Amazon)

 

Thoughts: Reading through the reviews on Amazon, this novel has been described as "uplifting", "unbearably moving", "engaging", "touching", and "overwhelming".

 

I found it none of these things, in fact underwhelming sums it up perfectly for me.

 

I picked it up for the Reading Circle and I have put some thoughts there, but here is a non spoilery review.

 

I kept waiting for something to happen. Reading all the 5* reviews I was expecting something unique and extraordinary, yet I found the characters unengaging and difficult to root for at times, aspects of the pilgrimage unbelievable and a book that glossed over its most interesting plot threads.

 

I found Harold's walk got repetitive very quickly, and yet themes such as alcoholism and depression were dealt with in a page or simply alluded to. Bizarre. Harold's connecton to the woman he is walking to is built up over 200 pages so when it is revealed seems extremely underwhelming.

 

Not for me, but I'm clearly in a minority judging by the Amazon reviews! I did find some kindred souls in the RC thread though.

 

2/5

[Alexi]

#28 Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco

 

Synopsis: It begins with a body. On a clear day in winter, the battered corpse of Crispin Salvador is pulled from the Hudson River – taken from the world is the controversial lion of Philippine literature. Missing, too, is the only manuscript of his final book – meant to rescue him from obscurity by exposing the corrupt roots of power behind the Filipino ruling families. His student, Miguel, investigates, journeying home from a city still in shock from terrorist attacks to a country caught between reckless decay and desperate progress. To understand his mentor’s death, Miguel scours the life, charting Salvador’s trajectory via his poetry, stories, interviews, novels, and memoirs. The literary fragments become patterns become stories become epic: a generations-long saga of revolution, familial duty, political intrigue, and a people’s enduring struggle against their own worst tendencies. This is a clever, bravura, and exuberant debut novel from a new literary sensation. (from Amazon)

 

Thoughts: I picked this up for my world challenge from the quick selection table at the library - I've found a few interesting books that way.

 

Straightaway, this intrigued me. The student being Miguel, I wondered if it was loosely based in fact despite being filed in fiction.

 

It's definitely fiction, but told as fact and it isn't told very well. It's needlessly confusing - the author knits the story together through dreams, emails, flashbacks, memoirs, and excerpts from the dead man's short stories. It isn't always obvious which source is being used until you've read a few paragraphs - which given the author changes source up to twice a page can get rather draining!

 

When he adds in second person tellings of something that is later on repeated in the first person (confused yet?!) it gets silly, and reads as if the author is trying to show off or win plaudits for an alternative writing style than encourage the reader.

 

It obviously worked for the awards - this won the Man Asian Literary Prize BEFORE the official release! - but I was glad to put the book down and move on to something else. I won't be picking his work up again I suspect.

 

For my world challenge, this should have been great. The story may be officially about a murder but it does feel more like a discussion of Filipino culture and character. But the story is unsatisfactory and it drags due to an unreadable style.

 

2/5

 

#29 This is the One by Daniel Taylor

 

A half review for this one, as its a short football book.

 

Taylor is a Manchester sports journalist covering Manchester United, and this book details his dealings with Ferguson over a two year period, comprising the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. This makes it interesting because the first season was a disaster for Sir Alex with some sections of fans and media calling for his head while in the second year he wins the title again.

 

I was living outside England for these two years and while I watched the games, I missed a lot of media coverage and sensationalism (the online journalistic world was a different scene in 2005 to what is now like large swathes of the Internet!). It was interesting to compare the character and reactions of Ferguson between the two seasons and follow the headlines and context I largely missed during this period.

 

It also gives the book an extra dimension knowing what came after - such as the actual date of his retirement and the fact that he won the European Cup in 08. Hindsight is certainly 20/20!!

 

3/5

[Alexi]

I really need to catch up with my reviews!!

 

I recently read Hit Girls by Dreda Say Mitchell and I've finished Summer by Edith Wharton, ready for the reading circle. I've now read 32 books so far this year, so I'm hoping to easily be able to reach my target of 52.

 

I've also bought the following books recently:

 

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

The Shining by Stephen King

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

 

And taken:

 

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

 

Out of the library.

[frankie]

I've also bought the following books recently:

 

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

The Shining by Stephen King

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

 

And taken:

 

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

 

Out of the library.

 

Excellent haul! Slaughterhouse Five is brilliant, and so is Still Alice. Shining's also good, although not my favorite King novel. And I've heard great things about Ella Minnow Pea and Gone Girl. Sweet!

[Alexi]

Thanks Frankie!

 

I've never actually read any King - although I do have 11.22.63 on my TBR. I saw Slaughterhouse Five was only 99p for kindle and that seemed too good a deal to pass up

[Brian.]

I echo Frankie's sentiments on Slaughterhouse Five, it is brilliant. I really enjoyed Of Mice and Men when I read it a few weeks ago as well, another really good book.

[julie]

Alexi

I've been eyeing the Alex Woods book, so will be interested in hearing how you like it .

[frankie]

Thanks Frankie!

 

I've never actually read any King - although I do have 11.22.63 on my TBR. I saw Slaughterhouse Five was only 99p for kindle and that seemed too good a deal to pass up

 

Oooh, a first time King reader, that's always something pretty interesting! It will be great to hear your thoughts on what ever King book you choose to go with, first!

 

The Slaughterhouse Five book was a real bargain, congrats

 

Edit: And yes, I might as well agree with Brian, Of Mice and Men is great, but I didn't comment because it was from the library

Edited July 28, 2013 by frankie

[Alexi]

I echo Frankie's sentiments on Slaughterhouse Five, it is brilliant. I really enjoyed Of Mice and Men when I read it a few weeks ago as well, another really good book.

It's been on my wishlist for a while, so I'm pleased to have seen it so cheap - I'm not sure my no book buying rule counts when there is a wishlist book available for 99p to be quite honest!

 

  

Alexi

I've been eyeing the Alex Woods book, so will be interested in hearing how you like it .

 

 

I was eyeing it for a while too, but I took the plunge a few weeks ago. I can't remember who (sorry!), but I know someone put it in their best books of 2013 so far list, so I have higher hopes for it now!

 

 

Oooh, a first time King reader, that's always something pretty interesting! It will be great to hear your thoughts on what ever King book you choose to go with, first!

 

 

Edit: And yes, I might as well agree with Brian, Of Mice and Men is great, but I didn't comment because it was from the library

Library books don't count

 

My boyfriend was amazed when I told him I hadn't read any King, he finds it surprising because I read so much. But a lot of years in education destroyed my reading for pleasure for a while, so for the last three years I've been catching up!

[frankie]

My boyfriend was amazed when I told him I hadn't read any King, he finds it surprising because I read so much. But a lot of years in education destroyed my reading for pleasure for a while, so for the last three years I've been catching up!

 

Has he read any Stephen King?

 

And I know about school of any kind cramping our reading styles... I'm happy it's all behind you now and you can indulge in all kinds of recreational reading

[Alexi]

He has!

 

He's usually a non fiction guy, but makes exceptions for horror, time travel or grisly crime

 

He buys me books sometimes and has told me he will get me an extra book case when we move. I might keep him