Ruth - 2013

[Ruth]

The Christmas Mystery, by Jostein Gaarder

 

 

 

Told in 24 short chapters which are each assigned a date from 1st – 24th December, this book was apparently designed to be read like an advent calendar, with the appropriate chapter being read on the specific date.

 

On 1st December, a young boy named Joachim is given an unusual advent calendar, and behind each door contains a chapter of a story.  As the story unfolds, Joachim (and his parents) learn about a young girl named Elisabet who disappeared from Norway years earlier, and a pilgrimage of angels, shepherds and wise men who travel across land and time, to be present when Jesus was born.

 

Unfortunately, I did not particularly enjoy this book.  Although I am not religious, I can enjoy reading books about religion, but I felt that this particular story was preachy and sanctimonious.  Also, while it might be considered a magical tale of a pilgrimage, it could equally be seen as the story of a young girl who was tempted away from her mother by a cute animal, and led away with an angel who promised to look after her, but instead took her away from her home, and left her mother wondering for years about what had happened to her daughter.  (Which to me anyway, sounds a bit sinister.)

 

I do think the idea was quite a good one, because it could be a useful tool for learning about the history of certain places, but I just couldn’t connect with it at all. There was no characterisation – I didn’t know Joachim or his parents any better by the last page than I did on the first page, and I felt the same way about Elisabet.  The writing just seemed too simplistic, and the story was also somewhat repetitive, and the ending was – possibly deliberately – a bit unclear.

 

I should add that I have only read one other book by this author, and I didn’t enjoy that either.  Plenty of reviewers have loved this book, so it may just be that I am not the right reader for Jostein Gaarder.  I wanted to enjoy this, particularly reading it at Christmas time, but sadly, was just not able to.

 

[Athena]

I'm sorry to hear you didn't really enjoy it. It sounds like a great idea for a book! I loved Jostein Gaarder's The World of Sophie (I presume that's what it's called in English? I have the Dutch translation from Norwegian) and have a few other books by him on my shelf. I hope your next read will be more enjoyable .

[Ruth]

Thanks Athena  It just wasn't the book for me, but oh well.  I think the book you mention is called Sophie's World - I read it a long time ago...The Christmas Mystery was very different (I wouldn't have thought they were by the same author, if I hadn't already known).  

 

My next read certainly was more enjoyable - it was On Beauty by Zadie Smith, and I thought it was wonderful

[Ruth]

On Beauty, by Zadie Smith

 

 

 

Zadie Smith’s third novel focuses on two rival academics, Howard Belsey and Monty Kipps, and their respective families.  While these two men are feuding, their wives are making friends and their children are struggling with adolescence and responsibility.  There are too many threads to cover here, but this is a story of family, race, infidelity, forgiveness, unrequited feelings, and much more.

 

I really REALLY enjoyed this book.  The characters seemed so completely real, each with their positive and negative, but always very human traits.  They may not always have been likeable (I actually found Howard Belsey to be never likeable), but they were identifiable.

 

Smith writes so beautifully, with such a wonderful turn of phrase.  She also has an incredible eye for observational humour, with sometimes just a few words or one line making me laugh out loud.  At times I was frustrated with the characters, at times angry, and sometimes sympathetic, but whatever my feelings, I always wanted to know what was going to happen to them.

 

It’s not a story with a neat beginning, middle and ending – things are not necessarily wrapped up neatly; it’s almost like a snapshot of a certain period of these families’ lives.  I thoroughly enjoy it, and definitely recommend it.

[chesilbeach]

I read On Beauty a few years ago, Ruth, and I too, thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was a reading group book, and it got a mixed reaction from the group, and I think I was the only very positive one, and I was staggered that it wasn't one that more people enjoyed.  Did you know Smith loosely based it on E. M. Forster's Howards End?

[bobblybear]

Have you read any other Zadie Smith books? I loved White Teeth but hated NW (in fact, I couldn't finish it), and was wondering if On Beauty was similar to either of those?

[Ruth]

I read On Beauty a few years ago, Ruth, and I too, thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was a reading group book, and it got a mixed reaction from the group, and I think I was the only very positive one, and I was staggered that it wasn't one that more people enjoyed.  Did you know Smith loosely based it on E. M. Forster's Howards End?

 

 

I read some online reviews after I'd finished it, and was surprised at how mixed the reviews were. I didn't know it was based on Howard's End, but thinking about it, I can see how it was.

 

 

Have you read any other Zadie Smith books? I loved White Teeth but hated NW (in fact, I couldn't finish it), and was wondering if On Beauty was similar to either of those?

The only other Zadie Smith book I've read was The Autograph Man, which I thought was quite good, not brilliant. I've heard people say it explores similar themes to White Teeth though