Willoyd's Reading 2014

[willoyd]

Dune by Frank Herbert ******

 

One of the great classics of the genre, and it's not difficult to see why. I first read this as a teenager, and it's one that really stuck with me. Its impact can be measured by the fact that, unusually for me, I could still recall many of the salient parts of the plot some 40 years later. The books selection for the Reading Circle suggested it might be time to revisit one of the few sci-fi books I've actually read.

 

There's always a certain amount of trepidation on returning to a much loved book: is it really going to live up to those initial reactions, or is a rereading going to merely underline the differences between my teenage and my middle-aged self? In the event, there was no need to worry, and whilst it might not have been quite the ultra deep, subtle, book of memory, it certainly still kept me in its thrall. On at least three nights, I sat up until well after midnight, firmly wrapped up in the story of Paul Muad'Dib, the planet Arrakis, and the vendetta between the Atreides and Harkonnens.

 

In fact it's probably the planet that grabbed me most. Its amazing ecology is at the heart of the story, and I found it absolutely fascinating, complete with the lifestyle of the native Fremen and the ways they adapted to such a hostile environment. The sandworms were a creation of genius, and my one regret is that the book didn't feature them more strongly. If anything, they were underplayed, and their critical part in the final denouement flitted past almost in the blink of an eye. I really felt the author could have made even more of them than he did.

 

But what he did do was build up a rich, classically structured tale of adventure and revenge in an outstandingly developed setting. The characters weren't perhaps all as strongly developed, although Herbert's extensive use of internalised speech helped flesh out the main protagonists very effectively - the female lead, Paul's mother, Lady Jessica, being particularly strong, but the overall balance made for a read that I enjoyed as much as I ever did as a teenager, and that is no mean achievement. I gave the book my maximum rating then, and whilst I'm not totally sure it would have quite made it today, it's close enough and sufficiently individual to stand out from the crowd, that I see no reason to change that assessment now. I might even read some of the sequels this time round!

Edited March 15, 2014 by willoyd

[Athena]

Great review ! I'm glad you liked the book (again!). I also read it for the first time when I was a teenager and read it again two years ago.

[willoyd]

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck ******

 

Steinbeck wrote this as a novel-play, i.e. a book that is effectively a playscript. It apparently didn't work completely, and there are some fairly important differences between the book and the play. Differences or not, I came to the book via the play, specifically the West Yorkshire Playhouse production. That in itself was a bit of an unusual experience, with OH and I both wondering at the interval whether to go back for the second half (overpoweringly ominous and going nowhere, or at least along pretty predictable lines, rather slowly was the mutual feeling), but coming out of the second half having been having been blown away (yes, the ending was predictable - in a way, but the twist was massive), to such an extent that the journey home was largely spent trying to come to terms with how badly we both initially misjudged the play - it wasn't a comfortable feeling!

 

One result of seeing the play was a desire to immediately read the book whilst the performance was fresh in the mind. So, a quick download onto the Kindle, and a read that was completed in barely 24 hours.

 

Whilst I'm glad I did that, there is the slight niggle whilst writing this review - is it the play or is it the book I'm basing my opinions on. I'll try and stick to the book, but there's no doubt that the two are, in my mind at least, closely linked and inevitably twisted toegher in a way that it's not wholly possilbe to completely isolate the reading from the play.author

 

Whatever, even knowing the plot, this book was an outstanding read: I was absolutely gripped from the very first page, and reached the end (in two sittings) gasping, and thoroughly moved. Barely 100 pages long (107?), it says more in the space than most writers barely completely their warm up in. Relatively speaking the first two-thirds is slower - inevitably so as it needs space to build the plot line up towards the climax. In the meantime, characters, setting, and the plot itself are all delineated in much detail, but in few words. Lennie is one of the great creations of fiction, his gentle, simple, huge presence dominating those around him, along with the novel itself. This was going on to my six star list almost before then first dozen pages were read, and certainly by the end.

 

For the moment, that's pretty much enough said. I might get around to developing a bit more detail, but for now that'll have to do, other than to affirm this is one definitely to read!

Edited March 21, 2014 by willoyd

[Janet]

I'm glad you enjoyed this.      I read it when I did GCSE English as a mature student a few years ago and thought it was excellent.  I haven't read anything else by Steinbeck though.  Have you?

[willoyd]

I'm glad you enjoyed this.      I read it when I did GCSE English as a mature student a few years ago and thought it was excellent.  I haven't read anything else by Steinbeck though.  Have you?

 

No I haven't, although I do have copies of both Travels with Charley and Once There Was a War on my shelves TBR. I suspect I'll be reading a bit more now though!

 

It's obviously a popular GCSE text - there were coachloads of teenagers at the performance we were at, which was pretty much a full house. Not old enough for A-level, so assume they wer GCSE students.

Edited March 21, 2014 by willoyd

[Devi]

I enjoyed Of Mice and Men when I read it awhile ago. I am keen to check out more of his books.

[bobblybear]

Nice review of Of Mice and Men. I read this in high school, but would like to read it again as an adult. I liked the movie too (the one directed by Gary Sinise).

 

I recently read The Grapes of Wrath and thought it was brilliant. I keep meaning to read his other work, but things keep getting in the way.

[willoyd]

Nice review of Of Mice and Men. I read this in high school, but would like to read it again as an adult. I liked the movie too (the one directed by Gary Sinise).

 

I recently read The Grapes of Wrath and thought it was brilliant. I keep meaning to read his other work, but things keep getting in the way.

 

I know all too well what you mean.  For some reason, I've put off and put off reading Steinbeck, but do think I ought to move him higher up the list now.  But who to move down?!

Edited March 23, 2014 by willoyd

[Alexi]

I know all too well what you mean.  For some reason, I've put off and put off reading Steinbeck, but do think I ought to move him higher up the list now.  But who to move down?!

I feel like I constantly say "I must move this up the list" after reading reviews on here but then it's impossible to move down what is already there...

 

Although I must, must MUST read an Austen this year.

[Athena]

I've got Of Mice and Men on my TBR, I'm glad to read you enjoyed it, Willoyd. Great review !

[willoyd]

It's All Greek To Me by Charlotte Higgins ***

 

Charlotte Higgins's Under Another Sky was an interesting and illuminating book on the her visits to find key sites in the history of Roman Britain, providing a real insight into the Roman history of Britain, even if it was inevitably not always a complete picture. To some extent It's All Greek To Me attempts to do the same to the history of Ancient Greece, providing a beginner's introduction.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite work for me. Yes, it was an enjoyable read; yes it gave me some insight into the historical and mythological narrative of Greece, but it never really achieved the coherence of the Roman book. Each chapter was separately themed, but those themes always appeared a bit arbitrary, whilst Higgins kept referring back to Homer's writings, giving the impression that Greece never moved on. There also seemed a fair amount of repetition, overly reliant on the said poet. It all felt just a bit too repetitious and lacking in focus. I did enjoy trying to get at least a framework of understanding, and some of that fell into place, but I still felt on reaching the end that there was a fair amount of blank space to fill in.

Edited March 24, 2014 by willoyd

[willoyd]

What Maisie Knew by Henry James ***

 

Last September, on a visit to London, OH and I went to see the film What Maisie Knew. We were at a bit of a loose end that night, and this was the best looking film on at the local arthouse cinema. It was something of a gamble, especially given that one of the lead roles was taken by Steve Coogan - not my favourite comedian - but it also had Julianne Moore, who is one of my favourite actresses. The gamble paid off, and we both had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. It was almost inevitable then that I ended up wanting to read the book itself.

 

Well I now have, and this is one of those rare instances where, if anything, I preferred the film to the book. It's not as if it was a particularly bad book though - it wasn't! - nor that the film was particularly outstanding - it wasn't (it was good but not super great), but whereas the latter was a cut above the average, for me the James was a cut below.

 

James? A cut below? Well, yes, it was. Characterisation was pretty good (I genuinely despised both Beale and Ida), setting too, plotting well developed (from what I could make of it). But therein lies the one big stumbling block: James's actual writing.

 

I know he's famous (notorious) for his convoluted sentences, which really come to the fore in his later books, but there was plenty enough for me here too to mentally throw my hands up in despair. I reckon I can handle some pretty complicated stuff, but there were strings of sentences where, even after a dozen or more efforts, I still couldn't extract more than a fairly superficial meaning. As a result, I must have missed some of the depth of the story, which was a real shame because, when he kept it reasonably simple, the writing was excellent, keeping me fully engaged. In the final analysis though, whilst I gleaned some enjoyment out of what was left, there was no doubt in my mind that I was missing loads, much of it simply flowing right over my head - intensely frustrating! All the way through, just as I felt I was starting to get a grip on character and/or plot, we'd hit another 'purple patch', and the whole thing would start to slide away from me again. Whole swathes of the book passed by in a cloud of uncertainty, and it says much of the strength of what I did follow that the book has achieved three stars. Having said that,I did land up also wondering about Maisie herself: was this really a ten-year-old talking? If so, she was remarkably precocious. Little wonder that Mrs Wix, amongst others, was left pondering on What Maisie Knew.

 

So, will I try Henry James again? I'm really not sure. I'd like to think so, but this is the third of his that I've read and, whilst The Turn of the Screw proved genuinely entertaining, Portrait of a Lady provoked a similar sense of frustration; I haven't even attempted one of his 'difficult' books yet. As things stand, I think I might be passing on them, at least for the time being. It could be some time before I come round to Mr James again, if at all.

Edited March 31, 2014 by willoyd

[Athena]

Great reviews! Henry James' writing style sounds complicated, probably not for me.

[Kidsmum]

Interesting review of Henry James,Willoyd.  Much of what you said is how i felt when reading The Ambassadors & imo if a book is hard work to get through then it's not a pleasure to read.

[willoyd]

Interesting review of Henry James,Willoyd.  Much of what you said is how i felt when reading The Ambassadors & imo if a book is hard work to get through then it's not a pleasure to read.

The Ambassadors is one of what I regard as his 'difficult' books, along with most of his later material. I have had some books that have been hard to read that I've also found very rewarding - some of Virginia Woolf's novels for instance (The Waves was a definite toughie!) - so I wouldn't go quite so far as you on books that are hard work, but for some reason I just found it frustrating with James. I think that's because with Woolf I understood the language, but struggled with the concepts, whereas with James I  couldn't make out what some of the sentences actually meant, at least not without a lot of work!

[poppyshake]

Great review of Of Mice and Men willoyd .. I agree entirely .. it's such a gripping book and impossible to put down. Have you read any of his others? 

 

Sorry .. I've just read your earlier reply to Janet  I too want to read more from him.

 

Haha .. bad luck with old Henry James  You get on with him more than I'm able but I can still sense he's trying your patience  If you do decide to read more from him .. avoid The Ambassadors  which basically was a load of convoluted waffle about nothing. That is only my opinion though (and nearly everyone elses in that particular RC) ... you might get on with it of course  

Edited April 1, 2014 by poppyshake

[willoyd]

Haha .. bad luck with old Henry James  You get on with him more than I'm able but I can still sense he's trying your patience  If you do decide to read more from him .. avoid The Ambassadors  which basically was a load of convoluted waffle about nothing. That is only my opinion though (and nearly everyone elses in that particular RC) ... you might get on with it of course

I think I've reached the end of the line here, at least for a while! I've got a really nice hard copy of The Ambassadors on my shelves, but it's likely to go to a second-hand dealer in the near future. If I do come back to him, there's always the Kindle. I'm quite reluctant to say that - I am rather more ambivalent about his writing than totally negative - but I'm not convinced in this case that the struggle is worth it, and there are oh so many writers who are screaming out to be read, and oh so little time to read them in!

[Kidsmum]

The Ambassadors is one of what I regard as his 'difficult' books, along with most of his later material. I have had some books that have been hard to read that I've also found very rewarding - some of Virginia Woolf's novels for instance (The Waves was a definite toughie!) - so I wouldn't go quite so far as you on books that are hard work, but for some reason I just found it frustrating with James. I think that's because with Woolf I understood the language, but struggled with the concepts, whereas with James I  couldn't make out what some of the sentences actually meant, at least not without a lot of work!

 

i haven't read The Waves but i do have Mrs Dalloway on my TBR pile, so i shall approach it with some trepidation after your comments on Woolf   I do admire your perserverance with Henry James though i can't see myself why he's so highly acclaimed 

[pontalba]

i haven't read The Waves but i do have Mrs Dalloway on my TBR pile, so i shall approach it with some trepidation after your comments on Woolf   I do admire your perserverance with Henry James though i can't see myself why he's so highly acclaimed 

 

Actually, I found Mrs. Dalloway to be the "easiest" of Woolf's books.  But I've only read three, I think. and, not The Waves.  

Husband read The Waves though, and enjoyed it. 

[willoyd]

Actually, I found Mrs. Dalloway to be the "easiest" of Woolf's books.  But I've only read three, I think. and, not The Waves.

Husband read The Waves though, and enjoyed it. 

 

I would agree: Mrs Dalloway was my first ever Woolf, and it's why I fell in love with her writing, read as a consequence of going to see the brilliant The Hours (good book too!). I somewhat exaggerated (not deliberately!); the only book of hers I have actually found 'difficult' was The Waves.  Like  your husband though, I thoroughly enjoyed it (definitely a grower!), even if it didn't quite rank alongside my favourites (which I reckon are probably To The Lighthouse and The Years).  The only one of hers I haven't particularly rated was Flush, although I have yet to read Night and Day, and I enjoyed the film of Orlando more than the book (but then I'm a fan of the former rather than a dislike of the latter!). 

[Kidsmum]

Good to hear you both enjoyed Mrs Dalloway, i shall read that first before i give any of her other books a try 

[willoyd]

Explorers of the Nile by Tim Jeal ****
 
Biographer of Stanley and of Livingstone, Tim Jeal turns his pen towards a broader theme, the search for the source of the Nile. Both Stanley and Livingstone feature prominently, but the likes of John Hanning Speke, Richard Burton, James Grant, and Samuel and Florence Baker also have their moments in the (hot!) sun. The story is pretty hot too: this is not only one of the great epics of Victorian exploration, but an integral part of the line of causation that today still profoundly influences the politics of central Africa.

Jeal has obviously researched the subject in considerable depth, and in doing so turns a number of previously accepted 'truths' on their heads: Speke the bounder and possible suicide, Burton the dashing hero (more of a Flashman figure it appeared to me), Stanley the opportunistic American, Livingstone the saint. That's not to say that some of these hadn't been challenged (not least in Jeal's own biographies), but reading them in the context of the whole story and Jeal's research, a whole new view of the history of this troubled part of the world starts to emerge. The individuals themselves, no longer two dimensional caricatures, emerge as genuinely human, three-dimensional people, with all their strengths and failings: for instance, Livingstone may not emerge a saint, but he emerges no less a hero for all that as much because of his weaknesses - perhaps more so. What also emerges as a common thread to all (aside from, perhaps, Burton) is their hatred of the slave trade that was spreading (had spread?) its tentacles throughout the whole continent, and the amost self-contradictory relationship between explorers and slave traders, where the former wanted to see the destruction of the latter, but often couldn't have survived without them!

In a second section to the book, where Jeal looks at the consequences of this European opening up, he also asks the reader to consider an alternative possibility to the out and out ills of colonisation. He makes no bones that in many ways it was a disaster, not least in the drawing of future national boundaries, resulting, for instance, in the effective and tragic annexation of the tribes of the Southern Sudan into a nation controlled by the Arab dominated northern Sudan.   However, he also considers what would have happened if the Europeans hadn't arrived in terms of that slave trade, which was inexorably tightening its grip. I'm a complete beginner at African history and politics, so have no means of judging whether the author's arguments hold much, indeed any, water, but he certainly got me thinking and left me somewhat more aware of the background to the headlines of recent years.

This then is a remarkable story of exploration, of the courage (amongst other rather less savoury aspects!) of the individuals involved (both European and African: Jeal spotlights several of the unsung caravan leaders and guides who worked across expeditions), of the political and personal infighting it triggered off, of the wide-ranging and deeply influential outfalls of the 'coming' of the Europeans into central Africa. It's not a pretty story, but it's vivid, enthralling and full of the lessons of history. My only regrets are firstly that the second section wasn't developed in more depth - it felt like a bit of a coda to the story of the explorations, and perhaps that's what it was meant to be; it certainly felt a touch rushed - and secondly that, yet again in a history book, the maps weren't clearer, more detailed and more prolific. This is a constant irritation, exacerbated here by the proliferation in the text of both African and European place names with little, if any, clarification. African geography is a mystery to most European readers (certainly to me!), and there didn't seem much effort to put that right. Given that so many place names no longer exist (try finding Gondokoro in a modern atlas) or have changed, a wadge of good quality maps at front or back would have significantly lifted the rating and raised the interest of this otherwise excellent book.

 

Even so, this is a read that has inspired me to explore further - I've just bought Robert Twigger's The Red Nile, just out in paperback, and intend to soon turn to one or two others sitting on the shelves waiting to be read!  In the meantime, I have Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible to read next for my next bookgroup meeting, which seems curiously apposite.  I'm hoping I'll enjoy it all the more now.

Edited April 12, 2014 by willoyd

[Athena]

Great review ! It's nice when a book inspires us to read more. I hope you enjoy the books you mentioned too.

[willoyd]

Recent book acquisitions

Don't know whether it's the equivalent of comfort eating, but whenever I get stressed workwise, the book acquisition count seems to go up, even though the amount of actual reading goes down! With the end of a long stint coming up, things seem to have been creeping up again. Whatever the reason, the past two or three weeks have seen the influx increase:

 

The Folio Society have been running a sale of sets for its members, and I couldn't resist two of them: Alan Moorehead's Desert War trilogy, and Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End tetrology. They're both for longer term reading - maybe the summer holidays? I've also been picking up a few e-books through Amazon sales/deals recently, pretty much all non-fiction: Max Hastings' The Korean War, The Creation of Anne Boleyn (Susan Bordo) and The King in the North by Max Adams. In fact, there's been a bit of a history theme to this latest batch, particularly as I'm a Napoleonic War 'fan': Huw Davies's Wellington's Wars and Rory Muir's first volume of his new biography: Wellington, The Path to Victory, both really well reviewed, have also been quite strongly discounted, whilst I've also managed to picked up a cheap hardback copy of Ruth Goodman's How To Be A Victorian as it's just out in paperback. Two more to add to the pile: Sarah Wise's The Blackest Streets, recommended by a friend at my book group whose ancestors came from the area (Bethnal Green), only a quarter of a mile up the road from my father's birthplace, and Robert Twigger's Red Nile, also just out in paperback, and one I want to read soon as a follow-up to the just finished Explorers of the Nile by Tim Jeal, although I've got a couple of reading group and circle choices to read first.

Edited April 12, 2014 by willoyd

[Alexi]

The Blackest Streets is on my wishlist - heard great things about that one.