Lucy's books '09/'10

[Lucybird]

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed TPoBaW so much! There's definitely a lot more to it than in Catcher in the Rye. I'd definitely go watch the movie, I hope it comes out soon!

 

I don't get why Cather in the Rye is so much more famous. I guess maybe it was the first of its kind?

 

 

 

[frankie]

I don't get why Cather in the Rye is so much more famous. I guess maybe it was the first of its kind?

 

I wish I had an answer for you, but I don't, mainly because I have no clue myself I read it ages ago and don't remember one single thing about the novel. After I read TPoBaW I thought maybe I should reread CitR, just for comparison. I'm kind of curious about it now.

[Lucybird]

tYeah I get what you mean. I don't know if I really want to read it again though.

[Lucybird]

 

The Elegance of the Hedgehog- Muriel Barbery

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Renee is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building, home to members of the great and the good. Over the years she has maintained her carefully constructed persona as someone reliable but totally uncultivated, in keeping, she feels, with society s expectations of what a concierge should be. But beneath this façade lies the real Renée: passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their outwardly successful but emotionally void lives. Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Renée lives resigned to her lonely lot with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma Josse is determined to avoid the pampered and vacuous future laid out for her, and decides to end her life on her thirteenth birthday. But unknown to them both, the sudden death of one of their privileged neighbours will dramatically alter their lives forever.

 

Note on the synopsis

 

I don’t feel the above synopsis very well reflects the book that it describes, it makes it sound like some sort of mystery, which it certainly is not. However I am finding it impossible to write a better synopsis, so it will have to do.

 

Review

 

You have to, have to, have to read this. And if you hate it blame me I don’t care. I have literally just finished and I had to rush to the computer before I forgot how much this book touched me. The characters are like, I can’t even describe it, they really get in your head. It’s almost like their friends. And it’s amazing because you don’t feel like much is happening but at the same time you keep reading because you care so much. I must admit for a large chunk of the time I found Paloma irritating and kind of pretentious, but I grew to love her as she grew. Renne I found somewhat difficult to understand in terms of her motivation but at the same time I felt I knew her best, and I loved her MAJOR SPOILER

When she died I was broken hearts, I was shouting at the book for it not to be true, and I was close to tears. It was so unexpected at at the worst possible time (but maybe the best too)

. Kakuro was my favourite character though he made me laugh at moments when a laugh was needed, and just generally. It touched me so touched me, it made me laugh and cry.

 

If you only like plot driven books however The Elegance of the Hedgehog may not be for you (as much as I hate to discourage everyone). Although there is a plot it doesn’t really play the main role in the book, that is more about the characters. Having said that the more plot driven sections were well done and perfectly placed, without destroying the overall pace of the book. From right near the begginning the tone reminded me of Jostein Gaarderr’s The Orange Girl in that both have a very philosophcal tone (it’s the only Gaarderr I have read but seeing as he is much a philosopher as a writer I am sure this is also true of his other novels). It was a beautifully written novel (and I have a soft spot for beautiful writing). Please, please, please do not give into temptation and stop reading if you do not feel much is happening, I assure you that by the end you will be hooked.

 

5/5

 

Apparently there has been a made of this (which only seems to be available in Australia and New Zealand). I was hoping this would not happen. I cannot see how this book could be successfully adapted to the screen, it is too thought filled. I would be quite interested to see how they try though.

 

 

[nursenblack]

I bought The Elegance of the Hedgehog a few days ago. After reading your review I can't wait to read it now.

[Nollaig]

I was supposed to be sent The Elegance Of The Hedgehog to review but they sent me the wrong book. I wasn't going to bother with it until I saw your review - now I might actually buy it!

[Lucybird]

I hope you both enjoy it then. I thought it was fantastic (obviously!)

[frankie]

Lucy, thank you so much for the wonderful review! This one's on my TBR, I'm happy to say. The cover of the version you have is simply gorgeous, mine's totally different. Not ugly at all but yours is more beautiful. I envy!

[Lucybird]

Lucy, thank you so much for the wonderful review! This one's on my TBR, I'm happy to say. The cover of the version you have is simply gorgeous, mine's totally different. Not ugly at all but yours is more beautiful. I envy!

 

 

lol it is quite a nice cover. The only other one I've seen is the American cover, it has a girl walking along it. It's ok but not very reflective of the book.

 

 

[Weave]

Lucy, The Elegance of the Hedgehog sounds great, fantastic review by your good self I am going to add it to my wishlist

[frankie]

I hope you don't mind, I just had to post here the cover of my book. I think it's quite similar in some ways to yours.

[Lucybird]

Of course I don't mind!

 

It is similar. I like it. I prefer the houses on mine I thin, but the sky is beautiful on yours!

[Guest Eliza1]

I want to read the Elegance of the Hedgehog, that synopsis sounds good. Does it actually have hedgehogs in it?

[Lucybird]

lol no, but they are mentioned

[Lucybird]

Note on the review

 

I have found my reading mojo has been a bit lacking this last week or so. Part of the reason I picked this book is because I knew it would be an easy read, but my lack of mojo may still have made itself known in my review.

 

 

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Mma Ramotswe, who became engaged to Mr J.L.B. Matekoni at the end of the first book, is still engaged. She wonders when a day for the wedding will be named, but she is anxious to avoid putting too much pressure on her fiance. For indeed he has other things on his mind - notably a frightening request made of him by Mma Potokwani, pushy matron of the Orphan Farm. Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady - whose fortune comes from successful hair-braiding salons - and has been asked to check up on several suitors. Are these men just interested in her money? This may be difficult to find out, but Mma Ramotswe is, of course, a very intuitive lady ...

 

Review.

 

I like the No. 1 Ladies Detective agency books. They are pretty easy reads, they are a sort of alternative detective story. Not full of action or great crimes, but still interesting and maybe more easy to relate too. I've actually read The Full Cupboard of Life before, but wasn't sure from the blurb if I had or not. It was only towards the end of the book that I became sure I had read it before. I suppose that is a good thing in a way because at least parts of the story seemed new too me, it was more the bits that I thought I might have read before that were distracting. I kept thinking, did I read this or was it part of the TV show?

 

There is little really to be said. A simple story but engaging. You don't really feel like you need to know how things work out, and some things are obvious. In parts it is quite clever but not sophisticated. All the same an enjoyable read, and some really great characters which I love to read about- that it what really comes out of it, a real sense of the characters- and an enjoyment of them.

 

3/5

 

The TV series by the way is rather good and worth a look. Do read at least the first book first though.

 

[Lucybird]

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Greedy for experience but determined to be good, Flora Dunbar spends a lifetime seeking love, trying to build a future out of the wreckage of her past - an eccentric childhood spent in the shadow of her musical twin, Rory; early marriage to Hugh, a clergyman twice her age; motherhood, which brings her Theo, the son she cannot love; middle-age, when she finds brief happiness in a scandalous affair with her nephew, Colin.

 

"If you asked my sister-in-law why she hated me, she’d say it was because I seduced her precious firstborn then tossed him onto the sizeable scrap-heap marked Flora’s ex-lovers. But she’d be lying. That isn’t why Grace hated me. Ask my brother Rory..."

 

Review

 

First off I suppose I should warn you that A Lifetime Burning is very different from Linda Gillard's other books, Emotional Geology and Star Gazing. Although if speaking in loose terms you could say they are all about love. Although I really enjoyed the other two books they aren't my usual style (as far as love stories go they are far superior to chick-lit books, and the writing is thoughtful and rather beautiful). A Lifetime Burning is more like something I would pick up. Actually having said that if I hadn't previously known Gillard's work I probably wouldn't have looked at it in a book shop because of that front cover. The cover is actually the worst part of the book! It's so unrepresentative, makes the book look like sci-fi rather than a story about 'real' life.

 

Character wise I didn't really like Flora, who was the narrator. I found her selfish, and self centred. She didn't really seem to care about anyone

not even Rory really, she just wanted him for herself, no matter what.

Rory was a little better, he at least seemed to show some care for others. My favourite character was Grace though, she stuck with her husband, and his family no matter what- I guess that could be seen as being a pushover but I saw her as more resilient, and forgiving. I did find it a little unbelievable after a point

the idea of there being a whole two generations of children being involved in incest, plus 2 people from 2 generations previously,

but then I changed my mind

and decided that maybe it was meant to be genetic, Theo himself says as much. In a way that makes the subject less disturbing, like it was always going to be that way.

 

Such a shame this is no longer being published (my copy came from Linda Gillard herself). I think it could do well given the right marketing.

 

4/5

 

Edited September 15, 2010 by Lucybird

[frankie]

Of course I don't mind!

 

It is similar. I like it. I prefer the houses on mine I thin, but the sky is beautiful on yours!

 

I prefer the houses in your version too. They somehow remind me of Denmark, the way they are right next to each other and all in different colours. The houses in my cover seems painted when you first look at it, but if you look more closely I think it's actually a photograph. Not the sky but the houses. Impressive!

 

Thanks for the review on A Lifetime Burning, Lucy! I hadn't heard of Linda Gillard before I joined BCF, but I've heard so many great things about her novels on here that I've been meaning to look into her novels for a long time now. Eventhough I like chick-lit to a certain degree, it's great to discover these kinds of novels that are in a way chick-litish but have more depth to them and are more polished and refined writingstyle-wise.

So I suppose you'd recommend A Lifetime Burning as the first novel to read by Linda Gillard? I've read the blurbs/synopsis of all of her novels but can't decide which to read first.

Edited September 16, 2010 by frankie

[Lucybird]

Well it's probably been my favourite. But if you're going for it as a Linda Gillard novel, rather than as a novel in itself, I would probably go for Star Gazing as it's more similar to Emotional Geology, and probably more similar to any future novels (although I'm only guessing at that).

[Lucybird]

 

Synopsis (from amazon)

 

If you think your family relationships are complicated, think again: you haven't seen anything like the ones in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie Stackhouse is dealing with a whole host of family problems, ranging from her own kin (a non-human fairy and a telepathic second cousin) demanding a place in her life, to her lover Eric's vampire sire, an ancient being, who arrives with Eric's 'brother' in tow at a most inopportune moment. And Sookie's tracking down a distant relation of her ailing neighbour (and ex), Vampire Bill Compton. In addition to the multitude of family issues complicating her life, the werewolf pack of Shreveport has asked Sookie for a special favour, and since Sookie is an obliging young woman, she agrees. But this favour for the wolves has dire results for Sookie, who is still recovering from the trauma of her abduction during the Fairy War.

 

Review

 

I can't say this has been my favourite in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I enjoyed it well enough but it didn't seem to reach up to what I expected from the last book. It didn't really follow on from where the last book had left off very well, and there had been some promising storylines there. Eric's maker turning up just seemed to detract from the overall storyline, a bit like the a filler in an anime- entertaining in itself but not very important in the grand scheme of things. There was a good chunk of Eric-ness at the beginning (which I always enjoy) but he was disappointingly lacking- despite how things had stood in the previous book. I also found there was little real action in this book, stuff happened but the expected action was rushed into the last few pages- it was almost like Harris realised she had built up too much to deal with and had to get rid of some of it.

 

Again I was surprised about the err...intimate...details in this book. Really why does it still shock me? I think this one was a little more graphic, but if you wanted you could probably miss those parts without ruining the story.

 

Still worth a read but Dead in the Family is certainly not the best in the series.

 

I find it amusing that an advert for True Blood just came on the TV.

 

3/5

 

[Lucybird]

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life ? solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. Desperate to understand the secret that torments this genius, Marlowe embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism. Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy; from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love. The Swan Thieves is a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve hope.

 

Review.

 

Having read and loved The Historian I was eager to read this one, but trying not to get my hopes up too high. I was not disappointed. Although it doesn't have the same pace and urgency of The Historian it had just as much mystery, and in some places the mystery in the Swan Thieves was, maybe not better, but cleverer. There were so many time when something which had previously seemed to be a throwaway comment of little importance became a great clue, and it wasn't until a mystery was solved that you realised how vital that comment was. At some points you had even forgotten about what was said until it was put into a new context.

 

The Swan Thieves was slower than The Historian, and stuck with me less between reading, (However I didn't miss the funny dreams that The Historian gave me...or the having to get up in the middle of the night to check there was nobody in my cupboards!). At the end though I felt much more satisfied, and kind of thoughtful. I suppose maybe because The Swan Thieves is more realistic, or just because the overwhelming feeling from finishing The Historian was one of safety. I can't say this one hooked me in the same way- most of the way through I had little trouble putting down the book (it was only in the last 100 or so pages that I really felt I couldn't not read The Swan Thieves) whereas I often staying up reading The Historian late into the night.

 

If you've not read an Elizabeth Kostova before I would recommend The Historian over The Swan Thieves but this was still an extremely enjoyable, and very clever book.

 

4.5/5

 

 

[Lucybird]

The 19th Wife- David Ebershoff

 

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Jordan returns from California to Utah to visit his mother in jail. As a teenager he was expelled from his family and religious community, a secretive Mormon offshoot sect. Now his father has been found shot dead in front of his computer, and one of his many wives - Jordan's mother - is accused of the crime. Over a century earlier, Ann Eliza Young, the nineteenth wife of Brigham Young, Prophet and Leader of the Mormon Church, tells the sensational story of how her own parents were drawn into plural marriage, and how she herself battled for her freedom and escaped her powerful husband, to lead a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. Bold, shocking and gripping, The 19th Wife expertly weaves together these two narratives: a pageturning literary mystery and an enthralling epic of love and faith.

 

Review

 

Well first of this book wasn't what I really expected from the blurb, although I knew it would have some 'historical' content I expected it to be outweighed by the modern story, which was really the bit that I was most interested in (although I enjoy historical fiction if this had been suggested as such I probably wouldn't have been interested in it). However the historical side of the story outweighed the modern day story- in a way I felt like half of it was added just to bulk out the story. I can't say I was particully rivetted by either side of the story. The story of the modern day 19th Wife had promise but wasn't really explored very well. The background of The 19th Wife herself could have been explored more to give insight into the actions- and in itself could have made a decent story. As for the 'historicall' story, I found the period of the story about the founding of the Mormon church to be quite interesting because I know next to nothing about the Latter Day Saints but in other parts I found the story really dragged, and from about halfway through I felt like Ebershoff was pushing his own agenda into the book. The story of Ann Eliza Young was fairly interesting but I don't think it was very well told, and I would rather read her own autobiography (Wife No. 19) than what Ebershoff claimed was an edited version.

 

I can't say I wish I hadn't wasted the time it took me to read The 19th Wife, because I did find some bits interesting, however I do feel I could have found the interesting bits in a quicker way or through a better written source.

2.5/5

[Lucybird]

High Fidelity- Nick Hornby

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Nick Hornby's first novel, an international bestseller and instantly recognized by critics and readers alike as a classic, helps to explain men to women, and men to men. Rob is good on music: he owns a small record shop and has strong views on what's decent and what isn't. But he's much less good on relationships. In fact, he's not at all sure that he wants to commit himself to anyone. So it's hardly surprising that his girlfriend decides that enough is enough.

 

Review

 

I've only ever read one Nick Hornby before- The Complete Polysyllabic Spree, which is a book about books, not a fiction book. Still you can see the similarity of his writing style in both, and, maybe because the first book I read by him was non-fiction, I felt like I was reading an autobiography of Hornby most of the way through. I'm not sure if this shows the skill with which Hornby has created his main character, Rob, or if it shows that High Fidelity has an autobiographic aspect. After all I've heard it said that all first novels are autobiographical. Either way I really felt like a knew Rob, the character was so well constructed. I can't exactly say I liked Rob, he was gutless and bitter, but he was real. And Laura was real too. It was no great love story- far from it- but it was realistic.

 

I've seen the film (or at least bits of the film) a number of times and did find it a little difficult to get the characters out of my head. I managed though- and even have come to not really like Jack Black as Barry, he's not Barry at all!

 

4/5

 

[Lucybird]

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Max Tivoli is writing the story of his life. He is nearly seventy years old, but he looks as if he is only seven - for Max is ageing backwards. The tragedy of Max's life was to fall in love at seventeen with Alice, a girl his own age - but to her, Max looks like an unappealingly middle-aged man. However when Max reaches the age of thirty-five, with an appearance to match, he has his second chance at love. But tragedy befalls this star-crossed couple, and desperate measures are required.

 

Review

 

Okay I'll get this bit over and done with. The moment I read the synopsis of this book I instantly thought of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (a book which has been on my wishlist since I saw the film when it was in the cinemas), and the plot is very similar, except this book seems much sadder than the film of Benjamin Button was (I can't comment on the book). It was something which put me off Max Tivoli, it seemed unoriginal, and if I had seen the book in-store I probably wouldn't have bought it thinking that I should at least read the 'original' first. I didn't see it in-store however, it was a bookring, and lots of participants had enjoyed it so I decided to go for it.

 

I can't say it gave me more than I expected in terms of enjoyment, or even that it wasn't what I expected really. I did enjoy it though. Essentially it was a love story. That Max was living backwards didn't really make a difference to this.

In the end I don't think Alice really ever loved Max, even when they were married. If he was the same age as her the whole time I don't think it would have been different.

In a way it was less beautiful and less romantic than the plot of Benjamin Button, but in a couple of places it really was moving and brought me close to tears. And I think the idea odf Max always wanting to be with Alice was romantic, bordering on obsessive. I did find some sections a little slow, and it took a while to get going, but by the end I felt it had become rushed.

 

Character wise I didn't like Max, he was selfish, and obsessive. He didn't really care about Alice, just about having her and I think he would have given up anything (certainly he gave up lots) to get that. I didn't really feel I got that much of a sense of Alice as a person, although I respected her individuality. Hughie was probably my favourite character, he was so accepting and devoted.

 

3/5

 

Edited November 13, 2010 by Lucybird

[Weave]

Interesting review Lucy, well written

[Lucybird]

Thanks Paula