Noll's 2010 Reading List

[Weave]

Made my first two purchases of 2010 today:

 

If Nobody Speaks Of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

 

I've read two books on my TBR and am currently reading another two, so I'm staying well within the limits I set (one TBR completion per purchase) but my Wishlist is rapidly filling up!

 

I've also taken the third Coldfire book off my 'currently reading' list, as I'm not actually reading it, my brother is. So now I'm focusing on Jonathan Strange and Oscar Wilde.

 

Happy reading Noll, I am looking forward to reading your reviews, especially on Jonathan Strange

[Nollaig]

Thank you! And I did look for the Patrick Hess (is that right?) novels and found them, but couldn't spare the money on top of what I had spent already. At least I know they're there when I want them!

[Weave]

Thank you! And I did look for the Patrick Hess (is that right?) novels and found them, but couldn't spare the money on top of what I had spent already. At least I know they're there when I want them!

 

Good stuff hen, you will get to them eventually

[Nollaig]

First review of the year!

 

Hector And The Search For Happiness by Francois Lelord

 

 

Synopsis from back cover:

Hector is a successful young psychiatrist. He

Edited January 30, 2010 by Nollaig

[Nollaig]

 

If Nobody Speaks Of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

On a street in a unnamed town in the North of England, perfectly ordinary people are doing totally ordinary things - street cricket, barbecues, painting windows...But then a terrible event shatters the quiet of the early summer evening and no one who witnesses it will be quite the same again.

It was the title of this otherwise inconspicuous novel which first caught my eye - the nature of which led me to conclude it was about one of two things: either about something profound, or about mundanity and it's inherent profoundity about which so many people are jaded. It is repetition and constant exposure to 'everyday things' which makes people take them for granted. And it's the occasional exposure to a book like this which can make such people stop and view the world afresh, if only for a moment when they close it's covers.

 

"Remarkable Things" speaks from a distance with a style which allows no intimacy and great universality. Alternating between two threads of a story, one in first and one in third person, it's most noticeable attribute is the unusual punctuation, in that it features no speech marks of any kind. Even with a first person narrator it consists of, I said, oh, really? I said how do you know? He said he told me. He said I knew anyway. Admittedly I normally don't like styles like that. However in this context it seems somehow to add to the atmosphere - never directly attributing speech even to a first person narrator makes it feel as though there is a block, a distance, between what is being said and the mere observation of it which the reader is allowed. The other thing I found about it was that it made me read slowly in order to actually pick up who said what, and for me that was a nice touch, because it's the sort of book which should be read slowly and savoured. I liked the first thread, only loosely related to the second, it seemed arbitrary, and the choice of character seemed arbitrary, the kind of arbitrary involved in everyday life when terrible events happen and we want to know 'why?' but there is no answer, other than 'it's just so', and I particularly liked it for that.

 

The second thread is essentially a collection of details. It recounts the events of a a day on a street by recounting individual details, movements, thoughts, quirks, whims, the very breaths of several nameless families and friends. Each house is another angle, another story, another intersection of lives, another everyday irrelevance. The characters are endearing, quirky, stupid, sweet, likeable, unlikeable, imperfect and real. An elderly couple, students, small children, parents. What is told of their stories is in many cases is emotively accentuated by what is not said, what they cannot say, and it certainly is a poignant read. In this way the novel recounts a rather large picture, by blinkering you with a tight focus on the feel and taste and sound of each individual simplicity, by gathering moments like capturing them in photos and letting the bigger picture build itself up. Nothing is direct, nothing is crystal clear. It's founded in flux, more in a series of implications than confirmations. Implications we all see coming, whose ends we can deduce, because we've all seen them or heard them before. It's not an unpredictable book, but that's kind of the point. What I liked about this book is it's portrayal of the remarkable. What's remarkable in it? I know what I think. I think different people would say different things, but that too, is kind of the point.

 

9/10

 

P.S. The first four pages are the most beautifully romanticized view of mere existence in a city morning, and everybody on Earth should read them.

Edited January 30, 2010 by Nollaig

[Nollaig]

Oscar Wilde: A Life In Letters edited by Merlin Holland

 

Synopsis from Cover:

Of all 19th-century letter writers, Oscar Wilde is among the greatest. Revealing him at his sparkling, spontaneous, fluent best, these letters bear that most familiar of Wildean hallmarks the lightest of touches for the most serious of subjects. He comments openly on his life and his work, from the early years of undergraduate friendship, through his year-long lecture tour in America as a striving young "Professor of Aesthetics," to the short period of fame and success in the early 1890s when he corresponded with many leading political, literary and artistic figures of the time. Disgrace and imprisonment followed, but even in adversity his humor does not desert him.

A Life In Letters is a concise, incomplete collection of Oscar Wilde's letters carefully selected as the best collective representation of the man. Compiled by his grandson, Merlin Holland (also responsible for the complete collection of Wilde's letters), the book features as few interruptions and explanations as possible from Holland, in order to allow Wilde's character speak for itself. Cited as the closest thing to a memoir of Wilde in existence, the 400 or so chosen letters illustrate all aspects of his personal, social, financial and professional life, from the young starry eyed student to the disgraced artistic aesthete stripped of wealth and reputation. Among his correspondants are publishers, rivals, writers, associates, family, and the well known names of Ada Leverson, Robert Ross, Frank Harris, and Lord Alfred (Bosie) Douglas. The only thing missing are his letters to Constance Lloyd, his wife, as most of those have apparently not survived.

 

The variety of correspondants offers, amidst the contrast of public persona he wore, an occasional glimpse at the truth underneath. The authentic intelligence and deep interest in both his areas of study as well as the issues of his time are clear not only in his carefully articulated, professional address, but also in his excited, poetic rambling letters to friends and family. Some of my favourites included: an early letter regarding a trip to Italy which he wrote to his father as a student - it includes his illustrations and discussion of various art and decor he saw; a letter to a publication supporting the arguments by a woman about the rediculous nature of corsets and restrictive clothing, and some letters to friends regarding a college grade - he made a show in public of not bothering to see what it was but secretly he was dying to find out, which he admitted to friends.

 

The later years are, of course, less happy, and though I was never a fan of Bosie Douglas and his treatment of Oscar (relying on him for upkeep and never returning the care), it's very difficult not to be taken in by Oscar's powerful emotions. His heart is clearly poured into everything he writes to and about Bosie. He knows himself they are his undoing, but he also points out, particularly after the loss of everything in prison, that the only thing worse than losing everything is being alone. The choice of letters is by no means sympathethic to Oscar however; both his views and those of his oppositional well-wishing friends can be understood . Instead, these letters clearly illustrate the trials, both literal and figurative, of one man who was indeed a genius of wit, aesthethics and mind, but who was also just that - a man, complete with faults like all those who relinquished their ties with him. It is an endearing, enlightening, intimate and unbiased insight into the man behind the mask wrought wholly of his own words. Being accessible at only 370 pages (versus the 1200 odd in the complete letters) this comes highly recommended as a concise portayal for anyone who doesn't just want facts about the man, but who wants the passion, genius, and flaws within him.

 

10/10

[BookJumper]

I have this in Italian but always refused to read it as it was translated and incomplete; your review has just made me itch to get my hands on the Complete Letters of Oscar.

[Nollaig]

Yeah, I want the complete collection myself just to have and delve into, but I'm glad I have this for a shortish read.

[vodkafan]

First review of the year!

 

Hector And The Search For Happiness by Francois Lelord

 

 

. Hector & The Search For Happiness is in fact the first in a series of Hector

[Nollaig]

The French would do a great job with it. I'm not sure who is doing it though.

[pipread]

A good review of If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things.

It reminded me how much I enjoyed it and I`ve been on Amazon and ordered another Jon Mcgregor book. Thanks

[Nollaig]

Thanks! I should really add a little addendum at the bottom saying: 'Due to style and lack of particularly eventful storyline, this book won't appeal to a lot of people', because it's true, but I still loved every single page.

 

I haven't yet looked at his other book(s?) but am definitely interested in reading more.

[pipread]

I think I said something similar when I read it, I can see why people wouldn`t like it, because of the writing style more than anything.

[Nollaig]

I'll be interested to hear what you think of his other book you book, Pipread

 

I finished The Magicians a few days ago. Not yet sure if I'll write a review - I find it harder to do so with some books, I don't know why. Though I do have quite a few thoughts on it, so maybe I will. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite it arguably going off the wall (although in a manner which, strangely, tied up nicely in the end).

 

I'm currently read 3 books (); one being the ongoing Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell from which I keep finding myself distracted - I did pick it up tonight and read another 50 pages so I'm over halfway officially, and am planning to plough through to the third volume in the next couple of days (which is just under two thirds of it).

 

I've also started, against my better organisational judgement, Norwegian Wood. *Gasp* says you all, 'you haven't read any Murakami yet?!' Well, I was always a bit slow, but I get there in the end. So far I'm about 80 pages in, and while it's alright, the main characters are rather dull and I don't really know what all the fuss is about, but maybe it will get better.

 

Lastly I'm working my way through Explorers by Beau Riffenburgh in association with the Royal Geographical Society. It's a colourful book full of facsimiles, similar to the Titanic one I read last year. It's very good! Not massively in-depth, but that's good for someone like me who knows little more than 'Christopher Colombus, 1492'. It covers centuries worth of explorers across every continent too.

 

So that's my reading activity lately.

 

All that on top of furiously researching vertebrate evolution from the first boney fish up until my guilty nerd pleasure, dinosaurs! I've covered a straight line from acquatic vertebrates through semi-terrestrial vertebrates through the first terrestrial tetrapod amniota through Diapsid reptiles which branched into Archosaurs whose Ornithodira sub-clave became Dinosaurs of the Late Triassic epoch. Once again:

[AbielleRose]

I finished The Magicians a few days ago. Not yet sure if I'll write a review - I find it harder to do so with some books, I don't know why. Though I do have quite a few thoughts on it, so maybe I will. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite it arguably going off the wall (although in a manner which, strangely, tied up nicely in the end).

 

I'll be stealing this and adding it to my Mount TBR. Thanks, Noll!

[Nollaig]

Oooh today an author (Tom Weston) I wrote a review for last year randomly sent me a lovely hardback copy of his new book. How nice!

[Raven]

Titanic:

Charles Lightoller - Titanic & Other Ships - 1935

Arthur Rostron - Home From The Sea - 1931

Morgan Robertson - The Wreck Of The Titan

Archibald Gracie - The Truth About Titanic

Walter Lord - A Night To Remember

Lawrence Beesley - The Loss Of S.S. Titanic

 

You might be interested in "Titanic" Survivor: The Memoirs of Violet Jessop, Stewardess as well, she not only survived the sinking of the Titanic, but also the Titanic's sister ship Britannic as well.

[Nollaig]

Oh lovely, thank you! That's exactly the sort of first person source I'm looking for.

[Chrissy]

You might be interested in "Titanic" Survivor: The Memoirs of Violet Jessop, Stewardess as well, she not only survived the sinking of the Titanic, but also the Titanic's sister ship Britannic as well.

I had to read this twice to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me. She survived TWO sinkings? Either she was the luckiest or people, or the unluckiest. I am uncertain which.

[Nollaig]

Bit of both I think!

[missybct]

Raven, that sounds like an interesting book, I will have a look out for it!

[Nollaig]

She was actually mentioned in a general book I read about Titanic, but it didn't say she'd written her own book.

[Nollaig]

I finished Norwegian Wood and I really did not like it at all.

 

You can read everything I say without the spoilers and get the gist of what I didn't like, and the spoilers provide specific references to events in the book exemplifying my points.

 

I'll point out some good things first - it was very easy to read, despite not really enjoying it. Certain parts made me laugh out loud, some parts were beautifully written and I actually enjoyed a scene or two. So it wasn't the worst thing I have ever read.

 

Now, what I didn't like about it:

1. The characters. They had no substance WHATSOEVER. They had no personality or life, they were mere aspects of neurosis with names (the women) and one narratorial vehicle through which to unite all the women (Toru).

Each girl had some kind of problem with sex, whether it was that they couldn't have it or were obssessed with it or had been traumatised by an experience with a 13 year old girl. As you do. The other aspect of their lives was death. Multiple suicides among family and friends, and later themselves. Toru passes absolutely no judgement over any of these things, he just goes along with it, 'falling in love' with two of the neurotic girls, and just to tie themes up, having inexplicable sex with the third.

There is nothing beyond this to the characters, no depth, no substance, nothing. Just a series of events related to sex and death.

2. The plot. What plot? There was a plot? As far as I could see, not only did the sex and death have no personalities to ground themselves in, nothing else actually happened.

Oh, a revolution that is mentioned twice in a couple of pages each time which is summed up as 'disgusting Toru'. That's great. So basically the entire novel is made up of a characterless guy meeting girls, talking about/having sex with them, and thinking/talking about death while various people die or kill themselves.

Since there's no emotional attachement in any of it, it's completely monotonous and boring.

 

All that said, there was a brief moment towards the end when I felt for Midori.

Probably because her actions resembled something like a human's for a brief period when she stopped being obssessed with sex long enough to point out she actually had an EMOTIONAL attachment to Toru, who had, being utterly characterless, forgotten about all the girls while moving house. Still, I don't think I could ever really relate to a girl who sits naked in front of a photo of her dead father to show him her chest and vagina because 'he helped create them', before stating his penis was impressive when she saw it and that she hopes he gets to bang her mum in heaven.

 

 

Overall: Boring. Monotonous. Repetitive.

 

If anyone would like to have a go at explaining the 'X factor' about Murakami which clearly went over my head, please, PLEASE do so, you might make the last three days of reading this rubbish worthwhile.

Edited February 10, 2010 by Nollaig

[BookJumper]

Alright, I'm now uberglad I forgot this accidentally on purpose when I last moved house I was left wondering one thing though, was the Beatles reference in the title ever justified/explained or...?

[Nollaig]

It's Naoko's favourite song, and it gets a played few times throughout the novel. I don't actually know the song so I can't make any comparisons, but the explanation is never more in depth than that really.