Kylie Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Ah, yes. That sounds likely. Janet's reviews always make me want to go and buy books too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 19, 2010 Author Share Posted October 19, 2010 Yes, it was Janet's review that made me buy it too .. thanks Janet!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 Good Behaviour - Molly Keane Waterstones Synopsis: 'I do know how to behave - believe me, because I know. I have always known...' Behind the gates of Temple Alice the aristocratic Anglo-Irish St Charles family sinks into a state of decaying grace. To Aroon St Charles, large and unlovely daughter of the house, the fierce forces of sex, money, jealousy and love seem locked out by the ritual patterns of good behaviour. But crumbling codes of conduct cannot hope to save the members of the St Charles family from their own unruly and inadmissible desires. This elegant and allusive novel established Molly Keane as thelike affection or respect natural successor to Jean Rhys. Review: I loved this book. It takes the rather bold step of starting the book off by portraying the main character .. Aroon St Charles ... in a less than flattering light. We see her looking after her invalid mother and against her will practically force feeding her rabbit (actual game rabbit .. not the family pet or anything!) Mummie, who is quite feeble and bed-ridden, protests saying that rabbit makes her feel quite sick, but Aroon will hear none of it, and manages to get a couple of forkfuls down her. Mummie is promptly sick and then dies, much to the distress and consternation of her maid Rose (who promptly opens the window to let her mistress's soul fly free), but Aroon remains detached and unmoved as she telephones for the doctor. She seems to almost be taking a sadistic pleasure in treating her mother with such indifference. So you start by thinking this is a character that I'm not going to like very much. Then gradually Aroon begins to recount the story of her life growing up at Temple Alice (once grand but no longer.) An awkward girl, searching for affection and not usually finding it. She forms a strong bond with her governess Mrs Brock but unfortunately (for reasons made clear to us but not twigged by Aroon) Mrs Brock suddenly leaves her post never to return. Aroon falls in love with her brothers best friend Richard, and is deluded into believing he feels the same. She claims that she has once had a lover in her bed, but what she actually means is that someone she loves .. Richard .. has been in bed with her, but in actual fact all he did was chat and laugh .. 'I really must not touch you, we'd regret it always piglet .. wouldn't we?'. Aroon is totally unaware of Richard's true feelings though again the reader is one step ahead of her (you can constantly read between the lines of her narration.) The only person to treat her with anything like true affection and respect is her father, who is touchingly protective but he is often wrapped up in his own affairs (literally) of which Aroon is, of course, totally ignorant. The family fortune soons begin to dwindle away and when an accident befalls her father it looks as if Aroon is destined to remain the unloved spinster daughter of Temple Alice. The writing is fantastic, calling to mind Mitford and Waugh. Marian Keyes calls it a tour-de-force and I think she's right, a highly enjoyable unputdownable book. Straight away I wanted to read more by Molly but after reading several reviews it would seem that this book is seen to be her literary highlight and therefore possibly everything else will be a disappointment .. I probably will read more by her though, this book was too good not to try for more. 10/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 23, 2010 Author Share Posted October 23, 2010 The Girl With Glass Feet - Ali Shaw Waterstones Synopsis: A mysterious metamorphosis has taken hold of Ida MacLaird - she is slowly turning into glass. Fragile and determined to find a cure, she returns to the strange, enchanted island where she believes the transformation began, in search of reclusive Henry Fuwa, the one man who might just be able to help...Instead she meets Midas Crook, and another transformation begins: as Midas helps Ida come to terms with her condition, they fall in love. What they need most is time - and time is slipping away fast. Review: I did really like this adult fairytale although I thought it was a bit of a shame that the occasional swear word and slight graphic content made it unsuitable for children/YA because in every other way it would be perfect. I loved Ida, she's a lovely mix of feisty and vulnerable. She's someone who would normally be quite outgoing and adventurous but Ida has a problem, her feet have turned into glass and it's gradually seeping it's way into the rest of her body. Ida doesn't know why this is happening, she has only one clue and that's the words spoken to her by reclusive Henry Fuwa after she had come to his aid one day. This happened when she was visiting the remote and icy St Hauda's land, and so she returns there to look for him and see if he can help before it's too late. Whilst searching for him she comes across Midas Crook, who's something of a loner and a keen photographer. He's immediately struck by her appearance, she has the cool, monochromatic look of a fifties movie star all except for the enormous boots that she has on. Ida soon enlists Midas's help in trying to find Henry Fuwa but unknown to her Midas has his own problems and Henry Fuwa is a part of them too. A friendship grows between the two, a friendship which slowly begins to turn into something more, but time is not on their side. Beautifully dreamy and descriptive, the book's not overloaded with magical creatures but they weave in and out and the mystical sits quite happily alongside the ordinary. There were occasions when I thought the book lost it's way a bit, and I couldn't really see the point of the moth winged cows, but the true measure of any story is how much you care about the characters and as this book reaches it's climax I found myself becoming increasingly anxious about Ida. This is Ali's first novel and I'm definitely interested to see what he comes up with next. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 The Girl With Glass Feet - Ali Shaw Waterstones Synopsis: A mysterious metamorphosis has taken hold of Ida MacLaird - she is slowly turning into glass. Fragile and determined to find a cure, she returns to the strange, enchanted island where she believes the transformation began, in search of reclusive Henry Fuwa, the one man who might just be able to help...Instead she meets Midas Crook, and another transformation begins: as Midas helps Ida come to terms with her condition, they fall in love. What they need most is time - and time is slipping away fast. Review: I did really like this adult fairytale although I thought it was a bit of a shame that the occasional swear word and slight graphic content made it unsuitable for children/YA because in every other way it would be perfect. I loved Ida, she's a lovely mix of feisty and vulnerable. She's someone who would normally be quite outgoing and adventurous but Ida has a problem, her feet have turned into glass and it's gradually seeping it's way into the rest of her body. Ida doesn't know why this is happening, she has only one clue and that's the words spoken to her by reclusive Henry Fuwa after she had come to his aid one day. This happened when she was visiting the remote and icy St Hauda's land, and so she returns there to look for him and see if he can help before it's too late. Whilst searching for him she comes across Midas Crook, who's something of a loner and a keen photographer. He's immediately struck by her appearance, she has the cool, monochromatic look of a fifties movie star all except for the enormous boots that she has on. Ida soon enlists Midas's help in trying to find Henry Fuwa but unknown to her Midas has his own problems and Henry Fuwa is a part of them too. A friendship grows between the two, a friendship which slowly begins to turn into something more, but time is not on their side. Beautifully dreamy and descriptive, the book's not overloaded with magical creatures but they weave in and out and the mystical sits quite happily alongside the ordinary. There were occasions when I thought the book lost it's way a bit, and I couldn't really see the point of the moth winged cows, but the true measure of any story is how much you care about the characters and as this book reaches it's climax I found myself becoming increasingly anxious about Ida. This is Ali's first novel and I'm definitely interested to see what he comes up with next. 8/10 I am reading this at the moment Poppy and I found it initially quite difficult get into it but I am enjoying it now, how did you find it when you first started reading it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 24, 2010 Author Share Posted October 24, 2010 I am reading this at the moment Poppy and I found it initially quite difficult get into it but I am enjoying it now, how did you find it when you first started reading it? Yes, I was the same, I struggled at first before I got the characters and place fixed in my head. Hope you continue to enjoy it Weave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 The Girl with Glass Feet sounds good Poppy, thanks for the review Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 Yes, I was the same, I struggled at first before I got the characters and place fixed in my head. Hope you continue to enjoy it Weave Thanks poppy (and for the excellent review), something finally 'clicked' and I am really enjoying it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 I always enjoy your reviews, Poppyshake. But I have to stop buying books - I've never read Gaiman before and now...gah! Another author, thanks to you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 I always enjoy your reviews, Poppyshake. But I have to stop buying books - I've never read Gaiman before and now...gah! Another author, thanks to you!!! If you get the chance Mac, invest in the 'Anasi Boys', its excellent, my favourite Neil Gaiman book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 If you get the chance Mac, invest in the 'Anasi Boys', its excellent, my favourite Neil Gaiman book Funnily enough, I picked it up the other day, precisely because of this flippin' forum!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 Funnily enough, I picked it up the other day, precisely because of this flippin' forum!!! Good times Mac! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 24, 2010 Author Share Posted October 24, 2010 I always enjoy your reviews, Poppyshake. But I have to stop buying books - I've never read Gaiman before and now...gah! Another author, thanks to you!!! Thanks Mac I'm sure you'll enjoy Gaiman, my own personal favourite was 'Neverwhere' but I liked them all tbh (though I would steer clear of his short stories, at least until you've got to know his style .. they can be a bit hit and miss.) I know what you mean about needing to stop the book buying. Coming on here is a nightmare financially speaking, I'm adding TBR's by the second. I've started using my local library more .. I go armed with a list! Enjoy Gaiman when you do get around to reading him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 (edited) The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde Synopsis: Leaving Swindon behind her to hide out in the Well of Lost Plots (the place where all fiction is created), Thursday Next, Literary Detective and soon-to-be one parent family, ponders her next move from within an unpublished book of dubious merit entitled 'Caversham Heights'. Landen, her husband, is still eradicated, Aornis Hades is meddling with Thursday's memory, and Miss Havisham - when not sewing up plot-holes in 'Mill on the Floss' - is trying to break the land-speed record on the A409. But something is rotten in the state of Jurisfiction. Perkins is 'accidentally' eaten by the minotaur, and Snell succumbs to the Mispeling Vyrus. As a shadow looms over popular fiction, Thursday must keep her wits about her and discover not only what is going on, but also who she can trust to tell about it ...With grammasites, holesmiths, trainee characters, pagerunners, baby dodos and an adopted home scheduled for demolition, 'The Well of Lost Plots' is at once an addictively exciting adventure and an insight into how books are made, who makes them - and why there is no singular for 'scampi'. In the words of one critic: 'Don't ask. Just read it.' Review: These books really do get better and better as they go along but they get harder and harder to review. It's difficult to write anything that will make one ounce of sense to anybody who's not familiar with the Nextian world. Delightfully convoluted, Jasper's writing regularly ties your brain in a knot and has your mouth dropping open at the sheer ingenuity and inventiveness of his plots. With Landen still eradicated, pregnant Thursday has taken up temporary refuge in the Well of Lost Plots (a 26 floored sub-basement situated underneath the great library, where all unpublished books are kept.) To be precise she is in a pretty awful detective novel called 'Caversham Heights' whose chances of being published are practically nil. As the library sub-basement gazeteer informs us ..... 'Caversham Heights represents all the worst aspects of amateur writing. Flat characters, unconvincing police work and a pace so slow that snails pass it in the night. Recommendation: Unpublishable. Suggest book be broken up for salvage at soonest available opportunity. Current Status: Awaiting Council of Genre's Book Inspectorate's report before ordering demolition.' Thursday is standing in for Mary as part of a character exchange programme (set up to allow characters time off to enjoy a change of scenery.) Luckily Mary's role in 'Caversham Heights' is only minor, and Thursday .. with her pet dodo Pickwick in tow .. has plenty of time to rest, relax and concentrate on her pregnancy. Of course, in reality it doesn't pan out as simply as that. Thursday has promised Miss Havisham that she will help out at Jurisfiction, tasks which include trying to eradicate grammasites, destroy a mispeling vyrus (hilarious, the passages just become more and more jumbled as the virus takes hold.) and placate a group of striking nursery rhyme characters. But when a succession of Jurisfiction agents are killed, things start to get a lot more complicated. As if this wasn't enough, Thursday is still being hounded by the evil Aornis, but this time it's Thursday's memory of Aornis that's causing trouble. Somehow she's controlling Thursday's memories, making her re-live some of her nightmare moments and forget all the good one's .. she's even beginning to forget who Landen is. Miss Havisham is back at her waspish best, doling out wisdom, fighting foes and getting into all sorts of bother with Mr Toad as they fight to see who can break the land speed record. Thursday's gingham clad Granny Next is also back to make sure that Thursday keeps remembering, and there is light relief with the fantastic ibb and obb as they evolve from generics to real people. Add to that a minotaur on the loose, a rather belligerent and egotistical Heathcliff bent on retaining the award for 'Most Troubled Romantic Lead' at the annual book awards and an insidious new book delivery system .. UltraWord™ and you've got about one hundreth of the plot. It is complicated, but once you're into the swing, it's just pure enjoyment. The more of the books you read the more familiar you become with Thursday's world and it's just fantastic fun. As always it's full of literary characters and quotations (I loved Thursday's perilous trip into Enid Blyton's 'Shadow the Sheepdog' where the characters are so hung up on emotional highs and lows that Thursday is in danger of being married and murdered in a matter of minutes just so that they can have their sentiment fix) and they always makes you want to read more (both of the books quoted and the Thursday Next series) and teach you new things ... I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't know that A.A. Milne wrote 'Toad of Toad Hall' I just assumed it was another name for 'Wind in the Willows Enough waffle, as the aforementioned critic said ... "Just read it!" 9/10 (and it only misses out on a 10 because I'm quite sure they will get even better and I need room to manoeuvre.) Edited November 18, 2010 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I was telling Frankie yesterday how I think the series gets better and better, but I was afraid it might have just been my personal opinion, so I'm glad you agree with me! I also agree that the books are very hard to review, but you (as always) did a brilliant job of reviewing it. I often see your 'currently reading' updates on Goodreads and get excited when you're reading books I'm interested in (which is nearly always) because I know that means I'll get more awesome reviews to read soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleyz Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 wow Poppy! great review... I never quite know how to review Jasper (though I love his books) but you've really done a great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 29, 2010 Author Share Posted October 29, 2010 I was telling Frankie yesterday how I think the series gets better and better, but I was afraid it might have just been my personal opinion, so I'm glad you agree with me! I also agree that the books are very hard to review, but you (as always) did a brilliant job of reviewing it. I often see your 'currently reading' updates on Goodreads and get excited when you're reading books I'm interested in (which is nearly always) because I know that means I'll get more awesome reviews to read soon. Thanks Kylie, I like seeing what you and Frankie are reading too and often try and seek them out at the library (your legendary trip to the book fair has provided me with a list as long as my arm.) I'll be on the lookout for 'Something Rotten' now I don't enjoy reviewing them though, however much I write it's still only the tip of the iceberg as far as his plots are concerned, I feel like I can't do them justice. wow Poppy! great review... I never quite know how to review Jasper (though I love his books) but you've really done a great job! Thanks Shirley I've actually got to review 'Shades of Grey' soon, I loved it so hopefully I can at least get that across. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted November 2, 2010 Author Share Posted November 2, 2010 (edited) Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron - Jasper Fforde (Unabridged Audiobook) read by Gareth Armstrong Waterstones Synopsis: Hundreds of years in the future, after the Something that Happened, the world is an alarmingly different place. Life is lived according to The Rulebook and social hierarchy is determined by your perception of colour. Eddie Russett is an above average Red who dreams of moving up the ladder by marriage to Constance Oxblood. Until he is sent to the Outer Fringes where he meets Jane -- a lowly Grey with an uncontrollable temper and a desire to see him killed. For Eddie, it's love at first sight. But his infatuation will lead him to discover that all is not as it seems in a world where everything that looks black and white is really shades of grey ...If George Orwell had tripped over a paint pot or Douglas Adams favoured colour swatches instead of towels ...neither of them would have come up with anything as eccentrically brilliant as Shades of Grey. Review: Here's something completely different from Jasper. Eddie Russett lives in Chromatacia (a post apocalyptic version of our world several hundred years hence.) A world where your standing and social status depends on how much colour you can see. Most people in Chromatacia have limited vision and no night vision at all, so seeing natural colour is highly prized. It's a sort of dystopian 'Pride & Prejudice' with colour being everybody's motivating factor instead of money. Those that can see purple are the highest ranked in society and those that have no colour perception at all are called 'greys' and are basically the lowest and the last. Eddie, a fairly strong red, is hoping to elevate himself in society by marrying into the Oxblood family and becoming heir to their string empire, but unfortunately, although he's on a half promise, he is not the only suitor for Constance Oxblood .. Roger Maroon is also in the running. Eddie has been sent to East Carmine to conduct a chair census as part of his 'humility training' (following a prank and an unwelcome proposal for a number queuing system to be introduced in his hometown.) He's accompanied there by his father who is a chromaticologist .. a sort of doctor who uses colour as cures (unless the patient has the dreaded mildew which is, alas, incurable.) Along the way Eddie comes across Jane, an extremely disrespectful not to say rebellious grey (who is on her way to re-boot along with all perceived troublemakers.) Their first encounter is fairly explosive and pretty disastrous. Jane is so opposite to any greys, not to say women, that Eddie has come across before, that he is at first completely non-plussed by her. It's not long though before his initial wariness turns to admiration (for one thing Jane has a really cute retroussé nose, which Eddie can't help but admire, even though mentioning it is likely to get his eyebrows ripped off.) Eventually, as he gets to know Jane, Eddie begins to question the morals and values of the society in which he lives. It seems that there are some pretty underhand and sinister goings on in Chromatacia. Things are not exactly black and white so to speak. His relationship with Jane doesn't go smoothly though, for one thing she has a tendency towards violence not to say a willingness to feed him to a man eating Yateveo plant. Really inventive as you would expect from Jasper with great characters and lots of colour-related puns. I loved Eddie, he has the sort of wide eyed innocence of Bertie Wooster, although he's nowhere near as dim. I loved the Apocryphal man too, a discredited historian whose depth of knowledge of the past 400 years has made him unacceptable and therefore invisible to the collective ... as Eddie's father says .. 'I pity the poor people he's not lodging with'. Shades of Grey is the first book in the series .. I think as the books progress I'll become even more familiar with Chromatacia and it's ways and begin to enjoy it even more because although I enjoyed it a lot I had the same feeling as I did when I read 'The Eyre Affair' of being not always quite in the loop. It helped tremendously that it was read to me and the narration was excellent. I didn't think it was as funny as the Thursday Next series, being gentler in style but it's still very amusing, thought provoking and quirky. 9/10 Edited November 18, 2010 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Another excellent review Poppyshake. I really should bump this up my TBR pile, but I must read the final Thursday Next book before I do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 Thanks Kylie, hope you enjoy it. It's different to the Thursday Next books but still as mind boggling and compelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 (edited) Agnes Grey - Anne Brontë Waterstones Synopsis: 'How delightful it would be to be a governess!' When the young Agnes Grey takes up her first post as governess she is full of hope; she believes she only has to remember 'myself at their age' to win her pupils' love and trust. Instead she finds the young children she has to deal with completely unmanageable. They are, as she observes to her mother, 'unimpressible, incomprehensible creatures'. In writing her first novel, Anne Bronte drew on her own experiences, and one can trace in the work many of the trials of the Victorian governess, often stranded far from home, and treated with little respect by her employers, yet expected to control and educate her young charges. Agnes Grey looks at childhood from nursery to adolescence, and it also charts the frustrations of romantic love, as Agnes starts to nurse warmer feelings towards the local curate, Mr Weston. The novel combines astute dissection of middle-class social behaviour and class attitudes with a wonderful study of Victorian responses to young children which has parallels with debates about education that continue to this day. Review: My first Anne Brontë book. The tale is a fairly simple one, much less complex than either 'Wuthering Heights' or 'Jane Eyre', in some ways it's more reminiscent of Jane Austen's work than either of her sisters. Agnes is a likeable girl, her family are a bit strapped for cash and her father is in poor health. Determined to earn her own way in life and not overly enthusiastic about her parents choice of work (to draw and sell her own artwork) Agnes decides that she would like to be a governess. Her first posting is to Mr and Mrs Bloomfield. Mrs Bloomfield informs Agnes that .... Master Tom (seven) is 'the flower of the flock' - a generous noble-spirited boy who always speaks the truth. Mary Ann (almost six) is 'a very good girl on the whole and Fanny (almost four) is a 'remarkably gentle child.' This all sounds promising but alas Agnes finds that Mrs Bloomfield's opinions of her children cannot wholly be relied upon. In truth the two eldest children are a nightmare to teach, rude, egotistical, boisterous and aggressive. Tom in particular is an absolute horror, intent on setting traps for birds and depatching them in different ways .. 'sometimes I give them to the cat, sometimes I cut them in pieces with my penknife, but the next I mean to roast alive.' He's determined not to be taught anything and Mary Ann is just as bad, Agnes occasionally has to forcibly drag them to the table and hold them there until the lesson is completed. Fanny is found to be a mischievous, intractable creature given up to deception and falsehood and employing her favourite tactics of spitting and bellowing whenever thwarted (this is said to be somewhat auto-biographical, with Anne drawing on her early experiences as a governess.) Although she tries hard, Agnes is unable to teach the children anything and she is constantly being undermined by the parents (who naturally regard their children's lack of improvement as solely the fault of the governess.) Eventually, in less than a year, Agnes is dismissed and sent home, much to her consternation and embarrassment. She's a little downcast but after spending a few weeks at home she decides to try again and this time secures employment with the Murray family. Although the daughters are vain, self centred and thoughtless they are more tractable that the Bloomfields and Agnes becomes more settled. It's here that she meets the curate Edward Weston, a very earnest and worthy young clergyman. Agnes is very taken with him, he's her ideal, but Rosalie, the eldest of the Murray girls (seventeen) is now in want of an admirer and with time on her hands, before she is advantageously betrothed, she fixes on Edward on which to bestow some of her well rehearsed coquetry. Poor Agnes is mortified, and when she is suddenly called back home she fears that she will never set eyes on Edward again. Agnes is likeable enough but apart from the fact that she's obviously very conscientious and kind you don't really learn anything much about her. Despite her pledge at the beginning of the book to be candid, she's too guarded. The story is a pleasant one but it does lack a little bit of oomph .. obviously you can't always have a lunatic in the attic or a deranged lover digging up his dead soul mate but the story perhaps could have done with a tad more excitement. You have the feeling a long way before the end that it's only a matter of time before she's saying Reader, I married him .. or something very like it. 8/10 Edited November 18, 2010 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted November 4, 2010 Author Share Posted November 4, 2010 (edited) The Sea - John Banville Waterstones Synopsis: When art historian Max Morden returns to the seaside village where he once spent a childhood holiday, he is both escaping from a recent loss and confronting a distant trauma. The Grace family had appeared that long-ago summer as if from another world. Mr and Mrs Grace, with their worldly ease and candour, were unlike any adults he had met before. But it was his contemporaries, the Grace twins Myles and Chloe, who most fascinated Max. He grew to know them intricately, even intimately, and what ensued would haunt him for the rest of his years and shape everything that was to follow. 'A novel in which all of his remarkable gifts come together to produce a real work of art, disquieting, beautiful, intelligent, and in the end, surprisingly, offering consolation' - Allan Massie, "Scotsman". 'You can smell and feel and see his world with extraordinary clarity. It is a work of art, and I'll bet it will still be read and admired in seventy-five years' - Rick Gekoski, "The Times". 'Poetry seems to come easily to Banville. There is so much to applaud in this book that it deserves more than one reading' - "Literary Review". 'A brilliant, sensuous, discombobulating novel' - "Spectator". Review: This is something special. John Banville's prose is so beautifully rich and descriptive that it's a pleasure to immerse yourself both in it and the imagery that it conjures up. Although it's quite poetic, nothing is wasted or superfluous and just as you're getting comfortable, he intersperses his writing with an occasional shock like smelling salts which give you a jolt. The story concerns ageing art historian Max. He's at a crossroads in his life, following the death of his wife and this prompts his decision to move back to the idyllic seaside village where he used to holiday as a child. In particular he is lodging at a house where he once was a welcome guest of the enigmatic Grace family. There's a lot of mysteriousness surrounding his return, all we know is that 'something happened there' previously but of course we don't find out what until near the end. The Grace's are a fascinating bunch, they're the sort of family that one envies, effortlessly interesting and vibrant. Max, whose own family are a bit more mundane and ordinary, is desperate to become familiar with them. At first it is Mrs Grace that attracts him, but then he becomes infatuated with her daughter Chloe (with her smell of stale biscuits, the blonde comma of hair at the nape of her neck and the hairline cracks in the porcelain backs of her knees.) Chloe has a twin, Myles ..'like two magnets, but turned the wrong way, pulling and pushing' .. a web footed mute boy who communicates by gestures, noises and clicks which are perfectly understood by Chloe. He's rather odd and unsettling. The storyline ebbs and flows quite slowly, Max wanders between the now, the lately and the long ago but his narration is not always reliable .. things we take as gospel are later retracted or altered, some of this is down to Max's memory which has become dulled over the years. Gradually we piece together his narration and begin to make sense of it. I don't think this style of writing will be for everyone, some people may find it slow paced or too poetic and there are times when you'll need a dictionary to hand (or at least I did ... what on earth do 'cinereal' and 'flocculent' mean?) but I thought it was pretty wonderful. It's haunting, melancholy and darkly humorous. In a nutshell, it's an old man's rather sad recollections. A wonderfully evocative and atmospheric tale of the unpredictability of life and the inevitability of death. It's another one crossed off of the '1001' (hooray) ... and very enjoyably too. 9/10 Edited November 18, 2010 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 You can't imagine how glad I am to read your very positive review of The Sea. A lot of people don't seem to have enjoyed it so I was quite worried about reading it, even though I thoroughly enjoyed The Book of Evidence. I love Banville's style of writing so I think I'll love this book after all. Thanks Poppyshake! I'm definitely bumping this one back up the TBR pile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted November 6, 2010 Author Share Posted November 6, 2010 You can't imagine how glad I am to read your very positive review of The Sea. A lot of people don't seem to have enjoyed it so I was quite worried about reading it, even though I thoroughly enjoyed The Book of Evidence. I love Banville's style of writing so I think I'll love this book after all. Thanks Poppyshake! I'm definitely bumping this one back up the TBR pile. Ooh I'm under pressure now .. remember Kylie we did have a serious difference of opinion over 'How I Live Now' tbh I have such faith in your opinion that I've been meaning to re-read it to see if my original opinion holds (but you know, so many books, so little time!) I hope you'll like it, I think you will, yes I'm sure you will .. you'll love it in fact ... hopefully!! .. the fact that you've enjoyed Banville before gives me hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted November 7, 2010 Author Share Posted November 7, 2010 (edited) I'm so behind with my reviews it's not funny The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold Waterstones Synopsis: My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer. This is Susie Salmon. Watching from heaven, Susie sees her happy suburban family devastated by her death, isolated even from one another as they each try to cope with their terrible loss alone. Over the years, her friends and siblings grow up, fall in love, do all the things she never had the chance to do herself. But life is not quite finished with Susie yet."The Lovely Bones" is a luminous and astonishing novel about life and death, forgiveness and vengeance, memory and forgetting - but, above all, about finding light in the darkest of places. 'Spare, beautiful and brutal prose ..."The Lovely Bones" is compulsive enough to read in a single sitting, brilliantly intelligent, elegantly constructed and ultimately intriguing' - "The Times". 'Moving and compelling ...It will put an imperceptible but stealthily insistent hold on you. I sat down in the morning to read the first couple of pages; five hours later, I was still there, book in hand, transfixed' - Maggie O'Farrell, "Sunday Telegraph". Review: I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this book, at times I was compelled and intrigued by it at others I found it depressing and far fetched. I suppose the subject matter makes it quite a difficult book to actually enjoy but I didn't really wholly believe in Susie's heaven, I could never fix it properly in my mind and it all seemed a little cobbled together. Things about the book annoyed me, some things positively enraged me ... bits where it seemed the author had one eye on the screenplay rather than the novel in particular the scene on the first anniversary of Susie's death when the neighbour's drift over one by one to the cornfield and then sing hymns by candlelight .. all entirely unplanned of course .. and are overheard by the family. I've seen that scene .. or one like it played out a thousand times in TV movies but there was still a lot that I did like about the book. It was interesting to view the surviving members of the family and how they dealt with their grief, mostly badly and that's probably fairly true to life. I liked eccentric old Grandma Lynn and thought the writer depicted both the evil, creepy, perverse Mr Harvey and Susie's heartbroken, grief-stricken, father, wonderfully well. Strangely, I didn't find my tears jerked at all, apart from perhaps the opening chapter which was quite affecting, I don't know if I connected to Susie enough on an emotional level. I positively hated the scene where Susie swaps places with Ruth and enters her corporeal body in order to experience sex with Ray Singh, an old flame. Ray's acceptance of the change I just found bizarre and unconvincing let alone the fact that Susie was only fourteen when she was murdered. I know it's fiction but it stretched credibility too far for me. Mixed reactions but I'm still glad I read it. Despite the problems I had with it I still thought it was a page turner. 7/10 Edited November 18, 2010 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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