Frankie reads 2012

[frankie]

The Sisters Brothers

 

From Amazon: Hermann Kermit Warm is going to die. The enigmatic and powerful man known only as the Commodore has ordered it, and his henchmen, Eli and Charlie Sisters, will make sure of it. Though Eli doesn't share his brother's appetite for whiskey and killing, he's never known anything else. But their prey isn't an easy mark, and on the road from Oregon City to Warm's gold-mining claim outside Sacramento, Eli begins to question what he does for a living–and whom he does it for.

With The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt pays homage to the classic Western, transforming it into an unforgettable comic tour de force. Filled with a remarkable cast of characters–losers, cheaters, and ne'er-do-wells from all stripes of life–and told by a complex and compelling narrator, it is a violent, lustful odyssey through the underworld of the 1850s frontier that beautifully captures the humor, melancholy, and grit of the Old West and two brothers bound by blood, violence, and love.

 

Thoughts: I picked this book up and read it because of the many recommendations on here. It's pretty amazing that I've given the book 4/5 and I can't really remember much about it. I remember what happened in the end, and the general theme (it's a western but not in a (IMO) boring general western-esque way), but I can't seem to recall much more about it. I guess I would recommend this to the fans of the western genre, but I'm not likely to promote this book to a wider audience. I must've enjoyed it while I was reading it, but I generally think that if I like a novel a lot, I would remember a bit more about it...

 

4/5

[bobblybear]

Dog On It has now been added to my wishlist. Interesting thoughts on The Sisters Brothers. I've read a few books where I know I really enjoyed them, but can't remember a thing about them, even though I only read them a month or so ago. Usually Wikipedia triggers my memory. I think it's partly to do with how many books I read and that I tend to go straight from one to the other. Maybe it had a very complex plot and you can't remember the detail?

 

It's one I've had on my Wishlist for a while now, mainly because it got good write-ups on here but also I really like the cover. It's so eye-catching. I don't actually know why I haven't bought it as it's quite cheap on the Kindle. I think it's the Western theme that makes me hesitate.

[frankie]

Dog On It has now been added to my wishlist.

 

Oh I hope you enjoy it! I'm definitely going to read the other novels in the series

 

Interesting thoughts on The Sisters Brothers. I've read a few books where I know I really enjoyed them, but can't remember a thing about them, even though I only read them a month or so ago. Usually Wikipedia triggers my memory. I think it's partly to do with how many books I read and that I tend to go straight from one to the other. Maybe it had a very complex plot and you can't remember the detail?

 

I guess it's to do with the fact that I didn't write the review straight away after reading the novel. I feel like my mind is so fickle (if that's the word?) these days that it's a wonder I can remember my name. I think I remember the gist of the novel, but I don't remember why I liked it enough to give it 4/5. But that's the rating I gave it back then, so I can't go and change it now.

 

It's one I've had on my Wishlist for a while now, mainly because it got good write-ups on here but also I really like the cover. It's so eye-catching. I don't actually know why I haven't bought it as it's quite cheap on the Kindle. I think it's the Western theme that makes me hesitate.

 

I know what you mean about the Western theme bothering you, I've never been interested in that kind of stuff myself. But don't let that bother you with this novel, I think this book was very approachable and readable, and I think that this novel is either a bloody good and enjoyable Western, or otherwise you and I have been wrong and all Westerns are bloody good

[frankie]

Mielensäpahoittaja ja ruskeakastike

by Tuomas Kyrö

 

This is the second novel in the Mielensäpahoittaja-series by the Finnish author Tuomas Kyrö. I loved the first novel, and didn't really expect the second novel to be as good, but holy rubbish, it was just as good and maybe even better. There was a theme, or an order of events, or rather how the short stories followed each other. I don't know if I'll ever enjoy Kyrö's other novels, but by golly, I'll read the Mielensäpahoittaja books for ever after. A true must-read for any Finn.

 

 

5/5

 

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

by Jonas Jonasson

 

From Amazon: It all starts on the one-hundredth birthday of Allan Karlsson. Sitting quietly in his room in an old people's home, he is waiting for the party he-never-wanted-anyway to begin. The mayor is going to be there. The press is going to be there. But, as it turns out, Allan is not...Slowly but surely Allan climbs out of his bedroom window, into the flowerbed (in his slippers) and makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, we learn something of Allan's earlier life in which - remarkably - he helped to make the atom bomb, became friends with American presidents, Russian tyrants, and Chinese leaders, and was a participant behind the scenes in many key events of the twentieth century. Already a huge bestseller across Europe, The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is a fun, feel-good book for all ages.

 

Thoughts: This book was recommended to me by a co-worker at the library. The novel grabbed me right from the start! I mean, who wouldn't be interested in a 100 year old fella who will not be induced to being a feature in the 9 o'clock news for having turned 100 in an old people's home. The story moves in a good pace and boy, there are a lot of really interesting turns of events. I really enjoyed reading this book, the only problem I had with it was the story behind Allan's past: there was a bit too much of it and I had a difficult time keeping up with all the different elements and events. I preferred the story of what Allan got himself into after having escaped his Birthday party.

 

I don't know for sure if this is still for sale (for less than a quid!) for the Kindle people and such, but if it is, it's money well spent

 

4/5

[bobblybear]

I guess it's to do with the fact that I didn't write the review straight away after reading the novel.

 

This is a problem I have, and why I keep telling myself to make notes when I read, but sometimes I just get too immersed in a book, or I can't really think what to make a note of. Usually when I'm writing my review I tend to refer to Wikipedia to refresh my memory as there's bound to be something I missed. Of course, there's also the problem of sometimes enjoying something but being unable to put your finger on why.

 

I know what you mean about the Western theme bothering you, I've never been interested in that kind of stuff myself. But don't let that bother you with this novel, I think this book was very approachable and readable, and I think that this novel is either a bloody good and enjoyable Western, or otherwise you and I have been wrong and all Westerns are bloody good

 

I've just bought it. For £2.39 it's silly not to, especially when it's been on my wishlist for so long. I've spent over £30 on books this month. Hopefully next year I'll show some more restraint.

[frankie]

This is a problem I have, and why I keep telling myself to make notes when I read, but sometimes I just get too immersed in a book, or I can't really think what to make a note of. Usually when I'm writing my review I tend to refer to Wikipedia to refresh my memory as there's bound to be something I missed. Of course, there's also the problem of sometimes enjoying something but being unable to put your finger on why.

 

Agreed! I find that it can really disturb with the flow of reading a novel if you put the book down and write down something, especially if there are a lot of things you want to remember and write down, and long quotes. Maybe one should stick post-it notes on the pages one wants to come back to ... and write down the notes after finishing the last page. I envy the people who remember everything they read on a book, how do they do that?

 

And yes, sometimes it's just hard to pinpoint what it is in the novel that makes it so great.

 

I've just bought it. For £2.39 it's silly not to, especially when it's been on my wishlist for so long. I've spent over £30 on books this month. Hopefully next year I'll show some more restraint.

 

Cool! I hope you'll like it and it won't disappoint. At least it was cheap and you'll finally find out for sure if it was worth it or not And as to the restraint? Well, we'll keep our fingers crossed... we all have good intentions in the beginning of the year, but there are an awful many months to it...

[poppyshake]

Love your review of The 100 Year Old Man WCOTWAD frankie and agree entirely, I liked it a lot but preferred Alan's present exploits to his past ones. I always found myself longing to know what was happening currently (especially as they often liked to leave each section on a cliffhanger). Lovely book though .. so endearing.

 

I often don't remember much about a book after reading it, even one I've enjoyed, especially one I've enjoyed in fact because if I hate a book it sort of seers itself on my memory but we do read a lot of books so it's quite difficult to keep a concise account of them in your head. I normally only retain the flavour of each It makes writing a review months later a bit of a problem

 

Happy reading in 2013 my lovely

[frankie]

Love your review of The 100 Year Old Man WCOTWAD frankie and agree entirely, I liked it a lot but preferred Alan's present exploits to his past ones. I always found myself longing to know what was happening currently (especially as they often liked to leave each section on a cliffhanger). Lovely book though .. so endearing.

 

Yep, and one other thing that I didn't include in the review was that a lot of the stuff in Allan's past was to do with politics and politicians and I didn't enjoy that aspect. Whereas in the current events we had a very wide range of quicky, interesting characters. It was frustrating every time to realise it was the end of a chapter and I had to read more about his past, and leave the more interesting present behind for a while.

 

I often don't remember much about a book after reading it, even one I've enjoyed, especially one I've enjoyed in fact because if I hate a book it sort of seers itself on my memory but we do read a lot of books so it's quite difficult to keep a concise account of them in your head. I normally only retain the flavour of each It makes writing a review months later a bit of a problem

 

Well this certainly doesn't show in your reviews, they are so meaty and it seems like you put so much thought into them, and you remember a lot! It's always a real treat to read about the books you've been reading

 

Happy reading in 2013 my lovely

 

Thanks you dear poppyshake, and the very same to you!

[frankie]

Reviews of all the Finnish titles of the end of the year 2012:

 

~

 

Pitkät päiväunet

by Katariina Romppainen

 

Thoughts: This was recommended to me by my favorite co-worker at the library, my 'library guru'. I'm really glad I read it, it was really good! It was a bit like Nenäpäivä that was one of the Finlandia award nominees in 2011, but in a different way. A journalist wannabe starts a routine to work with different old people in their homes and forgets (if I remember correctly) to give some of them their medications and voila, at least one person starts feeling more alive and clear in the head, when he's not subdued with all them pills. A very interesting story. But made me a whole lot fearful of the future as a retired person: the way old people are taken care of these days is atrocious!

 

4/5

 

~

 

Annikki Nissinen selvittää murhan

by Tiina Forsman

 

Thoughts: I picked this up while I was working at the library because of the title, and the blurb sounded interesting: a retired old lady discovers a body and starts investigating the murder as she has the spare time. A very good premise for a story, but I have to say I kept getting confused by the characters: who was who? And by the end of the novel I had no idea who was the actual murderer and what was the motive.

 

3/5

 

~

 

Kirjepostia

 

Thoughts: Another title I picked up at the library, mostly because of the cover. It was set in the turn of the 20th century Finland, and that's something I've never read before so I was more than intrigued. Very enjoyable!

 

by Terttu Autere 4/5

 

~

 

Sininen hatturasia

by Terttu Autere

 

Thoughts: The sequel to Kirjepostia. Not as good, but still very enjoyable. I believe I need to read more historical fiction by Finnish authors!

 

3/5

 

~

 

Naapurit

by Inna Patrakova

 

Thoughts:

 

 

Is the cover not irresistible, or what? I picked this up solely because of it. Then I read in the blurb that a Finnish couple, staying at their summer cottage, finds they have new neighbors: a Russian couple. Okay, I'm sold! I don't know much about the Russians, and I thought this would make interesting reading. And it was! Patrakova herself is Russian but lives now in Finland, and as far as I know has worked as a tourist guide, is a translator and studies Russian at the university of Helsinki. If she doesn't know about the differences between Finns and Russians, who does? She plays with the stereotypes of both cultures and nationalities, and it's bloody hilarious!

 

4/5

 

~

 

 

Kultahammas

by Inna Patrakova

 

Thoughts: Another novel by the brilliant Patrakova. This is a novel of a Russian tourist guide, guiding a bus load of Russians on their trip to Helsinki and Tampere in Finland. I read somewhere that it is based on Patrakova's own experiences as a tourist guide. Another fun read about the differences between Russians and Finns.

 

4/5

 

~

 

Seljan tytöt & Tapaamme Seljalla & Virva Seljan yksityisasia & Tuntematon Selja

by Rauha S. Virtanen

 

Thoughts: This is a YA series from the 50s by a Finnish author. I was vaguely familiar with the name Selja but hadn't read the books and neither had my Mum, which is probably why I never read these as a kid: I used to read series my Mum had loved while growing up. This was recommended to me by my library guru and another fave co-temp, and I'm happy I tried them out. I think I would love these on a whole different level had I read them as a kid, but I have a feeling I will re-read these some day and pass them on to my possible future offspring.

 

3/5, 4/5, 4/5, 4/5

[frankie]

I've Got Your Number

by Sophie Kinsella

 

From Amazon: I’ve lost it. The only thing in the world I wasn’t supposed to lose. My engagement ring. It’s been in Magnus’s family for three generations. And now the very same day his parents are coming, I’ve lost it. The very same day! Do not hyperventilate, Poppy. Stay positive !!

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen. As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!

 

Well, perfect except that the phone’s owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn’t agree. He wants his phone back and doesn’t appreciate Poppy reading his messages and wading into his personal life.

 

What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other’s lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls, and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents . . . she soon realizes that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life.

 

Thoughts: Kinsella is one of those authors I used to read anything by, I loved her Shopaholic series to a certain point and found her standalones pretty good (except for The Undomestic Goddess which I really disliked, and Twenties Girl which was more than just pretty good), but nowadays I've kind of grown out of her, I don't go out of my way to read her new books and see if she'll publish a new book this year. I found a copy of this novel at the library by chance and the blurb sounded okay so picked it up and read it. It was solid Kinsella: readable, at times funny, a sort of a comfort read, but in some ways predictable:

who of you who've read the book did not see that of course Poppy would end up with Sam?!

. It was like a few hours spent with old socks: they're comfy, they fit, but they have holes in them and you wouldn't wear them in public. And you sigh when you see them and have to wear them because there's nothing else.

 

3/5

 

 

Real Murders

by Charlaine Harris

 

From Amazon: Though a small town at heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side-and crime buffs. One of whom is librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It's a harmless pastime-until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. And as other brutal "copycat" killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real Murders, herself included, as prime suspects-or potential victims.

 

Thoughts: A small town, people who are into true crime, and a librarian? What's not to like?! Well, I can't remember exactly what there was not to like, maybe nothing, but it wasn't as good as it could've been. I'm not sure if this is my fault or Harris's. I kept getting some characters wrong (as in who was who) and I didn't really warm to any of them. At least with Sookie there's a whole range of characters that really stick out! I might read the sequels if I find them at the library but I wouldn't go and buy them.

 

3/5

[frankie]

My Friend Dahmer

by Derf Backderf

 

From Amazon: My Friend Dahmer is the hauntingly original graphic novel by Derf Backderf, the award winning political cartoonist. In these pages, Backderf tries to make sense of Jeffery Dahmer, the future serial killer with whom he shared classrooms, hallways, libraries and car rides. What emerges is a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a young man struggling helplessly against the urges, some ghastly, bubbling up from the deep recesses of his psyche. The Dahmer recounted here, although universally regarded as an inhumane monster, is a lonely oddball who, in reality, is all too human. A shy kid sucked inexorably into madness while the adults in his life fail him. The crimes Dahmer committed are incredibly depraved, infamous and unforgettable, but in My Friend Dahmer Backderf provides profound (and at times, even strangely comic) insight into how, and more important, why Jeffery Dahmer transformed from a high school nerd into the most depraved serial killer since Jack the Ripper, coming as close as anyone yet has to explaining the seemingly unexplainable phenomenon of Jeffery Dahmer.

 

Thoughts: I've never read a book on Jeffery Dahmer but I know of the case, and was only too excited when I found this by chance at the library. It was interesting, and a true crime buff like me can't really resist a story about a serial killer told from the point-of-view of someone who used to be in daily contact with them. The fact that it was a graphic 'novel' was an intriguing bonus. The book held my interest and I'm happy I read it, but I suppose I would say it was of course nothing compared to a real book on Dahmer, which I haven't had a chance to read. But it was still interesting.

 

4/5

[bobblybear]

I read a book on Dahlmer (can't remember the title) and the thing that stood out was how much he hated what he was doing (at least in the early years). He was quite repulsed by it and tried to stop doing it, but he ended up murdering someone when he was in a 'blackout state of mind' and couldn't recall anything about it. That's when he decided to give in to his urges. It was very gruesome reading.

[frankie]

I read a book on Dahlmer (can't remember the title) and the thing that stood out was how much he hated what he was doing (at least in the early years). He was quite repulsed by it and tried to stop doing it, but he ended up murdering someone when he was in a 'blackout state of mind' and couldn't recall anything about it. That's when he decided to give in to his urges. It was very gruesome reading.

 

That's what's so interesting, serial killers are so different from one another. Some take great pleasure in what they do, and find different aspects of the process most pleasurable (whether it be the torture prior to the killing, or the actual killing, or stuff they do to the bodies, and some just want to sexually abuse people and then find they have to get rid of the victim to escape getting caught), and some seem to try and fight the urges and some want to get caught. It's all a nasty business to say the least but it's fascinating to read about what drove these people to what they do and are.

 

Like I said before, I haven't read a proper book on him so I didn't either know or remember that he was repulsed by what he did. The thing with Dahmer that I will always remember is that one of his victims managed to escape and get to the street, and two women found him wandering around and called the cops, but Dahmer managed to convince the police officers who came to the scene that the boy was his 19 year old partner and that they'd had an argument while they'd been drinking, and the cops let him go free and take the victim with him! That's so disgusting and a total outrage. The women tried telling the cops the boy was just a kid and that they in fact recognised him and he was from the neighborhood, but the cops still let Dahmer take him. I effing hope they got fired after that!

 

Edit: I wikied Dahmer and get this: "John Balcerzak is a police officer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and former president of the Milwaukee Police Association, having served in that post from 2005 to 2009. In 1991, he was fired for having handed over an injured child to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, despite the victim's protests. He appealed his firing and was subsequently reinstated."

 

That's appalling!

[Kylie]

! Did Dahler kill the kid after the cops handed him over?

[frankie]

! Did Dahler kill the kid after the cops handed him over?

 

Yes he did. And apparently the cops escorted him and the kid to his house, and noted a strange odour in his apartment but didn't investigate or report it. It was discovered later that there had already been another decomposing body there... And had the policemen looked his record up, they would've found out that he had a record of molesting kids.

 

Here's the whole 'incident', from wiki:

 

 

In the early morning hours of May 27, 1991, 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone (the younger brother of the boy whom Dahmer had molested in 1988) was discovered on the street, wandering naked, heavily under the influence of drugs and bleeding from his rectum. Two young women from the neighborhood found the dazed boy and called 911. Dahmer chased his victim down and tried to take him away, but the women stopped him.^[31] Dahmer told John Balcerzak and Joseph Gabrish, police officers dispatched to the scene, that Sinthasomphone was his 19-year-old boyfriend, and that they had an argument while drinking. Against the protests of the two women who had called 911, who recognized him from the neighborhood and insisted that he was a child and could not speak English, the officers turned him over to Dahmer. They later reported smelling a strange scent while inside Dahmer's apartment, but did not investigate it. The smell was the body of Tony Hughes, Dahmer's previous victim, decomposing in the bedroom. The officers did not make any attempt to verify Sinthasomphone's age or identity, nor locate someone who could communicate with him, and failed to run a background check that would have revealed Dahmer being a convicted child molester still under probation.^[32] Later that night, Dahmer killed and dismembered Sinthasomphone, keeping his skull as a souvenir.

 

[Kylie]

That's terrible! I can't believe they didn't check anything out! I'm shocked and disgusted.

[frankie]

I know! I mean the kid was wandering around in the nude, for one. And then the ladies said they knew him. It's just effing unbelievable and really upsetting

[Ooshie]

That is unbelievably awful! Both that they sent off the boy with Dahmer, and then that one of the officers was actually reinstated after being fired!

[frankie]

I know! I knew the story but I had no idea what became of the police officers after that, I naturally hoped and also assumed that they'd been fired. It wasn't until I wikied the case now when I was replying to bobblybear's post that I found out about the other police officer. And not only did the other officer get to keep his job, but he was promoted as the president of the Milwaukee Police Association. Did they not have any other policemen in Milwaukee?!

[bobblybear]

I remember reading about that, and I was so gobsmacked that the police officer handed him back. I never knew about the police officer keeping his job and being promoted. How disgraceful!

 

You are right, Frankie - serial killers are all so different. I do find it fascinating reading but some of it can really be stomach-churning stuff. I read loads of true crime books when I was younger, and then stopped reading it for several years (after reading the Black Dahlia case), but am getting more interested in it again. I find the forensics and profiling side of it most fascinating. It's amazing what profilers can predict about these serial-killers, and the tricks they do to catch them out. I don't know how they do it for a living day after day though, I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night. Or I'd be suffering from a severe case of depression from being surrounded by so much harsh realities.

[frankie]

You are right, Frankie - serial killers are all so different. I do find it fascinating reading but some of it can really be stomach-churning stuff. I read loads of true crime books when I was younger, and then stopped reading it for several years (after reading the Black Dahlia case), but am getting more interested in it again. I find the forensics and profiling side of it most fascinating. It's amazing what profilers can predict about these serial-killers, and the tricks they do to catch them out. I don't know how they do it for a living day after day though, I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night. Or I'd be suffering from a severe case of depression from being surrounded by so much harsh realities.

 

I totally agree with you: I find the forensics and profiling very interesting, too. It's no real surprise then that one of my favorite series is Criminal Minds. It's really good, and I really enjoy it when they incorporate stories or little details of real true crime cases. Like you said, it's really amazing how they can draw up profiles that can be really accurate at times (most of the time, I suspect), especially when there are so many different ways in which a person can be fekked up in the head. I've actually talked about this before with another forum member, saying how profiling would be a really interesting job, something I'd like to try, but that that's only in my dreams: I could never ever do it in real life, because I am a sane person and understand it's not like it is in the TV series. I couldn't stand the crime scenes and I couldn't deal with all the evil and insanity in the world, every day, year in year out. So it's better that we keep to reading books about all the cases!

[frankie]

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens

(1001, RG-b)

 

From Amazon: The tale begins on Christmas Eve seven years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner Jacob Marley. Scrooge is established within the first stave (chapter) as a greedy and stingy businessman who has no place in his life for kindness, compassion, charity, or benevolence. After being warned by Marley's ghost to change his ways, Scrooge is visited by three additional ghosts "each in its turn" who accompany him to various scenes with the hope of achieving his transformation. The first of the spirits, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to the scenes of his boyhood and youth which stir the old miser's gentle and tender side by reminding him of a time when he was more innocent. The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to several radically differing scenes (a joy-filled market of people buying the makings of Christmas dinner, the family feast of Scrooge's near-impoverished clerk Bob Cratchit, a miner's cottage, and a lighthouse among other sites) in order to evince from the miser a sense of responsibility for his fellow man. The third spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, harrows Scrooge with dire visions of the future if he does not learn and act upon what he has witnessed. Scrooge's own neglected and untended grave is revealed, prompting the miser to aver that he will change his ways in hopes of changing these "shadows of what may be." In the fifth and final stave, Scrooge awakens Christmas morning with joy and love in his heart, then spends the day with his nephew's family after anonymously sending a prize turkey to the Crachit home for Christmas dinner. Scrooge has become a different man overnight, and now treats his fellow men with kindness, generosity, and compassion, gaining a reputation as a man who embodies the spirit of Christmas. The story closes with the narrator confirming the validity, completeness, and permanence of Scrooge's transformation.

 

 

Thoughts: This is a bit of a classic and I'm sure my on the novel aren't going to be very popular on here I had no problems with the story itself, only that it wasn't as captivating as I was expecting and I wasn't as moved as most people seem to be with the story. I'm ordinarily not one for illustrations but this time they seemed more interesting than the written word. It was an okay read, but it didn't do much for me, I'm afraid. Maybe the story will improve on a re-read, but now it was just okay.

 

 

2/5

[frankie]

Ihmispedot

by Micael Dahlén

 

Thoughts: I don't believe this book has been translated into English at least yet. The title is Human Monsters in English, and it talks about five different murderers and serial/spree killers whom Dahlén has visited and interviewed: Charles Manson, Dorothea Puente, Issei Sagawa, Wayne Lo and Peter Lundin (the links will lead you to the wikipedia pages of each killer). In this book Dahlén sets out to investigate what it is exactly that draws people to these monsters and why they are so utterly fascinating.

 

I only knew about Charles Manson beforehand, the other four people I knew nothing about. If I remember correctly, each chapter is dedicated to one of the killers and Dahlén takes the reader through their crimes and then talks about the general public's views and thoughts about them and then moves on to tell us how the interviews go and what he makes of each of these killers. It makes a pretty fascinating reading!

 

Here are some interesting details:

 

- Dahlén did this psychological test to a group of people, presenting made-up murderers ('John' and 'Jane') with made-up cases. The test group was then to come up with different character traits of each killer off a list of traits. According to the results, the 'John' who killed with his bare hands was very interesting/appealing to the ladies. His mode of killing seemed to signal that he was strong and a powerful leader, and that made him attractive. The 'John' who killed with a gun was interesting in the men's eyes. He was perceived as having more of a status and it made him sophisticated.

 

There was less variety in what people made of 'Jane' whether she killed by hands, a gun or so forth. But there was a clear winner though: The 'Jane' that killed by poisoning was clearly the most appealing female murderer. This was seen especially in the answers of men who weren't as scared by her not-so-physical bad qualities (i.e. the fact that she didn't kill them physically).

 

- Dahlén made two of his male and two of his female friends to set up profiles on a dating site, the other man doing a normal version and the other man doing a profile where it said 'and by the way I've killed a person', and the same with the women. Quite shockingly, the killer profiles got 20% more contacts than the normal profiles!

 

- According to American Behavioral Scientist magazine, children in the United States see over 8,000 murders before they leave elementary school. This covers games, TV shows, movies, the news, papers etc. That's quite a shocking number.

 

- True crime literature is one of the most profit-making genres on for example Amazon. The most popular books are biographies and autobiographies of murderers.

 

 

A very interesting read, I would recommend it to all true crime readers (who can read in one of the Nordic languages)

 

 

4/5

[frankie]

Mrs Fry's Diary

by Mrs Stephen Fry

 

From Amazon: Stephen Fry's secret wife speaks out at last...

 

"Enjoyed a nice cuppa this morning with a HobNob and Jeremy Kyle. There was a woman on there who'd been married 16 years without realising her husband was gay. Extraordinary! Which reminds me, it's our 16th anniversary in a few weeks. What a coincidence."

 

Stephen Fry - actor, writer, raconteur and wit. Cerebral and sophisticated, a true Renaissance man.

 

Or is he?

 

Finally, his secret double life - the womanizing, the window-cleaning, the kebabs, the karaoke - is exclusively revealed by Edna, his devoted wife and mother of his five, six or possibly seven children. These diaries take us through a year in the life of an unwitting celebrity wife, and are rumoured to include:

 

- scandalous nocturnal shenanigans

- advice on childcare

- 101 things to do with a tin of Spam.

 

'A good diary should be like a good husband - a constant companion, a source of inspiration and, ideally, bound in leather.' - Edna Fry

 

 

Thoughts: This was a fun read! I didn't get further than the first page where the dedication read: "For Stephen and the bills"

 

I have a few quotes for you, instead of thoughts:

 

"Oh dear. Stephen smeared his you-know-what with superglue again last night. I'd love to tell someone about it but my lips are sealed."

 

This after going to 'Rings of Fire Curry House: "In the end, Stephen and I went for the C. S. Lewis special set meal. It's like the regular set meal, only naanier."

 

(Oh, and have I not told some of you guys what the song Ring of Fire is all about! )

 

It's been a while since I read this, and I don't know why I gave it such a low rating, but there it is and can't be changed.

 

 

3/5

[frankie]

The Discomfort Zone

by Jonathan Franzen

 

From Amazon: A brilliant personal history from the award-winning author of ‘The Corrections’.

 

Jonathan Franzen, bestselling author of ‘Freedom’ and the highly acclaimed ‘The Corrections’, arrived late, and last, in a family of boys in Webster Groves, Missouri. ‘The Discomfort Zone’ is his intimate memoir of his growth from a ‘small and fundamentally ridiculous person,’ through an adolescence both excruciating and strangely happy, into an adult with embarrassing and unexpected passions. It's also a portrait of a middle-class family weathering the turbulence of the 1970s, and a vivid personal insight into the decades in which America took an angry turn away from its mid-century ideals.

 

He tells of the effects of Kafka's fiction on Franzen's protracted quest to lose his virginity, the elaborate pranks that he and his friends orchestrated from the roof of his high school, his self-inflicted travails in selling his mother's house after her death, the web of connections between his all-consuming marriage, the problem of global warming, and the life lessons to be learned in watching birds.

Sparkling, daring and arrestingly honest, ‘The Discomfort Zone’ is warmed by the same combination of comic scrutiny and unqualified affection that characterize Franzen's fiction. It narrates the formation of a unique mind and heart in the crucible of an everyday American family.

 

Thoughts: I haven't read anything by Jonathan Franzen but found out about this memoir on some magazine and wanted to read it. It's rather telling that I can't remember much about the life of Franzen, and what the book was like. He went on about Charlie Brown, birds and The Trial by Kafka. And other stuff. The bird watching was painful reading, and it was in the end of the book and I felt like skipping that chapter. No offence to bird watchers, who knows how much fun it might be but reading about someone else doing it made me yawn. And the book is certainly not as 'comic scrutinized' as one could have hoped. I didn't really warm up to Franzen. Here's hoping that his novels are better than his memoirs.

 

3/5