Choosing Between Darkness and Joy

I've been trying to listen to the audio book of Pat Barker's "Regeneration", a story about a soldier in World War I who writes a manifesto condemning the war and is listed as mentally unstable as a result. It's dark.  I'm not very far into it, because every time I try to 'read' it I just feel overwhelmed by the darkness.  The other title I've been trying to read is Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things" - I've only gotten about 1/8th into the novel, and while it's not as dark, it is very heavy in terms of descriptive passages and I'm having a heck of a time trying to get into the story. It just isn't fun for me anymore, so  I'm moving on, and it feels great. Moving beyond the Man Booker list means the tone of the posts is going to change a bit.  Most of you only know me through this blog, so it may be a bit like getting to know me all over again.  I hope you still like me!

My father and I have a conversation about twice a year about entertainment, how we choose what we read and watch, and why we like the things we do. My dad, who is a brilliant man, always says that he chooses books, TV shows, and movies for their ability to help him escape the darkness of everyday reality.  I think it's a great philosophy. 

I know lots of people enjoy dark, gritty entertainment, the type with "real world" problems, but I go to the arts to increase the joy in my life. That doesn't mean it's all sunshine and rainbows, just that good wins more often than bad. I like to laugh, and I do so quite freely, and everything (and everyone, for that matter) that I love makes me laugh to some degree. That's not to say I don't appreciate art which deals with loss. Some of my favourite songs are of heartbreak. Almost all of my favourite books have at least one tragedy that breaks my heart. Art reflects life, and life contains that pain. But, I choose to see life as being primarily a bright and joyful experience. So when I go to art, the love and joy need to overwhelm the darkness. This may seem like a contradiction when you see how many serial killers are on my list of favourite characters, but I go to thrillers for pure escapism, which is fun. Which is joyful.  It makes sense to me.

For the past 15 months I've been collecting books that I want to read, and I'm feeling so spoilt for choice that I'm tempted to re-read a favourite book simply to avoid making the decision about what to read next.  I have an odd habit with books I'm really looking forward to. I buy them right away, and then keep them unread.  My theory is that once I read the book, I'll no longer have it to look forward to.  So I build up a little stockpile of my favourite authors until I reach a breaking point, at which I gorge myself on them over the course of a month (or sometimes just a couple of weeks!). I sometimes do the same thing with a 'new to me' author who has several titles published already. I enjoy a total immersion style of fandom.

Currently I have multiple titles from (in no particular order):
Rob Thurman
Chelsea Cain
Daniel Kalla
Kelly Meding
Caitlin Kittredge
Jeff Lindsay
Kathy Reichs
Maggie Sefton
Peter Tremayne
Devon Monk
Tanya Huff
Roddy Doyle
Anton Strout
Jim Butcher
Ariana Franklin
Lev Grossman

plus individual titles by another half dozen authors, a bunch of history and mythology books, books by friends, and some new authors I want to try, all awaiting my pleasure!

Ever since I started reading the Man Booker books I've felt as though I am battling the clock.  Looking at my list of 'pleasure' reading, I feel like I've got all the time in the world, it's just a matter of making a start somewhere, and they will all get read! It's a pretty great feeling!

Happy Reading!

Not A Review Of Celtic Thunder

I finished reading Graham Swift's "Last Orders" on Tuesday, November 27th - it took me 15 days to read it, but I've been having a difficult time blogging about it. Not that I didn't enjoy the novel - I really did! - I've just been distracted this week. Completely lacking focus on anything that doesn't directly involve Celtic Thunder.  The day job has suffered, sleep has suffered, reading has suffered (I can't read while listening to music - weird, I know!), and I'm fairly certain that my friends, Twitter followers and family would really like me to just Shut. The. Fuck. Up. but I had an amazing time at the concert on Monday, I'm really excited to see the acoustic Hurricane Sandy benefit concert next weekend, and I'm seriously tempted by the cruise next November. It's been an emotionally busy week for me! I do feel bad about not blogging, but I really couldn't focus, and I didn't want to write an entire post just about how amazingly fun the show was.  So that's all I will say about it! ;)

I was a bit concerned that "Last Orders" would be similar to "The Old Devils" - just a bunch of old people drinking and depressing me.  Turns out it's more of a road trip story, with the four principle characters driving across country to spread the ashes of a recently deceased friend, Jack.  During the trip they all privately reflect on their relationships with Jack.  It's also a story about family, the ones we chose and the ones we don't, and how their expectations of us (and ours of them!) affect our lives. There are moments of bittersweet humour and revelations about the interconnections in their past, some surprising and some obvious, all told in bite sized chapters which fit perfectly into my 'bus reader' schedule.  I wanted the novel to go beyond it's natural conclusion because I really grew to care about the characters - which means, of course, that Swift did his job perfectly!

The theme of isolation ran deep in this novel, highlighted by the characters seeming inability to have an intimate conversation with each other.  They are all more or less alone, and facing mortality, but they never speak to each other about the fears that come along with that, even as they are all preoccupied with them in their own thoughts.  They worry about their children, and who will see to their remains when they pass on.  Despite that, it feels like a hopeful novel, as they all still have time left to them in which they can try to reconnect.  There's something beautiful about that.

All said, I really enjoyed this novel, will gladly recommend it, and I'm looking forward to reading more of Graham Swift's writing in the future.  For now, my next read is Arundhati Roy's "The God Of Small Things" - which has been in my purse since Tuesday, and hasn't been opened once.  Also, I'm no further along in Pat Baker's Regeneration trilogy because as hard as it is for me to read while listening to music, it is 100% more difficult to 'read' an audio book while listening to music!

In my defence, it was a really amazing concert!

Happy reading!

A Mystery, A Romance, and A Very Late Post

Well, James Kelman certainly captured my attention! It took me a long time to read "How Late It Was, How Late" (31 days!) but, honestly, it's because I didn't want to let go of Sammy!  At its heart the story, to me, is a mystery - what happened on Saturday, where's Helen, etc. I absolutely love mystery, so I really took my time to savour the story.  I did not find the ending particularly satisfying, but I still loved the book.

Apparently there was a bit of controversy when "How Late It Was, How Late" won the Booker prize in 1994 which seems to have been mainly concerned with the use of 'fuck' in the novel.  I myself was a bit worried about the novel having been written in dialect, which can often be inscrutable, but I found it flowed quite easily and I was quickly immersed in the mystery and drama of the story.  Quite frankly, the story would have been ridiculous in 'proper English'.  The swearing, when not flowing smoothly, was more comedic than vulgar.  However if you do find 'that sort of language' distasteful, you're probably going to want to skip this novel!

There was a passage early on in the novel that caught my eye and seems to define a lot of 'literature' to me, so I thought I'd share that with you:
"Funny how ye tell people a story to make a point and ye fail, ye fail, a total disaster.  Not only do ye no make yer point it winds up the exact fucking opposite man, the exact fucking opposite.  That isnay a misunderstanding it's a total
whatever."
So true, right?

I was going to spend my audio book time (also known as Knitting Time) with the prequels to Pat Barker's 1995 Booker prize winner, "The Ghost Road", but I ended up finding a copy of Rachael Herron's "How to Knit a Love Song" in the library audio downloads... Funny how that happens! I read her memoir, "A Life In Stitches", in the spring (but didn't count it as reading a whole book, because I read it over several months... oh shut up.) and I really enjoyed it.  So, I listened to that instead the Regeneration books, because I am a total sucker for romance novels, and also knitting novels. It's a pretty fun novel - life on a sheep farm, within view of the ocean, with a hot rancher?? Yes Please!!  It even made me want to try out spinning, which I've been very resistant to.  I mean, who has the time?! Plus, spinning wheels take up so much space... Anyway, I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the series - there are a couple of characters from this novel who I'd love to spend more time with!  

All by way of explaining that my next read is not "The Ghost Road", as I haven't finished the first two novels in the trilogy.  So I'm instead moving on to read Graham Swift's "Last Orders", which I started yesterday, because this post is actually several days in the making. Not that time has improved the quality of the content in any way.  I feel like I'm staring down another deadline, so hopefully a little fire under my butt gets me through a couple novels in quick succession here! Stay tuned, and

Happy reading!

I Can't Help Loving The Irish!

I finished reading Roddy Doyle's "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" yesterday (13 days for those keeping track) and, no surprise, I loved it.  It was a little touch and go the first ten pages as the novel is written without chapters, which I hate.  The narrator is a 10 year old boy, so the story is divided into bite sized chunks determined by his attention span - a perfect 'bus book' for me!

Beyond the fact that this is an 'Irish' story, I loved it because it is the most true story I've read in a long time.  Not factual, but true in a very honest way about how we see the world as children, the games we play with ourselves and the imaginary rules that the world operates by.  It's a really enchanting novel, tinged with the helplessness of growing up.  I honestly don't want to say too much about why I loved the story - I just want you to find yourself a copy and enjoy it!

I've been trying to hard to 'cheat' with Barry Unsworth's "Sacred Hunger" by listening to an unabridged audio book, but it's proving to be impossible! Although the Calgary Public Library does have copies of it in stock, they are only available to visually impaired patrons.  So I decided to purchase an Audible account, only to discover that the title isn't available in Canada! Darn you, international copyright laws! I can't even locate a new or used physical copy of the audio book to purchase. It's driving me a bit crazy, but I'm not quite ready to cave in and actually try reading it again!!

The up-side of my new Audible account is that I can listen to the first two volumes of Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy before reading the Man Booker winner, "The Ghost Road"! I imagine that book 3 wouldn't have won the prize if it couldn't be read as a stand alone novel, but I'd rather not risk it.  Besides, this way I have an extra excuse to spend my evening's knitting (as if I needed another excuse!)!  In physical reading, I'm moving on to James Kelman's "How Late It Was, How Late" which has a promising premise, although I am a bit worried about it's having been written in phonetic dialect, which I always find challenging.  What's life without challenges, right?

Happy Reading!

Free At Last

Hello, happy readers! I've been terribly slack in posting again - I'm sure you're all used to this by now, I should stop even referring to it! The shortlist for the 2012 prize was released a couple weeks ago, you can find that here.  I'm excited that one of the novels Locus magazine recommended, and also one of titles I personally found intriguing, both made the shortlist although I still have my suspicions that Hilary Mantel will win again.  I'm becoming very cynical in my old age!

I have finished reading another novel, V.S. Naipaul's "In a Free State".  It took me a bugger of a long time to get through it, 37 days to be exact, an average of less than 7 pages per day! I blame my unimpressive progress in the past 4 months on a 'summer holiday' mentality - I've only read 4 novels since I returned from my holidays in June.  It's depressing.  I keep looking at my shelf and imagining how many fantasy novels I could get through in a week if I weren't restricting myself to 'literature', and I have to force myself not to give into the temptation because I know if I start to read anything off the 'to-be-read' list I'll just make more excuses not to read the Man Booker list!

Anyway, "In A Free State" was a different sort novel - it's comprised of 5 sections, three short stories sandwiched by a pair of travel 'journal entries', all dealing with the idea of freedom.  It's almost the myth of freedom, as each section shows in a different way how our perception of freedom is skewed from the reality of the situation.  I found the first three sections really interesting and I was engaged in the stories, but the fourth section was very tedious for me.  It is the largest section of the novel and describes the journey of a pair of English expatriates across the country side of an unspecified African nation in a time of civil unrest.  It's an interesting plot, dealing with racism in addition to the idea that one can be free from societal pressures while living in another country, but I was completely bogged down by the descriptions of the landscape.  It's one of the major drawbacks of a 'road trip' story, and also the main reason I've never been able to read "The Lord of the Rings".  After about 25 pages I felt like saying, Yes, I get it - Africa is beautiful, the landscape is varied, seemingly constant but constantly changing and unexpected - please lets move on! Not that I didn't enjoy the novel over-all, in fact I found it quiet insightful, and I would gladly recommend it.  I find descriptions of landscape to be very dull, but if you enjoy or even don't mind that sort of thing I'm certain that you will find this an engaging and entertaining read.  Just don't say I didn't warn you about the scenery!

My favourite section of the novel was the second, 'One out of Many', which examines how a search for freedom can become a procession through various forms of enslavement.  Santosh begins his story as a servant living in near-slum conditions in Bombay, a life in which he describes himself as happy, and ends as an American citizen in Washington, "free" but trapped and lonely.  It's beautiful in it's simplicity, and I know his story will haunt me for years.  I found the third section, 'Tell Me Who To Kill', very sad.  It deals with how familial expectations can become a living prison.  I cried.

I'm jumping back up to 1993 for my next read with Roddy Doyle's "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha".  I know I said I was going to try "Something to Answer For" next, but at this point I feel like I waited so long to get it, I may save it for last to read.  It's my own weird psychology, nothing I can really explain.  Honestly, I've just really been looking forward to Roddy Doyle - in fact, I have thirty minutes to spare right now....

Happy reading!

In Which I Admit Defeat.... Temporarily

After 12 days I have only read 8 chapters of "Sacred Hunger". Barry Unsworth is kicking my mental ass. I'm finding the writing style and the language to be archaic - it's just a real slog to try and read. Also, in one scene the characters are referred to alternately by their names, their professions, and the characters they are playing in an amateur dramatics production - confusing to say the least! I just cannot focus on this novel right now, so in the hope that I will be able to enjoy it properly at a later date, I am giving up trying to read it right now.

It feels pretty good.

Also, as I've mentioned previously, there is absolutely no way I'm going to finish this list by September 13th. Rather than discarding the idea of a deadline entirely, I've decided to extend it to December 31, 2012. An extra three and a half months still may not be enough time to read the remaining novels, but it's worth a shot! Quite frankly, January will be a month of delicious new 'genre' reading whether I'm finished with the Man Booker's or not - my 'want to read' pile is bordering on the unmanageable!

For now, I'm going back chronologically to 1971 and V.S. Naipaul's "In a Free State". Plus, I finally got a copy of the inaugural winner last week, so I may try that next.

Happy Reading!

Altering Misconceptions

So, "The English Patient" by Michael Ondaatje. I read that (took me 15 days for those keeping score). I will admit, I approached this title with almost as much trepidation as I did Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" - to me they are the epitome of modern classics. I am young enough that it feels like both of them have always been a part of the pop lit cannon. Everyone who reads knows of them. That carries a lot of weight of expectation, which mostly has nothing to do with the actual novels.

Interestingly, this novel ranked 2nd in my list of 'titles I am least looking forward to reading' when I began, with Schindler's Ark in 1st (another title which bore the weight of enormous expectations!). I have a suspicion that anything WWII related is designed to make me weepy - which I HATE - plus I understood it to be a romance. War romance? Usually twice the weeping!!

I did not cry. I didn't even have to try not to cry. It is an interesting story. It is a travelogue, a mystery, it has the tension of a thriller (who doesn't tense when there's a bomb being defused?!). I enjoyed "The English Patient". It is clearly written - only at one point was I not entirely sure of what I was being told. The story and the characters are engaging, and deeply human. I didn't cry, although it is filled with tragedy. I learned new things. All in all, it is a solid top 8 of the books I've read so far, and one of only two books that I had preconceived notions of which did not disappoint. Yay!

My favourite part of the novel was the use of 'altered books' to depict the characters rewriting of their own histories - absolutely loved it!  Both Hana, the Canadian nurse, and the titular character alter books, and in combination with the frequent use of quotation in the story it creates a desperate love song to civilization, as expressed through literature.  While they are rewriting their world, they are trying to understand it through the literature of the past. 

It is really freaking beautiful.

I've always loved the idea of altered books - adapting an existing work to express a larger story, or even an entirely different story, within the leaves of another story.  Inspired! But, I can't bring myself to actually do it! I have a passion for beautifully crafted books and I feel that marking in them in any way, well, destroys them.  It's a bit ridiculous, I know, especially since I also love the idea of marginalia.  But I simply can not write in a book!

I was sorely tempted to grab Roddy Doyle's "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" on my way out the door this morning, rather than Barry Unsworth's "Sacred Hunger".  Unsworth and Ondaatje were joint winners in 1992, Doyle the winner in 1993.  I've had "Sacred Hunger" beside my bed for three weeks now.  It's a bit daunting.  630 pages, and it appears to be about the slave trade.  Not exactly 'light' reading in any sense. Doyle, on the other hand, is tempting on so many levels.  I loved "The Commitments" (although I haven't ventured into the rest of the Barrytown trilogy yet) and I love all things related to Ireland.  So why is "Sacred Hunger" waiting in my bag? Because I know if I skip it now, I'll come up with more excuses to continue post-poning it, and it may never get read.  At least, not by me! And that would never do!

Happy reading!

They Do This Every Year?

I finished reading Ben Okri's "The Famished Road" on Friday (that was July 27th) having taken 37 days - a new record! Not the sort of record I've been hoping for, but a record nonetheless.  It was a really interesting read, an absolute feast of words and imagery.  I enjoyed it.  It's a story about a 'spirit child' who chooses to live rather than return to the spirit land, and the story is filled with his wanderings and various attempted abductions by spirits trying to return him to the spirit land.  It's a bit random, and the time line is difficult to follow, but it was a fun novel.

I'm a bit concerned with one of review quotes on the back of my copy.  Philip Howard of 'The Times' says "the message is universal" and to be honest, I'm just not sure what that message is! Another of the quotes, Jenny Turner of 'New Statesmen & Society', says "Overwhelming.... just buy it for it's beauty"! I think perhaps she didn't get the universal message either, and just enjoyed it for the delicious wonder of the language.  Sometimes a beautiful novel can just be a beautiful novel, right? I think I'll probably read it again though, just to be sure!

I'm already halfway into my next read, Michael Ondaatje's "The English Patient", and I'm sure if I can convince myself not to watch four-hours of Olympic coverage after work again (Go Team Canada!) I'll be able to finish it tomorrow. Of course, I'm also knitting a lovely new shawl (Memoria by Oblivious Knits, in 'Silver Lining' from the lovely & local Dragonfly Dyewerx, for those curious) so that's a bit distracting as well.  But I am impressed with the novel so far.  It's living up to my expectations of it anyhow!

It needs to be said - yes, there is no way I'm going to make my goal of reading all the Man Booker prize winners in 12 months. I have 22 books left to read, and only 42 days. If I were only reading books I absolutely loved, and not working full-time, or watching Olympics/any TV, or knitting, or sleeping, I would say 'Sure, I can make that!' but, sadly or not, I must also live outside the pages. I am not going to give up entirely, I will continue to read only the Booker books until I catch up, which means I will be doing this for the rest of my life. Did you know they do this every year?! ;)

There are a few really interesting looking titles on the 2012 long list! It will be interesting to see what happens this year, since only one of the authors is of the 'old guard' and the rest are all first-time nominees. I'm a bit cynical, though, so I admit I will be disappointed but unsurprised if Hilary Mantel's sequel to her 2010 Man Booker prize winning novel "Wolf Hall", "Bring Up The Bodies", wins - even though I've heard great things about "Wolf Hall', and I'm sure the new novel is wonderful too! It would be fantastic to see a new winner. I was a bit disappointed that Patrick Dewitt's "The Sisters Brothers" didn't win last year, since I've heard nothing but good things about it.  I had hoped that I would be finished with the past winners in time to at least read this years short-list before the prize is awarded, but again, so not going to happen.  Regardless, it will be interesting to see who wins!

Happy Reading!

Better Late Than Never?

Wow. I'm sorry it's been such a ridiculously long time since my last post. My vacation in Ireland was fantastic! I always love it there but it's extra special when you get to share the experience with friends you love. Most of the month since I got back has been dedicated to finishing the Anna shawl KAL which was hosted over at http://www.ridiculousknits.blogspot.ca/ - it was a challenge for me, but a gorgeous knit and I had a lot of fun with it. This is it, blocking on my bed, looking way too gorgeous to be accused of sucking away 6 weeks of my reading life. 

As for my Man Booker challenge, well, it hasn't been going so great! I managed to read one novel during my holiday, Stanley Middleton's "Holiday", which was really no holiday. Irony, yes? This novel would probably have been quite sad and even a bit depressing if I had felt enough of a connection with it to care even a little bit about the characters, but I didn't. The protagonist walks out of his marriage but has no place to go, so takes a holiday at the resort town his family visited when he was a child. While there he reminisces about his father and the relationship he will never have with his own son, while dealing with his in-laws attempts to reconcile him with his wife. It's really a novel about grief and how we process it in different ways, told in a series of flashbacks, but because the main character is in such a numb, dissociative state of mind I found it really difficult to connect with him.

On the flight home I started reading David Storey's "Saville" - an absolute brick of a coming of age novel. If I'd been reading a physical book rather than an eBook I'm certain I would have found it's size quite daunting. It's a semi-autobiographical novel about the son of a coal miner growing up during WWII in a small village in England, dealing with his family's pressure to make the most  of the opportunities he has been given and his own desires to be a poet, and it's very beautifully phrased.  Unfortunately it seemed like nothing actually happened in the story, other than his growing up.  There were lots of opportunities within the story for a little added plot but... nothing happened.  I enjoyed the novel, but I was disappointed with that.

Now I'm reading Ben Okri's "The Famished Road" - I'm only about a fifth of the way into it, but it feels a bit like a cross between Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" (the way I would've loved for it to be written, really fantastic!) and "Saville" - a young boy growing up in a magical world within our own.  Only, kind of not quite.  Time will tell if I love it or not, but hopefully not too much time.  My goal is to be finished it by Monday.  There are lots of interesting looking books coming up on the list, and I want to get to them!!

Happy reading!

Insert Clever Title Here

So, I finished "Possession: A Romance" by A.S. Byatt yesterday, and I really enjoyed the last 40% of it. I liked it enough that I will probably read it again, as well as check out some of her other novels. It took me 29 days to read, but I have been getting ready for my vacation, and watching the NHL playoffs (hockey everynight? Yes, please!) so it probably took me longer than it should have. Also, big thanks to my Kobo for making me think of a book in terms of percentages! That's not weird at all.

It took me a really long time to get into this novel, mainly because the structure really broke up the tension and made it difficult for me to actually care about the characters. There are 150 pages of Victorian correspondence beginning about a quarter into the book, which brings the 20th century plot to a stand still. I feel that the set-up could have been shortened by as much as 200 pages to increase the drama of the story. It's all beautifully written, and the faux-Victorian style even started to grow on me, but when you don't care about the story that matters less.

Having said all that, the end of the novel was really engaging! I got right into it - mystery! Romance! Tension galore! - and I actually hated having to put it down. It stills irks me that the story took so long to become engaging, though.

I'm on vacation for the next two weeks, but I'm taking three Booker books with me to try and catch up (haha) with my reading. I'm going back chronologically to some I skipped earlier. I'm starting with Stanley Middleton's "Holiday" on the plane tonight, and I'm also taking V.S. Naipaul's "In A Free State" and David Storey's "Saville". I may or may not have time to blog during my vacation, but I absolutely will when I get home!

Happy Reading!!

Where Have All The Fun Books Gone?

Ok, so I'm still alive, still reading, just not blogging much lately.  I apologize for that, and I really am honestly going to work at getting back into a rhythm of posting more frequently.  I've been craving a really fun book, something with magic and demons and romance... I don't think I'm going to find that in the Man Booker Prize list, and that's a bit depressing.  I'm trying to accept that if I want to read anything 'fun' before September I'm really going to have to read faster!

I finished reading Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day" on April 18th - another book that took me longer than strictly necessary, 14 days in total.  I found the novel a bit boring, to be completely honest, the sort I had to really work at wanting to read. It isn't badly written, by any means - it's quite beautiful, actually. I simply wasn't engaged by the narration. It's written as memoir posing as a travel log - the elderly butler of an English house is given a short vacation, during which he drives across Britain to reconnect with a former employee of the house in hopes of winning her back.  There were aspects of Stevens, the narrator, which I identify with, such as his difficulty with "banter" or small talk, and the idea of a professional persona that doesn't really reflect one's true self - the 'work appropriate' self. The problem for me, with the narrator speaking in this professional voice, is that I could only speculate as to what the character truly felt and thought.  I get that that was the intention, I just didn't like it.  I will probably try another Ishiguro novel in the future, because I didn't dislike the novel, I just didn't love it either.

I'm already eleven chapters into the next novel, A.S. Byatt's "Possession: A Romance" - it's pretty interesting so far, although some of the language choices in the faux-19th century poetry are a bit obscure for me.  The 20th century portion of the story, which involves a pair of scholars discovering and researching the letters of a pair of 19th century poets, feels a bit forced - it seems to me that the story was just a delivery method for the poetry.  I haven't read anything else by Byatt and I'm not even half-way through this novel so I may be way off-base on this, but that's how it's reading to me right now.  I'm hoping the 20th century plot line doesn't turn out as predictably as is seems, but I feel confident that the 19th century plot has some surprises in store.

Happy reading!

A Couple of Cute Oddballs

I finished reading "Oscar and Lucinda" by Peter Carey on the bus Wednesday night, having taken 29 days to read it, a new all-time low! I think its safe to say my 'schedule' is shot, although I do intend to keep trying. Who knows, some of the upcoming novels are quite short, I may be able to finish on time!

I really enjoyed this novel, and I thought for a while that it may be in my 'Top 5' favourite titles, however I did find the conclusion emotionally unsatisfying. It worked well in the context of the story, but I am a romantic so I wish it had ended differently. Other than that it is a very entertaining, well-written story. Plus, the chapters are ridiculously short, which is perfect for bus reading!

This novel tells the story of the two eponymous characters, who are both gamblers and oddities in their Victorian world. Oscar, who is obsessive, seems unaware of his own absurdity, while Lucinda, who is compulsive, dwells on her inability to fit in. They are two of a kind, and when they finally meet (half-way through the novel!) it's literary magic. I could not stop grinning as they stumble through their unusual courtship! I would class this novel as a tragic-comedy, but the romantic story-line is very sweet and engaging. I probably would have loved this story even more if Carey had spent more time on the two characters together, as it is really only a brief part of the overall narrative.

Although I didn't like the ending (it's really the only thing keeping this book from being one of my favourites) I have to admit that it was inevitable, if you look at the entire story as being an allegory for Australia. Without spoilers, it is a nation where the native population have been robbed by the immigrant population, particularly of land, but also of dignity. It that sense, it's a perfect way to end the novel. I didn't like it, but it works.

Moving on, my next read is Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day" which I've already started reading. I've heard that this is a great novel, which from my experience means I may hate it. I didn't really know what to expect, but I certainly wasn't expecting the narrator to be a British butler. Blame my internal prejudices, but based on the author's name I thought it might be set in Japan. That'll teach me for presuming! So far I'm enjoying it, but I'm only about 50 pages in.

Happy reading!

Belated Blogoversary

I've had about a dozen false starts writing this post, so I’m super late with it, but that silly thing called “life” got in my way again. Anyway, this is my belated six-month blogoversary post! Yay! To start out, congratulations to the anonymous winner of the comment contest whose favourite books are the Charlaine Harris “Sookie Stackhouse” series – you’ve won a hard cover copy of J.G. Farrell’s “Troubles” & “The Siege of Krishnapur”! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

I had intended to give you a recap of the titles I've already read, but every time I started thinking about a book I didn't enjoy, I got frustrated and discouraged. So I've given up on that idea. Instead I'm going to list my top 5 favourite titles, so far, and why I think you should read them.

5) The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch (1978)
A surreal novel about lost love and obsession, I really enjoyed the paranoia and suspense of this character driven novel.

4) Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner (1984)
A bittersweet drama, this one is about not "settling" in love and becoming independently happy.

3) Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally (1981)
Based on a true story, this haunting novel about risking everything to do the right thing is truly a masterpiece of humanity.

2) The Bone People by Keri Hulme (1985)
If you want a novel that will make you look at the world differently, this one could be what your looking for. It's an emotionally difficult read dealing with abuse, but also about the different kinds of love in the world. It's a really brilliant novel.

1) Troubles by J.G. Farrell (Lost Man Booker Prize)
The first book in Farrell's "Empire Trilogy", this is a humorous drama set in Ireland. I loved the style of this novel. The narrative is interspersed with 'news reports' which emphasize the distance between the characters and the action of the revolution. I can't wait to reread this one!

I’m about ¾ through Peter Carey’s “Oscar and Lucinda” and ‘God-willing and the creek don’t rise’ I should be finished it and have a new post up for you by Monday. I am enjoying this novel, it's a bit silly but endearingly so. I'm getting a bit anxious that it will have a 'literary' conclusion rather than a happy one (oops, are my genre prejudices showing?) but hope springs eternal. Depending on the conclusion, this novel may worm it's way onto my top five list - the protagonists are so charmingly odd, I find myself grinning like a loon on the bus and reading while I walk. They are adorable, I really can't help rooting for them to have a lovely story book ending! Please, Mr Carey, don't break my heart on this one!!

I also thought I'd share a picture of my book list. Some days I feel like this sheet of paper is the only thing keeping me sane!




Happy Reading!

A Mosquito Coil By Any Other Name?

I finished reading Penelope Lively's "Moon Tiger" last night, which took a bit longer than I'd hoped but only because I spent most of the past week knitting. It wasn't lost time, a struggle to read, boredom, or anything else nefarious. It was just time spent on a cuter, and currently more important, project. My life outside of reading could fill another blog, or three, but "let's not go there"!

Anyway, the book! I have no strong feelings about this novel. I don't love it, I don't hate it, it was just a week of reading. The characters are interesting, the situations are intriguing, the tone and pacing are good. This novel is about Claudia, a writer of popular history books, writing a history of the world and herself during her final days. It's an interesting device, however the breadth of the story meant that the depth was limited. That may be a reflection of the idea of 'history', though, in which you usually only see the broad sweeps, harldy ever the minutiae. In this case it just meant that I never really developed an emotional attatchment to the story.

My only real issue with the novel was its tendency to be predictable. I kept waiting to be surprised by this novel, but was only really suprised in the second last chapter, and if I had been a bit more emotionally involved I probably wouldn't have even been surprised by that as there were plenty of hints that it was coming. Also, I found the late addition of a character unneccessary, and his relationship with Claudia seemed out of character for her. I'm still a bit puzzled by his inclusion in the story - perhaps he was just intended to add more to the humanity of history, I'm not sure. It was a bit strange, though.

I'm adding Moon Tiger to my "re-read" pile, and hopefully I'll find more of a connection with more familiarity. For now I'll be moving on to the first of Peter Carey's Booker prize winning novels, "Oscar and Lucinda", which sounds like it should be fun.

There's still a week to be entered in my draw to win a book - just comment on the blog and tell me your favourite book and why you love it!

Happy reading!

Disappointing Devils

I finished reading "The Old Devils" by Kingsley Amis late last night. It took me ten days, which is not too bad, especially when you consider how much I disliked reading this book. Which is kind of sad, because I was really looking forward to it, having been told that Amis is a "fun" writer. Perhaps I am just not the target audience, but I found it a torturous read, often forcing myself to sit still for even an hour of reading. The more I've reflected on it the better I've thought of it, but that doesn't alter the fact that I didn't enjoy it while I was reading it.

The story is of a group of old friends, mostly recently retired, trying to fill their days and ease their worries through excessive drinking and occasionally lusting after each others spouses. It's set in Wales in the mid 1980's and the identity crisis of the country is reflected in the lives of the characters, which added much needed depth and interest. Without it, the general carousing and whining of the characters would have bored me to tears. The narrative was often quite amusing, although I'm willing to admit I probably missed a few of the jokes. There are language, cultural and ageist references that just went over my head - not really a fault with a book, just evidence of me not being the target audience.

I was particularly interested in Charlie as a character - he probably could have sustained an entire novel himself. However, he was also a major part of why I didn't enjoy the novel. Charlie seems to be a master of the double negative, and every time the story switched to his point of view I was irritated by that. Yes, it's part of building the character profile for the reader, helping to develop the character voice, blah blah blah. It's really irritating to read a paragraph full of double negatives, especially when you're already struggling to decipher the cultural references. Having to work really hard to figure out what's meant takes me completely out of the story, which is probably why I struggled so much to get emotionally involved with this story. It's really unfortunate, too, because as I said the story itself was interesting. I can see how people would love this book, and I'll probably try some other novels by Amis, but this novel didn't work for me.

So, moving on to the next novel. I'll be reading Penelope Lively's "Moon Tiger". Just a quick reminder, there's still lots of time to be entered in my draw to win a book. All you have to do to enter is comment on the blog and let me know what your favourite book is, and why you love it. I'm kind of dying of curiosity here!

Happy reading!

My New Favourite Booker

Honestly, I meandered my way through Keri Hulme's "The Bone People" over the past eleven days, not even trying to finish it 'on time'. It was simply that exquisite.
Delicious.
Heart-breaking.
Superb.
I didn't want to let go of these characters, and now that I've finished the book I want to start it again. It's my new favourite Booker book, and it's probably broken into my all-time top ten list, as well. Except that I don't actually have such a list, so please don't ask for the other titles!

This novel centers around three deeply damaged people, a Maori widower trying to raise his mute foster son and an artistic hermit who has lost her muse, delving into what makes a family and what love is. There are lots of really tough issues, such as child abuse, alcoholism, death, spirituality, and sexuality, but it is devoid of the usual preachy tone that comes with such heavy fare. Nothing is really black and white, but they seem to have a live and let live mentality. The child abuse is slightly more contentious, but it's very much a 'none of my business'-type attitude, which I did find difficult to read. If you are deeply sensitive to these matters, you may not enjoy this book. I was able to compartmentalize, saying to myself, "it's just fiction". That may not work for you, so please consider yourself warned.

Hulme's writing is divine. She is a poet, and it absolutely comes through in this novel. There is an obvious love for words and also rhythm, and the overall flow of the prose is hypnotic. In the introduction she speaks about the manuscript being rejected by publishers who wanted to edit her word use, and I'm so glad she was able to find one who would print it as written. It is a work of art, in the best possible way! I loved that she used so much Maori language, and it's fantastic that there is a Maori phrase section at the end of the text! I wish all the Booker prize winners that utilize languages other than English in their text were so thoughtful - after all, it's a prize for novels written in English. I wish she were a more prolific writer, and I'm trying to get my hands on some of her other work, but so far with very little luck.

Anyway, I don't want to spoil the beauty of the story in case you decide to read it, so there isn't much I can say about the novel other than I found it deeply engaging, and I loved it. It has thrown a wrench into my contest plans, however! I intended to give a hardcover copy of my favourite Booker book from the first 6 months of my reading to the winner of my draw next month, and I was 98% certain that book would be J.G. Farrell's "Troubles" - which is being released in a special edition with "The Siege of Krishnapur". Now, the prize may have to be "The Bone People"! By the way, if you haven't entered yet, there's still plenty of time to get in the draw. Just leave a comment telling me what your favourite book is and why you love it, and I'll enter you in the draw.

My next Booker book is "The Old Devils" by Kingsley Amis, who I've heard is quite an entertaining author, so I'm excited to start that one this evening.

Happy reading!

I Want To Give You A Book

I finished reading Thomas Keneally's "Schindler's Ark" late last night, having taken 12 days to read it. Slightly longer than my allotted time but I'm pretty pleased, actually. I admitted before that I was a bit apprehensive about reading this novel, and I was mostly concerned about the emotional intensity being too much for me to 'digest' in a short period of time. My apprehension was unfounded, however, and I found the story well-paced and engaging.

Most people are familiar with the story of Oskar Schindler, if not from the novel or Spielberg's masterpiece film "Schindler's List" then simply through pop-culture osmosis. It's an inspiring story about an industrial capitalist German who risks everything and spends millions to save the lives of over a thousand, mostly Polish, Jews during the Holocaust. It's a story that would be almost beyond belief as fiction, but it's true, and all the more amazing for all of Schindler's moral shortfalls. A war profiteer, an adulterer, a drinker, a charming briber who could seemingly get anything from anyone - all this, and also one of the greatest humanitarians of the twentieth century. I admit, even though I'd seen the movie, this novel kinda blew my mind. The humanity, compassion, dignity of this story was more inspiring than I ever thought it would be.

I loved this novel.

That having been said, much like Schindler, it's not perfect. Although it was well-paced, organized and easy to read, there were some stylistic decisions I disagreed with and some character arcs left unresolved. Because it is a historically true story I was able to research the unresolved stories to my own satisfaction, so that was alright. Also, the story was strong enough to over-come the minor stylistic flaws, but they are there. Overall, it did not negatively affect my enjoyment of the book.

So, I've now finished the two novels I was most worried about when I started my challenge. Neither book deserved the fear I held for them, and I'm really glad that I read them. In particular I feel that "Schindler's Ark" has deepened my belief in humanity, which is often a shaky deal (I work in retail, remember!) and therefore no small matter. For a book to actually make me believe that it is possible to make a positive impact on the world is no mean feat, and for that I am extremely grateful. It's one of the things I was hoping for when I started this crazy quest, so that's pretty awesome. Challenging fears, improving my life - books are so worth it.

On that note, I'd like to give you a book! March 12th will be the six-month mark of my Booker challenge and to celebrate I'm running a little contest. To enter, just comment on the blog between now and March 11th telling me what your favourite book is and why, and I'll enter your name in a draw to win a hard cover novel. The title is a surprise, but I will mail anywhere in the world - so, please share your favourite book with me!

My next read is Keri Hulme's "The Bone People". I've no idea what to expect from it, so I'm pretty excited!

Happy reading!

Halfway Through and a Non-Booker Book

Just a quick mid-book blog for "Schindler's Ark" because I promised I would. Caveat - I am tired, and may be slightly incoherent.

I'm very relieved by how clear and concise Keneally's prose is, considering how dark the subject matter is. I'm not closing the book puzzling over what the author is trying to say, although I am shaking my head (and maybe wiping some tears) over the state of humanity. Which, for me, is much better! I understand that some people really enjoy the intellectual challenge of deciphering an author's meanings - but I would rather just be engaged by the story, thank you very much!

Even factoring in the emotional brutality, and the unfamiliar German/Polish/Jewish words and names, I've been pleasantly surprised by how easily it flows. I'm finding the short chapters are helping me to set reading goals, which means I'm reading more than I would in a novel without chapter breaks. For example, I know two chapters will take me approximately thirty-minutes, so if I'm going to read for an hour before bed I'll be reading four chapters, instead of just reading until the most convenient story break arrives.

So, I am engaging emotionally with the story (really, how could you not?) and I am enjoying the writing style. Again, I'm only half-way through the book, but I think I'm going to be especially fond of it.

This week I also finished 'reading' a non-Booker book, Christopher Farnsworth's "Blood Oath", which was a lot of fun! When I'm knitting I usually watch TV, but I tend to miss most of the action on account of watching my hands. So I've been trying audio books while knitting, the theory being I won't miss anything and I'll be able to quench my thirst for genre fiction without taking reading time away from the Booker's. Because, let's be honest, Twitter already gets a quarter of my daily reading time. At least. Even though this audio book was only 10 hours long, it took me 42 days to get through it. Obviously I don't knit often enough!

So, yes, "Blood Oath" was fun - a spy thriller with a vampire hero, totally new concept for me! Most vampires I encounter are of the sexy variety, and even though Cade isn't as blood thirsty as one would hope for, he also is not 'touchy feely'. I enjoyed the back story especially - I happened to be listening to that portion while reading "Rites of Passage", so my brain created some lovely nocturnal crossed wires. I kept hoping Golding's parson would turn out to be a vampire, but no such luck. Anyway, if you enjoy your vampires with snarky yet lovable sidekicks, check out "Blood Oath" - I'm certainly looking forward to getting my ear buds on Farnsworth's next two volumes!

Happy reading!

Beautiful Heartbreak

I seem to be underestimating the shorter novels, much to my detriment. Although I finished reading my last book on the 19th, and I was carrying "Hotel du Lac" in my bag from the 20th on, I didn't start reading it until Monday morning! Three whole days of lost reading because I looked at the page count and thought, 'I can knock that out in one evening'! I just finished it on the bus home to tonight, so I'm feeling a little disappointed with myself.

That having been said, I did enjoy this novel and I'm already planning to read a few more titles by Anita Brookner. I struggled a bit getting into the story the first couple chapters, as I found her choice of language more refined than what I am accustomed with, to the point of being challenging. I was feeling very uneducated, which was compounded by the dialogue exchanges en francais - even though I am Canadian and took 6 years of French, my French is very weak. By the third chapter I had relaxed enough to accept that even though I wasn't familiar with some of the words, I still understood the general meaning, and the magic of story-telling took over.

I saw a lot of myself in the character of Edith Hope, and I find that a bit depressing. She's a romantic (in addition to writing romance novels) who has been disappointed in love although she seems very content with her life. After an out-of-character scandal, her friends have packed her off for a holiday of undetermined length at the eponymous hotel. It's the end of the holiday season so the hotel is nearly deserted, although there are a handful of equally depressing women still in residence who make good use of Edith as an audience. In less skilled hands this might have been a very depressing story, as it's mainly about broken hearts. As it is, I found it beautiful, empowering (there's a bit of a feminist vibe), and endearing. Yes, still heartbreaking, but that's life outside a romance novel!

I took a look at the descriptions of a few other titles by Brookner, and it seems she often uses 'exile and return' in her stories of individuals maturing. Even though Edith almost makes the same error during her exile which led to it, as she returns she seems to have gained acceptance for herself as she is, which gives her more strength and conviction. She's a very modern female hero, and I quite like her. In fact, I can think of a few girlfriends I am going to recommend this novel to!

Next up, I'm going to back-track and read Thomas Keneally's "Schindler's Ark" - hopefully I will have the fortitude to give you a mid-book blog!

Happy Reading!

What Is The Moral? Show Me!

I finished reading J.M. Coetzee's "Life and Times of Michael K" on the bus into work this morning, spent all day ruminating on it. I liked a lot about this novel, but not all of it. It's definitely going into my re-read pile.

The story is, of course, that of the eponymous Michael K, a 'simple' gardener living in South Africa during apartheid who makes a journey across the country while trying to stay under the radar of the authorities. The country is in a state of civil war, and anyone without the proper paperwork or a fixed address is summarily imprisoned in a work camp of some form. Through this world walks Michael K, who only wants to honour his mother and tend his garden.

The novel is divided in three parts, the first and last being in Michael's point of view, the third being a camp official's first-person view of Michael during a period of incarceration. I was really enjoying the story up till the first division, but after that I found it took on a tone of self-analysis, which I always find irritating. When an author feels the need to explain their story during the story - well, I just think that means they're doing something wrong. I firmly believe in the "show, don't tell" school of storytelling. If it weren't for that, I'm positive I would've loved this novel.

To me, this story was about innocence and freedom. Although all the supporting characters believe Michael to be feeble minded, I didn't see him that way. I think he has a social innocence as a result of his isolated up-bringing, which keeps him emotionally separate from the civil unrest. There is also, of course, the much larger theme of freedom - the cycle of imprisonment and liberty repeating and emphasized by Michael's seemingly unconscious protest. It's a fascinating study, and worth a read for that if nothing else.

Another feature of this novel that really struck me was the total lack of reference to race. For a novel set in South Africa during apartheid, dealing with civil unrest and military actions, it is striking in it's absence. It gives Michael's story an air of universality - this could be any man, in any country, where the powers that be have decided they know how best to take care of people. It's chilling, in that sense.

Tomorrow I move on to Anita Brookner's "Hotel du Lac". For tonight, however, I think I am going to savor the image of Michael tending his garden. In sunlight.

Happy reading.

I Tried To Like It, and Now I Am Cheating

I finished reading Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" last night – it took me 13 days, but it probably deserved another two weeks of my time to really savor it. If you're planning on reading it I strongly suggest taking your time with it, maybe just a chapter a day. Otherwise you may find, as I did, that the style or "form" of the writing becomes really annoying. For the past five days, every time I picked up the book I said (often out loud, so I endured mockery) "I'm going to finish this book today, because if I have to it again tomorrow I'll..." Well, now I'm done, and I'm so relieved that if I weren't writing this I would be reading something else. Anything. Cereal boxes. Anything. Gosh, I feel like I'm panning this book, which is really, truly not my intention. I guess I'm just a bit disappointed. I expected, hoped, to be really blown away by the Booker of Bookers and instead I found it was a slightly irritating but ok novel.This seems deeply unfair, because I actually liked the novel. I did not love it but I did like it. The premise is super interesting, and the sentences are often gorgeous. It's going into my re-read pile as I honestly believe another look could make me fall in love with it. I can see why people love it - but right now I don't. The story is narrated by one Saleem Sinai, starting with his grandparents courtship and going right through to his own death (I maintain this is not a spoiler, as he tells you right out that he’s dying) and encompassing the history of India. Saleem was born at midnight as India became an independent nation, the premise being that they are psychic twins whose fate is intertwined. In addition, there were a thousand other children born during that first hour of independence and they all possess some magical abilities. It’s a very cool idea and I'll admit that I kind of wish a genre author had written this book to give more weight to that magical element. I feel I was tricked out of a really cool fantasy story and given historical fiction instead. Not that there's anything wrong with historical fiction, but that fantasy idea was so good, I feel it deserved a better treatment.
Beyond that, I had a couple of other issues with this novel. As I mentioned, the form, the style of Rushdie’s writing, his beautiful looping narrative and elegant sentences – well, they got really annoying. Even though the sentences are beautiful, and the descriptions are lush and deeply textured, I found myself echoing the character of Padma, begging just please come on and tell the story now, I need some action no not more political history! People, action, character motivation, please! It was driving me crazy. Saleem starts to tell a story, then stops himself and goes back because that story comes later - I mean, it's a good tease once-in-a-while but when it's every other chapter (and that's being generous) it gets to be a bit much. By which I mean totally freaking annoying. Although, I suspect (hope) that my irritation is a result of reading the book so quickly (lol!) and if I were to have spaced it out a bit more I may be enjoyed that technique. However, for this read through, it was super annoying. I also found that I really didn't have any emotional connection with these characters. There are a lot of characters, a lot of horrible things happen, there are horrible deaths, but none of it mattered to me - because, to me, it felt like none of it mattered to Saleem. Even when he's saying how angry he is, or how much he loves someone, they are just words. I don't believe any of it. The exile and amnesia segment, where there should be a different emotional pitch to the story, is only different because Saleem jumps between a first person and third person narrative. The narration is too passive, considering it is first-person. I felt alienated from the story. I don't know, maybe that was the intention, to showcase the alienation from society. Maybe this is another case of me just not getting the Art. As I said, I really liked the premise of the magical Midnight Children, but my grasp of Indian history and the politics of the 1960’s and ‘70’s is pretty weak, so I may not be the target audience on this. It could also have a lot to do with the idea of the oral tradition, of which that looping narrative is also a part. I’m not entirely sure, but it did take the edge of the pleasure of an otherwise interesting novel.I’ve been following another blog the past couple weeks, www.thinskinofculture.blogspot.com – and he’s making me feel like the slowest reader in the world! A book a day?! I can see that with a children’s book, but there is no way I could finish a book like “Midnight’s Children” in a day! So, to compensate for my feelings of inadequacy, I’m going to try to finish two books this week. Wish me luck! Also, I'm skipping ahead chronologically, because I don't feel like trying to read “Schindler's Ark” this week. I suspect it's going to take me more than the allotted 7 days, and I also suspect it's going to be an emotionally heavy read. So, I'm temporarily jumping ahead to a couple of shorter novels, starting with “Life and Times of Michael K.” by J.M. Coetzee and then “Hotel du Lac” by Anita Brookner. I feel like I’m cheating by skipping ahead, but the only real rule for my little challenge was to finish all the books within one year.

Happy reading!

Why I Am Afraid Of Salman Rushdie

Today's post is not strictly Booker related, but it does directly affect my reading, so please bear with me!

This weekend, I discovered something distasteful about myself: I want to be liked. Now, that's not such a huge revelation, I realize most people want to be liked, but I've always considered myself to be firmly in the "I don't care what people think about me" camp. I want to be that aloof, independent person, and I'm trying to reassess my self image now that I know I'm not.

What happened was I had a new book to read, and two-and-a-half free days in which to get a good solid start on it before my work week, but I only managed to read four pages of it. The book, of course, is Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" - by all accounts a superb novel, one of the greatest English-language novels of the last century, and one I was quite looking forward to reading. So, really, what was the problem? Why was I finding Anything else to occupy my time with to avoid reading? I actually resorted to doing laundry! Admittedly, I didn't stoop to doing dishes, but if there weren't so many hockey games on I'm sure I would've gotten sudsy!

At first I thought I was afraid of Salman Rushdie, afraid that the genius of his writing would prove too much for my feeble mind and the novel would leave my weak brain a quivering mass of gelatin. It's actually not too far from my actual fear, and may yet be proven true (if you don't hear from me again, send flavour crystals in mourning - everybody likes a jello salad!) but I hadn't even given the book a fair chance to intimidate me properly! Why couldn't I even start the book?

Then, a comment from a friend highlighted my true worries. She told me she loved "Midnight's Children", and something in me twinged and I thought, 'but what if I don't?' What if I don't love one of the greatest novels of our time? What if *gasp* I hate it? Even worse, what if it fails to touch me at all? Is it possible that I am in some fundamental way damaged by my years of devouring genre fiction, so much so that I can no longer appreciate a masterpiece of literature? And, if so, what will people think of me? My friend who loved it, the customers at my book store, all of you, perhaps even Mr. Rushdie himself - what would you think if I don't love it? I couldn't start reading, for fear that I wouldn't like it and therefore people wouldn't like me.

It's all a bit absurd. I don't want to care whether people like me, and I'm honestly having a hard time figuring out why I think anyone else would really care if I don't love this novel. But I do, on both counts.

Which brings me to something another (brilliant!) friend of mine once told me. 'All the mean things that you worry other people are thinking about you are just reflections of the mean things you think about other people.' Ouch. Its true, though. I know I'm disappointed when a friend doesn't like something I love, even more so than if they don't bother to read it at all. I guess I see them as being just a little less cool, because they're a little less like me. How vain am I, right? But it's true. It's ugly, and I don't like any of it, but it's my truth. Now that I'm aware of these thought patterns I'm going to combat them, because that's a person I really don't want to be.

I'm nearly a fifth into "Midnight's Children" now, and I'm enjoying it. Mr. Rushdie has a good sense of humour, which always wins my heart in a book. His style is very elegant also, with story elements looping back on themselves building up the narrative. So, I like it. And I'm trying not to care if that makes me 'cooler' or not.

Happy reading!

Like Re-Reading A Book For The First Time

I hope everyone has had a pleasant holiday season. What with holiday knitting, hockey, obligatory feasting, and spending time with family - all of which was fantastic! - I only just managed to finish reading "Rites of Passage" last night. Which means in the past two months I've only read four books! I'm feeling a bit scandalized. So, I took another look at how many books I have left (36!) and how many days I have to reach my goal, and I am now left with approximately 7 days per book rather than 8. It still feels do-able. I just can't celebrate Christmas again during the next nine months. I think I can manage that, too!

Alright, you're here to watch me struggle with literature, not basic math concepts, so let's get on with it!

I loved William Golding's "Lord of the Flies". I thought it was a great book, with a well-developed, if slightly dark, theme of societal collapse within a closed group resulting from a bullying mentality. Great book. I haven't read it in probably fifteen years, but I was thinking about it quite a bit while I was reading Golding's "Rites of Passage" the past few weeks. It's the same theme, just with a grown up cast, a bit less action, and less suspense - they're on a boat, so there's no waiting for rescue. I actually never even considered that the boat may not make it, even though there are plenty of things that may happen to a ship at sea, I just never felt any real threat to the vessel.

It's a well-developed story, a touch of mystery, and the essence of the voyage was well invoked. However, the theme was so obviously the same as in "Lord of the Flies" that I figured out which roles everyone had been cast in about a quarter into the novel and therefore knew what to expect from the rest of the story. There's nothing really wrong with that, except that I had no impetus to keep reading other than to simply finish the book. I wasn't waiting to find out what happens next, and that's always a bit disappointing. It's a good read, but I would've liked a bit more anticipation. I did struggle a bit with some of the word and language choices, but it did give the novel a more authentic flavour.

My next book it Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" - I'm kind of excited for this novel! I've heard such great things about it, and it's the winner of not just the Booker but also the Best of the Booker - so, the best novel of all the Booker prize winners! No pressure, right?

By the way, I still have not finished my holiday knitting. Men's sized Dr. Who socks take longer than I anticipated!

Happy Reading!