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!

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!