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!

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!

That Was... Different.

I've just finished reading Penelope Fitzgerald's 'Offshore' - and, I don't get it. I'm sure there are lots of people who think it's a work of pure genius, but it's not for me.

I found the story structure rambled, and I was often guessing at who the speaker was. For a very short novel, there were a lot of characters with a lot going on. It read rather like a mid-season episode of a soap opera you've never seen. The conclusion of the novel resolved nothing. In fact, there isn't a single story line that was satisfactorily wrapped up, and that bugs the heck out of me. I have no idea what happened to any of these characters, so really what was the purpose of asking me to care for them over the past 181 pages? I see no point.

I'm rambling. Suffice to say I did not enjoy this book.

Next book is William Golding's "Rites of Passage" - third nautical related book in a row! I'm starting to feel a bit queasy...

Happy Reading!