by Sarah Winman
This is a first novel and it sometimes showed in the lack of character depth and some of the descriptive passages. However, this book made me laugh (out loud belly laughter) and it made me cry and it made me think. What more can you ask of a novel. I really enjoyed it. 8/10
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The Museum of Innocence
by Orhan Pamuk
What can I say about this most exasperating of books. One it is very long. Two, it focusses on one man's pain following the break up of a relationship, and when I use the word focus I mean with the intensity of a magnifying glass on a hot summers day. This is painful at times and there was more than one occassion I wished our hero narrator dead so we could all move on with our lives.Having said that this is beautifully written and leaves me longing to visit Istanbul. The ending is signalled from page 1 and yet still surprises when you get there. I slated this book for all the time I was reading it and yet I think it will live with me for longer than other books I have read. 7/10
What can I say about this most exasperating of books. One it is very long. Two, it focusses on one man's pain following the break up of a relationship, and when I use the word focus I mean with the intensity of a magnifying glass on a hot summers day. This is painful at times and there was more than one occassion I wished our hero narrator dead so we could all move on with our lives.Having said that this is beautifully written and leaves me longing to visit Istanbul. The ending is signalled from page 1 and yet still surprises when you get there. I slated this book for all the time I was reading it and yet I think it will live with me for longer than other books I have read. 7/10
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Faceless Killers
by Henning Mankell
An early Wallender and a good crime novel. I felt the linking of the two seperate plots was a bit contrived but the Wallender character is deliciously seedy! 7/10
An early Wallender and a good crime novel. I felt the linking of the two seperate plots was a bit contrived but the Wallender character is deliciously seedy! 7/10
Squirrel seeks chipmunk
by David Sedaris
A very mixed bag. Some of these are very funny, some are very dark and ssome are just not very good. It is a great bedside book though. 5/10
A very mixed bag. Some of these are very funny, some are very dark and ssome are just not very good. It is a great bedside book though. 5/10
Out Stealing Horses
by Per Petterson
This is a very gentle book but with an underlying tension. It is a melancholic look back at a man's early life and how it is shaping and impacting his later life. We learn nothing, or very little of the bit in between but it does not matter. I enjoyed it very much 8/10
This is a very gentle book but with an underlying tension. It is a melancholic look back at a man's early life and how it is shaping and impacting his later life. We learn nothing, or very little of the bit in between but it does not matter. I enjoyed it very much 8/10
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Seraphita
bu Honoré de Balzac
If this was the first Balzac novel I had ever read it would be my last. There is no plot to speak of and is actually just a religious pamphlet in praise of Emmanuel Swedenborg. Utter crap 1/10 no make that 0/10
If this was the first Balzac novel I had ever read it would be my last. There is no plot to speak of and is actually just a religious pamphlet in praise of Emmanuel Swedenborg. Utter crap 1/10 no make that 0/10
Freedom
by Jonathan Franzen
This was a great book and one of the few that left me close to tears at the end. It is a story of modern life I guess and how personal lives intrude on our ideologies 9/10
This was a great book and one of the few that left me close to tears at the end. It is a story of modern life I guess and how personal lives intrude on our ideologies 9/10
Sunday, December 12, 2010
The General
by Jonathan Fenby
A very good biography of Charles de Gaulle with a great balance between the personal, private man and the statesman. 8/10
A very good biography of Charles de Gaulle with a great balance between the personal, private man and the statesman. 8/10
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The Finkler Question
by Howard Jacobson
Very amusing in parts, boring in others and fascinating in others. He is as in touch with the human condition as any writer I have come across 8/10
Very amusing in parts, boring in others and fascinating in others. He is as in touch with the human condition as any writer I have come across 8/10
Our Kind of Traitor
by John Le Carre
Le Carre on good form but with an ending that seemed inevitable for a Le Carre hero. Enjoyed it though 7/10
Le Carre on good form but with an ending that seemed inevitable for a Le Carre hero. Enjoyed it though 7/10
Friday, September 24, 2010
The Elephant's Journey
by José Saramago
Written by a nobel prize winning Portuguese writer this is a fantastic story of an elephant's journey from Lisbon to Vienna in the 16th century. I loved it, especially the narrator's quirky asides. 9/10
Written by a nobel prize winning Portuguese writer this is a fantastic story of an elephant's journey from Lisbon to Vienna in the 16th century. I loved it, especially the narrator's quirky asides. 9/10
The Glass Room
by Simon Mawer
The story of a house, based on a real house in Brno, this is a fascinating story of the Czech Republic from the mid 1920's to the 1960's which I found really absorbing. 8/10
The story of a house, based on a real house in Brno, this is a fascinating story of the Czech Republic from the mid 1920's to the 1960's which I found really absorbing. 8/10
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Death in the Latin Quarter
by Raphael Cardetti
Set in Paris this is a fast paced mystery thriller involving book restorers and shady secret service personnel from around the world. A great holiday read that is fun and not too taxing. 6/10
Set in Paris this is a fast paced mystery thriller involving book restorers and shady secret service personnel from around the world. A great holiday read that is fun and not too taxing. 6/10
Ordinary Thunderstorms
by William Boyd
Enjoyed the premise of this book of a man who has his identity taken from him by being in the wrong place at the wrong time,. However it seemed to lose its way and the ending was disappointing. 5/10
Enjoyed the premise of this book of a man who has his identity taken from him by being in the wrong place at the wrong time,. However it seemed to lose its way and the ending was disappointing. 5/10
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Silence
by Shusaka Endo
This story of a missionary priest in the seventeenth century going off to Japan did not do a lot for me. 4/10
This story of a missionary priest in the seventeenth century going off to Japan did not do a lot for me. 4/10
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Oranges are not the only fruit
by Jeanette Winterson
Very funny in places and very reminiscent in parts of my youth. Felt the last 40 pages or so lost their way but 25 years on this is still agood read. 7/10
Very funny in places and very reminiscent in parts of my youth. Felt the last 40 pages or so lost their way but 25 years on this is still agood read. 7/10
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Kindly Ones
by Jonathan Littell
Where do I begin. It was the best of books; it was the worst of books. One thing is certain you cannot be indifferent to this book. It is the fictional autobiography of Max Aue, an intellectual who was a SS officer during the second war. He recounts his experiences from the relative safety of sixty years after the event when he is a respectable owner of a lace factory in France. The narrative is compelling as it recounts not only the history of WWII but the intimate enjoyment and pain of one man's experience. It is hard going though with some very harrowing scenes. I also found the detail of the SS and German heirarchy difficult to follow, even with a glossary at the end of the book. This is a book that will live with me for some time yet. 8/10
Where do I begin. It was the best of books; it was the worst of books. One thing is certain you cannot be indifferent to this book. It is the fictional autobiography of Max Aue, an intellectual who was a SS officer during the second war. He recounts his experiences from the relative safety of sixty years after the event when he is a respectable owner of a lace factory in France. The narrative is compelling as it recounts not only the history of WWII but the intimate enjoyment and pain of one man's experience. It is hard going though with some very harrowing scenes. I also found the detail of the SS and German heirarchy difficult to follow, even with a glossary at the end of the book. This is a book that will live with me for some time yet. 8/10
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Indemnity Only
by Sara Paretsky
This book, first published in 1982, introduces the detective V. I. Warshawski. She is a Chicago based private investigator who has gone on to feature in numerous subsequent investigations set in the city.
This first novel starts with somebody employing Warshawski by pretending to be a wealthy banker and sending her off on a hunt that results in her finding the body of the bankers son. Despite being warned off numerous times, she pursues the case, involving fraud, murder and corruption to an exciting end. As an aside it is fascinating to read a “modern” detective who is set pre mobile phones, pre internet and who is debating whether an IBM desktop computer would be any help in her office.
The character of VI is well built and it is not hard to see why she has continued to attract readers in her subsequent adventures. The plot in this novel stretches credibility to breaking point at times, particularly in the final showdown scene. I also found most of the characters-with the exception of VI –very two dimensional but such is the nature of the genre. If you enjoy a good crime caper this is a fun read.
This book, first published in 1982, introduces the detective V. I. Warshawski. She is a Chicago based private investigator who has gone on to feature in numerous subsequent investigations set in the city.
This first novel starts with somebody employing Warshawski by pretending to be a wealthy banker and sending her off on a hunt that results in her finding the body of the bankers son. Despite being warned off numerous times, she pursues the case, involving fraud, murder and corruption to an exciting end. As an aside it is fascinating to read a “modern” detective who is set pre mobile phones, pre internet and who is debating whether an IBM desktop computer would be any help in her office.
The character of VI is well built and it is not hard to see why she has continued to attract readers in her subsequent adventures. The plot in this novel stretches credibility to breaking point at times, particularly in the final showdown scene. I also found most of the characters-with the exception of VI –very two dimensional but such is the nature of the genre. If you enjoy a good crime caper this is a fun read.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Parrot and Olivier
by Peter Carey
Carey is a fantastic storyteller and this is no exception. This is a crazy tale inspired by Tocqueville but covers Paris and Dartmoor as well as America itself. It is littered with amusing characters and tall story scenes. Good fun 8/10
Carey is a fantastic storyteller and this is no exception. This is a crazy tale inspired by Tocqueville but covers Paris and Dartmoor as well as America itself. It is littered with amusing characters and tall story scenes. Good fun 8/10
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