Month: March 2020

2020 Alphabet Soup Author Edition – A Wizard of Earthsea – Ursula Le Guin

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Genre: Fantasy, Magic

Narrative Style: Third person

Rating: 3/5

Format: Kindle

Published: 1968

Synopsis: Sparrowhawk is set to become one of the most powerful wizards in Earthsea. He has natural talent and it isn’t long before he comes to the attention of the other wizards. Taken away as an apprentice to Ogion, he is impatient for power and accidentally evokes a shadow creature that will haunt him forever. The rest of the novel covers his quest to rid the world of this evil. 

Reading challenges: 2020 Alphabet Soup Author Edition.

This really wasn’t for me. I gave it three out of five because it really isn’t badly written but it didn’t grab me at all. I think I was expecting it to be more science fiction and less magic based fantasy – not a genre I particularly like. It’s also a bit boy’s own for my taste – boy does quest at expense of everything else in his life is not something that is interesting to me.

To be fair, at first I thought it might be okay. Sparrowhawk (or Duny as he is originally called) has a natural talent for magic and is taught as much as he can be by his aunt. When his village is threatened by a neighbouring tribe, he manages to save them by conjuring a magical fog. This was quite exciting and well written. Even Sparrowhawk’s school days were quite exciting with rivalries with other wizards, one of which nearly leads to his death.

It is really the second half of the novel – which focuses on the chase after the evil shadow that Sparrowhawk has accidentally unleashed on the world. A lot of the time Sparrowhawk is alone and at sea – not very exciting to be honest. After all the chasing and running, you might hope that the final confrontation between man and shadow would be exciting but even that was anti-climatic.

I know that this is children’s literature and maybe I am too old to appreciate the innocence of this tale. I did find the ideas of good and evil simplistic as was the final solution to merge with the  shadow. It could be considered a bildungsroman with Sparrowhawk learning what it means to be a man in his world but because I found the story so unexciting, I didn’t really feel like Sparrowhawk developed all that much.

2020 Alphabet Soup Author Challenge – Death Comes to Pemberley – P.D. James

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Genre: British Detective

Narrative Style: Third person, chronological

Rating: 2/5 

Format: Paperback

Published: 2011

Synopsis: Six years after Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and Darcy are preparing for their annual ball when Captain Denny’s body is found in the woods at Pemberley. The ball is cancelled and the Darcys and Bingleys are plunged into a murder mystery.

Reading Challenges: 2020 Alphabet Soup Author Challenge 

Well, this was disappointing. I thought that it was an interesting idea and I like P. D. James so it seemed like a good idea. But I didn’t realise that it was going to be written in a similar style to Austen’s – not something I’m massively fond of at the best of times. Well, this book was not the best of times.

While I wouldn’t say that I was a massive fan of Austen, reading this made me realise exactly how good she actually was. James’ prose has none of the refinement of Austen’s. In fact, it was leaden and had no sparkle. It was tedious to read and I felt little compulsion to finish this book. It also had none of the excitement of James’ usual storytelling and style. It was like the worst of both worlds.

Even worse, the characters of Darcy and Elizabeth were thin and underdeveloped. James completely sucked the life out of them. Even Wickham, who should be the most interesting character in this little tale, seems flat and lifeless. None of the characters were what they were in Pride and Prejudice.

Finally, the plot, for a large part of this novel, is just not very exciting. The hints that are dropped are obvious and so the big reveal is not surprising. I wasn’t all that interested in what the results were anyway. I was just glad that it was over.

 

2020 Alphabet Soup Author Challenge – Boy21 – Matthew Quick

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Genre: Young adult, Mental Illness, Family

Narrative Style: First person, chronological

Rating: 3/5

Published: 2012

Format: Kindle

Synopsis: For Finley and his girlfriend, Erin, basketball is everything. It is their ticket out of their downbeat neighbourhood and they spend long hours training together. When Finley’s coach asks him to look after Russ, a much sought after basketball player who has suffered such a severe trauma he has retreated into the persona Boy21, things change for him completely. Both boys are forced to face up to the tragedy in their lives. 

Reading Challenges: 2020 Alphabet Soup Author Challenge

I admit I bought this specially for this challenge, having no Q authors on my shelves – either physical or kindle. I’d seen the film of Silver Linings Playbook so I’m not sure why I didn’t pick that. This sounded interesting but unfortunately didn’t live up to its potential.

Finley is an interesting narrator and his family relations were convincing in their detail. Life was difficult for Finley, living in a rough neighbourhood, having to look after his disabled, alcoholic Grandfather while his father worked night shift and getting picked on for being the only white person on the school basketball team but as long as he was able to play and spend time with Erin, he was fine. So far so good, I thought. The scene was successfully set.

However, when Russ – Boy21 – is introduced into the story, things become less convincing. His persona didn’t really ring true. Although, undoubtedly, people do retreat into fantasy – in this case, believing they are from outer space – in order to avoid very real tragedy, I just couldn’t quite believe in Russ. Similarly when he recovers after starting to play basketball again, it just feels too easy.

One of the most interesting aspects of this story was the friendship between Finley and Russ, both of whom have suffered from tragedy. However, it is suddenly cut off as Finley is given a chance to escape but he will never be able to return to Belmont. I felt this was a shame and made the novel seem a bit pointless.

At the beginning of the novel, we are told that Finley’s mother is dead and that no one talks about it. Hints are made about the Irish mafia throughout the novel, particularly after Erin is involved in a hit and run accident that stops her from playing basketball. When the full story is revealed it is little wonder that Finley never wanted to talk about it but it does come quite late in the story and with little to really prepare the reader for what was to come. After Finley and Russ reveal the details of the violent acts in their lives, their usefulness to each other is clearly over as Quick then allows Finley the escape he was always wanted. Again, it felt too easy and unrealistic.

Overall, I did feel compelled to read on and it was an interesting story and I suppose for a younger audience, it was perhaps more important to have an optimistic ending rather than a realistic one but ultimately, I fell it didn’t quite ring true.

2020 Alphabet Soup Challenge Author Edition – The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne

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Genre: Irish Fiction, LGBT, Historical Fiction

Narrative Style: First person, Chronological

Rating: 4/5

Published: 2017

Format: Kindle

Synopsis: Cyril Avery’s  adoptive parents never miss an opportunity to tell him that he is adopted and so not a real Avery. Cyril feels like he doesn’t really fit in anywhere and he soon realises that being adopted isn’t the only thing that is different about him. Being gay in Ireland in the 1950s isn’t easy and Cyril struggles with his sexuality. The novel recounts events from Cyril’s life at seven year intervals, taking the reader from the 1950s to the present day. 

Reading Challenges: 2020 Alphabet Soup – Author Edition

This was a very enjoyable read – as might be expected from John Boyne. It was different from the other two books that I’ve read by him as it seemed a much more personal project than The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas or The Absolutist. Being gay and Irish clearly had a big influence on the subject matter of this book.

The novel starts with the story of Catherine Goggin, hounded out of her home town by the priest for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. She travels to Dublin to have the baby, planning to have it adopted as she will not be able to keep it as a single woman in the 1940s. On the bus, she meets Sean MacIntryre who is also running away from home because he is gay and he offers her a place to stay until the baby is born.

The story of Catherine’s child, Cyril Avery starts when he is seven years old and continues at seven year intervals until he is seventy seven. The novel covers a lot of ground in both Irish and LGBT history, taking in the power of the clergy, bombs, kidnapping, prostitution, AIDS, violence against gay people to name but a few. For the most part, this is fine. Boyne is a sensitive writer and covers issues in a very human way but it does sometimes make it obvious that this is fiction and not actually someone’s life.

I found the beginning of the novel very readable. I couldn’t put it down. Cyril becomes friends with Julian Woodbead at age seven and their friendship lasts for a long time. Cyril quickly realises that he is in love with Julian which is unfortunate as Julian is enthusiastically heterosexual. Some of the funniest parts of the novel came with Julian’s boasting about his sexual conquests and also the scrapes that he gets Cyril into.

Cyril hides his sexuality, reluctant to even admit it to himself which leads to furtive encounters and lots of loneliness. Early on, he acquires a girlfriend, Mary Margaret, who luckily for him, does not want a sexual relationship. Boyne manages to find the humour in this situation but he also stresses how difficult it is for Cyril to put forward a version of himself that society would find acceptable.

As the novel progresses  – and Cyril grows older – the story becomes less interesting. Without spoiling the story, there is only one romance in Cyril’s life and that does not last into old age. As is the way in life, I suppose, things start happening to other, younger characters which Cyril mainly observes. Even at the beginning, Cyril is never the life and soul so when life slows down for him, he becomes a bit boring.

This is the main reason that I didn’t give it five stars. That, and the fact that sometimes the plotting is a little clumsy. In the section set in New York when Cyril is volunteering at an AIDS hospital, the irony of the situation he finds himself in is heavy handed to say the least. There are also lots of coincidences and chance meetings (between Cyril and his mother, for example)  which I found a little annoying. Cyril shows a remarkable lack of curiosity about his mother and it is another chance meeting that eventually means they realise they are mother and son.

Overall, though this was a great read and it certainly opened my eyes as to how horrible things were in Ireland because of the power of the Catholic church. The novel ends on a positive note with Cyril’s grandson, George, and his boyfriend, Marcus representing a new and more open generation which gives some hope for the future.