Category: Book Reviews

Books Read in 2015 – 39. Divergent – Veronica Roth (Contains spoilers)

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Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Narrative Style: first person, chronologicalDivergent_(book)_by_Veronica_Roth_US_Hardcover_2011

Rating: 3/5

Published: 2012

Format: Kindle

Synopsis: In the future, society is divided up into factions based on personality types – abnegation, amity, cantor, dauntless and erudite – and all children must choose their faction when they are 16. While undergoing the tests that will help her decide, Beatrice discovers that she is another type altogether – she is divergent. She is warned to keep this secret at all costs. 

It is almost inevitable that I would compare this to The Hunger Games, having read that series fairly recently. Unfortunately I didn’t find this scenario quite as convincing. Although I understand the point that Roth was trying to make, it just didn’t ring true the way that the world of The Hunger Games did. Also, it meant that some of the characters seemed a little one sided as they were representing an entire personality type. Nevertheless, the story has a lot of tension and so I did want to find out what happened next and I didn’t have any problem reading to the end.

I liked the fact that the setting was recognisably Chicago and the way that this suggested a not too distant future. The landmarks are used well by Roth and are not merely window dressing. I particularly liked the parts where they climb the ferris wheel and when they zip-line off the Hancock Building. Having been to the top of the Hancock Building helped me imagine how terrifying that moment would have been.

As with Katniss, I did find Tris a little annoying. As I have said before, I am sure this is mostly because I am not a teenage girl anymore. At times, she did seem wilfully blind as to what was going on about her but I guess that was supposed to add tension to the story. I wasn’t sure whether Roth meant the reader to be one step ahead of her or not.

I enjoyed all the descriptions of initiation and the problems that Tris and the other initiates faced. Roth offers the reader two forms of authority  – two ways of being Dauntless – as the contrast between Four and Eric is described. Obviously this relates to the transition of teenagers into adults and learning about the correct way to be in charge. At times, this was a little trite but again this may be merely an adult perspective.

The romance between Tris and Four wasn’t too distracting from the action. Four was one of the more interesting characters – he was more ambiguous at first. The only point I found unconvincing was when he was part of the simulation and Tris miraculously brings him out of it due presumably to the intensity of their love. That was a bit nauseating.

Obviously, the book is part of a series and ends in such a way that you are supposed to rush off and buy the next one. I don’t really feel compelled to do that. I will probably read the next one but I am in no rush to do so.

Books Read in 2015 – 38. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

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Genre: Australian Fiction, Romance

Narrative Style: Third person from various points of view

Rating: 2/5Unknown

Published: 1977

Format: Kindle

Synopsis: Meggie Cleary is very young when she first meets Father Ralph de Bricassart but she loves him from the very first. She soon learns two things – that she can never have him and that he desires her too. So begins this sprawling novel about love and sacrifice that touches on life, death and love in its many forms. 

To say I was annoyed by this book would be an understatement. About three-quarters of the way through I felt like I might be reading it for the rest of my life. It was hard not to give up but I hate abandoning a book especially when I have already spent a lot of time with it. Still, the major emotion at the end was relief.

In a way, I only have myself to blame. I know I don’t especially get on with romance and melodrama. And this had melodrama in spades. I had read another of McCullough’s novels (Tim) but that was a long time ago – I was about 18 – and I was probably thinking about Mel Gibson in the film of the book. I was curious because I enjoyed the TV series in the eighties although if there is one thing I should know, it is that good TV and film can be made from less than great literature.

To be fair, I was about 50% of the way through before the book really started to get on my nerves. The romance between Meggie and Ralph is quite compelling at first. He is torn apart by his longing, she is destroyed by his refusal to give up God. There is the makings of a great story there. Unfortunately, McCullough tries to tackle too much and the story stretches out of her control. If she had stuck to the simple story of an outback family, it would have been so much better. But sections such as that about twins, Patsy and Jims, fighting in Egypt are not only superfluous to the main plot but unconvincing. In fact, none of the men on Drogheda are particularly well drawn. It is as if McCullough couldn’t be bothered to do anything with them as none of them get married or do anything individually. They are lumped together as the Uncles and none of them are developed enough to have their own personality.

There is a lot of melodrama in this book. In some ways, Meggie was similar to Stephen in The Well of Loneliness. She is a martyr to her cause and while it is a different cause, the results were the same. It was difficult to believe that so many bad things could keep happening to her. It was draining and it wasn’t long before my empathy was exhausted.

The last section of the book focuses on Meggie’s two children, Justine and Dane. Again, this section did not particularly convince. Dane was too good to be true and it was no surprise that he would die such a martyr’s death. Justine wasn’t strong enough as a character to carry the weight of the story after that. Once you start to become annoyed with a book, it is hard to take any of it seriously so when Father Ralph died in Meggie’s arms, the only emotion I felt was that of disbelief.

It’s a shame that I ended up feeling that way. The beginning of this novel has some great descriptions of the outback and the toughness of the life that they have to lead. Perhaps I should have stopped reading about halfway through. I certainly wouldn’t feel so let down by the book if I had.

 

 

Books Read in 2015 37. Just My Type – Simon Garfield

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Genre: Non-Fiction, Microhistory

Narrative Style: Academic, Some first person anecdotes

Rating: 5/5

Published: 201151lZzrI4UcL._SX323_BO1,204,203,200_

Format: Paperback

Synopsis: This is book is the story of how we came to live in a type saturated world and how there came to be quite so many fonts to choose from. This is a book for anyone who has ever pondered what font to write that letter in or why the 2012 Olympics logo was just so terrible. This book takes us from the very beginnings of print to the very latest computer designed fonts and takes in all the stages in between. 

Reading Challenges: Eclectic Reader Challenge Genre: Microhistory

The reading of this book came about because my husband is obsessed with fonts and often bemoans the trend for not saying what font a book has been typeset in. So I bought him this book a while ago and when this genre came up, it seemed to fit perfectly.

This is not just a book about type and its (seemingly) infinite varieties. it is also about the history of the industry. It takes the reader from the very beginnings of type when it was a laborious and highly skilled job to the modern day where anyone can invent a font or base on one their handwriting using their personal computer. This is not to suggest that modern font designers are not craftsmen, just that it is a completely different process and as with so many things, the computer has made it a much wider playing field.

Along the way, there was much nostalgia with discussions about printing sets for children and Letraset – both of which I can remember. I loved the inkiness of using the printing set and it was less irritating than trying to actually use Letraset. Certainly, children who are interested in such things these days will never know that particular frustration. There is an undercurrent of longing for the old days throughout this book as if the computer has sucked some of the romance out of font design. Which undoubtedly it has.

There are also chapters on specific fonts, the circumstances of their birth and the use to which they are now put. These were particularly interesting as they showed the eccentricity of many designers. This thankfully hasn’t changed with the advent of computer design. There are still mavericks out there, doing their best to be as different as possible despite the universal pull towards simple – and I think boring – fonts such as Helvetica which is becoming stupidly ubiquitous.

Finally, here is a warning. When you read this book, you will bore your friends silly with the amount of interesting font trivia in this book. And also, you will find that it is almost impossible to walk down the street without surveying every single sign you see. It’s funny how much we take for granted. It is strange to think of motorway signs being designed. This is because they work so well. (And when you see the font we could have had, you understand exactly how important this design was.) Everywhere in our lives, we see type working well, doing its job. it’s only when the font doesn’t work that we groan and hold our heads. For the most part, the designers get it right and fonts don’t invade our consciousness when we are trying to find our way or read important information. But now, I will certainly think about it a little more and appreciate the effort a designer took to make life a little bit more effortless for me.

Books Read in 2015 – 36. Raven Black – Ann Cleeves

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Genre: Detective

Narrative style: third person, chronological

Rating: 4/5

Published: 2006raven-black

Format: Paperback

Synopsis: When the body of a teenaged girl is found, the suspicion immediately falls on Magnus Tait, a strange and lonely old man. But as Jimmy Perez investigates, he finds that many Shetlanders have secrets they would like to protect. 

Reading Challenges: TBR Challenge.

Time on Shelf: About five years. I was going to start reading this series but then the TV series with Douglas Henshall started and I watched them instead. I wanted to put some space between myself and the TV program before I read them. 

I was looking forward to this after the slog that was June’s book (The Well of Loneliness) and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The story is sharp and the characters are well drawn and convincing. Unfortunately, I could remember who the killer was as it had been a surprise when I watched it on the TV. However, that is not Cleeves’ fault and I tried not to let it spoil my enjoyment.

The main thing that I found difficult was that I kept picturing Henshall when really, he didn’t fit the physical description in the book. (I’m sure it’s just a jarring for readers who see John Hannah play Rebus and then decide to read the books. It’s hard to shake off the TV image.) However, he did seem to capture the personality well. Perez was just what I like in a policeman, a little bit of an outsider, not an easy man to love but tenacious and determined to get to the bottom of the problem.

The death of Catherine Ross triggers a series of events that reminds Shetland residents of the death of an earlier child, Catriona. Magnus Tait was the main suspect then as well. Perez has to fight against the urge of other officers to simply accept the old man as suspect and close the case. Of course, nothing is ever simple in a detective novel and although there are a number of times when it seems it might have been Tait, the final answer is a lot more satisfying and complicated then that.

I was keen to read this and the pages turned fairly quickly. However, for all the quotes on the front and back cover claiming that this is a ground breaking detective novel, I didn’t think it did anything particularly different. However, this novel is almost 10 years old and it may be that it was more exceptional at the time. Certainly, it barely put a foot wrong in keeping its audience guessing and I will definitely read the next book in the series.

Books Read in 2015 35. Death of a Pirate King – Josh Radnor (Contains spoilers)

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Genre: LGBT, Detective

Narrative Style: First person, chronologicalUnknown-1

Rating: 4/5

Published: 2008

Format: Kindle

Synopsis: Now that Jake has married and Adrien feels he can no longer keep seeing him, he has tried to put their relationship behind him and even has a new boyfriend, Guy. However, when there is a murder at a Hollywood party that Adrien is attending, their paths cross again as Adrien is once again a suspect in a murder.

In some ways, there isn’t a lot I can say about this book that I haven’t said in previous reviews. That is not a bad things. All the things that make this series enjoyable are there – Adrien poking his nose in where he shouldn’t, the sexual tension between Jake and himself, the relationship between Adrien and his family. All these factors make these books so much more than mere detective fiction.

There were a couple of niggles. I actually felt quite sorry for Jake – Adrien was incredibly mean to him – so I felt anyway. Perhaps I was just impatient for them to finally get it together. And it was worth it when at the end Jake decides to leave the force and come out of the closet. (Although it did seem a bit too fairy tale to really be true.)

Also, I was never really convinced by the killer, Paul Kane. He was too much the charicature of a Hollywood actor. And it didn’t really make sense that he and Jake would be so close although it did provide added tension in Jake’s relationship with Adrien.

That said, I still found this hard to put down and the ending was suitably satisfying. I’m a bit sad that I am almost at the end of this series but I can see how with Jake out of the closet, there may not be much further to take the series.

Books Read in 2015 34. The Well of Loneliness – Radcliffe Hall

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Genre: GLBT, Classics

Narrative Style: Third person

Rating: 3/5

Published: 1928

Format: Paperback

Synopsis: When Stephen Gordon was born, her father had really wanted a boy and so stuck with the masculine name. It soon becomes apparent that Stephen is not the same as other girls. She wants to be a boy, hates dresses and refuses to ride side 8f3ce012b7cbcd5217e89aaff6520959saddle. Soon she develops her first crush on a housemaid. The novel follows her through her growing realisation that she is a lesbian and into her tragic attempts at  a relationship. 

Reading Challenges: TBR Challenge

Time on Shelf: About twenty years. I certainly bought this while at university although I’m not sure exactly when. I was put off by the picture of two very severe looking woman on the front which seemed to suggest that the book might be quite dry and severe. 

It took me over a month to read this book. In fact, towards the end I really didn’t want to pick it up. It was only the thought that it was nearly over that spurred me on. There were a number of reasons why I found this hard going.

First of all, the writing is incredibly melodramatic. Stephen is a martyr to her desires and Hall frequently makes reference to the terrible lot of the invert. Of course, at the time this was written, that attitude made perfect sense but now it is a little bit hard to stomach.

This is particularly true at the end of the novel when Stephen heroically sacrifices her own feelings so that her lover, Mary, can be happy in the arms of a man who can give her ‘normal’ things like marriage and children. Once I realised that this would be the end, I felt incredibly annoyed that Hall refused the possibility of a happy ending for Stephen. I really didn’t want that to be the ending. Again, I think that it is an understandable impulse at the time that Hall was writing but it really did annoy me.

I found it hard to like Stephen and therefore to have sympathy for her. She seems determined that things will be as bad for her as possible. Some of the other characters in the novel are better drawn, I think, especially in the Paris section of the novel where Stephen is temporarily happy.

Hall has the annoying habit of bestowing the animals in the novel with human thoughts. Stephen is very close to her horse, Ratfery and although he obviously can’t communicate  with Stephen, Hall notes the thoughts that he has, suggesting complete understanding of Stephen’s moods. I found this intensely irritating.

Having said all that, it is easy to see why this is such an important book. It must have felt like a godsend to women reading it at the time of its publication. If it seems old fashioned in its ideas, that only shows how far we have come. The sections during the first world war and in Paris afterwards are very evocative of time and place and this was the part of the novel I enjoyed the most.

 

Books Read in 2015 – 33. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler (Contains spoilers)

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Genre: Literary Fiction, Family drama

Narrative Style: First person, non-chronologicalUnknown

Rating: 4/5

Published: 2013

Format: Kindle

Synopsis: Rosemary Cooke no longer talks very much and has difficulty connecting with people. Her brother is on the run and she hasn’t seen her sister, Fern, since they were quite young. She has no idea where either of them are. Her parents are equally traumatised by some event in their past. Rosemary needs to find out what happened to Fern if she is to come to terms with the past.

It took a little while for me to get into this book and that is the main reason that I didn’t give it five stars. Rosemary is emotionally distant from the other characters and it is hard for the reader to get close to her as well. I couldn’t imagine that her story was going to become all that interesting.

Although there are hints, I didn’t guess that Fern was a chimp  – and I managed to avoid any spoilers – and initially, I felt a little cheated but this was definitely the point where the story took off for me. I did psychology at A Level and also a little at degree level so I was familiar with a lot of the experiments that are mentioned in the book. When I was doing my A Levels, I was fascinated by the work done trying to teach chimps to sign and the comparison of a human child and a young chimp here was equally fascinating.

The traumatic event of the past was the sudden removal of Fern from the family. Rosemary eventually comes to terms with her own role in Fern’s sudden departure but not before we have seen exactly how strange the relationship was, both for Rosemary and for Fern. It is hard to imagine that these sort of experiments were allowed to take place but as the excellent documentary Project Nim shows, they definitely did, with scant regard for chimp or research students.

Rosemary’s brother discovers where Fern is and tries to visit her but instead becomes involved in animal rights activism as a result of seeing the cruelty with which she is treated. The scene where she recognises him and refuses to let him go was heartbreaking and one of the best moments in the book.

There are a couple of moments where the plot doesn’t entirely convince – the brother’s reappearance for example, but for the most part this was a strong and emotional piece of writing that I couldn’t put down.

Books Read in 2015 32. Babette’s Feast – Karen Blixen

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Narrative Style: Third Person

Rating: 3/541+8Z8uVWwL._SL500_AA300_

Published: 1952

Format: Kindle

Reading Challenges: Eclectic Reader Challenge 2015 – genre fiction for foodies

Synopsis: Martine and Phillipa live a quietly pious life in a remote part of Norway. Their lives are ordered and there are no surprises. That is until the arrival of Babette, a  refugee from the French revolution. Babette is a cook and although she wishes to cook more extravagant meals, she agrees to cook the simple dishes that the sisters require. That is until she wins money in the French lottery and insists on catering for the whole town. 

I really had no idea what to expect from this book. I was looking specifically for the challenge as I must admit fiction for foodies is not really a genre I know much about and a lot of the books I was finding seemed like chick lit and I tend to find that a bit annoying. So when I saw this, I jumped at it.

The main characters are two elderly sisters – named after radical religious reformers – who have eschewed love and adventure to remain pious and devote their lives to the church and God. Growing up, they are much in the thrall of their father, the pastor who stops any chances of marriage that the sisters may have had.

Years later, Babette appears on their doorstep, a French refugee who cooks for the sisters. Every week, she faithfully plays the French lottery. One day, many years later she wins 10000 francs and instead of moving home, as the sisters assume she will, she offers to create the feast to celebrate the anniversary of the pastor’s 100th birthday.

The feast represents everything that the sisters have removed from their lives. It is sumptuous, rich and over the top. The sisters and the townsfolk have misgivings about the feast but resolve not to mention the food, no matter what they think of it. So they sit and eat the most incredible meal they have ever had without ever commenting on it.

This was an odd story which was rich in symbolism and an interesting look at the meaning of self-sacrifice. The sisters may have devoted their lives to the church but Babette sacrifices her entire winnings to pay for the feast, to have the townsfolk not even mention her efforts. Her sacrifice is surely greater. While it was interesting, I wasn’t really grabbed by the characters and didn’t really feel any emotion at the end of the story.

Books Read in 2015 31. Ring – Koji Suzuki

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Genre: Horror

Narrative Style: third person from various perspectives51BD0RBSMCL

Rating: 3/5

Published: 1991

Format: Kindle

Synopsis: Asakawa is a journalist who is intrigued by his niece’s strange death. When he discovers other young people have died suddenly and inexplicably, he begins to seriously investigate. In the course of his investigation, he discovers a videotape that is cursed – if you watch it, you will die within the week. There is a charm against the curse but that part is missing from the tape. Asakawa has a week to discover what it is in order to save not only his own life but that of his wife and child. 

I really enjoyed the start of this book. Asakawa’s discovery of the four deaths is compelling and I was keen to read on. He was an interesting character, not a straightforward hero and that was good too. I expected that I would be rating it highly.  However, the plot loses momentum in the last third. I think that the investigative process is too drawn out and considering how little time Asakawa has left by this point, is strangely lacking in tension. In the end, the deaths and then the discovery of how to break the curse seemed a little anti-climactic.

It seems ridiculous to claim that the ending was unrealistic. After all, this novel already involves a huge suspension of disbelief with the notion of psychics being able to imprint thoughts onto film or in this case, into wave forms so that images could be seen on a tv. In the end, I think that it all just fell apart for me. I just couldn’t keep believing.

It may be that Suzuki’s novel suffers in comparison to the excellent film 1998 film version. Wisely. the film doesn’t get bogged down in the more intellectual ideas about psychics and wooden conversations that add helpful details but seem unrealistic. But ultimately, I think it is the medium that is the problem. It is just so much more chilling to watch a film about a murderous film then it is to read about it.

Books Read in 2015 30. Shakespeare – Bill Bryson

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Genre: Biography, History

Narrative Style: third person, academic51NyyX+LRzL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

Rating: 5/5

Published: 2007

Format: Kindle

Synopsis: This is a biography of sorts although it focuses as much on what we don’t know as what we do. Written in Bryson’s inimitable style, it is funny, informative and clever. A must read for anyone with a passing interest in Shakespeare. 

I’ve been meaning to read this for a while. There were a couple of reasons for this. I’ve read a lot of Bryson’s work – including Mother Tongue and A Short History of Nearly Everything as well as some of the travel writing so I knew that it would be readable and informative. And I was interested in the life of Shakespeare. I expected that we would know about him. I’m not sure why that was. It makes sense  that we would not know much about him.

So unlike conventional biographies, this is not a simple run from birth through life to death. It explores what we know about each area of Shakespeare’s life, attempts to discuss any mysteries or controversies and explains why we don’t know more.

It’s fascinating really, that Shakespeare should still mean so much to our culture and yet we can barely verify what he looked like or what he did for large periods of time. We can place him at a specific time and place only rarely. We can barely prove that he wrote the plays that take his name and that has led to a whole other academic avenue. The ‘who was Shakespeare really’ brigade.

Bryson makes short shrift of their theories. They all seem to be fabulously eccentric and it is almost a shame to have to tear their wonderfully hopeful theories apart. Bryson does this in style and this was one of my favourite parts of the book. It is almost inevitable, given the darkness that surrounds most of Shakespeare’s life that there would be those who would like to join the dots. Unfortunately, they very rarely come anywhere close to the real picture.

Bryson’s curiosity cannot be faulted and as with all his works, his enthusiasm comes across clearly and the book is a pleasure to read. In fact, at the end, I wished there was more to say. I was very sad to put it down.