Bibliophile's Fiction Reviews
Laura Marcus (ed).: Twelve women detective stories
Posted: 12 March 2005

Expanded review.
Some of the books in which the stories appeared are available on the web. I have included links to those I was able to find.

Listed by:

Title - Author [series character]- from the book/magazine/newspaper - year published:
1: "The Mysterious Countess": Anon (attributed to W. S. Hayward). from Revelations of a Lady Detective, c. 1864.
2: "Drawn Daggers" [Loveday Brooke]: Catherine L. Pirkis. The Ludgate Magazine Jun, 1893. Stories collected in The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective.
3: "The First Customer and the Florentine Dante" [Hagar Stanley]: Fergus Hume. Hagar of the Pawn-Shop, 1898.
4: "The Adventure of the Cantankerous Old Lady" [Lois Cayley]: Grant Allen. The Strand Mar, 1898. Stories collected in Miss Cayley's Adventures.
5: "Mr. Bovey’s Unexpected Will: L. T. Meade & Robert Eustace. The Harmsworth Magazine Apr, 1899.
6: "The Man in the Inverness Cape" [Lady Molly de Mazareen]: Baroness Orczy. Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, 1910.
7: "The Man with Nine Lives" [Madelyn Mack]: Hugh C. Weir. Miss Madelyn Mack, Detective, 1914.
8: "An Intangible Clue" [Violet Strange]: Anna Katharine Green. The Golden Slipper, 1915.
9: "The Clairvoyants" [Constance Dunlap]: Arthur B. Reeve. Constance Dunlap, 1916.
10. "Lot’s Wife" [Solange Fontaine]: F. Tennyson Jesse. The Solange Stories, 1931.
11: "A Light on Murder": Gladys Mitchell. The (London) Evening Standard Feb 15 ’50.
12: "On Principle": Henry Cecil. Full Circle, 1948.

This is an interesting look at the origins and development of female detectives in literature. The stories are of varying quality, but the book is well worth reading. I already have a copy of a book one of the stories came from, and want to get my hands on 4 others.
Because of the varying quality of the writing I can’t give the book as a whole more than 3 stars, but there are some excellent 4 and 5 star stories in it.

Since writing this review, I have read in full Anna Katharine Green's collection of short stories about society lady and detective Violet Strange, The Golden Slipper. There are some interesting problems she deals with in the stories, some of which, however, are rather melodramatic.
Peter Ackroyd: Hawksmoor (Week 7)
Posted: 9 March 2004

Published: 1985
Genre: mystery, horror
Cover image

I read this book years ago as part of a college course on modern English literature, but I remember nothing about it. Even now, when I'm almost finished with part one, I still remember nothing about the previous reading, which I guess shows how interested I was in it at the time.

Every other chapter happens in the 18th century and is written in the style of that time, which takes a while to get used to. The other chapters are written in modern English and happen in modern times. The narrative point of view shifts between chapters, from 1st person to 3rd person. These stylistic changes necessitate a shifting of mental gears at the beginning of each chapter and make the book challenging to read.

So far I'm finding it to be a dark and rather menacing narrative. Dyer, the 18th century narrator, appears to be stark raving mad and a satanist to boot. His narrative seems to tie in with the modern chapters, where it appears that people are being murdered in the neighbourhood of churches Dyer has built.

Part two should start giving some explanations - I hope. I hate it when mysteries continue to be mysterious after I've finished reading them.

Review:
Posted: 12 March 2004

Finished the book. Now for the review:

As I mentioned before, the narrative is in two totally different styles. The first chapter and every second chapter after that is written in the1st person, 18th century style English. The 1st person narrator is Nicholas Dyer, a character very loosely based on real life English architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. In the book, Ackroyd attributes to Dyer the six churches Hawksmoor is most famous for designing, and the narrative is as much based around the churches as it is around Dyer, inspector Hawksmoor and other characters in the book.

The second chapter and every other chapter following is written in the 3rd person, modern English. In part one of the book these chapters introduce, with great compassion, characters who end up being murdered at the sites of Dyer's churches, in an echo of sacrificial deaths, accidental, by murder or by suicide, that are connected with the building of the churches (in the story). In part two the modern chapters tell the story of inspector Hawksmoor who is investigating the murders, and his increasing frustration over getting nowhere with the cases.

I have to say that while this novel is a masterpiece in many ways, it is not a satisfying read. It has an ending, but no conclusion or resolution, leaving the reader to try to work out happened. The use of 1st person narrative for the insane and evil Dyer and the 3rd person for Hawksmoor, who's closest to being the good guy in the story, serves to make the reader feel compassion for Dyer and indifference towards Hawksmoor. Most of all it underlines how alike they are, their thought processes and frustrations are very similar, like two sides of the same coin.

Hawksmoor should really be read with a map of London at hand, as it will give the reader a better feel for the area in which the story happens. Make that TWO maps, one of the contemporary city and one of 18th century London, as some of the street names have changed. Knowing what the churches in the book look like will help as well - here's a link to a page with pictures of some them.
Another good reference to have at hand for historical detail is Ackroyd's own London: A Biography, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Rating: A dark and morbid narrative, in turns horrifying and puzzling, that should appeal to admirers of gothic literature and murder mysteries. 3 stars for quality, none for satisfaction.

Ackroyd links:
Peter Ackroyd bio and bibliography
Review of Hawksmoor
Federico Andahazi: The Merciful Women
Posted: 23 June 2004

Original (Spanish) title: Las Piadosas
Translator:Albert Manguel
Year published: 1998 (original), 2000 (translation)
Genres: Fantasy, gothic horror (humourous)

I have already mentioned the suggestive and rather tasteless cover image of this book - indeed it was the first cover I put in my gallery of bad cover art. Well, behind this tasteless cover there lurks a rather entertaining story.

The Story:
In the wet summer of 1816, five people arrive at the Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Leman: Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Godwin and her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, and John Polidori, Byron’s secretary. Upon arriving, Polidori finds a mysterious letter in his room, written by a monster who proposes a deal with him: something of his in exchange for literary fame. Polidori, who has suffered much humiliation at the hands of his employer, accepts the deal, but not before further humiliations and events that convince the others that he is going mad.

Technique and plot:
The translation is fluid and beautifully done and the book comes across as if it had been written in English. The style is reminiscent of Poe and Lovecraft, and the “monster” is indeed something that Lovecraft could have created. The mixture of third person narrative with the first person epistolatory form gives a nicely balanced account of, on the one hand, Polidori’s despair and irrationality in the company of those so much more accomplished than himself, and on the other, Annette Legrand’s story which is full of horror and strange self-satisfaction. The narrative is darkly humorous, grotesque, cheeky and disrespectful of the main character’s literary and personal aspirations. Andahazi is not kind to his poor protagonist…

I loved the ending, which is something of a twist and would advise anyone who habitually peeks at the ending of books to resist the urge with this one, at least if there is any intention of reading it. But of course the ending isn’t funny unless you have read the entire book…

I have always had problems with authors seizing historical characters and writing novels about them – why can’t they invent their own characters? For example, I hated Brian Aldiss’ Frankenstein Unbound where he writes about the fantasy of fucking Mary Shelley, but I did find this story rather good, perhaps because it is about a person who is more of a footnote in literary history than any kind of contender for real literary immortality (he did write what has been acknowledged to be the first vampire novel, but it isn’t very good).

Rating:
A dark and cheeky vampire story with a difference. 4 stars.
Susan Andersen: Head Over Heels (romantic suspense)
Posted: 20 July 2005

This is the first in a trilogy of loosely connected stories about three marine buddies who find love when they least expect it. I have already reviewed the second book, Getting Lucky (the review seems to have gone missing, probably during one if the "issues" that plagued TBlog and caused me to switch over to Blogger). The third book is Hot and Bothered, hardly a title I would want to be seen reading on the bus, but which will no doubt give me a couple of hours of enjoyment once it’s delivered (I’m getting it through a TitleTrader swap).

Story:
James Cooper Blackstock has come to this half-brother’s hometown to investigate the murder of his former sister in law. His brother is the prime suspect, and has gone on the run. The dead woman’s sister, Veronica Davis, returns as well, to take care of her niece and to sell the family business, a bar where Coop is working undercover as bartender, in the hope of picking up some useful information about the murder. Sparks fly when they first meet, and continue to fly as passions rise and they become lovers. But Coop has not told her who he really is, and the murderer is lurking, waiting to see how things develop.

Review:
This is in some ways a better book than the sequel and in some ways not as good. Coop is a much more human and likeable hero than Zach (not as much of a testosterone jerk), but the interchange between Coop and Ronnie is not as funny and sparkling as that between Zach and Lily. The story sags a bit around the middle, but fortunately picks up again to provide the reader with some action and a satisfying ending.

The glimpses we get into the mind of the killer get annoying after a while. They are very obviously meant to show that he is not as clever as he thinks he is, but yet it is pure coincidence that leads Ronnie to realise his identity and a chance comment that leads Coop to the same discovery, not any kind of clever detective work. This makes the mystery weak, weaker than the one in the sequel.

Rating: A fun, romantic, suspense story. 3 stars.
Anonymous: The Saga of Grettir the Strong (Week 40)
Posted: 16 November 2004

Author: Unknown
Year published: this edition: 1985; original: 14th century
Pages: 141
Genre: Saga, medieval literature


Today we Icelanders celebrate the Day of the Icelandic Language, and therefore I decided to read something in my native language for a change, and what is more Icelandic than a Saga? I chose The Saga of Grettir the Strong because I have special ties to it, having lived in Skagafjörður and visited Drangey, the island where Grettir spent the last years of his life.

The version I am reading is from a controversial modernised spelling edition of the Sagas.

This Saga is available in English for reading online: Saga of Grettir
This is my Drangey page. It contains a short summary of the Saga of Grettir, along with a couple of legends about the island.

Review:
Posted: 24 November 2004

The Story: The life story of one of the greatest warriors in Icelandic history. He is thought to have really existed, although of course by the time the Saga was written everything about him had reached legendary status, which is why I’m putting the story in the “fiction” section. I hesitate to call him a hero, because although he did many brave and heroic things, he was also a thief, a highwayman and a murderer who sometimes killed just because he didn’t like someone. Many of his misfortunes are entirely due to his own temperament, although some may be attributed to ongoing feuds or just plain bad luck. Grettir was a hunted man for nearly half of his life. First he was outlawed for 3 years for a killing, and then he was outlawed for life. The second sentence is blamed on his having been cursed by a monster that he fought and overcame. He is described as having been the strongest man who ever lived in Iceland, and could only be overcome and killed by magic.

Not only is the Saga about Grettir alone, it begins with some history about his family, and ends with the story of how his brother tracked down his killer all the way to Byzantium to kill him (Icelanders in the Sagas were big on blood feuds and could be extremely tenacious and patient when it came to revenge).

Technique and plot: The story is well plotted, but those who don’t like to read about the “begots” in the Bible may find parts of this (or indeed any) Saga equally uninteresting, as it contains a lot of genealogy and quite complicated family connections, which nevertheless are important to the story, as they explain the ongoing feuds, who gets compensation for whose death and who is bound to avenge whom, and so on. Other than the genealogical information, the structure and plotting of the story is quite similar to a modern novel, albeit one that rambles a bit and takes a while to get to the central plot. Once the central plot (Grettir’s life story) is reached, the story starts to move faster, and also becomes more fantastic, with Grettir coming up against not only human opponents, but also trolls, ghosts and a witch.

In his youth, Grettir is not at all a likeable person. He’s lazy, arrogant, impertinent, rude, violent, and cruel to animals. Not a very nice boy at all. As he gets older and his misfortunes start piling up, he becomes slightly more sympathetic, but only a bit. I know there are people who admire him and call him a hero, but I am not one of them. I think he brought his misfortunes upon himself, although he did not deserve to die the way he did.

Rating: A medieval Saga that should appeal to all fans of heroic literature. 4 stars.
Richard Bach: Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Week 2)
Posted: 1 February 2004

Photographs: Russell Munson
Year published: 1970
Cover image

This week's book is short and should make for a quick, easy read - a good thing considering that I'm swamped with school work. I've read it before, when I was a teenager, in an Icelandic translation and can remember nearly nothing about it except it took me less than an hour to read (I expect it will take a bit longer this time). I also saw the film some years ago and all I remember of that is music, pictures of soaring seagulls and a voice telling the story. This books seems to be a great favourite among New Agers and other sorts of spiritually inclined people, like religious groups, none of whom seem to interpret it in the same way. It will be interesting to see what my own impressions will be.


Review:
Posted: 4 February 2004

Joyce it isn't. The language of the story is simple, so simple that young children and semi-advanced learners of English as a second language can understand nearly every word. Some of the flying terms might cause a bit of confusion to some, but they are not that important to the story. It's a quick read - I estimate that it took me less than 30 minutes to read it, sitting on the bus on the way to and from school.

The story is, narratively speaking, a very straightforward parable about a person who happens to be a seagull and who is cast out of his social group/flock for daring to be different and thinking more about flying than food. So far I can relate, having myself experienced very nearly the same thing. Then part 1 ends and the story gets spiritual, even religious. Jonathan transcends his mortal existence, enters another plane of existence where he meets others even more advanced in flight than himself, and perfects his art. He becomes some kind of heavenly gull who returns to the flock to teach others what he has learned about the pursuit of perfection through flight.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull could almost be taken as a model for how to write uplifting and spiritual texts. The language is ethereal, soothing and gentle and the story is very simple and yet vague enough that it can be taken to be an allegory for a hundred different things, which is probably a contributing factor in its popularity.
Personally, I think it's harmless enough, but I really can't understand what all the fuss is about.

Rating: A misunderstood children's book that you will either love or detest. 2 stars (out of 5)


Some links relating to the book
Posted: 02.05.04 (9:02 am)
Center for Inspired Learning book review

Unofficial fansite dedicated to Richard Bach

Jonathan Livingston Seagull: the movie on IMDb

Linda Barnes: Dead Heat (murder mystery)
Posted: 15 June 2005

Third of four books about former private eye, now actor, Michael Spraggue, scion of one of Boston’s moneyed families, who prefers to live on his own rather than at the family mansion and to earn his own living instead of living off the family riches. The city of Boston is just as much a characters in this book as the people are, which is cool, because so often places are just used as interchangeable backgrounds for stories that could happen anywhere.

This book was published in 1984 and appears to be out of print. Best place to find it would probably be a library or second-hand book store (or abebooks.com).

The story:
Collatos, a former cop, now a bodyguard, and a friend of Spraggue’s, asks him to help him find the writer of anonymous threatening letters that his boss, a US senator, has been receiving. When the senator and bodyguard take part in the Boston marathon and are poisoned by a “woman” who gives them water laced with an overdose of speed, with the result that Collatos dies, Spraggue begins to investigate the death. He leaves no stone unturned, and discovers an insurance scam Collatos was investigating before he left the police force and which seems connected to his death. This leads him to think it was Collatos who was the target of the poisoning, and not the senator, and the anonymous letters were either a subterfuge or unrelated to the murder. But how did the killer know Collatos would have an allergic reaction to amphetamine?

I have previously mentioned how I hate books that are so dependent on other books in the same series that they can’t be read without having read the others first. I wouldn’t exactly go as far as to say this is one of those books, but it did leave me with several unanswered questions about Spraggue’s background that the author obviously assumed the reader would know about. It would therefore be a good idea to read the first two books in order, before reading this one.

Rating: An entertaining crime thriller with a twist in the tail. 3+ stars.

Peter S. Beagle: The Last Unicorn (Week 28)
Posted: 3 August 2004

Illustrator: Mel Grant
Year published: 1968
Pages: 212
Genre: Fantasy


Large cover image

I first read this book a long time ago, before I became really proficient in English, and when I came across this special illustrated anniversary edition, I decided it was about time I read it again.

Being older, having read a lot in the interim and understanding the language better, all affect how re-reading books affects a person. A case in point for me is Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. I read it at age 17 and loved it. The lifestyle it described appealed to me and I envied the free spirited characters in the story. Then I went and lived in a commune for a while, travelled across Europe and Asia, read loads of other books and grew up (not necessarily in that order). At 32 I tried to read it again, and hated it so much I put it down after the fourth chapter and swore never to read it again.

When I first read The Last Unicorn I was about 20, was just about to start university and although I could keep up a fairly fluid conversation in English, I didn’t have the feeling for the nuances of the language I do now. Back then, I found the book beautifully written but felt something was missing, namely the spark that separates a good book from a great book. It will be interesting to see what I think of it now.

Review:
Posted: 8 August 2004

Summary:
One day a solitary unicorn discovers she is the last of her kind and sets out to find out what happened to the others. On the way she picks up two companions: the inept magician Schmendrick who can not age until he fulfils his potential for great magic, and Molly Grue, former outlaw’s companion who prefers to join the unicorn rather than stay any longer with the outlaws in the woods. They discover that the Red Bull, some kind of mythical creature, herded all the unicorns away to the land of King Haggard. The travellers head into that bleak and inhospitable land and it’s cruel king, towards a reckoning that will change their lives forever.

Technique
The writing is lyrical and flowing and the language simple, straightforward and charming. The story is solid and touches upon several myths and legends from different sources, and the characters are beautifully created and rounded. There is an underlying sadness that permeates the story, for things past and wonders that have gone the way of our belief in unicorns.

Rating:
A beautiful story about a unicorn who briefly finds out what it is like to be mortal. 4+ stars.
Lawrence Block: Burglars can’t be choosers, The burglar in the closet (murder mysteries)
Posted: 22 June 2005

These are the first two books in a long-running series about burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Bernie is a cool character, perfectly immoral when it comes to other people’s property, daring, professional and charming. The books are a light-hearted blending of the traditional cozy mystery and the rogue genre, because the sleuth is a criminal. Being a criminal, he has obvious problems. The only cop likely to take him seriously is crooked and needs to be bribed before he will do anything for him, and in both these books Bernie is a suspect in the murders, so has to go not only undercover to solve the murders, but on the lam as well to avoid being arrested for them.

I have read a fair number of rogue stories (e.g. Raffles, Arsene Lupin) but Bernie is the first of the rogue heroes I have really liked. I hated the Raffles stories – Raffles is mean and sidekick Bunny such a wimp that it’s a wonder anyone likes them at all, plus the stories are badly written, and several other rogue heroes are into tricking and taunting the police who of course are always dumber than jellyfish. Bernie is the first I have come across who seems to simply make a living off crime without wanting to attract attention or taunt the authorities, and the stories do not hinge on anyone being unnaturally stupid.

In Burglars can’t be choosers, Bernie is hired to steal a small box that’s supposed to be hidden in a desk. He doesn’t bother to peep into every room of the apartment before he starts to look for the box, which turns out to be a mistake, because when two cops rush into the apartment, one of them finds a recently murdered man in the bedroom. Bernie manages to make a quick escape, and spends the next several days hiding out and desperately investigating the murder, which looks very much like a set-up.

In The burglar in the closet, he is again hired to perform a burglary, and is actually in the apartment when the owner comes home unexpectedly, lets in someone she knows and is murdered. Suspicion falls on him when his (innocent) “employer” is arrested for the crime (the victim was his ex wife), and decides to save his own skin and give Bernie to the cops as a possible suspect. Again, Bernie has to hide out and investigate in order to avoid going to jail. The Whoopi Goldberg movie Burglar was lightly based on this story.

Rating: Light-hearted and entertaining murder mysteries with a likeable “hero”. 3+ stars.
Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat who Tailed a Thief
Posted: 10 March 2004

Year published: 1998
Genre: Murder mystery, whodunnit
Cover image

I read this in three hours last night and enjoyed it. Braun has a way with words and since the Cat Who books all happen mostly in the same area, the author has been able to make the place and its inhabitants seem very real. The style is sparkling and the story entertaining. The titular cat, Koko, is not in any sense a "supercat" who actively stalks and catches criminals (not in this particular book at least), and the hints and assistance he gives his owner can be seen as mere coincidences or reactions to the owner's moods, which makes it possible for people who don't like cats (or at any rate don't believe them to be over-intelligent), to enjoy the story. Of course a little "suspension of disbelief" makes the story more enjoyable, since it's fun to imagine Koko as a super-intelligent being who likes to solve mysteries, rather than just a bright animal reacting to its environment.

The story is a typical whodunnit. As everyone who's familiar with the genre knows, a good whodunnit doesn't reveal the identity of the criminal until on the last pages. Unfortunately there is a very revealing blurb on the back of the book. A good blurb doesn't give too much away, and this one gave away the most important thing: the identity of the criminals. Not that it matters - the story is transparent enough for an experienced mystery reader to figure it out quickly. The fun was in seeing the narrative twists and turns that lead Koko and Qwilleran to finally solve the mystery.

This one gets 3 stars and 4 miaows.
Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who Played Brahms
Posted: 22 June 2004

I have been on a reading spree for the past few days – one or two books per day, so there will be an unusually large number of reviews this week. I love being on holiday!

Year published: 1987
Genre: Mystery
Sub-genre(s): Whodunit

This is the fifth Cat Who… book, and just as enjoyable as the other ones I’ve read in the series. These delightful mysteries are short enough to make a nice diversion for a couple of hours, and they never fail to entertain.

The Story:
Chicago journalist Jim Qwilleran has decided to write a novel and has accepted the offer of a country cabin somewhere “up north” for the summer. The owner is Aunt Fanny, an old friend of his mother’s. Once he arrives with his cats, mysterious events start happening, a neighbour is murdered, Qwilleran may have witnessed another murder, and the locals aren’t about to let an outsider dig any deeper than necessary. Just when the mystery is solved, Qwilleran has to make a choice between going back to Chicago and accepting a job as an investigative journalist (something he has always wanted to do), or to become very wealthy and spend the next five years living in Moose County.

Technique and plot:
As with the other Braun books I’ve read, this is written in an easy and flowing style, with wonderful descriptions of people and places. The plot is well laid out and not too predictable, and, this being the oldest Cat Who book I’ve read, it explains quite a number of things I had wondered about when reading the other books.

Rating:
A delightful little mystery with especial appeal to cat lovers. 3 stars and 4 purrs.
Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who Blew the Whistle
Posted: 22 June 2004

Year published: 1995
Genre: Mystery
Sub-genre(s): Whodunit
Cover image

Of the Cat Who books I’ve read, this is probably the most mysterious mystery – although in the end it turned out I had guessed correctly the identity of one of the criminals, I did get another one wrong and was uncertain about the other right until the denouement.
Unlike the previous books I have read in the series, this one definitely hints at Koko the cat being psychic rather than merely very intelligent, which is fine by me but may detract from the enjoyment by readers who don’t like cats.

Rating:
Another great mystery from Lilian Jackson Braun. 4 stars and 5 purrs.
Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes (Week 39)
Posted: 20 November 2004

Year published: 1962
Pages: 215
Genre: Horror

By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.
(William Shakespeare: Macbeth, act 4, scene 1)

I was only familiar with Ray Bradbury as a TV scriptwriter until a few years ago when I read a short story by him that appeared in an anthology of funny science fiction stories. Then I found this book while browsing in the Red Cross charity shop in Reykjavik, liked the Shakespearian title, and bought it. It’s been sitting on my TBR shelf for several months and I think it's about time I read it.

Review:
Posted: 15 November 2004

The Story: Will and Jim, two teenage friends who live in a town somewhere in the USA, witness the arrival of a mysterious and creepy carnival in the dead of an autumn night, long after the carnival season has ended. They witness something terrifying in the carnival grounds after closing time and one of them accidentally harms one of the carnival directors, and as a result they are hunted through the town by the carnival people, a collection of twisted and tortured freaks who have themselves fallen prey to the dark carnival and become its slaves.

Technique and plot: In this book, Ray Bradbury took something that many people these days find innocuous and perhaps a bit tawdry, but which less than a century ago was indeed quite terrifying to any right-minded person: a side-show carnival. Old-time side-show carnivals were full of people whose appearance made it impossible for them to live ordinary lives, and although some of the side-acts were fakes, many were quite real, a pathetic collection of diseased, disabled and deformed people who were put on show like animals in a zoo. Bradbury is old enough to have seen such side-shows and has taken their more nightmarish aspects and woven them into a fine tale of good versus evil.

The narrative style is poetic and eloquent, rich, full of meaning and laden by turns with menace and hope. It is hardly the kind of language one expects from a horror story, which makes the horror all the more effective. The freaks are both pathetic and scary, the horror is just as much psychological as it is visual, and while the worst of the bad are pure evil, the good and just have a dark side that sometimes makes it hard for them to judge correctly what is right and what is wrong, and which makes them real and believable. The plot moves along slowly at first and then begins rolling along faster and faster, until it reaches a frenzied climax.

Rating: A fine tale of horror and friendship, family ties and things that go ‘bump’ in the night. 4+ stars.
Amanda Brown: Legally Blonde (book and movie)
Posted: 30 September 2004

Year published: 2001
Pages: 272
Genre: Chick lit
Sub-genre:coming of age, self discovery

The Story:
For those who have not read the book or seen the movie and don’t want to know the ending, please stop reading NOW!

SPOILERS ahead

Those who have seen the movie are already familiar with the basic plot of the book: Bel Air princess Elle Woods is rejected by her boyfriend and follows him to law school to show him that while she is a blonde, she is not dumb. All kinds of funny chaos ensues, Elle defends Brooke, a former sorority sister in a murder trial, gets sexually harassed by her supervisor, and finally rejects the ex in favour of continuing law school and being with the cute lawyer she met.

That was the movie.

The book has the same basic plot, but with important differences. One is that instead of heading east to Harvard and losing all connections with her friends, Elle heads north to Stanford, meaning that she still has relatively easy access to her social network, which is what gets her the internship on the Brooke Vandermark defence team. Another is that her supervisor is actually quite nice and there even seems to be some mutual sexual attraction between him and Elle. The third is that the trial is not about murder, but an inheritance dispute. Brooke Vandermark has been sued by her husband’s daughter and ex wives for the inheritance and stands to lose everything if she is proven guilty of the murder. There is no Emmet, and Elle is happily single at the end of the book. Elle gets somewhat annoying at times because she is so perfect: so beautiful that even movie stars stare at her, and so kind that everyone who gets to know her beyond the superficial can’t help liking her. Internally, though, she’s a mess and quite human.

Technique and plot:
The book drags a bit at times, especially the middle section, but for the most part it moves along well. Elle’s culture shock, coming from her pampered Bel Air environment, to the harsh and competitive law school where everyone instantly assumes her to be a stereotypical dumb blonde, is not quite as funny as it is in the movie, but a lot more real (I speak from experience, having suffered culture shock myself).

Rating:
Interesting read, good support to the movie. 3 stars.

The unavoidable book/movie comparison:
All in all, I think many of the changes to the story from book to movie were well warranted, especially the expansion of the character of Paulette, played by Jennifer Coolidge, who steals every scene she is in. In the book Paulette is just a sympathetic French manicurist who is mentioned a couple of times in passing. Changing the trial from an inheritance case to a murder trial did make the movie story more thrilling. Elle in the movie is a lot more assertive than Elle in the book, and gets ahead on brains and hard work, while Elle in the book, although clearly smart (she wouldn’t have stood a chance in law school otherwise) is constantly struggling to keep up with her schedule, skipping classes and generally slacking off. Elle in the book is trying to get Warner back by dangling herself in front of him all the time, while Elle in the movie is intent on proving to him she is smart enough to deserve him. In spite of the differences in portrayal, Reese Witherspoon’s Elle is still recognisable as Amanda Brown’s Elle, and I think that reading the book gives one a better understanding of the turmoil that is supposed to be going on beneath Elle’s sunny smiles and sulky pouts in the movie. Reese Witherspoon is quite a good actress, but she has not yet mastered the subtlety needed to express finely nuanced emotions. I’m not saying she mugs, but her face is expressive in a big way, rather than subtle.

I didn’t quite understand why they changed the schools from Stanford to Harvard. Perhaps they wanted to make sure the audience really understands how alone Elle is once she starts law school? And since they had to add a romance element, why couldn’t they have made it sizzle a bit? I mean, Luke Wilson is cute, but that’s just it, his Emmett is just another cute guy around campus and there is no tension between them, it’s all just sibling-like banter and no apparent attraction.

Since I am reading a book about scriptwriting, I can’t help adding that I am now beginning to understand better why the plots in books are so often altered in screen adaptations. Books have different dynamics from movies, and while we will patiently slog through a slow middle section of a book in anticipation of a good climax and ending, we want a movie to keep up a good pace and entertain us throughout. The middle section of the book is about Elle’s problems fitting in, her struggles with her studies, legal stuff and internal struggles that would have bogged down the movie had they been shown in full. In a movie the short and snappy scenes of her interaction with her teachers and co-students serve much better to show this, even if it makes her loneliness and isolation seem a bit trivial compared with the book. But, after all the movie is supposed to be a lighthearted comedy, while the book is an occasionally funny story about self discovery.
Candace Bushnell: Sex and the City (Week 22)
Posted: 06.20.04 (7:10 am)

Year published: 1996
Genre: Fictionalisations, social life and customs
Sub-genre(s): Sex, dating, relationships

I originally included this in the non-fiction section, as it is a collection of articles based on the lives and experiences of real people, but later I decided the stories had been fictionalised to such an extent that it was impossible to tell truth from fiction, so I moved in into the fiction section.

Came across this while browsing in the library and decided to give it a go. It will be interesting to see what the book that spawned the hit TV series is like.

Review:
Posted: 06.21.04 (4:53 am)

Story:
There isn’t really a story as such, this being mostly a collection of articles about the mating habits of New Yorkers that appeared in Bushnell’s newspaper column, but some of the same people pop up repeatedly and you get to know something about them and their relationships with each other and others. Sex, dating, marriage and the attendant social rituals are the order of the day, and are sometimes investigated through conversations between people comparing notes on the subject and sometimes as little story vignettes that illustrate the subject. Faithful viewers of the TV series will recognise most of the subjects: “modelizers”, psycho moms, swinging, serial daters, toxic bachelors and perennially single women, and of course Carrie’s relationship with Mr. Big. They will also recognise many of the characters, but may be shocked to find that some of the people in the book have almost nothing in common with their namesakes from the series.
The first two-thirds or so of the book is a collection of articles about the above subjects and more, and the last chapters are mostly a chronicle of the relationship between Carrie and Mr. Big.

Technique and plot:
The book is written in a breezy, journalistic style, which is no surprise considering where the articles originally appeared. Bushnell has a good ear for dialogue and writes conversations that sound real (unlike some writers I might mention).

Although I read most of the book in one sitting, I would recommend reading it more slowly, maybe one or two chapters at a time.

Rating:
A fascinating record of New York social life in the 1990’s, and a must for everyone who loved the TV series. 3 stars.
Meggin Cabot: The Guy Next Door
Posted: 24 September 2004

Alternative (American) title: The Boy Next Door
Year published: 2002
Pages: 392
Genre: Chick lit/romance

This book was recommended to me by an online friend. It was written by the author of The Princess Diaries.

The Story:
Melissa “Mel” Fuller, the gossip columnist for The New York Journal, is in danger of losing her job because she’s always late for work. As the book begins, she is late again, but this time she has an excuse: her elderly neighbour has been assaulted and Mel has had to call the police and then take care of the old lady’s pets, two cats and a Great Dane. Getting hold of the old lady’s heir, playboy photographer Max Friedlander, is hard, but finally she tracks him down in Florida where he is cavorting with a supermodel and has no intention of coming to New York to take care of his aunt’s pets. To make sure he doesn’t lose his inheritance if the old lady wakes up from her coma, Max calls in a favour from college buddy John Randolph Trent. John, who works for a living in spite of his huge trust fund (he is a crime reporter for the Journal’s rival newspaper), reluctantly takes on the role of Max, moves into the old lady’s apartment and begins investigating the attack. He is immediately charmed by Mel, and before too long the two begin to fall in love. John’s uneasiness about the deception increases as he falls deeper and deeper in love with Mel. Of course the shoe has to drop some time, and when it does, heartbroken Mel decides to get revenge on John and Max for the deception. Adding a bit of action is the fact that Mel finally puts two and two together and uncovers the identity of the old lady’s attacker.

Technique and plot:
This is an epistolatory novel, the first I’ve read as part of my challenge. This being the age of computers, it takes the form of e-mails rather than the traditional letters. The form gets to be somewhat annoying at times, especially when it takes more time to read the to/from headers than a short message.
Although the book is nearly 400 pages, a lot of space is taken up by headers and spaces between e-mails, and it makes a fairly quick read. I estimate the reading time at about 3 hours, which is pretty good for such a long book.

The story falls somewhere between chick lit and romance. It starts slowly, but builds up speed quickly. There aren’t a lot of laughs in the first half of the book, but the second one makes up for it. Mel’s revenge is especially funny, and so is the inter-office banter between the co-workers at the Journal. Most of the characters have distinctive voices, and the fashion reporter and the gay co-worker get some very funny lines, as do John’s pregnant and sex-starved sister in law and Mel’s mother with her old-fashioned advice.

Complaint #1:
OK, what’s with Amazon? They classify this as a children’s book! The classification is probably based on the books that the author writes as Meg Cabot (the Princess Diaries), but sorry, the book is about people in their 20’s and 30’s doing adult things, including having sex.

Complaint #2:
The Boy Next Door? Excuse me, he’s 35 years old!

Rating:3 stars. Would have got 4 if the e-mail form had not annoyed me so much.
Forrest Carter: The Education of Little Tree (coming of age story)
Posted: 8 March 2005

Year originally published: 1976

The Story: A basic coming-of-age story. In 1930, Little Tree, a boy who is part Cherokee-part white, becomes an orphan at age five. He is taken in by his Cherokee grandparents who bring him up in close touch with nature and teach him the ways of their people. He is briefly taken away and put in an orphanage where he is mistreated, but is able to return to his family after a while.

Technique and plot: The book is written in the simple, straightforward first person narrative style of a memoir, and sounds so honest that it’s easy to see why so many people believe(d) it to be non-fiction in spite of some rather unlikely events. Spellings reflect the speech patterns and accents of the people, but not so much that it makes the book difficult to read. Little Tree is very much a child of nature, and from it he learns lessons, both harsh and gentle, at the side of his grandfather. At times the book is very, very funny, other times uplifting and still other times sad. Parts of it ring so true that you whish it wasn’t a novel and the people were real, which is one of the things that have made this book so popular.

Rating: A lovely and somewhat fantastic coming-of-age story. 4+ stars.

SPOILER
are
you
ready?
‘cause
here
it
comes
…
..
.


Disclaimer: Sometimes knowing too much about an author can spoil the reading of a book. This is one of those books, so if you want to research Forrest Carter, do it after you read the book.

Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders (mystery)
Posted: 21 June 2005

The story:
A clever killer sends taunting letters to Hercule Poirot, telling him dates and the names of towns where he intends to strike. The towns and the victims are alphabetical, A in Andover, and so on. Poirot agrees with the police that they are dealing with a psychopath, but he can not but feel that there is something wrong about the letters, something that doesn’t fit the profile of the killer they have deduced from his methods and choice of victims. So begins a cat and mouse game, but who is which? Regular Christie fans will be in no doubt as to who is the cat and who is the mouse, but may be surprised at a deviation from the Christie formula. Whether it is real or a red herring, I leave up to the reader to find out.

I admit to not being a Poirot fan – he annoys me too much, and I need to take breaks between the books about him, but this is quite a good Christie story. It is perhaps unfortunate that I have read so many of them that immediately upon reading the back cover blurb I figured out certain facts about the main plot twist, and knew who the killer was as soon as he appeared.

Rating: Christie dishes out murder with her usual gusto, Poirot annoys the reader, Hastings blunders on as usual. 3+ stars.
Agatha Christie: They do it with mirrors (murder mystery)
Posted: 16 June 2005

This is the final book I needed to read to finish the Miss Marple series. I managed to read (and in some cases reread) them in order of publication, all except this one, which was not available at the library last year when I was reading the rest. It is a classic country house mystery, and as usual, everyone underestimates the sweet and innocent looking little old Miss Marple, who solves the mystery without much trouble. So will a clever reader – Christie supplies the usual clues (and a few red herrings), and even includes a map of the house, which in itself is an indication of the killer’s identity.
3 stars.
Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist (spiritual)
Audio book read by Jeremy Irons
Posted: 12 March 2005

I just finished listening to Jeremy Irons read this book. I recently started reading the book but couldn’t get into it and gave up. However, it is a good book to listen to someone else read, and I enjoyed it very much. Of course, Irons has a great voice. He draws out the magical qualities of Coelho’s story and the lyrical quality of the translation (I have no way of knowing if the original is lyrical or not), and gives each voice a distinct personality. The story – not to give away too much - is a religious and philosophical parable about the importance of following one’s dreams, which is just what Santiago, the protagonist, does, from Spain and all the way to Egypt. This is a story that could be made into a wonderfully visual movie. I don’t know if it was the quality of the reading or the writing – probably a bit of both - but I felt as if I was there, participating in Santiago’s adventures, feeling his frustrations and seeing what he saw.

Rating: A timeless parable about following your dreams. 3 stars for the story, 5 stars for the reading.
Jennifer Crusie: Bet Me (romance)
Posted: 21 April 2005

Story:
The relationship between Min Dobbs and Cal Morrisey begins on a sour note when she overhears her ex boyfriend, David, make a bet with Cal that he can’t get Min to have dinner with him. A further bet, which Cal does not accept but both Min and David think he has accepted, says that Cal can’t get her into bed with him within a month. Min, upset and slightly drunk, decides to piss David off by going out with Cal, and thus begins a rollercoaster relationship that involves food, friends, families, in-laws, statistics, snow globes, a frantic ex-girlfriend, a jealous ex-boyfriend, and a stray cat with a talent for mischief.

I’m fast becoming a fan of Jennifer Crusie. Not only does she write great romance, but her novels (at least those I’ve read) are funny and the characters great. This one is no exception. In the last Crusie novel I read (Fast Women) I felt there were too many side characters that drew the attention away from the main couple, but in this one the focus is mostly on one couple, with a large supporting cast. Crusie has toned down her obsession with strange and ugly animals, and is generally getting better all the time.

Rating:A great screwball comedy of a romance. 4 stars.
Jennifer Crusie: Crazy for You (Week 36)
Posted: 23 October 2004

Year published: 1999
Pages: 298
Genre: Romance
Sub-genre: Suspense

I promised I’d review a romance for book-of-the-week, and here it is. Jennifer Crusie is a popular author of contemporary light (i.e. funny) romances, and was specifically recommended to me by a romance-reading friend.

The Story: Quinn McKenzie is bored to death with her life. On the surface everything is great: she has a teaching job she likes, is surrounded by friends and family who all love and depend on her, and is living with high-school basketball coach Bill Hilliard, otherwise known as Mr. Wonderful Hometown Hero. When Quinn decides to adopt a stray dog and Bill sneaks off to the pound with the dog because it doesn't fit in with the perfect life he has mapped out for them, she decides she’s had enough. Enough of being taken for granted and subtly controlled by Bill, enough of being dependable, enough of being good. So she moves out, buys a house and starts flirting with her former brother-in-law, car mechanic Nick Ziegler. Nick and Quinn have been the best of friends since high-school, and while Nick has always had sexual fantasies about Quinn, she has never seen him as anything but a friend…
…until she notices him looking at her with rather more than friendly interest. Things get complicated when Bill refuses to accept that Quinn has left him and starts stalking her, Nick’s brother Max and his wife Darla have a fight, and Quinn’s mother kicks her father, Joe, out of the house. Both Joe and Darla move in with Quinn. Bill makes life difficult for Quinn, but that doesn’t stop her from trying to reel in the irresponsible and commitment-phobic Nick. Things come to a head when Bill finally goes too far and Quinn is hurt…

Technique and plot: The book is well written, the characters believable and well rounded for the most part, and the story moves along well. The small town atmosphere is realistic, with everyone seeming to know everything about everyone else. I had a good laugh at the lessons in female vs. male mentality when Quinn is educating Nick and Max about what women want and expect from men. The story is sometimes funny, sometimes suspenseful, and even a bit scary at times, especially the glimpses we get into the mind of the increasingly disturbed and confused Bill. The sex scenes are sexy without being overly descriptive, which is good because if there is anything that spoils a book like this for me it’s pornographic passages swathed in purple prose.

The very serious theme of stalking is handled with understanding. Bill is never knowingly vicious or gloating, he just does what he thinks is necessary to get Quinn back. Even the meddling with the handrail and electricity and gas is just meant to gently show her that the house is unsafe without him, and was certainly not meant to harm her the way it did. Bill is so supremely self-assured and has such a perfectly one-track mind that it takes the human equivalent of being hit by a bulldozer to get him off track, but Crusie still manages to give him a distinct personality and show his vulnerability as his perfect life comes crashing down around him.

The dog is cleverly used as a way of showing how different people think: Bill thinks the dog is the reason Quinn left him and that if only he could get rid of it, Quinn would come back to him and live out the life he has so precisely planned for them; for Quinn the dog is a sign of her independence; to Darla the dog is the snake in Quinn’s Eden, and so on.

Nick is a romance hero to die for, an irresponsible but caring man who finally finds a woman who can hold his attention and keep him happy, and Quinn is sweet and likeable and just sexy enough that you believe her to be capable of keeping Nick interested.

All in all, I liked the book and although I have no intention of rereading it, I will be looking out for more books by Crusie.

Rating: A funny, sexy, entertaining and suspenseful romance with a very yummy hero. 4 stars.
Diane Mott Davidson: The Cereal Murders (mystery)
Posted: 25 May 2005

This is the third in a series of mysteries that combine cooking and crime, as amateur sleuth and professional caterer Goldy Bear serves up one delicious dish after another while sleuthing on the side. In this installation, Goldy has been hired to cater a series of events at an expensive prep school. The peace is disrupted by two murders (a third appears to be connected), and someone starts harassing her and her son. Through it all Goldy serves up one delectable dish after another (recipes included) and observes the graduating students and their parents battling it out over who deserves to go to which exclusive university. It’s a matter of touch and go whether Goldy will manage to solve the mystery in time to prevent a fourth murder.

As in most amateur sleuthing series, the murders and the murderer’s methods are highly unlikely – especially how it is Goldy who finds two out of three bodies - but the characters are rounded and the surroundings realistic for the most part. The descriptions of the cold and snowy weather, for example, are positively chilling. There is a touch of realism in this book that I have not seen in many others of its kind, in that Goldy actually feels wretched after finding the bodies, has difficulty sleeping and is offered therapy by the police at the end of the story. Her relationships with her son, her lodger/assistant and her lover, are realistic – things are not always sunny, but neither are they always bad.
The title, in my opinion, stinks. It’s a good example of a bad title: cutesy, punny (to say nothing of cheesy) and not much connected with the story. If the rather clumsy homophonic pun is ignored, it doesn’t even make sense. Which cereals were murdered? Was cereal involved in the murders somehow? (it was not). Someone, I hope not the author, deserves to be flogged with a wet noodle for inventing such a lame title. Some of the other titles in the series are just as offensive, while others actually manage to be quite clever. (Not that I’m letting the bad titles stop me from reading more).

Rating: A nice, slow murder mystery to cool you down on a hot summer’s day. Don’t let the cheesy title deter you from reading it. 3+ stars.
Patrick Dennis: Auntie Mame
Posted: 9 May 2005

This book had been sitting in my TBR pile for nearly a year, so it was about time I read it.

In short, the book tells of the escapades of the narrator’s aunt Mame, his legal guardian. Mame is offbeat, outrageously fashionable, adventurous, and a sucker for a sad story. She is the kind of woman who throws herself wholeheartedly into all she does, including her relationships with men. She becomes a southern belle for the millionaire from Georgia whom she marries, Irish for the Irishman whom she falls for, and so on. She seems unable to recognise when she is being played for a sucker until the facts stare her right in the face, but when realisation dawns, she is quick to act and can extricate herself from all sorts of situations. She also has a knack for getting her nephew involved in her adventures.

The book is told like a biography in the form of snapshots, seen from the point of view of the nephew, who draws a portrait of a woman who is totally unprepared for the responsibility of rearing a young boy, but who rallies magnificently and manages to retain her free and easy lifestyle while still being a loving, if a trifle eccentric, parent to her orphaned nephew.

This is a funny book. It’s charming and was probably a bit risqué when it was first published, with its allusions to sex, single motherhood, its unconventional heroine and her hedonistic lifestyle. It’s easy to see why it was made into a movie, because it has a very charming heroine, who, in spite of her unconventionality, has a heart of gold, an opportunity for dozens of costume changes, and is allowed to be sexy without being bad – a perfect role for the right actress (I haven’t seen the movie, but I plan to). The comedy is by turns satire and slapstick, and through it all, Mame never loses her dignity (except for a brief dunking in a river, but even that turns into a victory).

The book is well written, and the author has a good eye for comedy, although he does go a bit over the top in the chapter with the British war orphans, but then he did need a good climax to top everything that happened earlier in the book.

Rating: Funny and irreverent, satiric and slapsticky, this books gets 4 stars from me, and a permanent home in my library.
Monica Dickens: Closed at Dusk (Week 20)
Posted: 8 June 2004

Year published: 1990
Genre: Thriller, mystery
Cover image

I was going to read Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum as this week’s book, but I’m too busy right now to read such a long and dense text in only one week. Instead I have switched to another mystery that is shorter and less demanding.

I’ve read several of Monica Dickens’ children’s books and the autobiographical book One Pair of Feet, about her experiences as a nursing student during World War 2. It will be interesting to see how I like her adult fiction.

Review:
Posted: 9 June 2004

There’s nothing like a case of the flu to keep you indoors and reading when the weather is sunny and warm. At least I’ve finished the book of the week a couple of days ahead of schedule.

The story:
This is not a mystery as I first thought it was, but a thriller, or perhaps it might be called an insider mystery, as the reader knows who the villain is nearly the whole time. In this particular edition, the blurb cleverly gives a hint, but I at least didn’t catch on to it until I reached the chapter where the villain’s identity is revealed, and then I turned to the blurb and went “a-ha!”

Through the first chapters of the book we are gradually introduced to a family, some who live at a mansion called The Sanctuary, the rest coming there often to spend time with the family. The gardens are open to the public, because, as with many of Britain’s old landed families, they can’t afford to keep the gardens in shape without the entry fees from the public. When mysterious, apparently supernatural events start taking place, no one is sure what is happening and The Sanctuary seems posed to turn into a haunted house.

The technical points:
The story is quite well written, and the twists well worked out. It starts rather slowly, with a bit of underlying menace that is introduced through a nervous child who gets scared of the smallest things.

Unfortunately the character development is not quite as good as it should be. None of the victims in the story are really drawn as sympathetic characters. They are, in fact, rather colourless - not unsympathetic, just bland. They are so harmless and normal that you almost feel as if they deserve to be shaken up a bit, but only almost.

The villain, or should I say villainess, is the most strongly drawn character, and you do almost feel sorry for her, even if her revenge scheme is rather on the extreme side. But of course she is insane, so it no wonder. There were times when I wanted to reach out and stop her, help her to forget about her crazy scheme and get on with her life. She does become less sympathetic as the story draws nearer to the end and her scheming becomes more extreme.

This was not what I expected – I had been expecting a mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie, and this thriller element was quite unexpected, but not unpleasantly so. Dickens gives the villainess real reasons and motives and shows us her innermost feelings and thoughts, enabling us to feel sorry for her, instead of simply portraying her as an unsympathetic, rampaging madwoman like many writers would have.

Rating:
A good psycho thriller, where the villain is actually shown as a real person rather than the pure evil some authors might have been tempted to write. 3 stars.
T.S. Eliot: Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (Week 33)
Posted: 28 September 2004

Year published: 1939
Pages: 59
Genre: Poetry

This week I'm cheating a little, as last week's book turned out to be a tougher bite to swallow than I expected. I will hopefully finish it on Friday. As a result, I decided to pick a short and easy read for this week, and furthermore, one I have read before.

Every time I read this book I am transported back to the year 1993, sitting in the second-best seats at the New London Theatre and watching Cats, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s brilliant musical based on these poems.

Review:
Posted: 5 October 2004

A lot of people are familiar with Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats only through the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats. Many probably don’t even know these delightful verses existed long before Cats was composed. Ironically enough, the most famous song from the musical is not in the book – “Memory” is apparently based on some notes Eliot had written for more cat verses that were never published.

As far as I know, these verses were originally written for the children of some friends of Eliot’s. They are often dismissed as being trivial and simplistic, especially in comparison with the sombre verses of The Wasteland.

To tell the truth, I have never much liked The Wasteland, even if I did manage to get an ‘excellent’ for my smarmy essay about it in a modern literature class I took when studying for my B.A. degree in English. I much preferred The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock.

But back to Old Possum and his Practical Cats. The poems are light, often insightful into natures both feline and human, and generally funny. They never fail to brighten up a dark day (and I did need brightening up today – my car tried to run away from home and I found it smooching with my neighbour’s car in the parking lot when I came home from work. I hope this is not going to be expensive).

Rating:
Delightful cat verses that will hopefully continue to make children and grownups smile for generations to come. 5 stars.
Monique Ellis: Dauntry’s Dilemma
Posted: 10 June 2004

Year published: 1999
Genre: Romance, Regency
Cover image

I mentioned earlier that I wanted to add a bit of romance to my reading list. Well, I posted a request on a romance readers message board and got oodles of suggestions. Guess what – the city library has maybe 2 out of about 40 recommended books, and those are located in branches out in the suburbs. Did I mention I live in the city centre and I don’t have a car?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. After all this is Iceland and I can’t expect the library to have every foreign book I want.

So I went back and picked up some likely looking books that looked as if they weren’t too torrid – no bodice rippers for me, at least not yet…

Anyway, Dauntry’s Dilemma was one of the books I came home with.

The story:
The year is 1813 and former British army officer Quintus Dauntry has been called home to the ancestral estate in order to deal with the family ghost which has reappeared after an absence of a century or more. His parents and older brother and his family have decamped, leaving Dauntry alone with the servants, in full control of the estate finances and with the instructions to do whatever it takes to get rid of the ghost before it causes irreparable harm. Suspecting the servants of conspiring to scare the profligate viscount into doing his duty by the parish – which he has been neglecting in favour of trying to be fashionable – Dauntry sets out to make amends. His first action is to visit the parish priest where he is instantly smitten by the priest’s widowed sister – Cecelia Walters - and charmed by her son, Thomas. When he discovers that Cecelia and Tommy have been cheated out of their inheritance by her harridan of a mother-in-law, Dauntry and his band of merry friends set out to regain the inheritance for her. This he does even though it means he will not be able to ask her to marry him because it would look like he, a penniless younger son, had married her for her money, an action which would carry great negative social consequences for him. Of course the ending is a happy one and with the ghost’s help Dauntry is able to marry his love without any social stigma.

Technique and plot:
This is for the most part a rather slow narrative, only picking up speed in the second half when Dauntry and friends go to London to try to solve Cecelia and Thomas’ problem. The romance element is subtle – we are basically watching a man falling in love and trying not to show it.
It is for the most part well written, but I found some of the dialogue completely unintelligible – I think the author may have been trying too hard to use phraseology that sounded authentic.
As to Dauntry’s dilemma: not being able to marry Cecelia once she’s restored to her riches because he will be considered to be a gold-digger; it comes across to me as a case of foolish pride – if he really loves her so much, who does he even care if he ruins his gentlemanly reputation for her? Marriages for money were hardly an uncommon occurrence in those days, even among the gentry and nobility, some of whom married people of lower social status merely for money. In Regency society it would have been practically expected of someone like Dauntry – a younger son, not entitled to inherit title, land or property – to marry for money. The author tries her best to convince us that Dauntry loves Cecelia with all his heart and is at the same time such an honourable man that he will not ruin his reputation by marrying her, but this plot device isn't quite convincing. Mind you, it does make a good story anyway, and it’s perhaps wisest not to expect too much historical accuracy from a narrative that is meant to entertain rather than educate.

Rating:
A sweet, romantic story with a supernatural element and a bit of action. 3 stars.
Kathy Lynn Emerson: Face Down Upon an Herbal (murder mystery)
Posted: 26 June 2004

Went to explore the new location of my favourite second-hand bookshop (which I approve of, although some of the mystery is gone – along with the mustiness) and came home with this book. It’s the second in a series, with all the books titled Face Down “something” .

Year published: 1998
Genre: Mystery
Sub-genre(s): Historical
Cover image

The Story:
Susanna, Lady Appleton, is sent to Madderly Castle, ostensibly to help Lady Madderly finish a book on herbology, but in reality to provide an excuse for her husband, Robert, to come there to investigate the murder of a man who was apparently involved in a conspiracy against queen Elizabeth I. Shortly after arriving, the body count starts to mount and Susanna’s young protége, Catherine, falls in love with of one of the prime suspects. Solving the crimes takes the combined efforts of Susanna, Catherine, Robert and a couple of other people working together.

Technique and plot:
I have to admit that I have yet to come across a historical mystery series that equals Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series, but this will do nicely.

This is a cleverly set up murder mystery that relies upon the premise so favoured by Agatha Christie: all the primary suspects being still present at the scene of the crime when the investigation takes place. It takes the investigators almost the whole book to discover whether the murders were politically motivated or not, the first victim having been suspected of treason and the murderer possibly an accomplice. An experienced reader of mysteries will have guessed the killer’s identity before too many chapters, but will still be kept in doubt as to the motive and correctness of the guess nearly until the end. The inclusion of a romance is a nice touch, especially as the reader is given ample reason to believe that the man Catherine falls in love with might be the killer. Emerson does not fall into the trap some mystery authors are wont to, namely to make the reader dislike the killer (one of the few things I don’t like about The Cat Who series).

The narrative contains some unnecessary but mouth-watering descriptions of food and likewise unnecessarily detailed descriptions of herbal remedies. Being that so much is made of the fact that Lady Appleton is a herbalist and an expert on poisons, I expected this expertize of hers to be in some way related to the investigation, but it was merely used as a device to bring her to the murder scene.

This is quite an interesting mystery – Emerson has found a niche in the mystery market by choosing a era not many mystery authors seem interested in. The language seems genuine enough, with a suitable sprinkling of archaisms and old-fashioned word order, which unfortunately sometimes leaks out into the narrative.

Rating:
An interesting mystery that will keep fans of historical mysteries occupied for an afternoon. 3 stars.

Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair (Week 34)
Posted: 5 October 2004

Year published: 2001
Pages: 384
Genre: Fantasy

When I first heard about this book I thought to myself “this sounds interesting”, and then forgot about it. Then a discussion started about it in an online reading forum I participate in, and my interest was rekindled. I wasn’t certain I wanted to own it, so finding it in the library was lucky.

Review:
Posted: 10.08.04 (9:00 pm)

The Story:
Some SPOILERS ahead

Thursday Next is drawn from her relatively normal existence as a literary detective into an adventure when she is called in to identify arch-criminal Acheron Hades. Things get personal when he kills her ex-boyfriend and kidnaps her aunt and uncle and her uncle’s invention, a machine that enables people to visit any literary work. Thursday must follow him into the original manuscript of Jane Eyre in order to prevent him from killing Jane and altering literary history…

Technique and plot:
I’d like to apologise in advance if the review seems a bit disjointed, but I am writing this about 10 minutes after finishing the book. I usually sleep on my reviews, but not this time.

This is an alternative reality story that happens in a world where some things are the same as in this reality and others are radically different. The narrative is Thursday’s throughout, with her telling about herself in the first person and others in the third person when necessary for the narrative. This is a problem: she is too perfect a third person narrator. Although she might have reconstructed events she was not present at to tell them in the narrative, the author makes her knowledge of these events so intimate that she even recounts word-for-word dialogue she did not witness, thus making her an omniscient narrator. Not good. Maybe it is revealed in one of the next books what made her such a perfect narrator, but I doubt I’ll ever find out because I have no desire to read the other books.

The names given to some of the people in the book are annoyingly cute. They stop being funny by chapter three, but unfortunately the keep coming.

Thursday herself is a typical world-weary and damaged detective. There is nothing about her that could not have been written about a man – she could just as well have been Mr. October Next. Not good. When men write from the point of view of women, they might at least make an effort to make the point of view female rather than universal.

All in all, I would say this book is a disappointment. After all the rave reviews and the talk, I expected something better.

Rating:
An interesting journey into alternative reality that doesn’t quite work. 2 stars.

Neil Gaiman: Coraline
Posted: 19 June 2004

Year published: 2002
Genre: Horror, thriller, children’s
Cover image

The Story:
One day, Coraline Jones opens a locked door inside her parent’s apartment and enters a world where she has another, oddly different, set of parents waiting for her. At first it’s wonderful, but it quickly becomes apparent that her other mother has no intention of letting her go. Coraline must use all her ingenuity and imagination to free the other children that have been trapped in there and rescue her real parents from this strange world and its evil ruler.

Technique and plot:
Wonderfully written in the flowing lyrical style that made Stardust such a joy to read.
The story is simple but good and everything is very matter-of-fact, which is why the dark subject matter never becomes too scary.
Coraline is a very practical child, unlike the very silly Alice from Alice in Wonderland, to which this book has been likened by reviewers.

Rating:
A wonderful, scary story for children that deserves to become a classic. 5 stars.

Neil Gaiman’s official website
Neil Gaiman: Murder Mysteries (Week 49)
Posted: 26 January 2005

Artwork: P. Craig Russell
Year published: 2002
Genre: Graphic novel, fantasy

Have I mentioned that Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors? The first book I read by him was Stardust, a fairy tale that reminded me of Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn. Earlier I had read Good Omens which he wrote in collaboration with Terry Pratchett, and loved it. It is, in fact, one of my perennial reads. Gaiman’s prose is very visual, and translates well into the graphic novel form (I would love to see American Gods made into a graphic novel). This appears to be a stand-alone short story.

Review:
Posted: 29 January 2005

The Story: Three stories are told simultaneously: the framework story of the storyteller, telling the story of how he was once stuck in L.A. due to bad weather at his destination and met a (possibly) crazy old man who claimed to be and angel and told him the story within the story, of the first crime committed in Creation: the jealous murder of one angel by another. The title of the story comes from the fact that the angel telling the story was the one sent by the Creator to investigate the murder and punish the murderer. The punishment meted out, it is suggested, was the prelude to the fall of Lucifer.

Technique and plot: Being a graphic novel, the story is mostly told in images, and so is a short read. Most of the time goes into looking at the artwork. The graphic form is, of course, exceptionally well suited to the fantasy genre, and the artist has done a good job of representing angels, although I wonder why they all have to look like handsome, muscular and nude (but genitalia-free) men. Possibly it has to do with auto-censorship and the fear that the books would be outlawed to sex shops should a naked female breast be seen. Or possibly it has to do with artistic tradition. We would, after centuries of being shown them in art, expect angels to look like beautiful men, nude or clothed.
Images of Heaven alternate with images of Los Angeles at night, one place being bright, shiny, new and intimidating and the other dark, worn, and boding.
The L.A. artwork is realistic, with muted colours, and the Heaven artwork is fantastic, a collusion of abstracts and unreal-looking buildings, plants and whatnots in riotous colours.

Some may find the story repulsive because of images of angels making love, and others may find sacrilege in it. God (here called “Lord” or “The Name”) is not exactly shown as the bearded and paternal old man one is used to from Sunday school…

Rating: A sad little murder story with a sting in the tail. 3 stars for the story, 3 stars for the artwork = 3 stars overall.
Neil Gaiman: Smoke and Mirrors (fantasy)
Posted: 22 April 2005

I just finished reading this collection of short stories and poetry by Neil Gaiman. Previously, I had read Stardust, Neverwhere, American Gods, Good Omens (collaboration with Terry Pratchett) and the Sandman comics and enjoyed all of them, as well as his illustrated children’s books, Coraline and The Wolves in the Walls.

(I don't have the book with me, so there may be some errors in the story titles below.)

The stories and poems in this collection are mostly fantasy, and in fact there are stories for lovers of just about any subgenre of fantasy. You will find humorous stories (Chivalry, Bay Wolf, Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar), dark stories (Only the end of the world again, The White Road), supernatural stories (The wedding present, The daughter of owls, Black cat), weird stories (Eaten alive, The facts in the disappearance of Miss Finch), folkloric stories (Troll bridge, The white road, Snow, glass, apples), detective stories (Murder mysteries, Bay Wolf), horror stories (Snow, glass, apples, Eaten alive), vampire stories, werewolf stories. Gaiman plays with themes familiar from his novels and graphic novels: myths, legends and folktales, literature (Beowulf, HP Lovecraft, Oscar Wilde), popular culture, sex, blood, and death.

The stories and poems vary, but the overall quality is quite good. 3+ stars.
Stella Gibbons: Cold Comfort Farm (Week 26)
Posted: 21 July 2004

Year published: 1932
Pages: 240
Genre: Parody



Large cover image

This is a book I have wanted to read for a long time, but it always seemed to be checked out of the library evnen though the computer system said it was available. I was beginning to think it had been stolen from the library and I would have to buy a copy when I finally found it where someone, probably a browsing library patron, had put it on the wrong shelf.

Review:
Posted: 25 July 2004

The Story:
When Flora Poste is orphaned at age 19 and left with only 100 pounds per annum to support herself, and objecting to have to work for a living, she decides to go and live with family and sponge on them. Arriving at miserable and gloomy Cold Comfort Farm, the abode of her relatives, the Starkadders, she sees that much needs to be done. The family are living under the autocratic rule of Aunt Ada Doom, who once saw something nasty in the woodshed and has never been the same since. The family are so afraid of upsetting her that they do whatever she tells them. There is Reuben who wants to take over the farm from his father Amos, who preaches Hell and damnation once a week to a small congregation, the sexy younger brother, Seth, who loves movies, their sister Elfine, who swans around the moors all day like a lost character from Wuthering Heights, Judith, whose life revolves around Seth, and a bunch of cousins and farm workers, all of them more or less damaged and gloomy personalities. With ingenuity and kindness, Flora soon alters their lives for the better, and finally there is only one challenge left: Aunt Ada Doom.

Technique and plot:
This is a brilliant parody of the rural or rustic novels so popular in the first decades of the 20th century. Those novels tended to show cities as evil places and the countryside as some kind of idyllic paradise, and city people as immoral while the rustics were shown as moral and good (and often lusty and passionate). These novels often tended toward overwrought, purple prose. I haven’t read many of these kinds of novels in English, but I am quite familiar with the genre, which retained its popularity in Iceland much longer than it did in Britain. In sending up the genre, Gibbons makes city-dweller Flora the good, moral person, and shows her rustic cousins as the ones in need of her help, rather than the other way around. She writes brilliant prose, and even takes care to mark the purple passages with stars, ranging from * to ***, depending on how purple. This is of course deliberate. Gibbons wants to be sure to extract the maximum amount of humour out of these passages, and by marking them is able to draw attention to how ridiculous the passages are in all their purple glory. The characters are mostly three-dimensional and well rounded, and each is controlled by some specific passion, be it holy fervour, obsession or something else. The biggest butt of the humour is Flora herself. She is ridiculously perfect, but still so determined and matter-of-fact about everything that you can’t help liking her.

Rating:
A brilliant send-up of the rural novel, which can easily stand on its own as a genuinely funny story. 5 stars.
Rachel Gibson: See Jane Score (romance)
Posted: 24 May 2005

Read this funny romance over the weekend.

Story:
When journalist Jane Alcott is asked to cover the ice hockey beat while the regular reporter is on sick leave, she jumps at the chance. Not only is it a better paying job than writing her monthly “sex and the city” type column, but it is a step up the journalism ladder for her. She is expected to cover all the Seattle Chinooks’ games, and it quickly becomes clear that her presence on the team plane and in the locker-room is not wanted. She meets with hazing that might discourage a less determined woman, and open hostility from sexy goalie Luc “Lucky” Martineau, whom Jane secretly fancies. After an incident where she is first fired for bringing the team bad luck, and then rehired for bringing them good luck (by barging into the locker room and giving them a goodbye speech) a ritual develops between Jane and the team that gets funnier and funnier as the story progresses. The incident also serves to show Luc that she is a real person with feelings and a strong character, and he becomes attracted to her in spite of her being nothing like his usual bimboesque "girlfriends". But love’s journey doesn’t run entirely smooth, and Jane’s moonlighting job as a porn writer for a men’s magazine just might put a boulder in their path…

Rating:
With plenty of funny verbal sparring, interesting details about ice hockey, and believable characters, this is a good book to spend an afternoon with. 3+ stars.


Here’s a more detailed review from All About Romance (with slight SPOILERS):
See Jane Score
Kristine Grayson: Simply Irresistible (alternate reality fantasy/romance/thriller)
Posted: 2 June 2005

Story:
Psychic Vivian Kineally is surprised to find three terrified women knocking on her door and claiming to be the Fates, on the run from a mysterious power that is trying to capture them. The Fates have given up their magical powers in order to fulfil some new job specifications, having been fired and told to reapply only when they can show that they have the skills to do their job in today’s multicultural society. In the meantime, they will be replaced by three Valley Girl types, daughters of Zeus. They send Vivian to find Dexter Grant, a mage who they think can help them. There is an instant attraction between Vivian and Dexter, who becomes determined to save her from whatever power it is that is now trying to get to her as well as the Fates. They seek help from two other mages, but ultimately, it’s up to Viv and Dexter to save themselves and the Fates from the enemy (who, by the way, is shown to the reader from the start).

Review:
When I picked this book up at the library last week and read the back cover, I thought to myself: “Hmmm. Magic, characters from Greek mythology, humour AND romance. Should be good.” Unfortunately it falls short of expectation. There are just too many things to complain about in connection with this book.
My first complaint is that there is no indication that this book is part of a series. In fact, I didn’t realize that until well into the book, when characters popped up from a previous two books, characters the author obviously expected the reader to be familiar with.
My second complaint is that this is not a complete novel. The romance and the threat to the Fates parts are completed, but the story of the Fates’ problems is obviously just beginning, making it altogether obvious that you are expected to buy who knows how many other books to see that storyline resolved. Again, there is nothing to indicate this until the book suddenly ends without resolving the storyline.
My third complaint is that the romance feels undercooked, like a meal served up in a hurry.
In addition to the main complaints, there are some other faults I would like to mention. There is a lot of potential for good jokes that is mostly wasted, although I did laugh at the names of the new Fates and their obvious teenage shallowness and inexperience, and at the Superman connection. The middle part with the other mages feels unnecessary, and reads more like a reminder of the books they originally appeared in. And the villain, a supervillainess no less, is, in the end, just too easily defeated, with the author resorting to a deus ex machina device to get rid of her.

Rating: Easily resistible. Resisting the sequel(s) will not be a problem, although I may pick up the prequels to satisfy my curiosity about the other mages. 2+ stars.

Laurell K Hamilton: Circus of the Damned (horror)
Posted: 26 March 2005

This is the third installation in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. Blake is an Animator whose job it is to raise zombies from the grave, interspersed with other duties: the occasional execution of murderous rogue vampires and work as an adviser to the police in cases where her expertise is needed. In this case, the action starts when Blake is called out to a murder scene where a man has been attacked by a pack of vampires. Blake herself soon runs into them and has a narrow escape. She soon meets an ancient vampire who wants to return vampiredom to the old order: no integration, no citizenship, just a few clever and powerful vampires against humanity, with the weak and the stupid destroyed. She plays an important part once the battle for the city – between the “civilised” vamps and the “wild” vamps – begins. Her hate/desire relationship with master vampire Jean-Claude continues to intensify, and she meets a living man in whom she is more than a little interested, except there is one not so tiny problem that may get in the way of their relationship…

The books in this series just keep on getting better and bloodier. Because it’s a series, you know Blake is always going to come out on top, and the fun comes from finding out how she does it, not if she will do it. I do have one gripe with the stories so far: Hamilton seems to be obsessed with the Nike brand of shoes. I didn’t count how often she mentions and describes the Nikes Blake and other characters wear, but it was too often. After the second mention it starts to read like not-so-subtle product placement.

Rating: A fun and gory action story with a tough as nails heroine who doesn’t take shit from anyone, be it a sexy-as-hell master vampire, an immortal and unkillable monster, a snake the size of a truck or the oldest living being on earth. 3 stars.
Joanne Harris: Chocolat (Week 3)
Posted: 8 February 2004

Author: Joanne Harris
Published: 1999
Genre: Chick lit
Cover image

Chocolat is a light and fun read and although I have seen the movie (which broadly follows the story in the book), I was unable to put it down.

The story is that of chocolatier Vianne and her daughter Anouk, rootless itinerants who, one day at the beginning of Lent, drift into the small French village of Lansquenet and start up a chocolate shop. Vianne immediately provokes the dislike of the village priest, pére Francis Reynaud, who sees her as a threat to his authority over the villagers, who forget all about fasting and proper Lenten behaviour when they encounter the delights of Vianne's shop. What provokes the priest in the beginning is Vianne's self-professed atheism and the impropriety of opening a chocolate shop during Lent, a time when he expects his parishioners to follow his example and deny themselves meat and all luxuries in food and drink. His dislike turns to hatred when Vianne keeps her shop open on Sundays, something he sees as her wantonly tempting the parishioners away from his influence right after mass, a time when he believes they should be especially humble and obedient to the laws of the church. The outcome is a psychological war, with the participation of the villagers, some of whom back Vianne and some pére Reynaud.

Review:
Vianne acts as her conscience and insight tell her to and further enrages the priest and his posse by allowing gypsies into her shop who are not getting served anywhere else, rescuing the battered wife of a café owner in the village, and encouraging an old woman who has long waged a war with the priest over various subjects. The old lady immediately recognises Vianne as a fellow witch, but Vianne has the ability to see what kind of chocolate is the best for each person, and can to some extent read people's minds.

The priest is someone who should really have been born in the middle ages. He is ascetic to the point of nearly starving himself and suffers from a biting bad conscience over something that happened when he was a child and really was not his fault (and over something else that was). He denies himself more and more as Lent passes and at the same time becomes more and more suspicious of and hateful towards Vianne and the gypsies who have moored their boats at the riverside on the edge of the village.

The story itself has a timeless feel to it and could easily have happened at nearly any time during the 20th or even the 19th century. The only indication of it being modern is a passing mention of one of the villages possessing a satellite dish.

The book is well written and engrossing. You keep reading to find out what happens next - not that there is a lot of action and excitement, but the character development and the reader's curiosity about the character's fates are enough to keep the pages turning. Most of the characters are alive and believable. You come to care about what happens to Joséfine, long to know what the priest's secret is, and wonder if anything will happen between Vianne and Roux. The descriptions of Vianne's chocolate creations are sensuous and tempting, and make you want to run to the nearest candy shop and buy a box of luxury chocolates to munch on while you read.

The story is told in turn by Vianne and pére Reynaud. My only complaint is that although Harris manages quite well to portray the differences in their characters through their narratives, their voices and style are too alike. It may be that she is trying to show the reader that they are actually more alike than they would admit themselves. I really can't tell.

Rating: A delightful and delicious box of chocolates ready to be devoured and savoured by romantics and lovers of magic realism. 4 out of 5 stars.
Harry Harrison: The Stainless Steel Rat (Week 19)
Posted: 30 May 2004

Author: Harry Harrison
Published: 1966 (this edition: 1997)
Genre: Science fiction, action

I’ve wanted to read this book since I read and enjoyed Harry Harrison’s short story “The Golden Years of the Stainless Steel Rat” in the comic fantasy collection The Flying Sorcerers.

This is classic science fiction, as can be seen from how long this book has been in print. First published in 1966, it is still being reprinted.

Harry Harrison’s official website.


Progress report:
Posted: 31 May 2004

So far so good. This is not as funny as I had thought it would be after reading the short story, but maybe the stories get funnier in the later books (did I mention this is the first in a series?). The style is very straightforward and reminds me of classic macho tough guy detective stories. The story is plot driven and there has been action on nearly every page so far. The Stainless Steel Rat is not having a good time where I am reading right now – he’s got serious female trouble.

Review:
Posted: 06.01.04

Finished the book on my lunch break today. Am planning on starting to read next week’s book tonight, as it is a long one and will probably require me doing some research on the side.

The story:
At the beginning of the story, career criminal James Bolivar diGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat, is in the process of escaping from the scene of his latest crime. By chapter 4 he’s been recruited – reluctantly (his reluctance, not theirs) - by the Special Corps, an elite team of special police whose job it is to control and prevent intergalactic crime. When a mission goes wrong and a highly dangerous and attractive criminal escapes, Jim is determined to see the mission through to the end, even if it means abandoning his post and becoming a renegade from the Corps. The rest of the book describes how he tracks down his criminal and what happens afterwards.

The technical points:
As I have already mentioned, the story is plot driven and the narrative style is in the vein of the classic tough guy detective story. The narrative is in the first person. There isn’t much dialogue, but what there is serves to carry on the action. There are several twists, some more unexpected than others. The humour is in the sometimes ironic situations Jim finds himself in, and the author also had fun with names, some of which are puns and others which are only funny if you know a bit of German. The writing is hardly what I would call sparkling, but there’s never a dull moment, and Jim is the kind of character you can’t help but like.

I do have one gripe with the book, and that is that the story is not completely resolved (for me). Having read a short story about Jim in his golden years, I know something of what takes place after this book ends, and now it will nag me until I have read the rest. If you have been following this blog for any length of time, you will know that I hate stories that spill out into several books. Oh, well, at least they are all published and in print and the library has some of them. Off to the library I go…

P.S. Did I mention the cover? No?
The cover is a disaster and bears no connection to any event in the book.

Rating:
A sci-fi classic that should interest sci-fi, action and detective story fans. 3 stars.
Joseph Heller: Catch 22 (Week 1)
Posted: 24 January 2004

I've had this book in my "to be read" pile since sometime last autumn, and have wanted to read it for even longer, which makes it a good choice for the first in my 52 books challenge. Below are a couple of links related to the book.

Author: Joseph Heller
Published: 1961
Genre: Satire, war
Cover

Internet Resources: Joseph Heller & Catch-22
Catch 22 study guide

Some observations on the story so far
Posted: 25 January 2004

I've finished several chapters and am beginning to be reminded of a TV series that I used to like watching as a teenager. The framework in both stories is war with all its attendant madness. Not that the book and the TV series take place in the same war or even the same continent, but some of the characters in Catch 22 are displaying idiosyncrasies and attitudes that remind me decidedly of some of the characters from M.A.S.H. So far the book has not tempted me to sit down and read it from cover to cover in one go. I'm on chapter seven and characters are still being introduced. A main storyline has not yet presented itself, although there have been hints...

About Catch 22
Posted: 26 January 2004

Catch 22 was first published in 1961. Critics who reviewed it either loved or hated it (there seem to have been no middling reviews), and at first it became a popular underground book, only surfacing to take its place on the bestseller lists when it came out in paperback. It came as something of a shock to readers who were used to serious anti-war novels full of pathos, with its dark and sarcastic humour, absurd dialogues and lack of a continuous storyline. It is by many considered to be among the best American novels of the 20th century, and readers still either think it's one of the best or one of the worst books they've read.

Catch 22 is one of those books that get classified under "general fiction" because people find it hard to put it anywhere else. I would say it belongs to the satire genre, with war as its main sub-genre.

The setting is semi-fictional, but the story could have happened almost anywhere in the world where American bomber planes were based, within the time frame of World War 2.

Heller based the book on his own experiences in WW2, which is perhaps the reason why some of the things that happen are so realistic and the conversations often believable in their absurdity.

The book's title has entered the English language as a term for things that are at once paradoxical, impossible and absurd.

Dictionary definition of Catch 22

The story so far
Posted: 29 Janaury 2004

I'm at the halfway point in the book and it's becoming engrossing enough to keep me wanting to be reading when I'm at work. Have laughed out loud several times at the abusurdities and ironies of it and am looking forward to going back to reading.

Some thoughts on the book
Posted: 31 January 2004

Just finished the book. Did not find it to be the masterpiece many have claimed it to be, but neither is it bad. It’s quite good, actually, but I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece. The storytelling format is interesting, and keeps the readers on their toes by the constant references backwards and forwards to events that either have not happened yet or that have already happened but will not be explained until you don’t know when. Skipping chapters, paragraphs or even sentences is not a good idea if you want to keep up. This book needs the reader’s full, undivided attention. That’s not to say you can’t put it down for a while, but you had better have a good memory because you can never know what will later turn out to be important and what will not.

I would venture to say that the storytelling format is one of the things that make the book a good read. Told in a straight timeline, it would still be absurd and darkly funny, but it would also just be another story, told in a conventional way and might never have captured all the praise (and abuse) it has. The twisted timeline makes it a challenge to read, which is refreshing and keeps the reader interested.

Note to anyone who hasn't read it yet: don't skip round to the ending at any time during your reading as it will ruin the rest of the book for you.

A friend aske me if If I'd seen the movie, but I haven't. I will check to see if it's available at the nearest video rental store, and will watch and review it if I do. In the meantime, here's one viewer's review
And more, at the Internet Movie Database

Finally, here is a quote which explains the basics of Catch 22:

"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he would have to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. ‘That’s some catch, that Catch-22,’ he observed. ‘It’s the best there is,’ Doc Daneeka agreed."
Georgette Heyer: The Convenient Marriage (historical romantic farce)
Posted: 6 July 2005

Story:
When rich Lord Rule offers for the hand of the eldest Winwood sister, she knows she must accept, even if she loves another man. Her brother has sunk the family into debt and the only way of extricating them is for one of the sisters to marry a rich man, and Elizabeth is by far the prettiest of the sisters. However, the youngest sister, 17 year old Horatia, is determined that her sister shall marry her beloved Edward, and so goes to Lord Rule to explain and offers herself in her sister’s place. To the family’s surprise, he accepts. It appears to Horatia that Rule does not love her (he has a mistress), and that bothers her, especially as she begins to fall in love with him. This leads to several misadventures, especially when Horatia becomes determined to conquer the heart of Lord Lethbridge, an old enemy of Rule’s, and thus make her husband jealous. The plan misfires and Horatia finds herself in deep trouble. Lord Rule, however, has an ace up his sleeve…

Review:
Most of Georgette Heyer’s historical romantic novels are Regencies, i.e. they take place during the years 1811 to 1820. It is therefore refreshing to find one that takes place in the 18th century (more precisely in 1776), when fashions were – to our modern eyes – rather silly: wigs, hair powder, towering hairdos, panniers, beauty spots, etc. Those fashions play a part in the story: Heyer’s attention to detail is amazing and she describes clothing styles, hairdos and accessories with gentle mockery of both fashion and wearers. The cant and slang expressions are probably genuine, considering how thoroughly she researched all her books. The story is deliciously frothy and silly – not that there is anything silly about the plotting, but the story is a farce that hinges on characters being silly.

Rating: Another delightful confection from Georgette Heyer. 3+ stars.

Excerpt from The Convenient Marriage
Georgette Heyer: The Corinthian (historical romance)
Posted: 8 May 2005

This is a delightful Regency romance from the mother of the genre, Georgette Heyer. It should perhaps rather be classified as a historical novel with a romantic twist, because, like in all the Heyer novels I have read so far, the romantic element doesn’t come in until about 3/4 of the way into the story and takes second place to adventure. All the way through it is a delightful romp with a plot that would not feel out of place in a Shakespearian comedy.

Story:
Sir Richard Wyndham, dandy and sportsman supreme, is about to give in to family pressure and marry a young woman who only wants him because he’s rich and can get her family out of financial trouble. As he walks from his club one night, slightly the worse for drink, he sees a young woman, dressed as a boy, struggling to climb out a window. She turns out to be the Honourable Miss Penelope Creed, an heiress who is attempting to escape the house of her aunt, who is trying to force Penelope into marriage with her odious son. Richard decides to help her escape, and accompanies her to the country where she has another aunt whose son she intends to marry. To avoid detection, they travel by stagecoach, Penelope still dressed as a boy, and pretending Richard is her tutor. What awaits them is adventure in the form of stolen diamonds, low characters, murder, and a pair of lovers in desperate need of help.

Rating:A great combination of adventure, romance and historical detail. 4 stars.
Georgette Heyer: Cotillion (historical romance)
Posted: 9 July 2005

This is a light and frothy story of a young woman who is determined to avoid being forced into a marriage of convenience that will get her a large inheritance but not much happiness, and her attempt to have some fun at the same time. It is also about the young man who helps her, and how he turns out not to be quite the simpleton everyone thought he was. As in previous Heyer stories I have read, the protagonists don’t admit their love for each other until right at the end, the main romance in the story taking place between a pair of side characters whose escapades provide quite a lot of the book’s comedy.
Georgette Heyer: Cousin Kate (historical romance)
Posted: 14 June 2005

Warning: Minor SPOILERS

Story:
Kate Malvern is left alone in the world after the death of her father, and discovers she is too young and too pretty to get work as a governess. Her former nursemaid, Sarah, writes to Kate’s estranged aunt, telling of Kate’s misfortunes, and the aunt soon arrives and sweeps Kate off to her mansion. It soon becomes clear that aunt Minerva has ulterior motives in bringing Kate to Staplewood, and Kate’s sense of uneasiness is increased by the erratic and often violent temper of her very handsome cousin, Torquil. When Torquil’s cousin Philip appears on the scene, Kate’s feelings are thrown into an oproar: she sees that he despises her, but she still feels attracted to him, and when his misconceptions about her are cleared up, he starts showing interest in her. But her aunt has other plans, Torquil’s behaviour keeps getting stranger and stranger, and it looks as if Kate and Philip may not be able to be together after all…

Review :
Up until I read this book, I had considered Georgette Heyer to be a skilful and diverting writer of funny historical novels with romances at the centre. This book, however, is not a comedy at all. There are no misadventures and silly secondary lovers, and romantic feelings crop up much sooner in this book than in the others I’ve read. It is, in fact, closer to being a typical romance than the other Heyer books I have read. But it’s about much more than romance. It’s a psychological thriller, a gothic novel with the supernatural element removed (gothic lite perhaps?), with its theme of a (seemingly) helpless female, isolated and trapped in a big house with people who are not all what they seem, and its atmosphere of menace and danger. Torquil’s mental illness is handled skilfully and with compassion, and he is not made out to be a villain (as would have been very easy to do), merely a poor sufferer who can not help himself. It is his mother who is the villain of the story, and her “madness” or rather obsession, is of a completely different and altogether more subtle sort.

Rating: Very good romance with gothic touches. 4 stars.
Georgette Heyer: Frederica (historical romance)
Posted: 5 August 2004

Year published: 1965
Genre: Romance, historical (Regency)

The cast:
Him: Vernon, Marquis of Alverstoke, 37.
Her: Miss Frederica Merriville, 24.
Others: Her siblings: Charis, Harry, Jessamy, Felix; Lufra the dog; Alverstoke’s secretary, Mr. Trevor; Alverstoke’s 3 sisters; Alverstoke’s heir, Mr Endymion Dauntry & his mother and sister.

Slight SPOILERS ahead

The Story:
The Marquis of Alverstoke is known for his perfect dress sense, impeccable manners and self-centered lifetyle. It is therefore as much a surprise to him as to everyone else when he decides to answer a request for assistance from Frederica, the daughter of a man distantly related to him by marriage, to whom he is by no means beholden. Frederica’s sister, the exquisitely beautiful, airheaded Charis, needs to be launched into society and as Frederica knows no-one capable of this, she writes to the Marquis for assistance. The Marquis decides to help, mostly in order to piss off his sister, who constantly tries to sponge off him, and whose less-than beautiful daughter will pale in comparison with Charis. As the Marquis becomes better acquainted with the Merriville family he begins to feel some regard for them, especially the two youngest, Jessamy and Felix, and for Frederica, who is the eldest and responsible for the family. He is called upon to rescue them from various scrapes, some involving Jessamy’s large, lumbering mongrel, sorry Baluchistan hound (read the book if you want an explanation). When Felix is injured in his never-ending quest for knowledge about technology, the Marquis goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure his safety and comfort and insists on helping Frederica nurse him back to health. It is at this point that he realises that he is in love with her, but she shows no signs of having any more regard for him than for an older brother. When silly Charis is prevented from marrying equally silly Endymion, by the intervention of Alverstoke’s secretary, the ensuing commotion leaves the path open for Alverstoke to declare himself to Frederica.

Technique and plot:
Written in Heyer’s easy, witty style, this is a very funny and delightful story. The dialogue is great and the characters well-rounded (for the most part) and mostly likeable, even the ones not liked by other characters, like Lord Buxted. There are no villains in the story, it’s simply about circumstances that bring together two couples.

Rating:
Another delightful stoy from the queen of the Regency novel. 4+ stars.
Georgette Heyer: The Grand Sophy (historical romance)
Posted: don't remember

This is a highly comic book about a young lady who comes to live temporarily with her aunt’s family and sets about fixing her cousins’ various problems, much to the dismay of her stuffy oldest cousin who is the virtual head of the family owing to his father’s financial obligations to him. He is altogether unhappy with Sophy’s intrusion into his carefully ordered life, but he might as well try to stop the tide coming in as try to tame Sophy. There’s action, and the humour is a blend of subtle observations and occasional slapstick, and Heyer’s use of language is, as always, superb. There is not as much Regency cant and slang as in some of her other books, which was a relief since I didn’t have a dictionary with me.

Rating: A fine book to pass the time and a definite re-read at some future date.
Georgette Heyer: The Quiet Gentleman
Posted: 26 July 2004

Year published: 1951
Genre: Romance, historical (Regency period)
Sub-genre: Mystery


I started to write an apologetic preface here, but then I realized that I don’t need an excuse to read a romance. It’s just that it has been pounded into my head for many years that there is something guilty about reading and enjoying romances.
Well, I didn’t feel guilty at all reading this delightful book, so here, without further ado, is the review:

Story:
Soon after Gervase arrives at Stanyon castle to take up his duties as the Earl and landowner, it becomes apparent that someone wants him dead. Accidents that aren’t accidents happen, the most likely suspect is Gervase’s passionate younger brother and heir, Martin, but Gervase is not ready to believe that without further evidence. Complicating the matter for the would-be killer is Drusilla, a practical young lady who is staying with the dowager Countess, and who always seems to be there when Gervase needs protection from the would-be killer. Adding complications is the arrival of Lucian, Gervase’s friend, and his and Gervase’s admiration of Marianne, the girl Martin means to marry. Even further complications arise when Lucian and Marianne fall in love. When Gervase is shot and wounded and Martin disappears, everyone assumes that hot-headed Martin is trying to kill Gervase, but Gervase is still not convinced, and acts on a hunch to discover the truth.

Technique, characterisation and plot:
Once I started reading this book (a couple of weeks ago) I could hardly put it down to eat, and completely forgot to watch The West Wing - missing my first ever episode of that show and breaking my addiction to it. I’d much rather read a good book – books end, which is more than can be said for TV serials.
The book is absorbing and funny, not just chuckle-chuckle funny, but laugh aloud funny.
The romance was subdued – in fact neither hero nor heroine gave any indication of being in love until the last 20 pages or so, and the romantic antics were left to Martin, Marianne and Lucien, whose escapades provided an interesting counterpoint to the phlegmatic relationship between hero and heroine.

The book is well written and the use of language is brilliant. The description of Stanyon castle and all the additions to it over the centuries had me laughing out loud, so wonderfully evocative and sarcastic was it.
The mystery is engaging and the hints very subtle, although an experienced mystery reader will see the villain a mile off (I had the villain and his motive figured out long before anything bad happened.)
Most of the main characters are believable, well-rounded and three-dimensional, with the exception of Drusilla, who comes across as flat. This is unfortunate, since she is the heroine of the book.
Gervase is a seemingly calm and submissive dandy, but underneath his placid demeanour there is a will of iron, a quick intelligence and a great sense of humour. His brother, Martin, is equally well written, a young man who has never learned to check his temper or his passions and is quick to anger, but can also be compassionate and caring. We are, of course, meant to think he is the villain. His love-interest, Marianne, is a shy, retiring and immature girl who learns a lesson about the dangers of flirting. The least interesting characters are Drusilla, the practical and seemingly unemotional heroine, and Theo, the aloof cousin who is the financial manager of the estate and always seems to be hovering in the background without taking direct part in events.
The love between Drusilla and Gervase is not at all believable – it just appears suddenly near the end, even though Drusilla has been enamoured of Gervase ever since they first met right at the beginning of the book. It’s almost as if Heyer suddenly realized “hey, I forgot there’s supposed to be a romance between those two” and tacked it on as an afterthought. Other than that, I liked this book very much, so much that I have ordered another of Heyer’s books from an online bookstore, and fully expect it to be just as good, if not better than this one.

Rating:
A charming mystery and romance. 4 stars.
Wendy Holden: Pastures Nouveaux (chick-lit)
Posted:28 June 2005

My first introduction to chick lit was the much praised Bridget Jones’ Diary, which I frankly hated. IMHO, the movie, for once, was better than the book. It didn’t stop me exploring further, however, and I have read several books belonging to the genre: good, bad and indifferent. I’ve even reviewed some in this blog.

Warning: SPOILERS

Story:
Two very different couples’ lives begin to interweave when they move to a small village in England. They are the practically broke illustrator Rosie and her ill-tempered columnist boyfriend Mark, and filthy rich actress, evil stepmother and bitch queen Samantha and her husband, Guy the financier. Also involved are a noisy family of slackers who live next door to Rosie and Mark’s cottage, a farmer who becomes attracted to Rosie (who seriously considers dumping Mark for him), a reclusive rock star, a former Bond girl and Guy’s teenage daughter, who has every intention of breaking up her father’s marriage to Samantha.

Review:
This frothy concoction is a combination of satire, seriousness and slapstick, and tackles, among other things, relationships, pretentiousness, social climbing, and the bleak future facing some farmers. Parts of it read like a slightly more sophisticated print version of a Carry On movie, and many of the supporting characters are broadly drawn stereotypes, while others are more three-dimensional. I only wish I could say that about Rosie’s big love interest, the rock star, but unfortunately he is a cardboard cut-out of the reformed bad boy type, and his infatuation for Rosie is, frankly, unconvincing. If Holden had used up a hundred pages more in giving him a more rounded character and developing the relationship between them and a hundred pages less in showing the reader just what a social-climbing bitch Samantha is, this might have been a good book. As it is, it only just rises above mediocre by virtue of its sparkling humour and the delicious descriptions of Samantha’s decorating mania and her big party.

Rating: A so-so book, recommended for some delicious comic passages. The love story is weak, but if you have fantasies of being swept off your feet by a rock star, by all means go ahead and read it. 2+ stars.

A useful link: What is chick lit?
Arnaldur Indridason: Synir Duftsins (Week 35)
(English title: Sons of Earth)
Posted: 12 October 2004

Year published: 1997
Genre: Crime, murder mystery
Sub-genre(s): Sci-fi

Before Arnaldur Indridason wrote this book, original crime novels written in Icelandic were few and far between. It seemed as if the genre had no place in Icelandic reality, as big crimes here tend to be open and shut cases and murders are few. The feeling was that Icelanders simply couldn’t imagine Agatha Christie-style mysteries or Hammett-type hard-boiled crime taking place on their peaceful island. Then Arnaldur and another author, Stella Blomkvist (pseudonym), both published quite good crime novels in the same year, and the genre has been blossoming ever since.
Arnaldur’s books have been translated into several languages and he has twice won the Glass Key, the Crime Writers of Scandinavia Award for the best Nordic crime novel.

As far as I know, Synir Duftsins has not been translated into English (I'm sure it will be soon), but three of his other books have been: Jar City/Tainted Blood (Mýrin), Voices (Röddin) and Silence of the Grave (Grafarþögn). Since I wrote this review, Arnaldur has won the 2005 British Crime Writer's Association's Golden Dagger award for Silence of the Grave, his best crime novel to date.

More about Arnaldur

Review:
Posted: 22 October 2004

The Story:
Two seemingly unrelated deaths occur in the same day: a psychiatric patient kills himself and an old man is found burned to death, apparently murdered. The suicide’s brother is struck by something he said just before he died, and starts investigating, and two detectives try to solve the murder case. The two cases soon turn out to be related: the younger man was a former student of the older, and the only (known) one of his male classmates still alive, the others having died young from mysterious heart attacks, drug overdoses and suicide. The deaths seem related to suspicious “nutritional” pills given to the classmates by the teacher one winter, and both the brother and the detectives want to find out what was really in those pills. When the brother receives an envelope with cassettes containing conversations between the two men from just before they died, the case breaks open and the investigation becomes centered on a pharmaceutical company. What they learn is beyond anything they could have imagined…

Technique and plot:
This is an obvious first novel. I would guess that 70% of it is dialogue, but even so it is quite good. The dialogue serves to carry on the story, much of which happens in the past. Rather than tell the past in flashbacks (there are some, but not many) Arnaldur has people tell about it in their own words. The language is somewhat over-literary, even for the elderly people who tell much of the backstory.

The two detectives are well-known prototypes: the tired and grumpy older man who gets by on experience and knowledge of human nature and doesn’t always follow procedure, and the ambitious young rookie who does everything by the book but isn’t so good with people, i.e. the typical pair of detectives that make a great team because they are so different from each other.

The story takes place in modern Icelandic society, which presents certain problems: everybody knows everybody and a certain type of reader will always try to guess who this or that person is based on. Arnaldur is dealing with some pretty big issues that have been discussed a lot in Icelandic society in recent years, like cloning and genetic research. He manages pretty well to create all new characters, institutions and companies, instead of falling into the trap of making them too similar to the real-life counterparts that they are inspired by, making this a kind of alternate reality that nevertheless is very realistic, at least in its descriptions of Icelandic society. The conspiracy plot is totally over the top and somewhat out of synch with the realistic tone of the rest of the book, but since this is a crime thriller and not a documentary, it is forgivable.

There is a sci-fi element in the story that grates on the nerves, but fortunately Arnaldur has, in subsequent books in the series, abandoned that angle and started writing more realistic stories.

Rating:
A good beginning to a crime-writer’s career, and they keep getting better. 3 stars.

P.S. I read Mýrin (Jar City, also published in English as Tainted Blood) yesterday, and it’s a definite 5 star read. The characters of the two detectives and the people surrounding them have developed and become more realistic, and there is no big conspiracy in this book like the previous two, rather it is a pure, tragic crime story.
Shirley Jackson : The Haunting of Hill House (Week 21)
Posted: 15 June 2004

Year published: 1959
Genre: Horror
Sub-genre: Haunted house tale
Cover image

I started reading this book a couple of days ago and have finished the first two chapters. Although nothing supernatural has happened yet, a subtle sense of suspense and creepiness has started to build. So far, I’m reminded of the beginning of both the TV series Rose Red and the movie The Legend of Hell House (both of which owe a lot to this story), but I guess there are limited ways in which you can start a haunted house tale.

Review:
Posted: 18 June 2004

Finished it this afternoon. This is a book that is best read in broad daylight – not that it kept me awake or gave me nightmares, but it took me quite a bit longer than usual to fall asleep after reading the first two chapters at bedtime.

The Story:
Two young women, Eleanor and Theodora, arrive at Hill House, a fancy country mansion, to meet Dr. Montague, a researcher of psychic phenomena who has asked them to help him investigate the apparently haunted house. The fourth member of the team is Luke, the rakish future heir to the house. Right from the day of arrival, it is apparent that this is a strange and unusual place, and as the days pass, we get to know some of the apparent reasons for the strangeness of the house described by Dr. Montague as “…disturbed…. Leprous. Sick. Any of the popular euphemisms for insanity…”
Strange things happen and hauntings occur, and the characters are affected in different ways as the house tries to scare and even possess them. Things come to a head when Mrs. Montague, the Doctor’s wife, arrives with an odious companion and tries to contact the spirits she believes are trapped in the house.

Technique and plot:
This is a marvellously spooky story, and Jackson has managed quite well to build up suspense and a sense of creepiness right from chapter one. The suspense and horror are largely psychological, and it helps that we get to follow one character’s internal thoughts and feelings and her… I don’t know if I should call it descent into madness or opening up to possession by evil, but you see her get more and more disturbed – by turns elated or upset - as the narrative moves closer to the climax.

A comic interlude lightens the atmosphere just before the climax, making the climax and denouement all the more effective. The ending is both completely predictable and a total surprise, which is no small feat for any author.

Rating:
A well crafted, suspenseful and spooky haunted house tale. 4 stars.

About Shirley Jackson
Posted: 06.19.04 (5:41 am)

Information about Shirley Jackson, including a link to her brilliant short story, “The Lottery”:
Shirley Jackson

A possible inspiration for The Haunting of Hill House:
The Haunting of Borley Rectory
P.D. James: Cover her face (murder mystery)
Posted: 1 July 2005

Story:
When a conniving and secretive young housemaid at the Maxie mansion is murdered, the local constable immediately calls in the Scotland Yard. The Yard’s representative is Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, who goes about his job of investigating and interviewing suspects and witnesses, in a thorough, calm and apparently unemotional manner. He uncovers seething emotions, hatred and passions that bubble just under the surface, and finds that most of the people who were at the mansion the night of the murder had good reason to dislike or even hate the murdered woman.

Review:
This, the first of P.D. James’ popular Chief Inspector Dalgliesh books, is a rather Christiesque story. Dalgliesh uses Hercule Poirot’s preferred method of gathering together the suspects to unveil the killer, and the story is a country manor mystery in the Golden Age style, as so many of Agatha Christie’s books were.

The characters of the main witnesses and suspects are developed in depth before the crime takes place, only the victim’s full character is left to be uncovered as the story progresses. Dalgliesh is very much in the background all the time, and it is his implied rather than actual presence that drives much of the latter part of the story.

Just as I kept seeing George Baker in my mind when reading the Inspector Wexford book I reviewed on Wednesday, I pictured Roy Marsden, who played Dalgliesh on TV, in my head whenever Dalgliesh was mentioned. This is the unfortunate thing about knowing a character from the screen before ever reading about them – you find it difficult to separate the on-screen representation from the character on the page. Not that it mattered, Marsden was the perfect choice to play Dalgliesh.

Rating: Another good beginning to a mystery series that I plan to pursue further. 3+ stars.
Sue Monk Kidd : The Secret Life of Bees (coming of age story)
Posted: 2 March 2005

Just finished reading it. For the sake of all the people who recommended it to me I wish I could say I liked it, but I didn’t. It was one of those books that I found to be okay, but nothing more than that. It was too predictable, often superficial and sometimes felt contrived, like Kidd felt she had to show the whole range of human emotion and just didn’t know when enough was enough. There are redeeming points, however. The characters, narrator Lily, her surrogate mother and best friend Rosaleen, and the Boatwright sisters, especially August, are rounded and real. The story, of Lily’s coming of age in the American south during a hot summer in the tumultuous 1960’s, rambles somewhat, and could have done with a little sprinkling of magic realism. The tone it’s told in screams out for something like that, and you kind of expect it from a book with such a mysterious title.

Added March 4th: On deliberation, I guess I could say that the story had potential, which was not fulfilled. Kidd has the potential to become a great writer, and although I didn't like this book (her first novel), it will not stop me from reading her next (if there is one).
2.5 stars.
Jhumpa Lahiri: Interpreter of Maladies (Week 52)
Posted: 16 February 2005

Year published: 1999
Pages: 198
Genre: Literature, short stories

I picked this book up nearly a year ago, mostly because I was intrigued by the title. It has been waiting on my TBR shelf ever since. To tell the truth, I had forgotten about it until last week when I visited the Lonely Planet online forum, the Thorn Tree, like I do 2-3 times a week. On the Women’s Branch there was a book discussion going on, and the original poster and several others highly recommended this book. I thought, “Hey, I have this!” and decided there and then that it was about time I read it. Looking over the list of books in the 52 books challenge, I realised I had not read any short stories, so it was perfect to end the challenge with this short story collection. It won the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 2000.

Reading progress
Posted: 22 February 2005

I have been reading 1-2 stories from Interpreter of Maladies per day, and now have four left. The stories belong to the "slice of life" school of short story writing, and describe chapters in the lives of the characters. They are very well written and explore all kinds of issues and feelings. Some are about Indian expatriates in America, others are about Indians in Calcutta.

Review:
Posted: 24 February 2005

Finished the last of the short stories today. They are skilfully written glimpses into the lives of ordinary people. Several have in common a sort of longing or wistful nostalgia for something that is never defined in words and which the characters sometimes don’t seem to know themselves. Three out of the nine stories are told in the first person, each of them in a different voice, and the remaining six are 3rd person narratives, each told from the point of view of one person, often someone who doesn’t quite know what is going on with the other character(s). There is subtle humour in some of the stories, while others are serious. Some portray kindness, others cruelty. The unifying theme, apart from most of the characters being Indian, is that of human relations, interactions, cross-purposes and misunderstandings. Out of the stories, the final two are my favourites. Both are funny, although in quite different ways. One, which is a kind of parable, made me smile, the other made me laugh out loud. All in all, I liked all the stories, although of course some are better than others.

Rating: An excellent collection of short stories about Indians and being Indian, home and abroad. 4 stars.

Daniel Mason: The Piano Tuner (historical novel)
Posted: 12 July 2005

Story:
In 1886, Edgar Drake, a specialist in the tuning of Erard pianos, is sent by the British War Office to the wilds of Burma to tune an Erard for Surgeon-Major Carroll, a man who has managed to become perhaps the most important British officer in the whole of Burma, by making himself indispensable for the peace negotiations between the British and the Burmese. The piano plays some mysterious part in all this, but has unfortunately reacted badly to the extremes of the climate and is out of tune. Drake, shy, thoughtful and eccentric, finds in himself an unexpected adventurousness as he sets off from England to tune the piano. Once he gets to Carroll’s stronghold in Mae Lwin, he is enchanted by the place, charmed by Carroll, and seduced (not in the physical sense) by a mysterious local woman. All of these unite in holding him there, and he loses all sense of time and sinks into a kind of dream. When reality finally invades, it becomes doubtful if he will ever return to England and his beloved wife.

Review:
This is a beautiful and melancholy story. Mason has a talent for describing landscapes and people in flowing and evocative prose, and it has been a long time since I read anything as cinematic as this book. In some strange way I can not quite define, I felt this was a very English book, although the author is an American. He perfectly describes the attitudes and arrogance of the British towards the Burmese people, for example in the chapters about Drake’s journey and the British officers he meets – especially a very tragic tiger hunt he unwillingly joins. The first half of the story is about Drake’s journey from England to Mae Lwin, and the second is about his stay there and the tuning of the piano. The story is very slow and flowing, right down to the last chapters, when it suddenly picks up, with unnecessary suddenness, and becomes a thriller. There is hardly any build-up to the action, and the ending, although apt, is too abrupt.

I did feel that I couldn’t quite sympathise with Drake, or indeed any other character. They are all described from the outside, as if the author was describing something he was seeing on a movie screen in front of him, rather than actually being there. There is always a distance between the reader and the characters, a distance you want to bridge, but can’t, because there is something lacking in the telling of their story. This distant, at times almost clinical viewing of the characters, is a big flaw, and prevents the book from making my favourites list.

All in all, I would say this is a very good first novel, but has flaws that Mason will hopefully not repeat in his next novel.

Rating: A beautiful and tragic story of one man’s adventure of a lifetime. 3+ stars.
Excerpt from The Piano Tuner
Sharyn McCrumb: Bimbos of the Death Sun (mystery)
Posted: 12 April 2005

Warning: slight SPOILERS

Story:
Jay Omega has written a sci-fi novel, and his girlfriend, Marion, thinks he should do more to promote it, even if he is deeply embarrassed about the title which the publisher gave his novel (see the title of the book). So he goes to a local sci-fi and fantasy convention, where he runs into all sorts of weird and weirder members of the “fen” (slang for “fans”). When the other featured author and star of the con, the miniature and malicious Appin Dungannon, author of a series about viking hero Tratyn Runewind, is murdered and Jay is asked to be Dungeon Master in a game of Dungeons and Dragons featuring Tratyn, he sees an opportunity to draw out the murderer whom he has decided must be either one of the many who hated the dead author or a rabid fan out to rescue Tratyn from being killed off by the author, who hated his creation more with every published book (don’t you just love long sentences?).

Review:
I just finished reading this first book in a duology (the sequel, which I read first, is reviewed below) by Sharyn McCrumb and I think it’s a really good story. Not only is the mystery strong, with several interesting suspects, a likeable hero and a loathsome and rather tragic murder victim, it is also a very funny description of people one is likely to meet at a sci-fi and fantasy “con” (“convention” to the uninitiated, although “gathering” is perhaps more descriptive). The title itself, just like that of the sequel, is a parody of the kind of titles you’re likely to come across on a pulp sci-fi novel. 4 stars.
Sharyn McCrumb: Zombies of the Gene Pool (mystery)
Posted: 4 March 2005

I borrowed this book from the library because I liked the title, which put me in mind of a wacky 60's sci-fi story, or rather a parody of one (I was actually looking for another of McCrumb’s books). The title comes from the fact that all of the characters that matter are in one way or another connected with science fiction, either as authors, failed authors, or fans, and some of them might be described as metaphorical zombies. Fandom plays a big part in the story, and is described in humorous terms, and although I have never been involved in fandom of any kind, I have spent enough time participating in Internet book discussion groups to know that the descriptions are accurate.
As a mystery, the book is not what one has come to expect from the genre: the death occurs more than halfway through the book, and is not revealed as a murder until 30 pages from the end, so the whodunnit part of the mystery is solved very quickly. The where-was-he-and -what-was-he-doing part takes a bit longer to solve. The identity of the murderer and the main twist will be obvious to most experienced mystery readers, the second twist is slightly more surprising (his motives), and the final one was transparent - at least to me - although I dare say it will surprise many less cynical readers.

Rating:
The book is well written and funny, and I enjoyed it in spite of the long lead-up and the weak mystery. Looking forwards to reading the previous book in the duology, Bimbos of the Death Sun, which takes on sci-fi conventions. 3+ stars.
Lucy Maud Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables (Week 30)
Posted: 6 September 2004

Year published: 1908/1994
Pages: 280
Genre: Coming of age story


Large cover image

I was quite young when I discovered L.M. Montgomery’s Anne books. The first four books were translated into Icelandic a long time ago and my mother had all of them. I loved reading about Anne’s escapades and her growing up on Prince Edward Island. I was only allowed to read the first three books as a child, as my mother considered the subject matter of the fourth book to be too serious and beyond my childish understanding. I only got to read that book when I was in my teens and found it to be rather melodramatic.
This will be the first time I read any of the books in the original English, and it will be interesting to see how it compares with the translated text. In the past, some Icelandic translators and/or publishers had an unfortunate habit of removing blocks of text from translated books, and some translators even went as far as altering the text and even making some up. I dearly hope the Icelandic translations of the Anne stories are not among those books.

Review:
Posted: 15 September 2004

The Story:
Middle-aged siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables decide to adopt an orphan boy to help them with the farm work. What they get is Anne Shirley, a red-headed girl with an overactive imagination, a temperament as fiery as her hair, and a flair for getting herself in trouble. The book tells of Anne’s first years with the Cuthberts, the scrapes she is continually getting herself into, her friendship with Diana Barry and her war with Gilbert Blythe.

Technique and plot:
The book is full of wonderfully evocative descriptions of Prince Edward Island that make it sound like a paradise on earth (for all I know it may well have been at the time of writing). Anne’s exploits and other people’s reactions to her are described with gentle humour. The only thing I don’t like is Anne’s long speeches. They are certainly very funny at times, as Anne uses a rather literary language that is often inappropriate to the occasion and uses words you would not expect an adolescent girl to know, but I found myself skipping some of those passages because many of them are really just empty speech.
I last read this book about 10 years ago, in Icelandic. When I began reading I couldn’t remember a thing, but as I got into the story things started coming back to me and since the chapter headings are indicative of what happens, I sometimes would think “ahhh, here comes the time she got Diana drunk, here comes the time she broke her ankle” etc. Rereading a much-loved book after so long a time is like visiting an old friend you haven’t seen in years, and finding she is still the same wonderful person you remembered.

Rating:A wonderful classic story that has enchanted generations of readers, young and old. 5 stars.
Pratibha Nath (ed.): Indian Folk-tales and Legends (Week 47)
Posted: 11 January 2005

Year published: 1995
Pages: 170
Genre: Folk-tales, India


Larger cover image

I bought this book during my visit to India in 1996. For some reason, I only ever read the first few stories, and when I got back home I put it on a shelf and promptly forgot about it. It came to light again recently when I was culling my books, and I decided to finally finish reading it. Like most of the locally published books I bought in India, it is printed on cheap paper that is already yellowing, and the glued binding is coming apart, even though the book has rarely been opened.

As you can see, the cover is very funny – I believe that’s supposed to be a demon.


Review:
Posted: 16 January 2005

This is a collection of folk-tales and legends from all over India. Although the stories are meant for children, they are readable for persons of any age who like folk-tales and adventure stories. The folk-tales are mostly about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, and the legends are about the gods, demons and heroes of India’s ancient literature, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Puranas.

The stories are written in a simple and readable style that suits the subject of the folk-tales. Some are funny, others fantastic, and some have some kind of moral. The legends don’t quite fit in with the folk-tales – the themes are so different and when the folk-tales end and the legends begin the reader is all of a sudden not sitting by the fire in the village square any more and listening to a master storyteller, but instead has been transported to the palace of a king to enjoy a reading from books about gods, kings and heroes. It doesn’t quite fit, and I think the two story collection should have been published as two separate books.

Rating: A collection of stories that are fun to read and will give fans of folk-tales an opportunity to compare Indian folk-tales with those of other cultures.
E.O. Parrott, (ed.): How to Become Ridiculously Well Read in One Evening (Week 24)
Posted: 7 July 2004

Year published: 1985
Genre: Poetry, pastiche, prose



Came across this amuzing little volume while browsing in the library. It’s a collection of humourous summaries of some of the famous literary works considered (by some) necessary for a person to be well read, and therefore splendidly suited for someone who is trying to read more. It includes summaries of works both by English-speaking authors and works that have been translated into English from other languages. Most of it is in verse, but some pieces are in the form of prose, all in a variety of styles.

Here’s a short sample of what this book has to offer – incidentally also the shortest piece in the book:

“D.H. Lawrence: Lady Chatterley’s Lover” by Wendy Cope:
Smart girls make passes
At the working classes.

Review:
Posted: 10 July 2004

When I began reading this book in earnest I quickly realized it was no use to read the pieces on books I hadn’t read, because in order to enjoy humourous literary encapsulations like this, you must be familiar with the original literary works. So I have merely skimmed those pieces and only read in full the ones on books I have read and/or seen the movie version of.

The majority of the pieces are in verse form. Among the forms used are haiku, limericks and blank verse. Some of the others are in the form of very short plays, others in epistolary form or stream-of-consciousness. There are pieces on 155 books, some few books have had two pieces written about them, but most only one.

In the introduction to this book I called it “amuzing” and that is all it is. I have smiled several times at some clever verses that summarize, if not the actual contents, than at least the spirit of the book in question. More often though, I have frowned at half-rhymes, tortuous rhymes, rhymes that don’t rhyme and lines that don’t scan but should. Of course, I never expected the verses to have the kind of quality that makes poetry immortal, but there is an incredible amount of badly written poetry in there. Some of it makes up the lack of proper rhyme and scansion by virtue of wit, being worth a half-smile, a chuckle, or a smirk when it reveals some silliness about the original.

Rating: Presented in haiku form as befits the book. Whether it be good haiku or bad haiku, I leave up to the reader to decide.

Literature summed,
Sometimes funny, sometimes not,
2 stars and that’s a lot.
Arturo Pérez-Reverte: The Flanders Panel (mystery)
Posted: 9 April 2005

This is a murder mystery tied up in a chess-game in a painting and in reality. The painting is a 15th century panel by a Flemish master, which the heroine, an art restorer, must clean and restore before it can to be auctioned off. She discovers a hidden inscription in the painting, and when her ex-lover is murdered and a mysterious person starts leaving cards with chess moves on them where she can find them, it looks as if the two events are connected. She receives assistance in solving the mystery from a chess-player, and from her two best friends, an art gallery owner and a slippery antique dealer.

This is a good, spooky, twisty mystery with a chess game at its heart. Even if you know nothing about chess, you can still enjoy it – I only know how the chessmen move around the board, and I liked it.
3 stars.
Terry Pratchett: A Hat Full of Sky (Week 16)
Posted: 9 May 2004

Published: 2004
Genre: Fantasy, children's

Cover image

This book was delivered by the mailman on Friday afternoon, and I had to restrain myself not to start reading until after dinner. Finished reading it around midnight. I am going to read it again - more slowly - before I review it.

Review:
Posted: 15 May 2004

This is the sequel to The Wee Free Men and the third Discworld book for children.

As usual, Pratchett has done an excellent job. The book is written for children, but is actually quite a good read for adults, who will read it at a deeper level. As this is a children's book, there are not as many allusions to other works as there are in the adult Discworld books, but there are still quite a few, some of which will be easily picked up by children and some which are better understood by adults. (These are already being collected and annotated by the denizens of the alt.books.pratchett newsgroup and can be accessed there).

Here be SPOILERS
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The story is slower than The Wee Free Men and not quite as laugh-aloud funny, but it is also deeper and more thought provoking and will (hopefully) teach children who read it a useful lesson about why it's bad to always act upon impulse. The previous story reminded me of Alice in Wonderland (except Tiffany is quite a lot brighter than Alice), but this one has elements of both Alien (the movie) and Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

The story is not as dark as The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (the first Discworld children's book), but is still about quite a serious subject. The Nac Mac Feegle (see The Wee Free Men or Carpe Jugulum) play an important part and provide many of the funniest jokes. As in the previous book, Pratchett has not made the reading too easy - you sometimes have to read the Feegle's dialogue out loud (in a Scottish accent if you can manage it) in order to fully understand it.

Pratchett writes realistically about the feelings and thoughts of eleven year-old witch-in-training Tiffany Aching. I remember feeling some of the things Tiffany does when I was at her age.

The inclusion of Granny Weatherwax is a good touch and I recommend for anyone who wants full enjoyment from reading this story to have read not only The Wee Free Men, but also the short story "The Sea and Little Fishes", which introduces the Witch Trials and the character of Letice Earwig and explains why Granny doesn't like her.

Rating: Excellent book, recommended to anyone who likes fantasy, fairy tales and/or is a fan of Granny Weatherwax. 5 stars.
Terry Pratchett: Going Postal
Posted: 3 October 2004

Year published: 2004
Genre: Fantasy, humorous


The Story:
When Lord Vetinari, ruler of Ankh-Morpork, gives con artist Moist von Lipwig a second chance for life if he will take over running the city’s disabled Post Office, Moist knows there has to be a catch. Finding tons of undelivered mail is nothing compared with finding out that four of his recent predecessors died in mysterious “accidents”. It looks as if the job will be simple: get enough postmen and deliver the mail, even if it will take decades, get the service up and running and print some stamps. Then there is Miss Dearheart, who renders Moist quite speechless with her icy cold manner and severe mode of dressing, and whom he would like to get to know a lot better. The plot thickens when the operators of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company decide the Post Office is a threat, and begin a campaign to get rid of the competition, and Moist finally meets a man who is a bigger crook than he is…

Technique and plot:
The story is a blend of Pratchett’s usual humour, parody and allusions, combined with a very good story about beating the odds. The plot is unusually streamlined for a Pratchett story: there is only one plotline, and it’s divided into chapters, a first in the Discworld series (I’m not counting the Discworld-set children’s books). Several characters from the previous books make their appearances, such as Lord Vetinari, Captain Carrot and Sacharissa Crisplock of The Times, who appears to have finally dragged William to the altar (read The Truth if you want to know more). If there is any complaint, it is that Moist is too similar to some of Pratchett’s previous heroes and heroines, especially in his feeling that others can see straight through him and uncover the secret he is hiding, and his capacity for unexpected nastiness when cornered.

Rating:
Another great story from the master of funny fantasy. 4+ stars.
Philip Pullman: His Dark Materials I: The Golden Compass (Week 23.1)
Posted: 27 June 2004


Alternative (British) title: Northern Lights
Year published: 1995
Genre: Fantasy, children’s

I've wanted to read this book for a long time, but not enough to buy it (I may change my mind after reading it). Finally found a copy when I went exploring the suburban branches of the Reykjavik city library. I'm looking forward to start reading it.

Reading progress
Posted:29 June 2004

I'm about halfway into The Golden Compass and so foar I like what's I've read. A captivating story, and yet not so much that I feel I need to read it all in one sitting. Much better written and plotted than the last two Harry Potters, and although it is supposed to be a story for children/teenagers, it's still enjoyable for adults.

The Golden Compass – Review
Posted: 30 June 2004

Finished the book – what a great story. I was completely hooked once I got to part two.

The Story:
Lyra, a young girl, has grown up pretty much wild in Jordan College, Oxford. This Oxford is located in an alternate reality world that is in some ways like our own, and in some ways vastly different. Like people have dæmons, creatures that are like projections of their master’s soul, are inseperable from them and die with them. When “Gobblers” begin to steal children and take Lyra’s friend Roger, she desperately wants to do something about it. When a gang of “gyptians” (like gypsies in our world) decide they want to go and find the children and free them (having lost many of their own to the Gobblers), Lyra goes with them to the Arctic region to help out. After adventures involving Tartars, an armoured bear, witches and scientists, she ends up on another quest that will take her on to even greater adventures, for she has a Destiny she is unaware of.

Technique and plot:
I think I will wait to discuss this until I have read the whole story – two more books: The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

Rating:
This is quite a good book, wonderful storytelling, both for children and adults, but I will not give it any stars yet. I will rate all three books together as a whole.


His Dark Materials II: The Subtle Knife (Week 23.2)
Posted: 4 July 2004

Author: Philip Pullman
Year published: 1997
Genre: Fantasy, children’s

Managed to get both parts two and three from the library. Have already finished this one, and I don’t think that once I start I’ll be able to stop reading part three until I’m finished.


The Story:
After tragically losing her best friend and walking from her world into another one that is full of children but no adults, Lyra has found another friend, Will, who comes from our world. He has a destiny of some sort waiting for him just as she has. The golden compass has told Lyra that she must help Will find his father. A man steals the compass and sends Lyra out to find the Subtle Knife, which he says he will exchange the compass for. The two children set out to search for it and find it in the world where they first met. The knife chooses Will as its bearer. It can cut through the fabric of reality and open windows into other world, and this the children put to good use when they realize that the man isn’t going to return the compass. After reacquiring the compass, they set out to find Will’s father, hunted by both friendly and unfriendly forces. It’s a matter of touch and go, which will catch up with them first. Lyra’s destiny is revealed to the readers and to the children’s enemies, but the children are unaware of it, although they know that it is something to do with Lyra’s father and the war he is planning to wage on The Authority (God). Will’s destiny is tied to the knife.
Ends with a cliffhanger…I’m looking forward to see what happens next.


His Dark Materials: The Amber Spyglass (Week 23.3)
Posted: 6 July 2004



Year published: 2000
Genre: Fantasy, children’s
Subgenres: Alternate realities, parable

SPOILERS ahead. If you don’t want to know how the story ends, DON’T READ ANY FURTHER!


The story:
The conclusion to the trilogy. The story is really much too complex to summarize in a few sentences, but I’ll try anyway.
At the beginning of the story, Lyra is in the power of her mother who has suddenly been filled with a desperate need to keep her safe. This she does by hiding in cave in the Himalayas and keeping Lyra asleep so she can’t run away. It’s up to Will and some unexpected companions to save her. Meanwhile, everything is set for war between the forces of Lord Asriel (Lyra’s father) and those of the Regent – an angel who rules in the name of The Authority. Mary Malone, a scientist Lyra met briefly in Will’s world, has learned that she has a role to play and sets out to find Lyra. Lyra and Will set out to find the world of the dead and end up setting free the spirits of the dead. In the process they lose contact with their dæmons, and it takes a long time for them to find them again, but when they do, they are in a world where Mary Malone is waiting for them, ready to play the part of the snake to Lyra’s Eve and fulfill the witches’s prophesy…

Review
Posted: 07.07.04 (6:28 pm)

S-P-O-I-L-E-R-S
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Technique and plot: All three books.
Although published as a three books, His Dark Materials is one epic story, a brilliantly written extended religious metaphor, a sort of Pilgrim’s Progress from Innocence to Experience. It starts out innocuously, like a snowflake, with wild-child Lyra going off to the Arctic to rescue her best friend, and ends like an avalanche, with the the death of The Authority (the Church, or perhaps God as the Church sees him/her/it) and the fall of Eve as replayed by Lyra and Will. A lot of work and imagination has obviously gone into this book, and I’m sure it will be seen as Pullman’s greatest work for years and perhaps decades to come.

I loved the first two books, but found the third too long and uneven – the story could have been told in fewer words. It was melodramatic in places, and the continuity suffered because there were so many different viewpoints that were being explored. It never held my attention for more than a few chapters at a time, whereas I read books one and two through with only a few short breaks. The third book definitely didn’t live up to my expectations. All in all, I liked the story, but volume three could have done with some pruning.

Rating:
A sometimes delightful and gripping, sometimes melodramatic and overdone fantasy adventure. 4+ stars.

His Dark Materials links
Posted: 9 July 2004

Here’a bunch of links to websites about the His Dark Materials trilogy:

Pullman’s official website

Publisher’s website

Annotations for The Golden Compass

Annotations for all three books (includes excerpts)
Thomas Pynchon: The Crying of Lot 49 (Week 27)
Posted: 27 July 2004

Year published: 1966
Pages: 183
Genre: Literature


Large cover image

This book was recommended to me by Oedipa. I had never heard of it, but it is apparently a classic of 20th century American literature. After a bit of web browsing for information, I decided it would be worthwhile reading.

Review:
Posted: 1 August 2004

Possible SPOILERS

The story:
Oedipa Maas is unexpectedly made the executor of the estate of her former boyfriend, Pierce Inverarity. Before long, she is immersed in the investigation of a secret, underground postal service that appears to have its roots way back in history. Along the way, she meets with all sorts of people, some crazier than others, and the book ends as she sits down to attend the auction of Inverarity’s stamp collection, which contains some stamps that may or may not have been made by the people who run the mysterious underground mail system. Or maybe it’s all a conspiracy by Pierce to confound and confuse her? That is left up to the reader to decide.

Technique:
Pynchon has a way with words. What else can I say? Actually, the writing is sometimes convoluted and confusing, like a train that has run off the rails, each sentence apparently loaded with meaning, or perhaps just a jumble of empty words, a stream of consciousness rendered into structured sentences. Somewhere inside this jumble of words is a rather interesting conspiracy plot that is carried along by wordplay and philosophical wonderings. The narrative is sometimes funny and always slightly surreal. The story is nearly timeless, only a few hints point to its happening in the 1960’s, which I guess is part of what makes it appeal to people.
Perhaps I wasn’t in the right frame of mind when I read it, but I didn’t much like this book. I had the slight feeling that the author was getting away with a joke that was just out of my grasp, that he was sitting somewhere out of reach and chuckling at me for being too clueless to see it, just like Oedipa near the end of the book.

Rating: Confusing and interesting, slightly surreal and ultimately inconclusive. 3- stars
Ruth Rendell: From Doon With Death (murder mystery)
Posted: 29 June 2005

Story:
Margaret Parsons, a dowdy housewife, disappears from her Kingsmarkham home, and is found murdered the next day. During the investigation, suspicion fall on several people, including her husband, a former boyfriend, two former school friends, and their husbands. Finally, when Wexford and Burden discover a cache of inscribed books from “Doon” to “Minna”, they begin to piece together a story of obsession and desire, going back more than a decade, and make a startling discovery as to the identity of “Doon”.

Review:
This is the first book in the Chief Inspector Wexford series. Like many other readers, I first became aware of Wexford as the leading character in a series of very good TV films based on the books, starring George Baker as Wexford. For some time I wasn’t even aware they were based on books, and even when I did realise it, I still was not very interested in reading them. Then I started becoming interested in crime mysteries again, literature I had mostly given up reading in my late teens. Now that I have finally got round to reading the first in the series, I definitely plan to continue.

The book is deftly written, has some interesting and intriguing characters, and presents a motif that is common in Rendell’s other stories: obsession. (I may not have read any of her other Wexford books, but I have read some of the non-series books). I quickly figured out certain relevant facts about the killer, and if I had not had to divide my attention between the book and other matters, I would in all probability have realised who the killer was rather sooner than I did.


Rating: A good beginning to a series that promises hours of reading pleasure. 3+ stars.

Useful links:

Ruth Rendell
The Inspector Wexford TV series
J.D. Robb: Naked in Death
Posted: 25 December 2004

Year published: 1995
Pages: 313 (pocket book)
Genre: Crime thriller (futuristic)
Subgenre: Romance

I had been hearing about J.D. Robb’s Eve Dallas series for several months before I finally decided to check it out. I like crime mysteries, but since I gave up on Patricia Cornwell’s books about medical examiner Kay Scarpetta (the books got tedious when her personal life started taking over the stories), I have not read many hard or realistic crime stories, preferring so-called cozies with private detectives, amateur sleuths and accidental investigators, little violence and even less gore (Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, G.K. Chesterton, Lilian Jackson Braun and the like). This may be about to change, since I recently came across a trove of books by Ed McBain, Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich and Ruth Rendell, which I fully expect will make good reads.

The Story:
Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the New York police is called to a murder scene where a young prostitute has been brutally murdered with an antique handgun. The dead woman was the granddaughter of an ultra-conservative US senator who immediately begins to meddle in the investigation, making things difficult for Eve. The prime suspect is sexy billionaire Roarke, whose personal interest in Eve also makes things difficult for her, especially after she embarks on a sexual relationship with him before he is quite cleared of suspicion in the case. He is eliminated as a suspect after two other prostitutes are murdered in the same way as the first, and begins to actively take part in the investigation.

Technique and plot:
The story takes place in the near future. Even so, this is just a futuristic novel, not a sci-fi one. The focus is on people, and technology is always in the background and presents a believable evolution of modern technology. This is really a regular crime thriller in futuristic packaging – the people are the same as in stories happening in any century, the motives behind crimes are the same as they have always been, and in this particular book, even the murder weapons are standard, modern crime novel issue. The futuristic surroundings merely make the story a bit more exotic than if it had taken place in modern times.
Relationships are important: inter-familial, between co-workers and between friends and lovers. Eve’s trust issues and Roarke’s feelings for her come across as realistic – it’s not quite love at first sight like in many romances, more like lust that evolves into love as they get to know and trust each other.
As this is the first book in a series, some room is given to the surroundings, the technology and so on, but it is cleverly interwoven into the narrative and so there are no long and boring descriptive passages like sometimes happens in sci-fi books, especially by new writers. Robb is a skilled writer and was writing romances and romantic suspense books as Nora Roberts for many years before she started this series. There is therefore no beginner’s flavour to the book.

I am definitely going to check out the next few books in the series. Robb has been turning out two Eve Dallas books a year since this one, and it remains to be seen if they start declining at some point or if they only continue to get better...

Rating: A good futuristic crime thriller with a romantic touch. 4 stars.

Louis Sachar: Holes (adventure, young readers)
Posted: 11 Feruary 2004

Published: 1998
Cover image

Picked up Holes at the library along with next week's scheduled book and read it in about three hours.

It's written as a story for older kids and teenagers but has appeal for adults as well - at least this adult. It's well written and funny in places, but also contains some nasty scenes of cruelty and injustice that should appeal nicely to kids and teens who love reading stuff like Grimm's Fairy tales (unedited) and Harry Potter. Those same scenes may gross out delicate souls and younger children.

The story tells of Stanley Yelnats, a boy wrongfully convicted of a crime and sent to Camp Green Lake, a miserable juvenile work camp in the Texas wilderness. There, his and the other inmates' days are spent digging holes at random in the dry lake bed. He quickly realizes that they must be looking for something but the reader figures out much sooner than he does what it is, through flashbacks to the past history of the lake and to Stanley's family history.

Favorite quote: "If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy."

Rating: Great read, skilfully written and well told.
Dorothy L. Sayers:Whose Body? (Murder mystery)
Posted: 5 May 2005

This is the first of Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, written during the Golden Era of crime fiction, an era that produced many authors who are still in print and considered to be classics. They include Sayers, Agatha Christie, S.S. Van Dine, Ellery Queen and John Dickson Carr, to name a few of the biggest.

Story:
Lord Peter Wimsey gets involved in two criminal cases. The first is the mysterious appearance of a naked corpse in the bathtub of a respectable architect, and the second the disappearance of a rich businessman who had a strong resemblance to the dead man. Aided by his valet, Bunter, and his detective friend, Parker, Wimsey uncovers a clever and diabolical revenge scheme and a very ingenious method of corpse disposal, with a few red herrings thrown in to confuse both Wimsey and the reader.

Review:
Wimsey has, when the story begins, solved at least one case of theft, and other criminal investigations of his are alluded to, and characters are spoken of as if the reader were expected to know them. Either it is a trick of Sayers’ to make the reader feel at home with the characters right away and make away with long “get to know them” passages, or the novel is the continuation of short stories about Wimsey. Either way, it does not feel like the first thing she ever wrote about him, and the aura of familiarity makes one feel as if the book has been plucked from the middle of a series, but without the reader having really missed anything.

Rating:
I liked this book much better than the previous Wimsey mystery I read, Five Red Herrings. That particular story was much too involved and mathematical for my taste, but this one is quite different, and I’m glad I didn’t let my dislike of the other book prevent me from reading this one. 4 stars.
Elizabeth Ann Scarborough: The Godmother (Week 18)
Posted: 28 May 2004

Year published: 1994
Genre: Fantasy (real world, alternate reality/possible future), fairy tale parody
Cover image


I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading The Godmother, never having read anything by Scarborough before. What got my attention was the the title and the cover , which shows a middle-aged woman, who resembles Lauren Baccall, with a knowing smile and a pose of authority and confidence, surrounded by graphics that suggest magic and interposed on an image of the Seattle skyline (immediately recognisable because of the Space Needle). Woohoo, I thought. Magic in the modern world. Nice!

I finished it in one sitting, around 2 in the morning and went to sleep with my head full of fairy godmothers and talking cats.

What follows might be considered by some to be SPOILERS, so if you want this book to totally surprise you, please stop reading here and skip to the rating at the bottom.

Story:
In an alternate reality or possible near future, Seattle social worker Rose Samson is toiling under an unfair official policy that is turning the place into a hopeless hell for the homeless and the abused. One day she cynically whishes for a fairy godmother for the city, and is surprised and incredulous when one turns up.

A lost teenager, two homeless young people, a street gang, dangerous pedophiles and two missing children are some of the things Rose has to deal with, aided by her police officer love-interest and the godmother, Felicity Fortune. Felicity doesn’t use much magic, only resorting to it when things get tough. Instead she relies on her psychic talent and a widespread net of connections among people she has previously helped.

A savvy reader will immediately recognise several fairy tales in their modern incarnations. Some of the ones I identified were Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Hanzel and Gretel, Blubeard and Puss in Boots.

Scarborough isn’t afraid of describing violence – people get beaten up, poisoned and sexually molested, but in the end the good and the innocent get the good they deserve and the bad get their comeuppance. Oh, and there is a little romance as well.

The technical points:
The story is well written and well plotted with some minor flaws in the plot. The beginning is somewhat slow but it’s necessary in order to introduce all the different characters and narrative threads that come together later in the story. Although there is a fair amount of violence, it never becomes too graphic, and the author handles it sensitively.

Sometimes I thought she was being a little too simplistic or not clear enough. For example it is never really explained why the evil toad decided to help bring one of the godmother’s good causes to a happy ending (unless it was just from a desire to be kept safe until he could become human again), and the reasons the author gives as to why Rose’s accusations against the bad guys are unlikely to be believed seem unlikely to hold up in a court of law when there is so much physical evidence to support them.
Aside from these minor flaws, this was a good read and a gripping story, but not one I am likely to want to re-read.

Rating: A modern fairy tale with social conscience. Recommended for everyone who likes fairy tales. 3 stars.  
Luis Sepúlveda: The Old Man Who Read Love Stories (Week 31)
Posted: 19 September 2004

Original title: Un viejo que leía historias de amor
Translator: Peter Bush
Year published: 1989/2002
Pages: 128
Genre: Literature


Large cover image

Review:
Posted: 19 September 2004

The Story:
All Antonio José Bolívar Proaño wants to do is to live his life quietly, read the love stories the itinerant dentist brings him twice a year, and be left alone. Then a hunter is stupid enough to kill some baby ocelots (a protected species) and the enraged mother ocelot begins killing every human she can find. The village is threatened, and the mayor sends out a search party, forcing Antonio to come along. Antonio is saddened by the whole situation, but has no choice but to follow orders and hunt the creature down.

Translation, technique and plot:
The translation is well done and the story has no translation flavour.
The narrative has a flowing, lyrical quality that critics have likened to the style of Hemingway’s early works. On the surface it is a simple story of man against nature, but on a deeper level it may be seen as a parable for the way the Amazonian rainforest is being depleted and it’s native inhabitants (aborigines and animals) hunted and driven ever deeper into the forest. Civilized man, in the guise of Slimy Toad the mayor, the gold prospectors and the white hunters are pitted against nature, symbolized by the ocelot and the natives. In the middle stands Antonio, who comes from outside like the mayor, hunters and prospectors, but has adapted himself to the life in the rainforest.

This book is going on my keeper shelves, and I will definitely read it again.

Rating:
This is a beautifully told story about sad but inevitable events. 5 stars.
Deborah Simmons: A Man of Many Talents
Posted: 28 July 2004

Year published: 2003
Pages: 320
Genre: Romance, historical (Regency period)
Sub-genre(s): Mystery


Large cover image

The cast:
Him: Christian is a hero to die for: handsome, charming, witty and talented, with a self-depreciating sense of humour and oodles of sex appeal.
Her: Abigail is a bit harder to figure out – until you discover what drives her and why she is so repressed.
Others: The secondary characters are unfortunately flat – pretty much the standard usual suspects found in many mysteries. But they don’t really matter that much, they are just there to provide suspects in the haunting, which, while an important plot element in bringing together the hero and heroine, nevertheless takes second stage to the love story.

Story:
Former lady’s companion Abigail Parkinson has inherited a country mansion that she doesn’t want, but the sale of which will bring her financial independence and enable her to buy the small cottage she has always dreamed of. But a ghost – which she herself has never seen - is driving away prospective buyers, so she writes a letter asking the assistance of Christian Reade, Viscount Moreland, who has a (undeserved) reputation as a “ghost router” because he once uncovered a false haunting.
Christian is loath to come to her aid, having been inundated with such requests, mostly from mothers of eligible ladies or the ladies themselves, bent on entrapping him into marriage because of his money and title. His grandfather insists that he go, and so Christian sets out to Sibel Hall, fully expecting to find another marriage-mad lady waiting for him. Arriving there, he is coolly received by Abigail, whose stern manners and dowdy appearance makes him nickname her “The Governess”. Also at the Hall are her three cousins, who seem to have the remarkable ability to always be in the way whenever he wants to be alone with Abigail.
In spite of her stern and dowdy outer appearance, Christian is quite taken with Abigail, who has a heady scent of lilacs about her which drives him to distraction. Also, he can see that underneath the governess guise there is a beautiful and interesting woman who becomes more and more attractive to him as the days pass.
As Christian conducts his investigation into the haunting, he and Abigail begin to fall in love, neither being much inclined to admit it to themselves and certainly not to each other. Christian suspects that there is a person behind the haunting, and that it is connected to a treasure that is supposed to be hidden somewhere in the house or grounds. But proving it and catching the perpetrator is going to be hard work, especially when all he wants to do is win the heart of the delectable Abigail.

Technique and plot:
The book is well written and funny, with sparkling dialogue, a gripping mystery and a believable development of the relationship between hero and heroine. The house Abigail has inherited is large, gloomy and mysterious and full of hidden passages and walled-off rooms, just the sort of place you would believe to be haunted. The plot suffers somewhat from scenes that could have been left out of a non-romantic mystery – specifically the wine cellar, the priest’s escape and the lover’s tunnel episodes. They slow down the action, but are nevertheless necessary for the development of the romance. I just wish Simmons had made them shorter and more to the point.

Rating:
A delightful Regency romp, a satisfying love story and a mystery with an interesting twist. 4- stars.

Forgot to add...
Posted: 27 July 2004

Call me a grump if you like, but this has got to be the most unsuitable cover I've seen on a book in a long time. One of the things I like to see on covers is that when there is a picture of the people in the story, it should look like them. Not much to ask, is it?

The cover art is playful, suggestive, colourful and attractive. But, and this is a big But, it has nothing to do with the story. The woman in the picture is a brunette (sorry, I'll have to scan the back of the cover to show it), whereas Abigail has black hair, and the woman in the picture is wearing yellow, but Abigail wears drab, dark colours throughout the story. There is no mention anywhere in the book of a yellow dress, or of a brunette.
Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö: The Man on the Balcony (murder mystery)
Posted: 9 April 2005

The Man on the Balcony is a police procedural, the third in a series, and features Martin Beck and his co-workers at the Stockholm CID. The story is bleak and gloomy, but thrilling, and describes the massive search for a serial killer of children who is on the loose in the city. The story is all the more chilling for the realism in the narrative, and could easily be a true account of a real crime.

This is an especially good read for lovers of realistic and true crime stories. 3 stars.
Alexander McCall Smith: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Week 5)
Posted: 22 February 2004

(I have reviewed nearly all the books in the series, and have ordered them here in the series order, not alphabetically)

Published: 1998
Genre: Detective novel
Cover image

Reason for choosing:
I first read about this book in a book review in one of the daily newspapers in Iceland. The title caught my attention and I decided that such an unusual and humorous name was very promising as to the contents of the book. So far I have not been disappointed (after reading chapter one).

Links
Posted: 24 February 2004

I'm quite enjoying the book so far.

Here are some links with information about the author and some of his other works:

About the series
Alexander McCall Smith - Interview
Publisher's website, dedicated to the series

On the last website, if you click on "Books", there are excerpts from the first four books.

Review:
Posted: 28 February 2004

"I love all the people whom God made, but I especially know how to love the people who live in this place. They are my people, my brothers and sisters. It is my duty to help them to solve the mysteries in their lives. That is what I am called to do."

There is something enchanting about the way Alexander McCall Smith puts these words into the mouth of his private detective heroine, Precious Ramotswe.

The book is more a collection of interconnected sketches than a continuous narrative. It moves backwards and forwards in time, telling the story of Precious and some of the people connected to her, in a simple and flowing style. Background information is dispersed throughout the book and you slowly get to know about Precious' past and the experiences that have brought her to the point where she decided to set up a detective agency.

Armed with her intuition, a manual for private detectives, and minimal assets that would make any American or European private eye hand in his licence on the spot, she starts the business with money inherited from her father. The book is about her first cases, which range from a cheating husband to a missing one, a variety of con men to expose and a missing boy who may have been murdered to make magic amulets. She solves (or in some cases doesn't solve) the cases to her customer's satisfaction (sometimes not), through intuition and knowledge of human nature, occasionally resorting to lying and sneaking about in search of clues.

The image you get of her is that of a woman who has learned to accept life as it is, whether it be happy or sad, and has not let the suffering she has lived through get her down. The descriptions of her and other character's reactions to misfortune are quite matter-of-fact, giving you an idea of a people who accept suffering with equanimity, much as they rejoice in good fortune.

The humour is sly and sneaks up on you, like the following:
"Now constipation was quite a different matter. It would be dreadful for the whole world to know about troubles of that nature. She felt terribly sorry for people who suffered from constipation, and she knew that there were many who did. There were probably enough of them to form a political party - with a chance of government perhaps - but what would such a party do if it was in power? Nothing, she imagined. It would try to pass legislation, but would fail."

I like it that the author has made his heroine a non-traditional one. Writing a story about a fat lady who runs a detective agency in Africa is an original idea and the author definitely took a risk with it. I'm sure he can have had no idea that it would become such a hit, or that people would be crying out for more of the same. There are now five book in the series and it's popularity just keeps on growing.

Favourite quote:
"Nobody was missing, nobody was cheating on their wives, nobody was embezzling. At such times, a private detective may as well hang a closed sign on the office door and go off to plant melons."

Rating:
Great and unusual detective novel that convinces the reader that maybe she too can become a private eye. 4 stars.
Alexander McCall Smith: Tears of the Giraffe
Posted: 11 June 2004

Year published: 2000
Genre: Detective story
Cover image

Had a sleepless night and rather than allow myself to be frustrated over it, I decided to read a book and picked Tears of the Giraffe, the second of Alexander McCall Smith’s books about Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s only lady private detective. The first one was the wonderful The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

The story:
Precious has been handed her most difficult case to date: to find out what happened to a young American who disappeared on the edge of the Kalahari desert 10 years ago. In the meantime, Mr. Matekoni gets talked into taking on a pair of orphans, and his maid plots to get rid of Precious so she can continue to meet her male “friends” at Mr. Matekoni’s house during the day. Last, but not least, Precious’ secretary, Mma Makutsi, gets promoted to assistant detective and gets her first case.

Technique and plot:
As in the previous book, there are multiple plots in this one, although not as many. The previous book was a collection of stories with only a vague narrative thread. This one has a clear narrative thread with the occasional independent story thrown in. The narrative is written in the same beautiful, fluid and simple language as the first book, and there is a good deal of philosophy in the story. I love how, without going into too many details, Smith can make the reader feel as if she is in Africa.

Rating:
Another great Precious Ramotswe story, even better than the first. 4+ stars.
Alexander McCall Smith: Morality for Beautiful Girls
Posted: 22 June 2004

Year published: 2001
Genre: Detective story
Cover image

It’s easy to imagine you’re in Africa when you’re sweating away – the sun has been shining all day and the temperature inside my apartment is around 28°C and feels hotter.

The Story:
The detective agency is having financial difficulties and to save money, Precious has moved the office to her fiancé’s office. Mr. Matekoni is not feeling well, but refuses to see a doctor, and Precious has to go away for a few days to find out if a client’s sister-in-law is really trying to poison her husband. Meanwhile, her assistant/secretary, Mma Makutsi, takes over both the agency and the garage and runs both with efficiency. While Precious is away, she is handed a case to solve, which relates to the book’s title.

Technique and plot:
As with the other two books, the prose is beautiful in its simplicity, even poetic at times, and flows easily. These books just keep getting better, and I have begun to feel that Precious and Mr. Matekoni are real people and that Smith has merely been writing down their story.

Rating:
A third, brilliant installation in the saga of Precious Ramotswe and her detective agency. 5 stars.
Alexander McCall Smith: The Kalahari Typing School for Men
Posted: 2 July 2004


Year published: 2002
Genre: Literature, detective story
Where got: Public library
See large cover image

Story:
The agency has got some competition and Mma Ramotswe and her assistant/secretary Mma Makutsi are both worried about the future of the business. In order to make some extra money for herself, Mma Makutsi starts the business the book takes it’s title from, giving evening classes in typing, and one of her students falls in love with her. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe takes a case investigating whether a husband is cheating on his wife, and makes a disturbing discovery. Another client asks her to track down some people he hasn’t seen for about 20 years, so he can make restitution for things he did them. Both cases present their own unique difficulties, but with her common sense and philosophical way of looking at things, Mma Ramotswe solves both cases to the satisfaction of all involved (except the cheating husband).

Rating: A fourth instalment in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, and just as good as the others. 5 stars.
Muriel Spark: Memento Mori
Posted: 27 Mey 2005

This is a novel about age, ageing, relationships and the ever present Death. The title, Memento Mori, means “a reminder of mortality” and refers to mysterious phone calls that the elderly people in the story keep getting, from someone who sounds different to each of them, but who always tells them the same thing: “Remember you must die”. The calls affect them in different ways – some ignore them, others accept the message, and at least one is driven to minor madness by it. The characters are all interconnected: friends, servants and former servants, their children and caregivers. Their relationships are complicated, full of memories of past illicit love affairs, and the present is fading health, dottiness, blackmail, and an ageing gerontologist who uses his friends as research material. As the calls escalate, so Spark burrows deeper into the lives and minds of her elderly protagonists, revealing their hopes and fears, and gently (and sometimes not so gently) satirising them. The humour is inky black, and some of her portraits of people, especially one of them (read the book to find out who), are very funny.

The story starts slowly, and for the first chapters it’s hard to see where it’s going (actually, you do know where it’s going all along, but you keep wondering who the mystery caller is and if he will do something more than just make spooky calls).

I liked Memento Mori better than the previous Spark novel I read, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. It’s a more focused story and the characters are more distinct (I kept getting the girls in the other book mixed up – no danger of that with the characters in this book). Another reviewer complained that there are too many characters – I don’t agree. If the characters are well drawn and distinct like those in this story, it doesn’t matter how many of them there are.

Rating: A darkly humorous story about the ironies of life, death and old age. 4+ stars.
Muriel Spark: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Week 14)
Posted: 26 April 2004

Published: 1961
Genre: Literature, satire

Cover image

I seem to have a knack for choosing books that have been made into movies.

This week's choice was made into a memorable, if rather stagy, movie, starring the wonderful Maggie Smith.


Review:
Posted: 4 May 2004

SPOILERS AHEAD!
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..
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Don't say I didn't warn you!

The book is about a teacher at a private girl's school in Edinburgh (Scotland) who has her own special ideas about education. She strives to turn out girls who are liberated and free thinking - or what she thinks is liberated and free thinking. Her behaviour and teaching methods are far from orthodox in the conservative environment of the school. She makes enemies among the other teachers and the headmistress is constantly trying to find an excuse to get rid of her. Her closest allies are a group of her students, six girls known as "the Brodie Set" among the other teachers and students of the school. The story is about her relationship with the girls and how the girls' perceptions of her change as they get older, and how in the end one of them betrays her fascist political ideas to the headmistress, causing her to be forced into early retirement.

This is in many ways a good story. Jean Brodie is a memorable character, somewhat unsympathetic and utterly real and understandable. She is the kind of teacher who can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how you look at it. A blessing because she readily diverges from the set curriculum to tell her students about foreign countries and other interesting subjects, and a curse because she does so much of it that learning is mostly done at home and can be reflected in bad grades. Her teaching seems to consist mostly of telling the girls about her life and travels and trying to mould each of them into the persons she believes they are destined to become. The girls seem to love her unquestioningly and form a protective shield between her and the headmistress whose attempts to get something on her become ever more desperate as the narrative continues. We are told almost from the start that she will be betrayed by one of her own girls, and when the betrayal happens, it is quite understandable why the girl did what she did, although you still feel sorry for Miss Brodie.

The narrative jumps backwards and forwards in time and is somewhat disjointed at times. It took me quite some time to figure out the age of Miss Brodie, and sometimes it wasn't clear how old the girls were either (not that it matters much).

Rating: A decent read, nothing earth-shattering, but worth taking the time. The movie is better (in my opinion) even though it is a bit stagy - Maggie Smith captures Miss Brodie perfectly. 3 stars.
Christopher Wallace: The Resurrection Club (Week 29)
Posted: 9 August 2004

Year published: 1999
Pages: 231


Large cover image

Picked this book up at the library because I liked the title.

Review:
Posted: 14 August 2004

The Story:
Public relations man Charles Kidd is hired by sleasy Peter Dexter to promote a mysterious art exhibition. Also involved are a young IP lawyer, Claire, who works for an Edinburgh law firm, and Daniel Lowes, a man who participates in a happening organized by Dexter. The story of a Dr. Brodie, a 19th century Edinburgh doctor who has invented a device designed to store the human soul, is also told. The character’s paths all cross before the end, except Dr. Brodie who only meets two of the law firm’s representatives, who also turn up at the happening.

Technique:
The story is told in many voices: that of Charles Kidd telling his story, of a third person narrator telling Dr. Brodie’s story, someone at Claire’s law firm typing a report on events, and Daniel Lowes being interviewed about the art happening.

My feelings about this book:
I’m trying hard to be objective, but I can’t. This book sucks big time. It begins to annoy almost right away, and around the halfway point it starts to grate in its contrivance. By the end you begin to wonder if it’s the same book that critics describe as “gripping”. There wasn’t anything in it that gripped me (griped is more like it), except a slight curiosity about how it would all end, what momentous event all the crap was leading up to, but even that was anticlimactic.

Rating:
A genuine wall-banger of a book. 1 star.
Evelyn Waugh: The Loved One (Week 9)
Posted:24 March 2004

Published: 1948
Genre: Social satire

Cover image

I first saw the movie as a child and again recently on TCM. I had no idea it was based on a book until I started reading about the film on IMDb, and when I found the book I immediately bought it in anticipation of a good read.

Here are a couple of links to information about the author and his books:

Evelyn Waugh: The best and the worst
Evelyn Waugh (includes a bibliography)


Review:
Posted: 26 March 2004

The novel tells the story of Dennis Barlow, a poet and ex-pat Englishman who has managed to make himself a nuisance to the stiff upper-lipped Englishmen of Hollywood by taking a job at a funeral home for pets - something that "just isn't done" by Englishmen Abroad. When arranging the funeral of a friend at Whispering Glades, a fancy and extremely kitsch funeral home, he meets a young cosmetician by the name of Aimée whose job it is to apply make-up to the faces of the dead in order to make them look presentable to the living.
Their budding romantic relationship is described with subtle humour. Aimée is quite beautiful and outwardly different from other American girls Dennis has met, but her lovely exterior belies her empty-headedness and ignorance. Aimée is very unsure of herself and writes regularly for advice from Guru Brahmin, a newspaper agony aunt whose real name is Mr. Slump. Not really aided by the Guru's advice, she has a hard time deciding between Dennis and her other suitor, Mr. Joyboy, the senior mortician at the funeral home. Things start to heat up once both suitors start playing dirty. Death and the rituals connected with it suffuse the novel from beginning to end.

The Loved One is a dark and often quite subtle satire, even becoming quite morbid at times. It deftly satirises the movie business, the funeral industry, American society and Americans in general. Mind you, Dennis Barlow is no paragon of virtue...

Sometimes the satire becomes quite obvious, like whenever Waugh starts describing Americans in general - his description of the uniformity of American women is sneeringly bitter and quite funny:
"Dennis at once forgot everything about her. He had seen her before everywhere. American mothers presumably knew their daughters apart but to the European eye the Mortuary hostess was one with all her sisters of the air-liners and the reception-desks. She was the standard product. A man could leave such a girl in a delicatessen shop in New York, fly three thousand miles and find her again in a cigar stall in San Francisco and she would croon the same words to him in moments of endearment and express the same views and preferences in moments of social discourse.

It's hard to tell if Waugh is being sarcastic here or if he really feels this way about American women. (Yes, I know this is a novel, but there are certain indications in Waugh's life story that in this book he was lashing out at American society in reaction to being frustrated by American film-makers who had optioned his book, Brideshead Revisited for a movie).

Rating:A dark, subtle and funny look at life, death and what comes after. 4 stars.
Fay Weldon: Letters to Alice, on first reading Jane Austen (Week 45)
Posted: 26 December 2004

Year published: 1984
Pages: 156
Genre: Literary essays and criticism, novel

About the book:
I came across this book in the literature section of the public library, while browsing for quick reads (I’m slowly reading a long non-fiction book and like to relax between sections with short novels). Although Letters to Alice… is shelved under General Fiction in the Germanic Languages (Dewey class 830), the suggested classification on the book’s publication information page is Dewey class 823.7, which is the classification for Jane Austen studies.

At first glace the book seems to be a hybrid of fiction and non-fiction, and therefore rather hard to classify under the clear-cut Dewey system. It’s classifiable as fiction because it is written in the form of an epistolatory novel, as letters to Weldon’s imaginary niece who stands in for the common reader, and it’s classifiable as non-fiction because it contains a non-fictionalised retelling of historical facts (Jane Austen’s life and times) and speculations about the nature of reading, the writer’s craft and the relationship between reader and writer. But is it really non-fiction, and is it really about Jane Austen?

I’m not so sure. It seems to me that if the framework of the book is fictional, the rest is too, that is, Aunt Fay in the book is not Fay Weldon, but someone who just happens to have certain things in common with Fay Weldon – a fictional version who is in some ways different from the original and who may have opinions different from Weldon. It’s hard to tell without knowing her personally, but in an aside to the dedication, she calls the book an epistolatory novel and the characters fictional, which tells me that the contents are more or less fiction, so why not the narrator as well? (She doesn’t exactly mention Aunt Fay, but hints at her being fictional too).
Jane Austen is mentioned often, and her life story is retold in broad strokes and the social conditions of her era are discussed, but the text is no more an analysis of Austen’s work than it is of writers, readers, writing and reading in general. The opinions expressed may be those of Weldon, or of the fictional Aunt Fay. Not having read any of her non-fiction, I can’t really say for sure how fictional or non-fictional the book is, but it is fun to speculate.

Technique and plot: Whatever may be said about the fictionality or non-fictionality of the book, it is an interesting study of writing and writers, reading and readers and the relationships between them. For Jane Austen enthusiasts it will not cast any new light on that sainted author, and some might in fact be upset with Weldon about personal remarks she makes about Austen and certain aspects of her writing (especially those who do see her as Saint Jane). The book is written in a light, somewhat irreverent and chatty style, as letters to a budding young writer and student of English Literature who is struggling with her studies and writing her first novel. Although we only ever see one side of the exchange, there is a story – of the developing relationship between Alice and Aunt Fay, and the process of Alice’s writing.

Rating: A light and somewhat enlightening study of authors and readers and the relationship between them. 4 stars.

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