Park Benches & Bookends

Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ and others

2012-02-02T18:08:00.000Z

I can remember when I first picked up The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾. I guess I was around 14 or 15 years old and in the stage of my reading life where I was helping myself to books from my parent’s bookshelf. I didn’t find Adrian Mole in my parent’s bookcase however I found it in the bathroom, by the toilet, where it had been for some weeks. I figured no-one would miss it as surely no one would keep a current book in the bathroom next to the toilet (yes I was that unfamiliar with some peoples reading and toilet habits)

Anyway all of the Adrian Mole books are written in the form of a diary beginning at the rather precocious age of 13 ¾ and finishing (I presume so far) into Adrian’s middle(ish) age. The books take the reader not only through Adrian’s life but also cover various political and social events in Britain. But I would say that the main reason for the book’s popularity is that they are really very funny. It takes A LOT to make me laugh out loud while reading a book (most you will normally get out of me is an inward chuckle) but this particular series of book does. Adrian has a rather ‘woe is me’ attitude to life which is used to great comic effect. I personally think that Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ is not one of the best books in the overall series and that it really gets going more as he comes into adult life.

Not entirely sure I like the pastel looking nature of the new editions but neither the less I will thoroughly enjoy re-reading them all again.

I’m also not entirely sure that Adrian Mole would have huge appeal outside of the UK given that the books are so packed full of British cultural references, the last book for example contains references to MP expenses, the explosion of misery memoirs and the Jeremy Kyle show. Would anyone not living in the UK really ‘get these’? Shout me down if you think I’m wrong but these really are very British books.

Posted by Jess

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

2012-01-24T22:42:00.004Z

The Grapes of Wrath follows a migrant family from the 1930's that are forced to leave the farm they work on in Oklahoma and head for California because of the great depression. On their journey the family realise that tens of thousands of people from all over the southern great plains have also been forced from their homes and the sheer numbers of people are saturating any available jobs in California. Once they do eventually reach California the family finds hostile locals, exploitation, prejudice and starvation.

I have read a few reviews and many people either mention or complain that The Grapes of Wrath will grind you down. I would agree to an extent, the hopelessness of the family’s situation and the endless relentlessness of trying to find work and their next meal after 500 pages can wear a reader down. But this is no bad thing, this really happened to people and it would have left perhaps a bad taste in my mouth if Steinbeck had tried to make this terrible situation somehow more uplifting just to make it more palatable for a lot more readers. While the Grapes of Wrath is very much in parts a social commentary I feel it is a commentary which is relevant today.

Most of the novel is written from the family’s point of view but then Steinbeck will stick in a chapter telling a more overall picture and putting the events into context so in a way the reader becomes more informed than the family on their own hardships and situation.

This is the kind of novel that is worth the read in the end as it is the overall fight for survival rather than the individual characters and events that will stay with you. Brilliantly written and recommended.

Verdict 5/5

Posted by Jess

Benjamin Franklin: His Life as He Wrote It (Folio Society)

2012-01-20T08:41:00.004Z

Benjamin Franklin requires no introduction to American readers of this blog, his part in helping to establish the United States of America as an independent nation is very well documented. Here in England Franklin is, sadly, not a historical figure we learn about in school which is why I have decided to read about him as an adult.

To say Franklin was extraordinary is something of an understatement. I don’t have room to list all the things he achieved in his lifetime but he was a noted polymath who was a printer, author, Politician, scientist, ambassador, postmaster, musician, inventor and statesmen. He founded the first lending library in America, created the first Fire Department in the state of Pennsylvania and helped found the first university there too. He was at the centre of talks and negotiations between Britain and America regarding the future of the colonies. Franklin was present at the most pivotal moments in early American history signing both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution

For the most part the book was very interesting. As an autobiography it gives the reader a unique opportunity to get into the mind-set of one of the greatest figures in history and read about his thoughts and feelings however the book is not written or laid out as memoirs per se. For the most part they are a collection of letters written by Franklin to numerous different correspondents, some family others politicians, friends or businessmen. As I didn’t know much about Franklin to begin with the meaning of some of the letters was lost to me. The only thing to assist in putting the letters in context was a short paragraph from the editor explaining the background, sometimes this wasn’t sufficient. I feel reading a biography about Franklin first then moving onto his autobiography would have been more sensible but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Some of the most interesting aspects of the book were reading about America (these days a political, military and economic powerhouse) as little more than a British colony beset with problems varying from citizen riots to the French threatening to invade. It was surreal reading Benjamin Franklin describing himself as British and the complex, headache-inducing political background for the eventual split from Britain.

If you know your American history well and have learnt about Benjamin Franklin before this would be a very good book to read however if you know little or nothing about him I suggest reading a Biography first then moving onto this.

Final verdict 3/5

By Chris

The Gaol: The Story of Newgate - London's Most Notorious Prison by Kelly Grovier

2012-01-11T20:55:00.002Z

The Gaol is a history of London’s infamous Newgate Prison which operated for over 800 years before finally closing in 1902. Being one of London’s main prisons for so long meant that the place has been long associated with various famous characters, literature and historical events. In this rather short book (its less than 300 pages) the author attempts to tell Newgates story through the stories of some of its more famous and not so famous inmates.

Rather than give a history of Newgate using a chronological time-line, the author instead largely bases each chapter on the various crimes and lives of its inmates. For example one chapter is based on highway robbery and another on those inmates that managed to escape. Writing the book in this way means it can be difficult to get a sense of the period of history the author is referring too as the time frame jumps about but it also means that the individual stories are told giving more of a close-up to the life in Newgate Prison.

Famous inmates include (and believe me there is a big list) Casanova, Daniel Defoe and William Penn. What I have found already though is how many times Newgate is mentioned in literature. I am currently reading Great Expectations and not only is Newgate mentioned but Pip has a tour of the place (as did Dickens himself). I have also recently finished Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connell and again Newgate was featured.

The full history and the changing conditions of Newgate are far too large to mention here but many aspects of the prisoner’s lives, crimes and executions are covered. Given that the government’s policy during the 18^th century was to use execution as a means of crime prevention meant that a stay in Newgate was often short and the public executions outside the gates would draw large crowds. Prisoners had to pay for everything making the position of the gaoler a rather lucrative one which was hard to get.

If you want a more detailed history of Newgate then I wouldn’t recommend this book unless you are using it as a starting block but I would recommend it for anyone interested in the subject and is more interested in the prisoner’s lives rather than important dates.

Posted by Jess

Possession: A Romance by A S Byatt

2012-01-09T20:46:00.000Z

Possession to put it simply is about two modern day academics who investigate a possible previously unknown love story between two well known Victorian poets. The story constantly jumps from between the modern setting to a Victorian love story and is told in the various forms of letters, poems, essays, and straightforward narrative.

Possession is certainly not what you would describe as a light read but the combination of the weaving story-lines and the detective part of the plot kept my interest and I ended up finishing this rather weighty book quicker than anticipated. The poetry I didn’t really give my full attention, in fact I skimmed read them. I just didn’t enjoy the poems very much, perhaps I would have gotten more out of the novel by fully reading the poems but I don’t feel as though my overall enjoyment was too much affected. The love story set in the Victorian era was more convincing than the modern day one but both time-lines in their own way kept me turning the pages.

I do have one minor quibble with the novel which I feel I have to mention. Firstly the ‘villain’ was (I felt) badly drawn. The character was an American collector who had to possess any of the Victorian poet’s memorabilia and he was throughout the novel painted as a two dimensional ‘evil rich American’. Why not just make this character an avid rich collector? Why make him an evil, prostitute visiting, grave robbing almost cartoonist villain? I half expected him to have an evil chuckle to boot. But this is a very minor quibble; it just bothered me a little.

Overall though this is a novel I thoroughly enjoyed and in which I could immerse myself in. The settings are great as are in particular the Victorian characters and I would recommend this. Being quite a multi-layered novel this would benefit from a second read.

Verdict 4/5

Posted by Jess

The Filter Bubble: What The Internet Is Hiding From You by Eli Pariser

2012-01-05T21:24:00.003Z

The Filter Bubble: What The Internet Is Hiding From You is an interesting book. It basically goes into detail on how information is collected via the web from sites such as Google, Amazon and Facebook and what those companies do or intend to do with the collected information. A basic history of various companies like Amazon is given along with details on how they use your search history or purchase history to recommend products/provide search results/advertise etc. etc.

The author states the advantages of this, e.g. when I type in ‘Cubs’ into Google I am very likely to get very different search results to someone living in Chicago typing in ‘Cubs’. But it can also have its disadvantages, e.g. if I click on loads of celebrity related news stories while browsing Google news, it doesn’t mean that I am not interested in serious stuff even if I was to only read the headlines.

As I said it’s interesting stuff, especially for people like me who know very little about how the internet works. Unfortunately the author gives very little information on what an individual can actually do about it. I’m still going to use Facebook and I’m still going to order stuff from Amazon, aside from the usual precautions that I assume most people take anyway (like not giving your address on Facebook) there’s not really any further precautions someone can take (aside from not using the internet at all)

Of course like most books written on something as fast moving as the internet this book will be outdated soon so if you are interested in it then it’s best to pick it up within the next year or so.

Alot of the legislation regarding privacy stated in the book refers only to American law and this coupled with the fact that companies such as netflick (is that it?) are mentioned I’m not sure if a non-American would get the most out of this one.

Posted by Jess

Washington Square by Henry James

2011-12-30T11:30:00.002Z

I was pre-warned that Henry James is not an easy writer to get on with and his style is not to everyone’s taste. To illustrate this point, here is the first line in the book; “During a portion of the first half of the present century, and more particularly during the latter part of it...” Oh dear I thought, but I carried on undaunted and I really enjoyed the book.

Set in 19th century New York Catherine Sloper lives with her wealthy father and aunt. Their lives are not remarkable, indeed Catherine is considered dull and plain by her well meaning but sometimes callous father that is until she is courted by a young man named Morris Townsend. Townsend doesn’t have a penny to his name and is suspected, by Catherine’s father, of being after Catherine’s inheritance money. To balance out the cold, cynical suspicions of the father Catherine’s aunt (a stupid, meddlesome woman) sides with the young couple and views Morris through romanticised rose-tinted glasses; fantasising that he is the son she never had.

The story is entertaining, gripping and easy to get swept up in. The characters are brilliant and I found it impossible not to feel personally involved with them. I often found myself giving little cries of surprise or elation whilst reading it (resulting in strange looks from passers by) but it is a story that really sucks the reader in and fires up the imagination. The drama of it all kept me on the edge of my seat.

Highly recommended and not at all difficult to get on with.

Final verdict 4/5

Chris

The year in (a short) review 2011

2011-12-29T18:15:00.002Z

Over 2011 I finished more or less 73 books, I also read a lot of various short stories and a couple of novellas I didn’t bother to count.

I did make a note of the nationality of the author of every book I read just for a bit of fun. Going by my reading habits I knew it was always going to be close between the Americans and English for the top spot and the English just about got there. I’m surprised at the amount of books by German authors I managed to read and am even more surprised that the French did not make an appearance or that the Irish did not feature more. I think I’ll do this again next year.

Looking over my favourite books this year and the classics like Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Gone with the Wind have been the most memorable ones for me but then I guess books like these are classics for a good reason. Next year I’m probably going to read a lot more classics and possibly some quite old books like Gulliver’s Travels or Robinson Crusoe. Chris is also trying his best to get me to read Ulysses or some such nonsense.

I have some lovely collections of books sitting on my shelf, quite a few of the penguin clothbound classics and the Penguin decade’s books. They look very pretty sitting there but I have read very few of them so this year I would like to prioritise those more, but who knows what comes my way in the meantime.

Thankyou to everyone who have organised very nicely any read-alongs that I have participated in over the year, you guys get me through books I would have never have picked up otherwise on account that I am lazy.

Happy new year everyone and here’s to a good one.

Posted by Jess

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

2011-12-18T20:54:00.002Z

It’s an odd book this one. If I had reviewed it and rated it the moment I finished reading it I would have given 5/5 easily. But it has been a number of weeks since I did read it and I’m now not so sure. One thing is certain however, I would recommend this wholeheartedly.

The novel is made up of a series of characters, each with their own chapter. These characters are all connected in some way and as the lives of the characters proceed so does time and times a goon and will get you eventually, which isn’t the most original idea really. But the execution is brilliant; I found it to be touching, inventive and rather entertaining. The chapter laid out in the style of a PowerPoint presentation was the one I found the most moving and also made this novel a joy to read on the kindle.

Despite the abundance of characters and the locations ranging from San Francisco to Naples, the story and threads all come together at the end making for a satisfying conclusion.

However while I loved it at the time I read it, a few weeks on I am struggling to remember much about it which isn’t a good sign. It’s not one of those novels that has lingered on the mind, I think I pretty much stopped thinking about it the moment I put it down. Why this is I’m not sure but something here was missing. I would still recommend this as it is very well done. However I would be interested if anyone else has had this experience with another book.

Rating 4/5

Posted by Jess

Quaker Writings An Anthology, 1650-1920

2011-12-16T09:43:00.001Z

The Religious Society of Friends (more commonly known as Quakers) is a very unique religious group with a long history. Originally formed in England during the 1650s Quakers immediately faced censure, accusations of blasphemy, imprisonment and, in extreme cases, execution by the intolerant religious establishments of the time. The reasons for this treatment ranged from the questioning of scripture to the refusal to swear oaths, address magistrates by titles or fight in wars.

As the title suggests the book is a collection of essays and letters written by such famous Friends as George Fox, William Penn and Margaret Fell (to name a few) over a period of almost three hundred years. Despite the introduction to this review the book is not all about persecution, far from it. Although some of the letters were written by Friends from inside prison cells the majority of the book celebrate the religious convictions of Friends and speak about their faith, beliefs and practices.

One thing that is very obvious from reading the book is that Quakerism has changed since its original creation over three hundred years ago and I’m not going to go into whether or not I think that’s a good thing. The book paints a wonderful mental picture of early Quakerism with much talk of Christ which is sometimes missing from more contemporary Quaker writings.

The book isn’t without its downsides; I had particular trouble appreciating the writing style of William Penn, however considering the age of some of the writings by and large it is easy to get on with. Also I am unsure as to why the author only included letters written up to 1920 and not any more recent offerings.

This is an excellent book for someone who is interested in Quakers and wants to learn more about their roots particularly the beliefs and practices of early Friends. Personally I found it deeply inspirational and will definitely be re-reading it.

Final verdict 5/5

By Chris

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

2011-12-10T15:03:00.001Z

If someone was going to compile a top ten list of perfect book club books (which I’m sure people have) this would surely have to be in the top three. It’s the kind of novel that you want to immediately discuss with other people. So it’s a great thing that Tea Time with Marce is hosting a discussion on We Need to Talk about Kevin. Even if you reviewed this ages ago it worth popping your link over on the discussion post.

The novel is made up of the letters sent from Kevin's mother (Eva) to her estranged husband Franklin; they document her memories of Kevin throughout his life, and also her visits to him in prison where he is sent after shooting a number of his classmates. The novel attempts to tackle many issues on parenthood and ends up asking far more questions than it manages to answer. The main question has to surely be, was Kevin born evil or was he a product of his upbringing and his mother’s feelings towards him? Was he a product of nurture vs. nature?

I’m surprised at how much of a page turner this novel proved to be. It was not always the difficult, deep psychological read I expected, sometimes it did not quite read as a thriller but certainly it was plot driven at times and I could certainly see why it has proved such a bestselling if uncomfortable book.

Eva proved a fabulously unreliable narrator; was Kevin really like that as a baby or just Eva’s perception? At first Kevin is described very much like Damien from the omen which I simply could not believe so I found myself questioning Eva’s version of events constantly throughout the novel. I didn’t find myself questioning at the end why Kevin did it but more about the belief in redemption. I do believe there are crimes that cannot be atoned for but when the end of Kevin’s punishment for his crimes relies heavily on his redemption, Eva is in a position where she is forced to somewhat forgive.

I would recommend this, it might not always be what you expect but it’s worth reading with an open mind and who knows, you might love it or you might hate it but it’s unlikely you will remain indifferent.

Posted by Jess

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

2011-11-28T22:20:00.001Z

I put off reading Wolf Hall for a long time. Partly because of its size and partly because there have been so many dramas and documentaries on Henry VIII lately that I felt a little bored with everything Tudor.

But because I do love that period of history it was only going to be a matter of time before I finally picked it up.

Wolf Hall follows the life of Thomas Cromwell who, despite a humble background, was able to rise through the ranks in the court of Henry VIII eventually becoming the king’s right hand man. The novel doesn’t cover Cromwell’s whole life but instead covers his early life before jumping to the latter days of Henry's first marriage. As events unfold we see the split from Rome, the fall of Wolsey and Thomas More to the marriage of Anne Boleyn.

These events are told in what I can only describe as ‘layers’ which convey very well the feel and atmosphere of Tudor times. Henry VIII is in it surprisingly little but when he is, he comes across as a more thoughtful, magnetic and religious man than in other fictional portrayals while Anne Boleyn is still very much portrayed as a bitch. A lot of the events take place not in the court but in Cromwell’s house where a whole host of different characters are portrayed. Some scenes in the book are genuinely touching (such as Cromwell’s wife and daughters dying from the sweating sickness) and it’s nice to see Cromwell also worrying about his ward’s choice of wife as well as more pressing matters of state.

However I do have to mention about the style of writing and in particular the use of the word ‘he’. Mantel uses ‘he’ when referring to Cromwell which is fine if you're going to stick to that, but when the word ‘he’ is also used for other people during the same conversation it makes for some very confusing and sometimes annoying reading. This along with the novels overall size and style means that some people will not get along with Wolf Hall. Sometimes in situations like these it’s worth persevering but I feel in this case that the novels style of writing is either going to sweep you in completely (as it did me) or is going to leave you out.

A lot of the events in the novel like the break from Rome and Henry’s spilt from Catherine of Aragon took place over a period of several years and was played out in court in a long series of smaller political manoeuvres. One of the novel’s main strengths is how this is portrayed; the smaller characters all together interacting in a genuine world and having an impact on the whole country. This does mean however that it is not an action packed novel. If you prefer your historical novels to be a bit more exciting then this might not be for you.

I won’t go on about the historical accuracies but I was glad to see that Mantel did not invent a life for Cromwell during the years where historians draw a blank. A lot of significant events are mentioned in conversations or thoughts in passing so a general overview of the time might be helpful in order to get the most out of this novel.

If you’re interested in this period of history and you want something to really get your teeth into then I would give it a go. Personally I loved it and I will be buying the next instalment in hardback.

Verdict 4/5

Posted by Jess

You know how I rarely do challenges?

2011-11-25T09:05:00.001Z

Challenges are not something I tend to rarely participate in which is strange really as the few I have done have introduced me to some wonderful books and authors.
The League of ExtraordinaryGentlemen Book Challenge 2012 hosted over at Booking in Heels is one kinnda cool challenge and since it contains quite a few ‘books I’ve been meaning to read one day’ I am signing up.

For those of you who don’t know the film, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was a film based on a graphic novel. The League is made up of classic book characters that spend their time trying to stopping various classic villains from taking over the world. I wouldn’t personally recommend the film, from what I do remember it was pretty god awful but each to their own.

So the characters and books are

Allan Quatermain from King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
King Solomon's Mines tells the story of a search in an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the missing brother of one of the party.

Mina Harker from Dracula by Bram Stoker
Dracula will be a re-read for me. I last read it as a teenager and while I enjoyed it I don’t think I really properly appreciated it.

Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne
This will be my first Jules Verne novel

Tom Sawyer from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
This can also count towards my American project.

Dorian Gray from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
I can’t quite believe I haven’t read this yet.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

I only read this a couple of years ago so I doubt I’ll be re-reading it

Rodney Skinner from The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells (kind of)
Due to copyright issues the characters from that book couldn't be used directly. Instead, Skinner claims to have stolen the Invisibility Formula from the character in the book or something.

The Phantom from The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Looking forward to reading this one!

James Moriarty from The Final Problem by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I know nothing of this one.

So there we have it, a great mix I think and most are free on the kindle making it even more of a bonus.

Posted by Jess

Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada

2011-11-22T21:52:00.001Z

Alone in Berlin was written in 1947 and is loosely based on the true story of a married couple who placed postcards containing anti-Nazi messages all around the city of Berlin during the war. Unfortunately the main reason we now know the identity of this couple is because they were caught by the Nazis and hanged.

This book was not translated into English until 2009 which is surprising given the anti-Nazi message and the fact that books on this topic tend to do very well.

The novel contains a wide range of characters from the low-life criminal Emil, the Pro-Nazi Persicke family, the brave Trudel Baumann to the fiancée of the Quangel's dead son. The author here gives a wide-range of responses to the regime, from total loyalty through to heroic resistance and to the people that will do anything to look the other way and survive it. The paranoia hanging over Berlin and its residents is well portrayed and as a reader I did feel nervous for the characters when they dared, in their own way, to defy the authorities. I’ve read many books set during this period but this one did offer a different perspective.

However it did go very much into thriller territory towards the end. The police investigation and how they eventually caught the couple was very interesting but the thriller genre isn’t something I particularly enjoy. I wouldn’t let this put you off, it’s only my personal preference but I would have preferred it if the novel stuck to the more physiological and historical aspects.

The notes contained in the back of the book gives information on the real life couple the novel was based on. This section includes photographs, police reports and photos of the postcards that were dropped around Berlin.

Verdict 3/5

Posted by Jess

How my American Literature project is going...

2011-11-15T11:14:00.001Z

I have been doing a little housekeeping on the blog over the last couple of days, sorting out bits and messing around with the design. One of my jobs has been updating my ‘American Project’ page which is now just about finished (the page not the project).

So just for fun (and because I love lists) I have jotted down a few observations about this project so far.

Authors like Flannery O’Connor, Stephen Crane and Richard Wright are not nearly as well known in the UK. When I started to compile my list I asked my family and friends for ideas and the usual Hemingway, Melville and Hawthorne were suggested. Of course they were suggested with good reason but I am sure without the suggestions of many blog readers’ people like Willa Cather might not have made it.

American school children have it so much worse than British children when it comes to what books are read in school. Seriously we read books like A Kestrel for a Knave, Of Mice and Men and Animal Farm. Americans get The Scarlet Letter and The Red Badge of Courage, both of which are far more difficult to read than the English selection. If I’d been handed The Scarlet Letter at 15 I may have been put off by the classics for good.

Books like The Grapes of Wrath and Gone with The Wind have educated me on aspects of American history I knew very little about. Of course I do always do my own research rather than believe everything I read but like all books set in an historical setting, you end up learning about different time periods.

It’s not a must but it helps to have a vague idea of dates involving slavery and the civil war. Even if the novel isn’t set during the civil war or a time when slavery was practiced its surprising how often it crops up. If a character mentions that his grandmother was a slave or that his father fought in the civil war then it helps if you know roughly the time period the character is referring to.

I have only given up on two novels so far Moby Dick and Catch 22. 13 of the novels were by female writers and 21 by male.

Of course I still have a long way to go as this is very much an ongoing project and the list is always added to (feel free to suggest more!) My enthusiasm for this is still very strong as there is something about American Literature that excites me.

Posted by Jess

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

2011-11-11T18:37:00.001Z

Without a doubt Invisible Cities is the most intriguing, unusual book I have read. It is so much so a bookseller made a point of telling me it was odd when I bought it off him. He didn’t sound altogether convinced I would enjoy it.

The book is at worst surreal and confusing, at best beautiful, poetic and meaningful. To describe it best I would say it is, pure and simple, an ode to the city; any city you care to think of. Calvino is clearly a man who appreciated everything about cities from their basic design, location and purpose to the people who live in them.

The basic premise of the book is that Kublai Khan, a Chinese Emperor of immense power has vast territories he can never hope to visit in his lifetime so he employs envoys to travel the globe and report back to him on what they have seen. One of these envoys is the Italian adventurer Marco Polo who weaves wonderful descriptions of the many cities he has seen. The descriptions are often brief and rarely take up more than a page (often significantly less)and interspersed every ten pages or so are discussions between Kublai and Marco which are often very philosophical in nature.

I feel that occasionally Calvino was guilty of being too mysterious and cryptic. Sometimes I just didn’t understand what he was trying to say;

“It is a city made only of exceptions, exclusions, incongruities, contradictions. If such a city is the most improbable, by reducing the number of abnormal elements, we increase the probability that the city really exists. So I have only to subtract exceptions from my model, and in whatever direction I proceed, I will arrive at one of the cities which, always as an exception, exist…”

By and large I found the book fun, entertaining and meaningful but I would say it is certainly not a book for everyone and it takes a lot of hard work and imagination to appreciate it

Overall rating 4/5

Posted by Chris

2011-11-10T20:41:00.001Z

Ah this is why we never do giveaways, because I'm completely rubbish at sticking to my own rules!!

A bit late (sorry) but the winner is......

Danielle - so please e-mail me with your address.

I did use that random number generator thing but I couldn't work out how to paste the result in this post. Or maybe I couldn't see how to do it because its late and I had a long day. But trust me Danielle is ze winner.

Posted by Jess

Red Dust Road by Jackie Kay (and giveaway)

2011-10-30T22:43:00.001Z

Red Dust Road is about the author Jackie Kay’s search for her birth parents. We read about her childhood and the discoveries she makes along the way such as when she realises for the first time that she and her brother have a different skin colour to their parents. She also tells us the reasons behind wanting to know more about her birth parents right through to when she meets them in person. It’s a journey that takes her to various parts of Scotland, England and Nigeria and is a fast, touching and funny read.

I’ve always been a little fascinated with adoptions; Part of my job involves looking at people’s birth certificates and quite often an adoption certificate passes my way. I always have a look at it (as I’m supposed to do) and wonder a little about the story behind it. So when I spied Red Dust Road I was glad of the opportunity to read one such story. What I found was that sometimes people just have their own reasons for giving their child up for adoption, there doesn’t have to be a great romantic or dramatic story behind it.

The book is not sad or sentimental but is told with great humour (some points had me and my husband laughing out loud) openness and honesty. This isn’t going as compelling or as tragic as other memoirs out there as Jackie was adopted by some wonderful people and had a great childhood, that’s why I liked it. The memoir is able to focus more on the nature/nurture split, 60's/70s Scotland and questions like ‘what if your birth parent doesn’t want contact, is it ok to contact your siblings anyway?’

The book doesn't follow a linear narrative. It moves back and forth which sometimes didn’t quite work for me but overall I enjoyed the descriptions of the places, the people she encountered, the snippets of her childhood and the way the book very much comes across as a tribute to her adoptive parents. Recommended.

I am seven years old. My mum, my brother and I have just watched a cowboy and Indian film. It suddenly occurs to me that the Indians are the same colour as me and my mum is not the same colour as me. I say to my mum, Mummy why aren’t you the same colour as me? My mum says, Because you are adopted. I say, What does adopted mean? My brother scoffs; Don’t you know what adoption means. He’s eating a giant-size bowl of cornflakes. He eats cornflakes for nearly every meal.

Verdict 4/5

Posted by Jess

I have a hardback of this book which has only been read once so if anyone would like it then please leave a comment and I’ll pick someone at random in a week and announce the winner here. I will post anywhere.

Good to be back

2011-10-30T10:11:00.005Z

Well we are back at last with a brand new computer. We can’t complain really because our old computer was purchased on e-bay about five years ago, it had very little memory and was very slow, it was bound to give out eventually. After nosing about already on other blogs it seems that we weren’t the only ones to take it slow these past couple of months as quite a few blogging breaks are going on. Some of you however have been really busy going by my googlereader and others have completely changed their blog by either moving or changing your look. Business will be back to normal here ASAP and thanks to our followers for sticking around, I expected A LOT more to leave LOL.

We'll Be Back

2011-09-26T09:15:00.004+01:00

Ladies and Gentlemen

We apologise for a lack of reviews on this site lately, about three weeks ago our beloved computer finally gave up the ghost meaning we had no practical way of updating this blog. Due to financial issues we haven't replaced it yet but a new one is on the cards for late October when we hope to fully resume our reviewing activities.

Thanks for your patience

Chris & Jess

The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear A Novel by Walter Moers

2011-08-24T09:44:00.003+01:00

This story is like a crazy cross between The Hobbit and The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy. One of the most epic , wacky books I have ever had the pleasure to read. As the title suggests the book chronicles the adventures of a blue coloured bear named (very imaginatively) Bluebear who lives on the ancient continent of Zamonia. He begins the first of his lives floating on the ocean in an empty nutshell which is being sucked into a whirlpool before he is rescued at the last moment by some minipirates...and it just gets stranger from then on!

At over 700 pages long it is not for the faint hearted reader, having said that there are plenty of black and white drawings throughout the book to help keep the reader focused and interested.

The story itself is something of a rollarcoaster whizing about all over the place at breakneck speed. This ensures the reader doesn’t get bored and keeps the story flowing nicely. The story itself is very entertaining full of excellently rendered characters and some brilliant monsters and villains. The main character is very likeable which makes it easy for the reader to will him onwards.

The book isn’t perfect and there was a definate lul in the action about halfway through. The low points in the book for me included the time Bluebear spends in the desert and the congladiator battles in the city of Atlantis (where gladiators compete with each other to thrill the audience with the most intricate and entertaining lies) both of which dragged on and bored me quite a bit but this was unusual as the rest of the book is very action-packed.

There is a good amount of subtle humour contained in the pages; this is certainly not a book that takes itself too seriously. It is jam packed with Deus Ex Machina leaving you confidence Bluebear will always escape from a fix no matter how unlikely.
At the end there were some questions left unanswered but this wasn’t too much of an issue as the story is so bizarre if the author tired to tie up every loose end he’d need an additional hundred pages.

Overall a great adventure/fantasy/science fiction story read suitable for young adults and adults alike.

Rating 4/5

By Chris

God's Own Country by Ross Raisin

2011-08-20T22:12:00.002+01:00

The protagonist in God’s Own Country, Sam Marsdyke, is what I would describe as a ‘wrong ‘un’. Sam lives with his parents on a Yorkshire farm where he is quite the expert in most aspects of farm life, a life which he seems to genuinely enjoy. It very quickly becomes apparent however that his relations with other human beings give major cause for concern as they all seem doomed and often leave Sam ostracised.

At times the reader may feel for Sam despite him being so unlikeable, you might understand his frustration at his awful neighbours and the Londoners buying up rural houses in the community as second homes. His observations about these matters along with his narrations about farming life in general are interesting, engaging, at times gritty and often quite funny. But then Sam exposes himself and ruins it all by doing things you really would rather he didn’t.

Gods Own Country is a very polished novel and overall it’s a very entertaining read with a wonderful sense of place. The narration and the overall atmosphere loses some of its appeal when the action moves from the farm to nearby Whitby towards the end of the novel but this is more of a quibble than anything. A lot of comparisons have been made to The Wasp Factory and others of that ilk and I would say that this was a fair comparison and it was what certainly came to my mind when reading it.

The novel says far more for the promise of its author though as Raisin has not hit his mark here, you end up with the overall impression he is capable of so much more. Given that this is his first novel that might be an unfair thing for me to say, but I am sure when Raisin eventually does get there we will all be in for something special.

Just for the hell of it here is a picture of the very same Yorkshire Moors somewhere near Whitby we took last year.

Posted by Jess

Saving the Best Until Last

2011-08-13T11:10:00.001+01:00

Jessica and I were having a discussion the other day about dead authors. I was telling Jessica how I am, with the utmost care and attention, pacing myself with regards to reading books written by deceased writers such as John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway. I am painfully aware that once I turn the last page I will never read a newly written Steinbeck or Hemingway book again. This is both desperately sad but also inevitable, we all die eventually.

Although we can’t claim we thought it up we discussed the idea of choosing one book from a dead author we love and saving it until we reach old age before reading it. That way we can savour that writer’s work and have something to look forward to. There are, of course, setbacks to this plan. For example there is the risk of unexpected, untimely death meaning the saved book goes forever unread (disaster!) I suppose you’d have to weigh the pros and cons and maybe be willing to take a risk.

Ultimately Jessica decided against the idea, she thinks it’s a better idea to re-read old books you read when you were younger. I will definately be doing this but I still like the idea of saving one. Eventually I decided to save ‘Travels with Charley’ by John Steinbeck. I have a lovely folio edition of it so hopefully I will be able to resist temptation!

What book would you save?

Chris

Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse

2011-08-11T21:28:00.001+01:00

Billy is a big liar whose pants are on fire. Sometimes he lies to get himself out of trouble but most of the time he does it for no reason at all. He tells his best friends mother that he has a sister called Sheila(he doesn't) he embellishes it by giving Sheila a husband Eric. Sheila and Eric have two children, one of whom was born with a twisted foot which was thankfully operated on by a Dr Ubu in Leeds. Billy's friends mother is now giving Billy toys to give to these fictitious children.

Billy is a teenager stuck in a fictional northern English town, he hates his life and when he isn't dreaming of going to London he spends his time escaping into a fantasy world in his head called Ambrosia where he is Prime Minister.

At first Billy's antics are amusing but as the book goes on it is apparent that although Billy believes he is smarter than everyone else, the fact is that everyone sees right through him, he is not always a nice person either. The whole tale climaxes at the end when he is standing on a platform deciding whether to leave for the ever elusive London or stay and confront his problems. That's not a spoiler, the spoiler would be telling you his final decision.

This book is often funny and its the comic elements that will likely stay with me, its an original book and Billy is a great, complicated character. Worth reading.

On a final note, considering it was published in the 1950s its amazing to see how little teenagers have changed,

'You decided to get up, then,' my Mother said, slipping easily into he second series of conversations of the day. My stock replies were 'Yes', 'No, I'm still in bed', and a snarled 'What does it look like?' according to my mood. Today I chose 'Yes' and sat down to my boiled egg, stone cold as threatened.

Posted by Jess

Breakfast at Tiffany's

2011-08-08T22:06:00.001+01:00

I had never intended to read this book. I don’t read many romance stories particularly not popular ones made into movies starring Audrey Hepburn, however I saw my wife had put it on the pile of books to go to the charity shop and I rescued it. I agree with donating books to charity but at the same time I resent giving away books when they could belong in a beloved collection. I decided to give Breakfast at Tiffany’s a go to see what the fuss was about. I’m very glad I did.
The story isn’t a typical girl meets boy, boy messes it up, girl leaves town, boy catches up to her and patches things up before it’s too late. I think this is original for a romance story (even though it was written in the 50s) and not conventional at all. At the same time it is very accessible and not elitest. The narrator is a frustrated writer living in New York who meets a young girl named Holly who moves into the appartment below his. They form an unlikely friendship and soon the reader is caught up in the dizzying social complexities of Holly’s life with the narrator caught up in the middle of it.
Most people know someone a little like Holly, attention seeking, a little fake, desperate to be liked and at the same time manipulative. Despite her faults she is a very likeable character and although not above spreading lies about someone to outshine them a pretty decent person and as the story progresses we learn more and more about her but not enough that her character becomes boring
Funny in places, sad in others it is a wonderful literary journey and a nice length too.
We don’t learn much about the narrator which is ironic as Holly describes him as being on the outside looking in on others lives but I still liked him as a character and the narration style of the book really works well.
The version of the book I own also includes three short stories House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar and A Christmas Memory which were all very good.

Overall rating 5/5

Chris