Tomorrow morning I’m going away on a three week holiday, and I don’t expect to be able to do any blogging during that time. Therefore the blog will be hibernating until September 3rd. When I get back I will blog about the books I read while I was away, but until then, here’s something to think about:
I've traveled the world twice over, Met the famous; saints and sinners, Poets and artists, kings and queens, Old stars and hopeful beginners, I've been where no-one's been before, Learned secrets from writers and cooks All with one library ticket To the wonderful world of books. Author unknown
If you know who wrote this, I would be grateful if you would let me know.
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.
My reading philosophy, courtesy of Sir Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626):
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”
The weather outside is Mediterranean today: blazing sun, still and sticky atmosphere (wouldn’t be surprised if there is a thunderstorm later today) and a heat haze is obscuring the mountains. Good day for sitting on the balcony, reading a book and getting sunburned. A record temperature was registered for Reykjavík this morning and it looks set to be broken in the afternoon. Apparently tourists have been complaining about the heat. I can imagine the complaints: “We didn’t come here to get sunburned – where’s all the snow?”
And now back to business as usual: There are several favourite books that I read again and again, and the re-reading of some of them has become an annual or biennial event for me. These perennials vary widely in subject, ranging from biography, to fantasy, travel and children’s books. One thing they all have in common is a certain kind of magic that ensures I never tire of them and they are always fresh.
My top 5 perennial books (that I read at least once a year): 1. My Family and Other Animals – Gerald Durrell 2. The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien 3. Good Omens – Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman 4. The Bafut Beagles – Gerald Durrell 5. Momo – Michael Ende
"There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all". -Oscar Wilde, in the Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray
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.
Author: Georgette Heyer Year published: 1965 Genre: Romance, historical (Regency) Where got: Public library
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.
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 effect 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.
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.
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About me
What this blog is about:
Reading and books.
If you’re wondering about the name 52 books, it stems from a book-a-week reading challenge I set myself. The challenge is over, but I'm still reading, and will continue to blog about the books I read and my reading experiences, and other stuff connected with books and reading.
I rate the books (if I feel like it), giving them stars ranging from zero to 5.
Books I have already read (sporadically updated):Cover gallery
Note: Some of the entries are linked to the months the reviews appeared in, because I made several entries for each book. I have marked those reviews with an asterix (*). If you want to read the whole review from beginning to end, you must scroll down and read from the bottom up (but you probably already knew that ;-) >
