November 2005
Monthly Archive
Mon 14 Nov 2005
Reading this book I was reminded of a question Gaiman’s daughter asked when she interviewed him: “What’s harder? Writing for children or for adults?”. “Oh definitely children” came Gaiman’s reply “with children, I have to make every word count. With adults, an author can add bits to the story just because he likes them”.
American Gods is an imaginative and original novel where old gods still roam our world, new gods are born every day, and people are (for the most part) completely oblivious of this fact. The story revolves around Shadow, an ex-con with a good heart who gets caught up in a fight between the gods. I won’t reveal more to avoid spoiling the plot.
The reason that I included Gaiman’s comment at the start of this review is that there were times that I found myself thinking of this quote and mumbling “just get on with it!”, annoyed by Gaiman’s many tangents. Another pet peeve is Shadow: he has a chronic lack of curiosity that borders on the pathological. You’d think he’d be a lot keener to find out what the dickens is going on instead of just blandly accepting the fact that he’s palling around with mythological beings!
That said, I did enjoy American Gods and, if you like fantasy in a contemporary setting, I think you will too. Just remember that it’s a road novel, and most of the time that road is a little twisty scenic thing, not a highway. So try to relax, take your time, and read on…
Tags: neil gaiman, american gods, odin, loki, religion, fantasy
Other books by the same author:
Thu 10 Nov 2005
When listening to this story, I asked myself several times: is this real, can it be possible, and how long can a shipwreck survive on almost nothing… That’s the trick about this book, it plays with you and your notions of what’s possible, and blurs the line between fiction and fantasy on one hand, and facts and truth on the other. In the end you don’t know whether the author serves up another fact or if it’s just plausible. And that’s good, you don’t want to be too certain about “reality” - one person’s truth might be another’s fantasy, or his illusion might actually be true…
So, Pi Patel is raised in India at his father’s zoo and when he is 16 years old they decide to emmigrate to Canada. They are shipwrecked, and the story is about his experiences aboard the lifeboat for 227 days. Central to the novel is Pi’s strong religious beliefs. Yes, in plural. He spent his youth learning about all the major religions and practicing all of them, at the same time. His strong faith runs like a thread through the novel, and helps him through all the hardships. Pi, when telling his story, assures the reader/listener that this is a tale that will make you believe in God. Well, up to you to decide, I think that statement was taking his mouth a bit full. But then again, this story is a leap of faith and imagination!
Tags: life of pi, yann martel, pi patel, religion, faith, castaway, shipwreck
Wed 9 Nov 2005
Posted by Katrine Clip under
Audiobooks ,
Fiction ,
HistoryNo Comments
This is a novel of the bubonic plague that ravaged parts of England in the 17th century. It’s an amazing title considering that the book is really about a year of horror! The story is inspired by an actual town commemorated as Plague Village because of the events that took place there in 1665-1666.
I liked the book and found it fascinating to get close to a small, rural community suddenly threatened by painful destruction. You have to admire the villagers’ courage and decision to try and stand up to the terribly contagious disease by voluntarily isolating themselves.
The story is told from the point of view of Anna, a young widow with two young sons. Anna works as a maid for the vicar and his wife. The latter takes Anna under her wings and teaches her to read and write when she understands that Anna is bright and has a craving for knowledge. The story revolves around these three characters, Anna, the vicar and his wife. As the story unfolds – and the village slowly gets depopulated – they all surprise us with unsuspected secrets or hidden character traits. I always enjoy a book that has the power of surprising me, and this one certainly did not develop and end the way I would have thought!
Tags: year of wonders, geraldine brooks, middle ages, black death, historical novel, england, 1666
Wed 9 Nov 2005
Posted by Katrine Clip under
Fiction ,
History ,
Romance[2] Comments
After reading The Lady and the Unicorn I wanted to read more of Tracy Chevalier’s books. This is also a well written book, but in a very different time and setting. I like the fact that Tracy Chevalier’s story writing sometimes is “dark”, life isn’t a dance on roses, there are struggles for both low and high. She paints credible lifelike portraits of her different characters.
Falling Angels is set in Victorian England, two young girls meet at the family cemetery and become friends, and also befriend the young grave digger who is socially below them. This somber environment becomes a meeting place and playground for the friends, and is central in the novel: the maid meets her lover there, one of the mothers has a romantic interest in the cemetery’s governor, and we learn about the lowest of them all, the grave diggers.
The two girls’ families are both of good social standing, but one is richer than the other and the poorer girl (who’s also the prettiest) compensates for this by being the more traditional and perfect little lady. The rich family is not a happy one. The parents have a complicated relationship, the mother doesn’t want more children and avoids her husband, who, in turn, to “get his wife back” does all sorts of things to make her jalous. He’s a very good father though, and attends to his daughter’s needs and education much more than the seemingly egocentric mother who in reality is very unhappy and unfulfilled. When at a turning point in her life, she becomes involved in the women’s suffragette movement, she finally finds a meaning to her life but at the expense of her daughter who feels even less loved by her mother then.
The poorer girl’s family on the other hand is happy and loving, and this contrast between them doesn’t escape any of them. One is jealous of the other’s intelligence and money, and one of the other’s beauty and happy family… Add to this relationship that there are secrets not to be told unless a family will collapse and people be ruined…
The story is told through several voices, all the members of the families, but also people around them. When listening to the story, it’s enjoyable to have different narrators portraying the different characters. When the maid is telling her story, she does so in her dialect, the girls and their mothers all have distinctive voices - reflecting their social classes and ages. Unlike in The Lady and the Unicorn, where two narrators read all the male and the female voices, here you have a whole host of actors - actually 11 of them! - giving life and color to the story.
I liked the book, I thought it portrayed the relationship and the dynamics between the two girls very well, and it was interesting to get a glimpse of women’s position in society and their struggle at this time to gain control over their own lives and to fight for the right to vote.
Tags: falling angels, tracy chevalier, audiobook, fiction, historical novel, victorian, england
Other books by the same author:
Mon 7 Nov 2005
I don’t know if it’s fair to write a review of a book that I couldn’t finish but I won’t let that stop me… :-)
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Heinlein. He was recommended to me a long time ago and, not knowing what to read first, I randomly picked up Number of the Beast. What an awful book! It felt like Heinlein’s characters were so full of themselves that they spent most of their time in “witty” and “erudite” dialog (I’m using quotes to denote sarcasm :-)
Unfortunately, it appears that I’d picked possibly the worst of Heinlein’s novels to start with. A number of years passed and, when friends heard my tale of Heinlein woe, they quickly recommended The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, which is an excellent book (audio book review to follow!)
Recently, I tried listening Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. It’s the story of a youth (Kip Russel) who wins a spacesuit in a lottery, repairs it over the summer, is abducted to the moon by aliens, meets a 10-year old girl genius named Peewee, and (presumably) the two of them save the Earth from said aliens.
This book is nowhere near as bad as Number of the Beast. However, the same annoying repartee is there between Kip and Peewee, the long pretentious debates, etc. I just couldn’t finish it. I do however commend the producers of the audio book for making the most of this medium: different actors perform the parts of Kip, Peewee, and some of the minor characters; and a few sound effects are thrown in for good measure.
I wouldn’t recommend this book to an adult but I’ve noticed that many of Amazon’s reviewers who rave about Have Spacesuit Will Travel read it in their early teens. So if you know a smart teenager who’s into science and science fiction, this may well please them much more than it did me.
Tags: have spacesuit will travel, heinlein, science fiction, audiobook
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