Entries from September 2008
Atmospheric Disturbances
Atmospheric Disturbances, September 2008, 9/10.
Written by Rivka Galchen. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
This was a real surprise find for me – I had no idea that I would enjoy this book as much as I did. Exactly what it was that made the novel so appealing is a little difficult to put my finger on, but it was such a quirky tale and so full of well reasoned madness that I was totally sucked in. The only aspect that I did not like so much was the ending, but the options there were quite limited, and the fabulously designed characters, at once so human but also so cold, more than made up for it. Normally I prefer my novels to be a bit less modern, but this one was a perfect balance.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 9/10, American, Fiction, First Book, Modern, Rivka Galchen
The Siege Of Krishnapur
The Siege of Krishnapur, September 2008, 8.5/10.
Written by J. G. Farrell. Published by The New York Review Of Books.
I really, really enjoyed this book – it had a great story with all of the hallmarks of an epic – love, war, betrayal, etc.. In fact, I’m surprised that it hasn’t been made in a big Hollywood type film by now. The characters were magnificent cliches of themselves and their culture, which would not normally be a good thing but here was excellent, and the writing was tight and able to bring out the desired emotion from the reader, be it humour or desparation or whatever else. My only concern was that this book was trash disguised as something more intellectual by its setting… but trash doesn’t win Bookers, right? Regardless, with a story this good, it did not matter.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 8.5/10, Booker Prize, British, Fiction, India, J. G. Farrell
Disgrace
Disgrace, September 2008, 7.5/10.
Written by J. M. Coetzee. Published by Viking.
This was a great story, and I loved that behind such a simple story on the surface were difficult questions that demanded one’s thought. Although sometimes a little bit blunt, I thought that in general there were some more subtle elements, but I would have preferred the characters to be a bit deeper – little background was given about their motivations, etc. which I found a bit frustrating, although no doubt it was intentional to match the simple story. Highlighting grey areas can be difficult to do in a balanced way, but the strong writing made this less of a problem. A bit more of Sth Africa’s story could have been woven in, and would have been appreciated by less knowledgeable readers.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 7.5/10, Booker Prize, Fiction, J. M. Coetzee, South Africa
Flaubert's Parrot
Flaubert’s Parrot, September 2008, 6.5/10.
Written by Julian Barnes. Published by Picador.
I don’t really know what to make of this book, which is really more of a love story from Barnes to Flaubert and all of France in general. I was expecting a little bit more of a storyline to come through, instead it was more of a one man lecture series highlighting just how much goes on behind the scenes of an Author’s stage. This didn’t really push any buttons, and although it was interesting in and of itself to learn so much about Flaubert, and at times fabulously creating (eg the timeline and the exam) I found that I kept wanting to know more about the narrator than the bits being drip fed.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 6.5/10, British, Fiction, French, Gustave Flaubert, Julian Barnes, Nonfiction
The God Of Small Things
The God Of Small Things, September 2008, 8/10.
Written by Arundhati Roy. Published by Harper Perennial.
this book was not as good as I had hoped it to be, but it was enjoyable regardless. The story was lively but in itself wasn’t anything all that special. Rather, I thought that the real strength was the narrative, and in particular the narrative from the children’s perspective, which was fantastically creative only for the fact that it was so familiar, and would be universally recognised by anyone that had once been a child… which would be everyone. The main characters were nicely developed, but some far better than others, with a few inexplicable weaknesses, and some of the plot-lines were left hanging – maybe the editor was too vicious. The sex scene tried a little bit too hard and was too cliche for me.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 8/10, Arundhati Roy, Booker Prize, Fiction, First Book, India
