Entries from November 2008
The Savage Detectives
The Savage Detectives (Translated by Natasha Wimmer), November 2008, 8.5/10.
Written by Roberto Bolano. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
This long, peculiar book is a story in three parts. The first and third are a diary; the second interjects with a first person narrative that jumps backwards and forwards and is told in dribs and drabs by over 30 characters. Despite this, the narrative works exceptionally well, a testament to the author’s skill. This book is not one to dip in and out of at leisure, and with the number of characters and difficult storyline it requires time and concentration. The main highlight, along with the narrative form and cohesiveness, was that the characters, even minor characters, had identifiable voices. Themes of coming of age / loss of innocence and reliability of oral history complemented each other well.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 8.5/10, Central American, Fiction, Roberto Bolano, South American, Translated Books
Five Skies
Five Skies, November 2008, 5.5/10.
Written by Ron Carlson. Published by Viking.
This book did not particularly appeal to me, but I could see that it would appeal a certain audience. A bit like an episode of ‘Home Improvement’ without the jokes, the story revolves around three men, and althouth their characters are well developed (for example, I could often tell who said something without it being written), I couldn’t identify with any of them. The actual storyline was interesting and quite compelling, but it was far too underdeveloped and only explored sporadically, and between the storytelling were too many technical passages about tools and building, which were quite boring and difficult to follow for someone not interested in such things.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 5.5/10, American, Fiction, Ron Carlson
Memoirs of Hadrian, November 2008, 9.5/10
Written by Marguerite Yourcenar. Published by Penguin
This magnificent historical novel is contemplative and powerfully philosophical, without ever loosing its strong and ever captivating narrative. Y. masterfully manages to “redo from within what the archaeologists of the 19th C. had done from without.” The figure of Hadrian, II century AC Roman emperor and fulcrum of an era centered on man rather than God or the gods, is marvelously rendered in all its complexity. Hadrian is a man of his time, but most importantly he is a man, a human, timeless and finite at once. I also loved the prose, very rich and constructed, clearly, to resemble latin prose of Hadrian’s times, maybe even his own.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 9.5/10, French, historic novel, Yourcenar
A Fraction Of The Whole
A Fraction Of The Whole, November 2008, 8/10.
Written by Steve Toltz. Published by Spiegel & Grau.
A cracking yarn! The most creative book that I have read in a long time, this fantastic novel creates an in depth, detailed family history that spans three generations. While some of the humour (which tends to the absurd and reminded me a little of Woody Allen’s prose) is distinctly Australian, much of it is universal. The narrative is a well done tag team between the central characters and is an effective way of drawing out the book’s dominant themes of family and one’s purpose in life. The author has a delightful turn of phrase, and I have few criticisms beyond the fact that some elements of the story and characters were a little cliched and perhaps that the author was trying a little too hard to show off his personal literary knowledge.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 8/10, Australian, Comedy, Fiction, First Book, Steve Toltz
The White Tiger
The White Tiger, November 2008, 6.5/10.
Written by Aravind Adiga. Published by Free Press.
I was hoping that this Booker Prize winning novel would be much better than it turned out to be. The story was somewhat compelling – certainly enough to keep me going until the end without too much complaint – but not much more than that. My main criticisms are that the narrative perspective didn’t make sense, in that it was unclear why the story was narrated in a half hearted letter format, and also that the characters were vague. Although one of the novel’s themes was to show the mental and emotional distance between characters that were physically close, what drove those characters to act as they did was only explored superficially. Further, the plot was not exciting but rather linear and lacking surprises.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 6.5/10, Aravind Adiga, Booker Prize, Fiction, First Book, India
To Siberia (Translated by Anne Born), November 2008, 8/10.
Written by Per Petterson. Published by Graywolf Press.
This was a lovely novel. Written in very gentle prose, the main theme were how relationships (especially between family members) can be both a blessing and a curse, and Petterson developed this theme well, mostly by creating a narrator that had a mature voice, the ability to reflect on the past with clarity and by subtly playing with time – the fact that the story was mostly (but not strictly) linear gave it a realistic feeling that emphasised the points that Petterson tried to make. Even in the sections where little was happening the story did not titubate and I found that the descriptive writing and slow development did not detract from my enjoyment.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 8/10, Fiction, Per Petterson, Scandinavian, Translated Books
A Partisan's Daughter
A Partisan’s Daughter, November 2008, 7/10.
Written by Louis De Bernieres. Published by Alfred A. Knopf.
I am a big fan of Louis De Bernieres, having read almost all of his other books, but unfortunately this one was not one of his best. That is not to say, however, that this short book is not lively and entertaining, because it is both. This book is ultimately a (very) non-traditional love story – told in two voices – one in which the characters struggle to reconcile their pasts (both real and imaginary) with their present situation. De Bernieres is a great story teller, and this book is no exception, with deep characters and a fiction within the fiction, but some of the elements of the story were a bit too blunt for me and could have been better if treated more delicately.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 7/10, British, Fiction, Louis De Bernieres
The Crucible
The Crucible, November 2008, 7.5/10.
Written by Arthur Miller. Published by Penguin Books.
This play is a bit of a modern classic, probably partly because of who it is written by and the topic that it covers. That said, it is an enjoyable read. Although a little difficult to get into in the first act, the second, third and fourth acts are action packed. Also helpful is the fact that there is a little bit of narrative throughout that explains some of what is happening to people who would otherwise be unfamiliar with the setting. A simple story on the surface, there are many obvious themes running throughout that give a reader much to consider, as well as a lot of more subtle ideas that add a lot to the play.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 7.5/10, American, Arthur Miller, Film Adaptation, Modern Classic, Play
