Dawn
A strange, surreal and, ultimately, rather sad novella. As most people know Samsa awakens one morning transformed into an insect. There is no reason or explanation and Samsa himself seems to be in denial at first. Unable to accept him in his new shape, his family shut him away as ultimately they are the true monsters.
4.5* rounded up.
An extremely enjoyable piece of Tartan Noir, bloody and funny - sometimes bloody funny. I always enjoy a book set somewhere I know and I'm pretty sure I've met Queste and served him a pint (or bandaged his head). I'm sure he'd grate on me after a while, perhaps Skelton would as well, but I'm willing to give them both another chance.
Not at all what I expected, but a really interesting and honest read. Safari suggests an almost voyeuristic quality - an opportunity for the middle classes to gawk at the poor folks. It could be argued that there is a bit of that in it, McGarvey is open about some truly horrifying aspects of his life. But then he goes beyond this and the book becomes a social commentary. McGarvey talks about how there is no quick fix for poverty, how communities are working from within to improve opportunities. He is honest about his biases and, in questioning them and challenging himself, is sets an example to readers to do the same.
Reading club read [EOTWRC]: This month's dystopian novel was definitely my favourite of the club's. Surprising and heartbreaking, it will stay with me for a long time. Excellent debut novel from Swanson, I look forward to reading more from her.
Anything Firefly is going to get a 5* from me. Great fun, I felt I was actually in an episode reading this. Like the TV series itself there were wobbly bits and flaws but I love this world. I'll always be happy to spend a bit more time there with some of my favourite fictional people.
“A ghastly and chilling vision of what might happen when profound and deadly power is put into the wrong hands, this classic thriller continues to serve as a warning in today's tumultuous political climate.”
A cold war thriller that became Kubrick's famous satire Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. This was followed by Bryant /George's novelisation of a version of the film script (which I'll read and review soon).
This was very much not a satire! It was a suspenseful thriller that, despite some 2-dimensional characters and wordy technical stuff that went over my head, still had me gripped to the end.
I found it equally enjoyable and surprisingly frightening, especially on reading the above quote on finishing (ebook - quote not credited, sorry).
Probably the perfect person to write the ill-fated novelisation of the ill-fated film. Millar's realism is fantastic and his fantasy full of humdrum reality.
He was quoted as saying “it was such a lot of money for so little time” which is what most people focus on. But Millar also said he “tried to capture the spirit of Tank Girl”.
I think he did, the Tank Girl of the comics is a drunken, lying, chaotic braggart who somehow floats along in life getting into (and somehow out of) ridiculously perilous situations. The film was good fun but much less grubby than source material. This novelisation heroically tries to pull the two together.
In a bar, in the outback, while biblical floods rain down, Tank Girl drunkenly tells her tale to anyone who will listen (whether they want her to or not).
I've wanted to read this for years and I don't think anyone else could have done her justice!
I'd never come across this book as a child but I think I'd have thoroughly enjoyed it then. It's very sweet with a little jeopardy but an overall feeling of comfort. Even the cruelest characters are pretty kind.
I love tales where children take care of themselves in a (mostly) adult-free world. While it doesn't come up to Blyton's Adventure series (my favourites as a kid) it's still worth a nostalgia read.
The books were originally written to encourage reading, the simple language and enjoyable story would have been perfect in it's time. I'm not sure how much today's kids would be engaged - they probably learn to read from Tik Tok!
Good fun read, preferred this to the first one. More action, less talking, deliberately Bondian with slightly askew stereotypes.
Not sure I needed the mini-story at the end, suppose it was a literary palate cleanser.
I hadn't remembered any of the plot despite this being a re-read (old, forgetful brain), did mean I got to enjoy the twists again though!
Another fascinating insight into the spy networks on both sides of WWII. Macintyre brigs Chapman to life: the ruthless, debonair, criminal mastermind Zigzag - never has a codename been so apt.
What makes it such a delightful read, in addition to the deviously incredible exploits, are Macintyres's asides. Little tangents into a fleeting character's life or an offhand quip about a gentleman's moustaches. A particular treat in the paperback edition is the post-publication updates on some of Chapman's associates.
I'd recommend this to anyone who likes to read! As my partner would say - this is definitely not my sort of thing, but I loved it!
This one is pretty much a hybrid Iain Banks and Iain M. Banks where Sci-Fi meets twisted social dissection. Think The Bridge but not quite as good. It took me a few attempts to get into this, all the narrators and stories found me flicking back and forth to help me anchor myself. I don't think I ever fully “got” it but I did enjoy the ride. Expect some gratuitous sex and violence and recurrent confusion if you attempt it. Probably only suitable for Banks' aficionados, particularly those who drift further towards the M. side of his works.
A quite incredible and unbelievable tale written in Macintyres's matter-of-fact style. The details are what makes it such an enjoyable read, bringing to life the huge cast of characters involved. A magnificent feat of research and writing.
Another great fun queer witchy tale that picked up from the first and kept running. And my, what an ending - Dawson sure can write a cliffhanger!
In Nollop, a fictional island of the coast of South Carolina, Nevin Nollop is revered. The creator of the pangram “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” has even had a monument erected with the phrase tiled on. However, when the letters start to fall the council rule that they can no longer be used in writing or speech.
Written as a series of letters (but aren't all books
Published in 2009 and based on columns written between 2002 and 2008 (some of which I read at the time) this is a very specific slice of satire which still manages to be timely.
The general writings on the stupidity of humankind are, if anything, even more relevant today. The era specific stuff made me almost nostalgic at times - and there was a lot of Gordon Brown stuff. I swear he was only Prime Minister for half an hour but from the amount of coverage he gets in here it must have been a lot longer!
I'd seen the film Coraline a few times with my daughter but she said I had to read the book “it's so much darker”. And she was right. I've always found Gaiman's twisted fantasy to be creepy and dark in a way that Stephen King could only wish. When he writes for children I swear it's scarier than his adult fiction.
Gaiman's children are always so “real” and believable, even in his strangest fantasies. Coraline likes to explore, doesn't like fancy food and just wants a bit of attention from her busy parents.
She's wise beyond her years too: ‘You really don't understand, do you?' she said. ‘I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted? Just like that, and it didn't mean anything. What then?'
I devoured the long-short story in a few days and found it drew me in to such an extent that it blotted out the film's animation and allowed new images to take its place. A difficult thing to do when you have seen a movie before reading the source material.
The rest of the stories don't completely live up to Coraline, they are all good and strange. Aspects of them will continue to gnaw at my thoughts in the wee dark hours for a while yet. These stories weren't written for children but I'd argue that Gaiman doesn't particularly write any of his fiction for children or adults. He writes for those who still wish on a shooting star and are rightfully afraid of the darker shadows
One story, The Witch's Headstone, did especially catch my attention and again there was a child protagonist. It is the precursor to The Graveyard Book, which I've never read. I believe my daughter may have it in her room. Expect a review immanently...
1960s dystopian sci-fi/fantasy is probably my favourite genre. So it's surprising that it's taken me so long to get around to reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Maybe it's because I never really ‘got' Blade Runner, I liked it - sure - but it never blew me away. I've read a couple of Dick's other novels and really enjoyed them but I was slightly afraid that I'd feel let down by this. I needn't have worried.
From the beginning, when we meet Deckard, the scene is futuristic but remains mundane. This is a grubby little future, probably due to mankind being a grubby little species. In this San Francisco a live animal (all species are rare due to the radioactive dust blanketing the Earth) is an expensive status symbol kept in a cage on the roof. Here electronic replicas are imperceptible from the real thing but substantially cheaper to own.
Deckard works as a bounty hunter, retiring androids hiding around the city. These are perfect human copies except they struggle to understand (and therefore replicate) empathy. As he hunts them down Deckard questions those around them and ultimately himself. Do we empathise for him, for the androids, for Isidore (who seems to feel too much)? Is an electric animal worth less than a real one if you love it? Is an android less alive than a human? Can you have empathy for the creatures you have to destroy and still kill them? Is the maiming of a real arachnid worse than the retirement of 3 false-humans (that really got to me! I'm not a fan of the many-legged but Pris was so cold and detached)?
Deckard himself reminded me of Philip Marlowe, he had that world-weary 1930s private dick about him but lacking the one-liners. I found Dick's writing perfectly descriptive, the characters and scenery popped into being as I read. It was often absurd, sometimes funny and ultimately it made me ponder on what life really means. Plus, I was able to believe in this dystopian future despite it actually being set nearly 30 years ago!
Bookclub read [UoG]:
First impressions - the book is huge, a giant hardback novel, I thought I'd never finish it. The cover is gorgeous - bright flowers, snakes and that tiger. I note that every cover version has a tiger - I really like tigers and am even more intrigued. (The tiger is disappointingly fleeting then becoming a metaphor).
The writing is stunning, O'Farrell draws you in instantly. Her words create a world that you can see, smell, feel and taste. It is obvious that there has been in-depth research done. The world is so real, the characters believable - flaws and all.
I want to know more about the people behind the scenes, the servants and painting assistants - they are infinitely more interesting than Lucrezia.
I felt I knew where it was going, but the ending was a bit ambiguous and I found myself let down. I almost enjoyed it against my will.
I'm thinking I'm maybe not the biggest Kazuo Ishiguro fan. I didn't really enjoy the way this was written, the character's voice, that's always a bit of a risk with a first person - are you invested? I wasn't, not in Kathy or Tommy or Ruth.
I don't want to say to much because it could be construed as spoilers - but there's nothing to spoil! As the last few pages came closer I realised that I'd never get to know what I wanted. This whole novel was a back-story to what actually wanted to read.
It definitely has points to make and themes to explore. I'm sure it will stay with me on some level, as Klara has.
Very sweet book. Not exactly a literary great and the plot was fairly unsurprising but it was a pleasant read and sometimes that's all you want.
Merged review:
Very sweet book. Not exactly a literary great and the plot was fairly unsurprising but it was a pleasant read and sometimes that's all you want.
An enjoyable read with some basis in history. I was swept into this instantly and happy to stay along for the ride.
The chapters change narrators as Lady Christian and Violet tell their versions of the tale. You can't help but feel sorry for three main females as their lives are ruined but the men around them.
I look forward to reading future works by this author.
3.5*
I like a bit of YA and the more dystopian the better. This one had some interesting themes and slight jeopardy. I'd like to see Silver ramp that up a bit more in the sequel.
A quick and thoroughly enjoyable read, full of well-written characters which left me starving and craving a flat white!
Baldree's novel starts up where most fantasy fiction finishes and explores what happens after The End. As Viv leaves her mercenary days behind to open a coffee shop she builds more than a café and finds the importance of friendship...
But it's not nearly as twee as I've made it sound. There's violence, swearing and lots of laughs in with the cosiness.
It had echoes of Pratchett's Discworld, which is high praise indeed, looking forward to the next one!
I had no idea what to expect having (as usual) not read the blurb beforehand - I don't even know where I came across this! Anyway, it was a good fun read, with lots of dark humour and unexpected events.
I enjoyed looking up the Indian phrases to get a bit more depth and understanding (thanks Google).
I've since read some negative reviews and can understand where they are coming from (accusations of stereotyping and poverty porn) but I find this quite a harsh take. I found it uplifting and educational with the right amount of tragicomedy.
4.5* rounded up.
An extremely enjoyable, and surprisingly moving, adventure with the Thursday Murder Club. As well-written as all the previous with all the twists and turns we've come to expect. I think Osman is becoming the Agatha Christie of our generation and wish him luck with his new direction but hope we don't have to wait too long to join Joyce and company again.