In lieu of any writing/ MA action, I thought I’d do a mini-review of the books that I’ve read in the first quarter of the year. The ones that I've actually finished, I mean, which in itself is strange as I always used to see books through to the end - in some grim faced duel-to-the-death at times- but now, if I'm not caught in a chapter or two, I'm out and it's back on the shelf.
Recently abandoned include:
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax -Liz Jenson. This is part of my MA reading list, and from the premise I was fully expecting to love it. Instead I found it irritating, and I don't know why. I will have to complete it at some point, so I could have a full turnaround, but for now: no.
Ridley Walker- Russel Hoban. A post-apocalytic sci-fi horror novel, I still really want to read this, but it needs dedication and I'm too preoccupied with writing and reading a million other things at once to truly give it attention. And before you think I'm a crap lummox, it's written entirely in 'Ridleyspeak' and the first sentence goes like this:
on my naming day when i was 12 I gone front spear and kilt a wild boar he parblt ben the las wyld pig on the Bundel Downs any how they hadnt ben none for a long time befor him nor i aint looking to see none agen."
Imagine that with a hangover/on a bus/whilst trying to fine-tune your inter-galactic love story in your head.
The Night Circus -Erin Morgenstern. I LOVE anything set in the Victorian period, usually, and I LOVE Vania Zouravliov, who did the artwork, and the premise and look of the book is so wonderful that I felt a little heart-broken when it, frankly, wasn't that great. I found the third person present tense narrative annoying (but perhaps it helped to stop me from slipping into it with my own writing?), and it lacked atmosphere, and felt a little flat.
Books ticked off in 2012, so far...
The Handmaid’s Tale- Margaret Atwood.
'Woman is nothing but a womb' in a terrifying, dystopian vision.
Yes, this is the first time that I’ve read it; and yes, I know that it's shameful; and no, I really, really really hadn't read it before. I've read other Atwood books, in my defence, so I knew that I'd like this one, and I did. I loved it, in fact. Just like you all told me that I would. Read it.
A Visit from the Goon Squad –Jennifer Egan.
A post-modern peek at American life.
Part of my MA reading list, and I loved it. There’s a lot of debate over whether this is actually a novel or a series of interlinked short stories, but whatever it is (and who really cares), it was like a masterclass in both.
Set within the music industry, and spanning many years, it felt so fresh and new and exciting, and was so well-crafted, that not only was it the perfect text for critical study (various POVS, multiple tones/narrators, a chapter composed of powerpoint slides (!) etc), but it was also plain inspirational in just seeing how flexible and fun fiction can be.
Fugitive pieces-Anne Michaels.
Survival, spirit, love and language.
My novel (now abandoned) was set in England and Latvia, post Second Wold War, and during my initial research, I encountered this. It’s very Ondaatje -ish (who I love), and the prose-poetry within it was wonderful, to the point of making me feel sick with envy.
Niggles were that I hated the ending, as in the last third the narrator switches, and he isn't as engaging as the first one. To me this felt like somebody turning up at your front door, and trying to sell you stuff you don't want, when you’ve previously been cosy on the sofa, engrossed in a film. I could almost hear myself muttering under my breath: “who the fuck are you? And what the fuck do you want?”. I also didn’t like the female characters, at all, but overall, I enjoyed it.
The Book Thief- Markus Zusak.
Bigging up books and making you sob like a baby.
Another cheery war story for my research. Narrated by Death, the book focuses on the life of nine year old Liesel and her foster family, who are living in Germany during the rise of the Third Reich.
It blatantly pulls at the heart strings, so much so that you feel like one of those people who’ve been hypnotized; someone who ends up grinding up a granny on stage while your mates laugh and record you for YouTube, completely caught in the moment but you feel a little grotty after. It was a good book, and I enjoyed it, and I got teary-eyed, but still, that sense of shame remains for some reason...
The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society-Mary Ann Shaffer
A quaint, quirky tale of humour and resilience in the face of occupation.
More novel research stuff, a series of fictional war “letters”, from when Guernsey was inhabited by Germans. It was alright, not as insightful as I’d have hoped for my purposes, but it had its charm and was interesting enough.
Interpreter of Maladies -Jumpa Lahiri.
'Pulitzer-winning, scintillating studies in yearning and exile from a Bengali Bostonian woman of immense promise.'
Another MA book, a selection of short stories, full of sensuous details and wonderful characterisation. Amazing, and again, envy-inducing. I can see why it’s on a reading list for aspiring writers; well-crafted, beautiful, interesting stories.
Warm Bodies-Isaac Marion.
A zombie romance.
I had a horrible feeling that it would be a zombie Twilight (mainly because of Stephanie Meyers endorsement on the front), but I really enjoyed it. R is a zombie, undead, but is he coming back to life? Is Julie the key? Can she save him? I thought it was humorous, touching, and an interesting take on genre. Well recommended.
Florence and Giles-John Harding.
A girl and her governess: a Gothic page-turner set in the late 19th Century.
Spooky happenings in a grand house, based on Henry James's The Turn of the Screw. Written from the (unreliable) viewpoint of young Florence, in a language that's all her own, for example, she 'fairytaled in my tower, Rapunzelled above all my known world'; the house is described as 'uncomfortabled and shabbied by prudence'. Some may find this off-putting, but I loved it.
Overall the novel could have been a little more ambiguous as it wasn't difficult to see where it was headed, and credibility was pushed a little too much at times, especially at the end, but once the language lures you in and Florence is in your head, none of that really matters.
The Woman in Black- Susan Hill.
After seeing the film, I got my mitts on the novel. It was a short, easy read, and very atmospheric, but other than that it left no great impression. But maybe that's because I already knew what was going to come. Grrr.
The Baby Jesus Butt Plug -Carlton Mellick.
???
My intro into Bizarro. It was..bizarre. And hilarious. And...bizarre. I've read bits and bobs of Bizarro fiction before, and I love the freedom and enthusiasm and the imaginative madness about it all, that does carry you along and make you crave more (even when I can hear all of my English tutors screaming in horror and waving Jane Austen at me, to harken me back. To which I say 'Nah.')
Babies going up bottoms, people photocopied into existence, zombies, clones, a chaotic fairytale, but also an absurdist allegory about exploitation and gratification; slave labour and insignificance. Right, what's next...
The Warrior Wolf Woman of the Wasteland- Carlton Mellick.
Road Warrior Werewolves versus McDonaldland Mutants
My second fix. I don't know how this fares with Mellick's other stuff, but again, I whizzed through it, and again, I really enjoyed it. It's so hard to really encapsulate these stories, or say anything without giving too much away, so I'll just give you some key words: rapist wolves as big as buses, mutant men, fry guys, Mayor McCheese, romance, the fear of female sexuality, corporate dominion.
Probably the only book that I've read that's made me wish I was hairier, more! And oh, read it.
All of my Friends are Superheroes-Andrew Kaufman.
A short, clever, quirky tale about love and losers.
I read this all the way through in about an hour, while sitting in the garden in the sun, and it made me smile. A lot. That could have been due to the weather, of course, but I enjoyed it. I liked the unusual structure and the superheros who completely aren't heroes at all, and I found the core love story touching. I could nit-pick away and find many a fault (mainly the sickly reviews on Amazon), but surprisingly, I just don't want to.
Story of the Eye- Georges Bataille
I'll let Amazon spell it out:
"In this explicit pornographic fantasy, the young male narrator and his lovers Simone and Marcelle embark on a sexual quest involving sadism, torture, orgies, madness and defilement, culminating in a final act of transgression. Shocking and sacrilegious, Story of the Eye is the fullest expression of Bataille’s obsession with the closeness of sex, violence and death. Yet it is also hallucinogenic in its power, and is one of the erotic classics of the twentieth century."
mmm. I found it hilarious and disturbing in equal measure, and while certain events had me tittering, they also lingered a lot longer than I thought that they would. I'm currently looking through some critical material about the book, and it seems that the book is less a novel but more a starting point for critical/psychoanalytical discussion. Recommended? Yes, it's definitely worth a read, and I'll probably even be able to argue with you if you tell me that you hate it. Once I digest it. And eggs will never be the same, again, incidentally.
Justine- Marquis de Sade.
The Misfortunes of Virtue, the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, and a young girl getting whipped and bitten a lot.
ah, Marquis de Sade, equally ludicrous and enlightening at the same time. A sadomasochistic fantasy as a young girl struggles to maintain her virtue in a world that wants to abuse it. An exploration of power enacted upon the body, upon control and binary systems and double standards, with lots of tabernacles being raided and pudendums punched.
Reading this post-Angela Carter's Sadeian Woman, I'm less inclined to get up on my feminist high horse, and the ideologies, philosophies and the psychologies of dominion and submission in the book makes it never as simple as mere misogyny, so I'll hold that rant for a while.
I haven't read enough of his other works to say if this is one to read or not, and while the endless tirade of abuse does become a little boring at times, it's certainly interesting.
And that's it! I received a Kindle for my birthday, so now do I not only have shelves full of books peering at me, demanding attention, I also have them in my lap, encased, groaning to be acknowledged. Best get on with it, then, and hopefully get some writing done in-between...
