More mini-reviews! #3

 

A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving

SHOULD I WRITE LIKE THIS NOW? Ok, ok, cheap trick, but after having read this book, who can resist? Owen Meany was fussed about a lot among book bloggers in spring and I got curious. Read the book, thought "meh" - it is a very decent book, but what is all the fuss about? Months later, I still can't get the characters out of my head - it's that kind of a book.

4/5

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde

The crazy literary nerdy adventures of Thursday Next continue in The Well of Lost Plots. This book features one of my favourite secondary characters in this series so far - ibb and obb (aka Lola and Randolph). Seriously, how does Fforde come up with this stuff? At times it feels that there is too much going on and it's really hard to force myself to slow down to inhale all the geeky details. I am happy I have two next books of this series waiting on the shelf.

5/5

 

 

 

Ship of Magic, Robin Hobb

Back when I started reading Robin Hobb with Assassin's Apprentice, I was really not sold. By now, I am totally sold - her works have improved for me, book after book. Ship of Magic doesn't have the full-on feel of fantasy; in fact, about the most fantastical thing about this series so far is liveships, but what a concept! In the first book of this trilogy I feel like we have only just scratched the surface of what might come out of the world where certain ships are alive. Also, I am usually borderline phlegmatic kind of reader, meaning I don't easily get overwhelming positive or negative emotions when reading, but in this book, one of the characters... maaan... I just wanted to punch him SO HARD! One of the most unlikeable characters I've encountered lately, who is definitely not two-dimensional, there are reasons for his actions, even though incomprehensible for me, but still... my fists just clenched every time he stepped into my field of vision.

5/5

 

 

 

The Universe Versus Alex Woods, Gavin Extence

What a precious book. A likeable main character, a likeable friendship, very likable secondary characters, focus on a very controversial topic that I personally feel very strong about. It is a very easy read text wise, but never for a moment is it dull. Parts of me sympathise with Gavin Extence (in case he is planning to publish more books) because really, after such debut, how high are the expectations and how does an author meet them?

5/5

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Sent to investigate the disappearance of two little girls Camille finds herself reluctantly installed in the family mansion, reacquainting herself with her distant mother and a precocious thirteen-year-old half-sister she barely knows. Haunted by a family tragedy, troubled by the disquieting grip her younger sister has on the town, Camille struggles with a familiar need to be accepted.

But as clues turn into dead ends Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims and realises: she will have to unravel the puzzle of her own past if she's to survive this homecoming.

(From the back of the book.)

 

Not long after I boasted how awesome I have lately been at picking only good books to read, Shatter Me and Sharp Objects happened. That'll teach me!

 

The reason I picked up this book was to give Gillian Flynn another chance because I felt it extremely difficult to rate her overhyped Gone Girl and I really didn't want to be unfair. I wasn't a fan of Gone Girl but compared to Sharp Objects, it was better.

 

For me, Sharp Objects was a mess. I was really surprised because I probably gravitate towards books with darker themes and tones more than an average Joe (American Psycho is one of my favourites), but maaan. This book was just... The characters were... The plot... Gah! I didn't like it.

 

So Camille is the kind of young (around 30 - yes peoples that is young!) lady who has been into cutting herself for a long time and starts her days with a vodka shot from bottle she keeps under her pillow. Like... I really really tried to imagine that and I got sick (the vodka shot part). Like, I got nausea. Of course she generally drinks a lot, there is some drug doing around (with minors), casual sex, the whole thing along those lines.

 

Now I am not the one to judge. I get it that the main character developed into that person because of childhood traumas and things (yes her mum is a proper nutcase and stepdad made me shudder more than once - really creepy peeps), and I really don't judge because obviously I haven't been in such shoes, but really, it's also kind of hard to symphatise because in the end these were Camille's choices. Some of the self-destructive behaviour also didn't make any sense whatsoever (in which world and under which conditions is it ever a good idea to get high with your teen sister? I just don't get it).

 

I also found it problematic to take this book as a murder mystery trying-to-solve-it and I really didn't even care who was the culprit because honest, that town was full of nutcases and almost any one of the characters could have committed the crimes and I couldn't care less. One of the few redeeming parts of the book was the detective who was the main man on the case, of course he and Camille have a little thing going there, but I was happy how it played out in the end; I can't get more into detail as this is already bordering the spoiler territory but let's just say it was kind of a realistic outcome to the situation.

 

So yes, I think that was the last Flynn book for me, objectively I can see how certain type of people may enjoy her books but it just ain't my jam. I actually think that for me, her stories would probably play out better on the big screen - which means if it's true that a few of her books are in the making process to the movies, I might go and check them out.

C_Club #10: The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

Short story is definitely not my preferred format when reading, except when it comes to Ray Bradbury. The Martian Chronicles is one of my all-time favourite books, ever, and I was happy to discover that The Illustrated Man gives out some very similar vibes.

 

I didn't even know I was going to read this book this month until I discovered it for a ridiculous price from a bookshop, brought home, figured "I'll take a little peek" ... and then it was over. Only then did I realise that it is a good RIP VIII read and also, what do you say, I had even added it to my Classics Club list and completely forgotten. So that's pretty much a double or triple win.

 

The whole concept of this story book is quite spooky - the stories are tattooed on the illustrated man's skin and they come to life at night. They are all considerably short, which makes it a good book to read before bed (no need to wait for those endless new chapter pages).

 

Let me just say that I love how Ray Bradbury writes. In addition to such beautiful and at the same time simple prose (at least in this book - it is different when you read Something Wicked This Way Comes), he has such sympathetic attitude towards his characters. I have often imagined him as this gentle father figure, for whom characters are like children - yes, they can be loud, throw tantrums and spill the food, but they are still to be loved and understood.

 

Other than that, I appreciate the kind of subtle fantastic setting. It can oftentimes be just one detail, only one thing that is a bit different than your and my real life, but it has such impact (for example, many of the stories take place on a different planet - usually Mars but in this book also Venus; in one of the stories there is a house that is "alive"; a little bit of time travel). Whatever the setting or time, the stories tackle deeply humane and moral issues and relationships between people, from racism to bullying to parenthood.

 

My favourite stories:

* The Veld (house that is alive);

* The Long Rain (set on Venus; *very* psychologically disturbing);

* Usher II (giving E.A. Poe some love - intelligent piece of fantasy-horror);

* The Last Night of the World (very short - "What would you do if you knew that this was the last night of the world?" - how wonderful is that opening sentence?);  

* The Fox and the Forest (time travel story of people who escape to the past);

 - I could actually go on and on, most stories I liked very much.

 

I don't usually like to recommend stuff to read, but in this case I am making an exception, because Bradbury's works are so accessible and yet intriguing, flirting with the philosophical side of life while being everything but boring and dull - yes, I would recommend his stories and novels wholeheartedly.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

This is the continuation of my journey of trying out an odd, not overly hyped young adult book in the hopes of finding a book I kind of like; so far I've tried The 5th Wave and Beautiful Creatures, both of which fell into the "meh" category. I am not sure if Golden Boy classifies as young adult; it's definitely not your typical example and was a well-written book. But I'm not sure and I didn't find an answer from the Internets.

 

Shatter Me is one of the two books I've given 1 star rating this year (Beautiful Creatures being the other one). The reason I picked up this one for an attempted read was because I read that the writing was a bit different and "something special" and since one of my main complaints of the YA books I've read is usually overly simplistic prose, I figured that maybe I could at least enjoy Shatter Me for its text, if nothing else.

 

I was wrong. There is such thing as "worse than simple and boring-ish writing" and that is overdone, trying-too-hard, using-weird-techniques-just-for-the-sake-of-it writing. I would be willing to give Mafi props for trying to use different things and styles in the book, but it was just SO ANNOYING. Let's see if I can make a mini-review that would reflect how I felt about this book in the same vein that it was written...

 

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The main character of this book, Juliette, overly
emo
emo
emo

emotional girl with no knowledge how stunning and sexy she is because she hasn't  seen herself she hasn't looked into a mirror for exactly 3 years 2 days 16 hours 300 seconds.

She likes a boy so much her jaw drops every time she sees him and all those breaths she didn't even know she was holding.

 

The world building was lacking in this dystopian piece for my taste, at least, and the idea that we get revealed towards the end is something that has already been done once

twice

fourty two times before.

 

I wasn't impressed I didn't like it at all.

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson

Bled dry by interminable warfare, fighting and bloody confrontations with Lord Anomander Rake, the Malazan empire simmers with discontent. Its legions yearn for some respite.

 

For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his Bridgeburners, and Tattersail, surviving sorceress of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the dead. But Empress Laseen's gaze has fallen upon Darujhistan. For this ancient citadel, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, still holds out against her.

 

However, the empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister forces are gathering as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand...

 

(From the back of the book.)

 

This is a book that has been idling on my bookshelf for years. I tried reading it about four times before this time, and I just didn't get into it. The best I did was the last attempt, when I made it near some 400 pages, and then stopped (the book is about 700 pages). Who attempts a book for four times and still doesn't give up? Me, apparently. Thing is, I knew I would like this book, if I only ever found a way to finish it. Timing is so important, and now I felt that the time had come.

 

Gardens of the Moon is high fantasy. It includes characters with supernatural powers (sorcerers, mages, healers, seers) but also some ancient and fantastical creatures. Given the multitude of different creatures included, you get the idea that the world in which these books (10 books in the series) are set in is huge.

 

The book starts with the bang, and Erikson never gets into excessive "I'll explain some things now" sessions. In fact, the reader is pretty much left on his own, oftentimes scratching head while trying to figure out all the motives and connections between the characters and events that take place.

 

It is dark and gritty (hence I chose to read it for RIP VIII), but not expressed in that kind of graphic manner as, for example, George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire world. The darkness and the grittiness is more subtle in this book and you rather feel it than see it in front of your eyes. Heads do get chopped off and souls get taken, bellies do get stabbed.

 

Due to the myriad of characters included, there are no few central characters that are everywhere and all the time, but regardless of that, the character developments are nicely done. There were a few that were very intriguing and definitely hiding a lot more than seen in the first glance.

 

The Free City of Darujhistan, where a ot of the events of the first book take place.
Picture from here.

Even though I immensely enjoyed Gardens of the Moon, it is not the kind of book I would recommend light handedly. It is definitely not a book for someone taking the first steps in the world of high fantasy - George R. R. Martin and Robin Hobb, to name a few examples, would be better, more accessible choices. If reader has background in role-playing games, it makes entering the Erikson's world a lot easier. In fact, the whole idea of the Malazan book series was born from a role-playing game. I have been a gamer for a long time (yes, nerd alert :p) and I could definitely recognise the game-ish elements in this book. Also, if you think that there are waayyy too many characters in A Song of Ice and Fire series, this might not prove to be a good book choice for you. 

 

But people who want to challenge themselves and find it rewarding to make effort for a book, this might be a suitable story to attempt.

 

Erikson says in the preface:

 

These are not lazy books. You can't float through, you just can't.

 

He also says that readers will either hate or love his books and I think I can agree. I'll try a few more books from this series and then decide which camp I belong to.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus suffered from a weird reverse-hype syndrome for me. That goes something like this:

 

1. Oo, I have just registered that this book is out with awesome premise and magic and stuff; I want to read it.

2. Wait a minute, this book of magic and stuff is getting awful lot of hype, so it possibly can't be very good.

 

You'd think you'd come to conclusion that if many people really like a book, it must be good, right? Or at least that's what the logic says; past experiences have, of course, shown that hyped books are pretty much two-edged blades.

 

Anyway, I must confess, the amount of hype is what made me postpone The Night Circus for about 9 months, since I actually had the book on my shelf since the beginning of the year. So I was glad when RIP VIII came along and I had excuse to finally tackle Erin Morgenstern's debut novel.

 

I'm not going to add a synopsis because it's known and easily accessible. Let's just say there is a magical circus that appears and disappears however and whenever it pleases, and there are lots of mysteries surrounding it and people involved.

 

My biggest problem with this book was definitely the characters. They just felt a bit shallow. I felt I wanted to know more about them. The two main characters, Celia and Marco, were the blandest ones for me. They seemed to be used just like tools in actions, and I didn't buy the romance at all. Some of the side characters were a lot more interesting and intriguing (Isobel, the twins).

 

At times I even felt like the circus itself was the main character of this book, and everyone around it just props - in a way, that approach works for the benefit of the book.

 

That being said, I did give The Night Circus a rather generous rating because it did what I expected it to do, and namely transfer me to a different world. Morgenstern's strengths lie in descriptions and atmosphere creation, and these were truly wonderfully done. When the book moved from dialogue to the streets or into the circus, I was gulping it down. The language is so simple and so accessible, but at the same time so magical.

 

I think it is a good attempt for a debut novel and I'll be curious to see what Morgenstern decides to write next.

 

What other people thought of The Night Circus:

 

Book review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern by Melissa at Confessions of an Avid Reader

Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern by Adam at Roof Beam Reader

Picture from here.

Mini-reviews #2

Basically my whole summer has been a big blogging slump (in addition to reading slump that I suffered from in the beginning of the summer), so to start from kind of a clean sheet in the beginning of autumn, I'm going to simply mark down all the books I read in summer but did not write about (except for Classics Club ones, since I want to talk about them longer).

 

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde - there is nothing I did not love about this book, except that I only managed to find a copy with this horrible cover. Covers by Hodder are wonderful and I managed to find four other books out of the first five with these covers (although I had to order them from different sources), but not the second one. Bummer. It's always going to stare at me from the bookshelf yelling "I'M THIS DIFFERENT COVER AND IT'S EVEN MORE ANNOYING 'COS I'M AWESOME AND YOU KNOW THAT".

Anyway, the wonderfully literary-witty-hilarious adventurers of Thursday Next continue in this sequel, which I maybe liked even a tiny bit more than book number one.

 

5/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin - a well-crafted and -flowing book on a sensitive subject of intersex people. Multiple POVs were well done, characters were able to draw my sympathy, there was no sugar-coating and many events happening in the book felt very life-like, instead of fairytale-ish.

Despite its very accessible writing, the book has potential to make you ponder over all kinds of deep and existentialist matters, such as staying true to yourself (trust me, in the light of the subject discussed in the book, it doesn't come off as cheesy as it may sound).

 

4/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

 

May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes - how can I even begin to think anything remotely objective about this book, having read it after it became announced as winner of this year's Women's Prize? It was a very different book and it made me curious about the author's other works (apparently she has quite a lot of published texts out!) This was not your smoothly following narrative, no; this book was dry, and snarky, and sarcastic; it dared to make fun of its own heros and the world in general. I can't remember a single descriptive scene from May We Be Forgiven! And that is exactly what I appreciated about this book. Although it did not sway my (undying?) love for Life After Life, I gave May We Be Forgiven a solid

 

4/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack by Tom Gauld - I won this book full of intelligently funny comic strips from a giveaway, which was perfect since I had almost bought it myself once, earlier. (So I was going to buy it if I didn't win it.) If you haven't visited Tom Gauld's Tumblr page, do your literary slash geeky self a favour and do it - although I did not get all the jokes (which unfortunately lowered my rating because even though it may be my own lacking level of intelligence that stops me from getting references, I think a good comic should attempt to apply very wide audiences), this book and Tom Gauld's works are hilarious. (Oh and did I mention literary? And nerdy? Yes.) And the drawing style is just adorable. 

 

I hope I'm not violating copyright, but here's a strip from Gauld's site that I linked above, the one that inspired the title of the book, and is poignant, and so hilarious:

 

 

 

4/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

Matk naeratuse eest by Adam Bahdaj, Agu Sihvka annab aru by Jaan Rannap and Roostevaba mõõk by Eno Raud - the middle-garde reads that my young self enjoyed (all are re-reads, obviously; some even multiple re-reads). First two books are outright funny - these guys know how to write hilarious characters. The third one is more of adventurery type, focusing on comeraderie and moral values. How can you even begin to give rating to the books that shaped part or your childhood? (And so many books did that for me, and I am willing to give 5/5 to them all, without a blink of an eye.)

 

5/5, 5/5 and 4/5, respectively.

C_Club #9: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Austen in August reading event)

After having finished my second Jane Austen novel, I am willing to take back all the prejudices that I used to have towards her and feel confident to say that I will intend to read all her bigger works - at first I only added two books to my Classics Club (CC) list and now I have read them both and can safely say I've not yet had enough of Jane Austen. It's no "chick lit of the past times", as I mistakenly thought. She was clearly a clever and eloquent woman.

 

I had heard of Mansfield Park as being the most boring and "meh" out of Austen's six biggest novels, and that was partly why this was the book I added to my CC list. I deliberately did not add the more popular ones, knowing that if I did like what I read from the two more controversial ones, I would get to the more popular ones anyway.

 

My guess is that the reasons why people are not that into Mansfield Park lie in characters and the pacing of the story. It is a slow roller, that is true, the romance is not that "in your face", and there are parts that can bore some people (for example, the whole fussing around with the play, which took several chapters). I personally am not disturbed by slower stories, maybe even quite the contrary.

 

When it comes to characters, and specifically the character of the female heroine Fanny, I actually liked her a lot more than I think I will like girls from Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility or Emma. I liked Fanny's quiet ways; she was almost invisible most of the time, but she had her values that she did not trade for anything. I think the mistake that is easy to make here is taking quieter personality for spinelessness. Fanny has a spine, and I would actually tip my hat to her (if I was wearing one) for what I think is her great survivability instinct. Here's what I mean: in the age of a child, Fanny was sent away from home, to live with relatives. Even if it was better for her, no-one asked whether she liked it or even, what she thought of it. In the family there were the children, and then there was Fanny, often an object of oppression and basically free workforce. I guess what I am trying to say is that Fanny never had the home field advantage, and in such situation, I think it's wiser to lay low and see how it goes, rather than show a lot of personality.

 

 

Illustrations from
http://www.mollands.net/etexts/mansfieldpark/mpillus.html

One can probably claim that Fanny is a bit boring in the sense that she is not noticeably strong heroine, but I disagree; Fanny, like many others, is a character similar to those we meet in life, and not everyone of us is always vastly unique, original, witty, snarky, et cetera. Life is full of different characters, some more outstanding than others, and although I certainly can value a very strong female character (think Marian Halcombe from The Woman in White), I am a bit disturbed by the fact that it is the characters with lots of extravagance that get most attention. I am a quiet, modest person myself, although with a lot of spine and stubborness ;), and I guess a part of me would like to think that in skilled writer's hands, a character like me would also form a (half) decent story.

 

In short, I did enjoy Mansfield Park, but partly because of low expectations to begin with; I am glad I am getting over my prejudices towards Austen, even though I know that she will never be my favourite author.

 

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Here are few other reviews on Mansfield Park that I have recently read and liked:

 

* Thoughts: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen by Adam from Roof Beam Reader

* Mansfield Park by Jane Austen by Eszter from Anneish Imaginary Adventures

* Mansfield Park by Mary from bibliographic manifestations

* Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Review) by Ekaterina from In My Book
* Mansfield Park by Jane Austen by Brona from Brona's Books

 

 

Austen in August is hosted by Adam at Roof Beam Reader.

 

Catching up - a bunch of mini-reviews

Since I am so much behind with my book-reviewing, I decided to just take the easy way out and write only a couple of words of those books I have read in the past months. (Except for the Classics Club ones, of which I want to write longer.)

 

 
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - I loved this book so much. Booknerd's dream. I can't wait to get my hands on the sequels, if what I heard is true, the series will become even better.

 

5/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

 

The Forgotten Queen by D.L. Bogdan - this book is about a less-known Tudor, Queen Margaret of Scotland. Maybe her life has not been covered so much because there was not much to say? This is what I felt when finishing this book. Margaret's character comes out as really annoying by the end (she makes a lot of questionable decisions, especially when it comes to her relations with men, and she seemed to have some serious self-esteem issues). I appreciate all that I learnt from this book, but mediocre plot + nothing-special writing didn't suck me in that much (it took me a long time to finish the book).

 

2/5 on Goodreads (just as a reminder - 2 on GR means "It was okay", so it's not even a negative rating).

 

 

 

The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker - I had problems with this book, partly maybe caused by high expectations (golems? djinn? I am bound to love it, right?) First, the writing just didn't appeal to me that much. I didn't write down a single quote from the book. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't for me. The characters showed a lot of promise, but in the end, I wasn't emotionally invested into any of them. I see what the author was trying to do and say, but for me it just came out kind of lacluster. It's quite a long book and by the end I really just wanted to get finished. Given my slight obsession with the djinn, I was also disappointed because the djinni in the book wasn't humorous or witty at all, he mostly embodied the negative characteristics (selfish, with anger management issues). I don't know, seeing all the praise for this book I was kind of sad it didn't do that much for me. That all being said, the setting of New York in the turn of the century was kind of captivating.

 

3/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte - this book proved how important it is to choose the right story for the right moment. I chose City of Dark Magic to read for the Prague trip, and it worked well, because the novel is set in Prague and it's the kind of easy reading that suits me when I have problems concentrating. I was bound to enjoy it because I was basically wandering around in those same places where characters of the book did. Aside from those subjective feelings, I got a lot of Dan Brown vibe from this book. At some point I had problems with info-dumping. Some of the things didn't make sense. I had no problems with the paranormal element. I will probably read the sequel, just because, you know, Prague.

 

3/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey - this is a young adult dystopian book that I have seen getting a lot of praise. I am not a young adult reader, so I am always in fear that I am being unfair just because the genre is not my favourite. I think it's actually a decent book. I wouldn't jump on the fangirl/-boy wagon, but it was a decent story. A few things disturbed me - given that the novel was written by several different POVs, there was really nothing except for the plot itself to give any indication that these were different characters, so I don't think the different POV-thing was done well at all. But it was a gripping read and the whole idea of by whom the earth was taken over was kind of new and captivating.

 

3/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon - I picked up this detective story after I heard the news that my grandmother has passed away and I knew for sure I won't be able to read anything heavy or actually anything that would require any kind of emotional investment. I think it served its purpose well, although it made me rething whether I want to continue with Leon's Brunetti-series. But I probably will because this being the first book of the series is definitely not the best one. The books are set in Venice, which was a huge pro-factor for me when deciding which contemporary detective series I'd like to start.

 

3/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

C_Club #8 - "The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood

This is my third Atwood-novel; earlier I have read "Oryx and Crake" and "The Handmaid's Tale". "The Blind Assassin" won Man Booker Prize in 2000 and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (The Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction as of next year) in 2001.

 

"The Blind Assassin" is a clever book. The story is told through a first person narrator, through a novel chapters and through newspaper cuts. I suppose this makes it an epistolary novel. And it is also a story within a story, so overall, a complicated story-telling technique, which should please people (such as myself) who enjoy cut-up and sown-back-together narratives and don't mind time- and focus-jumps.

 

The story starts most intriguingly: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge." The first person narrator is Iris Chase, and her younger sister Laura, who is described to commit suicide on the first page, is the author of the novel within the novel. The rest of the cast varies, though in general, we are dealing with mostly non-likable characters here. And as it has become quite common in literature, the house servants (in this case Renie and later her daughter) are those with the most sense in their brains and feet strongest on the ground.

 

Iris herself can be difficult to relate to. From the beginning she has this attitude of "Woe to me, the life takes over and there is nothing I can do about it". To an extent it is understandable, due to the situation of her family - mother is dead (no female role model there for her and her sister), father is struggling to keep up the family business, and Iris is expected to marry off wealthy in order to save the business, which she does, thinking that what else could she do in life anyway. Laura has a bit more encouraging attitude, she actually thinks it plausible that a woman could go and search for a job (which she does at one point), and she is generally much more vibrant, though also a lot more sensitive creature. Compared to Laura, Iris did come off rather phlegmatic most of the times.

 

It's difficult to write about the plot because there are twists and turns and surprises around the corner, but they are written masterfully and with a lot of elegance by Atwood. The story grows naturally page after page (for many it develops too slow, no doubt), and when something is revealed, it actually makes an impact on the reader. I was fascinated by the three channels of storytelling - the first person, the novel and the newspaper cuts. It kept me on toes all the time because I sensed that Iris herself is probably not the most reliable narrator, and the story within story also keeps you asking how much of it was fiction and how much was taken directly from the life events. So ironically, the newspaper exerpts, although neutral, cold and distance, can be the most reliable source of information here.

 

"The Blind Assassin" was very different from the other two novels by Atwood I have read (both of which were set in dystopian world) and I liked it a lot - the story was solid and I loved the writing. Margaret Atwood is definitely one of the most charming authors, language-wise, I have read. And will continue reading.

 

Why is honeymoon called that? Lune de miel, moon of honey - as if the moon itself is not a cold and airless and barren sphere of pockmarked rock, but soft, golden, luscious - a luminous candied plum, the yellow kind, melting in the mouth and sticky as desire, so achingly sweet it makes your teeth hurt. /p. 300/

 

Now I got a craving for yellow plums :)

 

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521 pages

Review: Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

Edit to begin with: this was supposed to be a post of mini-reviews on three books, but after I had started with "Alif" and had happily typed away three long paragraphs, I realised it's just not going to happen.

This G. Willow Wilson's novel was in this year's Women's Prize longlist and I wouldn't have minded if it had also been in shortlist. "Alif the Unseen" had so much speaking for it: exciting setting, lovely characters, fantastical elements depicted in a realistic world, the theme related to information technology that I find super intriguing: is it possible to create a programme that is able to identify each user's "computer handwriting"? Oh, and there's a map. And a book. And neither of those are a bad thing when it comes to reading a novel.

 

 I was extremely impressed with the way that author transferred fictional (probably?) online-chats into the text. Bottom line: they are not consistent. The chat may begin with one or both parties starting with proper capitalisation and use of punctuation marks, but as the conversation progresses (and possibly becomes heated/more nervous), people start skipping punctuation and capital letters, and it was attention to these kind of details that I loved finding in this book.

 

I'll be the first one to admit slight obsession with the jinn. When it comes to mythical/fantastical creatures, I usually maintain my composure. Dragons are nice and I approve their existence in the book-world, but to me they tend to be just characters, like any other. However, it has not been the same regarding the jinn ever since I read Jonathan Stroud's hilarious "Bartimaeus" trilogy, which, I'm afraid, changed my view on jinn forever. I like my jinn to be witty, snarky, moody, curious, passionate and overall patronising towards the "smaller" being - man. But behind all that, I also want the jinn to remain good-hearted, kind of like big brothers towards humans, and this is exactly what I got with Vikram in "Alif". Even though Alif himself and Dina were both very solid for me (as were the side characters), Vikram was the main character for me in this book. 

 

Alif creates this computer programme, which is able to recognise people behind the screen based on their "handwriting" when they type. I find this extremely intruiging, because already there are things invented like for example "personal" adds, which seem to pop up based on the pages you have visited, or the book recommendations based on the books you have listed you have liked. Alif's programme Tin Sari takes it a step further and it just makes you think once again, where is it that we are heading with all these developments in technology, automation and robots.  

 

The language is accessible but crisp and fresh, and the dialogue can oftentimes get quite snarky:

 

"I don't want foreigners involved in my business. Djinn are one thing but I draw the line at Americans." /p.114/

 

"No," said Dina. "We don't burn books."

"Who's we?"

"People with an ounce of brain." /p. 350/

 

"I know it's common for old people to complain about the modern moment, and lament the passing of a golden age when children were polite and you could buy a kilo of meat for pennies, but in our case, my boy, I think I am not mistaken when I say that something fundamental has changed about the world in which we live. [...] Revolutions have moved off the battlefield and on to home computers. Nothing shocks one anymore." /p. 366/

 

I chuckled a lot when reading "Alif" :)

 

In all, "Alif the Unseen" is a delicious mixture of modern-time Middle East, fantastical creatures, loveable (but not cheesy!) characters, a mysterious book and intriguing questions, all wrapped in good paced and humorous language.  Highly recommended.

 

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427 pages

 

C_Club #7 - "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury

This is a story about two boys, a creepy carnival, wicked characters and power of good, all set in spooky October. Welcome to the wonderfully horrible world of Ray Bradbury.

 

This novel is somewhat difficult for me to write about. It is quite different from other two Bradbury books I have read, one of the best classic dystopias "Fahrenheit 451" and short story collection "The Martian Chronicles". "Something Wicked..." is a lot faster, has a lot more energy and colours; it is an excellent example of a skillful author using "show, not tell" technique.

 

For such a short story, it has very wide cast of most extraordinary characters. Aside from Will and Jim, the two 13-year olds living in their quiet town, Will's father and their schoolteacher there are the members of the carnival - the Illustrated Man G. M. Dark (Bradbury has another short story collection also called "The Illustrated Man"), the Dust Witch, a lightning rod salesman that turns into a dwarf, a Skeleton, etc.

 

Picture from here.

For the tents were lemon like the sun, brass like wheat fields a few weeks ago. Flags and banners bright as blue-birds snapped above lion-colored canvas. From booths painted cotton-candy colors, fine Saturday smells of bacon and eggs, hot dogs and pancakes swam the wind. /p. 61/

 

It makes me wanna go there and have a carousel ride, but then again, it would not be such a good idea, because from the very beginning you realise that there is something really fishy about this particular carnival.

 

I really liked the language, although since things were not "painted red on the wood", as we say in Estonian for something that is overly simplified, at times it was a bit difficult to keep up with all the flow and craziness. But such fun.

 

The closest I would get to describe my reading experience would be an explosion of some colourful jelly-gummy-candies in my head. Or Skittles. I love Skittles. Or maybe liquorice, since it is, after all, a very spooky book.

 

This book also reminded me that I still have Erin Morgenstern's "The Night Circus" somewhere on the shelves, and that I should really read it. Should be somewhat of a similar setting.