Alison's Sloth-like 2017 Reading

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Alison's Sloth-like 2017 Reading

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1AlisonY
Modifié : Mai 2, 2017, 4:46 pm



Hi, I'm Alison and this is my third year in Club Read. I live in Northern Ireland where I'm busy with an early stage healthcare tech start up, and I have two young children of 9 and 7.

As I expect 2017 to be as busy as 2016 (if not more so), my goal for the year is contentment and enjoying the here and now, so namaste everyone!

Last year I read a fairly poor 34 books which can be found here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/220782

I look forward to exchanging book bullets again with many of you this year.

2AlisonY
Modifié : Déc 17, 2017, 5:30 pm

2017 Reading Track

January
1. The Children Act by Ian McEwan - read (3.5 stars)
2. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill - read (5 stars)

February
3. My Struggle: Book 3 by Karl Ove Knausgaard - read (4 stars)

March
4. The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing - read (4.5 stars)
5. A Life Like Other People's by Alan Bennett - read (4 stars)
6. Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf - read (3.5 stars)

April
7. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton - read (5 stars)
8. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - read (4.5 stars)

May
9. The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante - read (4.5 stars)
10. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante - read (4 stars)
11. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout - read (3 stars)
12. The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante - read (4 stars)

June
13. The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch - read (4 stars)
14. Porcelain: A Memoir by Moby - read (4 stars)

July
15. Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee - read (3 stars)
16. Saturday by Ian McEwan - read (3.5 stars)
17. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin - read (4 stars)
18. Why the Dutch are Different by Ben Coates - read (3.5 stars)

August
19. Nutshell by Ian McEwan - read (4 stars)
20. The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy - read (3.5 stars)
21. I Found my Tribe by Ruth Fitzmaurice - read (4.5 stars)
22. Once we Were Sisters by Sheila Kohler - read (4 stars)

September
23. Twisting my Melon by Shaun Ryder - read (2.5 stars)

October
24. A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of the Columbine Tragedy by Sue Klebold - read (4.5 stars)
25. The Gathering by Anne Enright - read (3.5 stars)
26. Into the Grey Zone: A Neuroscientist Explores the Border Between Life and Death by Adrian Owen - read (4 stars)

November
27. To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey - read (4 stars)

December

28. Why Write? A Master Class on the Art of Writing and Why it Matters by Mark Edmundson - read (3 stars)
29. Dubliners by James Joyce - in progress

3Simone2
Modifié : Jan 1, 2017, 11:12 am

Happy New Year, Alison! You and I share very similar tastes in books I think. When you recommended a book last year I added it immediately to my TBR and it made me read some great books. So I am looking forward to your reviews in 2017!

4dchaikin
Jan 1, 2017, 11:21 am

I'm sure I can out-sloth you Alison, the animal is my alter-ego after all and a good measure for my reading pace. I think I saw somewhere you have a busy 2017 coming, but I do hope you find some quiet peaceful reading time. Wishing you a Happy New Year.

5ELiz_M
Jan 1, 2017, 12:53 pm

Oh good, I'm pleased to see you've a 2017 thread. I enjoyed many of your reviews last year and hope to add a few more books to the tbr on your recommendation again this year. Happy New Year!

6AlisonY
Modifié : Jan 1, 2017, 1:51 pm

>3 Simone2:, >4 dchaikin:, >5 ELiz_M: Happy New Year to you too, Barbara, Dan and Liz! And ditto on those book bullets - there are a great many that fly my way from all of you too.

May 2017 bring us some great reads (and enough time to do some decent reading!).

7NanaCC
Jan 1, 2017, 2:57 pm

I know how much a busy work schedule can mess up reading plans. i went through a couple of years where audio books on my commute were the extent of my reading. Happy New Year, and I'll be checking in to see what you've found the time to read.

8AlisonY
Jan 1, 2017, 3:14 pm

>7 NanaCC: thanks Colleen, and Happy New Year to you too. I think it's tiredness during busy times too that hits you - I could have read more, but often just chose to stare wearily out the window of the bus on my commute home or immersed myself in some online rubbish instead as an escape.

I will try to be more focused this year!

9Trifolia
Jan 1, 2017, 3:47 pm

I look forward to see what you read this year too, Alison.

10AlisonY
Jan 1, 2017, 3:51 pm

>9 Trifolia: thanks Monica!

It seems I'm behind on 2017 threads already - doesn't bode well for the year ahead, but will do my best!

11janeajones
Jan 1, 2017, 4:02 pm

Happy New Year!

12AlisonY
Jan 1, 2017, 4:15 pm

>11 janeajones: and to you too Jane!

13RidgewayGirl
Jan 1, 2017, 4:16 pm

>10 AlisonY: The threads are all ridiculously active at the start of the year. We'll calm down soon.

14AlisonY
Modifié : Jan 1, 2017, 4:31 pm



1. Review - The Children Act by Ian McEwan

Here we go - book one of the year. And on 1st January too - whoop, whoop! Look at me go!! If only that reading speed would continue for the rest of the year....

This is my fifth McEwan read, and he is one of my favourite contemporary authors. I love his bizarre plot settings, and the discomfort that he puts me in as a reader. The Children Act therefore comes with a harsh 3.5 star rating from me for a bit of a failure on that very point.

The Children Act is narrated by a female London judge who is presiding over a case where a hospital wants to force a Jehovah's Witness couple and their son - who is a few months off being of adult age - to allow them to give the son a life-saving blood transfusion as part of his leukaemia treatment. At the same time as she is judging other people's lives in the family court, the protagonist's own marriage is teetering on the brink.

Were this a book by another author, this may have been a four star read for me, but as a McEwan novel it just wasn't up there.. It was very readable and i spent a pleasurable few hours turning the pages, but it lacked that McEwan shock factor that his other novels have in spades. I wasn't hooked by the characters, and I didn't have that "say WHAT??!!!!" moment that I had with his other novels.

Glad I read it, but definitely not my favourite of his.

3.5 stars - bring back the McEwan weirdness.

15AlisonY
Jan 1, 2017, 4:36 pm

>13 RidgewayGirl: good job as I'm failing miserably already at keeping up! Doing a bit of housekeeping on your thread views, etc. takes a bit of time too, doesn't it?

16Trifolia
Jan 1, 2017, 4:48 pm

>14 AlisonY: - Apparently you did not like it as much as I did when I read it in 2015. It was one of my best reads then. But I've heard a lot of people who are a fan of McEwan struggle with this book. Which one was your favourite?

17dchaikin
Jan 1, 2017, 5:44 pm

Some provoking commentary on McEwan in your first review. I've only read Saturday, which I find odd in hindsight. Certainly there wasn't much of a shock factor.

And I like your picture in post 1. Nemaste.

18AlisonY
Jan 1, 2017, 6:17 pm

>16 Trifolia: I really liked Enduring Love, and also The Cement Garden (disturbing as it was). On Chesil Beach was also terrific, although very different to those two.

Atonement I struggled with a little - I loved half of it, but found the first half dragged somewhat.

>18 AlisonY: namaste, Dan. Saturday I have yet to get to, but it's on the TBR list. Did you enjoy it?

19PaulCranswick
Jan 1, 2017, 8:34 pm

Happy New year, Alison and great to see you have polished off a book already, albeit a relatively shorty by McEwan.

I agree with your assessment that he can be a bit hit and miss although he is nearly always worth a go. My favourite of his, probably because it was the first I read is The Innocent. He does do a fine take on weird.

There are not so many members, I am sure, from the beautiful country of Northern Ireland. I advised on a construction claim in Kilroot many moons ago and have fond memories of the country. Anywhere that could spawn Van the Man, Georgie Best, Alex the Hurricane and CS Lewis deserves of respect!

I will drop a star and look forward to following your reading.

By the way over at the 75 Book Challenge I administer a British Author Challenge and this month Northern Irish born Brian Moore features (along with Elizabeth Bowen as part of an Anglo-Irish theme).

20dchaikin
Jan 1, 2017, 9:10 pm

>18 AlisonY: I'm probably the wrong source about Saturday, as I just kind stumbled into it, found it very dull, and then it ended with a lot of tense stuff that kept my interest. But I didn't get it. Later I heard it was a criticism of Tony Blair - maybe a somewhat sophisticated take on him as something of a nothing, or maybe not.

21The_Hibernator
Jan 1, 2017, 9:15 pm

22OscarWilde87
Jan 2, 2017, 3:30 am

Happy New Year! I'll be following your reading again this year. :)

23AlisonY
Jan 2, 2017, 6:30 am

>19 PaulCranswick: hi Paul - thanks for stopping by. Although N. Ireland has a relatively small population, somehow like a bad penny we seem to turn up everywhere! Kilroot definitely wasn't the most beautiful area to be in our country, but hopefully you got a chance to take in some other places whilst you were here! Vivienne (who is very active in CR) hails originally from NI, and I think she reads Brian Moore from time-to-time. I've not got to him yet.

I must take a look at The Innocent - not a McEwan I've come across yet.

>20 dchaikin: I think others have criticised Saturday too on here, Dan. I seem to have something in the back of my mind about it not being a favourite McEwan novel for many people.

>21 The_Hibernator:, >22 OscarWilde87: Happy New Year to you both too! Look forward to your reading this year too.

24baswood
Jan 2, 2017, 6:41 pm

>14 AlisonY: So shocked by not being shocked by an Ian McEwan book.

25arubabookwoman
Jan 2, 2017, 8:12 pm

Hi Alison. I'm looking forward to following your thread again this year. Last year I mostly lurked and failed to participate much. This year I hope to comment more.

Too bad that you didn't like the McEwan more, but it was also not one of my favorites. I haven't read The Innocent, but have it on my TBR shelf, so perhaps I'll get to it this year.

Best wishes for the New Year.

26kidzdoc
Jan 3, 2017, 5:08 am

Nice review of The Children Act, Alison. It was a 3-1/2 star read for me as well. I also agree with your recommendations of The Cement Garden and On Chesil Beach, and I would add Saturday as well.

My first completed book of 2017 was also written by McEwan, namely Nutshell. What's the chance that our second books will have been written by the same author?

27ursula
Jan 3, 2017, 7:56 am

I think I don't really get along with McEwan, although The Cement Garden last year was the first I haven't essentially hated. There are more on the 1001 books list, so I have more opportunities to refine my opinion on him. :)

28mabith
Jan 3, 2017, 11:27 am

Enjoying the discussion on Ian McEwan. I've never felt drawn to reading anything by him, but perhaps in the future. Looking forward to seeing your reading this year.

29AlisonY
Jan 3, 2017, 3:24 pm

>24 baswood: that's really all that was wrong with it - otherwise I did enjoy it, and the court setting was interesting. There was a twist in the tale, but it wasn't the usual OMG McEwan shock factor.

>25 arubabookwoman: hi Deborah. Happy New Year to you too. Hoping you get time to keep your thread going this year, as you always have some very good reads.

>26 kidzdoc: interesting that you class Saturday up with the other two McEwan's that I also enjoyed. Not one to discount then after all. I've already started my second book - I'm on a Heather O'Neill novel. Did we manage to choose the same second author?! Shame Nutshell was lukewarm too. What's McEwan doing to us starting 2017 like this....

>27 ursula: am I right in remembering that you were also not a fan of Atonement Ursula? If so, I can understand why not. On Chesil Beach and Enduring Love were much better.

>28 mabith: aw, give him a go one day. Enduring Love is my favourite so far.

30valkyrdeath
Jan 3, 2017, 5:51 pm

I've never read anything by Ian McEwan but I keep seeing mention of his books. I've not decided if I want to try reading anything by him or where to start if I do. Looking forward to following your reading.

31kidzdoc
Jan 4, 2017, 3:37 am

>29 AlisonY: Our streak will end at one, as I'm reading Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond and A Question of Power by Bessie Head.

32ipsoivan
Jan 4, 2017, 7:48 am

I'm weighing in on McEwan. I'd recommend Black Dogs. I've found him pretty downhill from there, although I did like Chesil Beach and have avoided the last 3.

33ursula
Jan 4, 2017, 11:02 am

>29 AlisonY: You're right, I didn't like Atonement at all. But I liked it more than Amsterdam, which I absolutely loathed.

34SassyLassy
Jan 4, 2017, 1:27 pm

McEwan is a contemporary favourite of mine too, although as you say, sometimes he can disappoint. In my case, I had the opposite reactions to you: quite liked The Children Act, but was disappointed by On Chesil Beach. Saturday is one I was unsure of while reading it, but it has grown on me since reading it, in the sense that I still find myself pondering it from time to time.

35PaulCranswick
Jan 4, 2017, 9:09 pm

My ranking of the Ian McEwan novels I have read:

1 The Innocent
2 On Chesil Beach
3 The Child in Time
4 Black Dogs
5 Amsterdam
6 The Comfort of Strangers

of the other 8 novels I have all bar Nutshell on the shelves.

36AnnieMod
Jan 5, 2017, 12:23 am

Sounds like I really need to try Ian McEwan one of those days....

37AlisonY
Modifié : Jan 5, 2017, 8:06 am

Very interesting debate - thanks all for getting into the chat on McEwan. Seems like he is another Marmite author a bit like Jonathan Franzen (I love him too, so must be a Marmite girl).

>30 valkyrdeath: given the very diverse views people have expressed here on McEwan's books, I think any recommendation on where to start with McEwan would probably be useless. What one person loves by him, another loathes. He does seem to be an author where people usually like some of his books, although which 'some' seems to be very wide.

>31 kidzdoc: look forward to your review on Evicted - that seems to be a great and important read.

>32 ipsoivan: I didn't know anything about Black Dogs and just looked it up on Amazon. Sounds like my kind of McEwan - definitely one for the TBR in the future.

>33 ursula: interested in your loathing of Amsterdam. From reviews I've read it seems that many feel about it a little like I felt after The Children Act - it has the bare bones to be a great novel, but the characters don't seem to evolve in the same way as in his best work to make it a good enough read. Was that your experience of it?

>34 SassyLassy: I can see why you mightn't have enjoyed On Chesil Beach. I really liked it - I thought it was a brilliantly subtle and clever idea that their embarrassment over being able to communicate their feelings on one fundamental part of their new marriage led to such a catastrophic misinterpretation on how the other was feeling and who they actually were as a person. I can't decide if I want to read Saturday or not given thoughts on it seem so split.

>35 PaulCranswick: So of your McEwan ranking, Paul, did you enjoy all six to a greater or lesser extent, or did any of them totally bomb for you?

>36 AnnieMod: please do Annie - he makes for such interesting discussion on CR!

38PaulCranswick
Jan 5, 2017, 8:40 am

>37 AlisonY: I wouldn't say any of them bombed exactly but I would someday care to re-read the first three and not the next three.

39Simone2
Jan 5, 2017, 9:39 am

For me, most of McEwan's novels start promising and most don't live up to the expectations. Still I keep reading him, although I haven't read Nutshell yet.

40Trifolia
Jan 5, 2017, 10:06 am

I checked and have read seven books by McEwan. I have added my ratings:
The Children Act - 4,5 stars
Solar - 4 stars
Atonement by Ian McEwan - 4 stars
Black Dogs - 3,5 stars
On Chesil Beach - 3,5 stars
Amsterdam - 3 stars
Sweet Tooth - 3 stars

One thing you can say about McEwan's books is that they're not formulaic. Looking at the list, I can hardly believe these books were all written by one author.

41RidgewayGirl
Jan 5, 2017, 10:38 am

I hope you're enjoying Lullabies for Little Criminals. Heather O'Neill is one of my favorite authors.

42ursula
Jan 5, 2017, 11:06 am

>37 AlisonY: I had to look back because all I remember now is hatred. But apparently I thought it had a promising beginning. I just can't forgive what I thought was a truly stupid ending.

43AlisonY
Jan 5, 2017, 1:16 pm

>38 PaulCranswick: well I haven't read 2 of your top 3 yet so that bodes well!

>39 Simone2: I agree, but still there's something I really love about him. I think his good stuff is so good I forget the lesser stuff.

>40 Trifolia: you've read a fair few McEwan's there - clearly another fan! I think you've totally hit the nail on the head - it's probably because his writing is not formulaic that everyone has different favourites.

>41 RidgewayGirl: I am, Kay. I'm about a third of the way through it and enjoying it. I have a feeling it's about to get a lot sadder as it goes on.

>42 ursula: many a book has been spoilt with a stupid ending. You have me slightly curious now on that one!

44Trifolia
Modifié : Jan 5, 2017, 1:24 pm

>43 AlisonY: - many a book has been spoilt with a stupid ending... I can't remember where I read that a reader should better stop before the ending because the author gets it all wrong (probably Tim Parks). I could not agree more. So often, the journey is much more pleasant than the destination.

45AlisonY
Modifié : Jan 6, 2017, 1:13 pm

>44 Trifolia: indeed. I think I tend to speed up and rush my reading towards the end of a book, though. Maybe it's because the endings are usually no great shakes as you say.

46AlisonY
Modifié : Jan 8, 2017, 11:43 am



2. Review - Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill

This is a terrific book which I won't for a minute be able to do justice on in this review.

Lullabies for Little Criminals is a hard-hitting story about Baby, a 12 year old girl being brought up by her young father who is in poor health, is fairly uneducated and is a drug addict. Despite his best intentions and a love of sorts for the child, his immaturity, ignorance and lack of opportunities make him wholly unfit for the job of parenting and for providing for a family.

Although she is a child with great intellect and potential, we witness firsthand the spiralling, destructive impact that Baby's broken home environment has on her young life. It is an all too real story of the repercussions of neglect and abject poverty.

Whilst there are numerous fictional novels set in a similar environment, O'Neill achieves something special in this novel. Told in the first person by Baby, we experience the story both through Baby's eyes and through our own eyes as an adult reader. As a reader we see the smaller forks in the road and the inevitable bigger picture road to ruin that they lead to, yet in parallel we experience what it is like to be inside the head of that 12 year old, and why those decisions seem like the right ones at the time.

Heather O'Neill does an amazing job of authenticating that juvenile thought process. She was brought up in a similarly impoverished neighbourhood, and manages to develop this insight to the next level, accurately understanding the emotional needs and reactions of that age.

After reading it I honestly feel like I understand the true cycle of poverty better. Despite his total failure as a father, we could understand Baby's dad at times - he undoubtedly loved her, but he had neither the intelligence nor opportunity to pull himself out of that environment. He had no role models, he was emotionally unequipped for the task, he had little resources with which to pull himself out of poverty with, he was mentally unstable from drug addiction, and he knew of no other way of living so felt there was nothing better to strive for.

Baby craves all that he cannot give her - stability, consistency, safety, physical affection, boundaries and encouragement. We see through her eyes how children will look for emotional support and connection wherever they can find it. Let down by a proper system of adult support, there is unfortunately no shortage of lowlifes to prey on their vulnerability, and in small steps they stray from the path into the undergrowth.

The psychology of this book will stay with me for quite some time - it's not often that I feel like I'm thinking through the head of the main character to such an extent.

5 stars - sad, raw and impacting.

47japaul22
Jan 8, 2017, 12:00 pm

>46 AlisonY: This has been on my list for a long time after several other flowing CR reviews. I really need to get to it!

48Trifolia
Jan 8, 2017, 3:49 pm

Excellent review, Alison, of what appears to be an excellent book if it can do such things to a reader.

49RidgewayGirl
Jan 8, 2017, 4:19 pm

Excellent review of Lullabies. Her other work is more light-hearted, but is still set in that same part of Montreal.

50dchaikin
Jan 8, 2017, 5:16 pm

Great review. It's special when a book can really bring you into a characters head so can really sense their world.

51PaulCranswick
Jan 9, 2017, 1:15 am

>46 AlisonY: Enjoyed your review, Alison. I must read something of hers this year.

52Simone2
Jan 9, 2017, 4:07 am

>46 AlisonY: Wow, I absolutely must read this book. Loved your review!

53AlisonY
Jan 9, 2017, 4:10 am

>47 japaul22:, >48 Trifolia:, >49 RidgewayGirl:, >50 dchaikin:, >51 PaulCranswick:, >52 Simone2: thanks all. I was initially going to give it a good 4 in terms of stars, but I've thought about it so much afterwards that I think it's deserving of 5 (for me anyway).

54kidzdoc
Jan 9, 2017, 4:27 am

Fabulous review of Lullabies for Little Criminals, Alison! This has been on my radar screen for awhile, but I now want to read it very soon.

55NanaCC
Jan 9, 2017, 8:43 am

Lullabies for Little Criminals sounds like a good one, Alison. I just put it in my notebook to check out at a future date.

56janeajones
Jan 9, 2017, 2:43 pm

Great review of Lullabies for Little Criminals. I read it a couple of years ago and absolutely agree witih your assessment -- it's a book that stays with the reader for a long time.

57AlisonY
Jan 9, 2017, 4:41 pm

>54 kidzdoc: thanks Daryl. Hope you enjoy it if / when you get to it.

>55 NanaCC: I'm sure that notebook is bulging at the seams, Colleen!

>56 janeajones: thanks Jane. It's one of those books where it takes me a while after reading it to collect my thoughts, but I really thought it was impacting.

58Rebeki
Jan 10, 2017, 5:16 am

Hi Alison, to go back to the McEwan chat, I'm one who loved On Chesil Beach, found Atonement a slog and didn't love Saturday, but am glad I read it. It's not a long book in any case and I think you'd be able to work out pretty quickly whether it was for you or not.

59AlisonY
Jan 10, 2017, 1:28 pm

>58 Rebeki: feel fairly similarly on On Chesil Beach and Atonement. Atonement was much longer than it needed to be, although there were some really enjoyable parts. From memory I think I liked the second half much more.

60auntmarge64
Jan 24, 2017, 9:30 am

>1 AlisonY: Love the frog!

61AlisonY
Jan 24, 2017, 2:09 pm

>61 AlisonY: I wish I was achieving the same levels of relaxation as him right now!

62AlisonY
Fév 10, 2017, 6:32 pm



3. Review - My Struggle: Book 3 Boyhood Island by Karl Ove Knausgaard

Another winner by Mr. Knausgaard. Like with Books 1 and 2, I found myself continually wondering why I was so hooked reading about the mundane ins and outs of a regular person's life (in this book, his childhood years), and the only answer I can come up with is that he tells it with such clarity and insight you are totally propelled into the story, to the extent where you feel the emotions of being that child.

This was an uncomfortable read in places - as a child he had a total abject fear of his father, and seemed to exist in a permanent state of heightened anxiety waiting for him to receive his wrath.

I had to remind myself at times that this is not an autobiography in its purest sense - no one has this level of detail about their childhood, and clearly there are more gaps filled in with fictional accounts than real memories. But still - to achieve this sense of reality of being back in his own head as a child is nothing short of astounding.

Probably not my favourite of the 3 books I've read so far, but a winner nonetheless.

4 stars - can this man do no writing wrong?

63AlisonY
Modifié : Mar 6, 2017, 8:29 am



4. Review - The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing

The Grass is Singing opens with the murder of Mary Turner, a white Southern Rhodesian's farmer's wife, by one of the farm's black workers. Whilst to the local police this is an open and shut case of simple "native" brutality, as we walk back through the years in Mary's life we discover that a long and complex road of disappointment and racial prejudice has ultimately laid the path to her murder.

I found this incredibly layered novel to be profoundly psychoanalytical and disturbing. In 200 short pages Lessing manages to convey the utter horror of a black/white segregated 1940s Southern Africa in a way that affected me much more than other books I've read with this setting. Mary's loathing of "the natives" runs much deeper than her husband's, manifesting itself in untempered disdain and a complete inability to consider the black workers on any human level. Her husband Dick tries to operate his farm workforce with a level of fairness, yet one doesn't have to peel back the layers of the onion too far to see that this "fairness" is based on the doctrine of keeping the coloured man down in his place under the total control of the the white man.

He was obeying the dictate of the first law of white South Africa, that is "Thou shalt not let your fellow whites sink lower than a certain point; because if you do, the nigger will see that he is as good as you are".

This is not only a novel about racial hatred, however. The Grass is Singing is an acutely observant look at the human psyche, of how life's twists and turns slowly but surely sour and disappoint a once vibrant and popular woman until she loses herself completely into that which she had always so defiantly tried to avoid becoming.

I've found this a very difficult book to review as there are so many facets to it, but what I think stands out most is it's starkly honest portrayal of how many of the white southern Africans considered their fellow black men to be entirely sub-human and requiring management in the same way as the beasts of the land.

4.5 stars - a darkly disturbing read in many ways, but a profound and important one that will leave me thinking about it for some time.

64ursula
Mar 6, 2017, 8:13 am

>62 AlisonY: Not reading your review because I plan to read that this year but wow, just seeing the cover makes me want to start it RIGHT NOW. :)

65AlisonY
Mar 6, 2017, 8:27 am

>64 ursula: it's very powerful - enjoy!

66AlisonY
Mar 6, 2017, 10:07 am

I'm trying to get back into reading mode whilst dealing with some bumps in the road of life (or are they potholes...). It seems like a bit of reading apathy has hit many of us in CR this year for different reasons - here's to us all getting our reading mojo back soon.

67Simone2
Mar 6, 2017, 1:17 pm

>63 AlisonY: Great review. I have read it, your review makes me remember how good it is.

And I hope you'll be able to conquer the potholes in life soon and will find some time to relax and read.

68SassyLassy
Mar 6, 2017, 4:13 pm

>66 AlisonY: I'll certainly second that. I hope you get back to reading soon; those slumps are awful.

69dchaikin
Mar 6, 2017, 7:20 pm

Great review Alison. And awesome comments on Knausgaard 3, which I just caught. I need to read him. !

70mabith
Mar 6, 2017, 8:01 pm

Great review of The Grass is Singing. It's on my list to read soon, but annoyingly there's no audiobook available so it might take me a while.

71valkyrdeath
Mar 6, 2017, 8:14 pm

>63 AlisonY: I already wanted to read The Grass is Singing but your excellent review has made me bump it up the list now. I just need to find the most convenient place to get hold of a copy.

72AlisonY
Mar 7, 2017, 4:18 am

>67 Simone2:, >68 SassyLassy: thank you. I haven't given up on reading altogether - my attention's just wandering too much at the moment for me to get into a book in the usual way.

>69 dchaikin: hope you give Knausgaard a go sometime, Dan - would be interested in your thoughts on his writing.

>70 mabith: I'm not an audio book lover, but I can imagine The Grass is Singing could work well in spoken form.

>71 valkyrdeath: I hope I haven't over-hyped it! :)

73AlisonY
Modifié : Mar 11, 2017, 6:35 am



5. Review - A Life Like Other People's by Alan Bennett

A Life Like Other People's is the main story from Bennett's collection Untold Stories, but is long enough to stand up a short memoir in its own right in this publication.

This memoir focuses on Bennett's family, primarily his parents in later life and two of his aunts. It covers some difficult ground, especially his mother's lifelong struggle against depression and her 15 years of being lost through Alzheimer's, yet is never maudlin or self-pitying.

I loved this book. It was thoroughly 'Great British' - full of dry humour in the darkest of times, and with many warm moments of old-school British daftness around everything from his mother's perception of 'commonness' to her aspiration to join the 'cocktail set' she read about in her women's magazines, despite both her and her husband being teetotallers.

'Your Dad and me have found an alcoholic drink that we really like. It's called bitter lemon'.

Nor was it merely the drink at cocktail parties my mother found mysterious, but the food that was on offer there too.... a sausage had only to be hoisted onto a stick to become for my mother an emblem of impossible sophistication.


4 stars - warmed the cockles of my heart. My first but certainly not my last Bennett read.

74Rebeki
Mar 8, 2017, 11:22 am

>73 AlisonY: This sounds great! I've read The Uncommon Reader and seen the film version of The History Boys, but never felt especially inclined to try Bennett's non-fiction until I saw the documentary about him on BBC2 over Christmas. Did you see it? I guess I should start with Writing Home, but A Life Like Other People's does sound appealing.

75AlisonY
Mar 8, 2017, 12:52 pm

>74 Rebeki: no, I didn't see the documentary. I'll take a look for it online as I'm sure it's fascinating.

A Life Like Other People's is definitely is a book that doesn't need to be read in chronological order with his other memoirs. I imagine you could pick up any of his non-fiction in any order.

76Rebeki
Mar 8, 2017, 1:24 pm

>75 AlisonY: Yes, I'm sure you're right. I tend to get a bit funny about reading things "in order" and then never end up reading them!

77janeajones
Mar 8, 2017, 4:13 pm

Excellent review of the Lessing. Misread it years ago, and your review brought back the anguish of the book.

78AlisonY
Mar 8, 2017, 4:25 pm

>77 janeajones: thanks Jane. Probably one worth a second read at sometime too when I'm in more of a reading chillax mood.

79NanaCC
Mar 8, 2017, 4:42 pm

I didn't read it, but the movie of The Lady in the Van was terrific.

80Rebeki
Mar 10, 2017, 6:34 am

>79 NanaCC: Colleen, your post reminded me that I had this film recorded and I watched it last night - very enjoyable, if rather sad at the same time.

81AlisonY
Mar 10, 2017, 7:44 am

>79 NanaCC:, >80 Rebeki: The Lady in the Van is the Bennett book I wanted to start with, but never seemed to get my hands on a copy of it. Must check out if the film ever makes it on to Netflix.

82baswood
Mar 10, 2017, 6:00 pm

Excellent review of The Grass is Singing. It was Lessing's stunning first novel.

Enjoyed your review of Alan Bennett's book, he is one of my favourite English men. I have read plenty of articles and short stories by him and your review reminded me I should get one of his books,

83AlisonY
Mar 11, 2017, 12:42 pm



6. Review - Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

Kent Haruf excels at creating characters with big hearts dealing with other characters with damaged souls. In this novel a widow and widower have got to a point in life where they want to stop giving a sh*t about what other people think and to concentrate on living and happiness. Amen to that.

It's a short novel, but one that pulls you quickly in. If you enjoy plot-driven books, forget it - this novel is all about life and relationships.

I'm glad I read it and zipped through it in a couple of sittings, but Haruf set the bar high with the Plainsong trilogy (or at least with Plainsong 1 - I still need to get hold of copies of the next two), and I felt that this novel was just a teeny bit lacking by comparison.

3.5 stars - a good read, but I feel I'll forget it in as quick a time as it took me to read it.

84AlisonY
Modifié : Mar 13, 2017, 4:09 pm

To my good pal who lurks quietly on this thread from time to time (you know who you are) - thanks for my present of The Lady in the Van DVD on the back of conversations on here about Alan Bennett. It brought a smile to my face and was heartwarming in the middle of some real doggy doo days.

85VivienneR
Mar 21, 2017, 10:19 pm

>46 AlisonY: Excellent review! I've heard so much about Lullabies for little criminals I have added it to my wishlist after reading your review.

>73 AlisonY: I love Alan Bennett so this one is a must-read for me! I wonder if it is the same material as in Untold Stories.

>83 AlisonY: Kent Haruf is another favourite writer. Unlike you, I enjoyed Our souls at night a bit more than Plainsong. I somehow forgot to get around to Eventide so I have to thank you for the reminder.

86AlisonY
Mar 22, 2017, 5:28 am

>85 VivienneR: Vivienne I think the Alan Bennett book is the same as what is in Untold Stories. I haven't read that, but I believe A Life Like Other People's is the longest story within that.

On Our Souls at Night, I did enjoy it and zipped through it, but I knew I would forget it fairly quickly.

87AlisonY
Mar 23, 2017, 4:28 pm

Had to post this link as seeing so many gorgeous bookshelves on one web page just brightened up my day:

http://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/interiors/bookshelf-ideas-living-room-study-desi...

I need a personal library. Sigh.

88Simone2
Mar 25, 2017, 7:18 pm

>87 AlisonY: Great pictures. I love book shelves.

89AlisonY
Avr 1, 2017, 3:24 pm



7. Review - The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

I grabbed this book in reluctant desperation from the library, expecting it to be a slog and not up my street at all. Well, I never - I bloody loved it, and my Saturday housework plans have gone totally up the left as I've been totally absorbed in the last 200 pages I had left to finish.

Set in Amsterdam in the 1600s, a young girl arrives at her new husband's house full of hopeful expectations for her marriage, only to be bitterly disappointed by the icy reception that awaits her from her new family and household staff. Receiving an inappropriately childish wedding gift from her husband of an ornate doll's house which is an exact replica of her new home, as the house is furnished art begins to imitate life, and the secrets of the house start to become unlocked.

This was a great read. The characters were complex and mysterious, I loved the setting of old trading Amsterdam, and the plot had me guessing from the first page to the last.

This seems to be a Marmite read which surprises me. I felt it had great pace and consistently good writing, and I enjoyed the sub-plots which knitted together well to a great conclusion.

5 stars - a great read, and I will be keeping an eye out for The Muse from Burton now with some interest.

90Simone2
Avr 1, 2017, 3:49 pm

>89 AlisonY: Who would have thought it would be so great? I heard of it but never meant to read it. Your 5 stars make me reconsider, I'll put it to the wishlist!

91AlisonY
Avr 1, 2017, 3:59 pm

>90 Simone2: well I'm always nervous to recommend something that other people might hate! Worked for me, though. Would definitely not have been something I'd normally have picked up, but I thought it was clever.

92mabith
Avr 1, 2017, 6:04 pm

The Miniaturist sounds interesting, definitely going on my list.

93VivienneR
Modifié : Avr 5, 2017, 4:38 pm

>89 AlisonY: You got me with that one! On the wishlist it goes. The Muse by the same author looks good too!

94OscarWilde87
Avr 11, 2017, 4:28 am

I'm also intrigued by The Miniaturist now. Thanks!

95AlisonY
Avr 11, 2017, 5:52 pm

>94 OscarWilde87: The fear of the over-enthusiastic review!! Hope you enjoy it if you get a chance to pick it up.

96AlisonY
Avr 19, 2017, 6:42 pm



Particularly the first one. Sigh.

97dchaikin
Avr 19, 2017, 9:06 pm

>96 AlisonY: can I add kids and pets and housework?

Glad you liked Our Souls at Night. I'll have to keep Plainsong in mind. Interesting about The Miniaturist, and it's marmite-ness.

98AlisonY
Avr 20, 2017, 2:45 pm



8. Review - My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

OK, OK... I concede - you were all right! This was a brilliant book which was right up my street - intertwining family sagas, brilliant character development, an interesting setting away from the norm in the backstreets of mid 20th century Naples.

I'm so glad I DID pick this up on the back of all your glowing recommendations, otherwise I might not have made it through the first 40 or 50 pages which didn't grab me to begin with.

I have two slight negatives, which I'm reluctant to mention but I'm a grouch so I will anyway. Number 1, which we've done to death - the cover. I felt like reading it on the bus concealed behind another book such was my shame that people would think I was reading the type of little old lady romance books that my library is full of. Even my husband, who is a literary neanderthal, commented "That's not the normal kind of book you go for". Enough said.

Secondly, although I did hugely enjoy it, I felt like it was a very good book, not some new genre-redefining masterpiece worthy of the pedestal it has been put up on. So for that twisted reason alone I am deducting half a star, but I do have books 2 and 3 on order already so clearly I am as hooked as the rest of you were.

4.5 stars - My brilliant read. Took me right out of a brief reading slump.

99Simone2
Avr 20, 2017, 4:41 pm

>98 AlisonY: Haha, great review. Your cover is horrible indeed!
The series are getting better by the page so I guess your slumping days will be over now :-). Looking forward to what you'll think of all developments and characters.

100AlisonY
Avr 20, 2017, 4:53 pm

>99 Simone2: I think my husband thought I'd moved on to Barbara Taylor Bradford.

101dchaikin
Avr 20, 2017, 5:33 pm

>98 AlisonY: so happy to read your review and that you liked it, and it turned your reading slump. Both criticisms sound right to me - especially the cover, but the other one too.

102VivienneR
Avr 20, 2017, 7:48 pm

>98 AlisonY: I gave this a try but didn't make it beyond the first dozen or so pages - but then I read Daniel's review and decided to give it another go. Your great review has reinforced the decision!

103Simone2
Avr 21, 2017, 7:20 am

>100 AlisonY: Barbara Taylor Bradford, LOL, that's the best comparison indeed!

104japaul22
Avr 21, 2017, 8:13 am

>98 AlisonY: I'm glad you loved this book and that it got you out of a reading slump. I was one of the naysayers, though, who read the whole thing and just didn't like it. I find that a little embarrassing since almost everyone raves about it and I should have loved it - centered on a relationship between women, interesting setting, etc. that's my thing! - but I just couldn't connect to the characters.

105NanaCC
Avr 21, 2017, 9:43 am

>104 japaul22: I had the same problem that you did, Jennifer. But I've considered continuing with the series based upon comments I've read that the other books are much better than the first.

106RidgewayGirl
Avr 21, 2017, 9:49 am

>98 AlisonY: I enjoyed My Brilliant Friend, but I wasn't blown away. That came midway through the second book and continued to the end. The groundbreaking stuff, especially from a southern European point of view, builds as the story progresses.

107Simone2
Avr 21, 2017, 12:41 pm

I also fell for it halfway the second book. So you're in for a treat, it only gets better!

108AlisonY
Avr 21, 2017, 2:06 pm

>101 dchaikin: thank you Dan. Your review finally tipped me over to give in and order it from the library.

>102 VivienneR: so you still have to get back to it, Vivienne? Hope you enjoy it if you do.

>104 japaul22:, >105 NanaCC:, >106 RidgewayGirl:, >107 Simone2: interesting comments. I do totally get why you weren't blown away by it, hence by dropping a half star, but I did get really into it after a while (although again, I don't see it as being in a different league to other books I've really enjoyed recently). Looking forward to the next books if they only get better.

109dchaikin
Avr 21, 2017, 3:33 pm

It's interesting to see all these comments about the first Neopolitan book. It's the only one I used audio for, and I got so deeply into it that critic in me was retired for the duration. Wonder how much was the listening experience (reader was terrific) and how was the book (and my response to it).

110janeajones
Avr 23, 2017, 11:15 pm

It's a history of the last half of the 20th c, from a female perspective. Absolutely absorbing.

111AlisonY
Avr 28, 2017, 6:35 am

>109 dchaikin:, >110 janeajones: into the second one now, as I know if I leave it a while I'll completely forget who everyone is. Grabbing me so far.

112AlisonY
Modifié : Mai 10, 2017, 11:49 am



9. Review - The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante

Well, I'm delighted to report that I found the "second book" to be as good as the first, if not better. The reason for the speech marks is that I don't believe this to be a second book at all. In the normal sense, a second book would mean maybe picking up a decade or so on, or perhaps would play with time and propel the reader back to an earlier point in time. Ferrante, however, picks up without drawing breath from the exact same scene that book 1 left on.

I therefore suspect we are being had, and that this is not a quartet of four novels but rather one big, ginormous, gargantuan mega novel that makes Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy look like a short story (this second book alone was 470 pages long).

That being said, hurrah for big, ginormous, gargantuan mega novels when they're as good as this! I was once again immersed in the characters and the tense setting of the backstreets of Naples, and the pages flew by.

Yet again the cover irked me, and my husband commented one morning without irony that it was a book that my Aunty Betty would probably enjoy. Aunty Betty is a spirited, much loved aunt of mine who reads, in my opinion, very poor quality romance novels that should never see the light of day. I told him he was mistaken and that this was 'literature' and not the type of book that Aunty Betty would ever read despite the cover, so he asked me to describe it to him. After I'd finished, he concluded "so it's a romance novel then".

I have to say it got me thinking. I said sneeringly in my review of Book 1 that the cover made it look like I was reading a Barbara Taylor Bradford novel, but is that really so far from the truth? Fantastic as this Neapolitan quartet is, is the truth perhaps that this is just chick lit at its best but we're too snobbish to think of it as that so we're convincing ourselves it's literary fiction?

The jury is out in my head. However, I care less - whatever Ferrante is writing, I love it, and I can't wait to pick up the thread in Book 3.

4.5 stars - now where did I put that Danielle Steele book....

PS - can I just add to my small list of complaints about Ferrante that I hate the titles too. Now they are on a Barbara Cartland level, not Barbara Taylor Bradford. Sorry to the Barbaras - not picking on you....

113janeajones
Mai 1, 2017, 10:43 pm

I think you have to blame the American publishers for the covers and even the titles of the books. And yes, it's one long novel split into 4 books -- ala early Dickens publications.

114AlisonY
Mai 2, 2017, 2:26 pm

>113 janeajones: we have the same covers in the UK so I don't think we can only blame the US publishers. Did I read on here somewhere some time ago that Ferrante chose the covers?

115Simone2
Modifié : Mai 2, 2017, 3:32 pm

>114 AlisonY: Yes someone mentioned that somewhere here. The Dutch covers are much better though, you can see them among the cover options.

Love your review and think you're right, that is to say I regard them as superb chick lit rather than literary fiction because I did love them but they didn't leave me full of thoughts and questions and revelations, as literary fiction often does.
An exception for me was the third volume, that one was thought provoking - for me.
You'll soon find out, I'm sure!

116AlisonY
Mai 2, 2017, 4:36 pm

>115 Simone2: just started the third volume now. I normally don't like reading book sets back to back, but I fear I'll forget who everyone is if I don't read these all in a row.

117ELiz_M
Mai 2, 2017, 7:15 pm

Love the new photo in >1 AlisonY:

118AlisonY
Mai 3, 2017, 3:56 am

>117 ELiz_M: you can't beat a cat with attitude!

119AlisonY
Mai 8, 2017, 2:56 am



10. Review - Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante

Number 3 in the Neapolitan novels series, and another belter. This one felt different to the first two - perhaps a little less 'good chick lit' and a little more in the direction of literary fiction.

This part of the series is set in the 1960s / 70s, when political tensions in Italy between the Fascists and Communists were running high, and Lena, the narrator, has left the neighbourhood and Naples for a 'much better' lifestyle with her professor husband who comes from a very well connected family.

I'm slightly torn on this book versus the first two - on the one hand it has more narrative depth, with the turmoil of the political backdrop and the class tensions that exist. However, in the first half of the book, I found it a little harder to connect with the characters because of this new political diversion, and had I picked it up without firstly falling in love with them in the first two books I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much as I did. There was less active development of the relationship between Elena and Lila due to their geographical and social separation, and I missed that level of interaction between the two characters. Having said that, I think Ferrante depicted very well how friendships change as you hit different life points.

Regarding the political backdrop, I'm conscious that I know little about this era of Italian history, and I'm interested to do some more reading around the subject.

One more book in the series to go - I'm waiting for it to come back into stock at my library. I feel I shall miss the characters once the series is completed.

Has anyone read any of Ferrante's other books?

4 stars - a little duller in parts, but superb writing form.

120Simone2
Mai 8, 2017, 4:10 am

>119 AlisonY: I read The Days of Abandonment which I enjoyed, and Troubling Love, which I hated. Both are complety different from the Neapolitan novels though. In my opinion it could have been another author.

I really liked the fact that I felt less connected to Elena and Lila in the third book and that Ferrante is able to lead me in any direction she wants: I kept thinking about both of them and whether I could connect to them or not and why or why not. I thought this the biggest achievement of the novels.

121AlisonY
Mai 8, 2017, 1:12 pm

>120 Simone2: interesting perspective on the third book that you felt this was a strength that she was not concerned with connection with the characters. I felt like she was trying to elevate the series to a new level, but that she perhaps disconnected us slightly from the initial story setting. However, it still did work for me overall.

122AlisonY
Mai 10, 2017, 11:32 am



11. Review - My Name is Lucy Barton by Lucy Barton

The best way I can sum up my feelings about this book is that I don't feel much about it at all.

Lucy Barton is in hospital for 9 weeks, and during that time her mother - whom she hasn't seen in a long time - comes to spend 5 days with her. She gets her mother to regale her with anecdotes about this one and that one from their past, and she tells her mum that she loves her, and her mum can't say the words back to her (but we know that she does), and.... well, that's about it really.

I know we're supposed to get all sorts of hidden depths from this book, but I just wasn't feeling it. I didn't not like it, but I found it instantly forgettable. Quite nothingy.

3 stars - what was the name of it again?

123kidzdoc
Mai 11, 2017, 11:28 am

>122 AlisonY: 3 stars - what was the name of it again?

Exactly. And why was it chosen for last year's Booker Prize longlist?

124japaul22
Mai 11, 2017, 1:08 pm

>122 AlisonY: I actively disliked this book, didn't just find it unmemorable. I thought the "deep thoughts" were actually trite and superficial. Not sure what all the hype is about with this author!

Although, there are many on LT whose opinions I absolutely value who liked this and her other books, so I know they work for some people.

125AlisonY
Mai 11, 2017, 1:53 pm

>123 kidzdoc: I agree. There seemed very little substance to it.

>124 japaul22: yes, I think I got what she was trying to achieve, but it didn't work (well, not for me anyway). I couldn't have given a fiddler's fart about any of the characters.

126VivienneR
Mai 11, 2017, 6:44 pm

Your Ferrante reviews are excellent! But I'm sorry you didn't care for My Name is Lucy Barton by Strout. I quite enjoyed it and often think of it. I'm glad we don't all like the same books equally or the conversations here would be pretty dull!

127AlisonY
Mai 13, 2017, 11:22 am

>127 AlisonY: totally, Vivienne - we all see different things in the books we read.

128dchaikin
Mai 13, 2017, 1:08 pm

The one Strout I read had a lot that was very subtle, to the point I'm sure I missed a lot. But, I didn't like it.

Interesting about Ferrante book 2 being chiclit based on subject. (Maybe I need to read more chiclit!!) I found it atmospheric, with author changing the feel of that atmosphere at will. I think it was particularly well done. It's the book I think most about...what I mean is that it's the beach that I think most about.

Book 3 is overtly political and Ferrante is pushing a new sense into the writing, a different kind of atmosphere. I had a mixed reaction to that aspect.

So glad you're enjoying these, Alison! Hope you don't have to wait too long for book 4.

129dchaikin
Mai 13, 2017, 1:12 pm

This cat staring at me in post 1, is this new? She (or he) caught my attention. I feel correctionally disciplined, somehow.

130AlisonY
Modifié : Mai 13, 2017, 2:03 pm

>128 dchaikin:, >129 dchaikin: in the midst of book 4 now, Dan. Really pleased I've been able to read them almost consecutively, as I think something would be lost in the enjoyment if I had a major gap and forgot where the previous book had left off.

So far I think book 2 is also my favourite, and similarly to you loved the part set in Ischia most.

The cat is new - the frog has gone on a yoga retreat. I feel the cat is disapproving of me when I'm not getting through enough books. It's spurring me on.

131AlisonY
Modifié : Mai 13, 2017, 2:28 pm

Odd wee morning. I was at a country show with my family, and randomly found myself coming face-to-face with Theresa May, our PM. She was gracious enough to stop for a handshake and hello despite being moved briskly along by her heavies.

Obviously she was on a PR trip with the general election coming up, but still - I got a very warm and genuine vibe off her. She was apparently here to urge NI politicians to come together - good luck with that one, Theresa.

132AlisonY
Modifié : Mai 20, 2017, 4:27 pm



12. Review - The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante

Well, that's the fourth and last one done and dusted. 1700+ pages of Neapolitan drama.

I found this book fascinating from a 'read like a writer' perspective. Ferrante had us championing Elena in books 1 and 2. In book 3 she showed us a few key flaws for the first time, but by book 4 we were seeing that life had taken hold and Elena had become quite selfish and self-motivated. This dramatic change in my opinion of her as a character was very interesting to me, and I admired that Ferrante took that risk.

I think she really captured that essence of how we change at different points in our lives, and how our friendships and what we need out of them change too.

It wasn't a perfect book. At times, I felt Lila's influence on the neighbourhood and on Elena seemed somewhat implausible, and although it was clever on the one hand how Ferrante finished the book, I felt the last 50 pages were a little lacklustre in her attempt to tie together all the whys and wherefores, and sometimes I felt that she went off on irrelevant tangents simply to prove out her writing abilities.

But, enough of the negatives. On the whole I really enjoyed it - Ferrante in this series was always making me think of the writing process, and its sheer bulk as a single story really did enable us readers to feel like we have lived a lifetime with Lila and Elena.

In summary, I think my order of preference from the series is 2-1-4-3.

4 stars - clever, clever writing. I feel like I'm saying goodbye to friends I've known for a long time.

133dchaikin
Mai 20, 2017, 4:42 pm

I might have a similar order to you. And I had similar reaction to book 4. It was interesting to see Elena handled more critically, even as it's in her own voice.

Glad you enjoyed, and sorry you're done. : )

134AlisonY
Mai 20, 2017, 5:11 pm

>133 dchaikin: thanks Dan. I'm sorry and not sorry I'm done. I really enjoyed them, but I think I'm ready for something new now.

135janeajones
Modifié : Mai 21, 2017, 5:05 pm

I binge read them so quickly that I really think of all four as one book.

136AlisonY
Mai 21, 2017, 2:24 pm

>135 janeajones: I think they need to be read like that. I'm sure you would lose something in the reading experience if you had a gap in between books.

137Cait86
Modifié : Juin 3, 2017, 11:20 am

>136 AlisonY: Interesting! I read My Brilliant Friend last year, but I haven't picked up book 2 yet. Should I go back and reread the first one?

138AlisonY
Juin 4, 2017, 9:37 am

>137 Cait86: it depends how good a memory you have! I have the memory of a goldfish, so I would be back to square one after a gap. As it's more like one big book split into 4, really you're picking up mid way through a novel. Maybe a quick read of a summary of Book 1 would be enough - there's quite a good detailed summary here:

http://www.gradesaver.com/my-brilliant-friend/study-guide/summary-prologue

139VivienneR
Juin 6, 2017, 12:48 pm

I'm enjoying your reviews of the Ferrante books and will take your advice to read them close together. You are now my Ferrante expert.

>131 AlisonY: Changed days for political campaigning in Northern Ireland. When I lived there, we rarely saw a PM, campaigning or not.

140AlisonY
Modifié : Juin 7, 2017, 8:44 am

>139 VivienneR: You are now my Ferrante expert - dear goodness, I'm sure you can get better than me!

Indeed - I think NI is still really just a major pain in the UK political system's side, but I guess whilst we still here they can't afford to ignore us any more. Looks like May is in for a much riskier General Election than she'd anticipated.

141AlisonY
Modifié : Juin 7, 2017, 9:26 am



13. Review - The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch

Bravo, Iris Murdoch - this was extremely clever and uncomfortable reading. But my goodness - it took me 170 pages to get hooked (thank goodness for all your recommendations on CR to keep going otherwise I would have given up for sure).

Charles Arrowby is perhaps one of the most dislikable protagonists I've read in a long time. A narcissist through and through, he is egotistical, extremely self-deluded and supremely arrogant, and as is always the way with such people he has a loyal band of friends and ex-lovers who remain moths to his flame, available to be summoned at will when his ego requires further stroking.

There's not much I can say about this novel that wouldn't be a total plot spoiler, therefore I'll limit it to saying that Charles, a somewhat famous theatre director, has retired to a remote house by the sea for a supposedly quiet life, only to unexpectedly bump into his first love. Given Charles' narcissistic disposition, his need to rewrite the past to become the victor in love blindsides him into a dangerous obsession which is played out in front of a cast of eccentric friends who turn up uninvited to stay with him.

This turned into a real page-turning book a third of the way in, but I definitely found the first part tedious as Murdoch set the scene of Arrowby's daily life in the quiet, unfriendly coastal village. I do usually need to fall in love a little bit with at least one of the characters in a novel (however flawed they might be), but Murdoch deliberately makes her characters in this book hugely unlikeable for different reasons. That said, it works - Arrowby's total egotism and obsession is such that we are left unsure of what he is capable of doing next, which makes for a great reading ride.

The ending wasn't what I expected it to be, and I can't decide if I feel a little cheated by it or not - the jury is out on that one.

This was my first Murdoch, and clearly she was a supremely gifted writer. However, I get it when some of you commented last week in another thread that you don't necessarily 'like' her books due to her tack with plot and characters - this wasn't a take-to-your-heart type of novel, but more of a can't-put-down-literary-car-crash that I almost read peeping through my fingers. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it (after a week of labouring through the first part), but I'm glad it's finished.

Would I read it again? Yes, definitely. Perhaps that's the skill of Murdoch as a writer - she puts you into a total discomfort zone as a reader which confuses the equilibrium somewhat.

4 stars - some marks deducted for a long drawn out start, but such startling characterisation and outright weirdness make this a great read (eventually).

142VivienneR
Juin 7, 2017, 3:34 pm

>141 AlisonY: Excellent review! You may make me finish a Murdoch book sometime.

143AlisonY
Juin 7, 2017, 4:25 pm

>142 VivienneR: I definitely was for giving up, Vivienne, but the fact that so many people here thought it was good made me hang on in there.

144AlisonY
Juin 9, 2017, 6:21 pm



14. Review - Porcelain: A Memoir by Moby

I stumbled upon a very positive literature review of this book by accident a couple of weeks ago when I was Googling Moby. I was having one of those "whatever happened to..." chats with my husband, and on this occasion was musing about where Moby has gone to. A couple of his albums accompanied many a road trip in our early years together, and I felt a little nostalgic for him.

The good news is that the critic was right - this IS a very enjoyable memoir. It's funny, well written and provides an interesting insight into the dance and rave scene of NYC and beyond in the late 80s and 90s. This was gritty NYC before the zero tolerance clean up, when crack heads and dealers lived on many a downtown corner and late night subway rides weren't for the faint hearted (well, according to Moby anyway - what do I know).

The bad news is that I still don't know what's become of Moby (other than being busy writing this book), as he doesn't divulge any recent info. In fact, (very) oddly, he doesn't divulge anything in this book about his major album successes, instead focusing more on getting started and his early success as a DJ and creator of a few big electronic tracks.

He's an interesting character - a life-long vegan and one-time devout Christian, he went from years of sobriety, bible teaching and celibacy (despite working in the midst of the drug addled club scene) to heavy drinking and serial one-night stands with strippers. I have to admit he did come across as a bit of an a**hole when he hit the latter phase, but it's clear from his writing that he realises this himself but doesn't shy away from the truth. He'd ultimately like us to believe he lacks the confidence to believe in himself and risk being loved. Oh, and he's descended from Herman Melville.

I found it interesting during his years of devout Christianity that he seemed supremely judgemental of rich friends who came from large houses and stable backgrounds, yet seemed completely at home with the druggy ravers and drinkers despite being sober himself. Even when he was on the up, he still washed with worrying infrequency and was quite happy living in the same clothes for days and living in rough neighbourhoods. Poverty was what he was used to, and he seems to find comfort in keeping his lifestyle in that vein of few important worldly possessions.

4 stars - gritty and funny, this is a snapshot of a hedonist clubbing era. No prior Moby adoration is required - just an interest in a window on the world at a certain place and time.

145VivienneR
Modifié : Juin 14, 2017, 2:11 pm

Oh no! Another one for the wishlist.

I like Moby and the last time I saw him was on a one-on-one interview show on tv. It was apparent that he was, well, not exactly secretive, but didn't offer much in the way of personal information. This one is in my library system so I'll be able to borrow it.

ETA: Great review!

146AlisonY
Juin 14, 2017, 3:00 pm

>145 VivienneR: it's very readable, Vivienne, and quite recent - think it only came out last year (in the UK at least). It's quite a big book and I zipped through it in a couple of days.

147Nickelini
Juin 14, 2017, 9:38 pm

Just catching up on your thread. You've done some good reading this year. Like you, I'm moving slowly.

148AlisonY
Juin 15, 2017, 4:10 am

>147 Nickelini: isn't it terrible that work gets in the way of reading! I seem to be reading loads of big chunky books this year too which doesn't help with my reading stats. I'm still reading most days, but it's taking me a couple of weeks now to get time to finish most of them.

149AlisonY
Modifié : Juil 29, 2017, 8:26 am



15. Review - Slow Man by J.M Coetzee

Set in modern Australia, in this novel Coetzee tells the story of a man in his sixties who is struggling with coming to terms with his life post an accident which results in him having a leg amputated. As he recovers, he confuses the care of his Croatian private nurse for something more than it can ever be. In the middle of this arrives a fictional Australian author, who Coetzee plays with as an instrument for moving the story along.

I wasn't wild about this book. Coetzee was obviously trying to be very clever with the author character and his ability to mess with the narrative structure, but largely the characters were difficult to connect with, and the story seemed to go nowhere. I've no problem with a largely plotless book, but if I don't have plot I have to pull the characters into my heart and that just didn't happen here.

3 stars - clever: no doubt. Loveable: no.

150AlisonY
Juil 4, 2017, 4:35 pm

Post-note on Slow Man - I recall that I admired Disgrace but didn't enjoy it as such. Perhaps Coetzee is just not for me.

151kidzdoc
Juil 4, 2017, 8:40 pm

I gave Slow Man 3-1/2 stars, which seems to be a bit generous. I was impressed with Disgrace, though.

152Simone2
Juil 6, 2017, 8:10 pm

>150 AlisonY: Disgrace is the only Coetzee I liked so far. He is not for me too, I think.

153AlisonY
Juil 14, 2017, 3:24 pm



16. Review - Saturday by Ian McEwan

A little bit disappointed by Saturday. It started with classic McEwan tension, and I had that lovely feeling that he conveys so well of something truly awful lurking just around the corner, but.... the main action of the novel took a long time coming and was fairly fleeting.

Having said that, as always it was very well written - that man knows good prose. McEwan takes his time to bring us well inside the heads of his protagonists, but his best characters have a fatal flaw lurking within them, and for me Dr. Perowne was just too much of a regular decent guy.

3.5 stars - glad I read it, but not up there in my top 3 for McEwan.

154ChocolateMuse
Juil 15, 2017, 8:20 am

Just caught up on your thread. Such interesting books and great reviews! I love the way that cat disapproves of us all! And I really want to try Alan Bennett now.

155Cait86
Juil 16, 2017, 11:14 pm

>153 AlisonY: Okay, I have to ask: what are your top three McEwan novels? I absolutely love Atonement, but everything else I've read of his has seriously paled in comparison (Amsterdam, Black Dogs, and On Chesil Beach).

156Simone2
Juil 17, 2017, 8:23 am

>155 Cait86: I agree with you about Atonement and the comparison to the others. I did however think The Children Act was very good as well.

157AlisonY
Juil 17, 2017, 2:02 pm

>154 ChocolateMuse: thank you! Aren't most cats disapproving?! I know mine has a look of disdain down to a fine art.

>155 Cait86: McEwan is interesting as we all seem to have such a different mix of favourites here on CR. See, I liked some of Atonement but felt the first section dragged, and I really liked On Chesil Beach. Of the 6 I've read I think my top three would be:

1. Enduring Love
2. The Cement Garden
3. On Chesil Beach

>156 Simone2: Case in point - a lot of folks here really liked The Children Act. I didn't not like it - it just didn't make me feel uneasy which I think McEwan is great at.

158Simone2
Juil 18, 2017, 12:34 am

>157 AlisonY: You are right, it was a bit un-McEwan. And I forgot The Comfort of Strangers, which was really good - and uneasy!

159AlisonY
Juil 19, 2017, 4:47 am

>159 AlisonY: haven't read that one - will look out for it. I picked up Nutshell at the library the other day which I'll probably read in the next few weeks. I wasn't planning to go for another McEwan so soon, but the choice was a bit limited.

160AlisonY
Modifié : Juil 23, 2017, 2:16 pm



17. Review - Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

My local library has just started to stock books from this great series by Penguin that seems to have been around for a while: 'Penguin Books - Great Loves'. I'd never heard of James Baldwin before, but I picked up this one to begin with as it sounded interesting.

I found the writing in this novel incredibly moving. Many times I went back over sentences as they seemed just so perfectly written and insightful.

David is a young American living in 1950s Paris who is on a relationship break from his girlfriend. Whilst she is in Spain figuring out whether they should be together, he is wrestling with the dawning truth of his own sexuality in an era when homosexuality was very much underground, and embarks on a darkly passionate affair with the haunted Giovanni.

This books sweeps you into the dark turmoil of David's heart, amidst the confusion of the choices he is faced with, neither of which can ultimately bring him happiness. His girlfriend inevitably returns, forcing sorrowful decisions and an ultimate truth that David can never escape from no matter how far he runs.

4 stars - simply beautiful. I will be looking out for some more of these 'love gems', which include works by greats including Turgenev, Virgil, Katherine Mansfield, John Updike, Thomas Hardy and Tolstoy.

161janeajones
Modifié : Juil 24, 2017, 8:31 pm

Baldwin is one of America's great 20th c. treasures.

162kidzdoc
Juil 26, 2017, 9:56 am

>160 AlisonY: Giovanni's Room is probably my favorite novel by James Baldwin, who is my favorite writer from the US.

>161 janeajones: Agreed!

163AlisonY
Juil 26, 2017, 1:47 pm

>161 janeajones:, >162 kidzdoc: I feel most uneducated to not have heard of him before picking up this book! Such beautiful prose.

164janeajones
Juil 26, 2017, 4:25 pm

There's a great documentary about Baldwin: I Am Not Your Negro, if you can get find it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ol9Tf39jh8

165AlisonY
Juil 26, 2017, 4:36 pm

Looks like a very powerful film. Seems it only made it to a few local specialist cinemas locally back in April - will keep an eye out for it on Netflix, etc.

166AlisonY
Modifié : Juil 29, 2017, 8:27 am



18. Review - Why the Dutch are Different - into the Hidden Heart of the Netherlands by Ben Coates

As we're shortly due to depart on holiday to the Netherlands, I was interested in learning more about real Dutch society beyond the tourist images of windmills and coffee shops. Part travelogue, part history lesson, part social commentary, this book succeeds and at the same time fails a little in all three areas.

The author - Ben Coates - is a English writer who, at the time of writing, had been living in the Netherlands for five years with his new Dutch wife. Whilst overall I found the book an informative insight into the Netherlands and Dutch people, it was noticeably based on Coates' own views garnered over a short period of time, hence I viewed it as a social opinion rather than complete abject fact.

Rarely do I consider the age of an author when I'm reading a book, but in this book I couldn't help but notice a liberal peppering of laddish immaturity (there were several references to "leggy blondes" which seemed ill-placed in the book). The path of his research was also glaringly obvious - clearly he had written himself a short list of key events and sights to attend within a smallish radius of Rotterdam and built an entire book around that. Somehow it felt like a lazy journalistic approach to a book about the Dutch as a whole. He also made numerous comparisons with Britain, which felt unnecessary for a book about the Dutch. If I was a non-British person reading this book, these references would no doubt feel completely out of context to the subject.

Having said that, the book was certainly interesting - despite expecting more of a social rather than a historical commentary, I enjoyed the sections on the Netherlands' Golden Age and religious conflicts. A section on the Rijkmuseum encouraged me to dust off a previously unread book languishing on my bookshelf, and I enjoyed looking at the works of art in that book in tandem with Coates' references to the more famous and popular works. A large chapter on the ongoing challenges with keeping water at bay across the land was informative, and a brief look at the Dutch suffering during WWII was very interesting.

Perhaps of most interest were the social commentary chapters. Coates spends some time looking at the ingrained Dutch culture of tolerance and the challenges that rising Islamic fundamentalism and intolerance has placed on that. Similarly, prior tolerance on drug use and legalised prostitution seems now to be forcing a liberal nation to examine whether this tolerant utopia of sorts actually works in practice, and if Coates stats on policies to clamp down on some of this are to be believed, the answer seems to be that it doesn't.

Coates has a few personal comments on the Dutch as a whole, which seem to be summarised as incredibly social, happy and enjoying a better work/life balance than much of the rest of the developed world, but with much more relaxed attitudes to social manners such as talking when eating, shouting across people on public transport and generally not recognising 'personal space' as a concept. I recognise this as one person's sweeping opinion (and will no doubt make my own sweeping generalisations in due course!).

3.5 stars - an interesting read which has certainly made me more informed at a basic level about the Netherlands, but it smacked too much of personal opinions and large swathes of information lifted from other sources.


167AlisonY
Juil 29, 2017, 7:35 am

*** I might add that given my kids are dictating the agenda on our forthcoming holiday, I expect my Dutch culture immersion will be limited to finding the nearest toilets and play parks.

I've probably spent over a month in the Netherlands all told over the years, between work, pretend work (as a student "trying really hard" to find work in the bulb fields one summer) and friend visiting (staying with a highly promiscuous and fervent recreational drug-using pal who I can't be entirely sure ever noticed I had come to stay at all). This time I'd like to try and take in a bit more of the real country, but I doubt that will happen with the kids leading the charge.

168dchaikin
Juil 29, 2017, 8:21 am

Enjoying your reviews and your comments/discussions on Coetzee, McEwan and, especially Baldwin. Wish you a great trip through The Netherlands...wherever you end up.

169AlisonY
Juil 29, 2017, 9:07 am

Thanks Dan. So long as I'm away from work that's the main thing :)

170Simone2
Juil 29, 2017, 4:35 pm

>166 AlisonY: I might be interested in this book, just to check whether he is right or bringing up the same clichés again! Anyway, I wish you a very good time here, I hope the weather will improve soon and when you have any questions about the people, the country or the play parks: shoot!

>167 AlisonY: This is so funny! I hope this drug using guy noticed you while being highly promiscuous :-)

171AlisonY
Juil 29, 2017, 5:32 pm

>170 Simone2: thanks Barbara. The weather will be what it will be - as long as I'm relaxing it will be wonderful.

Would certainly be interested in your thoughts on this book. Coates' interludes about the British certainly contained a number of generalisations which I didn't overly agree with, hence I assume the same can be said for his Dutch observations.

As for my pal, he's a very dear gay friend who at that time was living as an ex-pat in Amsterdam and having a whale of a time. He was "very busy" that weekend and somewhere along the way kind of forgot he'd invited me to hang out with him.

172Simone2
Juil 30, 2017, 1:59 pm

>171 AlisonY: You are right, as long as you can relax it will be fine. I think you've been very busy at work this year so do relax and have a good time!

173AlisonY
Juil 30, 2017, 2:48 pm

>172 Simone2: Thank you! Yes, I am definitely ready for a break - it's been a tiring year.

174VivienneR
Juil 31, 2017, 10:51 pm

>160 AlisonY: That's a BB for me! I too have not heard of this author.

>166 AlisonY: Excellent review of Why the Dutch are different! Your promiscuous pal story is hilarious! Maybe that's where the difference lies. In any case, enjoy your visit. I'll look forward to hearing about it soon.

175AlisonY
Août 1, 2017, 1:12 pm

>174 VivienneR: thanks Vivienne!

176Primabus
Août 1, 2017, 1:21 pm

Cet utilisateur a été supprimé en tant que polluposteur.

177AlisonY
Août 9, 2017, 12:16 pm



19. Review - Nutshell by Ian McEwan

This book probably sums up exactly why I love McEwan's writing so much, even when many of his books aren't 5 (or even 4) star reads for me - you just never know what you're going to get with him.

Nutshell is written in a completely different style of prose from the McEwan novels I've read up to now, but in typical McEwan fashion is slightly barmy. The narrator is the 9 month old foetus of a woman who is having an affair with her husband's brother (no spoilers - we learn that right at the start), and who is in a unique position to eavesdrop on a terrible deed which the two decide to carry out.

Being McEwan this is no normal foetus, but rather some kind of unborn prodigy who has all the worldliness of a middle-age upper class gentleman with large dollops of sarcasm and black humour. I couldn't help thinking of the character Stewie Griffen from the cartoon Family Guy as he narrated.

For the first half of the book I was on the fence about whether it was working or not - it was totally preposterous that this high IQ foetus was narrating the novel, knowing things he couldn't possibly know. But as the book developed, I shrugged that off and just enjoyed it for the madness that it was.

4 stars - a bit mad but very entertaining (and eventually suspenseful).

178AlisonY
Août 14, 2017, 12:55 pm



21. Review - The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy

I've had an accident with my eye which is affecting my vision for a few days, so this review will be short and sweet as I'm struggling with reading (gasp!).

This Hardy novel tells the story of Grace, whose father has worked hard to educate her about what is typical for their class so that she may have improved opportunities in life. She does indeed marry well in theory as a result, but the moral of the story without giving the plot away is that moving upwards doesn't necessarily equal happiness.

As always, a terrific web of storytelling from Hardy. Although supposedly his personal favourite of all his novels, I preferred Tess and The Mayor of Casterbridge, but it was a great read nonetheless.

3.5 stars - probably quite a harsh rating, but I'm comparing this book with Hardy's other work rather than on a par with other novels.

179dchaikin
Août 14, 2017, 4:16 pm

Hardy is on the list of mine from the weekly questions - you know, the books we have been read for ages but still haven't. Interesting that this was one of his favorites.

Assuming you can read this, wish you well with your eye.

180AlisonY
Août 15, 2017, 2:45 pm

Thanks Dan. Eye is on the mend now (unexpected battle wound from pulling out reeds in the pond - sliced cornea across the iris and pupil). Definitely makes you appreciate your vision when something like that happens - I had double vision for a couple of days, and feared my days of small print Thomas Hardy's may have been brought to an abrupt end.

181VivienneR
Août 17, 2017, 2:04 pm

Ouch! That sounds painful. Glad you are recovering.

Your rating of The Woodlanders is not harsh at all in my opinion. I remember being a little disappointed with it after reading other Hardy stories.

182AlisonY
Août 17, 2017, 4:06 pm



22. Review - I Found My Tribe by Ruth Fitzmaurice

This book touched me immensely, and I will most definitely keep thinking about it for a long time to come.

Ruth Fitzmaurice, an Irish mother of 5 in her 30s, has written a raw, heart-tugging account of what it has been like living with her husband's motor neurone syndrome for the past 8 years. In recent years this young father has been left on a ventilator only able to move his eyes (whilst his brain remains unaffected), but rather than this novel focusing on him and the ins and outs of his illness and deterioration, Fitzmaurice focuses on how it has affected her and their five young children.

This is a no holds barred account of the utter devastation this terminal illness has wreaked on her life, and she writes with searing honesty of how in their 30s they live in their home like 80 year olds with tilting beds and an ever changing rota of nurses and carers who invade the privacy of every corner of their home 24/7. She mourns the loss of her husband's voice and the physicality of how he used to dance with his hands when he talked. She grieves for the life they have lost together, and finds brief solace swimming in the freezing Irish Sea with her 'tribe' of girl friends where she can cry and laugh and enjoy feeling wild and free and unencumbered for short bursts of time before going back to face the daily psychological mountain she has to climb every day.

Fitzmaurice doesn't pity herself as such, but she doesn't hold back with continually railing against the injustice of their situation, of being robbed of their dreams. Her coping mechanism for the kids is to encourage a house of chaos, where in the depths of his illness they added another two kids to their brood as well as countless animals.

This new author is to be applauded for the quality of her writing. The setting of her story with the backdrop of her continual pull to the sea works very well, and her consistent hunger to reach out and grab life and shake it up is incredibly inspiring. Her prose had a very unique voice, and if I could have finished this in one sitting I would have.

4.5 stars - an inspiring read that will leave you feeling humbled and needing to get out there and grab life by the horns.

183AlisonY
Août 17, 2017, 4:08 pm

(Oh - and thanks to the person in my wee tribe who sent me this amazing book for my birthday).

184Simone2
Août 18, 2017, 7:14 am

>185 AlisonY: Wonderful review, I had not heard of it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

185AlisonY
Août 18, 2017, 9:34 am

>187 AlisonY: I think it was only released this year - has been getting very good write ups.

186dchaikin
Août 18, 2017, 2:49 pm

>185 AlisonY: This is maybe more inspiration than I need. Enjoyed your review, and I feel bad for Fitzmaurice and her family.

187AlisonY
Modifié : Août 18, 2017, 4:35 pm

>189 AlisonY: it was actually very life affirming and you feel inspired by her take-no-prisoners approach. It's not saccharine at all which I liked - she gets out of her car and kicks a guy's car at traffic lights because he's a jerk when she's driving slowly as her husband's in his wheelchair. I admire her spirit.

188Caroline_McElwee
Août 18, 2017, 5:28 pm

>185 AlisonY: definitely hit with a book bullet there Alison.

189AlisonY
Août 20, 2017, 5:43 am

>191 mabith: I really enjoyed it, Caroline. It's good to be reading some new writing for a change - I've not read many recently published books for quite a while.

190AlisonY
Août 21, 2017, 1:19 pm



23. Review - Once we Were Sisters by Sheila Kohler

I've heard of Sheila Kohler but haven't read any of her fictional work yet. Whilst it probably would have been interesting to have had that context (she talks in this memoir about how she has weaved her family stories into her fictional work), this book works perfectly well on its own without any prior knowledge of her or her work.

Set in the 1950s to 1970s, Once we Where Sisters is a memoir with Kohler's sister at its heart, whom we learn right at the beginning was killed in a car crash with Kohler blaming her sister's husband of deliberately causing her death. Whilst the book is a legacy to her sister's memory and wrongful death - and to a large extent is an exercise in using the written word and free speech to appoint blame - mostly it's simply a very enjoyable memoir of the life of two very privileged South African sisters, from their childhood growing up with household staff in a luxurious house in Johannesburg, to their married lives and visits to each other across the capitals of Europe.

This book is a great insight into how the other half lives, and how money doesn't buy happiness (although it definitely seemed to make misery a lot easier to bear). The sisters have lives akin to something out of a classic novel, with finishing schools, education at numerous universities across Europe, South Africa and America, and multiple homes. Their married lives are ultimately lacking in fidelity as many of these wealthy unions often seem to be, and although they doubtlessly love their children they seem happy to disappear off for long holidays without it breaking their hearts too much.

All in all hugely enjoyable.

4 stars - a definite page-turner. I will be looking out for some of Sheila Kohler's fictional work after this.

191mabith
Août 23, 2017, 11:04 pm

Definitely putting I Found My Tribe on my list.

192AlisonY
Août 26, 2017, 1:48 pm

>194 Simone2: hope you enjoy it as much as I did when you get to it.

193AlisonY
Modifié : Sep 20, 2017, 1:24 pm



24. Review - Twisting My Melon by Shaun Ryder

My eye suffered a bit of permanent damage after my incident in the garden, and whilst I'm waiting on some new miracle specs I'm struggling with long stints of reading (particularly on screen), so apologies for abandoning reading other people's posts of late. When all's said and done, it could have been a lot worse, and I consider myself very lucky.

This book probably appeals to 0.1% of the population, so feel free to switch off now if you have no idea who the Happy Mondays were (are) and/or have zero interest in them.

This is a fairly mediocre book, and is likely to appeal to proper Mondays fans only. As Shaun Ryder is probably most famous for still being alive after taking truck loads of drugs for 20 years, not surprisingly drugs account for more pages than most folks could be bothered reading about. I expect he needed pals to fill in a lot of blanks for him.

Whilst doubtlessly ghost-written, the book is told in Ryder's Manc patter, and there are a few moments of black humour. The Mondays have always held a soft spot in my heart as the song 'Step On' is quite possibly my favourite track ever and is one of those anthems-to-a-stage-in-life tracks. I just need to hear a Mondays' track and I'm 19 again and bouncing around the dance floor in a club. However, drugs-no success-kids-robbing-drugs-success-more kids-drugs-no success-yet more kids-robbing-drugs-semi-success is dry fodder for a full biography.

2.5 stars - the book and the man might have twisted my melon, but they'll always be my 90s anthem.

194Simone2
Sep 24, 2017, 1:46 am

>196 AlisonY: How funny, a book about the Happy Mondays! And how sorry to hear about your eye. Permanent damage, I am so sorry for you. I am glad you are so strong and positive about it. I hope those spectacles will do miracles for you!

195AlisonY
Sep 25, 2017, 4:59 pm

>197 Caroline_McElwee: thank you! It was just a bit unfortunate with my eye..... The new reading specs sort it out nicely - if I could just get over my vanity that I am now officially middle-aged!

196AlisonY
Modifié : Oct 5, 2017, 10:37 am



25. Review - A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of the Columbine Tragedy by Sue Klebold

This book profoundly impacted me, much more so than I expected. If you are a parent of teenage or pre-teenage kids, this book will leaving your mind reeling for days afterwards, as this is a book not just about how a seemingly very normal young man did the unthinkable, but how adroit teenagers can be at hiding serious mental health problems from their parents.

Dylan Klebold was one of the two teenage killers from the Columbine High School tragedy who murdered 12 students and a teacher before taking their own lives. Almost 20 years later, his mother has written this searingly honest book of their family's lives post the tragedy and in the months leading it up to it.

Contrary to the assumptions most of us would naturally jump to, this was not a child from a broken home, or a child who had endured or witnessed any kind of mental cruelty or neglect. His parents were loving, supportive, Joe normal parents who did all the things most good parents do. If he went on a sleepover Sue phoned to check they would not be watching a violent movie. There were no guns allowed in their house (despite living in a State where gun ownership was relatively commonplace). He was taught to hold doors open for people and to generally be respectful.

The pain that the Klebold family have been left with is incomprehensible. In this book, Sue Klebold never shies away from the lifetime of pain her child has caused those 13 families and all the children who were wounded or psychologically scarred from the event, and it's evident she carries that pain and guilt with her on a daily basis, along with the pain of trying to understand why her own child would want to hurt other people in such a brutal way, and why they never saw any indication that he wanted to end his own life. Theirs was/is not a grief many people felt they were entitled to because of what their son had done, and as Dylan was no longer here to take the blame himself they were the living pariahs left to carry the shame on his behalf and the relentless accusations that they were to blame as parents.

It seems there was no way they could ever have known about the massacre that was to come, as they had no reason to suspect their child had access to weapons, and indeed he had never shown much of an interest in them. Whilst the other murderer seemed to possess psychotic tendencies, the evidence Sue Klebold has gathered in the years since the atrocity seem to point to her own son's involvement stemming from severe depression (how balanced she can be on this point though is up for debate). As a parent, this was the part that caught in my throat, as Klebold explains how her son so adeptly hid from them that he was having any mental illness problems. In her work with suicide loss survivors in the years since, this seems to be a very common thread - that children who are depressed will often hide it so successfully from their parents so that their suicides come like a bolt from the blue.

Is Sue Klehold kidding herself by focusing on her son's suicide as well as the murders he committed? In balance, no, I don't think so. In this well-written book, she is open that there are no answers as to why depression should lead her son to commit mass murder, and why her child was a completely different person at the end of his life to the person she thought he was. What she feels most guilt over, and what I think we can all resonate with, is that she and her husband missed the signs of his mental illness, believing a few warning signs were simply typical teenage prickliness.

This is a book I think I will remember for a long, long time because of that point. Whilst with the grace of God not any of us here will ever experience the depths to which her child sank, the risk of suicide in young people is something that we can never kid ourselves only happens to other people's families.

4.5 stars - read it and remember it.

197Caroline_McElwee
Oct 5, 2017, 10:40 am

Very insightful review Alison. I remember seeing an article when the book was published, and thinking what a painful conundrum that tragedy was. A brave thing to write about it too.

198AlisonY
Oct 5, 2017, 11:08 am

So brave, I think. A terrible conundrum for her of loving and missing her son terribly, and trying to reconcile his horrendous actions with the person she thought he was.

199RidgewayGirl
Oct 5, 2017, 4:27 pm

I read A Mother's Reckoning when it was first published and I was impressed with how honest and determined she was to speak truthfully.

200AlisonY
Oct 5, 2017, 4:40 pm

>202 AlisonY: I enjoyed watching the TedTalk by Klebold that Avaland recommended. Putting herself out there takes so much courage, and I admire how she has devoted herself to campaigning for suicide awareness.

I kept asking myself "Am I being blindsided by her own natural maternal bias and protection?" when she was focusing a lot on the suicide part of the tragedy. I'm sure there was some of that, but on the whole I felt she tried very hard to be objective and not excusing of his actions.

201AlisonY
Oct 28, 2017, 6:37 am



26. Review - The Gathering by Anne Enright

The Gathering is written in a stream of consciousness style, chronicling the narrator's conflicting thoughts through the journey of dealing with the aftermath of her brother's death.

I'm a little undecided about how much I liked this book. On the plus side, I enjoyed the 'Irishness' of it - Enright caught the conversation style perfectly, and coming from N. Ireland many of the character types and settings resonated (especially the older characters). Ironically, whilst reading a book about the initial days after a family death I experienced a death within my own family, so the scenario of going to visit the body in the house and eating crustless sandwiches seemed all too real.

(Incidentally, I'm curious - is this just an Irish thing bringing bodies back to the family house and going in to see them? My English husband can't get his head around this at all.)

I thought Enright captured well the often conflicted emotions around a family death, especially when the person who died was loved but not always liked. The narrator grapples with this conflict in her own head, and the stream of consciousness style works well to describe the jumble of thoughts and feelings and erratic actions that her grief triggers.

On the negative, I found the first half of the book was a little dull and I kept putting it aside with no great will to pick it up again. The second half worked better as all the pieces started to fit together, but essentially this is a book about grief and emotions much more than plot.

In all, I quite enjoyed this book, but probably respected it more than loved it. It's razor sharp with its emotional insight, but the incoherency of its grief-addled thoughts did not always make enjoyable reading.

3.5 stars - a fair Man Booker winner? In terms of craft rather then enjoyment - yes, I'd say so.

202AlisonY
Modifié : Oct 29, 2017, 3:47 am



27. Review - Into the Grey Zone: A Neuroscientist Explores the Border Between Life and Death by Adrian Owen

Adrian Owen is a British scientist who for the last 20 years has been researching what level of consciousness some patients who appear to be in a completely vegetative state actually have.

Owen and his team have developed ever more sophisticated methods of reaching some patients who appear vegetative, enabling them most recently to give basic yes and no answers to questions posed by using their brain alone. When one patient completely defied the odds and recovered to a significant extent, he was able to feed back to the team that he had been "locked in" and completely aware of everything that had been going on around him, despite medically on paper being determined to be vegetative and only minimally conscious. He also demonstrated how imperfect their current tests are, as in some of them his results of consciousness were inconclusive, when clearly he had been conscious throughout.

It's a fascinating read, and exciting to think that in 20 years time science will most likely have advanced to the point where much more sophisticated brain reading can be done with such patients in a way that will properly improve their lives. Sadly, for those left vegetative today through illness or accident, even if they are lucky enough to be scanned by Owen's team in Canada, there is little more they can do beyond identifying that the person is more conscious than previously thought. They are still locked inside their bodies, and science has not yet developed to the extent where these results can be used to make real improvements to their lives.

But someday it will. For their families, it gives hope that they are aware of what is going on around them and that one day they might be more fully reached.

4 stars - an interesting and accessible read into an area of advancement in brain science.

203Caroline_McElwee
Modifié : Oct 29, 2017, 7:38 am

>205 VivienneR: you may have hit me with a book bullet there Alison, something for November’s Non-Fiction challenge too.

204AlisonY
Modifié : Oct 29, 2017, 9:36 am

>206 AlisonY: it's an interesting read, Caroline. There is still so much that science doesn't yet know about the brain - it makes my mind boggle.

205VivienneR
Modifié : Oct 30, 2017, 8:15 pm

>205 VivienneR: That bullet hit over here too! In my opinion, "vegetative state" is one of the most frightening conditions and I'm glad to see some progress is being made.

Forgot to mention your eye injury. I'm so sorry to hear you have permanent damage. How is it affecting your reading or general life? Will there be any improvement over time?

206AlisonY
Oct 31, 2017, 4:34 am

>208 AlisonY: the eye's OK, Vivienne - thanks for asking. It's permanently affected, but is corrected OK with a couple of new sets of glasses for different tasks. I'm very lucky as it could have been a lot worse.

207auntmarge64
Nov 4, 2017, 4:34 pm

>209 AlisonY: The description of your eye injury made me shiver. I'm so glad you can read - and the small print is safe.

208AlisonY
Nov 5, 2017, 9:00 am

>210 auntmarge64: thank you! I feel most fortunate that small print and I remain firm buddies.

209AlisonY
Nov 5, 2017, 1:01 pm



28. Review - To the Bright Edge of the World by Eoqyn Ivey

I loved Ivey's debut novel The Snow Child, and was worried that this - her second novel - would pale in comparison. I don't think it had quite the same enchantment as The Snow Child, but I found this to be a great read nonetheless.

To the Bright Edge of the World chronicles the true journey of Lieutenant Colonel Forrester on a pioneering trip to Alaska's Wolverine River and beyond - hitherto unknown territory for American white men. Whilst he faces trials from both nature and the local Indians (of whom they have heard stories of extreme barbarism towards previous Russian pioneers) - at the same time, his young pregnant wife Sophie is left behind in military barracks to await his return, with her own battles to overcome.

Although in many ways a slow, gentle read, as with The Snow Child Ivey conveys so well the Alaskan wilderness that she has grown up in. Again, she used elements of magical realism which worked very well and added just enough extra edge and tension to the novel.

Ivey was a finalist for the Pulitzer with The Snow Child, and with this second novel I think she proves what an outstanding young novelist she is.

4 stars - a delightful and gripping read.

210auntmarge64
Nov 14, 2017, 6:10 pm

>212 AlisonY: I loved To the Bright Edge of the World and can't imagine why I didn't pick up The Snow Child, but I've added it now to my wish list for the library's e-copy. Very glad for the reminder.

211dchaikin
Nov 15, 2017, 10:07 pm

>199 RidgewayGirl: Alison, I'm catching up, but just wanted take a moment to say that this is a really awesome review. Makes want to check in my kids, give them another hug.

212AlisonY
Nov 16, 2017, 6:27 am

>213 dchaikin: I loved The Snow Child - very atmospheric and cleverly executed.

>214 NanaCC: Dan, the book leaves you completely wanting to check in with your kids' mental health. Whilst most kids aren't going to end up mass murderers like Klebold, it really reinforced how difficult it can be to keep the channels of communication open with your kids as they get older. It quite terrified me on that very point.

213dchaikin
Nov 16, 2017, 7:02 am

Caught up now. A few comments:

On The Gathering you wrote “In all, I quite enjoyed this book, but probably respected it more than loved it. ” That explains the mixed reviews I’ve read. I’m still interested.

>205 VivienneR: that’s just crazy. That you can be conscious and unable to do anything about it.

>212 AlisonY: Noting. Sounds really good.

214NanaCC
Nov 17, 2017, 6:23 am

>199 RidgewayGirl: excellent review, Alison. The teenage years have always been tough to navigate, but it seems like the violence and the suicide rates have increased dramatically over the past 20 plus years. Or is it that we just didn’t hear about it as much?

215japaul22
Nov 17, 2017, 8:41 am

I also loved To the Bright Edge of the World and intended to immediately read The Snow Child. Months later I haven't gotten to it yet. Maybe it will make its way to my Christmas wish list . . .

216AlisonY
Nov 18, 2017, 7:36 am

>217 AlisonY: Apparently suicide rates for teenagers have been steadily climbing for the past few decades. I think there's more pressure than ever - both academic and social - on children than ever before which I find incredibly sad.

>218 dchaikin: I think you'll like The Snow Child, Jennifer. It's so well put together.

217AlisonY
Déc 17, 2017, 5:23 pm



29. Review - Why Write? A Master Class on the Art of Writing and Why it Matters by Mark Edmundson

Wow, I'm crawling through books at the moment. Hopefully there will be some more reading downtime over Christmas.

I picked this up on a whim in the library, and hoped it might be more of a master class on the actual art of writing, but it is as it says on the tin - a series of essays on the reasons for writing and why they are important. For example, writing to remember, writing to have the last word, writing for fame, etc.

It was a fairly interesting read, but a little disappointing that it contained no nuggets of wisdom on the creative writing process. My fault really rather than the book's as I don't think it pretends to be anything different.

3 stars - interesting to dip into, but didn't hold my interest for prolonged periods of time.

218dchaikin
Déc 17, 2017, 9:38 pm

I would think "A Master Class on the Art of Writing" in the title implies it would have something about the art of writing in there. Too bad it didn't really have that. Wishing you some rewarding reading time.

219AlisonY
Déc 18, 2017, 2:46 am

>221 thanks Dan. Days are definitely too short at the moment!