Date Finished: 21/06/2011
My Rating: 3/5
Double Act is the third Jacqueline Wilson book so far on my list, and although I did enjoy this one, I have noticed the similarities between her books now. I think this may have suffered by being the 4th kids book in a row that I have read, as I am now hankering after a grown-up read.
Wilson once again uses a theme of confidence, this time by telling the story of twin girls, Ruby and Garnet. I think she has cottoned on to the fact that lots of young girls feel like they are the under-confident one in their group of friends, and Wilson wants to let them know that they're not alone and that actually, in the end, things will work out for them.
It's a good read, written as a diary (well, an 'account') by the two girls, and once again I polished it off in a day. I was, however, quite embarrassed when my ex-boyfriend got on the bus. There was absolutely no hiding the fact that I was reading a book designed for 10 year old girls. Why oh why could I not have been reading a classic?!? Ah well, next time...
So, who should read this book? This is definitely one for young girls. I think as an adult, you could pick up any Jacqueline Wilson book and quite enjoy it, but it wouldn't really matter which. And that is absolutely fine, because they weren't written for grown-ups.
Next book: Bleak House, Charles Dickens
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
81: The Twits, Roald Dahl
Date Finished: 20/06/2011
My Rating: 4/5
I read a lot of Roald Dahl as a child, and it was lovely to go back to some. OK, I admit I've read at least a couple of his stories as an adult, but I hadn't revisited The Twits in the that time. In fact, I don't even think I owned a copy in the first place. I remember my best friend had it on tape, and I was definitely very jealous. Thou shall not covet thy best friend's story-tape.
Anyway, it's a great book, and I could easily have read it in less than an hour. I had to pace myself on the bus to make sure I had some left to read on the way home. I think the reason I like Roald Dahl books so much is that it feels like he is not just telling a story, but that he is telling you a story. I'm not even sure that makes complete sense, but he manages to make it feel so personal when you read it, and I love that. To use a couple of Dahl-isms, I thought The Twits was phiz-whizzing and whoopsy-splunkers.
The Twits are a horribly ugly couple, both in looks and personality. In fact, Dahl makes a point of saying in the book that even if you start out quite pretty, ugly thoughts will lead to an ugly face. They are nasty to each other, and they are nasty to the monkeys that they have caged in the garden. They have no windows in their house so that people can't see in, they superglue the tree in their garden to catch birds for pie, and, as any good baddy in a Roald Dahl book should, they hate children. As luck should have it, the monkeys are able to exact revenge on the Twits, with the help of a Roly-Poly Bird, and the couple come to a perfectly Dahl-like revolting end.
So, who should read this book? Anyone. It won't matter whether you're under 10, over 80 or anywhere inbetween, I bet you'll enjoy it. You could read it over a cup of tea.
Next book: Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
My Rating: 4/5
I read a lot of Roald Dahl as a child, and it was lovely to go back to some. OK, I admit I've read at least a couple of his stories as an adult, but I hadn't revisited The Twits in the that time. In fact, I don't even think I owned a copy in the first place. I remember my best friend had it on tape, and I was definitely very jealous. Thou shall not covet thy best friend's story-tape.
Anyway, it's a great book, and I could easily have read it in less than an hour. I had to pace myself on the bus to make sure I had some left to read on the way home. I think the reason I like Roald Dahl books so much is that it feels like he is not just telling a story, but that he is telling you a story. I'm not even sure that makes complete sense, but he manages to make it feel so personal when you read it, and I love that. To use a couple of Dahl-isms, I thought The Twits was phiz-whizzing and whoopsy-splunkers.
The Twits are a horribly ugly couple, both in looks and personality. In fact, Dahl makes a point of saying in the book that even if you start out quite pretty, ugly thoughts will lead to an ugly face. They are nasty to each other, and they are nasty to the monkeys that they have caged in the garden. They have no windows in their house so that people can't see in, they superglue the tree in their garden to catch birds for pie, and, as any good baddy in a Roald Dahl book should, they hate children. As luck should have it, the monkeys are able to exact revenge on the Twits, with the help of a Roly-Poly Bird, and the couple come to a perfectly Dahl-like revolting end.
So, who should read this book? Anyone. It won't matter whether you're under 10, over 80 or anywhere inbetween, I bet you'll enjoy it. You could read it over a cup of tea.
Next book: Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
Monday, 20 June 2011
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
Date Finished: 19/06/2011
My Rating: 3.5/5
I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. Actually, I write this sitting at my kitchen table and not in a sixpenny book, but on my slightly (although probably not all that much more) expensive laptop, however it's such a good opening sentence (and apparently one of the most memorable in 20th century fiction) to a novel that I just had to steal it.
Not so long ago I was chatting to a friend about books, and Dodie Smith came up in conversation. My friend (and I'm so sorry if you ever read this, Miss B!) said, 'oh, I love Dodie Smith'. I replied saying that I also loved Dodie Smith and my friend (somewhat haughtily) asked if I had in fact read anything other than 101 Dalmations. I hadn't. She scoffed and told me that I Capture the Castle was a brilliant book and made me feel that my love for 101 Dalmations was not quite good enough to claim a love for Dodie Smith generally. I had come across some literary snobbiness! I was very excited to see if I Capture the Castle would live up to my, now high, expectations. At this point, I would also like to say that Dodie Smith actually had a dalmation called Pongo. Finding this out made me very happy.
It turns out that I did thoroughly enjoy I Capture the Castle, although interestingly I felt that it was exactly the kind of book that Cold Comfort Farm parodies, despite CCF being published first. I think that my difference in scores with these two books is purely down to how much I liked the central characters (and that I didn't get the joke with Cold Comfort Farm!).
I Capture the Castle reads as the diary of 17 year old Cassandra Mortmain, and is divided into three sections, each written in a progressively fancier notebook. Cassandra and her family are desperately poor. Her father had written a rather remarkable novel around 12 years previously (something similar to Ulysses, which is on my list in about 5 books time... I'm already stressing about it!), and made some money from both the book and giving lecture tours in the USA. Following an unfortunate incident with a cake knife and a neighbour he spent some time in prison and had suffered from writer's block since then. All their furniture had been sold, and they were scraping by on what little they could get. Without spoiling the story too much, the family's landlord had died (not that they had paid him any rent for several years), and his American grandchildren had inherited his property, and the story tells of how their arrival into Cassandra's life results in changes for her and her family. Some people fall in love, some people don't fall in love, and I was very pleased to see that the book did not turn out as predictable as I expected. In other words, it was not necessarily the people I expected to fall in love that did. Dodie Smith had obviously thought long and hard about each character, and the book was true to each of them all the way through.
As I read the book, I fancied that I saw something of Cassandra in myself. Obviously not the poverty or lifestyle, but there was something about her outlook on life that I related to. I guess that anyone who acknowledges that the thought of eggs for tea may have contributed to them never having felt happier in their life is my kind of person.
So, who should read this book? Well, I think I'll be buying this for my nieces for Christmas (they're 13). I was slightly sad that I hadn't read it when I was that age, as it was exactly the kind of book that I loved back then. However, I will also be buying a copy for my 72 year old mum, as I am sure that she will thoroughly enjoy it too. It would seem that it's another one for the girls.
Next Book: The Twits, Roald Dahl.
My Rating: 3.5/5
I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. Actually, I write this sitting at my kitchen table and not in a sixpenny book, but on my slightly (although probably not all that much more) expensive laptop, however it's such a good opening sentence (and apparently one of the most memorable in 20th century fiction) to a novel that I just had to steal it.
Not so long ago I was chatting to a friend about books, and Dodie Smith came up in conversation. My friend (and I'm so sorry if you ever read this, Miss B!) said, 'oh, I love Dodie Smith'. I replied saying that I also loved Dodie Smith and my friend (somewhat haughtily) asked if I had in fact read anything other than 101 Dalmations. I hadn't. She scoffed and told me that I Capture the Castle was a brilliant book and made me feel that my love for 101 Dalmations was not quite good enough to claim a love for Dodie Smith generally. I had come across some literary snobbiness! I was very excited to see if I Capture the Castle would live up to my, now high, expectations. At this point, I would also like to say that Dodie Smith actually had a dalmation called Pongo. Finding this out made me very happy.
It turns out that I did thoroughly enjoy I Capture the Castle, although interestingly I felt that it was exactly the kind of book that Cold Comfort Farm parodies, despite CCF being published first. I think that my difference in scores with these two books is purely down to how much I liked the central characters (and that I didn't get the joke with Cold Comfort Farm!).
I Capture the Castle reads as the diary of 17 year old Cassandra Mortmain, and is divided into three sections, each written in a progressively fancier notebook. Cassandra and her family are desperately poor. Her father had written a rather remarkable novel around 12 years previously (something similar to Ulysses, which is on my list in about 5 books time... I'm already stressing about it!), and made some money from both the book and giving lecture tours in the USA. Following an unfortunate incident with a cake knife and a neighbour he spent some time in prison and had suffered from writer's block since then. All their furniture had been sold, and they were scraping by on what little they could get. Without spoiling the story too much, the family's landlord had died (not that they had paid him any rent for several years), and his American grandchildren had inherited his property, and the story tells of how their arrival into Cassandra's life results in changes for her and her family. Some people fall in love, some people don't fall in love, and I was very pleased to see that the book did not turn out as predictable as I expected. In other words, it was not necessarily the people I expected to fall in love that did. Dodie Smith had obviously thought long and hard about each character, and the book was true to each of them all the way through.
As I read the book, I fancied that I saw something of Cassandra in myself. Obviously not the poverty or lifestyle, but there was something about her outlook on life that I related to. I guess that anyone who acknowledges that the thought of eggs for tea may have contributed to them never having felt happier in their life is my kind of person.
So, who should read this book? Well, I think I'll be buying this for my nieces for Christmas (they're 13). I was slightly sad that I hadn't read it when I was that age, as it was exactly the kind of book that I loved back then. However, I will also be buying a copy for my 72 year old mum, as I am sure that she will thoroughly enjoy it too. It would seem that it's another one for the girls.
Next Book: The Twits, Roald Dahl.
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
Date Finished: 14/06/2011
My Rating: 5/5
There is a quote on the front of my copy of this book from Philip Pullman, saying 'Unmistakably powerful', and I couldn't agree more.
Holes is, quite simply, wonderful. A really beautiful story, brilliantly written and just so engrossing that I finished it in a day, and had the biggest smile on my face (whilst letting a few happy tears sneak out of my eyes) for the last few chapters as all the bits of the tale came together. I absolutely, totally, 100% loved it.
So, who should read this book? You. You should read this book.
Sorry it's a short post, but I can't think of anything else to say. Just read the book. I'm off to eat an onion...
Next Book: I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
My Rating: 5/5
There is a quote on the front of my copy of this book from Philip Pullman, saying 'Unmistakably powerful', and I couldn't agree more.
Holes is, quite simply, wonderful. A really beautiful story, brilliantly written and just so engrossing that I finished it in a day, and had the biggest smile on my face (whilst letting a few happy tears sneak out of my eyes) for the last few chapters as all the bits of the tale came together. I absolutely, totally, 100% loved it.
So, who should read this book? You. You should read this book.
Sorry it's a short post, but I can't think of anything else to say. Just read the book. I'm off to eat an onion...
Next Book: I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
Monday, 13 June 2011
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
Date Finished: 13/06/2011
My Rating: 3/5
271 chapters. 953 pages. 41 days. At the end of all that, I get to say (or, in fact, shout from the rooftops) that I'VE MANAGED TO READ THE GORMENGHAST TRILOGY AND IT DIDN'T DEFEAT ME!
It was this book that toppled my last Big Read challenge. On the list itself is just Gormenghast, the second book of the trilogy, however when I started reading it for my last attempt I soon realised that I probably needed to have read the first book to make any sense of it. It was this first book, Titus Groan, that I just couldn't get through.
Several years later and I went straight in with Titus Groan and, armed with dedication, determination, a hell of a lot of commitment and a good sprinkle of stubborn-ness, I made it through all three books. What I discovered is that despite having this time read the first book, Gormenghast was still as difficult and confusing to read as I'd found it the last time round. Ah well, I struggled on. I probably could have justified not reading the third book, 'Titus Alone', however, for the sake of completeness I decided to read that one too. It felt very different to numbers 1 and 2, but this is probably due to the fact that it was originally printed from a typescript from Peake's notebooks and the version I read was a further revised version, taking into account editors notes and Peake's own corrections. It did feel somewhat unpolished.
I found the whole saga hard work, and not just because the font is teenie-tiny! Peake overloads the reader with description. Honestly, he'll take a whole chapter to describe how heavy the air is, and I found it hard to maintain concentration. I'd be reading for a little while, and then realise that I wasn't really taking anything in, worry that I'd missed the one bit that was important, and have to go back and read the last couple of paragraphs again. Hey, maybe that means I've actually read Gormenghast twice. Peake himself alludes to it at one point, and this just jumped out of the page at me, writing "Tiresome in the extreme for all those present, it would be hardly less tedious for the reader to be obliged to suffer the long catalogue of Breakfast ritual,...". Yeah, too late, mister!! I'm quite convinced he could have told the entire trilogy in half the number of pages.
My other problem with this book is that very little seemed to happen for any purpose. For me, whole chunks could have been taken out, and it would have had little effect on the overall direction of the story. It is mentioned throughout the book how important the rituals and ceremony is for Gormenghast, but it never really explains why, and what would happen if this stops. I know it's fantasy, and maybe you don't need to know, but it might have helped.
There are several characters who, along with their story lines, neither helped nor advanced the book in any way. Having said that, there were some characters that I really enjoyed reading about, and was happy when a chapter started with something about them. Without spoiling the book for anyone who wants to read it, Peake disposes of a few characters in a way that I really didn't think they deserved. In fact, there is one particular case where I don't think it was necessary at all for the character to fall from the windowsill and drown, and that bit (for anyone who knows which character I'm talking about) really annoyed me, and was one of the (many) times that a shout of 'this book is so frustrating!' could be heard from our living room.
To give the book its due, there were pockets of the trilogy that were very exciting. For example, chapter 58 (FIFTY EIGHT!!) of Gormenghast, was a complete page turner. Sad that I'd had to read 647 pages of the trilogy to get to that, but it definitely was a good chapter. Unfortunately however, for the most of it, it wasn't exactly exciting. I couldn't read it in bed, because I'd get through a couple of paragraphs and then wake up several hours later with the book stuck to my face. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't need a book to be thoroughly exciting for me to like it, but I do like some progression over time. I like things to, you know, happen.
I moaned a lot about Gormenghast to friends and on Twitter, and several people couldn't understand why I didn't just give it up, and so here is my answer to that. Partly because I refuse to be defeated by a book (which is lucky, seeing as Ulysses is now on the horizon!), and secondly I've set myself a challenge, and it would be a sad thing to have given up before I got even a quarter of the way through. But the third and final reason? This may be a shocker, but I really enjoyed it. Just because something is hard work, doesn't mean that it's not enjoyable. Characters like Fuchsia, Irma Prunesquallor and Steerpike put a smile on my face each time I read about them. It may be a trudge to get through, but all that description gives a real picture in your head of what the castle and it's corridors and forgotten rooms were like. Ok, the sense of pride I got from finishing it may have bumped my rating up by an extra 1/2 mark, but this book is worth a read if only for descriptions such as "He lifted his catapult from beside him and raising it to his mouth he pursed his thin, merciless lips and kissed it as a withered spinster might kiss a spaniel's nose". Anyway, I've ordered the old BBC adaptation on LoveFilm, so it obviously didn't put me off too much.
So, who should read this book? Fantasy fans with a high level of commitment, definitely. Determination is a pre-requisite, as it's a hefty volume, but you'll be proud of yourself when you get to the end.
Next Book: Holes, Louis Sachar
My Rating: 3/5
271 chapters. 953 pages. 41 days. At the end of all that, I get to say (or, in fact, shout from the rooftops) that I'VE MANAGED TO READ THE GORMENGHAST TRILOGY AND IT DIDN'T DEFEAT ME!
It was this book that toppled my last Big Read challenge. On the list itself is just Gormenghast, the second book of the trilogy, however when I started reading it for my last attempt I soon realised that I probably needed to have read the first book to make any sense of it. It was this first book, Titus Groan, that I just couldn't get through.
Several years later and I went straight in with Titus Groan and, armed with dedication, determination, a hell of a lot of commitment and a good sprinkle of stubborn-ness, I made it through all three books. What I discovered is that despite having this time read the first book, Gormenghast was still as difficult and confusing to read as I'd found it the last time round. Ah well, I struggled on. I probably could have justified not reading the third book, 'Titus Alone', however, for the sake of completeness I decided to read that one too. It felt very different to numbers 1 and 2, but this is probably due to the fact that it was originally printed from a typescript from Peake's notebooks and the version I read was a further revised version, taking into account editors notes and Peake's own corrections. It did feel somewhat unpolished.
I found the whole saga hard work, and not just because the font is teenie-tiny! Peake overloads the reader with description. Honestly, he'll take a whole chapter to describe how heavy the air is, and I found it hard to maintain concentration. I'd be reading for a little while, and then realise that I wasn't really taking anything in, worry that I'd missed the one bit that was important, and have to go back and read the last couple of paragraphs again. Hey, maybe that means I've actually read Gormenghast twice. Peake himself alludes to it at one point, and this just jumped out of the page at me, writing "Tiresome in the extreme for all those present, it would be hardly less tedious for the reader to be obliged to suffer the long catalogue of Breakfast ritual,...". Yeah, too late, mister!! I'm quite convinced he could have told the entire trilogy in half the number of pages.
My other problem with this book is that very little seemed to happen for any purpose. For me, whole chunks could have been taken out, and it would have had little effect on the overall direction of the story. It is mentioned throughout the book how important the rituals and ceremony is for Gormenghast, but it never really explains why, and what would happen if this stops. I know it's fantasy, and maybe you don't need to know, but it might have helped.
There are several characters who, along with their story lines, neither helped nor advanced the book in any way. Having said that, there were some characters that I really enjoyed reading about, and was happy when a chapter started with something about them. Without spoiling the book for anyone who wants to read it, Peake disposes of a few characters in a way that I really didn't think they deserved. In fact, there is one particular case where I don't think it was necessary at all for the character to fall from the windowsill and drown, and that bit (for anyone who knows which character I'm talking about) really annoyed me, and was one of the (many) times that a shout of 'this book is so frustrating!' could be heard from our living room.
To give the book its due, there were pockets of the trilogy that were very exciting. For example, chapter 58 (FIFTY EIGHT!!) of Gormenghast, was a complete page turner. Sad that I'd had to read 647 pages of the trilogy to get to that, but it definitely was a good chapter. Unfortunately however, for the most of it, it wasn't exactly exciting. I couldn't read it in bed, because I'd get through a couple of paragraphs and then wake up several hours later with the book stuck to my face. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't need a book to be thoroughly exciting for me to like it, but I do like some progression over time. I like things to, you know, happen.
I moaned a lot about Gormenghast to friends and on Twitter, and several people couldn't understand why I didn't just give it up, and so here is my answer to that. Partly because I refuse to be defeated by a book (which is lucky, seeing as Ulysses is now on the horizon!), and secondly I've set myself a challenge, and it would be a sad thing to have given up before I got even a quarter of the way through. But the third and final reason? This may be a shocker, but I really enjoyed it. Just because something is hard work, doesn't mean that it's not enjoyable. Characters like Fuchsia, Irma Prunesquallor and Steerpike put a smile on my face each time I read about them. It may be a trudge to get through, but all that description gives a real picture in your head of what the castle and it's corridors and forgotten rooms were like. Ok, the sense of pride I got from finishing it may have bumped my rating up by an extra 1/2 mark, but this book is worth a read if only for descriptions such as "He lifted his catapult from beside him and raising it to his mouth he pursed his thin, merciless lips and kissed it as a withered spinster might kiss a spaniel's nose". Anyway, I've ordered the old BBC adaptation on LoveFilm, so it obviously didn't put me off too much.
So, who should read this book? Fantasy fans with a high level of commitment, definitely. Determination is a pre-requisite, as it's a hefty volume, but you'll be proud of yourself when you get to the end.
Next Book: Holes, Louis Sachar
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