The Shipping News by Annie E. Proulx

25 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 1 Star, General Tags: , , , , ,

Published: June 1 1994
Goodreads badgePublisher: Scribner
Pages: 352
Format: Book
Genre: Fiction
★ – 1 star

When Quoyle’s two-timing wife meets her just desserts, he retreats with his two daughters to his ancestral home on the starkly beautiful Newfoundland coast, where a rich cast of local characters and family members all play a part in Quoyle’s struggle to reclaim his life. As Quoyle confronts his private demons — and the unpredictable forces of nature and society — he begins to see the possibility of love without pain or misery.

I know it probably is not wise to bring to mood down so early on into this endeavour, but I feel after the five star and highly praised books we need to even it out a little. I often find myself reading books that people define as a ‘classic’. That horrid little term which, to quote the other annoyingly quoted man Mark Twain, ‘is something that everybody wants to have read but nobody wants to read’. But I have indeed read some of these classics, one such being The Shipping News, something which according to Amazon Books,  “shows why Annie Proulx is recognised as one of the most gifted and original writers in America today”. Yeah no. I had to first read this book for my Extension English class in 2005 and much to the annoyance of my teacher it took me six months to finish it. I just did not like this book. I couldn’t get into it, I didn’t like any of the characters or the narrative whatsoever. Then of course we had to watch the film with Kevin Spacey, and I apologise to Mr Spacey because now every time I see him in a film I think back to this horrid movie and it makes me dislike him. Very bad I know.

There wasn’t anything in there that I hated especially about it, it was just that it bored me to tears and I simply dreaded picking it up again. I think I only smiled once through the whole thing and that was because one chapter opened up with a joke which was a little bad but very clever at the same time. Other than that I have no idea why people love this. I have seen reviews that talk about the beauty of Newfoundland and the intense character of Quoyle, but to me it is irrelevant. I don’t care how much Proulx describes the wonderful location, the fact we have to read about Quoyle’s drab life in Newfoundland is enough to cancel out any beautiful imagery. It is certainly a love or hate book I have discovered. I have come across a few of these. They somehow manage to divide people into five star ratings or one, maybe two.

There is so much in this book that could have made it intriguing: Quoyle’s wife Petal and all her issues, the fact Quoyle must raise his daughters after his sea change from New York, even the mystery surrounding Quoyle’s ancestral history in the town isn’t strong enough to actually make you interested or care. Instead we watch this man slowly sinking and no matter how hard he fights he barely stays above water. Even when things start going well for him the mood does not change, we may as well be back at square one where everything crumbles around him.

As the years pass and people still talk about this book I wondered if whether my age had anything to do my interpretation of reading this story. Was it the fact I was 17 and had this book thrust upon me for the sake of study? I would like to say no because I can recall so many other books that we had to study at school that I adored, even the strange science one On Giants’ Shoulders by Melvyn Bragg . I loved that book. So based on that, I stand by my argument that this book was simply  slow and dull and by having the long and dull movie thrust upon me as well did not make me appreciate the book any more.

As a character Quoyle annoyed me, his life seems to be a continual monotone of nothing, but what was worse was that so was his personality. Away from narrative, the way Proulx had written this story was disagreeable as well. I understood the connection and significance of the ropes and knot references but the way her sentences flowed and were constructed just got up my nose. I know books don’t suit everyone so I understand people out there loved it, but just for those people who see it being raved about and then hate it yourself, you are not alone and are not one of the weird people who “don’t understand the classics”. I hope you take that away with you because remember, one day there will be a book you adore and no one else will understand why. Remind them of this moment.

A shorter version of this review was originally posted on goodreads

The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard

24 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, General, Mystery, Thriller Tags: , , ,

Published: July 9th 2010
Goodreads badgePublisher: Transworld Publishers
Pages: 430
Format: Book
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
★   ★   ★   ★   ★ – 5 stars

Imagine that some people have the power to affect your thoughts and feelings through reading—to seduce you with amazing stories, conjure up vividly imagined worlds, and manipulate you into thinking exactly what they want you to. When Luca Campelli dies a sudden and violent death, his son Jon inherits his second-hand bookshop, Libri di Luca, in Copenhagen. Jon had not seen his father for 20 years—since the mysterious death of his mother. 

After Luca’s death is followed by an arson attempt on the shop, Jon is forced to explore his family’s past. Unbeknownst to him, the bookshop has for years been hiding a remarkable secret. It is the meeting place of a society of booklovers and readers who have maintained a tradition of immense power passed down from the days of the great library of ancient Alexandria. Now someone is trying to destroy them, and Jon finds he must fight to save himself and his new friends.

Oh my god I adored this book. I do not think I have ever read a crime/thriller book before (I’m not really counting The Da Vinci Code in this). This was gripping, it was suspenseful and it draws you in like no other. Given the content of the book it was amazing that it had a hold over me. It would be a disappointment if a book of this nature, about this kind of thing was uninteresting and could be put down, but this I had to drag myself away from and got annoyed when I was interrupted.

I simply loved it from start to finish, the characters were real, deep and were very well developed. Even if not everything was exposed and explained the first time we see them it is drawn out through the entire book so even in the final chapters we are still learning about them as people. It was intense, it was funny, it was sweet, action filled and dramatic, everything it needed to be very believable within its realm of possibility.

The writing style was good and allowed insights into characters as well as detailed but not over the top descriptions of people and places. Some of the language around descriptions of the bookshop or environment were beautiful and fitted nicely into the story, especially if seen by a character as it suited their perception of the world perfectly. The point of view changes throughout between a few of the characters. It is good because it allows you to get to know everyone through their own eyes and their interactions with other characters. But no matter whose point of view it is Birkegaard sometimes flows off into tangents of explanations after he hits on a point or topic. It is not a bad thing exactly, it helps explain a few things, surprisingly doesn’t distract really from the story and then he manages to loop it back almost seamlessly to where he trailed off from. It is an interesting technique and it does expand on either the current character in particular, or just explain those around them and their own back story and perceptions by others.

The first half appears slow paced, not in a bad way though. You get to feel around the story and take in everything much like Jon does, you learn as he is exposed to the new information and situations. But then at the halfway mark it gets very exciting very quickly and I got rather excited as I knew this was where the action and adventure was going to begin.

Throughout the story so much is not said so you are trying to make your own assumptions, piece together clues, assume everything is clues and hints, trying not to suspect everyone. It was enthralling which was great because in a book about being so involved in a text it was amazing how engaged and into this book you get. It is very hard to draw yourself away from it, you want to know what is happening what will happen. It’s so mysterious and you don’t know what is connected and what isn’t and it constantly keeps you guessing and eager to find out what is really going on. It is a bit like watching a crime show or something similar, you focus after awhile on people who keep popping up, trying to fill in mystery people with possible people you’ve already come across. You are suspicious of everyone who is mentioned because you are convinced they hold a greater purpose. It is amazing, your brain works overtime trying to think of all the possibilities and you read so much into everything in an effort to figure out the ending before being led there by Birkegaard. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book of this kind before, it is very addictive and keeps you guessing constantly. I just can’t believe it is a first novel, it is spectacular.

 

The Eyre Affair (#1) by Jasper Fforde

24 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, General, Science Fiction, Thursday Next Series Tags: , , , , ,

Published: July 19th 2001
Goodreads badgePublisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Pages: 373
Format: Book
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
★   ★   ★   ★   ★  – 5 Stars

There is another 1985, where London’s criminal gangs have moved into the lucrative literary market, and Thursday Next is on the trail of the new crime wave’s Mr Big. Acheron Hades has been kidnapping characters from works of fiction and holding them to ransom. Jane Eyre is gone. Missing. 

Thursday sets out to find a way into the book to repair the damage. But solving crimes against literature isn’t easy when you also have to find time to halt the Crimean War, persuade the man you love to marry you, and figure out who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays.

Perhaps today just isn’t going to be Thursday’s day. Join her on a truly breathtaking adventure, and find out for yourself. Fiction will never be the same again…

This has got to be one of the funnest, funniest and greatest books I have read. It is set in an alternative 1985 and literally explores novels and literature in a way I just cannot believe. Jasper Fforde has the ability to delve into the literary world with accuracy and consideration for every possible outcome and explanation. The story follows Thursday Next as she works on solving literary issues that arise in this surreal world of hers, and in her role as
a literary detective she is part of the team that keeps novels on track and when they are interrupted or, as it were, stolen.

In this first adventure Jane Eyre is under threat and Thursday is trying to keep the story uninterrupted while chasing an old enemy through its pages. What was brilliant about this book is that even though I have read Jane Eyre, I spent so much time a little bit confused and trying to trust my own memories while I was being told something different. The fact that Fforde treats these literary characters as real people, very much like actors in a play, it is astounding and fascinating.

But despite the hype, Jane Eyre is not the only aspect of this novel and Fforde uses it to introduce us to this alternative world. There is a lot that is similar to the regular 1985 but there are certainly variations such as cloning, and the dodos, and the time travel being the big ones. It is not even as if the future has arrived early, there is just this ‘what if’ element that makes it a little science fictiony about ‘well what if the Crimean War was entering its one hundred and thirty-first year’, and ‘what if there was this agency that made sure all the literary characters behaved themselves and stopped Hamlet from chucking tantrums’. You know, little things like that.

When I read books of these nature a small but demanding part of me wishes that these things could really happen. There are enough quotes floating about from decades past and present that speak about how characters come alive in the reading but what this is, this was brilliant, I don’t know how many more ways I could say it. The quotes that can come out of this book alone are funny and clever and manage to suit all sorts of situations. Also, and I think this is terribly unfair of Fforde, is that with all these mentions of Shakespeare and oh, Great Expectations, you spend most of the time reading about Thursday and the other part thinking ‘oh I really want to read Great Expectations now’. So I offer one hearty angry fist shake at Mr Fforde for adding more books to my growing pile, and with the other shake his hand for showing me that stories can be whatever it is you want them to be and just let your mind write whatever bizarre things it thinks of- within reason of course…this is how bad literature is written. So if the idea of exploring classic and wonderful novels from absolutely new and exciting angles doesn’t get you in, then time travel, dodos, funny character names and the idea of being stuck in a Wordsworth poem should be enough to entice anybody to at least have a look. From the first few chapters I knew I would adore this series and certainly by the end of the book I wished upon all my wishes that we too could own Dodos.

The Tale of Despereaux by Katie DiCamillo

24 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, General, Junior Fiction Tags: , , ,

Published: September 9th 2008
Goodreads badgePublisher: Candlewick Press
Pages: 272
Format: Book
Genre: Junior Fiction
★   ★   ★   ★   ★ – 5 stars

Welcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other’s lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out. 

I was not expecting this story. I knew the name but I didn’t know why, and I had read another of DiCamillo’s books (Because of Winn-Dixie) so I gave her a go. This is the story of a very little mouse called Desperaux, as well as a rat born into darkness and a girl with a simple, impossible wish. These three along with a castle of characters is the start of a heartfelt but sometimes saddening tale.

The beginning sets you up in a very odd way around Desperaux and his family, and introduces us to the mouse world in an old castle. But then just as you get settled DiCamillo changes our focus elsewhere and we see the start of another story. This continues through the story and it is really clever. It shows the different lives of everyone involved and how one small action can cause such a big reaction.

There are simple realities and small brutalities but nothing over the top, unless you think too much about it. But DiCamillo doesn’t make you pity any one too much. She offers small things that balance out the bad and takes a characters own pity away so you lessen your own, and what these characters offer, especially those in the wrong, provide small glimmers of forgiveness.

This is a great read, it shows how understanding can be a powerful force but also how desperation can create terrible consequences.

I am borrowing this image from Grammarly.com because I think this needs to become a constant in a lot of reviews.

 

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

24 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, General, Junior Fiction Tags: , , ,

Published: April 1st 2007
Goodreads badgePublisher: Scholastic
Pages: 525
Format: Book
Genre: Junior Fiction
★   ★   ★   ★   ★ – 5 stars

Half sketches create a story in pictures too, relevant history. Real last-century French pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès collected mechanical robot-like automata, and, impoverished, worked at a toy booth in a Paris railway station. Here, orphan Hugo fixes his late father’s automata, and meets Méliès through his god-daughter Isabelle.

There are not enough ways and words I can use to tell you all how much I adored this book. It is absolutely spectacular. Do not let the 525 pages frighten you off. It is a fairly quick read, the writing takes up little space on the page and a lot of the story is told in stunning black and white sketches.

This is the story of Hugo Cabret, a young boy living in the walls of a train station who discovers a secret. I will not ruin anything else and I will hint at nothing. This book is touching and heart warming, it is I’m assuming fiction wrapped in an element of reality because a lot of what is mentioned is very true, but the surrounding story is not.

Selznick’s characters are wonderful, even when they appear not to be. They play their parts very well and they are as real and believable as any living person. The actions of this young boy, the adults in the station, everyone who we see in this book you understand completely even before you realise why you do. Children are children and adults try their best at being adults. Secrets and hidden information do not make these characters less real. As soon as Selznick introduces a character you somehow manage to see their entire selves in the small space they are given. Anything else revealed after that only adds more and makes the story even greater and more moving.

What this story does is it draws you into this world, you see everything so clearly even without the help of the pictures. The part truth it tells makes it sorrowful at times but remarkable and fascinating at the same time. Anything based on true stories always makes me that much more involved emotionally because the events were real and did manage to change or impact someone’s life, but even these truths mixed with fiction is enough to get caught up and teary eyed at what Selznick is trying to portray.

Yes I know there was a movie, but read this book, if not first then read it after. They are so close so you won’t have to choose which one was better but this book offers just as much as the movie does if not more. There are pictures, there is writing, there are sketches and photographs, it is everything. What Selznick does is he uses these pictures to tell the story. As I say, don’t be scared of the 525 pages. There are one hundred and fifty eight different pictures and twenty six thousand and fifty nine words and every single one tells this story. Don’t ask me how I know, read the book and you’ll find out.

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