The Angels Game – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Set in the 1920′s of Barcelona, this is the story of a young writer (David Martin) who fears that he has sold his soul to the devil, or at the very least, has made a pact with him. The story is wonderfully descriptive and flows well, and even though it is translated from Spanish, there doesn’t seem to be much lost in the translation process. There are links in the book to the Shadow of the Wind, also written by the same author; the Sempere and Sons book shop and the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for example. David is a lost soul himself, in love with Christina who can never be his, and living in a derelict house which carries many secrets of the plot that unfolds. I found this dark, thrilling novel hard to put down. I was intrigued about whether the darkness of this book was in fact within David’s head and then how one goes about trying to overcome such a complex existence.
The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga
This is an interesting insight into the class differences of India, for those who remain oblivious to these. We see India though the eyes of Balram Halwai, a sweet maker by caste, yet a White Tiger looking for his freedom. As the driver of a rich, corrupt family which constantly bribes officials from politicians to policemen, Balram sees and hears all, which ultimately he uses to escape the shackles of his imprisonment from his master. Amidst the prostitution, corruption, filth, and deprivation, Balram bides his time until he comes out of the darkness, and crosses over into the light. I found this novel to be worthy of the Man Booker prize it won; as a first novel it kept me interested and also amused. I was disappointed by the ending and felt my enthusiasm deflate by the last chapter or so. It is similar to other books that I have read on India and its class system, especially in terms of the pollution, corruption, prostitution etc. The consensus in our group was that this was infact a really good read. We were interested to ask whether it accurately portrayed India and in the end were in agreement that it did reflect the sad realities of many of India’s poor and deprived. It was particularly significant for us living in Kuwait where many of us have housemaids and hired home help. I also thought it would be interesting to hear from those who have been brought up with different values and experienced these caste differences first hand, who might therefore have an appreciation for the differences, more than perhaps we could. A really interesting book, that is written in a very simplistic style, and manages to balance harsh realities with humour.
A History of the World in Six Glasses – Tom Standage
This is light, though not an easy read. It is literally the history of the world through the six beverages, beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and coca cola. Like the other members of our book club, I found the concept of charting history through these drinks unique and plausible. I did find it difficult to read in the beginning and must confess, if not for the book club, I would have given up half way through the first chapter on beer. I persevered, and was glad I did as it did ‘pick up’ although not greatly. I found the stories of great thinkers such as Plato coming together in Symposiums, which developed all around the world as a result of new beverages, very interesting. For me, the chapter on Tea was the most captivating. This is probably because, 1) I am a devoted tea drinker 2) The beginning of Twinnings Tea to fulfil the gap in providing women ‘access’ to the equivalent of coffee houses, was just remarakable. The different civilisations, the ‘great powers’, the (British) East India Trading Company as well as the Opium Wars, were interesting to read about through this different approach to history. It is a book that made me feel pleased that I had read it, once I had finished it.
The Tenderness of Wolves – Stef Penney
I usually stay away from suspense of murder-mystery books but had to read this for our book club. And once again, how pleasantly surprised I was at the way I received it. The story, set in 1867 Canada tells of the murder of a French man called Laurent, after which, a local boy called Francis disappears. The narrator is Francis’ mother, (Mrs. Ross)who in a quest to prove her son’s innocence, sets out to find him, travelling on foot through the vast forests and landscapes of Canada. What is interesting is that as a young woman, she breaks all traditional rules by travelling with a Native Indian tracker called Parker, and throughout the book there is a feeling that some romantic relationship will emerge between the two. The book highlights the racist beliefs of the time that White people were inherently more intelligent than the native Indian’s, something that is presented as an indisputable fact by characters such as Storrock, who at one point in the book states that Kahon’wes, a native Indian was an intelligent writer and journalist, gifted and educated and must therefore have white blood in him. Such views, along with beliefs about women’s roles and the rules that governed their behaviour, reflect the time in which this novel was set. The significance of the book’s title emerges when we hear of the disappearance of a couple of local girls and it is widely believed that they must have been eaten by wolves. It is Parker who tells us that wolves do not attack people, that they are curious of people but do not attack without provocation, hence their tenderness. He also points out that wolves would not eat an entire corpse so their would be traces of a corpse if this did happen. In the end, we realise that the real tragedy is that in this story, the men are actually more dangerous than the wolves (particularly Stewart, Line’s lover).
The best part of this book is the description given by the author of the landscape and the bitter cold weather, with snow making travel difficult and dangerous. The first comments at our book club were about how we all could actually ‘feel’ the cold while reading the book. I know as I stayed fixated to the book I was every once in a while checking the temperature of the room, convinced that it was getting colder and colder (and I read this book in November in Kuwait when it was still warm). This is perhaps the best asset of the book, especially given that Penney has never travelled to Canada. Her descriptions are powerful and compelling. The book also had some very scary moments, one scene in particular when Line and her children are stranded in the middle of nowhere and have no sense of direction. There is a cold realisation that this could be a reality from which they never survive. Such images challenged our otherwise romantic notions of the snow (I felt happy reading this nearing Christmas time when I have beautiful images of snow and crispy fires burning to keep us warm).
The book had some interesting sidelines, though the end was incomplete which some book club members were disappointed about. We were not sure about what had actually happened to the missing girls, though we were given a few inconclusive leads. Other questions that remained unanswered were ‘Why had Mrs Ross been in an Asylum and what was the link with that and the story?’, ‘What happened in the end to the Tablet, and had it ever been significant?’ and ‘What was Mrs. Ross’ first name?’. This is a book I would recommend to other readers.
Suite Francaise – Irene Nemirovsky (2006)
We read this book for our November book club read and had mixed reactions to it. The book is written as two stories, which most of us felt were almost as two unconnected ones. This I found disappointing, as did others in the group as it left a sense of incompleteness. The first part is set around the German invasion of France during the Second World War and details the occupation, and importantly, the responses and reactions by the people of the time, whereas the second novel includes more romance and a much more fictional feel.
I was pleasantly surprised about how I was kept interested in the lives of the people who were packing their worldly possessions to move out of Paris for fear of the Germans coming. The stories of the rich and wealthy and how they manage to survive despite a world war in full progress illustrated the realities of social stratification. I found it interesting and insightful that the German soldiers were presented as ‘ordinary young men’ who simply had a job to do. People they encountered carried on their daily business and the irony of the end of the different characters kept me amused (characters died under normal circumstances rather than the result of war). In our group, some of us felt lost with the different characters and had to stay focused to keep up, perhaps because there was a lack of continuity and many characters that dropped in and out of the story. All in all, I was glad to have read this book although in truth it is not one I would have chosen on my own, so its just as well it was a book club must for us!
Far From the Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
This is very much a romantic novel. The story is set around Bathsheba who has 3 suitors, Boldwood, Sergeant Troy and of course, Gabriel Oak. It is set in the imaginary Wessex and the book is rich in description of this beautiful English countryside. After Gabriel, a farmer, proposes marriage to Bathsheba and she turns him down, she moves away to Weatherfield where she inherits her uncle’s farm and becomes a farmer herself. Oak on the other hand looses his farm after tragically his sheep are killed and so he ends up working for Bathsheba. Of the other two suitors, Mr Boldwood is a self-declared bachelor until he encounters Bathsheba and Sergeant Troy is the would-be husband of Fanny Robin, a maid who also worked for Bathsheba.
Among the characters there is also Caine Ball who becomes an assistant shepherd to Oak on Bathsheba’s farm. The book is written with some good humours which adds to its appeal. For example, I particularly liked the story of how Caine got his name. Apparently his mother was not very religious and got confused with the story of Caine and Abel, thinking it was Abel who had killed Caine, so she named her newborn Caine, as the good son. I found this rather amusing. There is also more humour in Fanny Robin going to the wrong church for her wedding. William Boldwood is the repressed farmer who becomes obsessed with Bathsheba after she sends him a Valentine card in jest. Our heroine Bathsheba is a strong, unconventional woman, especially for her time. She is intelligent though poorly educated and beautiful. Gabriel is very protective over Bathsheba, even though she has marries Troy and he remains her loyal friend. The twists and turns with Fanny Robin, Troy and Bathsheba keep the story going and the end is satisfying, as a true love story should be.
There are a number of interesting themes that run through this book. We experience social mobility through the characters. Gabriel moves downwards after he looses his farm while Bathsheba becomes upwardly mobile through her inheritance of the farm and Troy also moves upwards but through marriage. Class differences are very apparent throughout and the the novel depicts very real imagery of England in the 1800′s. There are some very descriptive scenes too including the tragic death of the sheep and the big fire.
The readers are left wondering if Bathsheba would be happy in her final choices, given her drive and passion for life. In our book club discussion we questioned whether or not she would be truly happy or if she had ‘settled’. I found this to be a truly satisfying read.
Perfume – Patrick Suskind
I thought this was a very different and therefore interesting approach, telling the story of one man and his immense sense of smell. The book includes the lives of some interesting people, the perfumer for example. The whole concept of one man having such an incredible sense of smell made the book pretty intriguing and while it started off pretty well, I did find that things became stale as it developed. I therefore found it difficult at times to carry on reading. The details of Paris and the descriptions of the smells was interesting because before reading this book, I had never thought of describing places and scenes through smell. The chilling elements in the book caught me by surprise and towards the middle/end I began to get bored. The end is far-fetched but all in all, I do admire the author’s originality.
A Million Little Pieces – James Frey
This is a story of a man with addiction problems. It traces his history from the beginning of his first alcoholic drinking (which started at sipping drinks at parties at the age of 6 or so) to the point of near-death by addiction and then recovery.
James Frey received much criticism for presenting the book as his true journey when in fact he had altered some of the details of what actaully he went through and what actaully happened. He does begin by explaining this challenge and does well to defend himself.
The story is well written and descriptive, sometimes even too descriptive that I had moments where I skipped paragraphs to avoid being sick myself. One thing James Frey does very well is provide a deep insight into what addicts actually go through, the things they experience, the feelings that overwhelm them and the suffering that goes with having an addiction. I thought the characters were quite typical of those you find in Total Institutions; some survivors such as Frey himself and Leonard and some victims such as Lilly.
It was a book I enjoyed reading and one that provided enough scope for discussion in our book club.
Freakonomics – Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
was one of those books that I believe would have been more interesting to follow had it been presented as a series of short, seperate essays, rather than a book. Our group generally agreed that when we read a book we enjoy the flow, the drama and the continuity. While we thought it provided an alternative way of looking at cheating for example, there was no story as such. To be fair, this is what the authors intended so to that end, it has satisfied those types of readers. I on the other hand, came away a little confused and indifferent to the whole book.
Blood, Sweat and Tea – Tom Reynolds
This is a blog-turned-book, the writer telling of his trials and tribulations as an ambulance driver in London. The style of writing is very much typical diary entries and I was hopeful that it would make for interesting reading, revealing the inner secrets of people’s everyday lives. I was sadly disappointed. The book includes details of his HIV testing because of an incident while ‘on the job’ and though there are some interesting cases he encounters during his work, I had hoped for more from this read. The detail was missing and most of the book, for me, read like a big moan. Yes the ambulance crew work hard, but so do many of the other professions. And they are hardly undervalued. Most of us appreciate their work and do regard them as vital. So for me, the complaining aspect of the book, along with the constant reminders of all the filth that his black boots carried during the course of the day, made it a distasteful read I’m afraid.
A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khalid Husseini
I finished this book in two days (as a mum of two very young children and someone in full time employment, this is pretty good going). I found it difficult to put this book down, it was THAT good. It is a story set in Afghanistan and shows the wars of the country, first against Russian oppression, then the Mujahiddin, then the Taliban. It is powerfully written and tells of the suffering of women, because they were women. Characters such as Mariam who have the ‘harami’ title, Laila who we thought would be the stronger of the two. It shows women to be very strong despite all the oppression they face and their strength is highlighted in the choices they make to survive-for example, Laila’s marriage to Rasheed is a survival move. The story has some interesting twists too, Rasheed for example, knowing all along that Aziza is not his. It has a good ending too although I wished Mariam’s end had been different, to prove her mother and society wrong. There were many innocent sufferers in this book, though they come across not as victims. The book reminds us all of the tragedies of war, invasion and terror, whether that comes from external forces, or from those closest and from within. A truly remarkable book.
