Wednesday 29 November 2017

Journey Without Maps by Graham Greene

"Today our world seems peculiarly susceptible to brutality."

Let me begin by professing my absolute love for all the Greene novels I have read to date. Thus setting  the scene, Journey Without Maps,  while possessing an amazingly good title, left me a little tepid. That is not to say that this isn't an interesting read and some of the prose is brilliant. Perhaps the misstep in my appreciation is due to a lack of connection with a naive young, male, traveller, protagonist in a very different time.
Travel writing in essence is all about the discovery of a new circumstance, the experience  of the foreign. We impose our own view upon our surrounds and take away a sense of renewed understanding of our own homeland and of our own expectations of the world. Intriguingly, reading the book backwards would add a layered nuance, as the author notes, with the benefit of  time, in the Preface to the second edition 
   "I have been able to recognise in myself after a year;s sojourn the inertia which as a tourist I condemned so harshly in other people".
Indeed, perhaps my disconnection from the text is an aversion to my own gauche behaviour as a tourist. Now, upon reflection, my initial view of the novel is elevated and perhaps I initially judged it too harshly. Discussions of the novel are doubtlessly full of commentary about the language and racism which are part and parcel of the time in which it was written, and sadly still prevail often today. The novel is also in some ways a rite of passage, a young naive man goes to remote Africa to discover a broader world view. That is perhaps the reason we all travel - to broaden our horizon and , as the title suggests, a trip without the benefit of coded directions is being truly adrift in the world. There are a surfeit of descriptions of topless native women in this novel and a real sexualisation that adds a further barrier to my enjoyment, and yet reflects the social norms of the day. I finished this novel on a rivercat from Olympic Park to Barangaroo on a beautiful Sydney sunny day - that was the journey it accompanied me on.

3 out of 5 Facebook posts can't compete with the old slide night.








Tuesday 28 November 2017

Year One by Nora Roberts


"They came in hacking and puking, bleeding and dying. Most from Doom, some from Doom's by-product of violence."

Cards on the table here; I was lucky to grab a pre-release copy courtesy of NetGalley and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I’ve not had the pleasure of reading anything by this author previously and was engaged from the get go. Judging by her back catalogue on www.noraroberts.com, she has been prolific to say the least; so perhaps that is to my detriment.

The beginning of the novel envelops you in a fast paced Armageddon-like experience as a strange plague unleashed by some birds weaves its way around the world causing pandemonium. It seems no one is safe from the illness and, if the sickness doesn’t get you, weirdness just may. People are discovering new and strange abilities, the atmosphere of violence and self-preservation becomes all pervasive and there are rumours of a military round up of the gifted.

This could all be quite trite dystopian fiction, because – let’s face it, there has been quite a lot of that in recent years. Robert’s character development overcomes this. As a reader the threat of danger is palpable and you can’t help but care for the characters you meet. Not all will be in for the long haul – there are some Game of Thrones style deaths of characters with a deep reader investment, these were particularly jarring for this reader; in a good way.

The supernatural elements grow apace in the later chapters of the book and at first they struck me as anomalous. The violence, sickness and anarchy is particularly easy to relate to. The reader is then swept up into a greater good versus evil battle. That took me a little longer to settle into, perhaps because it wasn’t particularly telegraphed. What could have been a perfectly rendered tale of surviving an almost extinction event pandemic is transformed into something broader. After a few chapters, I was back on board and it was certainly a worthwhile ride.

Year One is the first in a series and while it may have lost me for a little while in the middle, the ending ensured I will be seeking out the next instalment. Look for this first novel due out December 5.

4 out of 5 times I think to myself I need to learn some practical life skills in case we ever lose Google.

Monday 20 November 2017

A Pale View of Hills by Kazoo Ishiguro

"In any case, that's when it started, Mariko's obsession with that woman."

Fancy a dash of moodiness? A melange of suspense with just a hint of horror? This might be the one for you. This strange and rather short tale is both evocative an interesting. If, perhaps you seek things spelled out clearly then this may not be the novel for you. If, alternatively, you enjoy second guessing and getting to grips with strange, dreamlike occurrences, I'd say grab yourself a copy. I was keen to explore another of Ishiguro's works, particularly in celebration of his recent win of the Nobel Prize - quite the achievement. While I did not enjoy this nearly as much as Never Let Me Go,  which I consider an amazing novel, it does nonetheless pack a punch. Unease is something which pours forth from the pages and that, in of itself, is rather impressive. Apparently this was his first novel and I think there are aspects which mark it as an earlier work, less polished.
Thematically, its treatment of mothers and daughters and distance and priorities struck me as particularly interesting, albeit jarring. This is a book I could re-read and possibly discover more new, and alternate views; perhaps that is a testament to its promise.
Happily this represents another tick on the 1001 novels to read before you die list. In fact at this point, I've read 461 of the 1,305 combined list of all the series published and this one was a winner.


5 out of 5 strange neglected children can seem rather ominous.




In a Grove by Ryƫnosuke Akutagawa


“What profound silence! Not a single bird-note was heard in the sky over this grave in the hollow of the mountains. Only a lonely light lingered on the cedars and mountains.”

A rather intriguing short story of only some 14 pages and yet its structure makes for an engaging read. A dead body has been found and everyone involved has their own take on what exactly transpired.
 I really loved the way each character vented their own, different perspective. It makes for a fantastic read. My only quibble and the reason for deducting one point, is that there wasn't more of it. Proof positive that 14 pages can still pack a punch. I mean there's rape, murder, violence and intrigue and who knows the truth? One gets closer to it with each step.



 4 out of 5 perspectives can differ.

Saturday 11 November 2017

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani


"How many years have passed since that far-off June afternoon? More than thirty."

My appreciation of this novel was a little hampered by reading it in fits and starts. Isn't that always the way - a busy life and reading can sometimes be difficult companions. Once i did engage with the narrator and his passion for the attractive Finzi-Contini daughter, MicĂČl.
The foreboding sense of what is coming hangs over the story of children growing up given that they are Jewish and live in Ferrara  and the time is just before the holocaust. Their world grows increasingly restricted and yet the trials and tribulations of love and rejection are universal and the juxtaposition makes this novel particularly interesting.
Originally written in Italian and one of a series of novels by Bassani, I wish I'd experienced it in the native tongue so to speak. My Italian is probably a little too rusty for that. Did I mention this one is yet another tick on the 1001 novels list - I'm making progress this year.

4 out of 5 frustrations and tragedy can be an unappealing mix.

Thursday 9 November 2017

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan


"Nicky are you there? Alamak this is getting ridiculous."

I have a confession to make. I'm kind of in love with the unlimited excess of the world that Kevin Kwan has created. As I noted with my review of the third book, I accidentally bought them out of sequence. This rather ruined some of the suspense of this, the second book. I think what makes this so delicious is the way we can all relate to the helicopter parenting that goes on. Well, perhaps I should qualify that. I guess it depends on the kind of social norms of your parents. My mother's side falls squarely in the hands on, control and keeping face side of the coin. I do not profess to live the lifestyles of the rich and famous existence of these personages - no private jets for this lady. I celebrated my first business class upgrade the other day and it was only to Brisbane, ah but it was glorious. Everything goes better with bubbly and therein lies part of the appeal of these books. I devour them like oysters. I really like oysters. You either love or hate them. I digress.
The other aspect that is so relatable is the way tight groups keep potential entrants out through bullying and in this case some rather extreme examples of it.
It helps that Rachel and Nick are as adorable as creme brûlée. Who can say no to creme brûlée- not even me and I'm gluten intolerant.

5 out go 5 confectionery sweet and easily digested.

In Between The Sheets by Ian McEwan

"He was horrified , sickened, that he could enjoy being overwhelmed, like one of those cripples in his brother's magazines."

How to describe these little snippets which are all about, well what you might get up to in between the sheets? The scope is broad and some short stories work far better than others. One that certainly is hard to forget might possibly have been the inspiration for Lars and The Real Girl, I'm not sure, and yet the subject matter is rather similar. A passionate tryst with a shop dummy is certainly not something you read about everyday.
I dread to say it and yet the brevity of the stories seemed like they were....pullling out of the station before the last stop shall we say? I guess you could say they are a bit of a tease - they stop just when things are getting interesting. Perhaps that's why I didn't give this a five. I think the first story, Pornography,  is brilliant and rather a good advertisement for condoms, particularly if your paramours number in the greater than one bracket.

4 out of 5 kinks in the page.

Wednesday 8 November 2017

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

"But my reverie was soon tempered by disastrous news."

I rushed out and got myself a copy of this when I heard that it was being adapted into a film. My usual preoccupation with reading the novel first, kicked in as always. It does read something like a film treatise. It has moments of pure suspense and horror and then there's a kind of void. There is just something missing and I think its the fact that the story doesn't really finish. Perhaps it is the start of a longer series and I lack the patience to embark on another series of anything.There just aren't enough hours in a day.


4 out of 5 moody, suspense ridden moments but lacking a certain something.

Saturday 4 November 2017

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

"Here was the most remarkable thing about the Keating children: they did not hate one another, nor did they possess one shred of tribal loyalty."
Families are complicated, their strange inconsistencies are a never-ending source of fascination. Patchett's novel really captures the ins and outs of the strange way that families function. An unlikely dalliance combines two very disparate families and some rather earth shattering consequences. It took me a little while to get into this and when I did I was hooked. The author beautifully captures multifaceted dimensions of the same story through the perceptions of all the players. There is also another level to appreciate there, the tale within a tale, first in the form of Leon Posen's novel and then its cinematic interpretation. Indeed there is something particularly post modern about the whole conceit and it is a delight. It is rare to find a novel with so many emotional and cerebral touch points and that can only be a testament to the work of its creator,


5 out of 5 would be authors dream of that kind of skill.

The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson


“She wasn't much over five feet and a hundred pounds, and she looked a little scrawny around the neck and ankles. But that was all right. It was perfectly all right. The good Lord had known just where to put that flesh where it would really do some good.”


This novel is dark…..really dark. I’d planned to read it before the movie came out. However, the average reviews the film got meant that I’ve still not seen it. Lou Ford is not a nice guy. While he might seem like your average deputy sheriff, he could explode in violence at any minute. This guy is a killer without remorse. Lou is a psychopath and dating him, while lovely at times, could leave you lying dead as a mushy corpse.

No-one is safe around this guy and what’s worse, he makes for an engaging narrator. Perhaps that’s why this novel succeeds. You are drawn into his mucked up mind and constantly looking for some semblance of sense. Every misstep is a source of suspense. Every violent act leaves you feeling slightly complicit.

I perhaps took a point off my rating because this has extreme violence against women and that makes me rather uncomfortable. On the plus side, it represents another 1001 book ticked off the list.



4 out of 5, this is police brutality writ large.