A Spot of Bother. . .

Finally another book off my list!

I also have finished others but haven't gotten round to reviewing them (will do so soon)!

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon was described by The Times as a 'humane novel' and I think that is perfect description for this book.

A Spot of Bother tells the story of retired 57 year old George, who just happens to be slowly losing his mind. But this isn't a bleak story, like Haddon's previous work, he mixes sadness with humour in a heart warming and entertaining way. This isn't just the story of George though, it is also story of his wife Jean and her having an affair, of her daughter Katie and her wedding crisis and of Jamie who can't seem to invite his lover Tony to the wedding.

Haddon does a remarkable job of changing perspectives with each chapter and portraying each characters unique story and insight. The writing is simple but magnificent with meaning, which draws you in and keeps you reading. I enjoyed reading this book, but also could appreciate the complexity and work that went into writing it. Of all the stories, I found Jamie's to be the most enjoyable to read, and I absolutely loved him, with Ray as a close second.

My only fault with the story was the handling of Katie & Ray's relationship and Jean's affair. Not going into specifics because I don't want to spoil, but I felt that the end/resolving of both the issues surrounding these relationships seemed to just be resolved. Compared to the indepth and understanding shown earlier, I felt a little disappointed on how these worked out. Perhaps the resolutions were down to the actually characters and their final understanding but I don't know if that was set up were properly done for the reader?I agree with the outcomes, but I felt that the workings of the characters' decisions might have been more indepth?

Despite this very small fault, I give this book 9 out of ten. The writing was really remarkable, and totally drew me in and put me in George's and the other characters' mindsets and over all did wonderful job of showing the dynamics of a dysfunctional (i.e. normal) family.

Highly recommend it!

The Rubicon

For the past two weeks I've been reading this book nightly. The Rubicon is a hard book to categorise - although it is historical non fiction (has footnotes and all), Tom Holland tells the History of the Roman Republic in a compelling storytelling manner. The Rubicon (the first of Tom Hollands Historical books) can be summed up as 'Truth is stranger than fiction' or should i say 'Truth is more entertaining than fiction'.

In the first year of my undergrad degree, i did a year of 'Ancient civilisations' which focused on Rome and Greece. In all the books I've read on the subject of Rome, I think The Rubicon does an excellent job of telling the story of Rome - like a panoramic picture of its beginnings to the end - without too much (or overwhelming) detail to bog down the reader. This, i think, is the key to the success of this book - you don't have to be a scholar to comprehend and read this, and it isn't too clustered with details or differing academic opinions to leave you confused. Tom holland makes assumptions based on facts (lets you know he has) and gets back to the juicy details of the story.

Definitely this book though isn't a hero worship of Caesar or Augustus but gives a warts and all view of the political horizon of Rome, and of course (as he says in his preface) focuses beyond the typical 'main players' and shows the reasoning behind it all. My only fault is that there isn't a huge focus on the most epic moments (which almost feel anti-climatic) like Caesars murder or Antony and Cleopatra's suicides. He mentions them and moves on. However it should be noted that Tom Holland makes the point in the preface that this is a book about 'Rome and its people' and i think deliberately underplays the 'most known' parts so as not to swamp the message.

So to sum up, buy this book and read it! Even if history is not your cuppa, this is a exciting read! Can't wait to pick up his other two: Persian Fire and Millenium.

First one done: Never Let me Go

Finally i've gotten one off my list, and i can see why this book was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize 2005, and on the 100 books of all time list too. An exceptional complex book which i found hard to review without going into great detail, but if you want to read my review you can here and here

Just a little addition thought:

I think the power of Ishiguro's writing can be best summed up with this excellent quote :

"What I like in a good author isn't what he says, but what he whispers." Logan Pearsall Smith

Karen, Book Review, *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, *Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in clearly the Night-time, by Mark Haddon, absolutely stunned me. It's about a kid with an unspecified (the author has said in interview that it's Aspergers, but it's not mentioned in the book) autism spectrum disorder. He stumbles across the neighbor's dead dog and decides to solve the mystery of who killed the dog. His investigation unearths all sorts of family secrets that just beg for a resolution. The autistic boy, Christopher, narrates the story, and the narration at times took my breath away.

Amazon reviewers have disputed the authenticity and the treatment of the main character, but I found his naive and sage insights into our world magnetic and precise. Once Christopher explained even the most mundane things to me, I would suddenly become convinced that this was the only reasonable way to talk about it. I especially liked his treatment of white lies.

Though I expected The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time to be a challenging read, what with the main character's autism and all, I actually found it to be one of the easiest reads of my life, if you don't count things like the Baby-Sitters Club.

Normally, I don't like any kind of mystery. It's nearly impossible to satisfy me, because if I guess the ending, I feel bored and like I wasn't challenged, and if I don't guess the ending, I think that the writer did a bad job. I'm impossible to please with most mysteries. Even if the book isn't shelved with other mysteries--if it's just some random piece of literary fiction where you're supposed to be shocked that it turns out everyone's life sucks because some old dude molested somebody and you're supposed to feel all emotional and whatever about it--I'm still not crazy about mysteries. I don't think I'm jaded, I just think that I don't like being manipulated, and that's all mysteries seem to be about, in the end. But that's how good The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time was: I didn't guess who killed the dog, and I didn't mind; I was too caught up in enjoying the narrator's voice and in taking the story one page at a time to worry about who killed the dog or to bother with my own ego.

In other words, if you're looking for a book that will take you out of yourself completely, read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.