Black Book humour!

Feeling a little under the weather and disgruntled with life, this sign I spotted in a tiny book shop in Keswick really appealed to my pessimistic side! I particularly love the slightly threatening/possibly suicidal tone.

Cheered me up a treat.

We need to talk about Kevin

No. 5

We need to talk about Kevin

by Lionel Shriver

Read or re read?

A much loved re read. I recently got the chance to meet Lionel Shriver in person and that, and this article I found in the Guardian, prompted me to pick it up again.

Fascinating Fact

A film is set to hit our screens either this year or the next, with Tilda Swinton playing the lead and narrator, Eva Khatchadourian.

The Blurb

Published in 2003, Shriver's novel about a fictional high school massacre seemed to be on everybody's bedside table that summer. Narrated through letters to her estranged husband Franklin, Eva Khatchadourian reflects on events before and after the 'Thursday' their sixteen year old son Kevin commits mass murder in his high school gym.

Now living alone in a rickety flat, she traces their marriage and family life from the beginning. She examines their happy marriage pre Kevin, and tries to explain her seemingly hot and cold desire for having him. When Franklin doesn't come home one night, Eva imagines her future without him, and this fear of losing the love of her life, seems to spur her final decision. They start trying to conceive.

From the very moment of his conception, Eva and Kevin fight. She resents her pregnancy, he is a fractious unattractive child, nannies won't stay and Eva, the founder of a successful travel guide, is forced to stay at home and become a full time mum. As Kevin gets older, Eva finds it impossible to not draw conclusions when things start to go wrong at his preschool. She sees him as a malevolent force, a calculating clever child who is determined to drive a wedge between his doting father and mistrusting mother. Even so, she tries and it is in these flashes of her earnestly trying to Be A Good Mother that redeem Eva as a character.

Time goes by and Eva continues to see her former life and her marriage drift disappear. They have another child, Celia. The sides even out. Eva and daughter. Franklin and Kevin. But things don't improve and Kevin is increasingly implicated in more worrying incidents.

But even Eva is unprepared when, one Thursday Kevin walks into his high school and murders a select group pupils and teacher in cold blood.

Is it a keeper?

Bit of a no brainer as I have had this for a good 5 years and still enjoy re reading it. I know that many people feel that Eva is a unappealing and self indulgent narrator but I can only commend Shriver for writing such an honest account of motherhood. We seem to have this invisible line of what we can and can't say when it comes to family life and Shriver bulldozes through it, exposing the very fabric of family life and the complex, painful relationships that hold us all together. Ultimately Eva loses everything, yet she still seems to love her son. To say this book gives you food for thought is an understatement; its a feast.

More like this

A Perfectly Good Family - Lionel Shriver

Bowling for Columbine - Michael Moore (film)

Louisa May Alcott on iPlayer

Happy Monday folks!

Well it might not be the most favourite of all my days but the BBC seem to have sensed that and put up Louisa May Alcott's Good Wives on iPlayer. Isn't the tinterweb marvelous?

I have seen quite a few posts about Little Women recently so I thought I'd share the brilliant sequel with you.

Find them all here. The first episode is available till this Wednesday so be quick!

Plus, keep an eye for an exciting new project I'm working on. It involves maps, and drawing pins and books...

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher

No. 4

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher

or The Murder at Road Hill House

by Kate Summerscale

Read or Re-read?

Read. Intrigued by it's cover I picked this up in a charity shop about a year ago. And there it has stayed...

A Fascinating Fact

To be honest picking just one is tricky - the whole book is packed full of them.

The Blurb

The non fictional plot follows one of London's first proper detectives Jack Whicher as he attempts to unravel the shocking and completely perplexing murder of three year old Saville Kent in the Somerset town of Road.

Snatched from his cot in his Nurse's room, his body is found in the grounds of his wealthy families' home, Road Hill House. The shocking savagery of the murder and the fact that it's perpetrator must have been a member of the household sets the Victorian society of 1860 in a frenzy and Mr Whicher is sent from London to get to the bottom of the truth. (The local police having proved disastrously inept.)

Summerscale follows his investigation, and his frustration, as he battles against the locals, the Kent's bizarre family history and the social class divisions of the age. After all only poor people are violent?

Simultaneously she refers regularly to the history of detection (here's where the good facts are) and how Whicher and his colleagues inspired a new genre of novel and a new character; the detective. Both Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins were contemporaries.

Like Sergeant Cuff in The Moonstone, Whicher is led (by way of a stained nightdress - same as Cuff!) to the person he thinks is responsible - Saville's older sister, 16 year old Constance.

He has her arrested, but she is later acquitted and Whicher returns to London in disgrace.

Summerscale then traces his and the Kent family's progress in the years after until a shocking confession and surprising discovery lead to the murderer, five years after the crime.

So whodunnit? Well you'll have to read it to find out...

Is it a keeper?

Mmmmmm. I have to admit as much as I found Summerscale's writing style and evident knowledge fascinating, I can't say I love loved this. I think part of the problem was I was expecting a fiction novel, and although the real life story is gripping I found this a little fact heavy, and at times a bit dry.

That said I am a huge fan of the detective novel so it was interesting to read about someone who inspired some of my favourite authors. And much like the Victorians, I also share their morbid curiosity in all things murder mystery. I guess some things don't change!

More like this

The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins

Bleak House - Charles Dickens

A very big thank you!

After all the excitement of the Book Oscars I was very excited to receive some awards of my very own!

Firstly thank you so much to Pageturners for my first ever blog awards! The...

And also the Happy 101 award! I have to list 10 things that make me happy, then pass them both on to 10 new blogs that I love.

So here is my list.

1. My boyfriend (I have to say this. I would like dinner tonight...)

2. Ditto, friends and family

3. One of my bath books*

4. Wine

5. My shoes. Even though in my current employ I don't get to wear the pretty ones nearly enough

6. Sunny mornings. Blue skies. Nuff said

7. Food. Of almost any description though cake rates quite highly

8. An unexpected bonus of the financial kind

9. Flowers. I am completely helpless in the face of a bouquet

10. The Sopranos aka Tony Soprano aka dream husband

* Book bath definition. Any of Louise Rennison's books or India Knight's My Life on a Plate. Fabulously funny books that cheer me up no matter how blue I am.

And then from all the way across the pond in the big apple, Books in the City very kindly gave me...

I have to tell you all 10 honest facts about myself then, you guessed it, pass it on to 10 people.

1. Despite my, sometimes terrible grammar, I am in fact a writer. I work for a London advertising agency

2. I am almost definitely always 3 pounds heavier than I will ever tell you

3. I used to live in Norway

4. I am a complete wimp and can't drive

5. I would probably choose to spend my last pennies on shoes, rather than food.

6. I may occasionally listen to show tunes.

7. I have never read Catcher in the Rye, Middlemarch etc

8. I enjoy the occasional run. Occasional being the operative word here.

9. I may the only person in the country who still quite likes Gordon Brown.

10. I'd like to write a real book. As opposed to the ones in my head.

Anyway - scuse the overload of personal info and thanks again! I'll put up my deserving nominees later!

A Brave New World

No. 3

A Brave New World

by Aldous Huxley

Read or Re-read?

Shamefully, this is the first time I have ever read A Brave New World. I inherited a very lovely original Penguin Classic and it has sat on the BookShelf until this week.

A Fascinating Fact

Brave New World's iconic title derives from Miranda's speech in Shakespeare's The Tempest.

The Blurb

The book is set in London in "the year of our Ford 632" (that's AD 2540 to us). Most of the worlds population live unified under The World State, a consumer driven 'utopia' where natural conception ahas been done away with, and children are instead bred in test tubes and sorted at embryonic stage in to different castes: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons.

Only Alphas are created using untampered cells. All lower castes are effectively clones subject to varying degrees of oxygen deprivation and conditioning to produce a hierarchy of intelligence.

From childhood, all babies are conditioned to embrace consumerism, ("ending is better than mending") and when they need a break they indulge in Soma, a hallucinogenic drug that takes them away on 'holidays'.

Enter Bernard Marx, an Alpha plus psychologist harbouring the distinct impression that life just isn't quite as it should be. A little short and swarthy for the usual Alpha male stereotype, Bernard decides in order to woo Lenina, a pretty, pneumatic (not my word!) Beta, he will take her to a Savage Reservation. This is where those not under The World State live.

With seduction off the menu (Lenina being seriously unimpressed) they are amazed to find a former World State member and her son living amongst the tribe, having got separated from a visiting party year earlier. Pregnant by a high ranking member of the State she had to give birth and raise (god forbid!) her son John.

Bernard decides to take them back to London and quickly enjoys his new celebrity status as the discoverer of the 'Savages'. John however, is horrified by the soulless order, lack of faith and sexual promiscuity.

The book ends with John falling more and more disgusted by this version of civilisation and ends up living in isolation in an abandoned Light House, where he attempts to atone for the sins he has witnessed and experienced.

Phewf.

Is it a keeper?

Despite the heavy subject matter and intricate plot, with its many layers of reference and metaphor, I found A Brave New World an incredibly accessible read. It's fascinating that a book written in 1931 could so accurately predict some elements of the future. It is genuinely funny too, a real show case for Huxley's inner satirist.

Quite simply, I adored it.

More like this

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

The Hand Maids Tale - Margaret Atwood

Gattica (film)

A week in the life..

Well... Hello little blog. Hello blog pals. It feels like ages since I have actually sat down to write a Proper Post Full of Things.

Seeing as a stuuuuuupidly busy work week has meant that reading has been reduced to a few pages before I fall asleep on the bus, I thought I'd just share some of the things that tickled my bookish taste buds last week.

First up, was last Saturdays brilliant Guardian article on writer's top ten tips in the Review section. They are all good in their different ways, but my personal favourite (as someone who pretends to write for a living - yep someone pays me and everything) was Roddy Doyle's.

Here are the first five...

1 Do not place a photograph of your favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.

2 Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph

3 Until you get to Page 50. Then calm down, and start worrying about the quality. Do feel anxiety – it's the job.

4 Do give the work a name as quickly as possible. Own it, and see it. Dickens knew Bleak House was going to be called Bleak House before he started writing it. The rest must have been easy.

5 Do restrict your browsing to a few websites a day. Don't go near the online bookies – unless it's research.

I'm not sure how many of you saw this, but I would definitely recommend a gander. Fascinating stuff.

Monday meant work but also a meeting and discovery of my new favourite reading spot in London. Sketch may be one of the most ridiculously pretentious places in town, but it's tea room, with it's Alice in Wonderland like frivolity and comfy sofas and oh-so-pretty cakes makes it the perfect indulgence if you want to escape the gloom. A girl can dream..

'scuse the crap photo... was trying to do it subtly, in that, 'I'm totally not overwhelmed by this. I come to here all the time' kinda way...

Tuesday meant a trip to the Design Museum for the Brit Insurance Designer of the Year.

This rainbow book pile made me happy.

As I was wondering/running manically round London town this week, it did get me thinking. It would be really interesting to plot a route around the important literary places... it can seem as though you're never far from something you've read in a book.

If anyone has a particularly good one, whether it's in London, or you're home town, I'd love to know. Maybe we can start a bit of a virtual map...

Anyhoo, apologies for this bitty, long post... have a super week!

The Book Oscars nominations!

Good evening and welcome to the 2010 Book Oscar Nominations!

So firstly, apologies for being so technically incompetent. The plan was to get all of the polls into this post, but as yet that is totally defeating me so for now, please find them to your right... yey!

Also, due to slight complications vis a vis the global blog link up network (a bit like Thunderbirds) I am only releasing the first few lots of nominees tonight. I quite like the idea that the suspense will build up for best male and female characters... it's like the real thing. Sort of.

Anyway, here they are! (Points right) At this point I would like to offer huge thanks to, Books in the City, Paperback Reader and The Ideas Bakery for taking their time to share their favourite books with me. Muchly appreciated ladies.

And for the eagle eyed amongst you I haven't forgotten... here are the Book Cover Design Nominees for your approval...

I hope in the next few days to get all of the nominees into one post but for now.. let the disagreements and infuriated whynotthisamazingbook? posting begin!

The Book Oscars 2010.. ta daaaa!

It seems at the moment you can't go anywhere without someone talking about awards season. Which made me think, why not host our very own version of the Oscars here in blogland?

The idea is super simple.

I have approached some of your most popular blogs to ask for their nominees for the five main categories. Over the next weeks you can vote for the recipient you think deserves the 'Oscar' the most. Then we have a grand unveiling ceremony of the winners!

The categories are.

Best female character in a novel

Best male character in a novel

Best film adaptation of a novel

Best Cover Design

Best fiction

The only rule is that the books must be from this past year. That's it.

Voting will open tomorrow hopefully, I'm just sorting out a nice header you can plop on your blogs too.

Right I'm off to buy a frock....

Through the letter box...

I was very excited to wake up this morning to find a mysterious package lying on the doormat. On closer inspection it turned out to be a new proof from the lovely Lee at Picador, (thank you!) which is pretty much the nicest way to get up on a Saturday.

It's called The Ice Age and it's the debut novel by American Kirsten Reed. Aside from the fact it has quite possibly the loveliest cover, the name Jack Kerouac is bandied around on the back which makes it doubly intriguing.

I'm just about to finish Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World (review to follow) so timing is perfect.

Apart from that I've been planning a bit of inter blog fun so keep your peepers open for an exciting (hopefully) announcement soon!

Have a fab weekend. x

The Bluest Eye

"Quiet as it's kept, there were no marigolds in the fall of 1941. We thought, at the time, that is was because Pecola was having her father's baby that the marigolds did not grow..."

And so Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye begins.

Set in Ohio in the 1940's, the story is narrated by Claudia MacTeer, both as young black girl growing up against the backdrop of the american midwest, and later on in life, as an adult looking back on her childhood. Parts are also narrated by an omnipresent third party.

Claudia remembers the autumn Pecola Breedlove comes to stay, her family having been put 'oudoors' with nowhere to go after her father sets fire to their home and is sent to jail. Believing herself to be ugly, Pecola's most fervent wish is to have blue eyes. Unloved by her damaged parents and surrounded by a lack of hope, she is bullied and has few friends.

Despite being the main protagonist, Pecola's character is the one to remain the least developed, perhaps as a way to reinforce the idea that she becomes a font for the shortcomings of those around her; a reflection of a brutal world.

As the story continues we learn that both her parents also had damaging and abusive upbringings. In the afterword, Morrison explains that she felt it important not to dehumanize the characters who ruin Pecola: this she achieves marvelously. (Though she herself, is unsatisfied with her depiction of Pauline Breedlove.)

The novel reaches it's peak with the rape of Pecola at the hands of her father. Not only does it represent the central point in the novel, for me it brought together all of the separate threads of narrative that Morrison weaves up to that point. It showcases her incredible ability to explore the complexity of seemingly simple, brutal events; to not only move you, but to make you question why you are moved.

In the aftermath of the rape and Pecola's subsequent pregnancy, it is through Claudia's childlike, innocent desire for Pecola's baby to survive that Morrison deftly shows societies ability to turn a blind eye. Pecola, transparent for much of the novel, simply disappears from the adults view.

My thoughts

The Bluest Eye is a stunning examination of societies perception of beauty and the importance we place on appearance. Written by Morrison in the 60's it has obvious racial implications, but there are still lessons to be learnt today, in our (hopefully more equal) society. It's certainly not a light read, nor an uplifting one but Morrison's rhythmic, almost poetic writing carries the reader through and captivates from the start.

The Bluest Eye may be a smaller in size than some of her more famous novels, but don't be fooled. It packs a heavy punch.

Tuesday Teaser...

Inspired by Page Turners post about Should be reading's Tuesday Teasers idea (keep up...) here is my very own teaser, a sneak peak into my most recent read, Toni Morrison's, The Bluest Eye.'

'They come from Mobile. Aiken. From Newport News. From Marietta. From Meridian. And the sounds of these places make you think of love. When you ask them where they are from, they tilt their heads and say "Mobile" and you think you've been kissed."

Page 63

If that has you suitably tantalised (god this is sounding like a saucy show!) keep an eye out for my review.

Waiting for Columbus

"Sometimes the best map will not guide you

You can't see what's round the bend

Sometimes the road leads through dark places

Sometimes the darkness is your friend"

- Bruce Cockburn

Set in contemporary Spain, in the town of Seville, the plot follows the story of an anonymous stranger. Found semi naked and unconscious in the treacherous Strait of Gibraltar, he is taken to a local insane asylum where he claims to be Christopher Columbus. Yes, the 15^th century explorer…

Here he attracts the attention of Nurse Consuela, who slowly begins to unravel his mystery as he tells her stories about his life. The deeper she involves herself in Columbus, she realises her professional concern is becoming muddied with personal feelings as she slowly becomes more entangled in the surreal narrative that Columbus weaves around them. As his story develops, Consuela starts to piece together the true reasons for Columbus’s break with reality and the horror he is running from.

Simultaneously, a young Interpol officer, Emile Germain, is searching Europe for a missing man, following a trail that eventually leads him to Seville, and to Columbus.

Trofimuk captured me from the first. He holds the readers attention effortlessly as he takes you from modern day Spain, to the 15^th century/ dream-like state that Columbus inhabits. The surreal quality of these ‘reminisces’ is worn lightly, Trofimuk is never heavy handed with his hints about Columbus’s past life. Instead they are intensely sensual and evocative. (Trofimuk’s descriptions of wine and food are sublime…) Half way in and I think I was almost as in love with Columbus as Consuela. And this is, ultimately, a book about love. All-consuming, passionate, deep, scarring love in all of its complicated glory.

As the book draws near to the end, I felt I was dreading it with Columbus. As his stories become more fractured and real life (mine and his!) starts to interrupt, the truth is slowly pulled out.

I finished Waiting for Columbus in tears. I loved it.