A while ago I read Mark Haddon's first book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. Which although was actually a kids book it was very well written about an autistic boy. When I heard he has written a second book I was very keen to read it. This time it is not a kids book but a novel based around a pretty normal dysfunctional family. The book focuses on mental illness and I think is very well written showing how family members think someone is being irrational and does not notice that really they need help until it has gone too far.
It is a very enjoyable funny read with a serious subject matter. In an easy to read format - which is an extra bonus for me! Who needs soap opera's with great novels like this.
What an absolutely amazing book. This is the first book in a long time to really get my emotions going. It is just so gripping and so gut wrenching. At times it is certainly not pleasant to read but blows any other book out of the water.
The story of two boys living in Afghanistan who are friends but from very different back grounds. One very well to do with a good upbringing and the other the son of his father's Hazara servant. The story is set in the time of the fall of Afghanistan with mass exodus and Taliban rule. The main character after ending up in America is forced to return to Afghanistan to clear up a long lived guilt. It is very well written and whatever I read next will have a hard act to follow. Must read his next book - on the Christmas list me thinks!
This book was bought for me by Rich and Clare for my birthday - thanks. They got it off me wishlist, I put it there because it was one of those 'people who read this also read this'. So I thought I would give it a try. It took a little while to get in too but you found yourself getting to attached to the main character. A lad who grows up in Orkney and has a troubled childhood, moves to the bright lights of London and works as a prostitute. Maybe not my usual reading subject but pretty good all the same. Written as if it is Desiree himself was speaking who could never get over his first love. It is very raw but touching and very well written.
What can I say, what a book. Life has been busy so I have been struggling to find time to read Harry Potter, every spare minute was spend with my nose in this book.
The seventh and final book certainly did not disappoint. Harry and co. have a great adventure in the final battle against he who must not be named. I will not give anything away but the book gave a very satisfying finish to a fantastic series. It will be sad to think no more Harry Potter books will come but we still have the films come.
So this is a fond farewell to a fantastic series of books - bye Harry!
Last night I went to see the Scissor sisters in concert by accident - you may ask how I accidentally ended up being in the O2 arena going to such an event. Well on Wednesday Becky and I were on an admin day and up pops this email from charitable funds saying they have 2 tickets to the concert first come first served money to Sobel house hospice. We often get these emails but as we are ward based it is always days after the event so as we were there at the time we thought we would give it a try thinking they would have gone already. I phone them up and the tickets are ours - bargain. Only problem Becky was doing a late the next day so many frantic phone calls to other staff and the lovely John swapped - thanks John you are a star. We then figured out how we would get to the arena which is the old millennium dome and Becky said she would drive.
So last night we pootled down there, straight through the middle of London past St Paul's, the Gherkin, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square it took just a mere 4 hours! The arena is great loads of restaurants around the outside then once inside loads of fast food places. We missed the support act who we had never heard of and got our seats ready for the main act. Pretty good seats in the first tier right by the stage. They did a bunch of stuff off the new album I do not have but played all the old faithfuls also. It was a great show but I did expect more costume changes! I did love the guitarists half black half sequined suit though and the stage was shaped like the logo which was pretty cool. all in all it was a great show. Then we had great fun driving home through the middle of London taking a wrong turn and driving over Tower Bridge twice - satnav is rubbish - well I already knew that but now I have it confirmed.
Last night Joe and I went to to see Pirates of the Caribbean, At worlds End. We were very excited about it as we got a little obsessed with pirates while we were in Cameroon and watched the two first films about 5 times each.
when we got home everyone told us the new film was pretty rubbish but we had to see it for ourselves and just watching Captain Jack was bound to be fun.
Well we enjoyed it, some parts were very silly but that is pirates for you we expect it. Captain Jack did not let us down and at points there were loads of him of screen at once. the story line was complicated but easy enough to follow especially if you know the history of the characters. It was great to watch it on the big screen, just like film night at Bills place but the pop corn cost way more!!
All in all a very enjoyable evening.
I have read quite a lot of American literature whilst in Cameroon, this is because our great local book shop - books and things mostly sold American books. I have really enjoyed them all and also enjoyed Huckleberry Finn. Once you get used to the dialects people are speaking in it becomes an easy read with a charming story.
The book is as you would expect full of adventure and mishap as Huckleberry Finn and Jim make there way down river. I guess I should now read the adventures of Tom Sawyer to find out what antics he and his friends get up to.
A collection of short stories each told by a member of the Joy Luck Club. The Joy Luck Club is a group of four women who have moved from China to America and formed this group. The book begins after one of the members has died suddenly and her daughter has to take her place in the Joy Luck Club. The meetings involve each member telling a story, the book is made up of these separate stories. Two stories from each of the mothers about life as a child in China. Then each of the daughters tell two stories of their life in America in relation to their mother. Some of the stories are pretty crazy but all are lovely. The mothers have very traditional views that their daughters do not share. The book shows a lot about Chinese culture and belief. The book has also been made in to a film so I would like to watch that now.
This is a book I have been wanting to read for ages, Joe brought it along time ago for 1p of Amazon Marketplace. He was not too impressed which put me off a little. I brought it to Cameroon with me but Sheila borrowed it for ages so I have only just got the chance to read it. The book is narrated by 14 year old Susie. the second line grips you, I was 14 when I was murdered. She is speaking from heaven. After the explanation of the gruesome murder and talking about how her family are coping I began to wonder who the book would keep up the tempo. In the middle I did get a little board as Susie spends her time watching her family move on from her death. Her father becomes obsessed with finding the murderer as the police can not. Her sister grows up and is doing things Susie never had the opportunity to do. The book gets a little weird(er) near the end where Susie comes to life in another girls body for a while. So I would say this book is alright to fill in time but not a 'must read'.
This is a book Bill lent us, a book about a Peace Corp Volunteer spending his two years service in China. He worked in a small town on the Yangtze river teaching English and Literature in a teacher training college.Many of his stories I can relate too from our time here. Being treated differently because you are white, never quite being able to fit it no matter how hard you try. Although I think he had it much worse than we do, there are a few whites in Buea, Hessler and his fellow volunteer were the only waiguoren (as they were called) in Fuling and the first Americans to visit in 50 years.There was a lot to learn about living in China, he would often say something in class that would cause all the students to go silent and bow their heads. Everything was very political, there was no escaping it.It is a fascinating book about China, a country I would love to visit but maybe not live in.
After enjoying Stephen Fry's biography I thought I would give some of his fiction a go. It is difficult to know how to describe this book, a reviewer says it is the Count of Monte Cristo for the dot.com generation, but I have never read the Count of Monte Cristo so can not comment on this comparison. It is a story of a young public school boy (Fry likes to write about things he know about) who falls in love then though a series of 'being in the wrong place at the wrong time' type events his life changes dramatically. The book is of course very well written using some great witty language, it is also very easy to read which was great for the long train journeys. You get a great introduction to the characters before the main story begins. A great story of love, revenge and human nature.
This is a collection of short stories written by a Cameroonian Sammy Oke Akombi. Bill lent me the book who was given it by the author who Bill worked with. I will give you a history of the author before starting on the book. Akombi grew up in Buea and schooled here, he then went to University of Lagos, Nigeria and the University of Warwick, England. He is now a teacher his literary career began in 1985 when we won the first prize at the Black Young Writers Awards of the London-based Afro-Caribbean Educational Resource Project. Five years later he won the 1990 literary prize of the national Association of Cameroonian poets and writers, four of the stories that won that prize are in this book. He is also an honorary Fellow in Writing of the University of Iowa, USA and resource officer in charge of evaluation at the Yaounde pilot linguistic centre.
The book contains six short stories I will give you a synopsis of each. I am afraid the book is not available at amazon or all good bookshops so if you want to read it - you can't, sorry.
The Woman who Ate Python - This books open describing 'the immense form of the Cameroon mountain' as the village the book is set in is at the foot of the mountain. An only child, quite a tomboyish feisty girl grows up and marries. Her husband finds a huge python and following tradition presented it to the chief for eating. Women are not allowed to eat snake as it will result in her children crawling on their bellies. This woman is chosen to prepare the meat for the chief and his elders - including her husband. When serving the meat they notice the best piece is missing - the chest of the python. Eventually the woman is brought in for questioning and she faced up to the men 'how long will you treat women like they are your property', how can I cook for you and not have the pleasure in tasting the food'. she now waits for the repercussions, while her husband cannot cope with the shame.
Death of a Dead Man - A very clever boy too late to register for secondary school gives up on life. The boys father does not agree with poor people having a secondary education and has no money to support him but this boy is the cleverest in the area and has a scholarship and support from his villagers. However he arrives to late and all the places at the school are gone. From here he lost all conviction and did not care what happened to him. He followed his father in becoming a drunk. He felt he was dead inside so why bother. We worked as a grave digger and was known around the village as 'dead man'. He develops diabetes but will not stop drinking so eventually he dies, the man known as dead man is dead.
Up From a Slum - A child's mother dies in childbirth and his father dies a year later. The child gets sent to live with his uncle in another African country. His uncle is a rich business man, they live a good life and the boy attends a good school. his uncle then gets in to trouble at work and is threatened with deportation, seeing no way out of his fate he commits suicide. The boy gets sent back to his own country as none of his uncles wives wanted him. He finds another uncle who lives in the city slum. This is a real contrast for the boy coming from western living standards to the poorest of the poor. He has no choice but to live there. His uncle cannot afford his school fees so he repeats the last year at primary as it is free. He is top of the class and gets a scholarship to grammar school. Here he studies hard and finished top of the school. He goes to university and graduates a medical doctor - anything to escape the slum.
No Armour Against Fate - A man who lives in a broken down bus on the side of the road, spends his days trying to clear the rubbish dump next to his house. He is recognised by an old school friend who invites him for a drink. They discuss what happened to home how he ended up to poor. The man once a well known journalist who then became a politician then got jailed for speaking his own mind. After his time in jail he gave up trying to get anywhere, his family abandoned him so he found a bus and decided to live there.
Acquired Drinking Efficiency Syndrome - A man comes home drunk to his house and his sister is staying, she discusses his problem with him, he answers he has Acquired Drinking Efficiency Syndrome, she does not hear so he repeats ADES. The next day the sister is worried about her brothers life so visits the chief telling him her brother has AIDS. They go together to the house to talk to the brother who denies saying anything about AIDS. He then realised they were talking about his ADES. The chief encourages him to stop drinking and tells him his organisation will have to stop using creates of beer as fines. Tears are not Forever - A woman is unhappy with her husbands lack of money - he is a civil servant and should earn more money according to her. They have an argument about this she believes death will be a release from her life and looks forward to it. The next day the civil offices collapse and she fears for her husbands life, when she arrives at the scene she see's he survived as he did not panic and calmly left the buildings. She goes home to find her son fell in the well and is dead. Well it is quite a collection, a couple are quite good, I enjoyed the ADES one and up from the slum, the others were a bit naff especially the last one and no armour against fate. However what made it more enjoyable is all the parts of life I recognised from living here. Also a couple had pidgin in which was enjoyable to read and good for improving my skills. It was pretty easy reading though - finished it in 24 hours!
Joe has been saying I should read this book since he read it not long after we arrived. It is not an easy read or a book you would want to take on holiday, however it is fantastic and very well written. The sad tale of the Joad family who have to leave Oklahoma due to the depression and tractors taking over all the work and their houses. They travel to California 'the land of plenty', where there will be food, work and nice little white houses to live in. Of course things do not turn out as wonderful as they expected. Life is very difficult, there is never enough food and accommodation is scarce and the locals are not welcoming. There are times when you think their life is getting better then the work runs out and they must move on.
Steinbeck is of course a fantastic writer making it very pleasing to read. It was hard to get in to at the beginning, there are a few abstract chapters describing general life and not that of the Joad family and this is how the book starts. I found these chapters hard going, especially to begin with, they became easier to follow as the book progressed.
Although it is not a true story, it is set in a time of hardship and although the Joad family did not exist many did who went through similar experiences. A great read if you have the time to be absorbed by it and can cope with no happy endings.
This is a book about a book and it author. It has romance and mystery and is a good read. It takes a while to get in to but I started it on a Sunday afternoon sat on the veranda and read the first 100 pages in one go so I was hooked. My only problem is that sometimes I have a 3 second memory when it comes to books and do not notice the small subtle hints, or completely forget the relevance of things and have to keep flicking back to where they were previously mentioned. However I thought it was a great story and very well translated. Having visited Barcelona a few years ago I was able to picture the setting well and think of all the Gothic streets Danial was running down.
The book is told through the eyes of Danial a teenager who comes across a book called The Shadow of the Wind, intrigued by the book and its unknown author he starts an adventure with many twists and turns wondering how will it end.
OK I know I am a little out of date with this film review - but that is what happens when you live in Africa. I really wanted to watch this film before we left to come here but we were pretty busy at the time. So my lovely husband bought it on DVD and his parents delivered it. Many thanks to you all. I watched the first pirates film while I was off sick having my pacemaker changed. I was very slow on the uptake of that film. I thought it sounded pretty naff so was not too bothered about seeing it. However I loved it, Johnny Depp (as always) was magnificent as Captain Jack Sparrow. So I was pretty desperate to watch the second film. I thought it was great, a little silly but you expect that. Johnny Depp was again brilliant. The ridiculousness of the fights was just great, and very amusing. My only complaint is the blatant way the ending is set up for the next film. It always upsets me when they leave a film hanging, did he kill the beast or did he die.............you have to wait till next time. Arrrrrrrgh its like a kids Saturday am TV show to keep you hooked. My guess is that he did kill the monster and save his boat or else how will Disney make any money from the next film?
My interest with oriental writing all began with Wild Swans. Which is a is a magnificent book that I urge you to read. I have also greatly enjoined Memoirs of a Geisha which I really enjoyed and will one day watch the film. Empress Orchid is the first book I have read by Anchee Min, it is her forth novel so will definitely be reading the others. I really enjoyed it. Based on the true lives of nineteenth century Chinese royalty. The story of a village girl who was chosen to become one of the Emperor's wives. It describes the lonely life she led inside the Forbidden City and the struggles to met with her husband, the Emperor. I found the second half of the book a little too heavy with Chinese politics but still very enjoyable. There is great insight to the thoughts and feelings of this young woman as she becomes a concubine and copes with a totally different life style in the Forbidden City. She is a strong character who risks her life by saying what she feels needs to be said. Very well written and enjoyable read.
With lots of time for reading and not much time for blogging I read two books while Ted and Glenys were here. So two reviews in quick succession I am afraid. the perfect storm was first a book then made in to a film. I have not seen the film and not sure if I will as I think it will ruin a great book (although it does have George Clooney in it). Junger is a journalist and wanted to keep to all the facts whereas the film I understand wanted drama, thoughts and feelings. As all the crew died in the storm it is pretty hard to get true thoughts and feelings so Junger left this detail out.
So the book is about what meteorological would be called 'the perfect storm' resulting from colliding weather systems. Causing 100 foot waves and seas that any boat would have difficulty surviving. the book is based around the Andrea Gale and its crew, it is not surprise ending that the boat does not survive the storm so I am not ruining the book by telling you that. The book describes in detail fishing and weather which all comes together to an accurate account of what happened at sea that night. Not only does it follow the crew of the Andrea Gale which has never been recovered but also other boats that were out that night.
It makes a really good read and gave me a very different perspective of the sea as I was splashing about in the waves on the coast last week.
Stephen Fry is a very interesting, clever, witty, well spoken man. So it would be come as no surprise that his biography is interesting, clever, witty and well written. This book covers the first 20 years of his life. He is very honest about the struggles he had fitting in at school and problems we faced with attempted suicide and crime in his teens. It is amazing to see how low he was as points, how he could have just been a drop-out by not focusing his intelligence and how he saved himself after a close call with prison bucked his ideas up finished school and went to Cambridge.
Stephen Fry is incredibly intelligent, he writes how he found his 11+ results with approaching genius next to his name. However I get the feeling he would have given anything at that age to not be quite so intelligent and a bit better at music and sport. Fry loves to watch sport or listen to music but is unable to participate, he felt this stopped him from joining in. I think this is a common thought amongst young people, they would give anything to be better at sport or music or what ever it is all their friends are skilled at. Being intelligent can make fitting in very difficult, often it is the very intelligent that go flying off the rails as they may be bored at school or feel left out as Fry did. I am generalising of course and not saying all intelligent people get lost along the way but I do think they find it hard. I would not call myself particularly intelligent I got average results at school and University, so I cannot totally sympathise with Fry but I can understand what he went through and how he reacted to it.
So all in all it is a jolly good read and gives a great insight to the mind and childhood of Stephen Fry.
This book was a Christmas present from Mum and Dad, off my wish list - thank you. I did not know much about it and choice is as it was recommended by amazon (you bought this so may like this) and Richard and Judy (who do actually recommend quite good books!). I found it a little difficult to get in too at first. One of the reviews on the cover said 'the book is like a roller coaster, at first you are not sure and want to get off but by the end you are left begging for more'. Most the time I pay little attention to reviews but this I felt rang true.
Really it is six separate books all rolled into one. Each story is written in a different style, set in a different age, telling a different story. The stories fit together like Russian dolls the story that begins the book, ends the book etc. Each story is discovered in the next. I half expected some cheesy overarching story that would cheesely wrap it all up at the end, however it did not come to this. In some ways it felt like many different stories with no relation but as the book goes on you notice the themes and struggles each character faces.
It is very well written covering a variety of styles, the chapter written in a Pacific Islander local dialect was tricky to follow but I soon got in to it. The book begins in the 18th century and ends in post-apocalyptic times. A bit of everything is included, sci-fi, politics, murder etc.
This book was fantastic, I really wonder to myself what on earth have I been reading for the last 27 years. There is so much great literature I have missed out on. I am not one for making new year resolutions but maybe I will make a return to England resolution to read more good books and watch less rubbish TV when I go home.
Anyway back to Owen Meany, set mostly in the 50's and 60's in a small town. Telling the tale of Johnny Wheelwright (the narrator) and his best friend Owen Meany. Owen Meany has shall we say 'special powers' and the book gives you that 'everything happens for a reason' feeling. I will not tell you what this pair got up to. The book is funny, sad and very bizarre at times. However it is very enjoyable and fun to read. Owen Meany is a funny little boy who firmly believes he is on earth for a reason. The book makes some great observations about family life and although it may not keep you guessing it is a very enjoyable read.
