I may have deserted my posts over the last couple of weeks but I have spent the time doing some serious reading, finishing off many a novel that has been sitting around for ages.
First off was Small Island by Andrea Levy. I love history so historical novels tend to creep into my personal reading list quite a lot and although they usually end up being based in the Tudor period, I have picked up a few Victorian and World War II novels. This being one of the latter, I really enjoyed the alternative perspective that the Jamaican characters lent to the novel. You don't often get anything but a British or American view of the home front but it was interesting to read about the different reactions these two groups had towards the changing times. Definitely an interesting book; I'm trying to find the BBC adaptation as apparently it was very good.
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. Simply put, an absolutely astounding book that shows the current unfortunate trend of school shootings in a new light. A mother struggling to come to terms with how her son has grown into a person who would commit such a crime writes letters to her estranged husband, examining how they have raised their child. A novel that at every point asks whether people can go against their natures, whether good parents and good schools really make any difference. From a person who doesn't have children, it struck a chord so I can't imagine the strings it must pluck in parents. I honestly don't know why I didn't read it sooner.
I've had a bit of a thing for end-of-the-world fiction in the past couple of weeks. After reading The Rapture by Liz Jensen, I've found that books about this subject seem to invoke writers to explore the best and worst of human nature. The Rapture, for example, follows the story of a psychiatrist trying to understand why one of her patients, a teenage girl in a high security mental institution, can seem to predict natural disasters. These predictions lead our main characters into various precarious situations and finally into a tense and high stakes climax.
Another of this type of novel is Life As We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer. A brilliant young adult novel in which the moon's sudden movement in the sky disrupts so much of Earth's natural functions that the inhabitants are forced to try to survive in a harsh and new world. Although Pfeffer's first novel about this world is great, following one teenage girl and her family, the sequel, The Dead and the Gone, is nowhere near as interesting. For one, we follow a different family, surviving in a very different way and facing new challenges. However, the protagonist of this novel, a teenage Puerto Rican boy in New York, is not as interesting and his journey seems nowhere near as perilous as the first. I would recommend the first novel, however skip the sequel as it isn't necessary and no further insight is really offered.
I also borrowed The Silver Linings Play Book by Matthew Quick off a friend and although I didn't think it was amazing, it did have me sobbing on the train so it can't have been all that bad! Following Pat Peoples as he is released from a mental institution in which he believes he has been for a few months. He is currently on 'apart time' from his wife and is working hard to improve himself so that this time will end sooner. The novel deals with the difficulties of escaping mental illness and rejoining society. Quick deals with these issues very delicately and smoothly, showing us the joy that can be found in the simple things.
Also finished A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire, finally! I loved Wicked! the novel and am still desperate to see the show but whereas Son of a Witch (the second Wicked novel) was great Lion Among Men just doesn't compare. It is slow and unfortunately the Lion is simply not as interesting a character as Elpheba or Liir. He is pompous and annoying and although the interludes with Yackle are particularly good, the Lion's life, although full, is largely uninteresting. A shame, as Maguire is a great writer, but I think has chosen the wrong character to pursue.
Another blog to follow, on recent TV and Film.
Until next time.
