Reading

[altariel]

I haven't posted about the books I've been reading since the New Year, but I do want to keep a record. So here's the first batch. The reviews are a bit thin in places, since I had all manner of interesting things to say about them within twenty minutes of finishing them, but not really any more.



The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
These were being really heavily plugged in just about every book shop I went into (still are). I was resisting them, even though the covers were so pretty, and then a friend said she thought I might enjoy them, and they were on three-for-two... Anyway, I read the first one on the train journey home from Southampton – just long enough to keep me going for a couple of hours. I have to say I thought it was slight and twee. Very romanticized, but I put that down to it being more in the tradition of Golden Age detective books than trying to accurately represent life in modern Botswana about which I know nothing anyway so this could well be a perfectly accurate representation. I haven’t exactly hastened to read the next two, which might be telling.

The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
Various people have been urging me to read Dorothy Dunnett, not least my partner-in-crime Isabeau, and various others in these parts. I loved it. It hurt my head a bit to read it (not used to concentrating that hard), but I still loved it. Going to read the rest, definitely. Slowly, but definitely.

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
I missed all the sex and death first time round.

Spies by Michael Frayn
Read this for my reading group and was in the minority that was rather disappointed by it. I thought it was very evocative of a particular period, and of middle-class suburbia at that time. It’s the story of a little boy in wartime, and his misperceptions of the adult drama that is going on around him. I thought its big mistake was in the frame story that surrounded the main story, which was from the POV of the now adult main character, but the adult was so thinly drawn that it undermined the main story. It either needed to be half as long again, or have the frame story dropped.

Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
When the BBC Big Read list was going round, there was also a meme where you posted the list and asked LJ friends to suggest a book you hadn’t read, and say why you should read it. yonmei, applegnat and merrymaia all suggested Anne of Green Gables, and I can’t thank the three of you enough. I’m resisting buying all the rest from the local children’s bookshop, and I’m going to try to find them all second-hand.

The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
Hugely enjoyed TCoC, primarily for Cazaril (cerebral, dark-haired, melancholy... hm, I think I may have a type). PoS I enjoyed less, but I think I was being grumpy about getting no more Cazaril (but then I think all the Vorkosigan books should be about Gregor). I liked the lead character in PoS, the Dowager Royina Ista, a great deal – a woman who is ‘on the shelf’ by the customs of her culture, but the Gods have something else in mind for her.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
Anecdotal. A few good stories. I gather from a review I read that there are some punctuation errors in it, which is sort of amusing, but not hilariously so.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
I read it very quickly, and found the start extremely moving, but the end (I won’t spoil it) pretty much wrecked it for me. One of those books where the author has written herself into a corner.

Changing Planes by Ursula Le Guin
This is a book of travel essays rather than short stories. I felt a certain amount of envy at how easily UKL can invent worlds, cultures, inhabitants, any of which could support a novel or two. I mentioned the Taoist ospreys once in another post. Well, there are Taoist ospreys. Take it or leave it.

Comments

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

It hurt my head a bit to read it (not used to concentrating that hard), but I still loved it. Going to read the rest, definitely. Slowly, but definitely.

For my money, the books only get better after The Game of Kings. (Your head will still hurt, though.)

And if you liked the Anne books, you MUST try Emily of New Moon and its sequels. I think they're even better. I loved Anne when I was younger, but find her annoyingly twee now - if we met IRL I'd be tempted to smack her, whereas I never have that feeling about Emily.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I started Queen's Play a couple of months ago, but need to be able to concentrate, and so it's been sitting on my bedside table for a bit.

I am definitely with you on Emily of New Moon, I adored it! :-) I still have to find the sequels second-hand (I just can't read properly online).

[archbishopm.livejournal.com]

I never could hack my way through all those Anne of Green Gables sequels. I'd send them to you but my mother has stolen them and apparently reads them repeatedly.

[archbishopm.livejournal.com]

Also I suppose the child might enjoy them more than I did despite all my attempts at training her to have no taste...note to self: re-steal Anne books.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

My cousin rereads them constantly too, and I think she would kill anyone who took them from her.

[hafren.livejournal.com]

I was disappointed in the McCall Smith, too. I thuoght "OK but no more" and haven't bothered with the others. I think his determination to write a nice, positive, well-spoken world sometimes works against him.

I identified with Anne when younger - not pretty, always reading - but I wouldn't now, and I hated the later ones in the series where she... (read no more if you don't want spoilers)

.... has six kids, forgets anything she was going to do with her brain and embraces life as a country housewife. BETRAYAL!!!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I feel sort of obliged to read the other two, since I forked out the cash for them. But not obliged enough to make the effort.

I read the spoilers. Howl!

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

Rilla of Ingleside is a book about one of Anne's daughters, set during WWI, that I loved during childhood.

Unfortunately upon a recent re-read I found that it didn't hold up v. well. Montgomery's purple Edwardian prose just annoys me so much more when combined with "rally round the mother country" colonial jingoism.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Ouch, yes, that would make for very uneasy reading. I definitely need to read it out of historical interest, though.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I re-read Peter Pan yesterday, since Sugoll got it for me as a part of my birthday present, for the first time since childhood. I'd missed all the sex and death too. I'd also missed how angry Barrie was at children, and how he portrays them as selfish. Lurie has quite a lot to say about Barrie in her books about children's lit.

We recently watched the latest film version of Peter Pan (I think that was the one called Hook?), and I thought it was fascinating how they'd emphasised that he was Peter Pan, much more so than any other film version I've seen.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Was this the very recent film version? The one from this year? (Hook is older, the Spielberg one.) What did you think? I went to see it for my birthday, and liked many things about it.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

Yes, I meant the one from this year, so not 'Hook'.

I thought it was a very good film. Having re-read the book recently , it's much closer. I thought the actor playing Pan did a very good job of being Pan rather than Peter.

What did you like about it?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I liked Wendy in it a great deal - and same as you, I found it a lot darker than I'd remembered the book being.

[chazzbanner.livejournal.com]

Going to read the rest, definitely
Good....good.... (rubs hands together)

but then I think all the Vorkosigan books should be about Gregor
LOL with me it's Aral! If I could guarantee at least a a few significant Aral scenes in new Miles books -- I'd be pretty happy.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Hm, and Aral really hasn't been in the most recent ones much, has he?

[chazzbanner.livejournal.com]

Hm, and Aral really hasn't been in the most recent ones much, has he?

He wasn't in Komarr at all, and in Diplomatic Immunity he was only in the 'decanting the repliactors' scene at the end. In A Civil Campaign, however, when he and Cordelia finally arrived, he was in some wonderful scenes, e.g. the 'parliament' scenes where Ekaterine doesn't know her future inlaws are right behind her when she speaks her mind.

Does Gregor, like Miles, think Prince Serg was killed by a 'lucky shot' from the other side? I wonder how many people are in on that secret.

And as I've said before, Ivan deserves a book. :-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I adore the whole parliament scene, it's a tour de force. Every single character shines in it, down to Nicky going 'go go mama!'

I read a nice short Ivan fanfic the other day.


Does Gregor, like Miles, think Prince Serg was killed by a 'lucky shot' from the other side? I wonder how many people are in on that secret.

I don't think anyone from Miles' generation is in on that secret. And I wonder what would happen if it came out. Was Illyan in on it? Perhaps he might inadvertently let it out now his memory isn't as good as it was.

[kerravonsen]

I love Miles, but I'd like to see more Cordelia too. Loved "Shards of Honor". It's not inconcievable that LMB could write a book set after "Barrayar", after all...

On the other hand, "Komarr" and "A Civil Campaign" seem to be the ones I'm re-reading the most, lately. Maybe I should go back and start from the beginning...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Memory and A Civil Campaign are the ones I read most often. I keep meaning to go back to the beginning too, it's ages since I read Shards of Honour.

[kerravonsen]

The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
I went and bought this second-hand after some people compared the Bryn Lantry's version of Avon to the main character in this... but I haven't read it yet. I think the thickness (and the brain-hurtingness) is daunting me.

The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
Hugely enjoyed TCoC, primarily for Cazaril (cerebral, dark-haired, melancholy... hm, I think I may have a type). PoS I enjoyed less...
Ah, you have confirmed my suspicion that there was no Cazaril in PoS -- which is why I was reluctant to get it. Gave in and bought it this week because I saw it was out in paperback at last.
Do you think I should re-read TCoC first, before reading PoS?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Take your time with The Game of Kings. The effort pays off, however. The lovely katlinel sent me The Dorothy Dunnett Companion, which I've enjoyed dipping into as I read: it explains some of the more obscure references, and there's a wonderful amount of research put in to explain the rhymes and songs she uses.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Do you think I should re-read TCoC first, before reading PoS?

Whoops, forgot to answer this bit. I don't think you need to reread TCoC first, but for myself I wouldn't turn down an opportunity to reread it.

L M Montgomery

[windswept1.livejournal.com]

I’m resisting buying all the rest from the local children’s bookshop, and I’m going to try to find them all second-hand.

Alternately if you don't mind reading off the comp or if you can print out try here

Re: L M Montgomery

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link :-) I'll see what the print is like, although I do prefer reading from books rather than on-screen. Except for fanfic. Hm.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

When I say travel essays, btw, I mean travel to alien rather than just to foreign parts!

I got The Wave in the Mind last week and was reading it over the weekend - the Tolkien essay was great.