Reading...
Dec. 3rd, 2004 02:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altarielMore not very good reviews written mainly so that I have a record of what I've been reading in the past few months.
What Katy Did, What Katy Did At School, What Katy Did Next, Clover and In the High Valley by Susan Coolidge
What Katy Did was one of the books that I reread the most as a child and, although I knew there were two sequels, I had never read any of them before this year. I didn't know that there are in fact five books about the Carr family altogether, the last two currently being reprinted by the money-sinking Girls Gone By Press. The 'wicked' Katy is of course gone from the later books, replaced by the rather serene, maternal figure from the end of the first book. There is a flash of the old Katy in What Katy Did Next when *spoiler!* bored with the long story she has been telling her young charge, she brutally slaughters the heroines of the tale in a freak accident.*spoiler ends!* The last two books are mostly set in Colorado, and had a frontier feel that reminded me a little of other favourites, the Little House books. In In the High Valley, an English girl's manners are transformed by the openness of the mountains and the sincerity of Americans.
Skellig by David Almond
A children's book about William Blake and angels of the north. Lovely understated prose, laden with meaning. Definitely one of my favourite books of the year.
British Summertime by Paul Cornell
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communicator, this is a time travel story with a lead character whose name begins with A. and it also has stuff about different versions of the Bible.
Holes by Louis Sacher
Oh, this was such a clever book. The writing was so simple, and so crafty, and the plotting was a dream.
The Truth by Terry Pratchett
I haven't read any Pratchett for ages. It did remind me how much I used to enjoy Pratchett, although I wonder if I read any more would it remind me of how samey Pratchett can be. One thing which did strike me was how puritan Terry is in his own way: the bad guys - a brilliant mobster double-act, Mr Tulip and Mr Pin - came to sternly fitting ends. I really liked them as villains, thought they were the best bit of the book, and would have preferred for them to carry on cheerfully terrorizing their way around Discworld. Alas, Death came for them in appropriate ways.
No Telling by Adam Thorpe
Well done account of a boy's coming of age in Paris in May 1968, but couldn't shake off the feeling that it was a story I'd read a thousand times before.
The Chimneys of Green Knowe, The River at Green Knowe and An Enemy at Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston
I finally got hold of the ones I had never read. As many of you had promised, Enemy scared the bejesus out of me. My enjoyment of River was greatly helped by this short essay.
The Silent Woman by Janet Malcolm
the_wild_iris recommended this excellent biography of Plath and Hughes, which is as much about the writing of biography as about the subjects themselves. I became less interested in Plath and Hughes than in Olwyn Hughes, and the bizarre relationship that emerged between her and Anne Stevenson.
Merry Begins by Clare Mallory
Particularly charming boarding school book set in New Zealand, recommended byavon7, and I am very grateful. The author was herself a headmistress of a girls' boarding school in Dunedin, and wrote the stories for reading to the girls while they were parcelling up rations during the war for sending to the UK. One scene which stood out in particular for me was between the headmistress and the head girl, discussing a new arrival (the eponymous Merry) and her recent bereavement. Just a very short scene, between two reserved people, but it managed to say a lot about mentorship and friendship.
Call for the Dead, A Murder of Quality and The Looking Glass War by John Le Carré
What’s the collective noun for Le Carré books? A misery? An introspection? A gloom? Three early Le Carrés; the first two introduced George Smiley to the world and are competent murder mysteries. The Looking Glass War is what I suppose book reviewers would call 'vintage Le Carré', being set at the height of the Cold War and thoroughly miserable. Beautifully written.
Red File for Callan by James Mitchell
"I hit him. And what's more, he died of it." Feel the Callan love.
Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
I bought this one for a plane flight back from Belfast and had it pretty much read by the time we landed at Stansted. Was Maeve Binchy always rubbish? I seem to remember books like Echoes and Light a Penny Candle being good chunky solid comfort reading, but this was awful. I suspect she knocked it out on a plane flight between Belfast and Stansted.
Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb
Entertaining whodunit set at an SF convention. Perhaps not as loving about fans as Galaxy Quest, but still funny.
Seventy Two Virgins by Boris Johnson
Quick read, very funny in places.
Due Preparations for the Plague by Janette Turner Hospital
I wrote a little about this when I finished reading it last month. Intense and deeply absorbing novel about the effect of a plane hijacking on the survivors and relatives, and the continuing political effects, drawing on Camus, Boccaccio, and Defoe. I do recommend it strongly (despite a slightly artificial end), but I did have nightmares about the main set-piece, so for god's sake don't read it if you're feeling down.
Tears of the Giraffe and Morality for Beautiful Girls Alexander McCall Smith
I needed something warm and optimistic after the miserable book, and these did the trick. Still can't shake off an uneasy feeling whenever I read these books, and I think I need to get over trying to analyze them and just read them as golden age murder mysteries.
What Katy Did, What Katy Did At School, What Katy Did Next, Clover and In the High Valley by Susan Coolidge
What Katy Did was one of the books that I reread the most as a child and, although I knew there were two sequels, I had never read any of them before this year. I didn't know that there are in fact five books about the Carr family altogether, the last two currently being reprinted by the money-sinking Girls Gone By Press. The 'wicked' Katy is of course gone from the later books, replaced by the rather serene, maternal figure from the end of the first book. There is a flash of the old Katy in What Katy Did Next when *spoiler!* bored with the long story she has been telling her young charge, she brutally slaughters the heroines of the tale in a freak accident.*spoiler ends!* The last two books are mostly set in Colorado, and had a frontier feel that reminded me a little of other favourites, the Little House books. In In the High Valley, an English girl's manners are transformed by the openness of the mountains and the sincerity of Americans.
Skellig by David Almond
A children's book about William Blake and angels of the north. Lovely understated prose, laden with meaning. Definitely one of my favourite books of the year.
British Summertime by Paul Cornell
communicator, this is a time travel story with a lead character whose name begins with A. and it also has stuff about different versions of the Bible. Holes by Louis Sacher
Oh, this was such a clever book. The writing was so simple, and so crafty, and the plotting was a dream.
The Truth by Terry Pratchett
I haven't read any Pratchett for ages. It did remind me how much I used to enjoy Pratchett, although I wonder if I read any more would it remind me of how samey Pratchett can be. One thing which did strike me was how puritan Terry is in his own way: the bad guys - a brilliant mobster double-act, Mr Tulip and Mr Pin - came to sternly fitting ends. I really liked them as villains, thought they were the best bit of the book, and would have preferred for them to carry on cheerfully terrorizing their way around Discworld. Alas, Death came for them in appropriate ways.
No Telling by Adam Thorpe
Well done account of a boy's coming of age in Paris in May 1968, but couldn't shake off the feeling that it was a story I'd read a thousand times before.
The Chimneys of Green Knowe, The River at Green Knowe and An Enemy at Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston
I finally got hold of the ones I had never read. As many of you had promised, Enemy scared the bejesus out of me. My enjoyment of River was greatly helped by this short essay.
The Silent Woman by Janet Malcolm
the_wild_iris recommended this excellent biography of Plath and Hughes, which is as much about the writing of biography as about the subjects themselves. I became less interested in Plath and Hughes than in Olwyn Hughes, and the bizarre relationship that emerged between her and Anne Stevenson. Merry Begins by Clare Mallory
Particularly charming boarding school book set in New Zealand, recommended by
avon7, and I am very grateful. The author was herself a headmistress of a girls' boarding school in Dunedin, and wrote the stories for reading to the girls while they were parcelling up rations during the war for sending to the UK. One scene which stood out in particular for me was between the headmistress and the head girl, discussing a new arrival (the eponymous Merry) and her recent bereavement. Just a very short scene, between two reserved people, but it managed to say a lot about mentorship and friendship. Call for the Dead, A Murder of Quality and The Looking Glass War by John Le Carré
What’s the collective noun for Le Carré books? A misery? An introspection? A gloom? Three early Le Carrés; the first two introduced George Smiley to the world and are competent murder mysteries. The Looking Glass War is what I suppose book reviewers would call 'vintage Le Carré', being set at the height of the Cold War and thoroughly miserable. Beautifully written.
Red File for Callan by James Mitchell
"I hit him. And what's more, he died of it." Feel the Callan love.
Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
I bought this one for a plane flight back from Belfast and had it pretty much read by the time we landed at Stansted. Was Maeve Binchy always rubbish? I seem to remember books like Echoes and Light a Penny Candle being good chunky solid comfort reading, but this was awful. I suspect she knocked it out on a plane flight between Belfast and Stansted.
Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb
Entertaining whodunit set at an SF convention. Perhaps not as loving about fans as Galaxy Quest, but still funny.
Seventy Two Virgins by Boris Johnson
Quick read, very funny in places.
Due Preparations for the Plague by Janette Turner Hospital
I wrote a little about this when I finished reading it last month. Intense and deeply absorbing novel about the effect of a plane hijacking on the survivors and relatives, and the continuing political effects, drawing on Camus, Boccaccio, and Defoe. I do recommend it strongly (despite a slightly artificial end), but I did have nightmares about the main set-piece, so for god's sake don't read it if you're feeling down.
Tears of the Giraffe and Morality for Beautiful Girls Alexander McCall Smith
I needed something warm and optimistic after the miserable book, and these did the trick. Still can't shake off an uneasy feeling whenever I read these books, and I think I need to get over trying to analyze them and just read them as golden age murder mysteries.
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no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 06:25 am (UTC)I remember someone saying, after the nth book on Plath and Hughes (can't remember whether it was this one), "Why doesn't someone do a biography of Olwyn? Then they could dispense with the pretence that they're really in it for the poetry!"
no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 08:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 06:41 am (UTC)Oh, this was such a clever book.
I absolutely agree with you: I happen to have finished it only this morning, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading a very well-plotted children's novel for a change. (So I was sitting in Blackwell's section for children's books quite unabashedly, sharing my seat with some seven-year-old kid... :D)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 08:32 am (UTC)I read a lot of children's books; they seem to be more inventive than many (mainstream) adult novels that I read.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 06:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 07:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 06:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 07:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 07:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 07:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 10:38 am (UTC)Oh, this was such a clever book. The writing was so simple, and so crafty, and the plotting was a dream.
My brother keeps telling me to read this. Of course, because he keeps *telling* me to do it I go in to perverse mode and won't. Now you've recommended it too I might overcome my perversity and give it a try *g*.
this excellent biography of Plath and Hughes, which is as much about the writing of biography as about the subjects themselves.
Fascinating wasn't it. And I agree completely about wanting to know more about Olwyn. If you're interested in the process of writing biography Footsteps by Richard Holmes is fascinating. It functions both as a series of short biographies and a picture of him trying to get to grips with the characters he's writing about. I remember being enthralled by it.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 10:59 am (UTC);-D I know that feeling...!
Footsteps is one of those books I have had sitting in a To Be Read pile for far too long now. (And ties in well with my other post too.)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 11:35 am (UTC)This is terrific; here's another unnecessasry nudge towards reading it. :-)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 02:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 11:40 am (UTC)I'm so looking forward to this one! Unfortunately my pre-order got mislaid... the package was supposedly sent on November 1... I'm only hoping I finally do get a copy!
Oh, and I gave the GGB edition of Peter's Room to a friend for Christmas (early). I think I may have hooked her on Forest.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-05 03:38 am (UTC)You were lucky getting your hands on a copy of Peter's Room - it sold out incredibly quickly. I had pre-ordered so managed to get one, but I don't think I've seen copies in the local children's bookshop, which is usually well-stocked with recent GGBs.
And yay! for making for Forest fans!
no subject
Date: 2004-12-03 11:50 am (UTC)I've only read the Coolidge's and Pratchett of the ones that you mention.
I've only read one Maeve Binchy, (can't remember which one, but it may have been 'Circle of Friends' because of the film with Minnie Driver) and I didn't think that much of it, even as a comfort read.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-05 03:37 am (UTC)Ages since I read 'Circle of Friends'; I remember thinking it was OK. I must have been about 14 or 15 when I first read Maeve Binchy, so I'm starting to wonder whether those first books I read were rubbish too, only I couldn't discriminate. But this one was really lousy.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-04 03:58 am (UTC)Mmm, I really enjoyed the first two, can't remember if I've read The Looking-Glass War or not. The Constant Gardener is moving its way up my reading queue.
Tears of the Giraffe and Morality for Beautiful Girls Alexander McCall Smith
I know what you mean about the uneasiness. There's something disarming about this series that makes me feel that I shouldn't have enjoyed them so much. (Haven't read Morality for Beautiful Girls yet).
no subject
Date: 2004-12-06 04:00 am (UTC)I'm not sure exactly where my uneasiness comes from with the McCall books: whether they gloss over to much reality (but then, they're not meant to be that kind of book), or whether I feel I've been a bit suckered, since the marketing on them has been so relentless, and I know I bought them partly because they were on 3 for 2 and partly because the covers are so pretty.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-05 02:08 am (UTC)Btw, since you're a Dr Who expert, do you happen to know the answer to this question?
no subject
Date: 2004-12-05 03:48 am (UTC)That link made me laugh. Yes, there is indeed a little bit of the Dr Who theme in the middle of that Pink Floyd track!
no subject
Date: 2004-12-05 07:55 pm (UTC)Still can't shake off an uneasy feeling whenever I read these books, and I think I need to get over trying to analyze them and just read them as golden age murder mysteries.
:) I think I know how you feel there!
no subject
Date: 2004-12-06 03:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-06 04:22 am (UTC)But yes, I did find some parts were glossed over...
Oh, but do try Boris Akunin. He writes in Russian but he's being translated and he's got a rather nice detective. The first one is nice but I had to read it in a hurry but I still managed to like it enough to buy the second one which I liked quite a bit.
And I meant to say earlier, thanks for the reviews... hadn't heard of most of the children's ones and I do like those!
no subject
Date: 2004-12-06 05:39 am (UTC)Most of the children's books I'm reading are reprints from Girls Gone By Press: now there's a way to spend a great deal of money! :-D The Antonia Forest books in particular are wonderful.