Reviews - Many and assorted
Aug. 27th, 2008 07:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wilderthanI've been in Wales sans internet for a weekish, so here are all the reviews of things I read in the meantime. I've been busy!
King Rat, 22/08/2008 (three stars on goodreads)
China Miéville really loves writing about cities, doesn't he? And not pretty, fantasy cities, but "real" cities, gritty cities, the underside of cities. It's interesting. Again, this book reminded me of Gaiman's Neverwhere more than a little, while also managing to be different. The weaving in of Drum and Bass music as part of the city was interesting and different, and the Pied Piper was interesting. The book even surprised me a little -- when I found out about Saul's real father.
The book in general is interesting, quite well written and easy to read, but it's not going to overtake Un Lun Dun as my favourite book by Miéville, or Neverwhere as my favourite book about London. I don't think I'll reread it, either -- although, as with Perdido Street Station, I don't think I'm going to put it on bookmooch either. I can just see myself being overtaken by the urge to revisit it, someday...
The Overcoat and the Nose, 23/08/2008 (two stars on goodreads)
This book has just two of Nikolai Gogol's short stories in it, in translation from Russian. They were interesting, but kind of weird -- particularly "The Nose". Absurd might even be a better word!
The Picture of Dorian Gray, 23/08/2008 (four stars on goodreads)
I've meant to read this one since I had to analyse the last few pages for the final module of my English Lit A Level. For some reason, I'd never read it entirely before. It wasn't really spoilt by the fact that I already knew the ending intimately, although nothing was exactly a surprise to me, since I'd already thoroughly researched it. It's an interesting idea, and the ending is just perfect. Parts of it were a little boring, given that parts centered around philosophising, and parts centered around long descriptions. It is easy to read, and the descriptions are actually very lovely, but... there's just a bit more of it than I'd like. The actual plot is quite simple, though, really, so I suppose there'd be almost nothing to it without this!
Beowulf (Seamus Heaney's translation), 24/08/2008 (four stars on goodreads)
I think I would've liked this better if I'd listened to the cassette tape we have of Seamus Heaney reading it. I liked it much better when I started reading it aloud to myself, and grasped what was going on much more easily -- otherwise, I'm afraid it didn't hold my attention very well (much like The Iliad and The Odyssey, honestly). I like Seamus Heaney's translation, although, of course, I don't have any other to compare it with! I was kind of surprised: most of what I knew about Beowulf was about the fights between Beowulf, Grendel and Grendel's mother, though that was only half of it.
Definitely going to listen to it on tape, when I get chance.
Three Bags Full, 24/08/2008 (four stars on goodreads)
Perhaps it was inevitable that I'd like Leonie Swann's sheep detective novel). For one thing, it got a good review from a friend of mine, which is why I asked for it for my birthday in the first place. And for another, it's about sheep. Granted, they're not Welsh sheep, but hey, that's not their fault. It's an interesting way to tell a story -- a shepherd dies, and his flock set out to discover his murderer? It kept me guessing in a fun way because you're limited to what the sheep can see/hear and understand. It took me a long time to figure out what exactly happened, and I was actually surprised when we found out the truth. I loved all the sheep characters -- particularly, of course, the cleverest of them: Miss Maple -- and, surprisingly enough, managed to get quite fond of the human characters like Rebecca, Beth and Ham, despite seeing very little of them.
An Abundance of Katherines, 25/08/2008 (four stars on goodreads)
This one is a fun one. It's pretty short and easy to read. I heard a lot about the author (John Green) from various people I followed on LJ a while back, hence getting this book for my birthday. It's so short that I didn't get very attached to any of it, really, but I devoured it anyway. The maths parts, when Colin is trying to design the Theorem, hurt my head, so I pretty much ignored those, but it didn't spoil anything. I love the tone of the novel, and the friendship between Hassan and Colin feels natural and real.
No surprises, here, but plenty of fun.
Wuthering Heights, 25/08/2008 (two stars on goodreads)
I probably lose loads of my bookgeek cred for not getting on well with this book (and for saying that: maybe it should be "I lose some of my status as a book aficionado"?). Charlotte Bronte: hell yes. Emily Bronte? Apparently not so much. I've tried to get through it several times and never got very far until now. I already know the story of Wuthering Heights, so there wasn't that to compel me to read it all, and I didn't really get into the writing -- there was nothing I could put my finger on that I didn't like, but I just couldn't seem to get on with the narrator. I ended up skimming most of it, since I already know the story.
But I finally finished it, so there we are. That's something, right?
(I have a feeling if I'd actually studied the book, read it slowly, made notes, all of that, I might have enjoyed it a bit more. But I didn't, and don't have the time nor the inclination to try again, so that's that.)
Lavinia, 25/08/2008 (four stars on goodreads)
A Le Guin novel, based on The Aeneid? How could I fail to adore it? At the start, I was worried I wouldn't get into it, because the narrative voice didn't feel very distinctive -- I was reading Le Guin's writing, lovely and clear and beautiful and strong, rather than hearing Lavinia's voice. But at some point, before I was even twenty pages in, that thought faded. Perhaps my deep familiarity with the original text was a bit of a barrier too. When Vergil talks about what's going to happen, or Lavinia recounts scenes from the battles, it kind of bored me. I knew that part well. But it was nice to see Lavinia fleshed out, and in a way that, as far as I can tell, was pretty realistic. I always wished Vergil had given us a little more of her. But then she wouldn't have the allure of mystery, and Le Guin's novel would probably never have come into being!
My favourite part of the book was the latter third or so: life after the end of the poem. I sort of wish there'd been a little more of that. Overall, Le Guin's style for this novel was quite simple and clear, sparse even, so there wasn't that much to chew on -- I read it within a couple of hours, after all. If there was anything I could wish for it, it'd be that there was a bit more of it! It's worth reading, though, particularly to people who, like me and Le Guin, want to find more than a cypher in the character of Lavinia. I'm very, very glad my big brother bought me this.
To The Lighthouse, 26/08/2008 (two stars on goodreads)
I was pretty excited to read something of Virginia Woolf's, since I hadn't and Le Guin mentions her several times in the book of her essays, The Wave In The Mind, and seems to admire her -- mostly, if I recall rightly, for her use of language. I had no quibble with that, but neither did I have much interest in the story. The prose was okay, but the narrative left me cold. Maybe this wasn't the best introduction to Virginia Woolf, but I just couldn't really get into or enjoy this book.
A Passage to India, 26/08/2008 (three stars on goodreads)
I'm not wildly enthusiastic about this book. It gives you an interesting view of India as a British colony, and some of the descriptions are lovely, but overall I found it quite dry and hard to read in anything but little chunks. The story itself isn't wildly inventive, of course: it reminded me a lot, at least around the middle, of To Kill A Mockingbird: a native is wrongly accused of assaulting a woman, the woman's part is taken by all, etc. It's not a new story -- of course not, since it could easily have happened (and for all I know, probably did). The characters didn't feel real to me, really, and Miss Quested's little outbursts after the "attack" made me raise an eyebrow.
King Rat, 22/08/2008 (three stars on goodreads)
China Miéville really loves writing about cities, doesn't he? And not pretty, fantasy cities, but "real" cities, gritty cities, the underside of cities. It's interesting. Again, this book reminded me of Gaiman's Neverwhere more than a little, while also managing to be different. The weaving in of Drum and Bass music as part of the city was interesting and different, and the Pied Piper was interesting. The book even surprised me a little -- when I found out about Saul's real father.
The book in general is interesting, quite well written and easy to read, but it's not going to overtake Un Lun Dun as my favourite book by Miéville, or Neverwhere as my favourite book about London. I don't think I'll reread it, either -- although, as with Perdido Street Station, I don't think I'm going to put it on bookmooch either. I can just see myself being overtaken by the urge to revisit it, someday...
The Overcoat and the Nose, 23/08/2008 (two stars on goodreads)
This book has just two of Nikolai Gogol's short stories in it, in translation from Russian. They were interesting, but kind of weird -- particularly "The Nose". Absurd might even be a better word!
The Picture of Dorian Gray, 23/08/2008 (four stars on goodreads)
I've meant to read this one since I had to analyse the last few pages for the final module of my English Lit A Level. For some reason, I'd never read it entirely before. It wasn't really spoilt by the fact that I already knew the ending intimately, although nothing was exactly a surprise to me, since I'd already thoroughly researched it. It's an interesting idea, and the ending is just perfect. Parts of it were a little boring, given that parts centered around philosophising, and parts centered around long descriptions. It is easy to read, and the descriptions are actually very lovely, but... there's just a bit more of it than I'd like. The actual plot is quite simple, though, really, so I suppose there'd be almost nothing to it without this!
Beowulf (Seamus Heaney's translation), 24/08/2008 (four stars on goodreads)
I think I would've liked this better if I'd listened to the cassette tape we have of Seamus Heaney reading it. I liked it much better when I started reading it aloud to myself, and grasped what was going on much more easily -- otherwise, I'm afraid it didn't hold my attention very well (much like The Iliad and The Odyssey, honestly). I like Seamus Heaney's translation, although, of course, I don't have any other to compare it with! I was kind of surprised: most of what I knew about Beowulf was about the fights between Beowulf, Grendel and Grendel's mother, though that was only half of it.
Definitely going to listen to it on tape, when I get chance.
Three Bags Full, 24/08/2008 (four stars on goodreads)
Perhaps it was inevitable that I'd like Leonie Swann's sheep detective novel). For one thing, it got a good review from a friend of mine, which is why I asked for it for my birthday in the first place. And for another, it's about sheep. Granted, they're not Welsh sheep, but hey, that's not their fault. It's an interesting way to tell a story -- a shepherd dies, and his flock set out to discover his murderer? It kept me guessing in a fun way because you're limited to what the sheep can see/hear and understand. It took me a long time to figure out what exactly happened, and I was actually surprised when we found out the truth. I loved all the sheep characters -- particularly, of course, the cleverest of them: Miss Maple -- and, surprisingly enough, managed to get quite fond of the human characters like Rebecca, Beth and Ham, despite seeing very little of them.
An Abundance of Katherines, 25/08/2008 (four stars on goodreads)
This one is a fun one. It's pretty short and easy to read. I heard a lot about the author (John Green) from various people I followed on LJ a while back, hence getting this book for my birthday. It's so short that I didn't get very attached to any of it, really, but I devoured it anyway. The maths parts, when Colin is trying to design the Theorem, hurt my head, so I pretty much ignored those, but it didn't spoil anything. I love the tone of the novel, and the friendship between Hassan and Colin feels natural and real.
No surprises, here, but plenty of fun.
Wuthering Heights, 25/08/2008 (two stars on goodreads)
I probably lose loads of my bookgeek cred for not getting on well with this book (and for saying that: maybe it should be "I lose some of my status as a book aficionado"?). Charlotte Bronte: hell yes. Emily Bronte? Apparently not so much. I've tried to get through it several times and never got very far until now. I already know the story of Wuthering Heights, so there wasn't that to compel me to read it all, and I didn't really get into the writing -- there was nothing I could put my finger on that I didn't like, but I just couldn't seem to get on with the narrator. I ended up skimming most of it, since I already know the story.
But I finally finished it, so there we are. That's something, right?
(I have a feeling if I'd actually studied the book, read it slowly, made notes, all of that, I might have enjoyed it a bit more. But I didn't, and don't have the time nor the inclination to try again, so that's that.)
Lavinia, 25/08/2008 (four stars on goodreads)
A Le Guin novel, based on The Aeneid? How could I fail to adore it? At the start, I was worried I wouldn't get into it, because the narrative voice didn't feel very distinctive -- I was reading Le Guin's writing, lovely and clear and beautiful and strong, rather than hearing Lavinia's voice. But at some point, before I was even twenty pages in, that thought faded. Perhaps my deep familiarity with the original text was a bit of a barrier too. When Vergil talks about what's going to happen, or Lavinia recounts scenes from the battles, it kind of bored me. I knew that part well. But it was nice to see Lavinia fleshed out, and in a way that, as far as I can tell, was pretty realistic. I always wished Vergil had given us a little more of her. But then she wouldn't have the allure of mystery, and Le Guin's novel would probably never have come into being!
My favourite part of the book was the latter third or so: life after the end of the poem. I sort of wish there'd been a little more of that. Overall, Le Guin's style for this novel was quite simple and clear, sparse even, so there wasn't that much to chew on -- I read it within a couple of hours, after all. If there was anything I could wish for it, it'd be that there was a bit more of it! It's worth reading, though, particularly to people who, like me and Le Guin, want to find more than a cypher in the character of Lavinia. I'm very, very glad my big brother bought me this.
To The Lighthouse, 26/08/2008 (two stars on goodreads)
I was pretty excited to read something of Virginia Woolf's, since I hadn't and Le Guin mentions her several times in the book of her essays, The Wave In The Mind, and seems to admire her -- mostly, if I recall rightly, for her use of language. I had no quibble with that, but neither did I have much interest in the story. The prose was okay, but the narrative left me cold. Maybe this wasn't the best introduction to Virginia Woolf, but I just couldn't really get into or enjoy this book.
A Passage to India, 26/08/2008 (three stars on goodreads)
I'm not wildly enthusiastic about this book. It gives you an interesting view of India as a British colony, and some of the descriptions are lovely, but overall I found it quite dry and hard to read in anything but little chunks. The story itself isn't wildly inventive, of course: it reminded me a lot, at least around the middle, of To Kill A Mockingbird: a native is wrongly accused of assaulting a woman, the woman's part is taken by all, etc. It's not a new story -- of course not, since it could easily have happened (and for all I know, probably did). The characters didn't feel real to me, really, and Miss Quested's little outbursts after the "attack" made me raise an eyebrow.
