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Saturday, August 30, 2003
My pal David had recommended I read Enduring Love by Ian McEwan for quite some time now. To get one thing straight though, I detest Booker-type books as I am not a fan of 'clever' or 'arty' books. I have tried a lot of Booker winners and short-listed books and only Magnus Mills' Restraint of Beasts has ever appealed to me.
Anyway, I enjoyed this book up to a point. Yes, the opening - featuring a hot air balloon that is out of control and the subsequent effect this chance event has on people's lives - is breathtaking and makes fantastic reading, but I predicted the way the book was going, and my enjoyment was curtailed for that reason. Having said that, it is very clever, and as a reader you cannot fail to feel drawn into the life of the protagonist as his life slips ever-so-quickly out of his control. Ultimately, you the reader do not know whether to believe the narrator or not.
The story deals with erotomania and specifically De Clerembaut's Syndrome. Many critics berated McEwan for putting case study notes at the end of his book which implied the book was based on a real case. These so-called experts ended up with egg on their faces as it turned out McEwan had hoaxed them!
Drew Buddie 2:28 PM
Drop Shot, another book featuring Myron Bolitar and written by Harlan Coben, has ensured that I remain hooked on this series. Although this book precedes the first Bolitar mystery I read (the recently released Darkest Fear) it has covered a few of the isees that arose within that book and so fuzzy areas now make sense.
What I like about Coben's books is the way a plot that appears predictable, can completely turn on its head, and give you shock after shock. It is also cleverly written in the way that several threads all come together.
This particular book reads faster than a Pete Sampras serve! It centres around the violent death of a child prodigy tennis player (not unlike .Jennifer Capriati) who wants to make a comeback after her retirement. She was about to approach Myron - a former basketball star and now sports agent prior to her murder. As ever, the plot is far more labyrinthine that that, and like the brilliant Rebus books by Ian Rankin what appears to be a simple case proves to be anything but that!
I am now desperate to read the rest in the series.
Drew Buddie 2:10 PM
I liked the look of Andrew Martin's novel, The Necropolis Railway from the moment I first clapped eyes on it. The cover is strangely similar to the adult version of the first Harry Potter book. If truth be told I actually bought it from Borders as the third of a '3 for 2' offer.
I was pleasantly surprised as the book is very dark and a superbly creepy atmosphere is created from the very first page - you can almost smell the coal dust as you read each page. The book is across between a train-spotter's almanac and the work of Caleb Carr or Anne Perry.
I never knew about it before, but the Necropolis Railway actually existed. It took the deceased and the mourners from Waterloo Station to Brookwood Necropolis - it was necessary because there was a lack of burial space within London. Therein actually lies the plot for this beguiling murder mystery.
We are promised more books featuring the hero Jim Stringer soon. I for one can hardly wait.
Drew Buddie 1:56 PM
Friday, August 29, 2003
Wow! With The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, I believe I have finally read a truly original, unique book. Mark Haddon has managed to create a story that is unlike any other I have ever read. The narrator is a young boy with many problems, not least of which is the fact he suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a formof autism, which carries with it a whole array of unusual behavoural characteristics. I found it ito be an iincredible read that has at long last given me an idea of what it is like to suffer from this. I teach a pupil who has Aspergers and now I understand why she behaves the way she does.
A former writer and illustrator of children's books, Haddon has crafted a novel that mixes a murder mystery – albeit that of a neighbour's dog Christopher was fond of – and a coming-of-age tale. The tone is linear but strangely elegiac: Christopher describes what he sees and hears but his refracted worldview has a biting logic to it. "I think prime numbers are like life," he observes. "They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them."
By trying to deduce who stabbed Wellington the dog with a garden fork, Christopher has to venture outside the narrow confines of the life that has been structured to cosset him. For a start he has to talk to people, then step outside the boundaries of his father's home and the special-needs school. It's a mark of the skill with which Haddon depicts the teenager, astutely and without undue sentiment, that you worry about him undertaking the most mundane of tasks, such as catching a train.
However, caveat emptor as the book comes in two versions, one for adults and one for children. Unlike the Harry Potter books, the covers are not the only difference. One version contains VERY strong language which is definitely not suitable for young children.
Still this does not detract from the fact that, from a narrative point of view, this is one of the most astonishing books I have ever read.
Drew Buddie 2:49 PM
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