Foucault's Pendulum

My interest in Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum was born out of a comment made by my brother-in-law regarding the The Da Vinci Code. I was mentioning to him that I had just become aware that some of the theories picked up by Dan Brown in his bestseller had been around for ages and had a steadfast group of believers. On confirming this, he said that indeed those theories had already inspired a much deeper and richer book: "Foucault's Pendulum".

So, what did I think of it ? Well, sometimes the book is difficult, dense and demanding but it is also thoroughly rewarding. It is a daring intellectual thriller with a lot of goodies (tasty chunks of erudite trivia) thrown in. As soon as you finish reading it, it shouts back at you "Read me again !". And you will.

Synopsis

Three book editors, jaded by reading far too many crackpot manuscripts on the mystic and the occult, are inspired by an extraordinary conspiracy story told to them by a strange colonel to have some fun. They start feeding random bits of information into a powerful computer capable of inventing connections between the entries, thinking they are creating nothing more than an amusing game, but then their game starts to take over, the deaths start mounting, and they are forced into a frantic search for the truth.

Pnin

Vladimir Nabokov's Pnin was first published while his Lolita was still banned. It was this novel that established him as a great writer (amazing that his masterpieces are written in English and not in his mother tongue, which is Russian).

This is a brilliantly written sad and funny novel about Pnin, a Russian professor who is trying to make his home in smalltime America having moved to this country as a result of all the convultions in Europe in the first-half of the 20th century. You just can't help but to feel for him in his misadventures.

This is what Nabokov wrote about the character:

"In Pnin I have created an entirely new character, the like of which has never appeared in any other book. A man of great moral courage, a pure man, a scholar and a staunch friend, serenely wise, faithful to a single love, he never descends from a high plane of life characterised by authenticity and integrity. But handicapped and hemmed in by his incapability to learn a language, he seems a figure of fun to many an average intellectual..."

Good and rewarding reading !

Synopsis

Professor Timofey Pnin, late of Tsarist Russia, is now precariously perched on a college campus in the fast beating heart of the USA. In a series of funny and sad misunderstandings, Pnin does halting battle with American life and language.

Deception Point

Deception Point was the second Dan Brown I book read. "The Da Vinci Code" had sparked my interest in the author, as I'm sure happened with most of its readers, and a year after I had read it I decided to check if his other books (which by then had hit the shelves and the bestseller lists) even came near to being as good. The answer is "No !".

I did, however, find "Deception Point" to be a gripping and dizzying thriller, well written, packed with interesting trivia, good plot, and "so-so" character development. Great for conspiracy theory buffs. It comes third on my DB rating, which is as follows:

1. The Da Vinci Code *****
2. Angels and Demons ***
3. Deception Point **
4. Digital Fortress *

Synopsis

When a new NASA satellite detects evidence of an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory?a victory that has profound implications for U.S. space policy and the impending presidential election. With the Oval Office in the balance, the President dispatches White House Intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton to the Arctic to verify the authenticity of the find. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic academic Michael Tolland, Rachel uncovers the unthinkable ? evidence of scientific trickery ? a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy. But before Rachel can make her findings known, she realises, perhaps too late, that such knowledge puts her and Tolland in deadly jeopardy. Fleeing for their lives in an environment as desolate as it is lethal, they possess only one hope for survival: to find out who is behind this masterful ploy. The truth, they will learn, is the most shocking deception of all?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

This is a very original, wonderful and enlightening book. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time , the reader is inside the mind of a teenage boy with Asperger's Syndrome as he is trying to find out who killed his neighbour's dog and ends up unveiling some hidden truths in the process.

Synopsis

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's, a form of autism. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.

Life of Pi

This is one of the most peculiar books I have ever read. Life of Pi is about a boy's search for God and his quest for survival after the sinking of the ship where he and his family where immigrating from India to Canada. Mostly gruesome but with some humour (like the boy being named after the Piscine Molitor, in Paris, or the chance meeting of Pi's spiritual guides with his parents in the street), the narrative is rich with feeling, philosophy and detail.
Worth reading if only for its originality.


Synopsis

Like its noteworthy ancestors (Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, the Ancient Mariner and Moby Dick) Life of Pi is a tale of disaster at sea. Both a boys' own adventure (for grown-ups) and a meditation on faith and the value of religious metaphor, it was one of the most extraordinary and original novels of 2002. The only survivor from the wreck of a cargo ship on the Pacific, 16 year old Pi spends 221 days on a lifeboat with a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan and a 450-pound Royal Bengal Tiger called Richard Parker ...

The Bad Mother's Handbook

I must confess that this is usually not the kind of book I would expect to like and that in the beginning I did hesitate a bit about reading it. I bought it on an impulse (somehow the title, The Bad Mother's Handbook, had appealed to that ever present feeling of mine that deep down I'm really a bad mother ...). In the end, it turns out I really liked it and found it to be very heart warming. In a very contemporary style, the book addresses the impact of unplanned pregnancy in a home where a teenage girl, her mother and her grandmother struggle to coexist harmoniously. All three characters have strong personalities and their own past and present personal dramas. The author makes them take turns at being in the first person so the reader gets a grip on everyone's thoughts, feelings and experiences and can appreciate the complexity of their relationship. I would definitely recommend this book to any mother of a teen daughter.

Synopsis

The Bad Mother's Handbook is the story of a year in the lives of Charlotte, Karen, and Nan, none of whom can quite believe how things have turned out. Why is it all so difficult? Why do the most ridiculous mistakes have the most disastrous consequences? When are you too old to throw up in a flowerbed after too much vodka? When are you too young to be a mother? Both hilarious and wise, it is a clear-eyed look at motherhood - and childhood - in its many guises, from the moment the condom breaks to the moment you file for divorce or, more optimistically, from the moment you hear your baby's first cry to the moment you realize that there are as many sorts of mother as there are children, and that love sometimes is the most important thing of all.

The Other Boleyn Girl

Most people don't know that Anne Boleyn had an older sister. Even fewer know that Mary Boleyn was Henry VIII's mistress long before Anne set foot in the Tudor court. According to Phillipa Gregory in her book The Other Boleyn Girl, Mary bore Henry two children and was his first serious "distraction" from his first wife, Catharine of Aragon, who had failed to produce a male heir to the throne. The Howard family's ruthless quest for power and the politics and intrigues in Henry VIII's court are vividly depicted in this historical romance which I found very entertaining as a romance and interesting from an historical point of view.

Synopsis

Fabulous historical novel set in the court of King Henry VIII. Mary Boleyn attracts the attention of the young king and becomes his mistress; when he tires of her, she sets out to school her sister, Anne, as a replacement. Politics and passion are inextricably bound together in this compelling drama. The Boleyn family is keen to rise through the ranks of society, and what better way to attract the attention of the most powerful in the land than to place their most beautiful young woman at court? But Mary becomes the king's mistress at a time of change. He needs his personal pleasures, but he also needs an heir. The unthinkable happens and the course of English history is irrevocably changed. For the women at the heart of the storm, they have only one weapon; and when it's no longer enough to be the mistress, Mary must groom her younger sister in the ways of the king. What happens next is common knowledge -- but here it is told in a way we've never heard it before, with all of Philippa Gregory's characteristic perceptiveness, backed by meticulous research and superb storytelling skills.

Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English behavior

Kate Fox is an anthropologist who works with Desmond Morris and has a flair for humorous-serious writing. Her recent book, Watching the English ,was one of the first things I read after having moved to the UK from abroad (it was highly recommended to my husband by an Italian colleague of his). Besides finding it very enlightening I also found it immensely funny. It is a tad snobbish sometimes but that adds to the book's appeal: the author's own personal points-of-view give the book a unique dimension that transcends the interesting but plain anthropological study. I'd recommend it to anyone coming to live in the UK or just interested in this country's intriguing behaviour rules and codes of conduct.

Synopsis

In Watching The English anthropologist Kate Fox takes a revealing look at the quirks and habits of the English people. From the most famous national traits through to the most bizarre reflex reactions, she holds a mirror up to the English national character and finds a complex tribe, riddled with unspoken rules and unique codes of behaviour. Watching The English covers drinking, eating, shopping, driving, flirting, fighting, apologising and many more - all the things that make up a country world-renowned for its quirkiness. Through a mixture of anthropological analysis, observation and her own unusual experiments, Kate Fox shows how the peculiar idea of 'Englishness' has shaped itself over the years. Watching The English is written with an insider's knowledge but from an outsider's perspective. Combining anthropology with a dry wit and a writer's eye for detail, the behaviour of the English will never look the same again.

Very Good, Jeeves!

I am currently reading this book by P.G. Wodehouse, recommended to me by my husband. It comprises eleven Wooster and Jeeves short-stories that are superbly funny and enjoyable. The situations, the language, the mental framework, everything is truly comic, eccentric and so utterly British !

Click on the cover to read the reviews at the Amazon website.

Saturday

I enjoyed the latest of Ian McEwan's novels, although not as much as Atonement, which I consider to be a masterpiece. Saturday is the detailed and very intimate description of an unusual Saturday in the life of a brain surgeon. It's an intelligent book, with interesting considerations and vivid descriptions. Overall, though, I felt there was too much noise in the form of unnecessary medical detail (the detailed description of the symptoms and physiology of Huntington's disease and of some of the procedures in the operating theater, etc.).

Synopsis

Saturday, February 15, 2003. Henry Perowne is a contented man - a successful neurosurgeon, the devoted husband of Rosalind and proud father of two grown-up children. Unusually, he wakes before dawn, drawn to the window of his bedroom and filled with a growing unease. What troubles him as he looks out at the night sky is the state of the world - the impending war against Iraq, a gathering pessimism since 9/11, and a fear that his city and his happy family life are under threat. Later, Perowne makes his way to his weekly squash game through London streets filled with hundreds of thousands of anti-war protestors. A minor car accident brings him into a confrontation with Baxter, a fidgety, aggressive, young man, on the edge of violence. To Perowne's professional eye, there appears to be something profoundly wrong with him. Towards the end of a day rich in incident and filled with Perowne's celebrations of life's pleasures, his family gathers for a reunion. But with the sudden appearance of Baxter, Perowne's earlier fears seem about to be realised.

Atonement

My favorite Ian McEwan novel is Atonement. It is hauntingly sad and one cannot help but to go back and reread it (or some parts of it) several times.

As in any Ian McEwan novel, the beautiful and intricate descriptions and considerations have a powerful grip on the reader. Indifference is impossible.

Synopsis

On the hottest day of the summer of 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilla strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie Turner, her childhood friend who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have been changed for ever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined at its start, and will have become victims of the younger girl's imagination. Briony will have witnessed mysteries, and committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

Codex

Codex, by Lev Grossman, is an enjoyable and reasonably intelligent thriller. It is true that the ending is somewhat shabby, with a couple of loose ends but overall it is worth the read.

Synopsis
A stunning, page-turning novel, a literary thriller that is half Shadow of the Wind, half The Matrix...About to depart on his first vacation in years, Edward Wozny, a hot-shot young banker, is sent to help one of his firms most important and mysterious clients. When asked to un-crate and organise a personal library of rare books, Edward's indignation turns to intrigue as he realizes that among the volumes there may be hidden a unique medieval codex, a treasure kept sealed away for many years and for many reasons. Edward's intrigue becomes an obsession that only deepens as friends draw him into a peculiar and addictive computer game, as mystifying parallels between the game's virtual reality and the legend of the codex emerge...

Angels and Demons

Angels and Demons is yet another Dan Brown thriller. I just can't help it. I quite liked this one (unlike Digital Fortress).

Synopsis

When a scientist is found brutally murdered, Harvard professor Robert Langdon is asked to identify the mysterious symbol seared onto the dead man's chest. Realising it must be the work of the Illuminati - an ancient secret brotherhood sworn against Catholicism - the race is on to prevent a tragedy.

The Millstone

Margaret Drabble's novel The Millstone is one of my most cherished books. It's about individual pride and independence. It's about the effects of your upbringing on your life. It's about the changes brought about by pregnancy and the birth of a baby. And mainly, it's about a mother's love and suffering for her child. This is a book that superbly describes emotions and states of mind that are so well known to me as a woman and as a mother.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I really like JK Rowlings's writing. It grips you and you find that you just can't put her books down. She's a fantastic writer and, just like Dan Brown, she's directly responsible for helping millions of people enjoy good old-fashioned reading in this multimedia-driven age.

This is definitely the best Harry Potter book in the series and I find it a little difficult to regard it as children's literature.

Some nasty fights between my 10 year-old and my husband while they were reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this Summer: they were reading the same physical copy at the same time and whoever got up first in the morning would get to the book and would not willingly let it go for the rest of the day ... If by any remote chance the book was left lying around, the other party would undoubtedly seize it and keep it until falling asleep with it at night.

Synopsis

In a brief statement on Friday night, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He Who Must Not Be Named has returned to this country and is once more active. "It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord - well, you know who I mean - is alive and among us again," said Fudge.' These dramatic words appeared in the final pages of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In the midst of this battle of good and evil, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince takes up the story of Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with Voldemort's power and followers increasing day by day

Coraline

I read Coraline because my 10 year-old daughter was reading it and at a point was so scared that she didn't want to turn the lights off when she went to bed. On the evening when that happened, after she was finally asleep, I picked up the book and read it. It took about 1 hour. I found that it IS very frightening as it addresses one of the biggest fears any child can have: the loss of its parents. To further its "fright-impact" it also has witches and spiders, a secret door and a mirror, a parallel world of people with buttons for eyes, a bodiless hand ... Creepy. Scary. But awfully good. I recomend it for children over 10.

Synopsis

Just as the mice did not get Coraline's name wrong their warning message was also not wrong. She finds a secret corridor behind a locked door, a corridor that takes her into a house very similar to her own, but with counterfeit parents and a terrible quest on which her survival, and more, depends.

My Heart is My Own

Ever since I was 11 years-old and read Stephan Zweig's biography of her, Mary, Queen of Scots has fascinated me. Zweig's account of her tragic existence and of her beauty made a long lasting impression on my imagination. Since then, I have come to see that Mary's life and death, her rivalry with Elizabeth I, and her claim to the English throne played an important part in the history of Britain and indeed in that of Europe.

That is why I wanted to read the latest serious biography of Mary, John Guy's My Heart is my Own (the title is a very meaningful phrase in a letter from Mary to Elizabeth), which I really enjoyed. "History is written by the victors", Churchill said, and undoubtedly much was written about Mary in the 16th and 17th century which wasn't true and that is still reflected in many history books. It was great to read a scholarly, thoroughly researched and very well written book that tries to set the record straight. It's the remaking of history.

Synopsis

A long-overdue and dramatic reinterpretation of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots by one of the leading historians at work today. She was crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months of age, and Queen of France at sixteen years; at eighteen she ascended the throne that was her birthright and began ruling one of the most fractious courts in Europe, riven by religious conflict and personal lust for power. She rode out at the head of an army in both victory and defeat; saw her second husband assassinated, and married his murderer. At twenty-five she entered captivity at the hands of her rival queen, from which only death would release her. The life of Mary Stuart is one of unparalleled drama and conflict. From the labyrinthine plots laid by the Scottish lords to wrest power for themselves, to the efforts made by Elizabeth's ministers to invalidate Mary's legitimate claim to the English throne, John Guy returns to the archives to explode the myths and correct the inaccuracies that surround this most fascinating monarch. He also explains a central mystery:whay Mary would have consented to marry - only three months after the death of her second husband, Lord Darnley - the man who was said to be his killer, the Earl of Bothwell. And, more astonishingly, he solves, through careful re-examination of the Casket Letters, the secret behind Darnley's spectacular assassination at Kirk o'Field."

His Dark Materials - Northern Lights

Philip Pullman's trilogy "His Dark Materials" is much in the line with Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series. It is a magical and fantastic saga and an extremely well written product of a superb and complex imagination. It is meant to be either loved or hated. I loved it.

In this first enthralling book, Northern Lights, the reader is introduced to a world very similar to our own (but different) and to some of the main characters in the trilogy: the child Lyra, the powerful Lord Asriel and the beautiful and dangerous Mrs. Coulter.

Synopsis

In this first part of the "Dark Materials" trilogy, Lyra's friend Roger disappears. She and her daemon, Pantalaimon, determine to find him. Their quest leads them to the bleak splendour of the North where a team of scientists are conducting unspeakably horrible experiments.

His Dark Materials - The Subtle Knife

The Subtle Knife is the second book in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy. The action takes place in our world and in other worlds that are neither our own nor Lyra's. We meet Will, who also plays a central role in the plot, in tragic circumstances and we are introduced to the fabulous concept of windows between universes.

Synopsis

The second book in the "Dark Materials" trilogy. Will is 12 years old and he's just killed a man. Determined to discover the truth about his father's disappearance, he steps through a window into another world. There, he meets a girl called Lyra who, like himself, is on a mission.