Divided Kingdom

I found mild similarities between Rupert Thomson's Divided Kingdom and some of Jose Saramago's dystopian novels. But whereas Saramago's Blindness is a supreme literary and sociological masterpiece (it, alone, is justification enough for his Nobel Prize), Thomson's novel never makes it past the amusing and entertaining mark. Some of the considerations and situations are excellent but the ending is pretty disappointing.

All in all, I guess it's worth the read if you're into dystopian novels.

Synopsis

One night a boy who comes to be called Thomas Perry is taken from his family, caught up in a comprehensive unraveling of what had been a united kingdom. The powers that be—reacting to their country’s inexorable decline into consumerism, turpitude, racism, and violence—establish in its place four independent republics based on the perceived nature of the citizens assigned to each, and reinforce these new partitions with concrete barricades and razor wire. Renamed, relocated, and granted favored status, Thomas enjoys one success after another until, as a devoted civil servant, he suddenly falls out of the system entirely and travels illegally throughout a realm now utterly divided, his life in constant jeopardy. And by witnessing the best and worst and strangest of what society and human nature can offer, he begins to understand how little he knows of his true self or the desires and needs that define satisfaction and happiness for everyone.

A History of God

Author: Karen Armstrong
Synopsis: The idea of a single divine being - God, Yahweh, Allah- has existed for over 4000 years. In this account of the evolution of belief Armstrong examines Western society's unerring fidelity to this idea of one God and the many conflicting convictions it engenders.
Comments: Fascinating historical study of the idea of God. Learned a lot and derived much thought from it.

Stamboul Train

Author: Graham Greene
Synopsis: Published in 1932, this spy thriller unfolds aboard the Orient Express as it crosses Europe from Ostend to Constantinople. Weaving a web of subterfuge, murder and politics along the way, it focuses upon the disturbing relationship between Myatt, the pragmatic Jew, and chorus girl, Coral Musker.
Comments: a masterpiece!

"The Third Man" and "The Fallen Idol"

Author: Graham Greene
Synopsis: "The Third Man" is a recreation of post-war Vienna, a city of desolate poverty occupied by four powers. "The Fallen Idol" is the chilling story of a small boy caught up in the games that adults play.
Comments: Great read.

Enigma: The Battle for the Code

Author: Hugh Sebag-Montefiore
Synopsis: Breaking the German Enigma codes was not only about brilliant mathematicians and professors at Bletchley Park. There is another aspect of the story which it is only now possible to tell. It takes in the exploits of spies, naval officers and ordinary British seamen who risked, and in some cases lost, their lives snatching the vital Enigma codebooks from under the noses of Nazi officials and from sinking German ships and submarines. This book tells the whole Enigma story: its original invention and use by German forces and how it was the Poles who first cracked - and passed on to the British - the key to the German airforce Enigma. The more complicated German Navy Enigma appeared to them to be unbreakable.
Comments: Amazing book about amazing recent history!

The Boleyn Inheritance

Author: Philippa Gregory
Synopsis: From the bestselling author of "The Other Boleyn Girl" comes a wonderfully atmospheric evocation of the court of Henry VIII, and the one woman who destroyed two of his queens. The year is 1539 and the court of Henry VIII is increasingly fearful at the moods of the ageing sick king. With only a baby in the cradle for an heir, Henry has to take another wife and the dangerous prize of the crown of England is won by Anne of Cleves. She has her own good reasons for agreeing to marry a man old enough to be her father, in a country where to her both language and habits are foreign. Although fascinated by the glamour of her new surroundings, she senses a trap closing around her. Catherine is confident that she can follow in the steps of her cousin Anne Boleyn to dazzle her way to the throne but her kinswoman Jane Boleyn, haunted by the past, knows that Anne's path led to Tower Green and to an adulterer's death. The story of these three young women, trying to make their own way through the most volatile court in Europe at a time of religious upheaval and political uncertainty is Philippa Gregory's most intense novel yet.
Comments: Philippa Gregory's writting is as enthralling as Tudor history. Good quality (i.e. plausible) historical fiction.

The Remains of the Day

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Synopsis: Stevens, an impeccable, quintessential English butler, embarks on a motoring trip through the West Country, on an odyssey that evokes disturbing memories of his thirty years of service to Lord Darlington and of the housekeeper, Miss Kenton.
Comments: Great book. Superb and disturbing psychological study of absolute fidelity to an ideal and a way of life. Much better than the 1993 film adaptation by James Ivory(with Anthony Hopkins and as Stevens and Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton).

The Blind Assassin

I had never read a Margaret Atwood book but now I think I'm a fan (I'm just afraid that the next book of hers that I read is not as good as this one). "The Blind Assassin" is a fascinating novel about the sombre aspects of human nature and the weight of actions and omissions. The "novel within a novel" approach is mastered superbly by the author, adding depth and colour to the plot; 20th century customs and history are skillfully intertwined with the characters' fate, giving the book additional plausibility. The plot itself is simple but played out with some complexity, as real life does tend to go.

Synopsis

Even now, at the age of 82, Iris lives in the shadow cast by her younger sister Laura. Now poor and trying to cope with a failing body, Iris reflects on her far from exemplary life, in particular the events surrounding her sister's tragic death and the novel which earned her such notoriety.

Monster Mission

When Ana finished reading Eva Ibbotson's "Monster Mission" she recommended it to me. Since I like to share her books every now and then (some of them are quite enjoyable and I like to keep up to date with what she knows, enjoys and understands), I took up her suggestion.

I found the book quite enchanting, even though I'm starting to feel slightly worried that so much literature for kids these days is about magic and fantasy (Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, all of Eva Ibbotson's books, all of Roald Dahl's books, and many, many more). Has real life become so dull and unbearable for kids that all they want to read about is magic to get away from it all ? Some magic is OK, surely, but this is overkill.

I kept on nagging Ana not to read so many Jacklyn Wilson books, but I think I'll stop. At least those are about kids like any real kids with real problems in a a real life.

One thing this book did open my eyes to: the widespread and growing use of "aunts agencies" to take care of kids when parent's won't and there's no family or friends to help. Apparently taking kids to the Zoo, to the dentist, on a train trip or out to dinner are things hired aunts do nowadays ! I've checked. No wonder kids need magic !

Synopsis

Attack of the Killer Aunt's scream the headlines Aunt Plague Menaces City! Three children have been dramatically kidnapped by some mysterious, mad aunts. But Myrtle. Coral and Etta are far from killers - they need the children for a special mission. The secret island where they live is a sanctuary for magical creatures - mermaids, selkies, the amazing boobrie bird and even the great Kraken himself, and the kidnapped children help to care for them. But the Island of Monsters has become the target of some dangerous villains who want to turn it into a theme park.

The Full Cupboard of Life

The fifth title in the "No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series is my favourite so far. In "The Full Cupboard of Life", Mma Ramotse uses her invaluable understanding of male psychology to get Mr J.L.B. Matekoni out of a frightening parachute jump and a beating by the dishonest owner of rival First Class Motors. The matron of the Orphan Farm, Mma Potokwani, also demonstrates precious knowledge of how the mind works when she secretly sets up the much awaited wedding of the hesitant Mr J.L.B. Matekoni to Mma Ramotse. Alexander McCall Smith's style is as charming and captivating as ever and his words are full of wisdom.

Synopsis

Mma Ramotswe, who became engaged to Mr J.L.B. Matekoni at the end of the first book, is still engaged. She wonders when a day for the wedding will be named, but she is anxious to avoid putting too much pressure on her fiance. For indeed he has other things on his mind - notably a frightening request made of him by Mma Potokwani, pushy matron of the Orphan Farm. Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady - whose fortune comes from successful hair-braiding salons - and has been asked to check up on several suitors. Are these men just interested in her money? This may be difficult to find out, but Mma Ramotswe is, of course, a very intuitive lady ...

The Kalahari Typing School for Men

The series "No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency" really is very enjoyable and I guess I'm hooked. I won't be able to stop until I finish reading all the books in it.

In the fourth title in the series, "The Kalahari Typing School for Men", Alexander McCall Smith gives Mma Matsuki, Mma Ramotse's assistant detective, a bigger role. As always, there are sublime moments of humour and wisdom.

Synopsis

'Ex-CID. Ex-New York. Ex-cellent' reads the sign outside the Satisfaction Guarantee Detective Agency. Cephas Buthelezi certainly talks the talk, Precious discovers, but would he have the wherewithal to deal with her current case - a man who has been attacked by ostrich rustlers, and is eager to reassess his life? Meanwhile, there are difficulties at the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, where one of the apprentices has discovered the Lord, problems at home with the mysterious death of a hoopoe, and romantic complications when Mma Makutsi sets up a typing school for men ...

Morality for Beautiful Girls

The third title in the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Morality for Beautiful Girls, by Alexander McCall Smith, is yet another very enjoyable book. In spite of its simplicity and straightforwardness, it is both thought provoking and touching. Morality is an underlying theme in this series and I cannot but sympathize with some of the views expressed through the two main female characters (Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi). Extraordinary sensibility and insight behind McCall Smith's writting.

Synopsis

The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency" published in 1998, introduced the world to the one and only Precious Ramotswe, the engaging and sassy owner of Botswana's only detective agency. "Tears of the Giraffe" took us further into this world, and now, continuing the adventures of Mma Ramotswe, "Morality for Beautiful Girls", finds her expanding her business to take in the world of car repair and a beauty pageant.

The Adventure of English

The Adventure of English, by Melvyn Bragg, is a fascinating biography of the English language (the author claims that English can be viewed as a living organism - thus the term biography instead of history - and, in much of the book, the language's development and quest for survival assumes "living behaviour"). I thoroughly enjoyed this piece of philological / linguistic history that spans over 1500 years, from the invasion of the British Isles by Germanic tribes in the 5th century to the emergence and spreading of many different "families" of English from the 17th century onwards.

Ever since I saw "My Fair Lady" in the cinema when I was a child, I was mildly aware of the fact that most people in the UK speak "non-BBC English" and many have some difficulty in understanding what people from a different part of the country are saying (take Geordie, for instance). Since I moved here, however, I must say I'm truly amazed at the diversity of pronunciations, intonations, expressions and meanings I've found. In America everyone pretty much understands what any other fellow countryman says; around here, that is just not true.

Anyway, back to the book: the only flaw I found in it was the dismissive treatment given to my mother tongue: Portuguese. I think it should have been given as much importance as Spanish, French and German when other "universal" languages were addressed. Portuguese is still one of the most widely spoken languages on Earth (it ranks 7, after Chinese, Spanish, English, Bengali, Hindi/Urdu and Arabic) and it played a major role in the Great Age of Discovery (15th, 16th and 17th centuries), only rivaled by Spanish (the importance of English or German was yet to come about). Portuguese is spoken not only in Europe but also in Asia (India/Goa, China/Macau, East Timor), Africa (Angola, Mozambique, S.Tome e Principe, Guine Bissao, Cape Verde) and South America (Brazil); it has left its footprint on many languages around the world (for instance, arigato and pan in Japanese come from obrigado and pão in Portuguese, meaning Thank You and Bread, respectively) and has, like English, lead to the emmergence of many "families" of Portuguese all over the world.

A final offside remark: It's a pity that such a great book about language, written by a person who clearly loves words and understands the importance of their accuracy, refers to Brazil's (and South America's) bigest metropolis as São Paolo instead of São Paulo and claims that Portuguese and Spanish are "immediately mutually intelligible" !

Synopsis

English is the collective work of millions of people throughout the ages. It is democratic, ever-changing and ingenious in its assimilation of other cultures. English runs through the heart of world finance, medicine and the Internet and it is understood by around two thousand million people across the world. Yet it was very nearly wiped out in its early years. In this title Melvyn Bragg shows us the remarkable story of the English language: from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language. Embracing elements of Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi and Gullah, this 1500-year story covers a huge range of countries and peoples. "The Story of English" is not only a story of power, religion and trade, but also the story of people, and how their day-to-day lives shaped and continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.

Eats, shoots and leaves

A snotty little book, "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" by Lynne Truss, is a best seller in the U.K. and in the U.S.A. at the moment; however, is it really a "witty, entertaining, impassioned guide to perfect punctuation, for everyone who cares about precise writing" or rather an arrogant and nerdy show-off piece that teaches little and snubs much? I mean, how seriously can you take a book that's so intolerant of the misuse of punctuation symbols, yet uses giant commas to separate sections within chapters ? I did enjoy some of the quotations in the book and some material that's not Lynne Truss's, namely the panda joke (see below).

Synopsis
A panda walked into a cafe. He ordered a sandwich, ate it, then pulled out a gun and shot the waiter. 'Why?' groaned the injured man. The panda shrugged, tossed him a badly punctuated wildlife manual and walked out. And sure enough, when the waiter consulted the book, he found an explanation. 'Panda,' ran the entry for his assailant. 'Large black and white mammal native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.' We see signs in shops every day for "Banana's" and even "Gateaux's". Competition rules remind us: "The judges decision is final." Now, many punctuation guides already exist explaining the principles of the apostrophe; the comma; the semi-colon. These books do their job but somehow punctuation abuse does not diminish. Why? Because people who can't punctuate don't read those books! Of course they don't! They laugh at books like those! Eats, Shoots and Leaves adopts a more militant approach and attempts to recruit an army of punctuation vigilantes: send letters back with the punctuation corrected. Do not accept sloppy emails. Climb ladders at dead of night with a pot of paint to remove the redundant apostrophe in "Video's sold here".

Tears of the Giraffe

Second in the "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series and definitely not as good as the first book, "Tears of the Giraffe", by Alexander McSmith, is still a very enjoyable read. I did not appreciate some of the patronizing morality discourses and I thought the plot could do with a bit more rythm and structure. But plot is just a minor element in a good book.

There is one sublime moment in the story, the development of an exquisite consideration in Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's mind about the fate of two orphans that makes up for the lack of an overall je ne sais quoi that would have made this novel as thrilling and charming as the first one.

Synopsis

THE NO.1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY introduced the world to the one and only Precious Ramotswe - the engaging and sassy owner of Botswana's only detective agency. TEARS OF THE GIRAFFE, McCall Smith's second book, takes us further into this world as we follow Mama Ramotswe into more daring situations ...Among her cases this time are wayward wives, unscrupulous maids, and the challenge to resolve a mother's pain for her son who is long lost on the African plains. Indeed, Mma Ramotswe's own impending marriage to the most gentlemanly of men, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, the promotion of Mma's secretary to the dizzy heights of Assistant Detective, and the arrival of new members to the Matekoni family, all brew up the most humorous and charmingly entertaining of tales.

The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency

Wow ! What a great and refreshingly different book! "The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency", by Alexander McCall Smith, is set in Botswana (which in itself always makes me recall some of the nostalgic stories a great-uncle of mine, who used to live in Mozambique and then South Africa, told us about that part of Africa). In Botswana lives Precious Ramotswe, the adored and only daughter of Obed Ramotswe, the unfortunate, abused and abandoned wife of Note Mokoti, and, briefly, the mother of a premature angel that did not make it in this world. After the death of her Daddy, Precious decides to open a Detective Agency with the money she inherited: the first such agency in Botswana that is owned and run by a woman. Women, as everyone knows, have much better eye for detail and are much more inquisitive than men, so Precious has little trouble solving some of the most insolit mysteries that are presented to her.
Lovely, intelligent and rather fat (size 22) Precious has a couple of marriage pretenders but she's done with marriage and all that jazz (although she does enjoy her male friends's company).
Incredibly heart warming and funny novel, written in a very simple an appealing style. Truly recommended reading for anyone !

Synopsis

Wayward daughters. Missing Husbands. Philandering partners. Curious conmen. If you've got a problem, and no one else can help you, then pay a visit to Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's only - and finest - female private detective. Her methods may not be conventional, and her manner not exactly Miss Marple, but she's got warmth, wit and canny intuition on her side, not to mention Mr J.L.B. Maketoni, the charming proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. And Precious is going to need them all as she sets out on the trail of a missing child, a case that tumbles our heroine into a hotbed of strange situations and more than a little danger ...Delightfully different, THE NO.1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY offers a captivating glimpse of an unusual world.

About a Boy

"About a Boy" is a nice book with Nick Hornby's unmistakable hallmark. As usual, Hornby's characters are remarkably human and credible; their thoughts and actions unveil the author's deep understanding of human nature and the comic tragedy which is Life.

Just a couple of days ago I saw the movie based on this novel, with Hugh Grant as Will (perfect casting!), and I thought it was pretty good. It isn't half as good as the book, though, and the whole school concert thing in the end was pretty lame and no proper substitute for Marcus and Ellie's trip to Cambridge. I won't even go into what I thought when I found out that Kurt Cobain's role in the book had been snatched by rap music in the movie ... as if !

Synopsis

Will is 36 and doesn't really want children. but then he comes across 12-year-old Marcus. Marcus is weird - under the influence of his mother, he prefers Joni Mitchell to Nirvana. But Marcus is also sharp for his age and knows something about Will that he can definitely use.

The Brooklyn Follies

This is a great book, written by a man I wish I could be real friends with. Indeed, Paul Auster makes you feel like an old chum he's taking out to lunch and to whom he's confiding an intimate account of the chances and follies of a handful of people that are very close to him.

Some of the matter-of-fact situations in the "The Brooklyn Follies", however, are in reality very improbable, which in my view only adds to the story's charm as a modern, twisted yet pleasant fairy tale with a bitter aftertaste: when seemingly all's well and the story ends, it's 8 am on September 11, 2001.

Very American, in the very best sense of the word.

Click on the book cover to read the Guardian's Digested Read.

Synopsis

"I was looking for a quiet place to die". So begins Paul Auster's remarkable new novel, "The Brooklyn Follies". Set against the backdrop of the contested US election of 2000, it tells the story of Nathan and Tom, an uncle and nephew double-act. One in remission from lung cancer, divorced, and estranged from his only daughter, the other hiding away from his once-promising academic career, and life in general. Having accidentally ended up in the same Brooklyn neighbourhood, they discover a community teeming with life and passion. When Lucy, the little girl who refuses to speak, comes into their lives there is suddenly a bridge from their pasts that may offer them the possibility of redemption. Filled with stories and characters, mystery and fraud, these lives intertwine and become bound together as Auster brilliantly explores the wider terrain of contemporary America - a crucible of broken dreams and of human folly.

Reviews

Guardian, Times, Telegraph, Metacritic

The Shadow of the Wind

This is one of those books that keeps you up all night. And unlike what happens with so many others, the sleep you'll loose will be worth it. It's good AND seductive literature (a rare thing these days).

The powerful - even if slighly fantastic - plot, the mastery and richness of the narrative, the extraordinary depth of each of the characters (you truly feel you've known them forever), the superb depiction of the setting (post-Civil War Barcelona comes alive inside you, and you'll finish the book with a tremendous urge to visit the city), all of these will make you cherish The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Top mark no matter what they say.

Synopsis

Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'La Sombra del Viento' by Julian Carax. But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from La Sombra del Viento, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind. A page-turning exploration of obsession in literature and love, and the places that obsession can lead.

A Long Way Down

I probably shouldn't be reading a book about suicide at time like this. After all, not so long ago I was struggling with the pangs of a depression where the idea of suicide was an obsession. But the subject of "A Long Way Down" was irrelevant when I bought it. It was Nick Hornby's lastest novel, shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Book Award. I had read Hornby's "How to be Good" and "High Fidelity" and I was sure I was in for a good read. He has a remarkable gift for thinking up thoroughly believable and coherent characters going through the kind of bad moments most readers can relate to.

This particular book is about four completely different people who don't know each other and happen to choose the same spot to commit suicide on New Year's Eve. They end up saving each other's lives on that particular night and in the long run. It's a tremendously sad and insightful book that doesn't feel that "heavy" thanks to the author's abundant use of humour (a dark, meaningful and poignant humour, which in real life so often goes hand in hand with an extreme situation).

I highly recommend it.

Synopsis

Narrated in turns by a dowdy, middle-aged woman, a half-crazed adolescent, a disgraced breakfast TV presenter and an American rock star cum pizza delivery boy, A Long Way Down is the story of the Toppers House Four, aka Maureen, Jess, Martin and JJ. A low-rent crowd with absolutely nothing in common - save where they end up that New Year's Eve night. And what they do next, of course. Funny, sad, and wonderfully humane, Nick Hornby's new novel asks some of the big questions: about life and death, strangers and friendship, love and pain, and whether a slice of pizza can really see you through a long, dark night of the soul.

Reviews

Guardian, Times, Observer, Telegraph.

The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail

I read "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" to get better acquainted with the argumentation behind some of the theories in "The Da Vinci Code".

I wasn't disappointed: this 1982 book, followed on from a BBC TV documentary, is a true delight for any conspiracy theory buff. It defends a conspiratorial view of western history: Jesus may have survived the crucifixion and traveled with his wife Mary Magdalene (of royal blood) and their offspring to what is now southern France. There they established what became the Merovingian dynasty, which is championed today by a secret society called the Priory of Sion.

Endless conspiracies throughout the times (all of them deriving from the need to hide the true identity of Jesus and Mary Magdalene) are tacked by the authors.

Personally, I found the theory behind the Protocols of the Elders of Zion scam (that triggered such brutal anti-semitism in Czarist Russia and in Hitler) to be one of the hight points of his fascinating book.

Synopsis

A nineteenth century French priest discovers something in his mountain village at the foot of The Pyrenees, which enables him to amass and spend a fortune of millions of pounds. The tale seems to begin with buried treasure and then turns into an unprecedented historical detective story - a modern Grail quest leading back through cryptically coded parchments, secret societies, the Knights Templar, the Cathar heretics of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and a dynasty of obscure French kings deposed more than 1,300 years ago. The author's conclusions are persuasive: at the core is not material riches but a secret - a secret of explosive and controversial proportions, which radiates out from the little Pyrenees village all the way to contemporary politics and the entire edifice of the Christian faith. It involves nothing less than...the Holy Grail.

Rule of Four

At the centre of this thriller's plot is the very real, very famous and very mysterious book "Hypnerotomachia Poliophili", one of the most important documents of Renaissance imagination and fantasy.

Ian Caldwell's and Dustin Thomason's "Rule of Four" builds on an hypothetical decipherment of the Hypnerotomachia's meaning by two Princeton students.

The book is mildly entertaining without ever really getting a grip on the reader. Its popularity owes a lot to the "Da Vinci Code" phenomenon: romanticized and distorted historical facts shrouded in controversy, ancient mysteries and encryptions have become the latest recipe for producing best sellers.

Synopsis

Tom Sullivan, about to graduate from Princeton, is haunted by the violent death of his father, an academic who devoted his life to one of the rarest, most complex books in the world. Coded in seven languages, the Hypnerotomachia Poliophili, an intricate mathematical mystery and a tale of love and arcane brutality, has baffled scholars since 1499. Tom's friend Paul is similarly obsessed and when a long-lost diary surfaces they finally seem to make a breakthrough. Only hours later, a fellow researcher is murdered and the two friends suddenly find themselves in great danger. Working desperately to expose the book's secret, they slowly uncover a Renaissance tale of passion and blood, a hidden crypt and a secret worth dying to protect...

Man and Boy

Man and Boy, a book by Tony Parsons, is great reading. With his usual engaging style, Parsons superbly describes how a foolish one night stand shatters a happy family, the spiral of events and emotions leading to rock bottom and the slow path to recovery. The rendering of the father-son relationship central to the novel is absolutely endearing. If only for this, I highly recommend it to all fathers.

Synopsis

A fabulously engaging and exciting novel about a man who has to learn about life and love the hard way. Harry Silver has it all. A successful job in TV, a gorgeous wife, a lovely child. And in one moment of madness, he chucks it all away. Man and Boy is the story of how he comes to terms with his life and achieves a degree of self-respect, bringing up his son alone and, gradually, learning what words like love and family really mean. It is very well written, pacy, funny, and heart-breakingly moving.

Mr. Norris Changes Trains

"Mr. Norris Changes Trains" is a fascinating story about the misdeeds of an eccentric English crook in pre-WWII Berlin. As I was reading it, I felt that it was "very Fassbinder" (the grotesque characters, the bleak settings, the sexual vices and homosexuality, the oppression) and indeed, I later found out, Fassbinder was admittedly and profoundly influenced by Christopher Isherwood's "Berlin Novels" (of which "Mr. Norris Changes Trains" is a part of). "Cabaret" was also inspired by the "Berlin Novels".
Christopher Isherwood's writing is in itself extremely enjoyable for its clear, simple and apparently effortless style (reminded me of Hemingway), but what is truly fascinating about this 1935 book is the insight on Germany and Berlin in between the two world wars. The near-civil war between communists and Nazis, the daily struggle of normal people to lead a normal life, the up-close glimpses of some of the events leading up to WWII, all of these make this book a must for anyone who appreciates good literature or is interested in the history of the 20th century.

Synopsis

This book portrays a series of encounters in Berlin in the early thirties between the narrator, William Bradshaw, and Mr.Norris.

The Bell Jar

I guess that The Bell Jar is probably a disturbing book for any healthy mind that has never known true depression (either first handedly or by coming into contact with it through someone else). It takes you by the hand and leads you through the paths a troubled mind travels on its way to breakdown. Perhaps "it grabs and drags you" is a more correct way of putting it, as the experience is not pleasant. It is a bit autobiographical: Sylvia Plath, who committed suicide when she was still a young mother of two small children, had a similar experience in her early adulthood. I read it when I was coming out of a major depression myself. Looking back on it, I realize that reading it made a difference: it marked one of the stages of my prolonged "snapping out of it" period.

Synopsis
A student from Boston wins a guest editorship on a national magazine, and finds a new world at her feet. Her New York life is crowded with possibilities, so the choice of future is overwhelming. She is faced with the perennial problems of morality, behaviour and identity.

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.

His Dark Materials - The Amber Spyglass

This is the third and final book in the "His Dark Materials" series. The Amber Spyglass is just as thrilling and entertaining as the first two books in the trilogy but I felt slightly - just very slightly - let down by the outcome ...


Synopsis

Lyra lies sleeping in a cave near a rainbow, drugged into unconsciousness by her mother, Mrs Coulter, whose love for her daughter closely rivals her own ruthless ambition. Now, the latter threatens to overcome the former, as she strives to prevent the events which are dependent on the decisions Lyra is fated to make. Meanwhile, Will-scarred and traumatised after his last, fatal meeting with his father-seeks blindly for her, with only two of Lord Asriel's angels as companions on his dangerous search. The two are fated to meet once more, however, and begin their most treacherous journey. For Lyra owes a great debt, and she must repay it-she must rescue her friend from the Land of the Dead. Neither are prepared for the terrible sacrifice they must endure, or for the universal consequences of their actions. Lyra and Will must play their part in the war between the worlds and heaven...

Enduring Love

Enduring Love is a novel by Ian McEwan that I found very unsettling. It contains superb descriptions of very intimate emotions and the practical effects of their entanglement on a married couple's life. I'm yet to come across a Ian McEwan book that I don't like.

Synopsis

One windy spring day in the Chilterns Joe Rose's calm, organized life is shattered by a ballooning accident. The afternoon, Rose reflects, could have ended in mere tragedy, but for his brief meeting with Jed Parry. Unknown to Rose, something passes between them - something that gives birth in Parry to an obsession so powerful that it will test to the limits Rose's beloved scientific rationalism, threaten the love of his wife Clarissa and drive him to the brink of murder and madness.