24 March, 2006

Aunt Maria (Diana Wynne Jones)

Another book bought at an op-shop, although I thought I hadn't read this one, only to vaguely recall it after a chapter or two. Diana Wynne Jones is an excellent and generally very funny fantasty author - one of my favourites when I was young. I own piles of her books. Aunt Maria is the story of Mig and her brother Chris, who after the death of their father go with their mother to live with Aunt Maria. Aunt Maria appears sweet and gentle, but her more controlling and ominous aspects soon emerge, and Mig is left to fight for her family's lives.

Wonderfully creepy, it had a bit of a Stepford Wives kind of feel - you know something's really wrong, but it's difficult to see what at first. 4 out of 5 for this very good YA book.

Changeover (Margaret Mahy)

I bought this book in an op-shop while on holiday for 50 cents.  It's one I remember enjoying as a teenager, although I didn't remember much about it.  It's a spooky romance, involving a terrifying spirit masquerading as an old man, a wonderful teenage heroine, and an older, mysterious prefect whom she believes is a witch.  It's lots of fun - Mahy is a fantastic writer (I loved many of her books when I was younger), and while this is very mildly dated, it's still a great read.

The Foretelling (Alice Hoffman)

The Foretelling is a slim novel written for young adults, set in a fantasy troupe of Amazon warriors. Rain, a child born of rape, is destined to be their Queen, and it is she who tells this story. It is delicious with detail, as Hoffman's works usually are, but I found I didn't really connect at a very deep level with the world she has created, filled with fierce women and battles.

It is, however, a very enjoyable story, and I think it's excellent for young women to read stories populated by women being angry, warlike and loving at the same time - sometimes I feel you don't often get these images, especially in books written for young adults. Four out of five.

Life Mask (Emma Donaghue)

The last book I read by Emma Donaghue, Slammerkin, was an enjoyable and melodramatic novel, and I was expecting something similar from Life Mask . However, the style of the two books are very different.

Life Mask tells us an imagined story of the life of three historical characters in the late 18th century - the celebrated actress, Eliza Farren, the sculptor, Anne Damer, and the twelfth Earl of Derby, a Whig politician. I must admit, due to my lack of historical knowledge, I couldn't say whether it was accurate, but it felt like I reading something written at the time (although, probably, with much more modern language - but not jarringly modern). The correspondence which the characters exchange with each other are fantastic - the glimpse into English politics at that time, and the effect of the French Revolution on England is fascinating.

I was just utterly absorbed in this. The intricate machinations of the society, the delicate steps the citizens of "the World" take around each other - it's fantastic. I loved reading the epilogue and discovering that almost all the characters in the book actually existed - no wonder it feels like stepping into the past. Five out of five.

17 March, 2006

Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami)

I find it difficult to write reviews of books I consider "literary". Translated works generally count as literary in my own strange classification system, and as Haruki Murakami is a much celebrated Japanese author, I read an English translation of Norwegian Wood. The version I read was published by Vintage International, and has a black and white photograph of woman's face on the cover. I was surprised to hear at book club that the book was in two parts, as the translator of the edition I had read had not divided the text. Oanh told me that the edition with the colourful cover has a much better translator - and retains the two halves of the novel. However, the library doesn't have any other editions other than the one I read. If I come across a different edition, I'll be sure to buy it.

Anyway. Back to the book. Hearing about the translator made me wonder what else I would have enjoyed in this book in a different edition. I found the writing style very spare, which is not my favourite style to read - I'm not sure whether this is the author, or the translator. (It's strange to think of it like this - reading translated works is really like reading a book with two collaborating authors.) It's somewhat of a coming-of-age story, but not so defined - a young man lives in college, writes to his girlfriend who is in a sanitorium, and connects with different men and women. I found it difficult to relate to the characters, who are all very alienated from the world, and other people. (However, some of the more introverted people in our book group - although I thought I was pretty introverted - identified much more with the characters). However, I did love lots of Murakami's very sensual description.

I found it a difficult book to viscerally enjoy, mostly because of my lack of connection to the characters and the journey they're taking. I would, however, like to read other Murakami, particularly his more magic realist works, and with a different translator to see if that alters my enjoyment.

13 March, 2006

Practical Magic (Alice Hoffman)

Alice Hoffman is known for her stories of magic realism, and Practical Magic certainly comes within that category. It was written some time ago, and has since been made into a movie, with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, which I can vaguely recall enjoying.

The movie certainly had a brisker plot than the book, which is somewhat dreamlike in that way that magic realism often is. I do like that aspect to Hoffman's writing - her imagery is beautifully disturbing. The lilacs which grow so voraciously over the body in Sally's backyard are compelling. A pleasant escape - three and a half out of five.

The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)

When my mother gave me this book, she warned me that it was enormously depressing. It was sad, but also lovely, beautifully written. It tells the story of Amir, and his childhood friend Hassan, who is a servant in his home. After a terrible event, Hassan and his father leave Amir's house, and Amir and his father travel to America.

Amir is haunted by his past, and eventually, partly spurred on by this, he travels back to Afghanistan, to discover what has happened to Hassan.

(God, I hate summing up complex - and in this case, occasionally over-complex and convoluted - plots in a couple of sentences.)

A sometimes painful read, but a beautifully realised story of loss, regret, and love.