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Tuesday 28 June 2011

Review: Severin’s Journey into the Dark

Title:  Severin’s Journey into the Dark
Author: Paul Leppin
Nationality: Czech
Year: 1914
Publisher: Twisted Spoon Press
Length: 100+pp
Rating: 5/10
Summary: Doesn’t reach its destination

The outline

This gothic novella explores the dark side of decadent turn-of-the-century Prague.

Sample

Death. Something in the rasping sound of the word seemed more exciting, richer in associations than all the sleepy utterances of a sheltered life. A small and perverse envy crept along the surface of his soul and left cloudy, lingering blisters. An envy for Nikolaus, who played with the opal ring on his finger with serene hands and discussed books and journals while it was possible that the carpet beneath his feet still retained the dried blood of the man who had died on it.

The verdict

I thoroughly enjoyed the first part of Severin’s Journey into the Dark. The start of this two-part gothic novella is dark, sinister and disturbing, with an impending sense of doom as the eponymous antihero, Severin, spirals downwards into his own hell. The conclusion of part one hinted at great things to come.

The problem was the part two simply didn’t live up to that promise. Several plot lines were never fully developed, opportunities were missed and the drama of  part one’s finale just fizzled out. After Severin had journeyed so far in part one, the start of part two brought him back close to the start of his travels and he never again got quite so deeply into the dark mysterious world around him as he did in part one.

Review: Twenty Tiny Tales

Title: Twenty Tiny Tales
Author: Willie Wit
Nationality: British
Year: 2011
Publisher: Willie Wit
Length: 467 locations (Kindle only)
Rating: 8/10
Summary: Wonderful Wit!

The outline

Twenty witty and thought-provoking very short stories with a twist.

Sample

The atmosphere, and mood in the temple was as it should be, calm and serene. A group of men clad in drab colours are spread across the main area, kneeling, intense with concentration. Sweat forms on brows, muscles flexing as great changes are taking place within. This daily ritual had been carried out over months and years.

The verdict

I first came across Willie Wit’s short stories on the Amazon Kindle forum and was instantly hooked. Each one of these twenty examples of flash fiction, or very-short-stories if you prefer, is a fine example of the genre. Every story in this collection has a unique and clever twist and guessing what it will be is usually impossible.

The range of stories here is particularly impressive. Most will make you laugh, but there are a couple of poignant ones in there, such as Keep Moving, which will leave you with something to think about. My particularly favourites were the Overtime series and Siddartha, which I thought had the most unpredictable twist of the lot.

As the title suggestions, this collection is very short, but each story is a real gem and the creative force behind each one is clearly apparent. A highly recommended read.

Review: Bluebeard

Title: Bluebeard
Author: Charles Perrault/Angela Carter
Nationality: French/British
Year: 1697/1977
Publisher: Penguin Mini Modern Classics
Length: 80 pages
Rating: 9/10
Summary: Perrault, not Carter, but magical all the same

The outline

Five of Charles Perrault’s best fairy tales, translated by Angela Carter and bundled for Penguin’s Mini Modern Classics series.

Sample

Curiosity is a charming passion but may only be satisfied at the price of a thousand regrets; one sees around one a thousand examples of this sad truth every day. Curiosity is the most fleeting of pleasures; the moment it is satisfied, it ceases to exist and it always proves very, very expensive.

The verdict

The title of this book is extremely misleading. This is not Angela Carter’s Bluebeard at all, but rather Carter’s translation of Charles Perrault’s Bluebeard and some other fairytales. It’s a bit naughty of Penguin not to make this clear in the blurb, where the tales are described as “playful and subversive retellings”, rather than making it clear that they’re actually fairly faithful translations. I suppose it was the only way for them to include Carter in their Mini Modern Classics series, as most of her work (including her own set of fairy tales, The Bloody Chamber) is published by Vintage or Virago.

But leaving the fact that this is actually Perrault and not Carter aside, this is a little gem of a book and the fact that Carter kept close to his original works is a bonus. Most versions of Perrault’s tales are all too familiar, but Carter’s translation perfectly captures the satire, wit and elegance you would expect from a 17th century lawyer at the French court.

So it’s one star for Penguin’s marketing tactics, but five for Perrault’s original tales. Readers expecting Carter’s darker, modern retellings will be disappointed, but Perrault’s originals offer a surprisingly fresh outlook on all too familiar tales.

Review: The Phoenix Man

Title: The Phoenix Man
Author: Gary Kilworth
Nationality: British
Year: 2011
Publisher: Infinity Plus
Length: 100+pp
Rating: 4/10
Summary: Falls far short of the hype

The outline

Thirteen speculative fiction short stories from an author described by New Scientist as “the best short story writer in any genre”.

Sample

All would agree that history would have followed a different course if an unknown Galilean had not learned the art of walking on water. Not only did this remarkable man teach himself this now common skill, he was willing to pass it on to others. Just as the first firemaker handed the secret of the flame to his neighbour, thus did this early philosopher generously reveal the secret of his discovery to some fishermen on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. His name has been lost to us, but his talent is now universal. There are few of our children beyond the age of six or seven years who cannot now tread the waves. 

The verdict

I’m not sure what New Scientist was thinking when it described Gary Kilworth as “the best short story writer in any genre”. On the evidence of The Phoenix Man, that certainly isn’t the case.

Undoubtedly the ideas behind Kilworth’s stories are good – better than good in some cases – but they just don’t follow through. Countless times I began one of the stories in The Phoenix Man and was dazzled by the concept in the first few paragraphs only for the plot to peter out and the writing fail to live up to the initial idea.

12 Men Born of Woman bucked the trend and delivered a strong plot to match its idea and I also enjoyed On The Eyelids of a Wolf, but the rest simply left me frustrated with their unfulfilled promise. I certainly won’t be following fiction recommendations from New Scientist in future.

Sunday 5 June 2011

Review: The Wee Free Men

Title: The Wee Free Men
Author: Terry Pratchett
Nationality: British
Year: 2003
Publisher: Corgi
Length: 200+ pages
Rating: 8.5/10
Summary: A great addition to Discworld

The outline

Tiffany Aching is a far-from-ordinary nine year old and when her younger brother goes missing she must learn to be a witch to rescue him. As the second Discworld book for children and the first of four about Tiffany, it’s inevitably a far cry from Harry Potter or the Worst Witch.

Sample

‘You’d better tell me what you know, toad,’ said Tiffany. ‘Miss Tick isn’t here. I am.’ 
‘Another world is colliding with this one,’ said the toad. ‘There. Happy now? That’s what Miss Tick thinks. But it’s happening faster than she expected. All the monsters are coming back.’ 
‘Why?’ 
‘There’s no one to stop them.’ 
There was silence for a moment. 
‘There’s me,’ said Tiffany.

The verdict

Although I’ve read most of the Discworld books, until now I never got around to reading the Tiffany Aching series. I think it was down to a combination of factors: they’re children’s books, they’re focussed on new characters and The Wee Free Men is the only Discworld book where Death doesn’t appear, so it couldn’t be real Discworld, could it? However, after reading some very positive reviews for the fourth and final Tiffany Aching book, I Shall Wear Midnight, I decided to give the first of the series a go. I’m certainly glad I did.

It’s not quite the normal Discworld (the whole story is told from one character’s viewpoint - with chapters! - and many of the familiar motifs are missing) but that doesn’t mean it’s no good. Tiffany is an instantly likeable protagonist, a tough female character in the spirit of Granny Weatherwax. The Wee Free Men is witty, imaginative, creepy and made me laugh out loud on several occasions. It stands up in comparison to best of the Discworld novels and is a wonderful addition to the series.

Review: If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller

Title: If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller
Author: Italo Calvino
Nationality: Italian
Year: 1979
Publisher: Vintage Classics
Length: 200+ pages
Rating: 7/10
Summary: Books That Are Not Quite As Good As They Should Be

The outline

Italo Calvino’s most famous work uses all the tricks of post-modernism to create a rare novel written in the second person, which consists mostly of the opening chapters of other novels.

Sample

Following this visual trail, you have forced your way through the shop past the thick barricade of Books You Haven’t Read, which were frowning at you from the tables and shelves, trying to cow you. But you know you must never allow yourself to be awed, that among them there extend for acres and acres the Books You Needn’t Read, the Books Made For Purposes Other Than Reading, Books Read Even Before You Open Them Since They Belong To The Category Of Books Read Before Being Written. 
And thus you pass the outer girdle of ramparts, but then you are attacked by the infantry of the Books That If You Had More Than One Life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered. 

The verdict

There are great ideas at the centre of If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller. Italo Calvino’s most famous work is a cornerstone of post-modernism, a rare novel written in the second person which consists mostly of the opening chapters of other novels. It’s clever, it’s quotable and it’s definitely original.

Unfortunately while some of the novel sizzled with genius, some of it was just tedious. Some of the novel openings were electric and I would have loved to read on, but other parts were turgid. It’s also a novel that feels dated and must even have done so when it was first published in 1979 – stylistically it’s much more similar to authors such as Brecht and Beckett than other books of the same era such as early Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie.

Another problem with the novel, which is no fault of Calvino’s, is the translation by William Weaver which I found to be clumsy in places. An excess of commas and clauses in unusual places made it frequently obvious that I was reading a book that hadn’t been originally written in English.

However, I did enjoy reading the novel and found Calvino’s imagination impressive which is what saved it from a lower score. But ultimately, although we’re taught to think the original should be the best, If on a Winter’s Night was nowhere near as good as its literary descendant Cloud Atlas or Calvino’s own Invisible Cities.

Saturday 4 June 2011

Review: The Mall

Title: The Mall
Author: SL Grey
Nationality: South African
Year: 2010
Publisher: Corvus
Length: 300+ pages
Rating: 10/10
Summary: Buy it now

The outline

Disfigured junkie Rhoda holds mall-worker Dan at knifepoint so that he can help her look for her missing babysitting charge. But as they get deeper into the shopping centre’s network of service tunnels it quickly becomes clear that jobsworth security guards far from the biggest thing they have to worry about.

Sample

We've stumbled upon some kind of hideous, bloodless massacre. Naked female bodies are piled across the narrow passageway in front of us. There are so many limbs and torsos and hairless heads that it's difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. Several severed body parts are scattered carelessly around the heap: there's a leg just half a metre away from us, and a hand seems to be pointing back the way we came, warning us to come no further. The bodies are stacked so randomly that they could have been vomited out of the ceiling, but this corridor's roof is sealed with water-stained ceiling board, and there are no doors or apertures in its walls.
'What the hell are they doing here?' I say.
Dan doesn't answer, but he must be thinking the same thing as me. Someone brought them here deliberately.
Far as I know we could be miles away from the mall. Not that I can imagine these particular mannequins being used by Truworths or any of the other chain fashion shops.

The verdict

Books as good as The Mall don’t come along very often. It certainly surprising that a book that at first glance appears to be firmly in the horror genre is actually one of the most inventive and refreshing novels of recent years.

The Mall’s strength lies in the fact that like all great novels it can be read on a number of different levels. On the face of it, it’s a modern homage to the great 1970s horror movies, part Dawn of the Dead, part  Westworld, part Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But it’s also an insightful character study on the moral disintegration of a middle-class teenager. Go deeper still and you’ll find a witty satire about modern life, consumerism, body image, identity and social alienation.

The star of the novel is Rhoda, the ultimate anti-heroine. Who better to take on the horrors of consumerism and the fashion world than a tough, scarred, flat-chested drug addict who gets mistaken for a man on page one? Rhoda lights up the page and is far more fun than emo-kid Dan, who narrates alternate chapters with her.

The Mall is a novel that leaves you wanting more and wishing when you reach the end that there’s another chapter and not just the acknowledgements on the last page.

Review: Dead Until Dark

Title: Dead Until Dark
Author: Charlaine Harris
Nationality: American
Year: 2001
Publisher: Gollancz
Length: 300+ pages
Rating: 6/10
Summary: Lacks bite

The outline

The first in the highly successful True Blood series, Dead Until Dark charts the early adventures of telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse and the Deep South vampire Bill Compton.

Sample

Anyway, his lips were lovely, sharply sculpted, and he had arched dark brows. His nose swooped down right out of that arch, like a prince's in a Byzantine mosaic. When he finally looked up, I saw his eyes were even darker than his hair, and the whites were incredibly white.
'What can I get you?' I asked, happy almost beyond words.
He raised his eyebrows. 'Do you have the bottled synthetic blood?' he asked.
'No, I'm so sorry! Sam's got some on order. Should be in next week.'
'Then red wine, please,' he said, and his voice was cool and clear, like a stream over smooth stones. I laughed out loud. It was too perfect.

The verdict

Until reading Dead Until Dark I had missed out on the current vampire craze. But having enjoyed Interview With the Vampire in my teens I decided to give it a try and Dead Until Dark seemed like a good place to start. I was disappointed.

The flaws with the novel are numerous. The plot holes are plentiful, the pacing erratic and the mid section of the book is dominated by one bad sex scene after another. You can spot who the murderer is the moment he saunters onto the page and the vampire love interest Bill Compton is so bland that Sookie Stackhouse can happily take him home to meet her grandmother.

So why didn’t I score it even lower? There’s something curiously addictive about Dead Until Dark that keeps the reader turning the page. Charlaine Harris’s ideas are good, even if the execution is shaky and there are some genuinely funny and exciting moments.

The main problem with the novel is that it doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. With its theme of vampires ‘coming out of the coffin’ in small town Louisiana it would have made a great satire, but it just takes itself too seriously. On the flip side, it could also have been a dark and sexy vampire classic, but it just isn’t edgy enough.

I won’t be rushing out to buy the next in the series, but I saw glimpses of why the books are so popular.

Review: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

Title: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Author: David Mitchell
Nationality: British
Year: 2010
Publisher: Sceptre
Length: 500+ pages
Rating: 7/10
Summary: Good but not great

The outline

It’s 1799 and Japan is closed to the world apart from the Dutch trading island of Dejima. Jacob de Zoet arrives on the island seeking his fortune in what unfolds as an epic tale of love, betrayal and Machiavellian politics.

Sample

Jacob breaks off a half-dozen young springs. 'Here you are.' For a priceless coin of time, their hands are linked by a few inches of bitter herb, witnessed by a dozen blood-orange sunflowers. 
I don't want a purchased courtesan, he thinks. I wish to earn you.
'Thank you.' She smells the herb. '"Rosemary" has meaning?'
Jacob blesses his foul-breathed martinet of a Latin master in Middelburg. 'Its Latin name is Ros marinus, wherein "Ros" is "dew" - do you know the word "dew"?'
She frowns, shakes her head a little and her parasol spins, slowly.
'Dew is water found early in the morning before the sun burns it away.'

The verdict

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a patchy novel, shifting between the tedious and the inspired. I’m not surprised to see that several readers gave up during the first third of the book as this is by far the weakest part. It’s little more than a series of anecdotes and overwrought scene setting and you need some patience to get through it.

However, the book really picks up in the middle section, when Aibagawa Orito takes over from Jacob as the central character, and the ending is also strong. The problem is by the time you reach it there’s just been too much meandering and you can’t help but feel that Orito would have been a far more interesting character to focus on than Jacob.

The novel is almost like a draft of a much better book that needed a thorough revision by the author before reaching the shelves. It didn’t stay with me and a couple of weeks after finishing it, it certainly hasn’t stuck in my mind.

Should it have made the Booker shortlist? It’s a better novel than some that did, but it certainly isn’t the classic that Cloud Atlas was. It’s a good read about the era, but ultimately I much preferred Alessandro Baricco’s magical Silk on a similar subject.