Title: Chess
Author: Stefan Zweig
Nationality: Austrian
Year: 1942
Publisher: Penguin Mini Modern Classics
Rating: 9/10
Summary: Grand Master
The outline
First published following the author’s suicide, in this novella the passengers of a cruise ship challenge a travelling grand master to a chess match they seemingly cannot win.
Sample
Every child can learn its basic rules, every bungler can try his luck at it, yet within that immutable little square it is able to bring forth a particular species of masters who cannot be compared to anyone else, people with a gift solely designed for chess, geniuses in their specific field who unite vision, patience and technique in just the same proportions as do mathematicians, poets, musicians, but in different stratifications and combinations.
The verdict
You don’t have to be a fan of chess to enjoy this addictive little novella. Zweig’s tale of the passengers of a cruise ship who challenge a chess grand master to a match is about much more than just a board game. It’s a powerful exploration of genius and of the workings of the human mind. Zweig expertly builds tension and I was compelled to read on to find out the outcome of the match.
This edition was published as part of the Mini Modern Classics series celebrating Penguin Modern Classics’ 50th anniversary and after this I’m keen to read more both of this and the other shorts in Penguin’s collection. This is a great introduction to Zweig for those, like me, who had previously not read this twentieth century master.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Review: The Great Gatsby
Title: The Great Gatsby
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Nationality: American
Year: 1925
Publisher: Penguin Modern Classics
Rating: 6/10
Summary: Great style, little substance
The outline
Widely proclaimed as one of the greatest novels of all time, Fitzgerald’s roaring twenties literary soap opera follows the decadent, trivial life of a group of young socialites.
Sample
There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before.
The verdict
The Great Gatsby is undoubtedly a beautifully written book. The final pages in particular are famously elegant and thought-provoking. However, despite this obvious literary brilliance I found it was a novel that was very difficult to warm to.
I was expecting something deeper, something more ambiguous, something where the characters didn’t seem so thin and distant. Maybe it seems more powerful if you’re surprised to find that beautiful people are ugly inside.
Like its characters, The Great Gatsby is ultimately shallow and has little of note to say. For me, Fitzgerald never got under the skin of his characters and that is what a novel like this needs. I liked the style, but this certainly isn't one of the best novels of the C20th to me.
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Nationality: American
Year: 1925
Publisher: Penguin Modern Classics
Rating: 6/10
Summary: Great style, little substance
The outline
Widely proclaimed as one of the greatest novels of all time, Fitzgerald’s roaring twenties literary soap opera follows the decadent, trivial life of a group of young socialites.
Sample
There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before.
The verdict
The Great Gatsby is undoubtedly a beautifully written book. The final pages in particular are famously elegant and thought-provoking. However, despite this obvious literary brilliance I found it was a novel that was very difficult to warm to.
I was expecting something deeper, something more ambiguous, something where the characters didn’t seem so thin and distant. Maybe it seems more powerful if you’re surprised to find that beautiful people are ugly inside.
Like its characters, The Great Gatsby is ultimately shallow and has little of note to say. For me, Fitzgerald never got under the skin of his characters and that is what a novel like this needs. I liked the style, but this certainly isn't one of the best novels of the C20th to me.
Review: The Gathering Storm
Title: The Gathering Storm (The Wheel of Time, Book 12)
Author: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Nationality: American
Year: 2009
Publisher: Orbit
Rating: 10/10
Summary: Sanderson delivers the impossible
The outline
The Wheel of Time turns again. Following the untimely death of Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson takes on the seemingly impossible task of reviving the ailing series. The Seanchan are poised to attack, the Forsaken are lurking in the shadows, Egwene is captive in the White Tower and Perrin is still wandering across the map... Will any of this have changed by the end of the book?
Sample
Nynaeve tugged her braid again.
The verdict
I loved the Wheel of Time series when it first came out back in the 1990s, but I read only a few chapters of books 10 and 11 as the series seemed to have lost its way and was moving nowhere fast. I'm not a fan of continuations of series written by different authors and wasn't planning to read The Gathering Storm until I saw highly positive reviews on Amazon. Am I glad I did!
The Gathering Storm is arguably the best book in the series, certainly the equal of my two favourites The Great Hunt and Fires of Heaven. The epic adventure gets moving again and there's plenty of classic confrontations that help to bring the series back to its zenith. We get deep into Rand's psyche and the stirring chapters about Egwene in the White Tower are among the best fantasy scenes I have read. And what an amazing twist! It was like reading Jordan at his best and there was not one stage when it was readily apparent that another author was continuing his words
To fans of the Wheel of Time who haven't bought this book because they doubted that Brandon Sanderson could convincingly continue the series - think again. This is a remarkable achievement.
Author: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Nationality: American
Year: 2009
Publisher: Orbit
Rating: 10/10
Summary: Sanderson delivers the impossible
The outline
The Wheel of Time turns again. Following the untimely death of Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson takes on the seemingly impossible task of reviving the ailing series. The Seanchan are poised to attack, the Forsaken are lurking in the shadows, Egwene is captive in the White Tower and Perrin is still wandering across the map... Will any of this have changed by the end of the book?
Sample
Nynaeve tugged her braid again.
The verdict
I loved the Wheel of Time series when it first came out back in the 1990s, but I read only a few chapters of books 10 and 11 as the series seemed to have lost its way and was moving nowhere fast. I'm not a fan of continuations of series written by different authors and wasn't planning to read The Gathering Storm until I saw highly positive reviews on Amazon. Am I glad I did!
The Gathering Storm is arguably the best book in the series, certainly the equal of my two favourites The Great Hunt and Fires of Heaven. The epic adventure gets moving again and there's plenty of classic confrontations that help to bring the series back to its zenith. We get deep into Rand's psyche and the stirring chapters about Egwene in the White Tower are among the best fantasy scenes I have read. And what an amazing twist! It was like reading Jordan at his best and there was not one stage when it was readily apparent that another author was continuing his words
To fans of the Wheel of Time who haven't bought this book because they doubted that Brandon Sanderson could convincingly continue the series - think again. This is a remarkable achievement.
Murakami on Kindle
Does anyone have any idea why there are no Haruki Murakami books on the Kindle? Please?
Review: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Title: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Author: Haruki Murakami
Nationality: Japanese
Year: 1985
Publisher: Vintage, translated by Alfred Birnbaum
Rating: 9/10
Summary: Wonderful Wonderland, but not for readers who prefer their fiction realist and close-ended
The outline
An open-ended, surrealist narrative in typical Murakami style. The odd-numbered chapters, set in the near future, follow a ‘Calcutec’, a man who encrypts confidential data in his brain, as he goes on the run from a criminal organisation which wants to steal his thoughts. The even-numbered chapters focus on a man devoid of all memories who arrives in an inescapable fairytale city, where unicorns roam outside the walls and shadows are forcibly removed from inhabitants. As the story progresses it becomes clear that these two narratives are not as disparate as they first appear.
Sample
As dusk falls over the Town, I climb the Watchtower on the western Wall to see the Gatekeeper blow the horn for the herding of the beasts. One long note, then three short notes - such is the prescribed call. Whenever I hear the horn, I close my eyes and let the gentle tones spread through me. They are like none other. Navigating the darkling streets like a pale transparent fish, down cobbled arcades, past the enclosures of houses and stone walls lining the walkways along the river, the call goes out. Everything is immersed in the call. It cuts through invisible airborne sediments of time, quietly penetrating the furthest reaches of the Town.
The verdict
This beautiful and enigmatic novel is pure Murakami - a work of poignant magic realism where the characters have no names and the mundane sits side-by-side with the supernatural. The story weaves together two alternating narratives - one fast-paced Tokyo cyberpunk, the other a poetic and haunting fairytale - which are at first connected only by motifs of unicorn skulls and elegant librarians but gradually become more and more closely entwined as they move towards a superb and powerful ending.
This is a must for fans of Murakami and anyone else who appreciates unconventional storytelling.
Author: Haruki Murakami
Nationality: Japanese
Year: 1985
Publisher: Vintage, translated by Alfred Birnbaum
Rating: 9/10
Summary: Wonderful Wonderland, but not for readers who prefer their fiction realist and close-ended
The outline
An open-ended, surrealist narrative in typical Murakami style. The odd-numbered chapters, set in the near future, follow a ‘Calcutec’, a man who encrypts confidential data in his brain, as he goes on the run from a criminal organisation which wants to steal his thoughts. The even-numbered chapters focus on a man devoid of all memories who arrives in an inescapable fairytale city, where unicorns roam outside the walls and shadows are forcibly removed from inhabitants. As the story progresses it becomes clear that these two narratives are not as disparate as they first appear.
Sample
As dusk falls over the Town, I climb the Watchtower on the western Wall to see the Gatekeeper blow the horn for the herding of the beasts. One long note, then three short notes - such is the prescribed call. Whenever I hear the horn, I close my eyes and let the gentle tones spread through me. They are like none other. Navigating the darkling streets like a pale transparent fish, down cobbled arcades, past the enclosures of houses and stone walls lining the walkways along the river, the call goes out. Everything is immersed in the call. It cuts through invisible airborne sediments of time, quietly penetrating the furthest reaches of the Town.
The verdict
This beautiful and enigmatic novel is pure Murakami - a work of poignant magic realism where the characters have no names and the mundane sits side-by-side with the supernatural. The story weaves together two alternating narratives - one fast-paced Tokyo cyberpunk, the other a poetic and haunting fairytale - which are at first connected only by motifs of unicorn skulls and elegant librarians but gradually become more and more closely entwined as they move towards a superb and powerful ending.
This is a must for fans of Murakami and anyone else who appreciates unconventional storytelling.
Great opening lines
- They put the behemoths in the hold along with the rhinos, the hippos and the elephants.
- It was the day my grandmother exploded.
Julian Barnes, A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, 1989
Iain Banks, The Crow Road, 1992
- It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday, and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me.
Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers, 1980
The First Post
Welcome to my blog about the wonderful world of books.
I will be posting here reviews and comment with a focus on fiction. This will cover a wide range of books from all over the world as I'm quite varied in my reading habits. The classics, contemporary literary fiction, fantasy, ancient epics, children's stories, realism, post-modernism, drama, poetry, short stories, novels... I don't believe in genre stereotyping.
My comment pieces will cover subjects linked to books that I have recently reviewed and issues of particular relevance to the present moment. When writing my reviews I will try to be honest and insightful. I'll be using a marks-out-of-ten scoring system, with only a very special group of books getting the top score. As part of trying to be honest in my reviews I will rate books not on their reputation or influence, but on what they mean to me.
Importantly I will endeavour to keep my reviews spoiler-free and at the top of each comment piece will warn readers of any books that are spoiled by the words that follow.
I hope that you will find these posts useful and enjoyable. Read on!
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