Sophie's Choice

Title: Sophie's Choice

Author: William Styron

Genre: Fiction 
Audience: Adult 
Format: Kindle

Synopsis: In the years after WW II, Stingo, a southerner, relocates to New York to write his novel. There he is befriended by Sophie and Nathan, one a Polish Catholic survivor of Auschwitz and the other a New York Jew. But both hold secrets and their all encompassing love for each other puts all three friends on a path whose end is unknown.

What I thought: This was our book group book for June and it took me a month to read it! The last time it took me that long to read a book it was because I struggled. This I didn’t struggle with, but you need to READ it. Sophie’s story is traumatic and difficult. As Stingo relates it, you cannot help but be aware of his feelings for her. Nathan is a complex and dark character. One moment a true gentleman, a honest friend, his mood can swing in a instant, making him volatile and dangerous. Sophie is the lynch pin in the friendship between Nathan and Stingo. Without their shared love of her, I feel Stingo would have left Nathan to his destructive ways, would not have even pursued the friendship in the first place.

When we discussed this at book group, we agreed that in the end, Sophie was not a likeable character. She seemed completely unwilling or unable to do anything to help herself or try and change her situation. The book was dominated by male characters and a strong, unrelenting male voice and women in general were not portrayed in a favourable light at all. In the end, Sophie’s choice was not one, but many choices.

As a book group book, this is an excellent choice. It provides a lot of room for discussion and debate. I would be interested in reading further Styron books, especially The Confessions of Nat Turner which he refers to in Sophie’s Choice.

Recommended for: book groups. A great book to provoke discussion

Challenges: 100+ Challenge,  EBook Challenge, 

Mr Pip

 

Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones

From Goodreads:

In a novel that is at once intense, beautiful, and fablelike, Lloyd Jones weaves a transcendent story that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the power of narrative to transform our lives.
On a copper-rich tropical island shattered by war, where the teachers have fled with most everyone else, only one white man chooses to stay behind: the eccentric Mr. Watts, object of much curiosity and scorn, who sweeps out the ruined schoolhouse and begins to read to the children each day from Charles Dickens’s classic Great Expectations.
So begins this rare, original story about the abiding strength that imagination, once ignited, can provide. As artillery echoes in the mountains, thirteen-year-old Matilda and her peers are riveted by the adventures of a young orphan named Pip in a city called London, a city whose contours soon become more real than their own blighted landscape. As Mr. Watts says, “A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe.” Soon come the rest of the villagers, initially threatened, finally inspired to share tales of their own that bring alive the rich mythology of their past. But in a ravaged place where even children are forced to live by their wits and daily survival is the only objective, imagination can be a dangerous thing.

I have a confession to make - I have never read Great Expectations. I know, it's terrible, but the truth is, I'm not very good at classics. I only read Wuthering Heights  after I read I Am the Messenger.I obviously need a catalyst of some type to read classics. So, after reading Mr Pip I have put Great Expectations on hold at the library. It must be popular, I'm number 3 on the list!

So onto Mr Pip. After all the whites are evacuated from, or leave the island village, Mr Watts is the only white left. He starts to teach the children, but the only book he has is Great Expectations. Matilda not only enjoys the story, she is transport to Pip's world. He is more real to her than her mother's devil, something that causes tension between Mr Watts and Matilda's mother.
I'm finding it really hard to express what I feel about this book. I enjoyed it, I think over the next few days, things about it will occur to me and give me that "ahhh" moment. The island they are talking about is near or part of Papua New Guinea  and I need to go and read some of their recent history to place the book properly for me. It was an easy read with much to think about. I really enjoyed the lack of over embellishment about events in the book. It was like it had been pared back to its bare bones, to give the reader a feeling for the starkness and reality of life in the village at that time. I felt for Matilda, torn between her mother and Mr Watts.
At one point in the story, the book is destroyed and Mr Watts and the children set about "retrieving" the story. Each day as they come to class, Mr Watts asks the children what they have remembered about the book and he notes each retrieval down in a book, noting who has retrieved it and where in the story it belongs. I love this idea, the idea that as long as we can remember a book and why it touched us, it will never be lost.

Friendly Fire

Friendly Fire by Wil Anderson.

I love Wil Anderson! I cried when his satirical show The Glass House ended and I cheered when his new show that looks at advertising, The Gruen Transfer appeared. I truly believe he is one of Australia's funniest comedians. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to discover this book. Pity it didn't live up to my expectations. Wil Anderson writes how he speaks and while that works really well when I am listening to him, for me, it didn't translate to the written word. The stories were funny, the thoughts interesting, but the writing was, well, clunky. Segues that would flow naturally during a stand up show or monologue were glaringly obvious and out of place. Really,  I think if Wil Anderson has been sitting on my couch reading it to me, I would have been in stitches. Reading it myself, a few smiles an occasional giggle, but I think from now on, I'll take my Wil Anderson straight off the stage or the TV.

The Host

 

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

From Goodreads 

The author of the Twilight series of # 1 bestsellers delivers her brilliant first novel for adults: a gripping story of love and betrayal in a future with the fate of humanity at stake.

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.
Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves-Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.
Featuring what may be the first love triangle involving only two bodies, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel that will bring a vast new readership to one of the most compelling writers of our time.

After I read the Twilight series, I said, yep, that was interesting, don't think I will go any further with this author. So I am still trying to work out why I picked up The Host. I think it was the line "her brilliant first novel for adults" (emphasis mine). And here is my first problem with the book - I don't see the audience being any different than the one for Twilight. I suppose I expect an adults book to be a little more challenging, characters with greater depth and a less predictable story line.  I found the characters very two dimensional. I understand the love Mel and Jarad have, (I myself truly believe I have found my soul mate in this life) but the complete utter blind devotion is not real - not even in an invaded world. While they said Jamie had grown up, he continually came across as a 10 year old to me- completely unable to pick up nuances (not that there were many in the book!). None of the characters seem to grow and develop, they were pretty much the same at the end as at the beginning. Some had changed attitudes but they happened to easily and without any real questioning from the characters. My best example of this was Kyle's turn around when he found Jodi. For me, there was not enough of a reason for him to change so dramatically - very unconvincing.
The storyline was predictable. I guessed the ending less than half way through the book. (Spoiler here, highlight the white area if you want to read it.) I I suppose both Wanda and Melanie needed to survive in order for there to be a sequel, which I am assuming there is or will be.

Having said that, I did enjoy most of  the book. It was a good light read, although I got a little annoyed towards the end. I would love to say that if there is a sequel, I won't read it, but I don't make rash promises!

ZigZag Street

Zigzag Street - Nick Earls

From Nick Earl's Website, Sunny Garden

Richard Derrington is twenty-eight and single. More single than he'd like to be. More single than he'd expected to be, and not coping well. Since Anna trashed him six months ago he's been trying to find his way again. He's doing his job badly, playing tennis badly, stalled at the start of renovating and wondering when things are going to change.
Zigzag Street covers six weeks of Richard's life in the house his grandparents built at Brisbane's Red Hill. Six weeks of rumination, chaos, poor judgement, interpersonal clumsiness and, eventually, hope, as he stumbles from one incident to another.
Richard's trying to be a nineties man, longing to be desirable, searching for calm, but things are only getting more out of control. Zigzag Street is his story.

Every now and then I come across an author that I decide to read the whole back catalogue of. At the moment, one of those authors is Australia's Nick Earls. I first came across Earls' writing as a teacher librarian and the stuff he had written for young adults. I found him to be fresh, funny and engaging. I have read a few of his books before, but his first book - Zigzag Street - is one I haven't read before.

I enjoyed Zigzag street, although when my husband asked me what it was about, I did find it hard to come up with an answer! What I really find fascinating is being able to identify certain Brisbane landmarks and suburbs as I read. Richard Derrington lives in Red Hill, I have friends who use to live there! Someone else lives in West End, I was lost in West End only 2 weeks ago!!
Having read The True Story of Butterfish recently, I can see how Earls' and his writing have developed. His characters are older, not necessarily wiser! His writing style is smoother, but  still highly entertaining. I'm looking forward to read more of his stuff.

The Shell Seekers

 

The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

From Goodreads:

The Shell Seekers is a novel of connection: of one family, and of the passions and heartbreak that have held them together for three generations.The Shell Seekers centers on Penelope Keeling  a woman you'll always remember in world you'll never forget. The Shell Seekers is a magical novel, the kind of reading experience that comes along only one in a long while. The Shell Seekers is filled with real people mothers and daughters, husband and lovers  inspired with real values.

As I said before, I love a good family saga and this was perfect!  Penelope Keeling was such a beautifully written, strong female character that you immediately wanted to go and sit and chat to her. Each chapter focussed on one person and their link to Penelope, while allowing the whole story to develop. Switching between the early 1940's and 1987, it was easy to follow the flashbacks, with each one giving you an "aha" moment where a question posed or pondered by someone in the present was answered.  I really enjoyed The Shell Seekers and I will be seeking out more of Pilcher's stuff.