Book Review: Brother of the More Famous Jack

From Goodreads: Ask today's favorite novelists what books influenced their writing and you'll hearBrother of the More Famous Jack again and again. Dog-eared copies of this long out-of-print novel are highly prized and shared enthusiastically in literary circles-its return to print is cause for celebration.
Stylish, suburban Katherine is eighteen when she is propelled into the heart of Professor Jacob Goldman's rambling home and his large eccentric family. As his enchanting yet sharp-tongued wife, Jane, gives birth to her sixth child, Katherine meets beautiful, sulky Roger and his volatile younger brother, Jonathan. Inevitable heartbreak sends her fleeing to Rome, but ten years later, older and wiser, she returns to find the Goldmans again.

Thoughts: This was our book group read for October. After I finished it, I though - meh - interesting, but nothing spectacular. Then I started to think about what I would say about it at book group and suddenly discovered the book had infiltrated me in a way I didn't expect. There was a lot more to it than I first thought. 

Trapido follows Katherine from a young, fairly innocent girl, through young love, heart break, years of discovering what she loves and a rediscovery of love and friendship. Like life itself, this book meanders along and the big events are not realised as big events until they are after. You know what I mean, the times when something happens and later on you look back and realise how momentous it was. Through the book you can hear Katherine's voice mature, her mature and grow. You can feel the effect events have had on her and the way she has had to deal with them build her into the person she is. I love her connection with Goldman's and the way they seem to need her just as much as she needs them. This book is full of surprising characters that speak to you more than you realise. At only 256 pages it's not a long read and one that I feel may be well worth revisiting.

Brother of the more Famous Jack gets 4 stars.

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it

*****   It was amazing

Book Review: Midnight's Children

From Goodreads: Born at the stroke of midnight, at the precise moment of India's independence, Saleem Sinai is destined from birth to be special. For he is one of 1,001 children born in the midnight hour, children who all have special gifts, children with whom Saleem is telepathically linked.
But there has been a terrible mix up at birth, and Saleem’s life takes some unexpected twists and turns. As he grows up amidst a whirlwind of triumphs and disasters, Saleem must learn the ominous consequences of his gift, for the course of his life is inseparably linked to that of his motherland, and his every act is mirrored and magnified in the events that shape the newborn nation of India. It is a great gift, and a terrible burden. 

Thoughts: This was our book group read for September. I was a little concerned - Rushdie is not known as an easy read and our last two book group reads, Coin Locker Babies and The Swan Book, were not easy going. (I didn't finish The Swan Book). It wasn't easy, but I did enjoy it.
If you don't like books that go off on tangents, hint at things and then not tell you, tell you someone dies, but not how, at least not yet then this is not the book for you. Rushdie does all of these. Saleem is taking a journey through his life and there are many paths to follow, many stories to tell, but all in their own time. Towards the end of the book Saleem is a lot more disciplined about following the tangents, starting off down the path only to turn back abruptly as he tells the reader time is short and he must concentrate on getting to the end. This gave a sense of urgency to the telling, a need to get this out before there was no time left.
I think I would have got more out of this book if I'd had a stronger understanding of Indian history. Saleem's belief that his life is paralleled by the history of India is a core component of the story. However, there is still much to be got from the story even if your knowledge like mine is basic. For me the chaotic nature of India that I've read about in other books and been told about by friends is once again reflected in Midnight's Children. It's quirkiness, fierce, hard won independence and pockets of amazing tranquility among riots of colour are strongly represented. 
I was right, Rushdie wasn't an easy read, but it was definitely a worthwhile one. While not everyone's cup of tea, there are moments of laugh out loud and moments of true reflection. He's one of those authors you must, at the very least, give a go.

Midnight's Children gets 3 stars

*        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it

*****   It was amazing 

Book Review: Salvation Creek

From Goodreads: At 44 Susan Duncan appeared to have it all. Editor of two top-selling women's magazines, a happy marriage, a jetsetting lifestyle covering stories from New York to Greenland, the world was her oyster. But when her beloved husband and brother die within three days of each other, her glittering life shatters. In shock, she zips on her work face, climbs back into her high heels and soldiers on - until one morning eighteen months later, when she simply can't get out of bed. Heartbreaking, funny and searingly honest, Salvation Creek is the story of a woman who found the courage not only to begin again but to beat the odds in her own battle for survival and find a new life - and love - in a tiny waterside idyll cut off from the outside world.

Thoughts: This is the second time I've read Salvation Creek and it was so worth the re read. It's my book group book this month. Where I live is a small community and ferry access only. Salvation Creek I think will be a great book for book group as so much of it reflects our lives. 
For a book that has it's fair share of tragedy, it's incredibly uplifting. I found Duncan to be brutally honest about herself, but not apologetic. Very much a this is me, take me as I am or bugger off approach. At no point does she ask for your pity, or even your understanding. She just presented it the way she saw it, felt it, lived it and left it to you to make your judgement. 
Duncan seemed to understand the ways of an offshore community very quickly. There's a special feeling to boat access communities. We're almost a little bit smug that we have this amazing way of life and don't get that not everyone wants to live this way. Duncan's love of entertaining would have helped. Her willingness to offer a tea, a beer, a wine, a feed.
Mostly this book illustrates how having what society views as successful life - which Duncan did - can leave you feeling empty and confused. Duncan tried several times to return to part of that life, but found that not possible. The challenge for all of us is to find that balance that allows us to earn money to live, but live a life that nurtures your soul and your relationships. It also shows that it is never too late to find that place where you feel that balance, but the road (or ferry crossing!) may be bumpy, you may take many wrong turns, but if you keep going, it's there.

Salvation Creek gets 4 stars

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it

*****   It was amazing 

Book Review: The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher

From Goodreads: In The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Mantel’s trademark gifts of penetrating characterization, unsparing eye, and rascally intelligence are once again fully on display.
Her classic wicked humor in each story—which range from a ghost story to a vampire story to near-memoir to mini-sagas of family and social fracture—brilliantly unsettles the reader in that unmistakably Mantel way. 
Mantel brutally and acutely writes about gender, marriage, class, family, and sex, cutting to the core of human experience. Unpredictable, diverse, and even shockingly unexpected, each story grabs you by the throat within a couple of sentences. The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher displays a magnificent writer at the peak of her powers.

Thoughts: This is our book group read for May. I'm not really sure what to think. I didn't particularly enjoy any of the stories, but have the distinct feeling I missed something. I'm looking forward to our discussion on it in the hope the other members of my book group can shed some light.

At the moment though, I kind of feel like Mantel was trying to be too clever for her own good. Many of the stories seemed to go nowhere and say very little. In fact, only days after finishing the book, the only stories I can recall in any detail are Winter Break and the title story - The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher. The stories were short, which was just as well since by the time I got to the end of them, I was ready to give up on them. The book itself if not long - only running to 300 pages all up. Hmm, will wait and see what the others say.

The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher  gets 2 stars

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it
*****   It was amazing

Book Review: Two Brothers

From Goodreads: Two Brothers is a heartrending story of two boys growing up under the darkening shadow of the Nazis. Born in Berlin in 1920 and raised by the same parents, one boy is Jewish, his adopted brother is Aryan. At first, their origins are irrelevant. But as the political landscape changes they are forced to make decisions with horrifying consequences.

Thoughts: This is my book group read for the month and since book group is today I thought I should get the review up! I chose this book for the group and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.
This is not the normal book you would expect from Ben Elton. No satire, no playing it for laughs, this is straight down the line serious. And so it should be. The subject matter as always is confronting and almost unbelievable. 
Otto and Paulus are born on the same day as the German Socialist Workers Party, better known as the Nazi's. Through out the boys lives, Elton comments on what the Nazi party is doing at the same age. He takes attributes of that age and weaves it into the behaviour of the party, describing the party as  a squalling baby to start,a tantruming toddler at about 3 years old and a surly, psychopathic teenager.
The twins however are not biological. One has been adopted, although it's not until much later in the book you know which one. And just like the time it was set in, to start with it didn't really matter. 
Elton paints a picture of Germany between the wars and gives the reader a view into the state it was in when Hitler came to power. That background allows the reader to understand how the Nazi's came to power and how they were allowed to strip away the rights of a whole section of the community with little to no protest. 
The boys form a friendship with a the daughter of a wealthy Jewish business man and the daughter of their nanny/ maid. This group of four and how they survive the war years becomes the basis of the second half of the book. It was here that I really started to get into the book. Watching how it played out, how the situations of the four shifted and changed and how they worked together (mostly) to try and ensure they all survived. The characters were strong and believable. Dagmar and Silke's animosity as they both developed feelings for the boys and the boys total blindness to all but Dagmar. Dagmar herself was an interesting and complex character who turned out to be more than I thought.
Elton weaves all aspects of this story together, keeping it tight, right until the end. The end game is astounding and heartbreaking for many reasons. At the end you step back to take in the whole picture and see how clever Elton was.
As with any book about Nazi Germany, Two Brothers is confronting at times. I still believe it is so important we continue to read and write about this time - may it never happen again.

Two Brothers gets 4 stars

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it
*****   It was amazing

Book Review: Self-Made Man

From Goodreads: Following in the tradition of John Howard Griffin (Black Like Me) and Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed), Norah Vincent absorbed a cultural experience and reported back on what she observed incognito. For more than a year and a half she ventured into the world as Ned, with an ever-present five o'clock shadow, a crew cut, wire-rim glasses, and her own size 11 1/2 shoes-a perfect disguise that enabled her to observe the world of men as an insider. The result is a sympathetic, shrewd, and thrilling tour de force of immersion journalism that's destined to challenge preconceptions and attract enormous attention. With her buddies on the bowling league she enjoyed the rough and rewarding embrace of male camaraderie undetectable to an outsider. A stint in a high-octane sales job taught her the gut- wrenching pressures endured by men who would do anything to succeed. She frequented sex clubs, dated women hungry for love but bitter about men, and infiltrated all- male communities as hermetically sealed as a men's therapy group, and even a monastery. Narrated in her utterly captivating prose style and with exquisite insight, humor, empathy, nuance, and at great personal cost, Norah uses her intimate firsthand experience to explore the many remarkable mysteries of gender identity as well as who men are apart from and in relation to women. Far from becoming bitter or outraged, Vincent ended her journey astounded-and exhausted-by the rigid codes and rituals of masculinity. Having gone where no woman (who wasn't an aspiring or actual transsexual) has gone for any significant length of time, let alone eighteen months, Norah Vincent's surprising account is an enthralling reading experience and a revelatory piece of anecdotally based gender analysis that is sure to spark fierce and fascinating conversation. 

Thoughts: Oh dear, where to start. I can't even begin to tell you what a mess this book is. The amount of times I wanted to throw it across the room in sheer anger (but didn't because I was reading it on my Kindle) is ridiculously high - higher than any other book I have ever read before. Norah Vincent sells not only men short, but women as well. From what I can gather, men are poor put upon idiots who are unable to help themselves and are constantly manipulated and played by women. Women are calculating, manipulative bitches who want it all and a man to deliver it.
I stopped taking notes. I kept hoping I would come across some great epiphany about the gender divide. I finished it because it's our book group book this month. At the very least, it should provide some great discussion.

Self-Made Man is a definite 1 star.

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it
*****   It was amazing

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Book Review: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

From Goodreads: Meet the Cooke family. Our narrator is Rosemary Cooke. As a child, she never stopped talking; as a young woman, she has wrapped herself in silence: the silence of intentional forgetting, of protective cover. Something happened, something so awful she has buried it in the recesses of her mind.
Now her adored older brother is a fugitive, wanted by the FBI for domestic terrorism. And her once lively mother is a shell of her former self, her clever and imperious father now a distant, brooding man.
And Fern, Rosemary’s beloved sister, her accomplice in all their childhood mischief? Fern’s is a fate the family, in all their innocence, could never have imagined.

Thoughts: This is our book group read for January. Apart from the fact that I could never remember the title when people asked me what I was reading, I quite enjoyed it. It's going to be one of those hard books to review, because you don't want to give anything away.
One of the first things I noticed was how crystal clear Rosemary's voice was in my head. I could see her, hear her. I know how she stands, what gestures she makes, her facial expressions - I'm in real trouble if they make a movie!
I'm incredibly grateful I read this on my Kindle as Fowler often uses words that I needed to look up. I'm still unsure if this is a good or bad thing. When I read hard copy books, if I came across an unknown word I'd just keep going and hope I'd get at least the general idea from the text around it. As any teacher will tell you, this is not only a valid but an important reading strategy. Being able to understand an unknown word from the words around it is a vital skill. Hopefully it's not one that disappears completely with the advent of technology in classrooms and society.
I made judgements about the author early on in the book that I then had to change. Early on you are aware that Rosemary's sister Fern has disappeared. You're not sure what has happened, but Rosemary goes to her grandparents for a couple of days and when she comes back Fern is gone. At first Rosemary believes she is the one who has been given away, that Fern has been chosen over her. When she discovers that Fern is the one who is gone she of course is instantly relieved and guilty at the same time. She makes the statement that "In most families there is a favourite child. Parents deny it...but it's obvious to the children." It's a statement that annoys the hell out of me. As one of three children I never truly felt one of us was favoured over the other. Talk to my sisters and they will tell you the same. I have two kids, I love them equally. I love my sons adventurous nature and his cheekiness. I love my daughters infectious giggle and natural curiosity.  I love both their affectionate natures. I see different strengths in each of them, but I love them the same. Further on in the book though you can start to see why Rosemary felt this way.
In a way this is a book that trades on it's secret. It uses it to draw you in. However, I think even if you know the secret before the start of the book it's worth reading. It's an important part of the story, but not the whole story. If you belong to a book group, I highly recommend it. I know I'm looking forward to discussing it on Sunday. 

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves gets 4 stars.


*        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it
*****   It was amazing

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