I like to read books

Te mana, te kawanatanga: The politics of Maori self-determination by Mason Durie

2011-02-01T23:00:00.000+13:00

This impressive book sets out Maori aspirations for more political, economic and cultural self determination in the face of ongoing settlements with the Crown. Durie discusses this self determination under six distinct headings which are separated as chapters. These are: the environment, cultural identity, social policy, land issues, fisheries and the Treaty of Waitangi. In each of these areas he looks at the power historically held by the Crown and also looks to more recent developments which have influenced Maori relationships with the Crown.

As well as this the book is aspirational about what could be offered to Maori in the future and how this can be extracted through the current framework of the public sector. By the end of the book, ideas for how tino rangatiratanga can best be offered to Maori is shaped within possible future governance and sovereignty structures. He offers the idea that sovereignty can be maintained both at a tribal level and at higher levels of governance, allowing for both arguments which have traditionally been the focus of much debate.

Through this, Durie focuses on the 1835 Declaration of Independence by Maori iwi as an important constitutional document alongside the Treaty of Waitangi. He sees the sovereignty aspired to by Maori as existing within and not apart from the wider nationhood of New Zealand.

This is a very well written and argued book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Maori and constitutional law in New Zealand.

Animal liberation by Peter Singer

2011-02-01T22:33:00.000+13:00

This book, written in the 1970s is a well-structured account of the arguments for animal liberation. Singer's arguments are put forward in a way that starts on a premise that the majority of people would agree with. Arguments are then set out which clearly lead to conclusions that are not perhaps as well-regarded. Singer's philosophy is flawless and his arguments are convincing.

Singer has written a more recent book which I plan on reading when I get the chance. The only complaint I would have about this first book is that much of the evidence it uses is now vastly outdated and it's hard to tell what is still in use and what is not. Moreover, there has been a huge boom in factory farming in recent years which would possibly make many of his arguments even stronger. I look forward to reading his most recent book where I would assume newer evidence has been used.

The main argument Singer uses in this book is that of Jeremy Bentham, that is: "can it suffer?" Singer offers ample evidence of the pain that animals clearly feel being kept in cramped cages, being branded as a farming procedure, untreated injuries and a lot more. He asks why we are willing to inflict such pain on animals when we would not do so ethically on humans. He labels this speciecism, forcing us to confront that we base this strange ethic on nothing other than the fact that these animals are different species than us.

I highly recommend this book. Even though I would not go quite as far as Singer in some respects, I think he puts forward an argument that is persuasive and difficult to ignore.

The Extravagant Universe by Robert P. Kirshner

2011-01-30T23:42:00.000+13:00

This book tells the story of the team who came to a conclusion based on Type 1A Supernovae data that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. This is out of a choice of three models - either that it is slowing down due to gravity and will eventually come to a stop before collapsing in on itself and culminating in a "big crunch." The second option is that the acceleration of the universe is constant and it will keep expanding at the same rate. The third is obviously the one which was proven by their data - that the expansion of the universe is in fact accelerating.

The team (known as the High-z Supernova Search Team) used large telescopes to look for type 1a supernovae. This kind of supernova is rare - there is approximately one per galaxy per century, but since the universe is pretty big, high powered telescopes can be used to find these and measure their redshifts (redshifts mean they are moving away, blueshifts moving towards us). Kirshner has recounted the methods the team used and the other team they were competing with. He has also looked at how a variety of different universities across several countries colluded to get these results.

Kirshner has tried to keep this book relatively unscientific. In other words, it is made for the lay-reader and written so the wider public can understand how this operation played out, what it means and its ramifications for modern physics. In this mission, he did a relatively good job. It seemed sometimes like he was trying a bit too hard to amuse the reader with amusing anecdotes and jokes. Although this was a good idea, it was a little too often and came across or desperate. The book was highly interesting without this added information.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone interested in what's going on in the world of science.

Bodies by Susie Orbach

2011-01-30T23:04:00.000+13:00

Susie Orbach famously acted as a therapist to Princess Diana and wrote Fat is a feminist issue. As well as this, she was one of the driving forces behind Dove's "real beauty" campaign of recent times. In this most recent book, Orbach has explored the changeable nature of our bodies in the 21st century. This includes the changes in BMI, the new surgeries available all over the world and the fight to look Western with eye surgeries in Asia, leg shortening procedures in Scandinavia and phalloplasties, which I'm sure I don't have to tell you about.

Through all of this new technology, Orbach confronts the reader to explore our relationships with our bodies. Through this, she demonstrates how the media has an influence on the way we view our own bodies. With evidence, including the amount of digitally manipulated images we see per day, Orbach makes it clear that we are underestimating the role of the media and the environment in these self-perceptions.

As usual, Orbach has provided a well-written and evidenced account that is both persuasive and thought provoking. I would have preferred if the book had been a bit longer or a bit more detailed, but as it was which was a relatively small book, it could serve well as part of a larger series.

I thoroughly recommend it.

Wasted by Marya Hornbacher

2011-01-30T21:04:00.000+13:00

I had actually read this book before a few years ao. There is no doubt in my mind that Hornbacher is an incredibly gifted writer and the fact that she wrote this book at such a young age is testament to this. Now with two other books to her name, both of which I have read I thought I'd read this one again.

Wasted documents Hornbacher's descent into bulimia as a child and her struggle to gain some control over her behaviours which flip-flop between anorexia and bulimia. She gives a unique insight into the life of someone whose life is governed by starvation, binging, purging and a battle with her own mind that never seems to end. Hornbacher was offered an ultimatum when she entered hospital: continue to die or accept the help she so desperately needed and learn to live. She chose the latter and we get the impression in the opening pages of this book that she has remained relatively healthy ever since.

I do have a couple of complaints about this book. Firstly, she constantly documents her weight at different stages throughout her illness. This struck a note of competition that is often seen between eating disordered patients. It could be argued that this reflects her mindset at different stages throughout the book. That is, her mind revolves aorund the number she sees on the scale. However, these numbers could be incredibly triggering for anyone with an eating disorder who reads the book. It also focuses on weiht as a measure of the seriousness of her eating disorder, which while seemingly logical is not necessarily helpful.

I have read two other of Hornbacher's books: one is another memoir about her diagnosis of Type I (rapid cycle) Bipolar disorder and the other is a fictional book about grief. Both were more maturely written than this one was and it seems her writing is only improving.

I look forward to her next book.

Edinburgh by Alexander Chee

2011-01-07T21:33:00.004+13:00

I can't say this or that that was the reason. There is no reason and every reason. Why do you want to die, I ask myself. How else does it stop? If I die, the trouble stops with me. I can see her, Tammamo, her hand closing her husband's eyes, breathing in the air to make the fire-breath, his family, watching her. Enough, she'd be thinking. Fire on her lips. It ends with me now.
...
Coe walks in to my room. Wake up, he says. Time for practice. The clock reads 6 A.M. We've joined the crew team. I pull back my covers and dress quickly in clothes Coe helped me pick: we decided I could wear gray for exercise. We run the distance between Clark and the boathouse down by the river, more or less straight down the long hill of the campus. In the dark morning the sun is the gold centre of everything. Death feels far away in that instant, impossible. We arrive at the cold river as summer touches the beginning of its last days, and Coe smiles. The sun. Coe."
(p. 98)

My wonderful friend Vita recommended this book to me and it has to be one of the best reads of this year for me. Alexander Chee was little known to me as an author and a quick search reveals Edinburgh as his first and possibly only book. I hope he keeps writing. Edinburgh is written from the perspective of a Korean-American kid we know only as Fee. He joins a boy's choir where he and several other boys are molested by the choir director 'Big Eric' who picks on only boys who look a certain way. This includes Fee's secret love and close friend, Peter.

His life unfolds from this central event and the way in which Fee remembers and describes his abuse can be seen in the quote above. Fee is gay, but not because of the abuse, in fact it almost seems it is in spite of what has happened. Fee's life is affected hugely - he engages in a series of relationships at university as he sees his friends crumble around him (one even kills himself). Despite this, Fee manages to build a life for himself until he is confronted by a boy at the school he teaches, who reminds him far too much of a boy he loved in the choir.

This book is written amazingly and is both heart-wrenching and at times amusing. Chee has demonstrated an amazing and empathetic stance towards characters. At the same time, he hasn't denied them agency or taken away from their experience in any way. His literary phrase unfolds magically and he has the ability within this to provoke emotion in (I would say) most readers.

I really hope I read more from this author. This is the best fiction book I have read in a long time.

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

2011-01-06T20:52:00.004+13:00

Having read both The Idiot and Crime and Punishment, I felt it was time to finally read this daunting looking i.e. rather large book, which I had bought cheaply at a book shop. It tells the story of three brothers: Dmitri, Ivan and Aleksey. The brothers are brought together when Dmitri returns to his father as a soldier to request money he believes is rightfully his. They decided to meet with Zosima who works in a monastery where Alyosha (Aleksey) is placed. From here the book explores philosophy, religion and politics and each of the brothers explores a different perspective. Another brother is added to the mix, when we discover that Pavel Smerdyakov was likely fathered by Fyodor. Pavel shares Ivan's atheist beliefs and appears to look up to him throughout the book.

The book also explores the responsibility of the different brothers towards each other and towards a more general good. This leads to the further analysis oh each character's philosophy and is guided by the early words of the Elder Zosima as well as the frenzied actions of Dmitri as he chases the woman he loves, Grushenka. Ivan's philosophy is forced to change from the complete rejection of morals with no God that he preaches at the beginning of the book. This is just one of many examples of the way different philosophies are explored in the book.

Like any great Russian novel, this one is full of extravagance. It contains well thought out characters and plot lines that keeps the reader guessing throughout the book. Dostoyevsky also lets the characters speak for themselves rather than explaining their actions or movements which aids the telling of the story.

I cannot do this book justice and I recommend it to all for its wonder and its amazingness and because it looks at important social issues in a unique way.

The Forest by Edward Rutherford

2011-01-06T18:52:00.005+13:00

This was the last book I read of the several by Rutherford that were lent to me by a good friend. This book is about the New Forest of England and its history is told throughout generations. Most famously, King William Rufus was shot and killed in this forest in 1100 during one of his deer-hunting trips. Rutherford has played into this episode and added some of his own dramatic flair for storytelling to describe this particular event and its ramifications.

As in his other books, this one is dominated by a variety of interesting characters. The Albion family for example find themselves split down the middle in political affairs. On the death of Bloody Mary, Elizabeth I had come to the throne. The Lady Albion loudly despises the Queen and doesn't believe she should be on a throne. In this she wants the Catholic Spanish to invade in order to return England to the "true faith." Her son, Clement who works for the Queen tries in vain to silence her many times and is forced to choose between the faith he feels for his mother and the honour he feels towards the Queen.

Like all of Rutherford's books, this one is long, but keeps the reader interested with many interesting characters and historical events. The particularly magical part about this book is the the New Forest maintained its beauty and is now a historical reserve. In this way, Rutherford was able to build on what he already knew about the New Forest, one would imagine from visiting it.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, especially if you have an interest in history or have previously enjoyed Rutherford's work.

Books to review

2011-01-02T23:19:00.004+13:00

Right I have resolved to do at least one a day until I've caught up (it doesn't help that I'm rushing through books so quickly at the moment).
In order of completion:
The Forest - Edward Rutherford
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Edinburgh - Alexander Chee
Wasted - Marya Hornbacher
Bodies - Susie Orbach
The extravagant universe - Robert P. Kirshner
Animal liberation - Peter Singer
Te mana te kawanatanga - Mason Durie
The Outsider - Albert Camus
I'll take you there - Joyce Carol Oates
Resistance - Maria Bargh (ed.)
Fat is a feminist issue - Susie Orbach
The sirens of Baghdad - Yasmina Khadra
The Cult Files - Chris Mikul
The city is a rising tide - Rebecca Lee
AD: A memoir - Kate Millett
Born on a blue day - Daniel Tammet
Little girl blue: The life of Karen Carpenter - Randy L. Schmidt

London by Edward Rutherford

2011-01-02T20:19:00.005+13:00

This book is quite possibly the longest of any of the ones I have read by Edward Rutherford. Like his other books, the title is the subject of this book. It stretches from the ice ages to almost the present day. Of course there are periods of a hundred or so years skipped here and there, especially in periods where little was known (The Dark Ages). Genetic characteristics passed down through generations are one of the interesting parts of the book. White hair as well as webbed fingers are particularly seen in one family who make an appearance as fairly central characters in different periods of the book. The family even endures a split down the middle and some characters do not know they are related and only guess through these genetic characteristics.

Some obvious critiques of this book are the ones that would be difficult for anyone to avoid - the quickness of passing of some of the historical periods (particularly the ones rife with action such as the 16th and 17th centuries. There are also some that are borne out more with more character development and these were generally the ones I enjoyed more. Rutherford is not a great literary author - he doesn't have the gifts that many authors do, but he is amazing at developing characters and providing historically accurate information in an interesting setting, made more interesting by the fiction he adds in himself.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned a lot from it.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

2011-01-01T17:56:00.004+13:00

This was one of my favourite books as a child and I came across a copy at a second-hand store in Christchurch and couldn't resist. It tells the story of a petulant young girl called Mary who goes to live in England with her widowed uncle after the death of her uncaring parents in India. With the help of her personal maid Martha and Martha's son Dickon, Mary begins to come out of her defensive shell and throughout the book turns from a painfully pale and sickly looking child into a happy child.

The title is given to the book by a garden which peeks Mary's curiousity and that of a small robin she befriends at the beginning of the book. The garden is transformed by Mary's discovery of it and it blossoms with her. As well as this, the secret crying that Mary hears at strange times of the night leads to another discovery. The garden becomes the central inspiration for the characters in the book who find themselves recreating the family they lost through the opportunities the garden creates. This book shows the way that nature can effect change in the dreariest of circumstances.

I definitely relived my childhood reading this book again! It's also beautifully written and easy to become involved with the characters, despite their flaws. I hope to reread another FHB favourite, A Little Princess as well soon.

3,096 Days by Natascha Kampusch

2010-12-29T16:50:00.003+13:00

Most people remember the shocking kidnap of Natascha Kampusch and her eventual escape of her attacker and return into the world in 1996. Kampusch, now a television presenter, has written a book about her experiences - the terror and fear she experienced as a captive of Wolfgang Prikopil who jumped under a train soon after her escape.

It is clear from the writing in this book that Kampusch received help from therapists to understand her experiences, both as an unhappy small child prior to her kidnapping, and as a victim and survivor of the man who subjected her to eight years in captivity. Kampusch is able to write clearly about her experiences and she reflects on them in a useful way throughout the book that I think is extremely admirable. Not many people would be able to go through what she did and come out the other side, but Kampusch has come to understand and reflect on her experiences and her ultimate survival to the benefit of herself and others. As well as this, she rejects the label of Stockholm Syndrome that was imposed on her after she escaped saying it denied her autonomy and reinforced her status as the victim. She was also able to objectively look at the media response which contributed to a form of revictimisation.

This book also highlights the police processes which took place after her capture and it is clear that from the beginning there were many mistakes made. Important leads were also not followed up in the process of the investigation and several opportunities to follow up Prikopil ultimately failed. It seems like the police expected some sort of obvious monster and the failure to find this monster they sought meant they did not take good tips seriously. Then again this was probably an unheard of case at the time and this story could contribute to police efforts in Austria in the future.

Overall this was an absolutely amazing book. Kampusch is an impressive women who is able to recount her experiences with understanding far beyond her years. I would recommend it to all.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

2010-12-26T20:43:00.004+13:00

NB: This book is known as both Anna Karenin and Anna Karenina. Both are correct in different dialects of the Russian language

This book tells the story of not only its title character, but also a series of other people in the same society as her. Tolstoy has managed to brilliantly contrast the eccentricities of two very different relationships that are tied together through acquaintance. Anna Karenina leaves her quiet relationship to seek a more tumultuous one with someone she actually loves, Count Vronsky. Anna comes across from the beginning as risk-taker who is ready to do anything spontaneous in order to receive pleasure from life. This makes her one of the more exciting characters, but also eventually leads to her demise. Kitty, who was originally Vronsky's love interest suffers sickness when he runs off with Anna. Levin whose dream is to settle down on his farm and lead a quiet life. Both Kitty's and Levin's development lead to another romance, one less spontaneous and as it turns out more steady. Levin is by far the most explored character and his words as well as actions clearly come across throughout the book.

The book also contains interesting symbolism - trains are a central part of the book. As well as this, it also explores the original discontent experienced by workers in Tolstoy's time that eventually led to the revolution. So not only does this book contain interesting personal stories, but does so with the background of pre-revolution Russia. This is a book I will definitely have to reread as the plotlines are intricate. It touches on several important social issues as well including a woman's freedom and/or reliance on a husband and the above-mentioned protests that led eventually to revolution.

I would recommend this book to anyone, it's not the easiest read - Russian novels never are, but it's well worth it for the wealth within the pages and between the lines.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

2010-12-19T17:54:00.005+13:00

This book became more popular after it was turned into a movie starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. It tells the story of a 15-year-old boy called Michael who begins an affair with a train conductor in her 30s. This relationship is to change the course of Michael's philosophy on life and leads him to have unmeaningful relationships and a fear of abandonment for the rest of his life. I've never seen the movie, so I can't draw any comparisons between the book and the movie. I will say though, that the main reason why the movie is not as good most of the time is that books have so much more scope to go in depth. Despite this - and I can't be sure if this is a translation issue or something else - the characters in this book are never explored in much depth. All that we get from Michael is more of the same - his personality doesn't seem to develop throughout the book much either. The same is true of Hanna, who we only can interpret from her actions as a German officer.

The plot of this book has an amazing idea, in that analysis of both the intricacies of youthful experiences as well as the actions of Nazi war criminals were possible. Despite this, the book did not quite live up to my expectations in terms of how these subjects could be explored. The book seemed largely detached at times and a story that could have provoked emotion (as I imagine the movie did) seemed cold and disconnected. Something about the way the story was told just didn't quite ring true to me.

Overall this book has a mighty interesting plot and poses lots of intricate questions. It is a good book to get one thinking, but despite this it seems to lack an element of storytelling.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

2010-12-04T16:49:00.006+13:00

This is one of Charles Dicken's more well known and regarded books. It's a coming of age tale in the same way that made The catcher in the rye so famous. Pip at the beginning of his story lives with his older sister and her husband Joe. An early experience leads Pip to question himself and the values he was brought up around. It's hard to go much further into the plot without giving the whole thing away so instead I'm just going to vaguely list what I found to be the assets of this book.

Firstly Pip is portrayed amazingly. Although he depicts himself through his faults, you come to love him through the things he doesn't talk about. The way this is done is actually genius. One would think that the portrayal through words is the most important, but Pip as a character proves that actions speak louder than words to quip. Furthermore, I found the character of Joe extremely endearing, although he's sadly portrayed in a light that he doesn't want further education, he just wants the status quo. As far as Joe is concerned, as long as everything is easy enough, e.g. food and shelter, he can go on as he has before. Despite this seemingly irrevocable view, through Pip, he comes to learn more but never succumbs to the same disease of wealth that Pip does.

Dickens is magical in the way he can portray characters through what is not said, rather than through what is said. He is famous for being extremely wordy and it would be correct to say that his sentences are longer and less punctuated than most. Despite this, his writing has always (with perhaps the exception of Nicholas Nickelby) maintained my interest. His characters are so intricately portrayed and the plot stems from them rather than being independent. The fact of the matter is that Dickens seems to have the idea already so firmly in his head that the story flows so naturally you wouldn't even believe it necessitated inventing.

A great book, not my personal favourite (as Bleak House is my favourite) but still a more than decent read.

Nomad: From Islam to America: A personal journey through the clash of civilisations by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

2010-12-02T15:00:00.004+13:00

The first thing I would say about this book is that it does not at all measure up to Ali's first book. In her move to America, Ali has embraced Western culture as superior and something for all nations to aspire to. I think Ali puts far too much faith and clout in the practices of Western society without the critique that is also due to it. She also seems to put too much blame on the plight of families like the one in which she grew up, to Muslim culture. This is despite the fact that she grew up in three different countries in the midst of civil war and that there were a variety of other factors that could have contributed to all the horrors of her upbringing.

As well as this, Ali's views seem to have become more extreme over the last few years. Despite being an atheist, she suggests that Christians convert their Muslim counterparts to Christianity. While I agree with her on the point that feminists need to do more to address the high rates of honour killings and other phenomena, her proposed solution falls far short. Not only does it come across as condescending on her part (e.g. I am an atheist but since you are not like me, you should become Christians) but it is also put across as an easy solution, when in reality many people don't actually want to change their religion because the West says they should. The connection between Muslims and terrorism that she puts across is also problematic, in that most Muslims do not advocate terrorist tactics. Moreover, many of the countries that are Muslim in Africa are so poor because of tactics by Western countries and she does not really address this.

All in all, while I can understand why Ali initially took the political viewpoint she did and I think she has bravely survived everything that's been thrown at her, I do not agree with many of her thoughts in this book.

The brain that changes itself: Stories of personal triumph from the frontiers of brain science by Norman Doidge M.D

2010-12-01T18:24:00.002+13:00

This book details one of the most important medical discoveries of recent times - that our brains are subject to change in function and structure throughout our lives. This goes against years of thought in the scientific community, which saw the brain developing until late childhood and then declining until death. Doidge, in this book gives us the science behind neuroplasticity (as it is now in common parlance) as well as case examples of people who have come back from seemingly irreversible brain trauma to live relatively normal lives.

This book was effective in its message and the case studies provided real-life examples of how the plasticity of the brain can operate in healing. I do feel that although Doidge admitted there was limits to the plasticity, his tone throughout the book seemed to suggest that neuroplasticity could be used to "cure" any number of things. I can understand why it was exaggerated of course, but I do think this toned down the accuracy of the book a little. I also thought there was far too much reliance on Freudian theory. Doidge rightly points out that Freud theorised neuroplasticity far prior to it becoming a serious scientific idea, however, Doidge talks up Freud throughout the book and there is little concentration on the well documented fact that Freud's own research methods were fraught with inaccuracies.

Overall I think this is a good book. It's fairly well written and it's full of interesting facts. I find the concept of neuroplasticity intriguing and I hope popular writing expands on it more in the next few years.

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

2010-11-28T23:45:00.003+13:00

This is an amazing memoir detailing the life of a woman that undoubtedly shares parallels with the lives of many women who suffer in silence. Ali has lived in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya. She finally escape to the Netherlands running from an arranged marriage when she was 22. Since the publication of this book and the creation of a movie detailing the plight of Muslim women, Ali has gone into hiding after receiving numerous death threats.

Beginning with her first memories as a child living in Somalia, we are plunged into the reality of growing up in a war-torn society. Taunted by other children for her kintir (clitoris), at the will of her grandmother, Ali received full female genital cutting at the age of five, without anaesthetic. Her grandmother asked her to be brave while she fell into an unconcious state, while her four-year-old sister's howls and struggles caused her to have lifelong scars on her thighs. Her brother also received genital cutting with tears running down his face. After this procedure, the same man came back to inspect them and remove the thread - leaving a thin bumpy scar between her legs. What Ali gives us is the extremely painful reality of a still common practice in many parts of Africa and the Middle East. A young girl is operated on in this manner to preserve her virginity and to remove parts of her considered to be impure. As a result, sexual pleasure later in life is near impossible and the side effects stretch through eternity.

Details like this continue throughout the book with Ali undergoing a vicious beating at the hands of her mother and her Q'uran teacher. This stopped the regular beatings from her mother, but only for a short time. Scenes like this play out in Ali's life. In her teenage years, she became a fairly devout Muslim and started questioning her beliefs about the status of women. When she asked questions about this, which made her unpopular. This all contributes to the bravest moments of Ali's life - where she was finally able to leave her past behind and bravely embark into a life as a refugee in the Netherlands.

There were some parts of this book which surprised me. In the latter half of the book Ali became a politician in the Dutch parliament. Although Ali clearly knows the difficulties of moving from devout Muslim society to a developed country, she seemed to adopt some fairly harsh anti-immigration and anti-welfare attitudes, seeing that if a refugee moved to the Netherlands they should be able to start work immediately - just as she had. While in her experience, this worked, many women in this position would not, I imagine, be able to recreate their lives as adeptly as she did. An obvious example of this would be her sister who moved soon after her and suffered in her new environment. As well as this I am not as anti-Muslim as she became towards the end of this book, in my view obviously there are practices which need to be changed in many parts of the world, but not all practicers of Muslim culture make use of the same extremes she grew up with.

Despite this personal political difference with Ali, I think this is an absolutely astounding book. Ali is a brilliant writer who portrays her life with emotion and bravery. I think this is a gutsy and wonderfully written book.

Sarum: The novel of England by Edward Rutherford

2010-11-28T23:15:00.003+13:00

Sarum is the site of the first settlement in England. This novel uses this first area of settlement and its surrounding areas - Salisbury and Stonehenge - as a setting for a history of England. This starts in the Ice Age and goes all the way through to almost the present day. We follow through generations of cave men, High Priests, Roman invasion, Norse invasion and the building of the cathedral that houses the infamous Salisbury spire. Apparently this was Edward Rutherford's first book - his passion for history and the work that has gone into its making is obvious.

It deals well with many aspects of history that are not well-known to many including the Pagan-esque rituals that took place prior to Roman invasion and a detailed account of the suffering of many during the 1300s Black Death. Many interesting characters burst forth through these pages and especially strong female characters (which I am always a fan of). The battle between the Anglican Protestant church and the ingrained Catholic one is also an interesting one that Rutherford expounds with a great wealth of knowledge on the subject. It is interesting to contrast how this religious battle played out in England compared with Ireland and this I was easily able to do having just read two other books detailing Rutherford's history of Ireland.

The only possible complaint I have with this book is that it is extremely long. Like much of history there are points I find particularly interesting and points that I would rather were not covered in much detail. That said, it would be impossible for the author to cater to all interests in this context and the maps and family trees in the preface of the book contain a lot of useful detail. For what it's worth I would definitely recommend this book.

Pathologies of power: Health, human rights and the new war on the poor by Paul Farmer

2010-11-22T22:34:00.005+13:00

Paul Farmer is a doctor of medicine. He has worked all over the world with the dispossessed, the sick, the dying and most of all with the poor. Farmer is among the few medical professionals who as well as giving his time to those who are less fortunate than us has set about to attack the institution that keep these "pathologies of power" in place. What Farmer gives us with this book is anecdotes of patients of his from all over the world as well as statistics that put the public health system in these countries to shame, and put the rest of us to shame as well for allowing this to go on.

Throughout this book, Farmer exposes the very institutions that benefit most from a health system that fails literally millions of people. He expresses frustration where an easily solvable problem in medical terms is unable to be solved because the appropriate drugs simply aren't available. Diseases such as tuberculosis, which are curable in the vast majority of cases with relatively inexpensive drugs. It is largely because these drugs are not available that medical professionals have seen a huge increase in the amount of cases of multi-drug-resistant TB. These are especially telling in prison populations, where often a prison sentence can also become a life sentence.

Furthermore, Farmer expands on this to confront why medical ethics courses largely stick to the plight of those with the fortune to be able to access the right drugs or even to be able to sign their rights away. He sees public health as essentially lacking even among organisation such as the World Health Organisation. More than anything this book stands as a call to action for those of us who find it easier to turn a blind eye. It is both personal with a large amount of anecdotes and statistically sound in its reproduction of the plight of people all over the world.

Ireland Awakening by Edward Rutherford

2010-11-18T23:43:00.004+13:00

This book following on from Dublin by the same author, beginning in 1597 and going right through until the twentieth century. Much like the last book, this one is centred in Dublin but also includes other parts of Ireland. It is in this sector of Irish history that we see the devastation wrought by Oliver Cromwell in the 1600s in his attempt to convert the Irish to Protestantism. Following on from this, the difficulties in attempting to build a representative parliament and the block-outs of those who followed Catholicism. Moreover, and perhaps more famously the potato famine of the 1800s started by a blight and later leading to mass starvation. Perhaps surprisingly this famine ended not when health was restored, but when England decided it had had enough and told everyone the famine had ended when it had not.

More so than the last book, I found many of the characters in this book entertaining and interesting. Fortunatus, for example of the Walsh family, who was brought up a Protestant unlike the rest of his family and who trains as a doctor rising up to become gentry. Georgiana was also surprising as a strong female character, who eventually is estranged from her son when he forsakes his family. There are several more strong characters which keep the book moving along well.

I think the sequel was definitely an improvement on the first book. It was fairly consistent throughout as none of the periods of history it covered were uncertain ones from a historical perspective. It also links into the context of wider Ireland as well as Dublin which helps move the story along.

Again I would recommend this, but make sure to read Dublin first. Chock full of historical facts and interesting asides, these are both decent books

Dublin by Edward Rutherford

2010-11-16T22:19:00.005+13:00

This is the first in a series of books lent to me by a friend. The subject matter of all these books is a place, rather than a person. Many people come and go throughout centuries and although some of the characters are fairly well-developed, it is the place you get to know, rather than any character in particular.

It is obvious a large amount of research went into this book, which details the history of Dublin up until 1550. In this vein, it is largely inconsistent. Obviously, there are large amounts of research on certain periods of history, while others remain uncertain. Because of this, the beginning of this book in hunter-gatherer periods drifts a fair bit, as there is very little Rutherford can be sure actually happened. For this reason, he uses a lot of fairly descriptive language, which is scant in other parts of the book.

In all respects, this book and all those that follow it is chock-full of interesting historical information and Rutherford provides interesting commentary as to the sureness of this information in history books. Moreover, knowing the setting of these happenings well, as you get to throughout the book, assists the reader in understanding and placing events within context. As someone with an interest in Ireland generally, it made for an incredibly interesting read.

It's difficult to put a rating on this book. A lot of things about it could be improved. That said, it is an amazing book in that it contains such a large amount of information in a fairly interesting and acceptable manner. If you have any sort of interest in history or Ireland, it is an incredible book.

Dead Man Walking: An eyewitness account of the death penalty by Sister Helen Prejean

2010-11-11T23:20:00.005+13:00

This book is a phenomenal look at the problems of capital punishment in the USA. It is written by a nun and centres around visits she had with two prisoners, both on death row. The basis of Prejean's argument is that capital punishment is extremely harsh and that such a punishment should not be inflicted at all if it cannot be inflicted fairly, which obviously it hasn't been.

Prejean met Pat Sonnier when he was on death row for brutally killing two teenagers. She first began writing to him as she felt that she needed to be doing more for impoverished people as a nun and as a Christian. We hear chilling accounts of the death penalty and its trials and tribulations over the last century. Prisoners who required five currents of electricity to die over a period of over quarter of an hour; incidents of prisoners catching fire in the process; and one failed attempt for a prisoner to be killed by the jolts. We learn that not only is the electric chair an instrument that does not always do its job properly, but that its infliction is often intensely painful.

As Prejean continues her story of visiting Sonnier and sitting through his many appeals up until his death, she continues relating the inconsistencies of the death penalty including differential sentencing procedures based on race, wealth and a multitude of other variables. She also includes statistics from other countries who use the death penalty, which show a high number of juvenile executions (i.e. infliction of the death penalty on someone under 18 years of age) and the death penalty disproportionately being handed to those who society find it most easy to tread on: the powerless. Despite the US Supreme Court's finding that the death penalty was unlawful, many states have overruled this and continue to use it. Although this book is now fairly dated, the statistics remain similar. Amnesty International's website shows that in the USA, the race of the victim is the most reliable predictor of whether or not the death penalty will be received. More recently, an astonishing 1/3 of inmates would have received a life sentence rather than the death penalty if their victim had been white. Furthermore, it is estimated that 5-10% of people on death row have serious mental illness, despite international laws which prohibit the exercise of the death penalty on these people.

Prejean gives us an astonishing look at how much all these variables come into play as she meets a second death row inmate, Robert Willie. She faces more adversity this time and has trouble even entering the prison, despite a guarantee to an inmate of a spiritual adviser if he/she chooses. It is at this point in the book where Prejean also begins to take the families of the victims more into account, after the families of Sonnier's victims expressed upset at being ignored. This leads Prejean to join a victims' rights group and it is here that the political message she is trying to get across becomes clear.

This is a brilliantly written book. It gives an astonishing account of life on death row and provides statistics and information on the practice of capital punishment in the USA. I would recommend it to all.

Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz

2010-11-11T22:53:00.003+13:00

Every year thousands of people around the world apply for entrance to universities of their choice. I'm lucky in that I live in a country with fairly open admission. Going off my school marks I wouldn't have got into a very good university in the USA, yet I have done much better at university than I ever did at school.

This book is a fictional one about a woman called Portia who is an admissions officer for Princeton. That means that for a whole region she makes the decisions about who will enter the hallowed halls of one of the United States' 'Ivy League' universities. Princeton looks for not just the best but people who are the best and have that little something extra. Portia's job is to make initial decisions about students before they go to a board who decides each student's future once and for all. Throughout the book, Portia reads applications, students' essays and recommendations from their teachers and counsellors. Having worked as an outside reader for university applications before, Korelitz shows what the world of a gatekeeper to a sought after university is like.

Through her job, Portia visits a small school that has never been visited by Princeton before. Here she meets a boy she considers to be extremely talented and as the book continues we learn that there is something extremely personal in Portia's connection to this boy. Throughout her 16-year long relationship also hits complications and without many friends or family connections she hits her work in a way she never has to before in order to hide from the truth.

This book has an absolutely amazing storyline and is also an interesting look into the process of North American university applications and how spur of the moment each decision which potentially could change a student's life can be. Despite this, there are in my view several problems which prevent this book from reaching its full potential. Portia's character is not very well developed and the things that cause her very own "admission" to take place are unbelievable. Furthermore, the book reaches a conclusion that the reader has been expecting throughout the book and the last few chapters in this way feel a bit pointless.

Despite its flaws, this book is an impressive one and I woul be interested to read more of Korelitz's work in the future.

List to review

2010-10-29T15:25:00.002+13:00

Oh wow I am so behind. Here are the books I have to review:

Admission - Jean Hanff Korelitz

Dead man walking: An eyewitness account of the death penalty in the United States - Sister Helen Prejean

Dublin - Edward Rutherford

The Rebels of Ireland - Edward Rutherford

Pathologies of Power: Health, human rights and the new war on the poor - Paul Farmer

Sarum: The novel of England - Edward Rutherford

Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

The brain that changes itself: Stories of personal triumph from the frontiers of brain science - M.D. Norman Doidge

Nomad - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

The Reader - Bernard Schlink

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

3,096 days - Natascha Kampusch

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

I'm going to aim to do one a day and hopefully can catch up. It's been a long time since I read the first few though so I hope I can remember them well.

Whistleblower: Abuse of power in the church: A New Zealand Story by Louise Deans

2010-09-25T21:28:00.005+12:00

We've all heard of the terrible suppression of abuse in the Catholic Church in recent times. All over the world, stories have spilled out about the abuse of children in the Catholic church, and a church hierarchy that failed to act in a way to stop the abuse. This book is about a similar abuse of power, but this time in the Anglican Church in New Zealand.

Deans applied to be ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church in 1982. A priest in this institution is (unlike a Catholic priest) entitled to be married and entitled to be female. As was normal practice, Deans was given a spiritual guide and mentor. This man was to become her abuser and the man she risked everything to expose. Deans was unfortunately not the only victim of this man, as she was to find out women had been assaulted and abused by him before and reported him, but to no avail. Deans and some of the other women made it their mission to make sure no more women got hurt and to make sure the Anglican Church took responsibility to make sure the same thing could not happen again.

This book is a daring one. The man involved is not named - although I believe he has since been outed. Deans aims to show the respect she feels for the church and in the same breath wishes to expose those who would give that church a bad name. This woman is obviously gutsy and to stand up to her abuser like this and to demand change shows a survivor attitude that resonates throughout the book. Deans writes exceptionally well and shows us the battle for recognition she faced, as well as how this battle affected her personal life.

This is a brilliant book about brave survivors taking into their hands a fight and a responsibility, which was to forever change the outlook of the Anglican Church in New Zealand. I would recommend it to all.

Daughter Buffalo by Janet Frame

2010-09-25T21:08:00.003+12:00

Janet Frame is one of my favourite authors of all time. It seems she was a modern-day Virginia Woolf. Her way with words is absolutely magical. This was her only book to be set in the United States. The main topic of this book is death. Dr Talbot Edelman, our narrator, is a post-graduate medical student working in New York and researching death. We learn early on that he does this because death has always been repressed in his family; people have died or been dying and have suddenly disappeared and been pushed out of the imagination. Talbot discovers, as we do by reading this book, that death has become a taboo and dying has become the most lonely place of all. He experiments on his dog, Sally, his most faithful companion who he breaks and puts back together, because he loves her and because he couldn't bare to harm anyone else.

Talbot comes to meet Turnlung, an old man who seems to resemble his dead grandfather. Talbot comes to befriend and research Turnlung, an author and a man who has moved to New York, not to live but to die. The existence of Turnlung's existence is quite questionable from his entrance into the story. We wonder if he exists or if he only exists for Talbot.

Above all this book is a critique of the way that Western civilisation deals with death - we brush it under the carpet, we don't talk about it for fear of being viewed as morbid, we ignore it and we brush past it in day-to-day life, it is inevitable but it is completely silent. Talbot's experience with death in his family sets him up for a life of wondering and researching the taboo of death and in his own way his world becomes mythical as he obtains custody of a buffalo in the zoo.

This is an amazing book and I take something new from it every time I read it.

The History of Sexuality Volume One: A will to knowledge by Michel Foucault

2010-09-25T20:52:00.005+12:00

I read this book for a class I am taking on sexuality this trimester. Pretty much the entire course is based around Foucault's conception of sexuality so although it's been a long time since I finished it (I am extremely behind on book reviews), I can remember the essence of his argument. Foucault's take on sexuality is in contrast to the one in vogue at the time - that is the repressive hypothesis, which expounded that 'natural' sexuality had been repressed and ignored by all levels of society, in particular the bourgeoisie. The social movements of the 1970s sprang out of this as an opposition to repression that was seen to be taking place. Foucault argues against this belief, indeed his argument is almost totally a social constructionist one. Rather than a repression of sexuality, Foucault saw quite the opposite; an explosion of discourse surrounding the topic of it, beginning in the Victorian age.

Foucault also puts forward in this volume that concept of bio-power. The juridical model of power assumes a hierarchy with those at the top of hierarchy as oppressing those beneath. Bio-power, by contrast involved a range of techniques aimed at controlling the body and populations. This power exists not just at the top, but rather is enabled at every level of society in what Foucault terms cycles of pleasure and power.

Foucault is the most cited social scientist ever. He has overtaken Marx, Freud and Weber in this accomplishment. He has become the beginning of a much larger move towards focusing on a constructed society and a less obvious model of power. There are many critiques people make of Foucault, many of them are fair critiques. I'm not writing for a journal so I'm not going to delve right into my criticisms of Foucault's novel.

I found this work surprisingly easy to read, after hearing people talk about his writing in the same words they talk about Max Weber's. It was a relief to be honest to be able to get through this book and actually understand what he was on about, which is often difficult with other authors. I would definitely be keen to read more Foucault, I just wish I wasn't so bogged down in assignments!

Nicholas Nickelby by Charles Dickens

2010-09-02T21:40:00.007+12:00

I am a pretty avid lover of the the few Dickens books I have read, but I have to be honest in saying that I wasn't the biggest fan of this one. The plot centred around the title character who spends much of his time gallivanting around the country saving children from cruel orphanages, acting in theatre extravaganzas, pitting himself against his self-possessed uncle and saving his sister from an unwanted marriage. I found Nicholas' character unconvincing from the beginning and the storyline was a bit too good versus evil for my taste. The female characters had no real strong role to play it seemed, but just served as damsels in distress, so that Nicholas could eventually swoop to their rescue.

There were some interesting characters who surpassed the clear divide described above though. Newman Noggs sides himself with Nicholas and his family, but works as a clerk for Nicholas' evil uncle Ralph. We learn that despite Noggs' good intention, his judgment is often clouded by his addiction to alcohol which fuels his erratic behaviour. John Browdie who starts off disliking Nicholas also has a role to play. He is unaccustomed to the learned nobleness of Nicholas and his contemporaries and in him the reader is able to find some comic relief and a believable character. The book's weaknesses though come through more strongly in the weak female characters, the hometown hero and the evil characters where evil seems to be only for the sake of more evil.

Of the works by Dickens that I have read, I would far more recommend Bleak House or Oliver Twist, both of which have a more realistic depiction of the social commentary that made Dickens' work so famous.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

2010-08-21T16:20:00.005+12:00

Surprisingly before this year, I had never read this book. Earlier this year, the writer probably made most famous by this novel died and a couple of weeks later I picked up a cheap copy of this book at a local second-hand book shop. I had previously read Franny and Zooey which I would go as far to say that I enjoyed slightly more. Nonetheless, this book remains a classic and it is easy to see why.

It tells the story of Holden Caulfield, a young man expelled from prep school who runs away to spend time by himself in New York, preferring that to facing his parents. We learn early on about the death of Holden's brother which continues to trouble him, as well as his troubling life experiences and propensity to lie. Holden masks his troubled past with a gruff manner as he struggles to get back the innocence he lost when his brother died.

There is no doubt that this is an amazing work of literature. Holden likely stands as one of the most loved fictional characters of all time. Most people are able to comprehend and associate on some level with Holden and his want for the innocence of childhood to return. This is a stellar book with a brilliant character and excellent prose. I'd recommend it to everyone.

Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

2010-08-21T15:58:00.003+12:00

The first thing I would say about this novel and about a lot of Murakami's work is it's impossible to know how much of it could be lost in translation. It is impossible to know if the beauty that comes through in her writing is also evident in its original Japanese but one assumes it is. The main narrator in this book is known only as 'K', who is a teacher in love with Sumire, a young woman who wants to be a writer and is in turn in love with a wine importer called Miu, who she ends up working for. As K finds himself increasingly cut off from Sumire's life, she takes a work trip with Miu and it is here that she disappears and K is brought over to help search for her.

This novel tells the reader a lot about loneliness. The loneliness firstly of K's unrequited adoration for Sumire and Sumire's own loneliness in her feelings for Miu that causes her to go off into another world. Aside from these two, there is also Miu's loneliness caused by a traumatic experience years before, that causes the colour to seep out of her and is the root of the impossibility she has in relationships and intimacy.

This is the only book I've read by Murakami so I cannot make comparisons with his other work. The crafting of this story is perfect though and the language, one can imagine, preserved well by the translators which builds the slightly mysterious and even paranormal part of this work and entices the reader even more. The plot is never really resolved, but this fits with the mystery of this story. I will certainly be seeking out and reading more of Murakami's work.

Adrian Mole and the weapons of mass destruction by Sue Townsend

2010-08-06T22:22:00.003+12:00

I used to read the Adrian Mole books as a kid and I'm pretty sure this was the only one I've never read - it was written fairly recently. The loveable Adrian gives the title to this book when he writes a letter to Tony Blair requesting that he inform a travel company of the danger of the weapons of mass destruction. It seems after all this time, Adrian still hasn't changed. He's still in love with Pandora Braithwaite and he still somehow manages back living with his parents. We see Adrian as a dedicated believer of Tony Blair's mission in Iraq and his slow realisation throughout the book that perhaps something is not right - especially when his beloved Pandora (a Minister in the Labour government) splits from Blair.

As usual Townsend has brought us back a character who has never gotten passe. His potential to embarrass himself and to take himself too seriously is once again evident throughout the book. This is as well as his support for his son Glen who is off in Iraq, a member of the army. Adrian finds himself deep in the credit economy and his debts begin to pile up as he gets credit card upon credit card with no idea how to pay for them.

As usual Sue Townsend has fully delivered on one of the most amusing characters ever to be put in literature - definitely up there with Bridget Jones.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

2010-07-31T17:57:00.005+12:00

Jane Eyre is a novel written by Charlotte Bronte, whose pen name at the time was Currer Bell. We are drawn into the book from Jane being a child, whose parents died and who lives with her aunt and uncle. We are scared for her when she is locked in a room for getting into a fight with her cousin. Soon after this terrifying episode, Jane makes her way to a school where she stays for years first as a student and then a teacher. From there, Jane makes her way to the house of Mr Rochester to be a governess for a young girl.

This book is absolutely amazing, probably one of the best and more relateable ones from its era. Jane is an amazing character and a believable woman living in a society where women were still regarded as property. Mr Rochester is painted (in my opinion) as less likeable. His rich lifestyle and his past seem to have taught him to think only about himself and to act out when things do not go his way. Despite this, it is Jane who gets the final say about their relationship, which I liked. All of the characters were well developed throughout the book and as Jane becomes a more self-sufficient young woman, we begin to see a real personality come through.

Of all the classics we are told to read in high school, this one will probably ring the most bells for me. The intrigue woven into the story from the start as well as the complex character development makes it a stellar read and the language unlike so many other books of the same era is uncomplicated.

Monster by Allan Hall

2010-07-06T18:06:00.004+12:00

On the one hand, I was surprised by some of this book. The cover and the taglines on the cover made me think it would just be rehashing of the undoubted evils of Fritzl's well-known crimes. However, it firstly focused on Fritzl's upbringing and his early involvement with the law, as well as his relationship with his wife and the eventual decline into the story we all know so well. The beginning of the book has a special focus on the contribution that growing up in Nazi-occupied Austria had on the path Fritzl took, as well as his apparent admiration on Adolf Hitler. He offers no evidence or explanation to measure the actual influence of the historical period or "national socialism" in general upon Fritzl's personality or even upon his crimes. However, he continues the comparison to Nazi Germany and occupied Europe throughout and compares the trapping of Elisabeth and her children in the basement to concentration camps. It is obvious here that Hall has taken advantage of the part of Europe where this happened to make a tenuous at best connection.

The author also turns an already shocking story into a narrative from the mind of Fritzl. He was not interviewed for this book and his thoughts on entering the basement he built for the first time would surely not be known to a tabloid journalist. It seems here that Hall is adding unknown, unneeded detail to add excitement to his story. However, the interviews conducted with friends, family members and tenants of the building in which Fritzl and his family left and in which he imprisoned his daughter and their children were a helpful and informative addition.

A point I liked about this book was the focus put on Elisabeth as a survivor rather than a victim. Continually, Hall refers to the amazing fact of her survival and her care for her children who she tried to give as normal life as possible under impossible circumstances. Some of the words used to describe those Fritzl imprisoned range from insensitive to cruel, however, which lends no credibility to the author. His writing is also nothing to be raved about and attempts at best to preserve the image of this book as one about an "evil" man. It is probably one of the worst written non-fiction books I have read in awhile but its subject made it interesting and no doubt a quick seller.

Everything is illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

2010-06-23T19:36:00.005+12:00

This novel was Foer's first and at its release was incredibly successful. It tells the story of Jonathan Safran Foer travelling to the Ukraine searching for a woman who saved his father from the Nazis in World War II. He is accompanied on this adventure by his translator Alex Perchov, Alex's grandfather and Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. (the dog). Jonathan goes in search of Trachimbrod, where he believes his family's village was attacked by the Jews. We learn of the history of Foer's family, through a novel written by him (the character Foer) about his ancestors.

In Alex's letters to Jonathan we are given an often-amusing version of the English language. Alex, from Ukraine writes to Jonathan about his experiences, his dreams of moving to America and his troubled life at home with his father. The novel within this novel is filled with experimentation and reads like a manuscript with pages from a dream journal, fragmented words and diagrams. Throughout, Alex offers his own critique of Foer's manuscript in his broken English.

This book was critically acclaimed and while I believe parts of it are fully deserving of the huge amount of praise it received, it also led to a certain amount of disappointment of high expectations. That said, this is the second time I read this book and there were parts of it I didn't remember or understood more the second time around. The broken English of Alex Perchov is the sort of stuff that couldn't be written by anyone except someone with a perfect command of English and it is well done.

I recommend this book; a decent read and an interesting aside from the 'ordinary' novel.

Book of the dead by Patricia Cornwell

2010-06-23T18:55:00.004+12:00

I don't think I've ever read a book from this series although I have heard of Kay Scarpetta, the infamous heroine of a great number of Cornwell's novels. Obviously, this means I've missed a lot of the characterisation of Scarpetta, but she does seem to be notoriously unlucky. She is a pathologist, who of course also solves crimes, in this case of an evil serial killer who fills his victims' eyes with sand.

This book tries as hard as it can to be as gory as possible. The dead bodies are described in grim detail, some of the details are almost described almost exquisitely and one would think the dead bodies quite beautiful if he or she didn't know better. Many of the characters in this book are unrealistically emotive. There's Dr Self, the evil and quite possibly mentally unhinged bad gal and the alcoholic old friend Marino, who is slowly more and more becoming a character he does not recognise. Scarpetta's character was the most believable one, probably because there's been several books to build her up in.

The storyline was multi-faceted. Between all the things that happen/have happened to Scarpetta, you begin to wonder how much more unrealistic it can get and then it does. Despite all this, this is not an awful book. It has its good passages and there are some nice sentences in it. It definitely won't be going on my top list though.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

2010-06-19T22:16:00.004+12:00

When I was a child we had a video tape called "The Jetsons' Christmas Carol", embarrassingly enough I grew up thinking that the original of this story including the three Christmas ghosts were dreamed up in the head of the creators of the Jetsons. I was corrected a few years later, but I never actually read this book until this year. For a start, for Dickens, it's very short. I read it in a single night.

In it we are told the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter business man who is visited by the ghost of his old business partner, Marley who warns him that unless he changes his ways he will end up a miserable ghost. He is to be visited by three ghosts. The Ghost of Christmas Past reminds him of his innocent, kindly beginnings; The Ghost of Christmas Present (brilliant pun) shows him what is going on by those he knows and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come warns him what will happen if he continues as he is.

The book is full of Christmas spirit and is likely to fill even the most cynical reader with a sense of eventual joy. It also reminds the reader that greed will never lead to happiness and that kindness to others is one of the best ways to ensure a happy heart.

Read it!

Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby

2010-06-19T21:56:00.003+12:00

This book for me didn't quite stand up to the rave reviews it's been getting. It's a good book, definitely well worth a read, but I don't feel like it's particularly memorable and it won't stick in my mind as one of the best.

It begins the story centred around Duncan and Annie - a couple who it feels like never should have been together, but have remained so for the purpose of convenience. Tucker is a die-hard Tucker Crowe fan. Tucker is your typical disappearing rock star. His few remaining hardcore fans try to trace his whereabouts through an online forum. When a new album is released - remixes of already released songs, Duncan writes a rave review which Annie clearly disagrees with. Annoyed by his amazing review, she posts her own and that's when Tucker Crowe emails her.

From here we are drawn into a strange set of happenings, where both Duncan and Annie realise how wrong they are for each other and Annie begins a friendship with a man who her Duncan had been and still is obsessed with. The book had an annoying ending, I know authors love to leave you wondering, but this one didn't really work for me. The characters were believable and identifiable though and the style led the reader through an assortment of emotions. For a book about music, it didn't go into a lot of detail but then I think that was part of the story.

I would recommend it, especially if you have enjoyed Hornby's style in the past, it is a good read.

We need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

2010-06-17T21:32:00.003+12:00

As so many critics say, this book is probably about every parent's worst nightmare. Kevin Khatchadourian, the narrator's son opens fire on a select few of his classmates a few days before the Columbine shootings. Through Eva (his mother's) letters to her estranged husband Franklin, we learn about the relationship between her and Franklin and the decision to have kids. The book swings back and forth from nature to nurture as both Eva and the reader try to make sense of what caused Kevin to open fire on his classmates.

Eva seems ridden with guilt from the beginning. From a baby son who she can't connect with on any level whose actions throughout his childhood mirror those of a psychopath, as well as her constant suspicion of his motives swings the reader around. We are forced to confront the reality of school shootings and the many victims they leave behind. By alienating the narrator through these letters, we are shown the bare insides of Eva's insecurities, her guilts, her regrets and her explanations for Kevin's actions and we are shown some of his world as well through the visits she takes to the juvenile prison to see him. The reader is also treated to a delightful twist which keeps you guessing to the very last pages.

Of all the fiction written about school shootings, this book rings the most true for me. In a society ridden by needing someone to blame, Shriver opens our eyes to the shameless spiral of blame and some of the most enduring characters for me were the ones who almost seemed too good-natured to be true. Most of the book, these are the people who carry Eva through. Shriver is a talented writer who I would definitely be interested in following a little more. The subject is tackled poignantly and beautifully and the twists and turns leave you guessing to the very end.

The Elegant Universe: Super strings, hidden dimensions and the quest for the ultimate theory by Brian Greene

2010-06-09T22:15:00.005+12:00

In this amazing book, Brian Greene presents the intricacies of superstring theory in the same way that Stephen Hawking opened our eyes to black holes with A Brief History of Time. Greene first runs the reader through Newton's theory of gravity, Einstein's theories of relativity and special relativity as well as the beginnings of quantum mechanics and the lead-up to string theory.

String theory proposes that beyond the smallest particles found thus far, that is quarks, there exists tiny vibrating strings which form oscillating loop patterns. Greene talks the reader through the main principles of string theory including tension, symmetry and the energy of strings and their oscillating principles. We are introduced to the first theorists of string theory as well as the original hesitancy of the physics community to accept it firstly as a theory and secondly as a possible candidate for the elusive grand unified theory.

Greene also presents the idea of super-symmetry (which adds the 'super' to string theory). Theorists postulate that every elementary particle can be partnered by a 'super-particle' that differs by half a spin. This proposes a whole raft of new particles that's size and mass can be calculated theoretically but that have not been scientifically proven.

The third major proposal this book puts forward is that of hidden, "curled-up" dimensions, possibly that are so small we cannot see them. That is, we accept the three spatial dimensions and time as a dimension, but the current view of the physics world is now that of ten or maybe even eleven dimensions. Greene himself did some of the foremost research on this comparing the tiny dimensions to Calabi-Yau manifolds. These are virtually impossible to represent on a 2-dimensional page but Greene does a good job of creating these tiny dimensions in the mind of the reader, despite some initial brain fizzle.

I hold high hopes for the ability of the Large Hadron Collider to produce a Higgs boson

I can't really put everything in this book in the review because there is simply so much material. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in physics or in the nature of the universe. A brilliant read.

David and Goliath: The Bain family murders by Joe Karam

2010-06-09T21:47:00.004+12:00

The murders of the Bain family occurred in 1994 in Every Street, Dunedin. On the 20th of June, Robin Bain, his wife Margaret and children Arawa (19), Laniet (18) and Stephen (14) were shot in the early hours of the morning. David was later arrested and charged with their murder. His conviction was overturned by the Privy Council in 2007 and a retrial in 2009 returned a 'not guilty' verdict.

In this book by Joe Karam (a former New Zealand rugby player, two main pieces of evidence that eventually contributed towards the overturned conviction are presented. Karam effectively pieces together the events leading up to the 20th of June and analyses the work of the Police who eventually arrested and charged Bain. In an unprecedented case in New Zealand, vital evidence was misplaced and moved. In addition to this, important tests which could have conclusively ended the case right there and then were not run. Furthermore, legal advice offered to David, as well as the evidence presented by his defence counsel in court was insufficient.

As well as outlining the failure of the Police to adequately deal with this case, Karam presents two vital pieces of evidence which he believes exonerate David from guilt. The first has to do with a pair of glasses and a misplaced lens and the second involves a message left on the computer and how quickly David could get back from his paper run. I found the second piece of evidence most helpful and most likely to point to the innocence Karam suggests, but I still don't believe the case is as open-shut as he suggests.

Additionally, Robin Bain displayed many more signs of someone likely to have a meltdown than David. He was about to be outed by his daughter, Laniet for sexual abuse throughout her lifetime, he was living in the caravan out the back of the property and he felt as though his world was falling apart. David on the other hand was doing well performing, had good friends and was doing the best he had in awhile.

Although it is clear that the Police investigation had many holes and that evidence was destroyed it is my opinion that no one will ever know who fired the gun that day. The evidence presented in this book is persuasive, enough so that it would and should have resulted in a not guilty verdict at the outset. But whether Bain will ever conclusively be able to prove his innocence, or whether he will be able to build a new life for himself after so many years in jail is another matter altogether.

I was impressed by Karam's writing. For some reason ex-rugby player didn't ring literary genius to me, but his argument was well presented, worded and would impress most lawyers.

I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the Bain case.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

2010-05-31T15:25:00.005+12:00

This book, like many of Dickens' works is a commentary on aspects of society - in particular in this case the legal system and the Court of Chancery in common law England. In this book, Jarndyce and Jarndyce is a case being heard in the Chancery that has been running for an extremely long time. No one involved in the case, least of all the lawyers seem to understand the legal status or why it has come around in the first place. With promises of pay-outs, it draws in its "wards" who spend their lifetimes and all their money on waiting for their own beneficial results.

The plot is full of uncertainty, almost definitely a reflection of the Chancery process and is centred around Esther Summerson, a young girl taken in by Mr Jarndyce (the only so named in the book who also refuses to have anything to do with the case). The book also focuses on Lord and Lady Dedlock (aptly named), an aristocratic couple living in a huge mansion that is represented as unfeeling. The Dedlocks, along with their many lawyer Mr Tulkinghorn (among others) sit on one side of the suit while everyone else is on the other. Mr Tulkinghorn is represented as a dangerous man, making his fortune off of other people's secrets and living by threat and intimidation. We also meet other characters, including two of Mr Jarndyce's other taken-in children, Richard who is to be enticed into the suit and the love of his life (and cousin)Ada. The young, homeless Jo becomes the object of the book when information comes to him and it is amazing the attention that the rich will direct towards such a human, when it suits them. Throughout the book this is the case, with Mrs Jellyby, mother to Caddy who is the ultimate philanthropist, giving the family's money to Africa while totally ignoring the starvation and mess of her only family and her husband's fading sense of self.

Esther's character serves as a light in the 'bleak' nature of the book. She appears to have a positive outlook and an undeserving view of herself which results in her being well-liked in general by most people in this book, regardless of the suit.

This is one of the best books I've read in awhile. Utterly memorable and completely intricately woven plot that keeps itself through the 800-odd pages and gives brilliant social analysis.

Childhood, boyhood, youth by Leo Tolstoy

2010-05-22T15:40:00.002+12:00

This was Tolstoy's first novel, although each section of the book was originally written separately to create a biography. Some say this book documents Tolstoy's own life, although there are obvious differences in some of the biography, a reader feels that a lot of the feelings and actions are resonant to Tolstoy's own experiences. Similarly to Doyles Paddy Clarke hahaha, the first part documents the more run-of-the-mill instances of life as the main character as he moves from care under his mother, to hunts with this father and brother, to life in Moscow. All of this is characterised by first loves, the illness of his mother and new friendships. The second two sections of the book document his education, friendship with his brother and entrance to university.

I found this book different to the typical Russian novel, it didn't have the same dramatics that books like Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. Despite this, it is based on the same view of society - that is with an emphasis on the upper aristocracy. The main character in this book is also not paticularly likeable, although his attitude given his upbringing is understandable. At various times throughout the book, Nikolai shows himself to be self-centred, arrogant and his actions often seem to be performed out of spite. In trying to follow the hefty footsteps of his brother. There is something about Nikolai though which shows a slightly nicer side of his personality, usually when he is being himself rather than acting up to the expectation of his family and friends.

I enjoyed this book although I wouldn't rate it in my favourites. It is fairly unexciting and there is no real plot to follow but it exposes a side of high class society and its effect on someone growing up in that atmosphere. I will need to read Tolstoy's more famous works before I come to a final decision on my opinion of Tolstoy.

Marching On by Sonja Davies

2010-05-22T14:38:00.003+12:00

This is the sequel to the book Bread and Roses that I reviewed a few entries okay. It documents the latter part of Sonja Davies' life including the making of the movie Bread and Roses, her entry into Parliament as the MP for the electorate of Pencarrow, her daughter's struggle with Motor Neurone Disease and her eventual retirement to a house in Masterton.

As in her other book, Davies does a remarkably honest and passionate job of representing what it was to be a woman in the largely male world of the House of Representatives, alongside current and former Labour MPs such as Phil Goff (now leader of the Labour Party) and Helen Clark (now Head of the UN Development Council) and against benchmarks of 1980s and early-1990s National politicians like Robert Muldoon (who infamously called Davies Granny) and Labour politicians (like Roger Douglas, now an MP for Act). On top of all this, Davies' daughter was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. It is amazing that Davies who had already lost her husband and then her son was able to survive through all of this with the same determination that she did.

The book also documents her many overseas trips which continued to various conferences around the world and meant she met some of the leaders of women's rights and the various peace and anti-nuclear groups at the time. It is even more amazing to consider that in and among all these various events, her previous experience with TB meant she frequently caught bouts of pneumonia and would be very ill for large amounts of time. Davies retired to a house in Masterton which she created to her liking in the 90s. She maintained interests in gardening and was received regularly by her grandsons.

This is another impressive book by Davies, possibly on par with her previous one and of even more interest to me as it started at around the period I was born. Sadly Davies died in 2005 but even her long life was amazing considering her busy life and the fact that she relied on one lung for most of her life. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in New Zealand historical figures and politics.

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle

2010-05-08T17:55:00.003+12:00

This was a recent purchase because
1) I love the Irish and
2) I had never read anything by Roddy Doyle before.
This book more or less encompasses what it is to be a boy in the setting. The beginning of the book is written in a style quite similar to stream-of-conciousness and it takes us through Paddy's early exploits and introduces us to his family, specifically in the earlier years, his brother Sinbad who tags along on his adventures and appears to cramp his style. While it seems at the beginning that Paddy is just an ordinary boy, the book expands on his realities and relationships and the family atmosphere he is surrounded by serves as a central part of the story.

Paddy becomes an interesting character for the reader early on in the book. His thoughts on mundane daily activities are exposed to the reader and are continually changing through his childhood. The relationship between his parents gets worse and worse and eventually Paddy takes his parents' problems into himself. He starts to see Sinbad as a fellow listener, but when Sinbad doesn't wish to be involved, his actions towards his brother become abusive perhaps reflecting what he is seeing in his parents.

The writing in the book is flawless, the Gaelic phrases throughout intensified my wish to learn it (but damn it's so hard to pronounce anything). The continued events throughout the book and the slow disintegration of Paddy's family acts as a constant backdrop and shapes the events and his behaviour throughout the book. Not much more can be said without going too deeply into the plot.

A Booker Prize winner, this book is well worth a read.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

2010-05-01T17:22:00.003+12:00

After only previously reading Kerouac's The Dharma Bums I decided to read this which I acquired a fair while ago. I recently did a Facebook quiz that told me of all classic books, I am this one. Hmmm.

This book, narrated by Sal Paradise follows his journey across America and then back across in the opposite direction. A significant portion of his journey is spent with his buddy, Dean Moriarty, a slightly mad, ex-con who does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants, even if it means leaving half wrecked cars wherever he goes. The rises and falls of Dean determine Sal's stop and start journeying throughout the book Through a fog of alcohol, drugs and general craziness; the pair eventually end up in Mexico.

The characters in this book are very believable, their histories are spelled out throughout the book in a semi-detached fashion. I especially liked the description of Old Bull Lee (modelled on the author William S. Burroughs).

I enjoyed parts of this book and its contribution to the "Beat" generation. I also found some parts of it excessively trying. Most of all though, this book is an interesting read about the abyss that occurs between youth and freedom.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

2010-04-23T11:42:00.002+12:00

I enjoyed this book far more than others I have read by Atkinson. It tells the story of Ruby Lennox, starting off as a young girl whose state of affairs has been created by generations of her family. The book switches between Ruby's life and her understanding of it back to her mother's and grandmother's generations and how they have impacted on the existence Ruby is offered. There is a lot to be seen from the way the lives of these women are constructed around typical gender roles, while Alice, Ruby's grandmother spent her days cleaning, mending, taking care of the children and housekeeping whily Bunty, Ruby's mother spends her days doing what can only be seen as a mask for what her mother did, which in a different era becomes a conception of nothing. The parts of the book that go into Ruby's genealogy and how her grandmother and mother came to be the women they are is detailed in "footnotes."

We watch Ruby grow into a young woman throughout the book. Seeing the perceived mistakes of her sister who she goes for years without seeing, she constructs an understanding about the world from her experiences as well as the experiences of her maternal family, where it seems male figures have been markedly absent. The book is a reversal of the age-old genealogy through patriarchy as Ruby discovers and understand the world primarily and distinctly through females.

This book is written amazingly, the language is beautifully done and the plot is effectively woven through genealogical history. I far preferred it to two other books I have read by the author and I think this work is a masterpiece.

Bread and Roses by Sonja Davies

2010-04-22T22:02:00.004+12:00

No adequate book image sorry.

This autobiography documents the amazing life of Sonja Davies; a prominent New Zealand feminist, trade unionist, member of the peace movement and MP for the Labour Party in the late-1980s to the early-1990s. Davies shares with amazing insight her early life, born as an illegitimate child in 1920s New Zealand brought up by her grandparents in Oamaru. The chapter is entitled "A different childhood" and this conceptualises her life very well. Later on, living with her mother and life as a child in New Zealand at this time is most accurately represented. The book continues as Davies left shcool early to enter the workforce, went to nurses school and eventually became a vital part of the movement for trade unions in New Zealand. Amidst all of this, she marries at 17, before falling in love with an American marine, later killed in the Pacific part of World War II. Giving birth to her first child, she becomes very sick and this begins her years-long battle with tuberculosis. Despite this, this amazing woman came through all of this, married and continued her amazing work as an activist in New Zealand Labour Federations, child care centres and her first political contests.

There is no doubting that Davies had a difficult life, from the very beginning she was different, a 'love child' with a colourful family life. It is made clear here that this woman who thinks she was just one of many was a hero in many ways and definitely a huge figure. This book covers her life up until the 1980s and how she dealt with the many challenges life threw at her. There is nothing innately astonishing about Davies' writing, but it is her firm honesty and compassion to the cause which catches the reader. Her relationships with a wide variety of prominent New Zealand names including Norman Kirk (former NZ Prime Minister), Walter Nash (former NZ Prime Minister), Mary Varnham (former Labour Press Secretary for David Lange) and Sue Kedgley (current Green Party MP). The latter two co-editors of another book I have reviewed which Sonja Davies also had a chapter in. It is also clear that Davies had a deep connection with her environment, living all over New Zealand at various times in her life and appreciating the sights it has to offer.

The one downside I would suggest this book has is its confusing timeline. The subtitles suggest the book is written chronologically, but at many times different things happening at similar times are in different chapters. I can obviously understand why she would want to separate aspects such as her son Mark's tragic death but this did confuse me as a reader and I think it would have represented the many things this amazing woman did even more if they had all been included in the same chunk. A further review of her second book Marching On... will come later.

Overall an amazing read (apparently also made into a movie) documenting the life of one of New Zealand's forthright figures in trade unionism. I would highly recommend it to any New Zealander, regardless of their political stance. It is a highly historical account of New Zealand and growing up in New Zealand.

Sonja Davies died in 2005.

Woman: an intimate geography by Natalie Angier

2010-04-11T16:12:00.003+12:00

This is an excellent book on the physiology of the female body. Angier, a well known science writer exposes the world of biology; each chapter explores a different part of the female body from its Darwinian origins to its purpose to some "mutations" as it were of that particular part of the body. Angier's witty voice and stunning prose keeps the reader interested throughout the book.

The book concentrates on how biology (along with many other subjects) looks at the male body as the norm rather than a more gendered look at both male and female biology. While many have dismissed the book as a feminist tirade, the clear transmission of science and the stunning way in which the body is presented makes this read well worthwhile. Angier dispels several common stereotypes about the female body and fully explains the reasons for these stereotypes and the reality. There are also some fascinating case studies of more unusual women and the way they have dealt with the difference in their bodies from other women.

Angier also displays some intelligent writing on the various myths coming out about differences between females and male, she attacks evolutionary psychology primarily for its view of women as monogamous and men as polygamous.

This is the best non-fiction book I have read in awhile and I would highly recommend it to females and males alike.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

2010-04-11T12:44:00.003+12:00

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, possibly the best fiction book I've ever read. Possibly, as I can't think of them all right now, but it definitely rates near the top. The way Tartt manages to weave together so many different themes and still make this book a highly enjoyable read speaks volumes about her talent as a writer.

The story is told by Richard, arriving at Hampden College; a rich upper class university in New England. Richard arrives at this school hoping to be accepted into Greek which he had already begun to learn. What transpires is the Greek professor, Julian Morrow, convincing him to drop all of his other courses (except French) and give himself fully over to the Classics. Richard finds himself in the midst of a sort of clique of strange, mildly friendly Greek-studying students. All of the students have strong characters built up by Tartt throughout the book. I won't try to describe them now, except to say that they all serve a part in this exceptional thriller or tale of misguided rich kids.

Richard finds himself invited into the group and is confused and fascinated by the students everyone else regards as slightly strange. He soon realises though that something is wrong. Thus, the plot thickens.

The story is extraordinarily told, drawing on Greek tragedy enveloped with Ancient Greek practices as well as drinking, jealousy and pressure. Tartt beckons the reader into the seemingly complex cycle of events and you are led not so much by what she says but what she suggests.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Sexual Politics by Kate Millett

2010-04-07T22:00:00.004+12:00

According to Amazon, this astonishing book was originally written as Millett's doctoral thesis in 1968 and is now widely regarded as a feminist classic. The book looks at American literature including works by D.H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, Norman Mailer, John Stewart Mill and Jean Genet. Millett examines in depth the structures and values in the literature and the passages she quotes from each text are truly telling of the argument she puts across. The critique and analysis she provides is amazing and its in-depth look at the politics of sex is supported by the provided literature. While the reader can be stunned at these analyses, we can also see hope in the incredibly telling writings of Jean Genet.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it wasn't the easiest read in the world and more or less put me off at least Henry Miller's books for a good while, but at the same time it was incredibly thought-provoking of an area that has largely been overlooked as influencing public opinion of gender relations and sex.

The book also provided an interesting look at gender relations under the law of coverture in the Western world with excerpts from Blackstone's Commentaries - the foremost legal writings of the time included. It also took a look at sexual politics in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia among others. This part of the book was so interesting I almost changed the topic of an essay plan in fascination over it. But I will leave the eager reader to devour its brilliant contents.

As well as this, there was an entire chapter on Freud, psychoanalysis and general beliefs about women's psychology. The social pretension of the concept of "penis envy" is displayed in what is remarkable from a book of the time, when these beliefs about psychology were still so prevalent.

A stellar read I would recommend to anyone and everyone.

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

2010-04-07T20:38:00.003+12:00

This romantic fiction book offers a unique take on the concept of time travel. The book follows Henry as he travels through time and appears, disappears and reappears in Clare's life. His age is ever-changing throughout the book and Clare is forever skirting around what is his past, his future and his present. The reader is left like Clare, wondering where in Henry's life we are entering every time he reappears.

This extremely popular book was all a little too perfect for my tastes. Romantic, perfect and with an interesting twist and a purely confusing chronology; it entices the reader in. Despite all this, the character development leaves a little to be desired. The book also develops very well though, despite the fact we are taken from year to year, from seeing Clare as a young child to a grown woman. The whole concept of waiting for a man for that long sort of annoyed me, especially because Clare never seemed to question her own state of affairs. We also never hear enough about Henry's past, although we definitely know it is troubled. One would imagine that disappearing at random intervals only to appear unexpectedly again would create difficulties to say the least.

So it was mainly the plot and the design of the various intervals that seemed too "perfect" to me and because of the lack of character development inherent in the plot, it was also too easy to believe. A good book overall but it didn't ring true in my mind.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

2010-03-28T20:54:00.003+13:00

This dystopic novel follows the life of Snowman (previously Jimmy, seemingly one of the few humans alive who watches over the Children of Crake after a virus has completely destroyed the human population. Along with pieces of humour (New York is now New New York)and the makings of a cautionary story, the book critiques a world which has let itself die out through the vast hopelessness of human nature.

The book follows Snowman as he watches the Children of Crake and reflects on how things came to be this way. Crake was a childhood friend who dreamed of making the world a better place. He was incredibly intelligent and knew it and Snowman reflects on how Crake came to design his perfect race after watching what he sees as the dismal parts of humanity. His "children" have no sex drive except to pro-create and do not eat animals. He also works for a company who makes a whole array of strange and futuristic animals. Oryx, seemingly the love of Snowman's life is a woman who comes from a third world country after being sold as a slave by a desperately poverty-stricken mother. Her open acceptance of her previous life and lack of regret or anger confuse Snowman throughout the book.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as a lot of Atwood's other books. It is similar to many of them in its dystopic element and its critique of humanity and it is told successfully though Snowman's eyes. However, it did not have the same prose I loved so much in several of Atwood's other books. A decent read with a stunning message though.

One-Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriela Garcia Marquez

2010-03-18T17:34:00.004+13:00

This famous book spans over one hundred years and the generations of the Buendia family living in a jungle settlement in Colombia. A family tree at the beginning of the book helps the reader to keep track of the many almost-same-named characters and who they are in the scale of things. The Buendias appear from the beginning to have a rich history and the beginning of the book tells of how the (fictional) settlement of Macondo came to be.

The book also has a sort of magical view of time. The family is cyclical in operation. Indeed it seems that many people with the same names have similar attitudes and often similar fates. This appears to be Marquez's way of showing the destiny given to people by their very birth and this is highlighted by the demise of the many sons of Colonel Aureliano Buendia only after they are brought together in the discovery of their common father.

Many of the characters in this book, especially the male ones undergo periods of great despair and speculation and all the male characters starting with the patriarch Jose Arcadio Buendia seek out solitude in their different ways throughout periods of their lives. The women in the book are also given interesting characters, in particular Jose's wife who lives almost to the end of the book and who delivers some of the memorable dialogue about the fate of the family that comes through at the end. The women seem to be firm in their wants and desires unlike the men who almost seem to let emotion dictate their every move a little too much.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is full of blackish humour which perpetuates until the very end. I think it's a must-read for everyone.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

2010-03-14T16:54:00.004+13:00

This novella tells the story of two men travelling around together, trying to find a job and to save up enough money to buy their own house. The backdrop of the story is the depression of the 1930s. George is a careful man determined to make a living and to be (eventually) his own employer. His friend, Lennie is a mentally handicapped and exceptionally strong man who sees the eventuality of his own place as a chance to have his own rabbits and to tend for them in his own way.

The book is written with extreme clarity about a time that was difficult for people all over the world. The understanding one gains of the characters from early on creates a new perception of the two characters and more so the protective instinct they hold towards one another travelling around California.

The dreams come tumbling down when the story is complicated by Lennie's skewed perception of his own strength and the story is left with the reader and with George who can see in the future a life of loneliness without Lennie and without self-employment. The experience mirrors that of many during this time - utter despair.

I would recommend this book to anyone, it is a relatively easy read and a clear picture of parts of the 20th century.

Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday

2010-02-25T16:15:00.004+13:00

From the author of Wild Swans and her husband comes an extremely widely researched account of Mao Zedong's life starting from his early life growing up in a family of peasants, to becoming a scholar, to his eventual iron-fisted rule of China. The book contains little known accounts from many close to Mao as well as outside critics who saw the side that the Chinese public was barely allowed to think, let alone see. Any readers of this review need to keep in mind that this is one of the first accounts of Communist China I have read which makes it difficult to read critically into a lot of what Chang is saying as I have nothing to compare it to.

One of the first arguments put forward by the authors is that Communist China was largely initially funded by Russia under Stalin. Convicing arguments such as telegrams between the two leaders, Russian involvement in the CCP (the communist party of China) and the beginnings of Russian backing in weapons manufacture as well as the ultimate goal of possessing the atomic bomb which luckily never came to fruition. While I can't comment on the accuracy of these claims; the argument seemed to have considerable backing, much of which is still not admitted by officials in China today. It becomes clear that even during the closing stages of World War II, Mao and his followers were more committed to building up forces against the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek than partnering up to beat Japan once and for all. Despite elements of Russian resistance, Mao was able to recover his own army to overthrow the Nationalist government in 1949.

The book also offers a fresh perspective on Mao's beliefs through a combination of communications with other party members and other countries and his set of aims for his own Communist state and to eventually establish China as a super power. The means through which this was done are perhaps the most shocking. Mao continued to offer around 6% of his country's money to aid to the Russians and to other, smaller communist states. While this happened, the peasants farming the food to send overseas were being worked quite literally to the bone and tens of millions died in famine which was seemingly caused by Mao's policy of increasing exports of food every year until there was not even enough for his own citizens. The famine only stopped when some of Mao's top staff more or less forced him to stop the exports. They did this at the cost to their own lives, however, and Mao was to pay them back for this later.

Chang and Halliday also offer a useful account of the Cultural Revolution which was run through Mao's fourth wife known mostly as Madame Mao. This consisted of a huge clamp-down on books, music, plays and movies where the only books allowed were ones which espoused Maoism. This book has been criticised by many for blaming everything on Mao, but I don't think this is necessarily true; there were many personalities explored in this book such as Madame Mao, Lin Biao and Chou who clearly stayed with Mao through some of the most vicious periods of his rule and Madame Mao is definitely painted as a paticularly outwardly nasty woman who did whatever Mao told her to. Many people are criticised in this book for their role and it becomes clear that without his closest staff, Mao would have been unable to wreak the amount of destruction he did.

One of the things I would criticise about this book is the bits towards the end where Chang uses evidence to sum up what she believed to be what Mao was thinking at certain times. Obviously what he was thinking is something no one will ever know and no amount of biographical reconstruction can show us his thoughts about any one particular time or person.

Despite this, the immense amount of research that went into this book involving a decade spent in China interviewing various people is extremely impressive. This is really the first in-depth reading I have done on this period of China and will definitely be looking for other books to further cement my knowledge. I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in China, Mao himself or Communist regimes.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

2010-02-16T22:27:00.003+13:00

This is probably one of the more interesting fiction books I have read in awhile. It is a story written in a memoir style in the perspective of a man, Johnny who is recollecting the years of his childhood and early adulthood and particular his best friend Owen Meany. The memoir-like fashion is believable as a real story because the narrator seems to have difficulty setting events out and starts by telling the reader everything and then trying to more realistically separate the story out into parts.

Owen is a dwarf-like child, incredibly small for his age with an incredibly unique voice which is a symbol throughout the book for both his power and what turns out to be his "destiny." Owen throws what seems to be an ill-fated baseball at the beginning with astonishing results and this also becomes symbolic of his role throughout the book in relation to the narrator. As the book progresses Owen becomes more and more convinced of something - that he is the guiding hand of God and that his fate is entirely in the hands of God. The book also contains some useful testimony about religion - Owen does not behave like a monk or anointed one but rather is critical of the presentation of different religions in his hometown and in his experiences.

As the boys grow up into the era of Kennedy and the Vietnam War, Owen becomes more and more convinced of what he is meant to do. An interesting concept emerges - that of blindly following what he believes to be his destiny while believing it wholeheartedly and the question seems to beckon - how can someone have a destiny if there manifests a choice whether to follow it or not?

I think this novel was slightly too long, although it did keep me reading all the way through because of what I knew was coming. The voice of the narrator begs to the very end but in the last few chapters I was beginning to wonder if there would ever be a forseeable conclusion.

An enjoyable read, none the less.

Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies

2010-02-16T21:20:00.004+13:00

This amazing memoir is written by Miep Gies who helped to hide the Frank family during World War II. Gies recently died at the age of 101, the last person known of to have actually met the Frank family before they were tragically lost during the Nazi Holocaust. Gies wrote events in this book as she remembered them; Anne Frank as well as her entire family had obviously made a lasting impression of her and their fate through her words becomes representative of the fate of millions.

Gies begins the book with a short account of her life; as a child during World War I and later being adopted by a family in Amsterdam and eventually moving there for good. She then shows her first connection with Otto Frank (Anne's father) and how she eventually came to meet the entire Frank family. Gies has a purely touching writing style which means this book is both easy to read and emotionally understandable. For anyone who has read Anne Frank's diary; this is a version of events from someone who perhaps saw the political situation more clearly than Anne would have at such a young age and Gies does a remarkable job of providing the background to what would become the most famous personal account to come out of the Holocaust. Although she describes her acts as unheroic, it is clear for anyone reading the book that she risked her life in a way many people in the same era would not have dared.

This book has the capability of bringing many people to tears I would think, not only because of the way it is written but also because it is a historically accurate and poignant story.

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

2010-02-07T12:54:00.002+13:00

This is a book I have been meaning to read for a long time and in one of my fits of materialistic book purchasing at Vic Books I bought The God Delusion. I'm already a pretty stout atheist so I didn't read this from a religious perspective and was just curious as to Dawkins' arguments against God and organised religion in general.

I'll start by saying parts of this book are pretty heavy-handed. I can think of a few people who would put it down in disgust after reading the first chapter. In trying to dispel the notion of religion having a higher place in society, Dawkins attacks the foundations of religion from the very beginning of the book and continues to supplement his arguments with further facts. I thought Dawkins argument was majorly flawed in several respects and his overview of the different facets of religion (in particular fundamentalist Christianity) was skimmed over in not much depth and he tended to assume things about believers that aren't necessarily true. He also from the beginning tended to attack parents who raised their children as a particular religion; while I can imagine this is a significant problem he compared the anecdotal experience of one women and made it fact. He stipulated that religious abuse was just as harmful if not more harmful than sexual abuse by priests and he also seemed to doubt the validity of the trauma of childhood sexual abuse to try to make his argument stronger.

While I agreed with the conclusions Dawkins came to, his way of presenting his points did not read like a logical argument to me. He made atheism into a fundamentalist religion unto itself or presented it as such any way. His more long-winded arguments often turned into fallacies that were spread out throughout the book and his ultimate denial of religion having a place in future society was unrealistic.

I would recommend this book to religious and non-religious people alike, as it does have some interesting insights and facts into theism and atheism but it is perhaps best to keep your critical mind going while you read this book.

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

2010-01-31T23:55:00.002+13:00

This book won the "Best of the Bookers" prize in 2007. In other words it was judged the best book to have ever won the Booker Prize in history. To be honest I found it really hard to get into. It's the kind of book I would definitely want to reread because I know there are things I have missed that I will get the next time around; like an intricate painting it's the kind of thing that needs looking at more than once for true appreciation.

The story documents the life of Saleem and more widely his family. It is told from his viewpoint and begins with his ancestry before passing onto his birth and finally his life. Saleem is born at midnight on the day Pakistan was formed and India became independent from Britain. His picture is put in the paper and he receives a letter from the Prime Minister as the first child born on this auspicious date. Later in his life he discovers several children born between 12 and 1 on this date who he seems to have a mysterious connection to.

The imagery in this book is absolutely amazing. Woven through a time of extraordinary upheaval in India and Pakistan; Saleem sets himself impossible goals throughout the book and blames his and other misfortunes solely on himself. While his character is sad in this way, other facets of him add humour to the book.

I don't really feel I'm doing this book justice. At the moment I'm going to say I don't quite understand it and it will have to wait for another read.

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

2010-01-30T20:53:00.002+13:00

Virginia Woolf was asked to speak about women and fiction, these extended essays were the result. The writing in these essays is quite like her fiction: descriptive, perceptive and fair. Woolf argues that women in literature have been more than often portrayed by men. She compares these fictional women with real women living throughout time and illustrates how the fictional portrayal of them brings women to centre stage while the historical reality shows them largely ignored. She also shows that women were only shown in relation to men and never as themselves. As well as this, Woolf also shows that even when women were portrayed by women it was done within the expected role of a woman as fair and virtuous.

Another facet of the book shows the beginnings of women writing fiction. As Woolf stipulates at the beginning "a women must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." Woolf looks at women authors including Jane Austen, George Eliot and Currer Bell and shows how their lives were limited by their gender. It can be seen from this that women will only be able to write fiction freely when they are free from financial and societal bounds.

This is a brilliant read and shows a side of Virginia Woolf that is not always clear in her fiction. It is a fairly easy read and makes a good argument about femininity and feminism in general.

Surviving Sexual Violence by Liz Kelly

2010-01-30T15:50:00.005+13:00

This is an amazing read which documents a study of sixty women undertaken by the author and their experiences of and responses to sexual violence of varying kinds. Kelly sets out the idea of a spectrum of sexual violence ranging from harassment to domestic violence to rape to incest, she also stipulates that all of these forms are potentially harmful.

This study firstly sets out the different perspectives on sexual violence (it should be noted here that it only deals with acts committed against women, by men. Kelly shows historically how different offenses have been viewed and offers a range of perspectives which explain the victimisation of sexual violence. She then offers her own thoughts on the subject and introduces the concept of a spectrum of sexually motivated acts. It offers a critique of the existing research and suggests ideas for further development.

The study itself consisted of in-depth interviews with 60 women, 30 of whom had already made it clear they had survived incest, rape or domestic violence. The women were asked to identify what they thought fitted into a particular category and the results are both extremely telling and startling. This study is an amazing look at the prevalence of sexual violence and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the area.

Women and Crime by Frances Heidensohn (Second Edition)

2010-01-18T17:21:00.004+13:00

This book is a highly useful resource of the place of women in the criminal justice system; a subject which has - until recently been largely ignored by criminologists. I read the second edition of the book, published in 1996. This text provides a plethora of information on firstly, how women are dealt with as offenders within the criminal justice system and secondly, looks at the theories surrounding how and why women get involved within the system and criticisms of these theories where possible.

The sequence of studies contained in this book are enlightening but there are definite gaps in the research up to this point which Heidensohn points out. As well as this, she illustrates the difficulties of compiling any research which can tell us anything specific about gender in relation to crime.

This is a decent read which offers a fresh perspective on the subject of criminology and offers up images of femininity as well as encouraging current research about males to assess the product of masculinity in relation to their research rather than viewing male crime as the norm. Most of all this book encourages us to look at crime and criminality through gender-tinted glasses to achieve a fuller understanding of it.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

2010-01-18T14:03:00.005+13:00

This amazing book is the latest by Barbara Kingsolver and was bought for me for Christmas. I loved two other books I have read by her: The Bean Trees and The Poisonwood Bible. This story told through only letters and diary entries is the story of Harrison Shepherd, a young half-Mexican, half-American boy who loves to write. The book follows him all the way through to his supposed death.

The book is populated with both true historical characters such as Diego Rivera, Lev Trotsky and Frida Kahlo as well as ones like Harrison himself who is entirely fictional. How Kingsolver manages to incorporate both true historical accounts and an interesting fictional character is beyond me but she does it incredibly well, especially with the historical clarity which serves as a setting for Harrison's life from before World War II in an American Military Academy to the intrusive American practice of McCarthyism where Harrison finds himself persecuted as a political subversive. This story could contain mirrors of the truth of some people during this period in history and shows the possible consequences both emotional and life-changing of the twentieth century. The writing is entrancing and believable and matures as the narrator does throughout the telling of the book.

I guess what I appreciated most about this book was its awesome literature, the way in which even throughout the letters the story was told beautifully. The historical characters were brought to life and my interest in all of them began/was renewed. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Kingsolver or who is interested in this part of history. It is truly a classic.

Feminism and Criminology by Ngaire Naffine

2010-01-12T18:32:00.000+13:00

This amazing (if not a little dated, it was published in 1996) book is an excellent review and challenge of the tendency of criminology to be gender blind. It undertakes critical reviews of different feminist attitudes to the subject of crime and criminology and shows still prevalent attitudes of the subject of criminal law and how it is influenced by the male-dominated school of thought of criminology.

The author of this book is a Reader in Laws in Adelaide with lots of experience writing around the topics of criminal law and feminism. This book begins with a critical look at the history of criminological thought with its beginnings in criminological positivism followed by radical and then realist criminologies late in the 20th century. These viewpoints are all assessed both from the stance which they took and the absence or near-absence of gender in their theories and areas of research (with the obvious exception of the growth of feminist criminology). The book offers a critique in particular of the positivist introduction of the scientific method which has seen an increase in recent times with many major criminological journals (at the time of this book) only accepting massive empirical studies from apparently bipartisan, almost all male researchers. Naffine also looks at the significance of males researching males as the norm without looking at the culture of masculinity within their own research rather than as a norm (and thus females as a weird aside).

Following this is a significant discussion of Foucalt's influence on the little feminist criminology there is taken from his research on power and knowledge and the growth of Derridean feminist views which look at the very limits of language and culturally "appropriate" labelling theory. An interesting look into studies of rape as a male-perpetrated female-victimised stereotype is also looked at in depth and critically evaluated. The book ends with an analysis of a quicker growing enterprise - that of female fictional crime novels about females who incorporate and rise above the female stereotype as either females in high positions, as investigators or females who turn the very concept of gender on its head.

I found this book extremely interesting and it heightened my interest in the subject. For anyone interested in feminism, criminology or any other social science I would highly recommend this book. Despite the fact it was published over a decade ago, I think many of its points are still highly relevant.

Ulysses by James Joyce

2010-01-11T16:25:00.004+13:00

I first read this book when I was about 15. At the time I was enthralled and amazed by it and Joyce's ability to create characters that were readable if not likeable and to summarily use almost every form of prose imaginable successfully. A second read of the copy I bought second-hand was no disappointment, expect that I perhaps found it more of a marathon to get through. I began this book in 2009 and finished it in 2010 which seems fitting for what has been called one of the most difficult books to read in the English language.

The book centres around a man called Leopold Bloom. It almost becomes a necessity to like Mr. Bloom from the start or at least be interested in him. His life on this day is intertwined with Stephen Dedalus' who he comes into contact with and corresponds with throughout the book. The book follows him over a day walking around Dublin encountering life, death and many things in between. Joyce manages to symbolically fit in aspects of Ireland at the time the book is set as well as an intricate character. Joyce has a gift of translating thoughts, sounds and visions into words so intricate that they are capable of creating a vivid imagination in the reader's mind.

If you are looking for a book with a plot and suspense; don't read this book. Despite being to me and to many others such a dazzling display of literature; it is also about an unexciting day in the life of a fairly ordinary man and readers have to be able to grasp the ideas and to read between the lines to fully appreciate what is being put across. Almost the entire book is written in a stream-of-conciousness style making it often difficult to follow and towards the end of the book it becomes a play, a set of questions and answers and finally a continual stream of thought of Mr Bloom's wife, Molly.

It's impossible to fit my thoughts about this book into a short review. It is readable, far less so than his other books but definitely possible. It is intricate and often difficult to follow and I would not advise reading it while you are tired. The time it took me to read the book this time was by no means a waste, however. Joyce is amazing, this book is amazing and I would love to study it in more depth when I have a spare year or two.

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

2009-12-26T22:36:00.003+13:00

I first read this last year in a time when I was reading a hell of a lot (roughly two full-length books a day). As a result, I have very little memory of the plotlines and the wonders of many of the books I had read and am on a mission to reread some of them. After first coming across Margaret Atwood when I read The Handmaid's Tale at the age of 14 and later, Cat's Eye. Both of these enchanted me and introduced me to an author who is definitely one of the great contemporary writers of her time.

This book is told by Iris Chase who we learn early on once had a sister, Laura who died after the car she was driving plunged into the river. Iris acts as the narrator for this story which flashes back and forth between a childhood and eventual adulthood with Laura as well as an older Iris remembering those years while she suffers from a heart condition. The book is at first a clear picture of a suicide by an unusual but psychologically compelling sister in Laura. The book, however, takes the reader on an intricately woven tale of the perils of high society and the blind attitude which perpetuated the era in which the story is set.An interesting social commentary of the 20th century can also be drawn from the book which has a history from the beginning of World War I to the present day in a world perhaps more than ever dominated by greed and violence.

The story is aided by a novel apparently written by Laura called The Blind Assassin which informs the reader of a certain romantic situation and brings in the science fiction element which is present in so many of Atwood's books.

Atwood is one of the few authors who can get away with using an entire paragraph to tell you that plants are growing. She has an exceptional gift with literary word play which first became clear to me while reading The Handmaid's Tale. Her words flow beautifully and do not detract from the storyline but rather generously feed it. The book comes to an astonishing close, chilling the reader and stripping down the barriers of understanding.

Definitely one of my favourite books. Read it or miss out.

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

2009-12-24T15:45:00.004+13:00

I have a love for Russian novels. So melodramatic, so ridiculous, so awesome and so weird. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's books I have read and my favourite so far mainly due to the fact that it has a wider plotline and more interesting characters.

The characters in this book are memorable and startling. Beginning with the Prince himself, the principal character of the book who is said to resemble Christ and who is very child-like due to being closed off from society until the beginning of this book. Nastasya, a woman he chases throughout the book is a woman who continually defies people's opinions and denigrates herself further and further throughout the book is an excellent example of the ultimate in self-loathing, while Aglaya who the Prince befriends detests the expectations set by her parents and her family; she, most of any of the characters teaches the Prince about human nature and the confusing world of high society. Many other characters also surround the Prince in what becomes his first experience of society, of love and of people in general and what to expect.

The discovery in this book is that people do not know how to cope with such an innocent, child-like man who does not know how to read between the lines of a hierarchical social order. While people at first seem friendly, they are forever confounding him with their actions and behaviours which often seem contrary to common sense. The main criticism I have of this book is how long it goes on although this is also what is so magical about it. Dostoyevsky had a unique gift with prose and with prying into his characters' minds so that we build up not a physical picture but a psychological one of each character and each discussion.

Would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the magic that is Russian novels (and I personally enjoyed it more than Crime and Punishment).

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

2009-12-19T23:38:00.003+13:00

This amazing memoir documents the author's life after a hectic period of time. In December, 2003 her adult daughter contracted a near-fatal toxaemia and while she was in hospital in a coma, Didion's husband had a massive coronary and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. In the following days and months, Didion went through a process that many people will go through at some stage in their lives, but that no one likes to think about.

The credible thing about this book is that it explores emotions immediately following her husband's death as well as during her daughter's first and subsequent admissions to hospital over the time. Didion was obviously imminently capable of keeping track of immediate emotions as she was a writer already; used to scribbling things down for more exploration at a later date.

This book for me was characterised firstly by Didion's bluntness and dedication to her subject of shock, grief and recovery. This often seems to appear as a lack of feeling or sensitivity but it does demonstrate a coping strategy that many use in times of grief. The feelings in this book are also expressed in a useful way which corresponds well with the natural process of grief. Tragically, just as Didion began to rebuild her life and look to the future, her daughter collapsed and was taken to hospital presumed brain dead - she recovered amazingly, but Didion found herself unable to grieve in the months while she sat by her daughter's bedside trying to accept that there was more to lose.

This is an amazing book both about the experience of death and the processes of grief involved with it. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has lost someone close or anyone interested in how the mind copes with such a loss.

21 Stories by Graham Greene

2009-12-12T14:10:00.003+13:00

I love books of short stories and am firmly of the opinion that they are under-read and under-rated. Graham Greene was known for work examining the political and philosophical ramifications of the human condition.

By far my favourite story from this collection is 'The Destructors.' It is a story about boredom, destruction and changing the face of reality. The other stories mimic it; all about ordinary situations but all including surreal manifestations of reality. In 'Alas Poor Maling' a man is plagued by a rumbling stomach whose rumblings resemble sounds that he hears around him, in 'The End of the Party' a young child's fear of darkness becomes his very being.

Greene has an exceptional way of writing which draws the reader into the situation and shocks them with a climactic entry into the extents of imagination. I would definitely be keen to read more of Greene's short stories as well as his novels.

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

2009-12-07T18:24:00.003+13:00

This is probably my least favourite book of Vonnegut's that I have read to date. Although it makes the usual dry, sarcastic observations about humanity, it just does not have the same quirk and brilliance as some others. I am thinking here of Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five and my personal favourite Bluebeard. The entire way through this book I expected some sort of twist as the ending was made clear several times throughout the book. The twist never came, the pictures drawn to 'aid' the reader were great though.

Some of the book also seemed like an attempt by Vonnegut to expose his philisophical background. Of course, he had probably reached the stage of infamy by then that many of his fans probably loved this part of the book but it just struck me as self-centred and well, sort of lame. Maybe I'm missing the point.

As usual the satire was to a high standard and the humour was forthcoming. As with many of his books the view of human nature was bleak and I was excited to learn more about one of his main characters throughout the books: Kilgore Trout; the largely failing little-known sci-fi writer. His view of humans as machines is also telling.

Not a great read but an interesting, humourous one nonetheless.

Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism by Roy Richard Grinker

2009-12-07T17:16:00.003+13:00

A renowned expert in his field of anthropology, Grinker mixes the personal and professional in this book by delving into the world of autism. He does this in an anthropological manner finding the foundations of the disease called autism and how the criteria of autism has developed over time to encompass the now large group of people it does.

Grinker has a personal association with the world of autism. His daughter, Isabel was diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum at a young age and he has watched her grow as he watched the world grow more and more accustomed to the diagnosis that had been such a mystery to him at first.

The book deals with three areas: Grinker's personal experience with his daughter's diagnosis and the various methods recommended to the family, whether there is really an autism 'epidemic' and how different cultures deal with autism. The author was also able to relate his own experiences with the medical profession to the different methods of psychiatric and psychological practice (including Freudian psychoanalytic theory). There was also a significant exploration into the understanding of autism in different countries; especially interesting in many of the countries where spiritual healing is seen as dominant over medical options. Many of the pioneers of autistic research and political movements are documented in this book.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in autism and in the so-called epidemic.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

2009-12-06T18:23:00.004+13:00

There are few things in the world that compare to a Russian novel. Although this book was a marathon to read (despite its small appearance), it was well worth the read. It tells the story of Raskolnikov, a young student who commits a murder out of desperation and more or less feels guilty, sick and paranoid about it for the rest of the book.

This is the first of Dostoyevsky's books that I've read and the main thing that struck me was the intricate makings of all the characters he described which built up not so much a picture as an innate psychological description of many of the characters. It also offers an interesting description of the concept of an "extraordinary man" and uses Napoleon as an example - this is a person who can breach the moral standards of society in the pursuit of a great thing. Although the philosophy of this doesn't quite work in my reading of it, it was an interesting aside if not plea to be found to be still a human being.

One of the more interesting characters was Sonia who becomes a deep friend of Raskolnikov's. She is a prostitute driven to her profession by a need to help her family. There were also some interesting asides to what constitutes a crime such as Svidrigailov who dreams of pursuing small children. The uncertainty and darkness of this entire book will leave the reader thinking long after the last page is turned.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

2009-12-05T20:53:00.003+13:00

This amazing book documents the life of a juvenile delinquent, caught by the law before being changed into a person incapable of committing crime. While showing the transformation of a person, it also shows the limits of human freedom in a futuristic society.

The story starts with Alex and his gang tormenting a city with rape, burglary, violence and murder. Alex, a young man, has been doing these things for years and is caught when his friend who are scared of his power purposefully leave him where the police will find him. The entirety of the speech in this part of the book is in a sort of slang which is confusing enough to entice the reader but at the same time easy enough to follow. It is clear from the beginning that Alex commits his crimes out of a sense of pleasure; he enjoys the violence, the bloodshed and the risk-taking and has no plans to curb his offending. When the government is made aware of a new method which will render criminals incapable of committing or even considering committing violent crime, an innocent Alex is persuaded into being a test subject with the promise of freedom. The trial resembles some method of hypnosis and Alex is released to a world where even thinking about consensual sex is totally impossible.

The book is written with great thought put into the dialect of Alex and his gang. The meeting of Alex with the author of a book forces Alex to think about what he has done. I am told the original of the book is missing one chapter, so the book in this case ends with hope that Alex will change his ways.

Overall, this book explores the limits of human freedom and forces the reader to consider whether being 'evil' deserves the sterilisation of the brain that Alex receives. I would highly recommend it.

Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide by Kay Redfield Jamison

2009-11-30T14:49:00.003+13:00

This is a book written by a women who has dealt with suicide both personally and professionally. Because of this, it is not only a scientifically accurate look at what is known about the reasons for suicide but is also a deeply personal look at the reasons behind suicide and the common misconceptions by the public about suicide.

Firstly the book looks at the relationship between mental illness and suicide and how prescription drugs influence the statistics in this area. The book also looks at case studies of suicide and how it has often struck unexpectedly. Although the book obviously cannot gift us with an insight into how to detect suicide, it does deal with the mental illnesses and the stigma that until recently was coupled with suicide. Even the medical profession, it seems at least in part has a shroud of suicide and the victim is often thought of at best as selfish or sinful. Jamison deals with these stereotypes showing that while suicide has a hugely detrimental effect on friends and family, it cannot be understood in a simple manner of thinking.

The book does focus moreso on suicide among young people but this is not a problem as Jamison explains this early on and recommends more research into the still frighteningly high prevalence of suicide in older people. It also shows the uses of neurotransmitters in the brain and explains studies that have linked these (or a lack of these to suicide).

This book was written right before the end of the 20th century. Therefore, Jamison expresses doubt that SSRIs and other anti-depressants and mood stablisers can cause suicide. Unfortunately, there has now been a link, she also fails to address the problem of over-prescribing dealt with in other books although this is understandable as it does not directly relate to suicide.

I would highly recommend this book. It deals well the the concept of suicide and shows the damage it inflicts widely on society.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

2009-11-24T08:31:00.002+13:00

This book written by the travel writer who brought us adventures from around the world examines our own world as a whole, its surroundings and how it functions. Unlike the textbooks with colourful diagrams that most of us will have read at some point or other during school, he weaves a colourful, interesting and humourous picture of the world which would not exist as we know it if we changed it just a little, tiny, teeny bit. In other words, Bryson makes some of the most amazing and complicated findings in modern science understandable for those of us who can't be bothered reading Einstein's complicated theorems or the like.

The wealth of information in this book is simply astounding, I found that many facts I knew from taking science in high school, I did not know about the discovery of. Bryson brings up both the famous and the not-so-famous names as he explores each sector of discovery. He shows not only this expanse of information but also an obvious interest in what he is writing about and a dedication to understanding what many physicists would not be able to explain to you in normal English.

This is the third time I've read this book in about as many years, it never gets old and I always find myself remembering something I had previously forgotten. Unlike some of its explaining-science counterparts (including Zukav's The Dancing Wu Li Masters and Hawking's A Brief History of Time), it brings some humour into both science and the scientists who have uncovered some of the greatest mysteries. It also doesn't just cover physics, but a wide range of disciplines and the names which govern their discoveries, as well as the names which are never included despite their great discoveries.

Highly recommended to all and especially those of us who are geeks like myself and thrive off the sheer amount on knowledge in this book.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

2009-11-18T17:08:00.002+13:00

Perhaps not up to the hype I'd heard about it. This book was an entertaining tale of a 16-year-old boy involved in a boat crash which kills his entire family, the whole crew and a zoo full of animals with the exception of a zebra with a broken leg, a female orang-utan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger.

An author's note at the beginning of this book describes this event as at least based in truth and the book finished with a confusing interview, enlightening the reader that perhaps we will never know. Either way it's a good story.

One of the primary themes in this book is that of religion as a road to comprehending reality. It's explored throughout in a variety of ways as the main character Pi has practiced up to four religions at one time and part of the reason he continues to survive is because of his religious understanding of what is happening around him coupled with the extraordinary situation he finds himself in. The graphic descriptions of the demise of various animals within the book had me cringing and Pi, a vegetarian finds himself grabbing fish and turtles out of the water in order to feed himself and the tiger.

This story was meant to make the reader believe in God, why this is I am still not sure. While Martel makes decent use of a deeply spiritual character in the book, it is not clear how a less spiritual person is meant to gain a belief because a "miracle" has happened.

A decent read that churns your stomach in many parts.

Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman

2009-11-18T16:58:00.004+13:00

This book contains a series of connected short stories all centred around a house in Massachusetts. In the first story we meet the builder of the house who goes off to sea with his sons who are killed when they all drown. A blackbird, the son's pet returns to the house and blackbirds continue to be symbolic throughout the book of the history of the house and the tragedy that befell its first owners. The house is also home to a ravaging amount of fruit trees and as it becomes weathered and less lived in over the years, the book follows the inhabitants and the various things they do to the house which turn up later in the book under the gaze of a different person.

Hoffman definitely had a gift with prose and this is probably the best book I have read by her. Partially because without over-exposing its many character, themes and symbols of the house are kept alive throughout the book. The way all the stories which could also be read separately, are connected is ingenius and the house becomes a magical place with a vivid history. The reader can picture the different things which happen to the house over the years and it is this, in my opinion that makes the book such a gift to its readers. I read it extremely quickly.

Widely speaking the book shows how every place has a history and how the 'spirit' of previous inhabitants can remain and can shape a livelihood. The house remains msotly neglected throughout the book and all the characters are confronted with a sense of loneliness, sadness and acceptance of their lot.

I would highly recommend this book.

Mercy by Jodi Picoult

2009-11-11T22:41:00.003+13:00

After having read a fair few Picoult books (she is my guilty pleasure), I can conclude that this one is not much different from any other one I have read. The book deals with a contentious social issue, that of mercy killing or euthanasia. As usual, the book is also centred around two main characters who have relationship problems, as well as a court trial that happens to go luckily, it features 'true love and the characters are meaningless and not at all complete.

This sounds terribly negative, Jodi Picoult is a celebrated author of contemporary novels, I say novels rather than literature because personally I don't think she is an exceptional writer or that she brings anything original to her profession. I believe the main reason why she is so popular is because she writes about interesting things; for example some of my favourite books by her include: a falsely accused sex offender, school shootings, life with a person who has severe disabilities and all of them, every single one feature a person in love who does not treat his/her partner well or cheats on them.

Picoult obviously has a lot of ideas, books by her continue to come out. Handle with Care being the latest example. This book showed nothing new to me, the excerpts of a journal at the beginning of chapters were not interesting and the discussion of euthanasia held nothing that peaked my interest. Perhaps my favourite character in this book was (slightly) Mia, a character who couldn't stay anywhere and had seemed to be all over the world. The book did not go much into her character though and went more into the exceptionally walk-all-over-me character, Allie and her husband who obviously had affection but not love for her. The background about Scotland was interesting but nto overly informative.

Maybe I have finally gotten over my Picoult addiction?

Day of Trinity by Lansing Lamont

2009-11-10T20:58:00.003+13:00

(An absence of a picture of the book cover meant I just found a picture of Trinity exploding).

This book looks at the story behind the creation and detonation of the first atomic bomb in Los Alamos. Beginning with the scientific realisation by scientists such as Ernest Rutherford, Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi. The project was first set up as the result of a perceived threat of the same discovery by Nazi Germany in the early 1940s. Nuclear physicists and engineers from all over the USA and the UK were drawn out of jobs and drawn to the desert of Los Alamos.

The book details firstly the various elements that were designated as required to build an atomic bomb and the desert became a sort of think tank filled with some of the world's best scientists created to stave off the threat of Germany. Lamont details the different departments that were aimed at finding and creating the various parts of the bomb. The whole project was practiced under a shroud of secrecy and Lamont also detailed how parts of the research were passed on to Russia by another physicist, Fuchs.

Parts of the book leading up to the explosion of Trinity read like a thriller, I could feel myself hanging on to the edge of the seat even though I obviously already knew the result. The latter part of the book also provided interesting details. Firstly of Oppenheimer's realisation of the destruction further work could do and his refusal to work on the hydrogen bomb (the H-bomb) and how Oppenheimer, a quiet man interested in poetry and with a great gift for nuclear physics would feel about being called the father of the atomic bomb.

It also contained useful information about the aftermath, mainly the continuing battles between different countries to hold the most powerful bomb in a sort of nuclear standoff. More information about the devastation it wreaked all over Japan with injuries that still exist today would have been useful.

The book surely renewed my interests in science and also in the capability of humans to separate themselves from the destruction they are creating. The book is an interesting, thrilling and informative read.

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

2009-11-07T18:21:00.003+13:00

This book was set in a time (the early 1980s) where home birth was still largely frowned upon. It struck interest with me at first as I was a home birth in 1988 where according to my mother, the situation was much the same. She actually had to persuade our family doctor to accept it and the midwife she had was one of the few in Wellington who would do a home birth.

Midwives written in the perspective of the daughter of a lay midwife, Sibyl Danforth who performs most of her births at home and is taken to court for involuntary manslaughter when she is forced to perform a c-section in terrible conditions and later accused of doing this while the woman was still alive, killing her. We are provided throughout with excerpts from Sibyl's notebooks which show her criticisms of "doctor speak" and put across her opinion as a full advocate of home birth. Her daughter, Connie, the narrator is looking back at this period of her life, having now become an OB/GYN and recalling the trial that changed her family's life when she was just 14.

We are drawn into Connie's fear for her mother and more widely for her environment early on as she documents the days after the fateful night when she discovers her mother is going to be criminally charged. The early life of her mother and father is also shown throughout, always outside the mainstream, yet they bring up Connie sensibly and by 14 she seems to be a reasonably mature girl.

I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as Trans-sister Radio, another book by the same author but I think it was definitely a good read and an interesting insight into both the criminal justice system and the process of birth. I would highly recommend it.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

2009-11-07T18:01:00.003+13:00

This book by Irishman John Boyne documents a short period in the life of a young boy, Bruno who moves to a place he knows only as Out-with. He is surprised when he looks out his bedroom window and discovers that behind the huge barbed wire fence, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of people and all of them are wearing striped pyjamas. For Bruno, everything changed when the "Fury" (Fuhrer) came to dinner, since then his family has moved from Berlin to Out-with (Auschwitz), a place he thinks might be in Poland. Bruno wants to be an adventurer when he grows up and on one of his adventurers he meets a boy who is his age on the other side of the fence. His new friend astonishes him in many ways.

This book was heartbreaking, I read it in an afternoon. It's a reasonably short novel that could easily be read by a child but probably shouldn't be. It is written from Bruno's perspective and the lack of wider understanding he has about where he is and why Shmuel is so much thinner than him and has no change of pyjamas. His questions of his father, an army man never come to anything and he doesn't understand why his father refers to the people behind the fence as "not really people, not like you and me." Shmuel also has both a lot of information that Bruno does, but a lack of understanding about what it means and why things are this way.

This book seems to stand as a fable and at the same time a story of the beauty of innocence combined with the devastation of the capability of human evil. The story finishes with a sentence that forces you to confront your own reality in this day and age where fences like the one shared by Shmuel and Bruno exist all over the world.

Although there have been doubts that a 9-year-old son of a Nazi soldier would not know about the Holocaust or Hitler, the point of this book is not to show a 9-year-old's capabilities or understanding in any way but to combine the beauty of a young child's innocence with the horror of things like the Holocaust. I would highly recommend this book to all.

Tully by Paullina Simons

2009-11-06T18:57:00.003+13:00

After reading this book, I can definitively say it went over and above my expectations and is in my view, the best book of the ones I have read by this author. It documents the life of Tully, an independent teenager growing up in a poverty-stricken area with a lifetime of abuse and neglect behind her.

The writing in this book is not exquisite Woolf-esque prose but it matches Tully's character; blunt, to the point and it puts across the situation. Tully lives through the suicide of a childhood friend, Jennifer and summons all her strength to embark on a social work degree. The story is turbulent, through the misery of Tully's young life and the resulting confusion as well as a continuing sense of wrongness in her adult life.

In many ways Tully left me distraught. The amount of times I was reduced to tears was evened out but simply laughing at her manner and her rugged determination to right the wrongs that had been done to her through her work with foster children. We are often reminded of the years that Tully used her dancing talents and although these are never outwardly discussed in detail, we do learn about her dancing past through the sexual power she continues to hold over her male counterparts.

When Jennifer's true love returns to town, Tully wants to hate him. It is obvious from the beginning, however, that he (Jack) holds the magnetism which obsessed Jennifer and later another friend, Shakie. It is likely that Tully would have gone the same way if not for her stoic temperament, where her life had taught her to deal with anything else.

The ending of this book devastated me but I could see why it happened. I would definitely recommend this book over and above The Bronze Horseman series.

Eon by Greg Bear

2009-11-06T17:42:00.003+13:00

This novel stands as one of the more epic science fiction adventures equalling the likes of Asimov's Foundation series. I've never read anything else by this author but my father told me that Eon is a must-read.

When a large asteroid goes in orbit around earth, some of the best scientists on offer are sent to investigate what begins to be referred to throughout the book as 'the stone' (and its inhabitants are thus referred to as stoners). The book opens as a theoretical physicist, Patricia is taken to the stone; plucked from a myriad of people with similar talents but none with the specialisation she soon learns is vital to her mission. The asteroid holds many secrets which are exposed to Patricia one by one. The reason why she has been called to the stone soon becomes evident when she sees a seemingly endless corridor stretching away into infinity.

One of the recurring themes in this book is the lack of agreement between the USSR and the USA. While Soviet scientists are allowed on the stone, they are not privy to any information and have virtually no high security clearances. What becomes clear throughout the book is that nuclear destruction on earth is imminent and the plot centres around the end of a large portion of mankind.

The book is filled with aspects of a thriller, as well as aspects more related to the science of the infinite corridor. Patricia's real purpose on the stone becomes clear to her when she begins to find articles written by her twenty years in the future. The novel continues to a devastating conclusion, while at the same time the Soviets and the Americans are forced to make amends.

A grear science fiction thriller which I would recommend to all.

The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey

2009-11-02T19:44:00.005+13:00

This is the first book I have read by this author, being a general fan of science fiction and less so fantasy, I enjoyed it a lot. It begins with a child wailing after a serious natural disaster on her planet, but she is not wailing like a normal child does. Only telepaths can hear her wrenching cries and it is made clear to the reader from the beginning of the book that the Rowan (named after her hometown) is a "Talent" which immediately leaves her destined for a life learning to fine tune her talents. She is immediately noticed as one of the most powerful talents to come through Altair (the human colony world where she lives).

As the Rowan grows up and learns to use her talents under the watchful eye of the harsh Siglen, she feels incredibly lonely. A small electronic toy called a "Purza" is her best childhood friend and later a large cat. As she gets older, the Rowan tries to find out more about her past and looks towards a lonely future, before deciding to do something about it and there her life branches out.

I really enjoyed the Rowan's character, her stubborn will and her determination to not remain alone like the rest of the "primes" had before her made her paticularly likeable. It perhaps pissed me off a bit that she went on to have kids instead of becoming the most awesome prime in the universe (a spot which her husband got) but it was a good story. Recommend to any fantasy/sci fi fans.

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

2009-10-22T13:59:00.005+13:00

This is an astonishing memoir of growing up in Catholic Ireland. I read this at about age 12 and loved it all through high school and decided it had been a good couple of years since I had read it so read it again.

The novel starts off with a four year old Frankie in the USA, and he tells the story of his very young years. His mother comes to the USA for a new life, before meeting Frank's father Malachy and Frank is born only a few months after his parents' marriage rendering him a bastard. The family moves to Ireland when Frank's little sister dies as just a baby. They travel through Dublin, visiting Malachy's family and end up in Limerick. The next part of the story chronicles growing up with an alcoholic father and surviving with not enough money for food and relying on grants from various Christian foundations and 'the dole' as well as living assistance where possible and IOUs from the grocery store down the road. The thing that makes this memoir so heartbreaking is that it is written from the perspective of his young self. Frankie tries to model himself on the masculine figure his father never was and is constantly under the watchful eye of his Catholic God and spends a lot of time in confession. He finds himself rejected from local high schools because of the family's low social status, rejected from being an altar boy despite knowing the Latin phrases back to front. His family are at constant threat from "the typhoid", "the galloping consumption" and other illnesses which are not made less likely when the family moves next to a sole lavatory in a street where sewage is emptied from the other houses in the lane daily.

The book continues as Frankie struggles as a 13 year-old to make a life for himself, with the over and above goal of leaving Ireland for the USA, he makes his living firstly as a telegram boy and then as a magazine deliverer. An especially amusing part of the book is when one of the magazines they deliver accidentally has a page advertising contraception, Frankie is made to rip out the pages of the magazines where they have been delivered, not having a clue what contraception is and sells these scandalous pages for a profit.

The Irish lilt is noticed throughout and this is something that draws the reader even more into Frankie's life and his dedication to becoming something different than his upbringing would have him believe. His father's Dublin accent is scorned throughout by the other families in the area. McCourt truly had (he died recently) a great gift for writing and for displaying events as they happened in his mind at the time which is something a lot of memoirs struggle with. This remains on my list of favourite books. I highly recommend it.

Caught By His Past by Jan Corbett

2009-10-16T22:35:00.003+13:00

This is a book about the police investigation into the South Auckland rapes and the eventual capture of Joseph Thompson for the crimes that shook the entire country. I didn't expect a lot from this book, many books about serial rapists or serial killers that I have read go into far too much detail about the state of mind (in the author's opinion) of the perpetrator. This book was a lot more factual, being written by a journalist was probably a good start. Corbett delved into Joseph's childhood bouncing from one parent to another, to foster care and adoptive homes and finally out of the state's care when he was 18. Thankfully she does not place blame entirely on any part of his childhood for what was to come next but it did serve as an interesting insight on children who are largely forgotten by their parents.

The book then went on to depict the crimes that Thompson committed, and also described what the attacks had done to each of the victims. The emphasis here seemed to be on the fact that it affected all of them for the rest of their lives, I think it would have been useful to show that they were survivors as well as victims but the presence of anything at all about Thompson's victims was a good aside on the impact of victimisation.

Corbett also showed the intense police investigation that took place and eventually resulted in Thompson's capture. To begin with, it was difficult for the police to even get an investigation off the ground and towards the end of the investigation, media reports were aimed at the failure to catch the offender. This would have been one of the first cases to use DNA in New Zealand for the purpose it did and also probably one of the first to use criminal profiling techniques to catch the offender.

I would definitely recommend this book.

The Summer Garden by Paullina Simons

2009-10-16T22:13:00.003+13:00

This is the third and final book in the trilogy of Tatiana and Alexander as they finally find their life in America, but there is still much more drama to come. To be honest, once I got about a third of the way through this book, I was completely sick of the series, sick of the characters who had no depth and sick of the endless unrealistic twists where the family still seemed to be constantly at risk. While I think the first or the second book of this series would have served in the place of all three, this may have been a circumstance where a publisher was demanding a trilogy. To me, the characters and plot lines were entirely dried up by this book and the author seemed to be clutching at straws.

That said, I am not doing the writing talents of this author justice. I am told, Tully which I have yet to read is absolutely amazing so I will hold off on that. I think I would have enjoyed this book far more, had it been written about characters or plots that I found more believable. The author did display interesting characters in Anthony and Vikki and also displayed an interesting twist for the reader near the end of the book. It did seem like the relationship, complex as it was between Tatiana and Alexander took up the bulk of the book and this resulted in too many characters being introduced too late in the book to end with a naive sense of sentimentality and a random discussion about a defence strategy that seemed to have no place with the rest of the book.

I did enjoy the flashbacks to Tania's childhood which provided a welcome relief from the constant drivel about the relationship. A love it seems that had to survive through rape, abuse and pure nastiness. A look back into Tania's childhood did answer some more questions about her character and I believe a more detailed look into her character and perhaps more of a building up of it would have done the book more justice.

Of the trilogy, I enjoyed The Bridge to Holy Cross the most as it provided the wartime memories which the first book was about as well as having a believable love story and a good ending.

The Favoured Child by Philippa Gregory

2009-10-16T21:34:00.004+13:00

This is probably my favourite book by this author. It tells the story of the town of Wide Acre and in particular of Julia Lacey who lives in the shadow of her aunt who was once the people of Wide Acre's leader but ended up destroying the town. Julia has dreams in which she is her aunt, and she also bears a striking resemblance to her. She grows up alongside her controlling younger cousin, Richard and they have promised as children that they will marry and make Wide Acre great again.

It is clear from the beginning of the book that Richard has a nasty personality, which can at first be passed off as childish bullying but continues well into his teens as his desire for his cousin grows. It is only after her forces her into carrying his child that a secret is uncovered which will change the fate of Wide Acre and of Richard's hopes forever.

The growth of Richard's character is done extremely well, from a child who seems to like bullying, to a teenager who hides behind a facade of goodness to an adult who will get whatever he wants. What can first be passed off as childish cruelty becomes suspicion of wrongdoing to the reader until it becomes clear what Richard's true intentions are. Similarly Julia's adoration for her younger cousin becomes damaging when she cannot find the strength to tell anyone what Richard has done to her or what she has been tricked into.

This story is as much one of love as one of extreme sadness with an emergence of hope. It shows the capability of humans to do great good as well as great evil.

The Bridge to Holy Cross by Paullina Simons

2009-09-29T15:36:00.003+13:00

This is the sequel to The Bronze Horseman, set in Russia and New York as Tatiana, believing her husband is dead attempts to forget her life in Russia and create a new life for herself and her son, Anthony in New York. Meanwhile Alexander is tried by the NKGB and placed in prison after prison before being released to a penal battalion continually forced into situations that seem impossible to remedy (which of course Alexander gets them out of being a big he-man hero and all). As the war draws to a close and Tatiana begins to see inconsistencies in Alexander's death, she begins investigating his disappearance. Her hope fades and she begins to make other personal relationships only to discover that despite having escaped a war that seemed inescapable, she is still faced with terrors she thought she had left in the Soviet Union.

After reading this book, I can definitively say that I think this could have served the purpose the first book did, as a love story. This is especially considering that it went over (in memories) the events of the first book, the necessary events that had created the scenario in this book. I also enjoyed this book far more than the first book, as the events it explained (in the first part at least) were far more realistic and were depicted in a far better way. However, I do not admire anyone who will leave their son with a friend to make their way to the communist Soviet Union, especially not if you are wanted there, as romantic as it is seen to be, I think it is also incredibly cruel to risk one's own life at the expense of a kid never knowing his mother or father but again I probably don't know enough to be making a blanket statement.Maybe my complaint on this is just indicative of the fact that the plot was very wind-y which can be good but did not suit the tone of this book, in my opinion.

I still enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it over and above the first book.

Exiting Nirvana: A Daughter's Life with Autism by Clara Claiborne Park

2009-09-23T15:17:00.003+12:00

This is the sequel to another book (which I have not read) and outlines the life of the author's daughter who has autism and how she grows to further understand the world and come out of the "nirvana" of her autistic behaviours. The preface by the famous psychologist Oliver Sacks demonstrates that the detailed recordings Park has taken of her daughter's life contribute to what is probably the most full account of living with autism available to a person without it.

Park explores the journey with her daughter, from a barely verbal child to an adult with a penchant for painting. In one chapter she explores her daughter's growing vocabulary as well as some of the intricacies of the English language which are more difficult for Jessy (her daughter) to understand. Another chapter explores her fascination with numbers and her huge ability with mathematics in her younger years. What is paticularly magical is the excitement displayed in discovering a prime number. The book also analyses books which Jessy made herself as a child and throughout her teenage years, some of which go deeper than any column on human nature into how strange human practices and language are.

As Jessy learned about the world, her mother was able to explain how she is now able to hold down a full-time job and also sell her artwork, which I would describe as realist surrealism as weird as that sounds. The author is able to show the wonderful magic of autism which she calls nirvana and the confusion and exploration which contribute to exploring how things work in the real world. I would highly recommend this book as a detailed, structured account of living with an autistic daughter.

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

2009-09-20T16:44:00.004+12:00

This book is a love story set during the time of the Nazi invasion of the (then) Soviet Union. Tatiana lives with her family in Leningrad and is sent out for food on the day of the announcement of the Nazi invasion. This is when she meets Alexander Belov, a captain in the Red Army who happens to also be going out with her sister. The story progresses and the Nazis get closer and closer to Leningrad until they barricade it off, leaving Tatiana and her family without necessary food and less necessary vodka. Alexander watches as rations decrease more and more and throughout the winter when people start to die. When Tatiana and her sister Dasha finally make it out, the story increasingly becomes a love story set against a backdrop of bomb blasts, low rations and the ever-present fear of discovery.

My (new) flatmate lent me this book. This series is one of her favourites. I enjoyed parts of it, and other parts less so. The book starts off realistically but as the love story spirals out of control so do the historical inaccuracies and the unlikely scenarios that Tatiana and Alexander find themselves in. A part of the book towards the end consists of 100 pages of just sex and nothing else. Although the desire in this book makes sense, the presence of this and the absence of any other part of the setting made me believe it less. The two main characters, for me, were also not believable. Tatiana seemed to reserve herself and then dramatically come out of her shell, she then fell pregnant after months and months of starvation. Some people are incredibly fertile, but not that fertile. The likelihood that she could then also suffer what she did and come out nearly unscathed was also unrealistic.

Despite this, I do realise that this story was above all a love story. The love part was done very well and with a good accuracy for the time (the notion of Alexander owning Tatiana did niggle my inner feminist a bit but it was like that back then I imagine). The continued reference to the book of poems which serves as hope not just through the poetry but also through the secretive storing of money was a nice image. The descriptions of Leningrad also built a good picture in my head and I would say they are also accurate as Simons grew up in Leningrad. I would recommend this book but people should keep in mind it is fiction, it is unrealistic in parts and it is above all else a love story. I'm currently reading the sequel.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

2009-09-03T15:06:00.002+12:00

This book became a classic on its publication in the early '70s, encapsulating the drug culture of that time and the resulting happenings. Thompson sets out to find the American Dream with his attorney while covering a motorcycle race in Las Vegas. The book is riddled with confusion, as the effect of the mescaline, pot, ether, rum, acid, amyls and tequila start to take force and the journey to get a story instead becomes a drug-induced mission which has no beginning or end.

Of course the book has been criticised and the sheer amount of drugs being ingested result in near (if not complete) drug-induced psychosis. Thompson, however, doesn't paint the picture as beautiful necessarily but includes every lurid detail, such as the state of the hotel room after only a few days of occupation and the several (although never-ending) collection of cancelled credit cards which he somehow manages to get away with using, without the police being called.

Perhaps one of the more amusing episodes in the book is when Thompson and his attorney stop off at a drugs conference which they find dated and boring. Posing as undercover police officers they weave tales from their imagination and several sober minds are persuaded by the two as to the despicable state of policing the drug scene. There is one part of the book written as a transcript (as according to the editor it made no sense), it's very amusing and the book is filled with black humour showing that although they had a wild time, you would not have wanted to be there with the knife-wielding attorney and Thompson himself who lives in a web of paranoia that the police are coming to get him (fair enough as they sometimes are).

The American Dream is found in the end, or not found as the case may be. Hidden inside you and if you want it you can have it. Although this book is filled with confusion, that is one thing that becomes clear by the end. This definitely gives an insight into drug-addled America in the 1970s in a similar way to Wolfe's The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test. This book should be read, no matter what your beliefs simply because (as cliched as this sounds) it's a classic.

Giving Up The Ghost by Hilary Mantel

2009-08-30T12:41:00.004+12:00

This book is a memoir written by a well-known writer of fiction. She attempts to recount her life from early to present and she does this astonishingly and amazingly. The early part of her life is masked in conceit, from a father who is one day replaced by a step-father and she is never told why, to bullying at school and a strange set of symptoms which come and go but are never diagnosed.

She then takes us through her high school years at a Catholic grammar school where she eventually becomes head girl before going to London School of Economics to study law, here she finds happiness in her studies but a lack of money means she eventually moves to Sheffield to go to university there and finds an environment wholly unaccepting of women, it is here that she falls deeply ill and the medical profession fails her, diagnosing a woman who won't shut up about pain as psychologically ill and she learns to grin and bear what would have been unbearable pain.

The ghosts in the book come as she learns the real reason for her sickness throughout her life, she is rendered infertile and the children she can never have haunt her life and become pieces of the past that never existed.

The book is separated into five parts, each detailing different stages of what parts of her life she can remember. The writing is beautifully crafted, at times with black humour and at other times horribly sad. Some parts of her life, such as her relationship with her husband that breaks up and reforms are never explained in as much depth as her feelings towards certain people and the denials she has received during her life.

I don't think I'm giving this book credit, I highly recommend it.

Living in the Maniototo by Janet Frame

2009-08-27T16:26:00.004+12:00

Last year, my friend Serra got me bound editions of eight of Janet Frame's books to read which I did in quick succession. I started to really appreciate the way she writes, I'd grown up knowing who she was, rather famous in New Zealand and saved at the last minute from getting a leucotomy, a practice rampant in mental health in NZ long after other countries had stopped using it. All of Janet Frame's books seem to be part-auto-biographical in a different way, they definitely all mirror someone she knows.

This book is about an author who goes to stay in a house in Berkeley where a couple has agreed to let her use their house while they are away in Italy. When they die in an accident and everything is left to her, four friends of the couple comes to stay and it is at this point in the novel that the real and imaginary start to collide. We are taken on journeys with each of the characters, all connected to NZ somehow but all with different backgrounds. Although the main character is quite silent, you begin to wonder how she knows everything about each of the characters.

As usual Frame in this book draws on her own experiences, as well as that of ex-pat New Zealanders and the experience of living in a country so cut off from the rest of the world (especially pre-email etc.). Frame teaches us in this book to look beyond first impressions and takes us on a journey through a vivid imagination. As with all her other books, I highly recommend this.

Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

2009-08-25T14:31:00.004+12:00

Along with Another Roadside Attraction, this is probably my favourite Tom Robbins book. It explores the life of a teenage girl who also happens to be a princess of a country ruled by a military junta. She lives in Seattle with her parents and by the time that book starts she is already bored with her protected life and after a miscarriage in the middle of a cheerleading gig decides to go to Hawaii to attend a festival which is intent on saving the earth.

In the book, Princess Leigh-Cheri learns a lot about herself, and also discovers the origin of all true red-heads like herself (we are a special breed you see). An interesting character is also found in her chaperone Guileta who attends to her charge's underage drinking and secret meet-ups while also able to not speak English. Possible the funniest part is the fact that her parents, the King and Queen of the home country are prevented from going home and dumping the military junta as the USA supports it (sounds a little familar). Her love interest, known as Woodpecker the outlaw also becomes an important part of the plot as he dodges policing officials the world over.

As per usual, Robbins never stops surprising you or adding a new element to this book, such as the origin of the picture on the front of a packet of Camel cigarettes and how it relates to the picture on a NZ $1 bill, and it's not the Illuminati either. Read this book and be entertained for days (or one day if you couldn't stop reading it like me). By that token, I don't think I've been disappointed by any book Robbins has written but I definitely do have my favourites.

Emma by Jane Austen

2009-08-24T12:00:00.003+12:00

I read this book as a teenager and enjoyed it so I thought I'd give it another read. I haven't read any Jane Austen in awhile so adjusting to her vivid descriptions and endless outflow of characters was a challenge in itself. Emma is a young woman from a superb pedigree who lives in a small rural village caring for her father. It's clear from the beginning that Emma considers herself rather intelligent in the field of social complexities but the events of the book soon prove her wrong when she takes Harriet, a younger woman from a Ladies School under her arm and seeks to make her the perfect marriage.

It's quite funny assessing Emma's opinions of things in this book and always knowing that they are sorely mistaken. She is an entertaining character if nothing else and never seems to doubt her own notions of things. Her father is only mentioned a few times, a man with arthritis I think as he complains of having cold bones throughout the book. Jane Fairfax, a woman who Emma really never gets to know is another important character, not quite so prone to the gossip of country life as any of the other characters.

As usual in her books, Austen makes the plot enjoyable, the characters intriguing and the relationships (to me) seem built on nothing but maybe that is just a product of the time or maybe it is because Austen chose not to explain them in depth. Nevertheless, probably one of my favourite Austen books.

The Unfortunate Experiment: The Full Story Behind the Inquiry into Cervical Cancer Treatment by Sandra Coney

2009-08-22T21:20:00.004+12:00

This book documents the amazingly distressing story that occurred in the National Women's Hospital from the 1960s onwards where cervical cancer patients were virtually experimented on, and as a result many died or suffered extraordinarily long with a disease that could have been treated at the first instance. Since the writing of this book, a couple of pieces of information have been corrected, I am unsure as to what exactly these are but the substance remains the same.

As Coney suggests, although one doctor was at the centre of the research, the problem lay with the hospital itself and the various obstacles that were surpassed to allow such a thing to take place initially. The fact that it also went on despite protests from doctors and nurses alike is also testament to the lack of follow-up and checking involved especially considering many people knew that Dr Green's methods were not used by any other doctor in the world.

Coney tells this story very well. A lot of people perceived the whole thing (wrongly) as a feminist witchhunt but Coney tells the story impartially and fairly throughout even mentioning some of the more amusing comments she received about her political beliefs. It also showed that no one person was held to account but it was a more systemic failure.

Highly recommend this book to any New Zealander, shocking and well thought out.

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

2009-08-21T17:14:00.003+12:00

This is a sequel to the book Case Histories reviewed awhile ago. I'm not sure I like it quite as much but it was still a good read. In this book, Jackson (the PI) follows his girlfriend, Julia (also from Case Histories) to Scotland. The book begins with a man witnessing an incident of road rage and saving the victim. He is a crime writer himself and is stunned at how he enters into the spotlight when the press learn of this fact. The plotline continues with murders, spies, attacks, illegal human trafficking and other misnomers which all seem to lead to Jackson becoming a suspect.

Soon after this however, the policewoman in charge doubts his guilt and enlists Jackson's help to solve the crimes. We are meanwhile further introduced to Martin, the witness of the original attack who is subject to the murder of a friend staying with him, he is also confusingly involved in the crimes and finds himself also under suspicion but his nerdy, awkward character seems to sway the suspicion away. We are also introduced to the policewoman and new love interest, Louise as well as her slightly-off-the-rails teenage son who has somehow ended up with some highly illicit material.

The good thing about this book was that it wasn't full of untimely coincidences like many books of its type are. As it came to a close, all the plot twists made sense but it didn't enthrall me quite as much as its pre-decessor.

Passing For Normal: A Memoir of Compulsion by Amy S. Wilensky

2009-08-21T16:53:00.004+12:00

Another book that got lent to me. One thing I should say is that I love memoirs, a lot of my favourite books are memoirs, I'm not sure if it's because it adds the human element in more or what but I love them. This one tells the tale of a women with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Tourettes Syndrome. I don't know about you, but the first thing I thin of when I think of Tourettes are vocal tics, despite knowing they are incredibly rare. This book dispelled many of the notions about both OCD and Tourettes and showed how the combination of them contributed towards Wilensky's life.

Her life is covered from childhood (pre-diagnosis) to being diagnosed to her life now and how she copes with her disorder. In her childhood, Wilensky was continually subject to taunts for her motor tic which seemed to constitute a jerk of the neck by her family and in particular her father. People also found it difficult to understand why she was obsessed with stepping on lines or counting to a certain number, although many people have heard of OCD and Tourettes, they only know the manifestations seen in the media and cannot think outside the square.

When she finally seeks psychiatric help, and with her diagnosis faces the battle of knowing she can be partially cured by medication but also not being sure whether it will change who she is by changing how she acts. One thing I loved about this book is that unlike many memoirs, it wasn't extremely emotive. It would have been a difficult position to be in, but Wilensky seemed to face it with a strength of mind that many would envy.

Highly recommend it.