M.M. Gaidar's Blog, page 2
May 22, 2019
Book 5
May 21 - 22
Loony Vintage Charm
"Dial H for Hitchcock" appeared to be an enjoyable read with interesting turns and tons of humour, which had nothing to do with Hitchcock though, except mentioning some facts about his life and work. In terms of style and breathtaking plot twists which were Hitchcock's hallmark, this novel, in my opinion, doesn't live up to Hitchcock's high standard.
Logline: After she watches Vertigo in the cinema, the main heroine, Cece Caruso, finds a cell phone in her purse which doesn't belong to her. She receives a call on the phone, a stranger asks her to come to a certain place. But when Cece arrives there, she witnesses a murder and gets under suspicion herself.
While the twists are really Hitchcock style, this novel is too feminine for my liking. There's too much focus on the description of clothes, whole paragraphs in every chapter describe Cece's obsession with vintage attires, which is an interesting fetish, of course, but I found it annoying. New York Times Book Review says: "While Cece's vintage clothing fetish gives her a certain loony charm, it doesn't get in the way of her genuine talents as a sometime sleuth..." Well, who am I to argue with New York Times Book Review!
One more thought expressed by New York Times Book Review is that Susan Kandel, the author, takes mystery seriously. However, what it seemed to me is that the humour sprinkled here and there throughout the book disrupted the eerie atmosphere the author was trying to create. Hitchcock was suspenseful and eerie, Kandel is not. Don't get me wrong, I liked the humour, but it killed the "eerie" aspect of the book promised to the reader. Judge it yourself. Here's one example of humorous description of a sale's assistant: "It was the largest Afro I'd ever seen, especially on someone white. It must've measured a foot in every direction. I wondered what happened when he tried to get into a car. He probably took the bus." Hilarious, right? The whole book is steeped in such a humorous take of Cece on the surroundings. So, if you want something really Hitchcock eerie style, I'd probably recommend the TV show "Bates Motel". "Dial H for Hitchcock" is a cozy read, mostly for women, because I don't believe men will be fascinated with all those "little-black-dress-except-it's-navy" descriptions of Cece's gowns.
I had a little confusion concerning the year when the story happens. When I started reading, I was almost sure those were sixties ish, but then the main heroine took out her cell phone. There were no indications in the text itself to mislead me, but things revolving around Hitchcock and this retro stuff Cece wears made me think it all was about sixties.
There was a funny inconsistence when Cece takes photos of her car with her cell phone after she gets rear-ended, but then she exchanges phone numbers with the man who hit her car written on some patches of paper as if forgetting that they have cell phones. Seriously, who writes their phone numbers on paper in the era of cell phones? It felt like the author got confused by her own wish to write about sixties and her need to write about modern times.
All in all, "Dial H for Hitchcock" is a nice and easy read which I'd recommend to those who are looking for a cozy detective story for a long travel, more likely women than men. Publishers Weekly call the main heroine "witty and perky female sleuth", which I absolutely agree with.
It is not the first book about Cece Caruso, so, if you are going to read this series, you should start from "I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason", although every book about this detective is a separate and independent story.
6 / 10
Loony Vintage Charm
"Dial H for Hitchcock" appeared to be an enjoyable read with interesting turns and tons of humour, which had nothing to do with Hitchcock though, except mentioning some facts about his life and work. In terms of style and breathtaking plot twists which were Hitchcock's hallmark, this novel, in my opinion, doesn't live up to Hitchcock's high standard.
Logline: After she watches Vertigo in the cinema, the main heroine, Cece Caruso, finds a cell phone in her purse which doesn't belong to her. She receives a call on the phone, a stranger asks her to come to a certain place. But when Cece arrives there, she witnesses a murder and gets under suspicion herself.
While the twists are really Hitchcock style, this novel is too feminine for my liking. There's too much focus on the description of clothes, whole paragraphs in every chapter describe Cece's obsession with vintage attires, which is an interesting fetish, of course, but I found it annoying. New York Times Book Review says: "While Cece's vintage clothing fetish gives her a certain loony charm, it doesn't get in the way of her genuine talents as a sometime sleuth..." Well, who am I to argue with New York Times Book Review!
One more thought expressed by New York Times Book Review is that Susan Kandel, the author, takes mystery seriously. However, what it seemed to me is that the humour sprinkled here and there throughout the book disrupted the eerie atmosphere the author was trying to create. Hitchcock was suspenseful and eerie, Kandel is not. Don't get me wrong, I liked the humour, but it killed the "eerie" aspect of the book promised to the reader. Judge it yourself. Here's one example of humorous description of a sale's assistant: "It was the largest Afro I'd ever seen, especially on someone white. It must've measured a foot in every direction. I wondered what happened when he tried to get into a car. He probably took the bus." Hilarious, right? The whole book is steeped in such a humorous take of Cece on the surroundings. So, if you want something really Hitchcock eerie style, I'd probably recommend the TV show "Bates Motel". "Dial H for Hitchcock" is a cozy read, mostly for women, because I don't believe men will be fascinated with all those "little-black-dress-except-it's-navy" descriptions of Cece's gowns.
I had a little confusion concerning the year when the story happens. When I started reading, I was almost sure those were sixties ish, but then the main heroine took out her cell phone. There were no indications in the text itself to mislead me, but things revolving around Hitchcock and this retro stuff Cece wears made me think it all was about sixties.
There was a funny inconsistence when Cece takes photos of her car with her cell phone after she gets rear-ended, but then she exchanges phone numbers with the man who hit her car written on some patches of paper as if forgetting that they have cell phones. Seriously, who writes their phone numbers on paper in the era of cell phones? It felt like the author got confused by her own wish to write about sixties and her need to write about modern times.
All in all, "Dial H for Hitchcock" is a nice and easy read which I'd recommend to those who are looking for a cozy detective story for a long travel, more likely women than men. Publishers Weekly call the main heroine "witty and perky female sleuth", which I absolutely agree with.
It is not the first book about Cece Caruso, so, if you are going to read this series, you should start from "I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason", although every book about this detective is a separate and independent story.
6 / 10
Book 4 (May 18 - 19)
IQ Deficiency
"Pinball" is the novel with the same narrator as in "Hear the Wind Sing". His turbulent journey through life continues and centers on his attempts to find the old pinball machine he used to play.
It seems, this wasn't the best time for me reading this, because my thoughts kept drifting away to the shores of my new book I'm currently thinking through. This is usually an intensive period for me when whatever I do I keep reflecting and planning my new literary travel, which is always exciting. So, unfortunately, I couldn't concentrate on the book and get engaged with the story.
One more reason is that probably reading two novels without a distinct plot in a row messes up with my brain. Don't get me wrong, I like meditative literary fiction that offer a lot of food for thought, not only those standard three acts and clear storylines. But two in the row was too much for me to handle. I can't really come up with a clear judgment of this novel, it left me uninterested and it was obviously overshadowed by a much better "Hear the Wind Sing" with that terrific foreword by Murakami which made not only my day, but probably my entire life - those were important words and perfect timing for reading them.
In "Pinball", the author gave further development to some characters (the narrator and the Rat) from "Hear the Wind Sing", but this time they repeated themselves, they were pretty much the same as in the prequel, and I didn't find anything new about them or any development to their characters. There were some interesting inclusions, like those about the country well-digger or the pinball story. But I found it hard to decipher what the author meant by meeting people from Saturn and Venus. Frankly speaking, that made me think my IQ was not high enough to understand that.
People say neither "Hear the Wind Sing" nor "Pinball" are best Murakami's novels to start familiarizing yourself with his books, they say one should probably start from his greater novels, such as "A Wild Sheep Chase" or "The Strange Library".
In the case of this novel, I'll refrain from giving it a score, because it was obtuse and complicated for my understanding, so I feel I'm not entitled to judge it.
Hopefully, my next piece of reading will be less intellectually challenging:) and I say it as a compliment to my next choice which is "Dial H for Hitchcock" by Susan Kandel. I grabbed the book from the shelf as soon as I had seen Hitchcock's name mentioned, since I'm a great fan of his films. Boston Globe's quote on the cover says that this "saucy, well-crafted mystery is a lot of fun to read". Well, will see. Hopefully, the author lived up to Hitchcock's high standard.
Going to share my take on this one on May 22.
"Pinball" is the novel with the same narrator as in "Hear the Wind Sing". His turbulent journey through life continues and centers on his attempts to find the old pinball machine he used to play.
It seems, this wasn't the best time for me reading this, because my thoughts kept drifting away to the shores of my new book I'm currently thinking through. This is usually an intensive period for me when whatever I do I keep reflecting and planning my new literary travel, which is always exciting. So, unfortunately, I couldn't concentrate on the book and get engaged with the story.
One more reason is that probably reading two novels without a distinct plot in a row messes up with my brain. Don't get me wrong, I like meditative literary fiction that offer a lot of food for thought, not only those standard three acts and clear storylines. But two in the row was too much for me to handle. I can't really come up with a clear judgment of this novel, it left me uninterested and it was obviously overshadowed by a much better "Hear the Wind Sing" with that terrific foreword by Murakami which made not only my day, but probably my entire life - those were important words and perfect timing for reading them.
In "Pinball", the author gave further development to some characters (the narrator and the Rat) from "Hear the Wind Sing", but this time they repeated themselves, they were pretty much the same as in the prequel, and I didn't find anything new about them or any development to their characters. There were some interesting inclusions, like those about the country well-digger or the pinball story. But I found it hard to decipher what the author meant by meeting people from Saturn and Venus. Frankly speaking, that made me think my IQ was not high enough to understand that.
People say neither "Hear the Wind Sing" nor "Pinball" are best Murakami's novels to start familiarizing yourself with his books, they say one should probably start from his greater novels, such as "A Wild Sheep Chase" or "The Strange Library".
In the case of this novel, I'll refrain from giving it a score, because it was obtuse and complicated for my understanding, so I feel I'm not entitled to judge it.
Hopefully, my next piece of reading will be less intellectually challenging:) and I say it as a compliment to my next choice which is "Dial H for Hitchcock" by Susan Kandel. I grabbed the book from the shelf as soon as I had seen Hitchcock's name mentioned, since I'm a great fan of his films. Boston Globe's quote on the cover says that this "saucy, well-crafted mystery is a lot of fun to read". Well, will see. Hopefully, the author lived up to Hitchcock's high standard.
Going to share my take on this one on May 22.
May 18, 2019
Book 3 (May 16 - 17)
"There is no such thing as a perfect piece of writing"
I have a long story of not reading Haruki Murakami. Perhaps, something was in his name to me that indicated exotic literature, that kind of literature which I am usually very picky about not to shock my precious European self with something beyond my comfort zone.
One of my friends, Valeria, has always been sharing her thoughts on numerous Murakami's books, and I have always felt ashamed and ignorant for not knowing anything about this acclaimed author. Well, when I came across a shelf with Murakami's novels in the local library, I decided it was time to put an end to this evasive literary behaviour.
And, surprisingly, my first novel by Haruki Murakami, "Hear the Wind Sing", appeared to be less Japanese than the novels by foreigners who write about Japan. Murakami writes in a western style, and in this novel you can hardly see any mention of tatami or sushi. Instead, the reader finds so many indicators of the western world imbedded in the text - Mercedes, jazz music, Coke. So, basically, his novel is not about specifically Japanese world, but about universally understandable lives of very ordinary people.
The tone of the book reminded me of "Three Comrades" by Remarque. A turbulent travel of a young man through his life. Different characters appear on the sky of his life like comets, they flash and die away.
The main character, whose name I don't know because the story was written from the first person, is thinking about writing a novel.
'So the novel will be for myself,' he says. 'Or maybe for the cicadas. What could be cooler than writing something for the cicadas and frogs and spiders, and the summer grasses and the wind?'
These words are the highlight of the whole novel. They evoked nostalgia in me, nostalgia for the times when I wrote for the pleasure of it, not for somebody's approval, not to follow the hints from the books on writing, not for money or for making a statement on social networks. I miss the times when it was something ultimately my own, a refuge I used to have to myself. This passage from the novel made me reconsider my approach to writing which have been making me miserable lately.
Even more than the novel itself, I liked the foreword by Haruki Murakami. This was a kind of a beautiful pep talk which came into my life just in time to raise my spirits. His words soothed my hesitations concerning my writing prowess. I discovered that he is, like me, a writer who writes in English while it is not his first language, that he struggled through limited vocabulary and lack of understanding of all shades of the foreign language, the same as me. But in some miraculous way, this helped him develop his own unique style, which I think is happening to me too.
Here are some of his quotes from the foreword which I found particularly profound.
"There is no such thing as a perfect piece of writing. Just as there's no such thing as perfect despair."
"I find the act of writing very painful. I can go a whole month without managing a single line, or write three days and nights straight, only to find the whole thing has missed the mark. At the same time, though, I love writing. Ascribing meaning to life is a piece of cake compared to actually living it."
"If it is art or literature you're interested in, I suggest you read the Greeks. Pure art exists only in slave-owning societies. The Greeks had slaves to till their fields, prepare their meals, and row their galley while they lay about on sun-splashed Mediterranean beaches, composing poems and grappling with mathematical equations. That's what art is. If you're the sort of guy who raids the refrigerators of silent kitchens at three o'clock in the morning, you can only write accordingly. That's who I am."
"A gulf separates what we are trying to perceive from what we are actually able to perceive."
'So you don't read books by living authors?'
'No, I don't see the point.'
'Why not?'
'I guess because I feel I can forgive dead people.'
All in all, Haruki Murakami made a lasting impression on me. I think in the future I'm going to have a Murakami's shelf at home.
10 / 10
Next thing I'm going to read is Murakami's novel "Pinball", May 18 - 19.
I have a long story of not reading Haruki Murakami. Perhaps, something was in his name to me that indicated exotic literature, that kind of literature which I am usually very picky about not to shock my precious European self with something beyond my comfort zone.
One of my friends, Valeria, has always been sharing her thoughts on numerous Murakami's books, and I have always felt ashamed and ignorant for not knowing anything about this acclaimed author. Well, when I came across a shelf with Murakami's novels in the local library, I decided it was time to put an end to this evasive literary behaviour.
And, surprisingly, my first novel by Haruki Murakami, "Hear the Wind Sing", appeared to be less Japanese than the novels by foreigners who write about Japan. Murakami writes in a western style, and in this novel you can hardly see any mention of tatami or sushi. Instead, the reader finds so many indicators of the western world imbedded in the text - Mercedes, jazz music, Coke. So, basically, his novel is not about specifically Japanese world, but about universally understandable lives of very ordinary people.
The tone of the book reminded me of "Three Comrades" by Remarque. A turbulent travel of a young man through his life. Different characters appear on the sky of his life like comets, they flash and die away.
The main character, whose name I don't know because the story was written from the first person, is thinking about writing a novel.
'So the novel will be for myself,' he says. 'Or maybe for the cicadas. What could be cooler than writing something for the cicadas and frogs and spiders, and the summer grasses and the wind?'
These words are the highlight of the whole novel. They evoked nostalgia in me, nostalgia for the times when I wrote for the pleasure of it, not for somebody's approval, not to follow the hints from the books on writing, not for money or for making a statement on social networks. I miss the times when it was something ultimately my own, a refuge I used to have to myself. This passage from the novel made me reconsider my approach to writing which have been making me miserable lately.
Even more than the novel itself, I liked the foreword by Haruki Murakami. This was a kind of a beautiful pep talk which came into my life just in time to raise my spirits. His words soothed my hesitations concerning my writing prowess. I discovered that he is, like me, a writer who writes in English while it is not his first language, that he struggled through limited vocabulary and lack of understanding of all shades of the foreign language, the same as me. But in some miraculous way, this helped him develop his own unique style, which I think is happening to me too.
Here are some of his quotes from the foreword which I found particularly profound.
"There is no such thing as a perfect piece of writing. Just as there's no such thing as perfect despair."
"I find the act of writing very painful. I can go a whole month without managing a single line, or write three days and nights straight, only to find the whole thing has missed the mark. At the same time, though, I love writing. Ascribing meaning to life is a piece of cake compared to actually living it."
"If it is art or literature you're interested in, I suggest you read the Greeks. Pure art exists only in slave-owning societies. The Greeks had slaves to till their fields, prepare their meals, and row their galley while they lay about on sun-splashed Mediterranean beaches, composing poems and grappling with mathematical equations. That's what art is. If you're the sort of guy who raids the refrigerators of silent kitchens at three o'clock in the morning, you can only write accordingly. That's who I am."
"A gulf separates what we are trying to perceive from what we are actually able to perceive."
'So you don't read books by living authors?'
'No, I don't see the point.'
'Why not?'
'I guess because I feel I can forgive dead people.'
All in all, Haruki Murakami made a lasting impression on me. I think in the future I'm going to have a Murakami's shelf at home.
10 / 10
Next thing I'm going to read is Murakami's novel "Pinball", May 18 - 19.
Book 2 (May 13 - May 14)
The Tale of Two Sisters
Logline: Holly's older sister, Giselle, is self-destructing. Haunted by her love-deprived relationship with her late father, this once strong role model and medical student is gripped by anorexia. Holly, a track star, struggles to keep her own life in balance while coping with the mental and physical deterioration of her beloved sister. Together, they can feel themselves slipping and are holding on for dear life.
The novel "Skinny" is written by my Creative Writing teacher, Ibi Kaslik, who is a terrific teacher and a very likeable person, so this novel has been on my must-read list for a while.
The story starts as very raw and realistic. The descriptions of Giselle and Holly's lives are rich in details which make the story sound more personal, the dialogues are neatly written and sound like those are real people talking. I also found it a major asset that the girls' stories were paralleled, and I could have a look at the circumstances from their both points of views, one more depressing and gloomy, the other one more energetic and turbulent.
However, for me, the book turned out to be a bit confusing to read. I suspect myself of not being a sophisticated enough reader in case I find the text confusing. Shame on me, but I even skipped some medical excerpts inserted into the narration. Sometimes, I had to reread the whole passages to understand what was going on, when and where it was happening, and whose POV it was. Anyway, I'm such a lame reader.
The book is complex as it deals with many pressing issues, such as the anorexia, immigrant family struggle, the parental infidelity, the boyfriend issues, school fights, hearing impairment, bisexualism, pressure at grad school, the drug abuse, unloving late father, so don't expect it to be entertaining, it is thought-provoking. I enjoyed this kaleidoscope of issues portrayed in short episodes from the girls' lives, but I'd like to dwell on them a little bit more, some of them were just briefly mentioned.
The ending turned out to be dark and sad. It left me depressed, which, I'm sure the author aimed at.
I 'm afraid that I'm not able to appreciate this particular genre to the full, it is not quite my cup of tea, but I would recommend "Skinny" to those readers who like raw and brooding literary fiction which raises pressing family, health and social issues.
For me, it is 7 out of 10.
You will find my vocab from "Skinny" here - https://drive.google.com/open?id=15fq...
Logline: Holly's older sister, Giselle, is self-destructing. Haunted by her love-deprived relationship with her late father, this once strong role model and medical student is gripped by anorexia. Holly, a track star, struggles to keep her own life in balance while coping with the mental and physical deterioration of her beloved sister. Together, they can feel themselves slipping and are holding on for dear life.
The novel "Skinny" is written by my Creative Writing teacher, Ibi Kaslik, who is a terrific teacher and a very likeable person, so this novel has been on my must-read list for a while.
The story starts as very raw and realistic. The descriptions of Giselle and Holly's lives are rich in details which make the story sound more personal, the dialogues are neatly written and sound like those are real people talking. I also found it a major asset that the girls' stories were paralleled, and I could have a look at the circumstances from their both points of views, one more depressing and gloomy, the other one more energetic and turbulent.
However, for me, the book turned out to be a bit confusing to read. I suspect myself of not being a sophisticated enough reader in case I find the text confusing. Shame on me, but I even skipped some medical excerpts inserted into the narration. Sometimes, I had to reread the whole passages to understand what was going on, when and where it was happening, and whose POV it was. Anyway, I'm such a lame reader.
The book is complex as it deals with many pressing issues, such as the anorexia, immigrant family struggle, the parental infidelity, the boyfriend issues, school fights, hearing impairment, bisexualism, pressure at grad school, the drug abuse, unloving late father, so don't expect it to be entertaining, it is thought-provoking. I enjoyed this kaleidoscope of issues portrayed in short episodes from the girls' lives, but I'd like to dwell on them a little bit more, some of them were just briefly mentioned.
The ending turned out to be dark and sad. It left me depressed, which, I'm sure the author aimed at.
I 'm afraid that I'm not able to appreciate this particular genre to the full, it is not quite my cup of tea, but I would recommend "Skinny" to those readers who like raw and brooding literary fiction which raises pressing family, health and social issues.
For me, it is 7 out of 10.
You will find my vocab from "Skinny" here - https://drive.google.com/open?id=15fq...
May 13, 2019
Book 1 (May 11 - May 12)
"It's Not What It Seems"
I'm so glad to hold a paperback in my hands again! Not this soulless electronic book, but a paperback. And boy, the smell is fantastic! The rustle of pages is so comforting! Books remind me of childhood. I wasn't a particularly lonely or brainy child, but I spent a lot of time with books. I still remember some rainy days when I would snug on the window seat with a book, plunging into another story, listening to the rumble of thunder. There's poesy to those memories.
I've been trying to define the true value of reading fiction, and I must say that I don't agree with those who consider it just a hobby which can be replaced by anything else. Knitting or making origami is not the same as reading. Reading is not about spending time, it is about learning how to live, how to analyze, how to build relationships, treat people and tons of other stuff. It is scientifically proven that a person reading fiction tends to be more empathic and sympathetic. And I agree with this. Literature gives an insight into life through stories we read about.
The stories which stand out for me because they have made the biggest formative impact on me are the following: Jane Eyre - the reason why I love dark and brooding Victorian and gothic stuff with a lot of suffering but always with a silver lining to it; everything by Jane Austen - gave me one of my favourite types of male characters embodied by Mr Darcy and instilled in me love to irony and sarcasm; everything by Erich Maria Remark - the reason why I am so much into reading about war which helps portray people's greatest feats and worst sins; the Harry Potter series that taught me what friendship means and how important it is to do what is right rather than what is easy; Ritual by Marina and Sergei Dyachenko - probably unknown for English-speaking audience, but one of the best examples of fantasy, I fell in love with its main characters, with dragons, with Beauty and the Beast motif and with fantasy overall.
I am happy that literature plays such an important role in my life. Nothing would be the same without those books I've held in my hands.
And now I'm happy to start this journey which I call "Around the World in 180 Days" with a philosophical horror "Foe" by Iain Reid.
I called this first book on my challenge list "It's Not What It Seems" because all my thoughts which I have written down in the course of reading it were proven wrong by the third act where the reader learns what it was all really about. I should say, it is one of the best handled twists I have ever faced in literature. I can't say that I didn't see something like this coming, but when the cards were put on the table, I was amazed how all details fell into their places.
The logline: A couple, Junior and Hen, living at a distant farm is visited by a stranger who tells them that Junior has won a lottery and has to spend a few years in the outer space, colonizing another planet. Hen is not going to be alone all this time as Junior will be replaced by his scientifically made identical replica.
The idea is sick! And I like it! The novel is suspenseful from the first lines. Promised as eerie, and it lives up to this promise with its every line. There's a couple of strange things that were really annoying though. And this is probably the first time when my impression from the first part of the book was absolutely wrong, because, and this is so funny, the things which annoyed me in the first two acts were explained by the third act. I started my review as rant, but finished it amazed at what I'd read.
So, here comes the part which I call "My Initial Impression" - I wrote these comments as I read.
• Junior's lines, written in first person, are not taken in quotation marks, and it is confusing. At places you don't understand right away that it's the direct speech and read it as if it is the main body of the narration. I think it is a really silly idea not to use the quotation marks for what the protagonist says. Don't know what it brings to the story except the reader's confusion. I had to reread the whole passages after I understood they were Junior's direct speech.
• Deeper into the story I started feeling more and more claustrophobic as all the events take part at a remote farm, and it adds to the feeling of helplessness increased by the fact that the main character's didn't do anything to protect themselves. I had the same feeling reading and then watching the adaptation of "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro when you simply can't take in and accept why people sheepishly do whatever they are told like they don't even try to stand up to the regime which is going to crush them. In the case of "Foe", I felt that there was this suspenseful dread caused by the appearance of a stranger at the threshold, and I was almost choked by the feeling that Junior and Hen did not do anything about it. They obey any of the stranger's commands and keep asking wrong questions. I get it that the main purpose of this is to keep the reader in limbo, not to let the reader know things, but I really wanted to scream at Junior "Why do you put up with everything this stranger does or says? Why don't you throw him out of your house?" If I felt threatened by a stranger in my own house, I'd kick him out or call 911. But I tried and kept it in mind that such a model of behaviour was probably explained by some mystery I was not let in on yet.
• Perhaps because of this passive attitude of the characters, because of their readiness to accept what is being done to them, I find it hard to feel for them. Especially the main character's wife, Henrietta, who is so irritating! The way she treats her husband... I'm not sure she has feelings for him at all, and it contradicts the idea of the main character who thinks he is having a time of his life with this woman. She acts like a bitch all the time, telling him what to do, ignoring him, slamming doors at his face, moaning about being not free from him, it's like reading about a woman who has her periods 365 days a year. And the most ridiculous is that she takes all the decisions and makes him do things but speaks of herself being a victim of her husband who never let her do what she wanted. I suppose we will never know if this inconsistency is what the author wanted to achieve or it just happened.
And then, BAM! The twist comes and it explains everything! Why they act so weird, why Hen moans about her husband, why this all is happening to them. And you know what, even the absence of the quotation marks becomes reasonable after the mystery is revealed! I have never seen before and have never thought that punctuation can play its role in the delivery of the message in a book.
Summary
Characters - start as a little annoying and plain, but by the end prove to be the opposite! The obvious antagonist is menacing enough, his facial expressions, his moves and dialogue are nicely-written. He is this kind of a smooth-talking evil guy you get creeps of even when he smiles. But even he is not actually what he seems.
Style - the text is easy to follow, the language is concise, every detail is to the point. The sentences are short and together with the proper choice of words it creates the feeling of suspense and tension in every scene from the very first page. I also like that the paragraphs and chapters are relatively short, which, according to Stephen King, is a good thing for a reader, reader-friendly kind of text.
Plot - twist, it seemed to me I started gathering what it was all about by the middle of the book, but the twist was different from what I expected and came like a shocking eye-opener at the end. My theories changed a couple of times. The author gives vague hits throughout the book which help you not to feel completely lost. The plot has no holes in it and it serves the premise of the book effectively.
Expectations - overall, "Foe" met my expectations. However, the first pages set a brooding and dark mood which lasts to the very end. This was the first time I read a philosophical horror, as it is called, and I generally liked it, it falls into the category of these new horror films and books that rely not on boo-effects and scary monsters, but on this excruciatingly slow drilling in your head with social issues turned grotesque by some crazy plot twist. Like it is in the film "Get Out" which exploits the racism and the idea of transplanting souls of the rich white elderly into the bodies of young black people.
I give this book 8 out of 10. It was amazing, but I can't say it was a perfect book for me. I don't feel it is my favourite genre and my beloved characters, and it reminded me also of Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" that traumatized me badly at a young age:)
I highly recommend this book to those who enjoys "The Gone Girl" kind of stories, where there's enough dread, mystery and philosophy revolving around family ralationships. I would also compare the tone of it to the films "Get Out" and "Us" both directed by Jordan Peele - unsettling, philosophical, dark pieces. Hope you'll enjoy it!
And my next choice is the novel "Skinny" by Ibi Caslik, which I'm going to start May 13 and finish May 15.
I'm so glad to hold a paperback in my hands again! Not this soulless electronic book, but a paperback. And boy, the smell is fantastic! The rustle of pages is so comforting! Books remind me of childhood. I wasn't a particularly lonely or brainy child, but I spent a lot of time with books. I still remember some rainy days when I would snug on the window seat with a book, plunging into another story, listening to the rumble of thunder. There's poesy to those memories.
I've been trying to define the true value of reading fiction, and I must say that I don't agree with those who consider it just a hobby which can be replaced by anything else. Knitting or making origami is not the same as reading. Reading is not about spending time, it is about learning how to live, how to analyze, how to build relationships, treat people and tons of other stuff. It is scientifically proven that a person reading fiction tends to be more empathic and sympathetic. And I agree with this. Literature gives an insight into life through stories we read about.
The stories which stand out for me because they have made the biggest formative impact on me are the following: Jane Eyre - the reason why I love dark and brooding Victorian and gothic stuff with a lot of suffering but always with a silver lining to it; everything by Jane Austen - gave me one of my favourite types of male characters embodied by Mr Darcy and instilled in me love to irony and sarcasm; everything by Erich Maria Remark - the reason why I am so much into reading about war which helps portray people's greatest feats and worst sins; the Harry Potter series that taught me what friendship means and how important it is to do what is right rather than what is easy; Ritual by Marina and Sergei Dyachenko - probably unknown for English-speaking audience, but one of the best examples of fantasy, I fell in love with its main characters, with dragons, with Beauty and the Beast motif and with fantasy overall.
I am happy that literature plays such an important role in my life. Nothing would be the same without those books I've held in my hands.
And now I'm happy to start this journey which I call "Around the World in 180 Days" with a philosophical horror "Foe" by Iain Reid.
I called this first book on my challenge list "It's Not What It Seems" because all my thoughts which I have written down in the course of reading it were proven wrong by the third act where the reader learns what it was all really about. I should say, it is one of the best handled twists I have ever faced in literature. I can't say that I didn't see something like this coming, but when the cards were put on the table, I was amazed how all details fell into their places.
The logline: A couple, Junior and Hen, living at a distant farm is visited by a stranger who tells them that Junior has won a lottery and has to spend a few years in the outer space, colonizing another planet. Hen is not going to be alone all this time as Junior will be replaced by his scientifically made identical replica.
The idea is sick! And I like it! The novel is suspenseful from the first lines. Promised as eerie, and it lives up to this promise with its every line. There's a couple of strange things that were really annoying though. And this is probably the first time when my impression from the first part of the book was absolutely wrong, because, and this is so funny, the things which annoyed me in the first two acts were explained by the third act. I started my review as rant, but finished it amazed at what I'd read.
So, here comes the part which I call "My Initial Impression" - I wrote these comments as I read.
• Junior's lines, written in first person, are not taken in quotation marks, and it is confusing. At places you don't understand right away that it's the direct speech and read it as if it is the main body of the narration. I think it is a really silly idea not to use the quotation marks for what the protagonist says. Don't know what it brings to the story except the reader's confusion. I had to reread the whole passages after I understood they were Junior's direct speech.
• Deeper into the story I started feeling more and more claustrophobic as all the events take part at a remote farm, and it adds to the feeling of helplessness increased by the fact that the main character's didn't do anything to protect themselves. I had the same feeling reading and then watching the adaptation of "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro when you simply can't take in and accept why people sheepishly do whatever they are told like they don't even try to stand up to the regime which is going to crush them. In the case of "Foe", I felt that there was this suspenseful dread caused by the appearance of a stranger at the threshold, and I was almost choked by the feeling that Junior and Hen did not do anything about it. They obey any of the stranger's commands and keep asking wrong questions. I get it that the main purpose of this is to keep the reader in limbo, not to let the reader know things, but I really wanted to scream at Junior "Why do you put up with everything this stranger does or says? Why don't you throw him out of your house?" If I felt threatened by a stranger in my own house, I'd kick him out or call 911. But I tried and kept it in mind that such a model of behaviour was probably explained by some mystery I was not let in on yet.
• Perhaps because of this passive attitude of the characters, because of their readiness to accept what is being done to them, I find it hard to feel for them. Especially the main character's wife, Henrietta, who is so irritating! The way she treats her husband... I'm not sure she has feelings for him at all, and it contradicts the idea of the main character who thinks he is having a time of his life with this woman. She acts like a bitch all the time, telling him what to do, ignoring him, slamming doors at his face, moaning about being not free from him, it's like reading about a woman who has her periods 365 days a year. And the most ridiculous is that she takes all the decisions and makes him do things but speaks of herself being a victim of her husband who never let her do what she wanted. I suppose we will never know if this inconsistency is what the author wanted to achieve or it just happened.
And then, BAM! The twist comes and it explains everything! Why they act so weird, why Hen moans about her husband, why this all is happening to them. And you know what, even the absence of the quotation marks becomes reasonable after the mystery is revealed! I have never seen before and have never thought that punctuation can play its role in the delivery of the message in a book.
Summary
Characters - start as a little annoying and plain, but by the end prove to be the opposite! The obvious antagonist is menacing enough, his facial expressions, his moves and dialogue are nicely-written. He is this kind of a smooth-talking evil guy you get creeps of even when he smiles. But even he is not actually what he seems.
Style - the text is easy to follow, the language is concise, every detail is to the point. The sentences are short and together with the proper choice of words it creates the feeling of suspense and tension in every scene from the very first page. I also like that the paragraphs and chapters are relatively short, which, according to Stephen King, is a good thing for a reader, reader-friendly kind of text.
Plot - twist, it seemed to me I started gathering what it was all about by the middle of the book, but the twist was different from what I expected and came like a shocking eye-opener at the end. My theories changed a couple of times. The author gives vague hits throughout the book which help you not to feel completely lost. The plot has no holes in it and it serves the premise of the book effectively.
Expectations - overall, "Foe" met my expectations. However, the first pages set a brooding and dark mood which lasts to the very end. This was the first time I read a philosophical horror, as it is called, and I generally liked it, it falls into the category of these new horror films and books that rely not on boo-effects and scary monsters, but on this excruciatingly slow drilling in your head with social issues turned grotesque by some crazy plot twist. Like it is in the film "Get Out" which exploits the racism and the idea of transplanting souls of the rich white elderly into the bodies of young black people.
I give this book 8 out of 10. It was amazing, but I can't say it was a perfect book for me. I don't feel it is my favourite genre and my beloved characters, and it reminded me also of Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" that traumatized me badly at a young age:)
I highly recommend this book to those who enjoys "The Gone Girl" kind of stories, where there's enough dread, mystery and philosophy revolving around family ralationships. I would also compare the tone of it to the films "Get Out" and "Us" both directed by Jordan Peele - unsettling, philosophical, dark pieces. Hope you'll enjoy it!
And my next choice is the novel "Skinny" by Ibi Caslik, which I'm going to start May 13 and finish May 15.
May 10, 2019
Around the World in 180 Books
I have to make a confession!
For a few years I have been a writer who read very little. I think films, TV shows (thank you very much, Game of Thrones, Penny Dreadful, The Tudors, Mr Selfridge, London 1907, Vikings, The Nick and others:) and the fact that I read more and more electronic books instead of paperbacks sucked all the joy out of reading for me.
Now I want to revive my old page turning tradition by launching my own experiment. I'm going to try and read a new book every two days which will make approximately 180 books a year. Let's call this experiment "Around the World in 180 Books".
The conditions are simple. All books must be paperback, they can't be too big, I suppose just around 200-400 pages, and they mustn't be expensive, so I'm going to buy them on sales. That's it, no preferences in genre. I will embrace everything I can get my hands on. At the end of every book I will share my review.
For me this project is valuable due to one more reason. Since I'm not an English native speaker, I need to read tons of literature to get a better and more profound understanding of the language, so I will also keep a vocabulary while reading, filling it out with the words and phrases I find interesting. Although it may slow me down a little, I believe it will be an invaluable experience.
The project starts May 11 with a very intriguing bestselling novel "Foe" by Iain Reid. It is 260 pages long and, as planned, must take me two days to finish. I bought it in Dollarama, so it cost me only 3 Canadian dollars, which is peanuts.
So, wish me luck with this ambitious plan! Let me know if you want to join in or follow my project!
For a few years I have been a writer who read very little. I think films, TV shows (thank you very much, Game of Thrones, Penny Dreadful, The Tudors, Mr Selfridge, London 1907, Vikings, The Nick and others:) and the fact that I read more and more electronic books instead of paperbacks sucked all the joy out of reading for me.
Now I want to revive my old page turning tradition by launching my own experiment. I'm going to try and read a new book every two days which will make approximately 180 books a year. Let's call this experiment "Around the World in 180 Books".
The conditions are simple. All books must be paperback, they can't be too big, I suppose just around 200-400 pages, and they mustn't be expensive, so I'm going to buy them on sales. That's it, no preferences in genre. I will embrace everything I can get my hands on. At the end of every book I will share my review.
For me this project is valuable due to one more reason. Since I'm not an English native speaker, I need to read tons of literature to get a better and more profound understanding of the language, so I will also keep a vocabulary while reading, filling it out with the words and phrases I find interesting. Although it may slow me down a little, I believe it will be an invaluable experience.
The project starts May 11 with a very intriguing bestselling novel "Foe" by Iain Reid. It is 260 pages long and, as planned, must take me two days to finish. I bought it in Dollarama, so it cost me only 3 Canadian dollars, which is peanuts.
So, wish me luck with this ambitious plan! Let me know if you want to join in or follow my project!
