Snog? Marry? Avoid? History...
To all who are reading this,
Today is the last day of this wonderful little blogging week. It's been an experience for me, and I hope it has for you.
I've enjoyed sharing my views about the various books that have been on display. Perhaps I have inspired you to pick up one of these books, try a new author, to see if your opinion differs to mine.
I welcome others thoughts, so feel free to drop me a comment. It can be annoymous, or not. I'd love to hear from you.
I'm getting all sentimental now, talking about this past week. And as Alanis Morissette once said, "And isn't it ironic... don't you think?"
History.
It's everywhere, from the foundations of our homes to the very genes that inhabit our body. Most people think history, and they think wars past, going back to the Romans and the Greeks. The whole world is knee deep in rich tales about people and the places they lived. It doesn't have to be boring and dull, with layers upon layers of thick dust. It can be so interesting, and with the right person telling the story, it can come alive.
Here are the last three books I will talk about this week. Thank you for reading. It has been absolute pleasure.
1. The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland.
"England, 1321. Welcome to the Dark Ages. In the heart of the countryside lies an isolated village, where pagan Owl Masters rule through fear, superstition and murder. When a group of religious women ill-advisedly settles outside the village, they awaken dangerous jealousies. Why do their crops succeed? How do their cattle survive the plague? Are they concealing a holy relic which protects them from harm? The Owl Masters cry 'Witchcraft' and sharpen their talons. As torment and hellfire rain down, the women must look to their faith to save them from the darkness spreading across the land. Fear is a question of what you believe. And death alone the answer."
I came across this book on a stall in my local library, describing all about the author. I was intrigued, and so I picked up this book. Published in 2009, it was a riveting read. The superstitious element of the book was well crafted, with engaging characters who weren't what you expected. I didn't know anything about the mysterious Owlman, and so it really made you think. What really caught my attention was how the women were accused of witchcraft, a subject which I wrote abut during my second year of university for a Prose project. It really brings alive the hardships and persecutions that women in England were faced with.
Vivid, well crafted and and extremely informative for a piece of fiction.
I give this: SNOG!
2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.
"A young peasant girl is sold as servant and apprentice to a renowned geisha house. She tells her story many years later from the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Her memoirs conjure up the perfection and the ugliness of life behind rice-paper screens, where young girls learn the arts of geisha - dancing and singing, how to wind the kimono, how to walk and pour tea, and how to beguile the land's most powerful men."
Published in 1998, I took this book holiday after seeing the trailer for the film adaptation. It looked beautiful, and I wanted to read the book before I saw the film. It was the correct thing to do, and is such an enchanting and delightful read, that my copy looks as if its going to fall to pieces the next time I open it. I came into the novel believing it to be true, and was quite upset when I discovered it was fiction. But not for long. Absolutely beautiful. Captivating. I don't have enough words to describe it. It is a rare glimpse into the life of a geisha, all based on historical evidence, and talks given by a geisha who left Japan and made a home for herself in the Western world. Sayuri is our protagonist and you feel so much for her as she goes through the many difficult life changes. Reading it made me want to go to Japan, and have tea in a ceremony, served by a geisha. It's an area of history that has always interested me, and I wrote a piece about a geisha for a Non-Fiction class in my first year of university.
One word to sum up my experiences with Memoirs of a Geisha: evocative.
3. The Island by Victoria Hislop.
"On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother's past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more. Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone's throw from the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga - Greece's former leper colony. Then she finds Fotini, and at last hears the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters and a family rent by tragedy, war and passion. She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip..."
This book was published in 2005. I read it for my book group in 2011, and it was not one I would normally chose. I wasn't pulled in by the blurb, yet I still wanted to read it. It was set in Greece, a country I love. A country steeped in history and mythology. My name being Greek, I have always had a fasciantion with the country. The novel, however, was lacking. I found the characters a little one-dimensional, even with some of them suffering from leprosy. I didn't want to read about them, or their stories. I wanted to find one person to emphasise with, but found lacking. The story was a little clunky in places. It seemed almost stragetically placed, but wasn't needed. The information finally relayed to us about Crete and its leper colonies on Spinalonga was slightly interesting, but at the same time, a little lacking.
Show More Not a book for everyone, and seemingly hyped up.
I give this: AVOID!
---
Once again, I thank you for joining me on this journey. And I hope you'll come back. I have many more exciting things planned for this little blog of mine.
Yours, with eternal ink,
Zoe
---
Currently reading: Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Show Less
Today is the last day of this wonderful little blogging week. It's been an experience for me, and I hope it has for you.
I've enjoyed sharing my views about the various books that have been on display. Perhaps I have inspired you to pick up one of these books, try a new author, to see if your opinion differs to mine.
I welcome others thoughts, so feel free to drop me a comment. It can be annoymous, or not. I'd love to hear from you.
I'm getting all sentimental now, talking about this past week. And as Alanis Morissette once said, "And isn't it ironic... don't you think?"
History.
It's everywhere, from the foundations of our homes to the very genes that inhabit our body. Most people think history, and they think wars past, going back to the Romans and the Greeks. The whole world is knee deep in rich tales about people and the places they lived. It doesn't have to be boring and dull, with layers upon layers of thick dust. It can be so interesting, and with the right person telling the story, it can come alive.
Here are the last three books I will talk about this week. Thank you for reading. It has been absolute pleasure.
1. The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland.
"England, 1321. Welcome to the Dark Ages. In the heart of the countryside lies an isolated village, where pagan Owl Masters rule through fear, superstition and murder. When a group of religious women ill-advisedly settles outside the village, they awaken dangerous jealousies. Why do their crops succeed? How do their cattle survive the plague? Are they concealing a holy relic which protects them from harm? The Owl Masters cry 'Witchcraft' and sharpen their talons. As torment and hellfire rain down, the women must look to their faith to save them from the darkness spreading across the land. Fear is a question of what you believe. And death alone the answer."I came across this book on a stall in my local library, describing all about the author. I was intrigued, and so I picked up this book. Published in 2009, it was a riveting read. The superstitious element of the book was well crafted, with engaging characters who weren't what you expected. I didn't know anything about the mysterious Owlman, and so it really made you think. What really caught my attention was how the women were accused of witchcraft, a subject which I wrote abut during my second year of university for a Prose project. It really brings alive the hardships and persecutions that women in England were faced with.
Vivid, well crafted and and extremely informative for a piece of fiction.
I give this: SNOG!
2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.
"A young peasant girl is sold as servant and apprentice to a renowned geisha house. She tells her story many years later from the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Her memoirs conjure up the perfection and the ugliness of life behind rice-paper screens, where young girls learn the arts of geisha - dancing and singing, how to wind the kimono, how to walk and pour tea, and how to beguile the land's most powerful men."Published in 1998, I took this book holiday after seeing the trailer for the film adaptation. It looked beautiful, and I wanted to read the book before I saw the film. It was the correct thing to do, and is such an enchanting and delightful read, that my copy looks as if its going to fall to pieces the next time I open it. I came into the novel believing it to be true, and was quite upset when I discovered it was fiction. But not for long. Absolutely beautiful. Captivating. I don't have enough words to describe it. It is a rare glimpse into the life of a geisha, all based on historical evidence, and talks given by a geisha who left Japan and made a home for herself in the Western world. Sayuri is our protagonist and you feel so much for her as she goes through the many difficult life changes. Reading it made me want to go to Japan, and have tea in a ceremony, served by a geisha. It's an area of history that has always interested me, and I wrote a piece about a geisha for a Non-Fiction class in my first year of university.
One word to sum up my experiences with Memoirs of a Geisha: evocative.
3. The Island by Victoria Hislop.
"On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother's past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more. Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone's throw from the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga - Greece's former leper colony. Then she finds Fotini, and at last hears the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters and a family rent by tragedy, war and passion. She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip..."This book was published in 2005. I read it for my book group in 2011, and it was not one I would normally chose. I wasn't pulled in by the blurb, yet I still wanted to read it. It was set in Greece, a country I love. A country steeped in history and mythology. My name being Greek, I have always had a fasciantion with the country. The novel, however, was lacking. I found the characters a little one-dimensional, even with some of them suffering from leprosy. I didn't want to read about them, or their stories. I wanted to find one person to emphasise with, but found lacking. The story was a little clunky in places. It seemed almost stragetically placed, but wasn't needed. The information finally relayed to us about Crete and its leper colonies on Spinalonga was slightly interesting, but at the same time, a little lacking.
Show More Not a book for everyone, and seemingly hyped up.
I give this: AVOID!
---
Once again, I thank you for joining me on this journey. And I hope you'll come back. I have many more exciting things planned for this little blog of mine.
Yours, with eternal ink,
Zoe
---
Currently reading: Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Show Less
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