March 16, 2009
Review, What to Read
3 Comments
Why I chose it
This book is listed on the 1001 books you must read before you die. I have a strange obsession with the list, and can’t pass up a bookring (Q57) when it comes my way.
The Buzz
On of the great English comic novels, Diary of a Nobody bridges the world of Dickens to that of Waugh and Wodehouse… The masterstroke of the novel is the ironic distance between Pooter’s sense of himself and the world, and his dim recognition that matters might be otherwise.
1001 Books:
What I reckon
This is a curious fictitious diary of a bumbling man in England in the 1890s. He works hard at fitting into his place in society, and is perpetually embarrassed by his son and friends, who are , basically, bounders. The only “normal” person in his life is is wife, who he perpetually undervalues. I got the impression she spends a bit of time laughing at him.
This book was enjoyable, but it was odd to relate to such an overlooked man, in a strange cultural context. I imagine a modern version of this might appear as a literary version of Kath and Kim. If I understood the culture well, it might have been hilarious.
The fact that this book is on the 1001 list makes me think it was probably one to the first novels in this style - where the protagonist is the butt of the jokes, not least his ridiculous puns. Very readable, but not a book that I would press on anyone else.
The copy I read is registered with bookcrossing. It was part of a bookray, and has travelled on to visit another reader.
January 26, 2009
Review
No Comments
Why I chose it
This book is on my favourite list - 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (amazon link)
.
The Buzz
1001 books:
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a charmingly naughty fable, capturing in crystal a glorious moment of New York during the last gasp of American innocence. … Paving the way for the revolution to come, Holly is a gamine - sexually free, hedonistic, a prostitute. She lives for the moment, damns the consequences and makes up her morality as she goes along. … Daring in its day.. it may have lost its ability to shock, but its charm does not diminish.
What I reckon
I remember watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s when I was a teenager and not getting the fuss. Then some years later, on a re-watch, I realised I wanted to be Audrey Hepburn. Not the disaster, but the confidence, style and unflappability. Later I heard that she was a prostitute, sanitized for the big screen. That was disappointing.
Now, ten years later, I finally finished reading Truman Capote’s version of the story. Simply captivating.
If it is possible, the paper Holly Golightly is even more Audrey Hepburn than the celluloid version. And not, in my opinion, a prostitute (despite what everyone keeps telling me). More like a serially kept woman. I don’t want to be her, but I would like to be inspired by her. Grace, charm and confidence when life, finances and love are in tatters - definitely a skill for the modern woman.
The short novella is well written, with clarity of prose that is inspiring. The story is simply a woman of poise and style clambouring from one personal disaster to the next, meanwhile inspiring those in her wake to desire her. It sounds awful, but she is written in a way that makes desire understandable.
As an added bonus, my copy of the book included some more short stories, on entirely different themes. One written on the sacrifices of love still bounces around in my head.
I really enjoyed this book. I recommend it to any seeking inspiration. My copy was registered with Bookcrossing. I released it into the wild at Noosaville, Queensland.
What else to read?
The Librarything Suggester top 10 recommendations are:
Truman Capote:
Esther Freud:
Tama Janowitz:
Charles Webb:
Françoise Sagan:
L. P. Hartley:
Robert Anton Wilson:
- Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything: Or Old Bob Exposes His Ignorance (LibraryThing, Amazon
)
January 14, 2009
Review
3 Comments
Why I chose it
This book is on the - 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (amazon) List, which I am sort of obsessed with.
The Buzz
1001 books:
Through the character of Smiley, Le Carre deftly proposes searching questions about the state of Britain. In many ways, Smiley is the logical sucessor to Sherlock Holmes… The novel wonderfully captures a dark, brooding environment where human warmth appears as a rare commodity
What I reckon
The British secret service is in trouble and they pull expert spy, George Smiley, out of retirement to sort it out. Smiley is a little hobbit of a man with thinly veiled personal life catastrophes, and professional enigma. He uses his contacts to unravel the twist of politics and subterfuge to identify a highly placed soviet mole at the height of the cold war.
I had never read any John Le Carre before, as I put them in the “books for my Dad” basket. I’m not sure I’ll read anymore. This is perhaps one of the first spy novels I have read. I enjoyed how workplace political tensions were tangled up with the effects of inaccurate information and double crossing by the mole. In other genres, spies are cut and dried, but these were as feeble as the rest of us in some ways, but with better hand to hand combat skills.
I’m not sure how this is one of the 1001 I must read. I guess it is a fine example of a classic spy novel, and may be worth it for that value alone.
The copy of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy I read was registered with Bookcrossing. It is currently still with me, but I will soon get it traveling again.
What else to read?
The Librarything Suggester top 10 recommendations are:
