Fiction

The Historian – A Read Along

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Coffee and a Book Chick sent me a note that there is going to be a read along of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.  I read The Historian years ago and loved it so I thought why not read it again.  Besides, every time I go to put something back on the shelf, I keep coming across this book.  A sign maybe?  I think it is.

It’s going to be read in chapters averaging about a 100 pages a week so a very doable pace that means I won’t have to drop anything else I’m reading to play along.  More info is at On the Ledge Readalongs if you want more details.

The Road

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The Road

By Cormac McCarthy

Vintage International (Random House, Inc.)

ISBN: 978-0-307-27792-3

5 stars

The first time I wrote this review, it took me a long time.  Now that I’m writing it a second time*, I wonder, and worry, that it will not have the same impact as the first.

Before I start, there will be spoilers so if you don’t want to know, stop reading now.  My feelings won’t be hurt.

The Road is a scary book and I don’t mean in that creepy kind of way.  It’s a full on terror that makes you want to jam something in the light switch so that it never turns off and then permanently lock yourself in so you never have to face the fears of the outside world.

The story takes place in a post-apocalyptical America.  There is nothing left but a ravaged landscape for the few survivors to pick over to sustain their meager existence.  We meet a father and his son on the road heading south in the hopes of leaving the cold winter behind them.  The only possessions they have are piled in an old shopping cart that is their only company besides the falling ash.  They keep to themselves since they are afraid of coming in contact with the gangs that roam the highways looking for survivors.  The father and son cleave to each other and the little they have.

From that description, the book would sound more sad than scary.  What I left out, and will cover now, are the scary parts.

Not only is the setting, a world scraped clean by some epic and unexplained devastation, a bad place to imagine, but to be running from roving bands of gangs who aim to steal humans to use as a food source is even scarier.  The father and son can trust no one and each time they leave a person alive the father is left wondering if they will come back to kill him and his son at some point.  They are constantly running and always on the edge of starvation.  They lead utterly desolate lives filled with nothing.

The scariest scene in this book is the basement scene.  It actually made me stop reading at one point but only for a short time.  Without any more introduction…I give you the basement scene.  The father and son come upon a house.  It looks like it’s in good condition, and knowing they have no food left, the father decides they must risk it and investigate.  The son is terrified of the indoors and begs his father to leave the moment they enter the house.  The father is determined to find something to feed his son.  He doesn’t find canned goods though but he does find a locked door to a basement.  With the son dragging on his father’s hand or coat sleeve, whichever he can get a hold of, the father begins to hack away at the lock delirious with the idea of finding food.  He gets the door open and what he finds in the basement is this: people chained to walls missing arms, legs, feet, and hands.  He finds a food source, but not the one he and his son survive on.  They run from the house knowing that the owners will be back and they have no desire to become part of the basement fare.  The hide in the woods hoping they will not be found.  The scene is short but will make your heart beat fast in those few pages.

It’s not what is found in the basement, although that in itself is a most disgusting thought, it’s the son’s reaction and his incessant begging of the father to leave.  He keeps saying he has a bad feeling and wants to go but the father, in a rage to find to food, forgets himself and almost gets the two of them killed.  The moments are so intense you can hear your own heart beat in the utter silence that envelopes the father and son in the house.

There is not much dialogue in this book but what sparse words are used only add to the complete and utter sadness of their lives.  They are walking on a road to nowhere, not knowing where it will take them, and if it will lead them to salvation or death.

The writing is hard, short, staccato almost in its brevity.  The two people alone don’t have much to say and that mirrors their plight.  There just isn’t much for them anywhere.  There is nothing of the life the father once knew and he has trouble conveying what that even was to his son.

The father seems to view the son as a Jesus figure of sorts and that’s what drives him to protect him so manically.  His thoughts are always of his son and it’s sad to watch him reason with himself about the best way to protect him.  There’s much more to this issue but I think it comes through better if you read it yourself since it’s very hard to describe adequately here.

McCarthy doesn’t use accepted punctuation styles to make the dialogue stand out so it took me a few minutes of reading to get a feeling for his style.  Once there, he sucks you in.  There were many times that I wanted to put the book down but I couldn’t.

My edition of the book notes that McCarthy is a Pulitzer Prize winner and with good reason — this is easily one of the best books I have ever read.

* Thank you, computer, for eating my first review.

The King of Attolia

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The King of Attolia

By Megan Whalen Turner

Greenwillow Books

ISBN: 0-06-083578-8

4 stars

There will be spoilers so if you’re not interested in knowing how this one turns out, you might want to look away.  It’s the third in a series and I can’t figure out how to write this without giving at least a few tidbits away.  I think this is the best in the series so far and the longer this story goes on, the more I love it.

Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, is now the King of Attolia.  He has what he wanted, the Queen of Attolia as his wife, and something he doesn’t want, the crown of Attolia.  The court hates him, believing him to be a petulant child, and don’t understand why the Queen married him.   Political schemes are hatched, there’s open talk of death threats on the King’s life, and his attendants do all they can to make him appear foolish.  A young, naive guard named Costis, after openly stating his contempt for the King and physically assaulting him, ends up in the center of the political storm, and for the first time, actually seeing and understanding his new King.

In this book you really get to see Gen’s character, and if you play close enough attention, you see the rouse Gen is playing.  It’s a good show and sets up numerous plot lines for the next book.  It was nice to see the relationship between Gen and the Queen develop as well.  These two dance around each other a lot and sometime you do wonder if it’s all for show, and other times, if they actually like each other at all.

I love books full of court intrigue and this one has a lot of it: unhappy barons, scheming courtiers, a King and Queen who seem to loathe each other, a threat of war, and numerous back stabbing people looking to make their fortunes on the fate of others.

I always find it hard to write reviews for books in a series because I have to give something away in order to make it work.  I knew that would be the case with this one especially since Whalen Turner seems to be building up to something.

Each new book in this series has been filled with political schemes and intrigue and it’s only getting deeper and more complex with each book.  Gen’s character has been revealed with each successive book and he’s a character I’ve grown to love.  I’m looking forward to A Conspiracy of Kings.

If you’re interested you can read my reviews of The Thief and the Queen of Attolia.

Howl’s Moving Castle

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Howl’s Moving Castle

By Diana Wynne Jones

Greenwillow Books

ISBN: 0-06-029881-2

4.5 stars

Howl’s Moving Castle has been on my list of books to read for a long time, too long in fact.  I finally got around to reading it and found a lovely story complete with fantasy, magic, and wonderful characters.

Sophie Hatter lives in a small town called Market Chipping in the land of Ingary.  Market Chipping is not far from the land of the Witch of the Waste, a very spiteful and mean witch, and Wizard Howl’s moving castle which roves around the mountainside outside of town.

Sophie is the oldest of three daughters of a well to do family that owns a hat shop.  Sophie knows that as the oldest she will be the one to fail first and is happy to see her sisters seek their fortunes instead of herself.  When their father dies many things change for the small family, and with her sisters set up in safe places where they will be able to find happy futures, Sophie stays to work at the hat shop.  She unknowingly sells a hat to the Witch of the Waste who turns out to be an unhappy customer and returns to turn her into an old woman.  Disgusted with her new situation, she decides to set out and seek her fortune.  As an old lady she figures she has nothing left to worry about.  With Wizard Howl’s castle in her sights, she chases it down and settles in making herself indispensible to Howl, his assistant, and the fire demon that inhabits and powers the castle fireplace.

When I started this book I was a little put off by Sophie who was content to be last and willing to believe that she shouldn’t have a good fortune awaiting her.  She’s down on herself, has no confidence, and while talented when it comes to designing and decorating hats, she thinks nothing will come of it.  Being an old lady makes her drop all inhibitions and she begins to speak her mind, take chances, and look for opportunities.  She becomes infinitely more likable when she’s old.  Howl is also an interesting character and not at all what everyone thinks but the most likable character for me was the fire demon Calcifer who Sophie befriends, mostly by bullying him into doing what she wants.

Howl’s Moving Castle is a great warm-hearted fantasy.  There are characters to get attached to and the story of these people thrown together and tormented by the Witch of the Waste, all for different reasons and all unaware of the others’ problems, is a good tale.  In the end, everything that Sophie thought she could never have because she simply didn’t feel herself worthy, changes for her and she sees herself, her family, and her friends in a whole new way.  Happy endings sometimes are the best.

I’m a repeat reader of authors that I like and Diana Wynn Jones will become one of those authors that I repeatedly re-read.

My Favorite Reads – The Shipping News

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Alyce from At Home With Books features one of her favorite reads each Thursday and this week my pick is…

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx.

From the back cover: At thirty-six, Quoyle, a third-rate newspaperman, is wrenched violently out of his workaday life when his two-timing wife meets her just desserts.  He retreats with his two daughters to his ancestral home on the starkly beautiful Newfoundland coast, where a rich cast of local characters all play a part in Quoyle’s struggle to reclaim his life.  As three generations of his family cobble up new lives, Quoyle confronts his private demons — and the unpredictable forces of nature and society — and begins to see the possibility of love without pain or misery.

My thoughts: I haven’t thought about this book in years but when I was flipping around the movie channels about a week or so ago, I came across the movie and remembered how much I loved this book.

Quoyle is such a sad character but you love him, mostly because you feel so bad for him at the beginning, but when he starts to realize that life has some good parts, you really love him.  The family dynamics are fantastic and you can laugh, get annoyed, and cry at all their lives.  I also adored the way Proulx adds cultural touches to the book that feel so right and not added on to fit with the setting.  Everything and everyone belongs.

This book was published in 1993 but if you see a copy around, give it a try.  You’ll be delighted and justly rewarded.

The Thieves of Manhattan

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The Thieves of Manhattan

By Adam Langer

Spiegel & Grau Trade Paperbacks

ISBN: 978-1-4000-6891-3

4 stars

Ian Minot is an author; an author that works in a coffee shop to pay the rent and stares at a blank computer screen on his writing days.  His girlfriend is a gorgeous, Eastern European woman and a much better writer than he is.  He expects her to dump him at any moment.  He wants to write the truth, but unfortunately for him, his life isn’t the stuff great books are made of.  He struggles looking for inspiration becoming bitter with his chosen career wondering if it might be better for him, and any potential readers he might acquire, to quit now.

When a man named Blade publishes a gritty memoir detailing all the crime, prison time, and retched things he’s done in his life, Ian takes offense telling anyone who will listen than the guy is a liar and the whole book is a fraud.  When his girlfriend gets a book deal, life gets even worse for Ian.  That’s when the confident man walks into his life with a proposition that will change his existence — together, the confident man and Ian, will pass off the confident man’s fiction novel as Ian’s memoir and wait for the cash and critical acclaim to roll in.  With nothing to his name and no coffee shop job left, Ian agrees to the scheme and finds out that the truth is not always what one believes.

The Thieves of Manhattan is a wry look at the publishing industry and the problems inherent in the industry, as well as, the silly stereotypical people and behaviors that inhabit it.  I found the first part of the story a bit slow.  Ian is a complainer and not all that easy to like which seems to be the way he likes it, but once the confident man steps into the picture, it picks up and takes an interesting turn.  You see it coming but Langer writes in such a way that makes it fun to read even when see (or think you see) how it will all end.

Langer makes up a lot of terms and uses industry jargon and includes a glossary in the back of the book.  At first I thought it was amusing, but quickly found it annoying and pretentious.  He uses the terms too freely and too often and they lose their entertainment value early on.  At least this was the case for me, could be different for others.

Overall, it’s a great quick read that lambastes the publishing industry for all its problems and all the crap that it publishes.  The main character doesn’t hold himself up as some honest, wonderful writer, and even though he goes along with the scheme he manages to get himself involved in, he doesn’t ever think of himself as better.  Just someone that broke into the system by fraud and found a way out of using the same corrupt system that got him in.  It’s an interesting read.

Teaser Tuesdays

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.  The idea is to give everyone a look inside the book you’re reading.

Play along: Grab your current read; Open to a random page; Share two teaser sentences from that page; Share the title and author so that other participants know what you’re reading.

Back from vacation in time for a Tuesday Teaser.  I started Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara last night so that’s what I’ll be featuring today.

“It looked like Julian was going to have a good party some time between Christmas and New Year’s, because he has asked Ed Charney, the big shot, if he could get him a case of champagne, good champagne, and deliver it the day after Christmas.  Ed, of course, said he’d be only too glad to get some good champagne, and he had attended to the matter himself.” (17)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

By J.K. Rowling

Scholastic

ISBN: 0-439-06486-4

5 stars

Ah, the second book in my Harry Potter re-read this summer and what a wonderful story this one is.  OK, I’ll probably say that about all of them so get over it now.  Before I forget to mention it, there will be a number of spoilers in this one so stop reading now if you prefer not to know.

The short re-cap of this installment — Harry joins Ron and Hermione for their second year at Hogwarts.  Harry finds out he’s a parseltongue (he can talk to snakes) and starts to hear voices, student turn up petrified, and the Chamber of Secrets is rumored to have been opened by the heir of Slytherin.

Flying cars, the Whomping Willow, and Dobby the house elf.  Dobby is probably one of my favorite characters, just below Ginny Weasley.  When he died in book seven, I was so upset, maybe even more upset than when Dumbledore died because I wasn’t expecting it.  He’s amusing, sort of pathetic, and shows you just how awful the Malfoy’s are as a family.  It’s not just Draco, it’s all of them.  We learn more about Hagrid and we get to see how nasty some of the creatures are that he loves so dearly.  I’m with Ron all that way on this one; I prefer the dragon to the gargantuan sized spiders.  They are way too creepy, crawly, and there is something very disturbing about all those all those eyes looking back at you.  Ginny joins the rest of the Weasley clan at school in year two and I love her shyness and the crush she has on Harry.  It’s so cute.  Still hating Snape as I expected to.  Nasty, mean, greasy, undermining — I have nothing nice to say about him and that will not be changing.  I know what’s coming and re-reading makes me dislike him ever more than ever.  The Weasley twins set off more fireworks in this one and it’s nice to see their future in humor retail emerging.  Such talent these two boys have for destruction but it’s all in good fun and someone has to be the comic relief.

Details, details, details.  Rowling does such a great job of putting so many tiny hints in these books.  First, the idea that Harry can talk to snakes appears in the Sorcerer’s Stone when he unleashes the snake at the zoo and now it’s explained even more here by Dumbledore when he tells Harry that part of Voldermort’s power was transferred to Harry when he attacked him.  What I like even more is that it’s left out there for us to wonder what will happen with that bit of information later.  I also like the mention of werewolves in this one preparing us for a new professor in book three which I will tell you now is my favorite.  🙂

Not having read these early books in such a long time makes me very happy to be doing so now.  They are a treat to read and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.  I can easily classify this series as a comfort read.