The Brothers Karamazov ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Brothers Karamazov is the story of three brothers, two women, a grotesque father, an illegitimate brother and  three thousand rubles, set in a provincial town in Russia in the 1860's. 

Dimitri Karamazov was my favourite of the brothers.  He is a 'scoundrel' by his own admission and whilst he has a good, if not passionate, heart he has a temper which prevents him from doing what is right.

Alexei (Alyosha) Karamazov is the type of character I find annoying.  He is too 'good' and kind, (like a benevolent Dickens character, just a bit too good to be true) but I read that Dostoevsky had lost his 3 year old son Alyosha to epilepsy, and so he imbued Alexei with the qualities he admired and, I guess, would have wished his son to have aspired to had he lived.  The author's grief at the loss of his son is also reflected in the novel with the death of a young character, whose funeral scene I will never forget.

I felt I didn't really get to know Ivan Karamazov very well, he is the serious brother who adores the youngest (Alexei) but he carries the Karamazov chip on his shoulder for all to see.

This is one mammoth read, and I did at times feel bored with some of the philosophical passages and long speeches, and I was a bit baffled by The Grand Inquisitor until I read it a couple of times and could appreciate and agree with what Ivan was saying.  But, if you can get past the religion and philosophy this is an exciting story of lust, passion, greed and murder.

I must mention too, the characterisation of the brother's father Fyodor is wonderful.  He is a middle aged wealthy pig.  He is a lustful, disgusting and rude drunk who actually made me laugh in most of his scenes.  He is so vile I loved him! ( I wonder what this says about me, I loved Fyodor but found Alexei annoying? Maybe I just appreciate well drawn antagonists?).

There is a sort of madness attributed to all the characters I have read so far by Dostoevsky, yet you can always identify with them and their self destructive natures.  This novel was planned to be part of a greater work but was sadly never realised as Dostoevsky died just four months after its publication.  I would love to have known what he had in store for Dimitri.

Maxine

Ravens, Pigeons and Parrots!

The Raven drawn by Manet

When Di, one of my book club members suggested this month's theme of a novel with a bird in the title all I could think of to read was To Kill A Mockingbird (again!) or Mockingjay one of the Hunger Games trilogy.  Feeling a bit sceptical about the theme I went onto Goodreads to see what they had listed.  It was then that I realised I had read a fair few of the books, and also that I wanted to read most of the other books that they had listed there too! 

Click here: Novels with a Bird in the Title

I couldn't not read The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.  I know I know, it's a poem not a novel, but what a poem it is!  My first ever reading was last week and I've read it several times since.  I only wish I was younger and could memorise it all, it's just wonderfully written.  I thought I'd quote a few lines here, but reading it again I couldn't decide which of the verses to use and I'd have to quote the whole poem, so if you've never read The Raven do yourself a favour: 

Click here: The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

My next choice was a brilliant little novella by Patrick Suskind (author of the fantastic novel Perfume) called The Pigeon.  It was almost like reading something absurd by Kafka.  The protagonist lives a very simple well ordered life in Paris, everything is going to plan as he slides slowly to retirement, until one day he opens his apartment door and there, in the hallway, is a pigeon.  What follows is both funny and sad at the same time, I could  almost imagine the same events happening to me if I found a large cockroach in my bedroom.  They are my greatest phobia, I can't even sweep one up if I have murdered it with bug killer.  I can't stand the feel of their bodies at the end of the brush.  My fear of cockroaches is rational, but the fear of the pigeon described in Suskind's novel is bizarre, insightful and highly enjoyable.

Finally I have lined up Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes.  This novel was described by a friend of mine, at a book club meeting a few years ago, as his favourite novel at that time and I've been meaning to read it since then.  (David, if you still read my posts then you know who you are).  This will be an audio and once I have finished The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky (which has been one hell of a read, as a reading experience and in length) I will start it.  I'm really looking forward to this one and I hope it lives up to my expectations.

I'm interested to see what my other book clubbers have chosen for this theme.

Until next time,

Maxine

Everyone Loves a Winner!

Earlier this year I won a $150 visa card through Paws and Purrs for doing a pet food survey on my pesky cat's eating habits, and a couple of months ago I won $1200 on lotto which I timed perfectly with the arrival of my rates and water bills LOL!

Last week I won a book pack thanks to a competition run by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and the books arrived today.  I'm quite excited by these reads:

Beautiful Lies by Clare Clark, an historical novel inspired by the true story of a British politician's wife who lived a double life for decades.

Raised from the Ground by Jose Saramago.  This novel was published in 1980 but this English translation is not due for publication until Dec 4.  I have an advanced copy woo hoo!!

The Shelter Cycle by Peter Rock, due for publication April 2013 a haunting novel inspired by true events based around two children who grew up in a religion that believed the world would end in the late 1980s.


Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller a humorous thriller set in Norway with apparently an unforgettable hero. Another advanced copy, due for publication May 2013. I think I might read this one first.

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien - I have read this, but it is a movie tie in edition so I will probably read it again.  I love the cover.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel - again, I have read this novel and absolutely can't wait to see the movie.  This is the tie in edition, and once I have seen the movie I will read it again.

The Best American Essays edited by David Brooks.  I love reading essays, and am looking forward to this one.

The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco.  I have read one other Eco novel and whilst it was hard going I did like it.  I hope this one is easier to read but the premise is very interesting, and it is set in my favourite period - 19th Century Europe.

and last but not least:

Maid by Kimberly Cutter - a fictional treatment of the Joan of Arc legend....... cool, sounds interesting.

Sadly though, despite the fact that I feel really lucky lately I did not have a win on today's Melbourne Cup.  Still it was GREAT to see Australia's favourite race won by an Australian Horse. Congratulations Green Moon!!

But, keep your fingers crossed for me, I have a ticket in tonight's $100 million lotto draw that's about to be drawn any minute!

Until next time,

Maxine

Plot Like Hardy, Write Like Maugham

2012 was to be the year that I dedicated my reading to independent authors, and whilst I tried (I really did), by the end of August I was feeling such a ‘lack of literature’ in my reading diet that I switched back to my ‘1001’ list.

I will keep those E-books that I have received on my reading list and will try to give them a fair go at some point.  The books that I did read made me realise what I enjoy about reading – it’s the plotting, language and characterisations.  With the exception of one or two indie books, these elements just did not figure.

If you could plot like Thomas Hardy, characterise like Stephen King and write like W. Somerset Maugham then you would be on to a winner.

I’m still undecided with regards to independent publishing, because of the two books I did enjoy.  Even a traditionally published author can write a dud, but generally they are well written duds.  It’s the quality of the writing that I am struggling with and this is why I have gone back to my original reading list.

A few years ago I used to be a member of a book club whose reading I felt to be a little too ‘high-brow’ for my humble tastes which didn’t venture much beyond Stephen King and Clive Barker.  But five years on I now feel that this is the level I am currently at.  I need to aim high to get the satisfaction I need – there’s still more Dickens, Dostoesvky, Tolstoy and Hardy novels out there I’ve yet to read and they will be my goals next year.

In the meantime I am really enjoying my current audio book the magnificent Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.  I have had to do a little background reading about Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Sir Thomas More, as well as events during the King's reign, to understand the character motivations and the period, but it is so worth it.  My physical read is All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.  The emotion evoked in this novel is so brutal that I can’t read it at night for fear it will pray on my mind whilst I am asleep. 

Now that’s what I call writing.

Until next time.

Maxine

The Dig Tree ~ Sarah Murgatroyd

Never has my imagination been so captivated reading a novel as it has been reading The Dig Tree.

Living in Australia I had of course heard of the names of Burke and Wills, I mean there is a Burke and Wills Hotel in Toowoomba!  I knew that they had been ill fated explorers in the 1800's but that was about it.

Finishing The Dig Tree today after hardly being able to put it down, I marvel at those early Europeans who risked their lives in pursuit of knowledge of Australia's interior.

The expedition lead by Burke, and his second Wills, was mismanaged from it's conception, to the returning of their bodies for burial.  Burke was only chosen because he happened to be a 'gentleman' (albeit an Irish one), and that was of prime importance for the Exploration Committee, it didn't matter that Burke couldn't even find his way home after a night at the pub.

Burke & Wills' route

Sarah Murgatroyd has written a very compelling story from start to finish, giving an incredible insight into what drove those men and how it all went horribly wrong.  When Burke and Wills left Melbourne, their supplies included an oak dining table and a bath tub!  Aboriginals they met along the way brought gifts of food, but the explorers deemed them a nuisance as they wanted gifts in return from their supplies - knives, oilcloth etc  On the return trip from the Gulf of Carpentaria Burke finally succeeded in scaring the natives off completely, and it was then that he and his remaining men realised the folly - they had to discard the supplies that could have been traded for food because they were too weak to carry them - and finally all but one starved to death surrounded by the bush food they did not know how to prepare properly.

Other explorers of the outback are mentioned in the novel too as this had been a race between the Australian colonies in the hope of opening up the interior for the Telegraph and claiming it for their own.  Names like the Stuart Highway, Leichhardt, Mitchell and Julia Creek all now have a special meaning to me, they will no longer be just the names of places where I freight our company's products. 

This novel also gives you a reality check as to what the Europeans did to the Aboriginal tribes in Australia and how they suffered the loss of their native land to the white intruders.  You can't change the past but they were treated very badly indeed.

Coming from England I do feel the lack of real 'history' here compared to Europe, but having now read The Dig Tree I can appreciate that Australian's colonial history may only be recent, but it can be utterly fascinating.

Maxine

Cheated!

That is how I feel after reading Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

The first half of this novel was so promising that I could not not put it down, it was creepy and disturbing.  I felt excited that I had finally found an unnerving book.  But then it dwindled to something boring, and finally ended up feeling like a bit of feel good fluff.

The premise was initially interesting - a strange weather event in Sweden results in the re-animation of the recently deceased.  The powers that be try to handle the situation as best they can by rounding up the dead (which they later term as the 're-living') and taking them to local hospitals, and digging up the more recently buried.

The novel follows three families - Flora & Elvy, David & Magnus and Gustav & Anna.  They have each lost someone they love, Flora her grandfather (Elvy's husband), David his wife (Magnus' mother) and Gustav his grandson (Anna's son).  Basically the novel then explores the feelings each experiences coming to terms with the 're-living'.

By far the best storyline was that of Gustav (Mahler), Anna and Elias. Gustav is grossly overweight and constantly locks horns with his grieving daughter Anna.  Anna's young son Elias tragically died in a balcony fall, but when the strange event occurs Mahler races to the cemetery and digs Elias up (a bit 'Pet Semetary' you might think, I thought so too but it was not the case as it turned out). The weather has been very hot and dry so Elias has not begun to decompose, he is however mummified and full of decomposing gas.  The description of this mummified child being taken care of with lotions for his skin, and saline which he will swallow from a baby's bottle whilst not moving nor being able see through his dead eyes, is truly nightmare material.  It is tremendously creepy.

I 'got' that Lindqvist wanted to explore the emotional side of a 'zombie' event but it got too airy fairy towards the end especially the Flora & Elvy storyline.  The supposed proof of a soul and life on the other side didn't really work for me.  (After reading The God Delusion can you blame me?) I really think that it would have worked best as an out and out horror.  I didn't need flesh eating zombies, the 're-living' that he presents are creepy enough, but I would have liked to have seen more exploration of the other types of re-living such as those that had been recently drowned.  Anna encounters one and it is quite frightening at first but then that falls flat too.

However, with this said, I think I will read more of Lindqvist's work as he is very readable and the ideas are definitely there.  

Until next time.

Happy Reading!

Maxine

Little Dorrit ~ Charles Dickens

Little Dorrit is rather overshadowed by the more popular of Dickens' novels, but it really is worth reading.  Broken up into two parts, the first being Poverty and the second being Riches, the whole premise centres on the theme of imprisonment (both physical and mental).

When Dickens was a young boy his father was sent to the Marshalsea debtor’s prison whilst the young Dickens went out to work in a blacking warehouse.  This very negative experience served as inspiration for this novel.  The character ‘Little Dorrit’ is Amy Dorrit, a slight young woman, who is born into the Marshalsea and has lived there all her life up to the point where the story first commences.  She looks after her father, an impoverished gentleman, and finds work sewing for people outside of the Marshalsea, whilst her siblings enjoy a better life living with their uncle.

When the Dorrit's receive a change of fortune Amy finds it very hard to live on the other side of the prison walls having known nothing else.  Mr Dorrit, known as the ‘Father of the Marshalsea’, in respect of the many years he has endured there, is a very arrogant and selfish man. He soon rejects all those who have helped him and befriended him in the past and takes his family abroad.  However, even distance does not give him piece of mind, for he lives in fear that his children might let something slip in society or that he will meet someone who is familiar with his previous circumstance.

There is another storyline which centres on the House of Clennam and a suspicious foreign criminal, but I found it rather messy and hard to follow.  The main character from this storyline is Arthur Clennam and he links the two stories having befriended the Dorrits during their imprisonment (Amy had done some sewing for his ailing but iron-willed mother).  Arthur also has dealings with the wonderfully named ‘Circumlocution Office’, which is a government department and a prime example of how things should not be done.  Dickens shows his satirical prowess to great advantage when writing about this office.

Flora Finching - BBC Adaptation

There are many other characters, some relevant and some just filler, but by far my favourite was the kind hearted Flora Finching.  Flora and Arthur had been sweethearts and when they meet again on Arthur's return from overseas she is much changed ie rather rotund and older for her age.  What I loved about her were the references she made about herself, and her weight, and the long dialogues which she delivers at a rate of knots whilst drifting off subject in a big way before finding her way back again. She had me laughing every time, I thought she was brilliant.

John Chivery - BBC Adaptation

Another good character was John Chivery who works at the Marshalsea.  He loves Amy Dorrit, his childhood friend, but is usurped by Arthur Clennam.  He comes up with various epitaphs for his own headstone relevant to whatever event has taken place in each of his scenes. Ie Here lie the mortal remains of John Chivery, never anything worth mentionin', who died of a broken heart, requested with his last breath that the word "Amy" be inscribed over his ashes which was accordingly directed to be done by his afflicted father.   I thought him very adorable and heartbreaking! 

The BBC have a wonderful adaptation available, you can see the trailer here:  Little Dorrit

I just can't get enough of Dickens at the moment, I was only going to read three this year but I've just lined up another two (Hard Times and Our Mutual Friend), but before I delve into them I'm going to read Jane Austen's Persuasion.

So, until we meet again, Happy Reading!

Maxine