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Wednesday, 30 April 2014
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Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Goodbye Blogger
I am not sure why Blogger has made the decision not to support Internet Explorer 8 any more. I don't need to update my computer, thank you. And I don't want to change my browser to Google Chrome, just to suit the blogging platform.
Maybe it is part of the campaign by Google to take over the internet?
I'm no great fan of Microsoft, but I'm no fan at all of any company who refuses to support interoperability on the Internet - which is the whole basic premise on which web pages and the WWW was built.
So, reluctantly, I am moving out.
Will gradually shift my posts to WordPress, where I already have a number of blogs.
Maybe it is part of the campaign by Google to take over the internet?
I'm no great fan of Microsoft, but I'm no fan at all of any company who refuses to support interoperability on the Internet - which is the whole basic premise on which web pages and the WWW was built.
So, reluctantly, I am moving out.
Will gradually shift my posts to WordPress, where I already have a number of blogs.
Thursday, 14 June 2012
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
This is a who-dunnit, with the main protagonist being an investigative reporter who takes up a commission to write an old man's biography. But his real mission is to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. The journalist's task is complicated by the fact the events took place many years previously and there is considerable antagonism displayed by other family members to the supposed biography. In addition, the journalist faces an impending spell in prison and is embroiled in a messy love life.
This is the first book of a trilogy and I confess I haven't read the other two in the series yet.
What I liked about this book: I liked the density of the story. There was a real sense of place and the characters were well rounded. Tension and uncertainty were maintained throughout the book and the resolution of the mystery was credible but unexpected. The plot was complex. There was no artificial happy ending.
What I didn't like: The book began slowly and I was put off by the extended family and the parade of different characters with their foreign names, making it hard to follow who was who - despite the helpfully provided family tree.
In fact, the main problem I had with the beginning of the story was my uncertainty about who to identify with. Initially, it seemed unclear who the main character was, until the author appeared to settle on the journalist. It was brought home to me how important this element is to a reader. Near the beginning of any book, we expect to know who the story is about. Who do we focus our attention on?
There is a part of the book, near the end, where a particularly horrendous series of crimes is uncovered. This is never satisfactorily dealt with (maybe it is revisited in subsequent book in the series) and almost pushed aside as being too complex to address. I felt the late revelation of this aspect of the story, and the almost dismissive trivialisation of the crimes, was unsatisfactory and undermined some of the realism of the rest of the book.
But this is a great book and well worth reading. It demands some attention. I plan to read the next two books in the trilogy, but I am waiting for some dedicated reading time to appear in my schedule.
Friday, 1 June 2012
R is for Rocket, by Ray Bradbury
This is a great collection of sci-fi stories from the 1950s.
View my review here: http://ruthlessreadings.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/r-is-for-rocket-by-ray-bradbury/
View my review here: http://ruthlessreadings.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/r-is-for-rocket-by-ray-bradbury/
Monday, 16 April 2012
Everything You Need, by A.L. Kennedy
I had read an extract of AL Kennedy's work for a writing assignment and I have seen her on television. She has a great reputation and comes across as intelligent, articulate and funny. So I was really looking forward to reading one of her novels and I was pleased when I found this one, Everything you Need, in my local library.
You can't fault the writing. This book is written in a high literary style. Every paragraph, every sentence, every phrase is perfectly crafted. Words are used in new and different combinations. The evoking of place and atmosphere is spot on. The author's considerable abilities shine through. The writing is stylish. Elegant. Clever. Thought provoking.
But, after getting half way through, and having renewed my loan for the third time at my local library, I decided life is too short to read something that is a chore, rather than enjoyable.
Why did I find this book so difficult to read?
In other words, it didn't suit me. I like a story that is driven by - well - by a story. For the 567 pages of this, nothing much really happens. Actually, a few things do happen, but they could have been compressed into a third of the space, without losing any of the complexity of the plot.
(Although, since I only got half way through, it may possibly be that amazing things happened in the second half of the book. I just didn't stay and continue past the 259th page to find out.)
I guess I found the basic premise simply unbelievable. I just couldn't believe this young woman - who did not appear to be either a very writerly or a scholarly person and who had just discovered sex - would leave the only world she knew and take herself off to a small writer's commune on a remote island in Scotland and spend several long, boring, lonely, celibate years with a small group of unlikeable, older people.
I did skip to the last few pages and I did read the ending. It was pretty predictable, but I won't spoil it for you.
However, I do think A.L. Kennedy is a great writer. This book just wasn't for me. I have been back to the library and I have just reserved a collection of her short stories, Indelible Acts. Hopefully, I will find her short fiction more enjoyable to read.
You can't fault the writing. This book is written in a high literary style. Every paragraph, every sentence, every phrase is perfectly crafted. Words are used in new and different combinations. The evoking of place and atmosphere is spot on. The author's considerable abilities shine through. The writing is stylish. Elegant. Clever. Thought provoking.
But, after getting half way through, and having renewed my loan for the third time at my local library, I decided life is too short to read something that is a chore, rather than enjoyable.
Why did I find this book so difficult to read?
- it is far too long,
- the characters are unlikeable,
- the basic story line seems implausable
- the writing is so rich and, in places, so convoluted, that it requires far too much attention
- nothing really happens.
In other words, it didn't suit me. I like a story that is driven by - well - by a story. For the 567 pages of this, nothing much really happens. Actually, a few things do happen, but they could have been compressed into a third of the space, without losing any of the complexity of the plot.
(Although, since I only got half way through, it may possibly be that amazing things happened in the second half of the book. I just didn't stay and continue past the 259th page to find out.)
I guess I found the basic premise simply unbelievable. I just couldn't believe this young woman - who did not appear to be either a very writerly or a scholarly person and who had just discovered sex - would leave the only world she knew and take herself off to a small writer's commune on a remote island in Scotland and spend several long, boring, lonely, celibate years with a small group of unlikeable, older people.
I did skip to the last few pages and I did read the ending. It was pretty predictable, but I won't spoil it for you.
However, I do think A.L. Kennedy is a great writer. This book just wasn't for me. I have been back to the library and I have just reserved a collection of her short stories, Indelible Acts. Hopefully, I will find her short fiction more enjoyable to read.
Friday, 16 December 2011
Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Love in the Time of Cholera was written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a Colombian author, and originally published in Spanish in 1985 and since translated into English.
The story is set on the Caribbean coast of South America and sprawls across a period of 50 years spanning the late 19th and early 20th Century. The language is dense and the tale is complex with a host of characters. On the surface, this is a story of a long running love affair - bordering on the obsessive - between a somewhat indifferent woman and her ardent suitor.
Underneath the surface, this is a story of social constraints, of class structure and racism, of shifting values and sexual morals, of contradictions, of obsessive love, of the different faces of affection and desire, of disease and decay and, above all, it is a tale about the ageing process and mortality.
What I liked about the story: I liked the density of it, the complex moral questions it posed, the depth and scale, the lovely language, the settings, the vivid descriptions and, I have to admit, the eventual happy ending.
What I didn't like about the story: It was, in my opinion, too long. I kept reading only to find out what happened in the end and found the early middle section rather slow. So, I confess, I would have enjoyed the book far more if it was much shorter and it came alive for me in the final third. I was not convinced by the main female character who failed to generate much sympathy in me and I didn't really understand the hero's preoccupation with her. (He met many more far more interesting women as the book progressed and I wanted to shake him and shout at him "Ditch the bitch!".)
The story is set on the Caribbean coast of South America and sprawls across a period of 50 years spanning the late 19th and early 20th Century. The language is dense and the tale is complex with a host of characters. On the surface, this is a story of a long running love affair - bordering on the obsessive - between a somewhat indifferent woman and her ardent suitor.
Underneath the surface, this is a story of social constraints, of class structure and racism, of shifting values and sexual morals, of contradictions, of obsessive love, of the different faces of affection and desire, of disease and decay and, above all, it is a tale about the ageing process and mortality.
What I liked about the story: I liked the density of it, the complex moral questions it posed, the depth and scale, the lovely language, the settings, the vivid descriptions and, I have to admit, the eventual happy ending.
What I didn't like about the story: It was, in my opinion, too long. I kept reading only to find out what happened in the end and found the early middle section rather slow. So, I confess, I would have enjoyed the book far more if it was much shorter and it came alive for me in the final third. I was not convinced by the main female character who failed to generate much sympathy in me and I didn't really understand the hero's preoccupation with her. (He met many more far more interesting women as the book progressed and I wanted to shake him and shout at him "Ditch the bitch!".)
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Lord of Light, by Roger Zelazny
Lord of Light is an epic book set on a planet colonised by human beings - but with a twist. There are also gods on the planet. These gods may be - I don't know for sure - reasonably accurate representations of Hindu gods. But, like the gods of ancient Greece, they are divine in their Attributes but are all too human in their failings. (The Attributes of the gods are their 'special powers'. Their failings are many: greed, pride, arrogance, cruelty, lust, etc.)
I have not read books by Roger Zelazny before. He has a terrific reputation as a sci-fi writer. I am not sure if his other books are written in the same style; a complex, god-like style of narration with flowery language, reminiscent of an ancient myth. This is somewhat of an acquired taste.
The 'hero' is a resurrected god (don't ask, you have to read the book). Priests use mind probes to discover whether humans are worthy, from a Karma point of view, of reincarnation. For any particularly tricky problems, the priests can phone Heaven. But the priesthood is corrupt. And the gods deliberately manipulate the planet to keep mankind in a state of perpetual pre-scientific ignorance - intervening to destroy scientific advances such as printing presses and flushing toilets whenever these are re-invented. The resurrected god is keen to deny his godhood and, inadvertently, becomes a famous fake Buddha. Then he sets about trying to destroy Heaven, with the aid of other fallen gods, a host of double-crossing demons and a zombie army.
What I liked about the book: This tale cleverly blends together Hindu and Buddhist mythology, along with a subtext of social commentary and a wonderfully cynical view of religious beliefs and religious hierarchies . The story is not set on Earth (although there is a feel of the middle-ages about it); the flora and fauna are distinctly alien and well portrayed. There is a nice sense of history and past events from this other world are hinted at within the text, without the need to explain everything. This gives added richness to the constructed world within the book. The plot is complex, the action dense, and the dialogue is pacey. In places, the book is very funny indeed. I loved the irrelevant digs at religion and the priesthood. And I liked the ending.
What I didn't like about the book: I must say, there were too many characters for me to follow and I was confused by the many different gods with similar sounding names. (Knowing a little about Hindu gods might be a big asset and help with a deeper enjoyment of this book; then, again, it might not.) The style in which the book was written became somewhat irritating to me. The language was semi-detached (although the dialogue was great). And I missed the fact that the main part of the book is an extended flashback. The flashback begins with the second chapter and is heralded at the end of the first chapter by the words "Sam stared ahead, remembering." I missed the significance of this and was thoroughly confused, until I worked out there had been a time shift and I was reading about events that happened before the opening chapter.
I am going to add Roger Zelazny to my list of sci-fi authors who I want to read more of.
I have not read books by Roger Zelazny before. He has a terrific reputation as a sci-fi writer. I am not sure if his other books are written in the same style; a complex, god-like style of narration with flowery language, reminiscent of an ancient myth. This is somewhat of an acquired taste.
The 'hero' is a resurrected god (don't ask, you have to read the book). Priests use mind probes to discover whether humans are worthy, from a Karma point of view, of reincarnation. For any particularly tricky problems, the priests can phone Heaven. But the priesthood is corrupt. And the gods deliberately manipulate the planet to keep mankind in a state of perpetual pre-scientific ignorance - intervening to destroy scientific advances such as printing presses and flushing toilets whenever these are re-invented. The resurrected god is keen to deny his godhood and, inadvertently, becomes a famous fake Buddha. Then he sets about trying to destroy Heaven, with the aid of other fallen gods, a host of double-crossing demons and a zombie army.
What I liked about the book: This tale cleverly blends together Hindu and Buddhist mythology, along with a subtext of social commentary and a wonderfully cynical view of religious beliefs and religious hierarchies . The story is not set on Earth (although there is a feel of the middle-ages about it); the flora and fauna are distinctly alien and well portrayed. There is a nice sense of history and past events from this other world are hinted at within the text, without the need to explain everything. This gives added richness to the constructed world within the book. The plot is complex, the action dense, and the dialogue is pacey. In places, the book is very funny indeed. I loved the irrelevant digs at religion and the priesthood. And I liked the ending.
What I didn't like about the book: I must say, there were too many characters for me to follow and I was confused by the many different gods with similar sounding names. (Knowing a little about Hindu gods might be a big asset and help with a deeper enjoyment of this book; then, again, it might not.) The style in which the book was written became somewhat irritating to me. The language was semi-detached (although the dialogue was great). And I missed the fact that the main part of the book is an extended flashback. The flashback begins with the second chapter and is heralded at the end of the first chapter by the words "Sam stared ahead, remembering." I missed the significance of this and was thoroughly confused, until I worked out there had been a time shift and I was reading about events that happened before the opening chapter.
I am going to add Roger Zelazny to my list of sci-fi authors who I want to read more of.
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