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.

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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?

•  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.

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!".)

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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.

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The World Inside, by Robert Silverberg

This novel is set on a future Earth where most of human kind lives a highly artificial life in giant skyscrapers, freeing up the surrounding countryside for food production.
 The constraint of living in an enclosed, structured and crowded society has resulted in social customs that include extreme politeness and the free sharing of sexual partners. Fertility is encouraged. Contraception is a sin. Any dissent from the social structure results either psychological reprogramming or in a death sentence - where the offender is hurled down the chute into the furnaces at the base of the towers.

Like the society it depicts, the book is highly structured too, in an interesting way. Each chapter is narrated from the point of view of a different character or couple. And each chapter is almost a short story on its own. (Indeed, initially I thought this was a collection of short stories; but some of the later chapters bring the characters together.) The ending is grim and hopeless.


What I liked about the book:


This was a fantastic and vivid portrait of a possible future world. The beliefs of the high-rise society were really well portrayed in a very sympathetic manner. Different view points are well conveyed. Each narrator had his own distinctive voice - not an easy thing to achieve when presenting the views of members of a highly co-ordinated and homogeneous society.


What I didn't like about the book:


Now, I am quibbling, because there is little not-to-like in this great book. But, initially published 40 years ago in 1971, some aspects of the world see strangely old-fashioned. For example, the 'nightwalkers' of the tower block are men; women wait to be visited. The men have jobs; the women stay at home and look after the children and order the meals.

Having said that, it is amazing how many aspects of this book seem bang up-to-date; the electronic music with light shows, the computer and databases, the requirement to be 'politically correct', the intensive farming methods ....


Kindle edition and paperback edition:

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All in the Mind, by Alastair Campbell

I tried to be as neutral as possible when reading this book.

 Alastair Campbell, for those who don't know, was the Director of Communications and Strategy for Tony Blair, during the years 1997-2003, a period that culminated in the ill conceived Iraq War of 2003. So, my main reason for reading the book was to see if Alistair Campbell's fictional work was as strong and persuasive as the literary efforts of the infamous 'dodgy dossier'.

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What I liked about this book:

Alastair has, famously, battled both depression and alcoholism. It is good to read a story that takes these themes but avoids being overtly autobiographical. I liked the sympathetic portrayal of patients, and their psychiatrist, as flawed human beings with strengths and weaknesses, doing the best they can.

The story worked particularly well when dealing with matters of which Alastair Campbell has some personal experience; the alcoholic M.P. being particularly sympathetically portrayed.

The narrative structure was rather complex, involving the individual stories of multiple patients, but the various strands  were drawn together into a more-or-less satisfactory conclusion.

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What I didn't like:

For my simple tastes, there were too many characters to empathise with and this led, perversely, to feeling less empathy with any of them. 

He failed to avoid some stereotypes: the pushy wife of the alcoholic MP and the nagging wife of the psychiatrist were both very two-dimensional. In fact, none of the female characters were particularly authentic, despite valiant attempts.

Some of the resolutions at the end (and I am thinking particularly of the scarred young girl) were unconvincing.

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Darkland and Bloodmind, both by Liz Williams

I am thrilled to discover a great, new (to me) science fiction author and very much enjoyed reading both these books. In fact, for the first time since I have begun reading deliberately to broaden my reading horizons, I find a writer who pulls me into her stories, so that I found it hard to put the books down and even harder not to think about the books when not reading them.


But if you are thinking of reading these books, do start with Darkland first. I think it would be very difficult to understand Bloodmind without beginning at the beginning. In fact, I really think these two books need to be published in one volume. Neither is a story complete in itself.


What I liked about the books:


Liz Williams has skillfully invented whole new worlds, complete with landscapes, climates, flora and fauna. I like the flawed - and scarred - main female protagonist. I like the depiction of a number of almost-familiar near-human species, but with distinctly different, non-human instincts, senses and powers. I particularly like the fact that this is proper 'science' fiction and does not resort to witchcraft or magic to explain events (although, to be honest, the stories would equally work if told as magical fantasies too).


In Bloodmind, different female characters took it in turns to narrate the story, along with the main female character from Darkland. This was a very compelling device, sucking the reader into the different characters - their hopes, fears and dramas.  The jumping about between characters and places could have been confusing, particularly as the story's events take place across three different planets. But this was overcome by the pragmatic titles of the chapters - each chapter's title simple states the name of the planet and narrator. A neat device and very useful.




What I didn't like about the books:


The ending of Darkland was a cliffhanger and a clear hook to take the reader into Bloodmind. I would have preferred a more definitive ending to the first story. If I liked the book enough, I would read the sequel anyway.


The ending to Bloodmind was somehow dissatisfying. It felt foreshortened. I would have preferred more explanation and more exploration. And more resolution. Maybe it is intended to finish the story with a further book.


And now I am just nitpicking: Although the female narrators came from different backgrounds, had different experiences and expectations, there was a 'sameness' about their voices.

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Minority Report, by Philip K Dick (collection of short stories)

This edition is a collection of stories by the fabulous Philip K Dick.

It includes the renowned Minority Report, made famous by the film adaptation, and some other great stories, mostly, in my opinion, even better than Minority Report.

1. 
   Now, lets deal with the title story - Minority Report.
   The film is better! Yes, I hate to admit it, but it is true. There are some great concepts in the film: the retinal scanning (that delivers both personalised adverts and controls access to the Precog facility) and the eye transplants (yuck, do you remember that scene?). Remember the fantastic sequence in which Anderton kidnaps the precog responsible for the minority report; and one of the key elements of the plot - the misleading recording of images and the eventual realisation you can't cheat destiny? This is all missing from the short story. Even the main character, Anderton, appears two dimensional in comparison to the character in the film, played so compellingly by Tom Cruise.
   
   Don't let me put you off. There are some GREAT stories in this book.
   
   
2. Imposter: Man replaced by alien robot. Yes, we might be able guess how this story works out, but the ironic twist at the end is good. I believe this story was turned into a not-so-good film, Imposter, in 2002.
   
   
3. Second Variety: The use of mechanical predators in war is no longer a futuristic concept. Again, you can probably see the end coming, but this story introduces some really scary concepts and the setting seems utterly realistic. I was there.
   
   
4. War Game: Ah ha - the power of insidious messages, the use of subtle methods of propagating propaganda and the indoctrination of children. Loved the story. Didn't know how it was going to end...
   
   
5. What the Dead Men Say: Would it be useful to prolong the dying thoughts of people's brains, so you could extend their period of influence and keep a connection with them for years after their bodies died? Maybe. I loved the central concept in this story, although the story itself degenerated into a tale of evil madness, that all-too-familiar cop out - somewhat disappointingly. There is a neat subplot about the control of air waves to promote politicians and win elections (hello, Mr Murdoch?). By the way, the concept of "half life" was used in a recent episode of Dr Who. Yes, it definitely was - although probably not intentionally.
   
   
6. Oh to Be a Blobel!: Funny story; and with a serious subtext, all about appearances, racism and alienation.
   
   
7. The Electric Ant: short, inventive and classic sci-fi. What about robots who believe they are human? Ah, yes, someone made a film about that - wasn't it Spielberg in a flim called AI? (Although AI was actually based on Brian Aldiss's short story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long.) This concept was devleloped further in Philip K Dick's story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (not included in this anthology), that became the great Blade Runner film. How about challenging our concept of reality; is life all a virtual reality construct? Hmm, what film used this concept - ah, of course, The Matrix.
   
   
8. Faith of Our Fathers: more Stephen King horror tale, than sci-fi. Good and scary. Maybe the weakest of the bunch, in my opinion.
   
   
9. We Can Remember it for You Wholesale: The story from which the film Total Recall was based. Nice twists and turns.
   
   

In writing this review, I came to realise how much modern sci-fi flims and programme makers have borrowed from Philip K Dick. What a fantastically inventive writer he was. How modern his themes still are. What a shame he died prematurely, in 1982, and failed to see his stories turned into some of the most successful films of all time.

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Black Dogs, by Ian McEwan

This is a book about two obstinate old people with a failed marriage - and how dangerous challenges can shape our lives.

I had previously read Ian McEwan's more recent book, On Chesil Beach, and had not particularly enjoyed it. Since Ian McEwan is one of our most respected British authors, I was determined to have another go.

What I liked about this book:

• The sympathetic portrayal of the main female character, who we first meet as an old woman. Later we learn of her experiences when young and how these shaped her life. (To start with, I thought the narrator was going to favour the analytical, but cold, husband.)
  
• The underlying tension created by the vague menace of the episode of the 'black dogs', introduced early into the narrative, but not revealed in full until near the end.
  
• The linking of the fall of the Berlin wall into the narrative - as this was such a powerful news story and had such tremendous resonance for those of us who lived through the age of the Wall and saw its fall.
  
• The fact that walking plays an important role in the story. (As I am a keen walker and involved in my own epic walk around the coast).
  

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What I didn't like about this book: The book starts with an interesting preface. I would have liked to know more about the narrator, his family and, particularly, what happened to his neice, Sally. The main story opens at a languid pace and, being told through the eyes of a third person, I felt somewhat distanced from the main characters and the events that slowly enfolded, until the pace picked up and the story came alive in the second half of the book.

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Farewell Summer, by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury is one of my favourite science fiction authors. And his non-science fiction books are pretty good too.

I have to confess, I found Farewell Summer hard going. But, in the final few chapters, the book finally came alive for me – so alive, I started it again and read it through from the beginning. (This is the first time I have ever read a book through, twice, all in one sitting).

This is a book about growing up and growing old, set in a small American town during a long, hot, Indian summer. Here the young boys, led by 13 year old Doug, decide to wage war against the old men who dominate the life of the town. After the first shot is fired (from a cap gun) and, inadvertently, causes a real death, the boys set about trying to stop time; stealing the old men's chess pieces and stopping the clock in the town hall.

The old men and the boys grow older. Eventually, the season turns and the warring generations reach an uneasy truce.

This is book about youth, old age and the realisation of mortality. At only 159 pages, and with plenty of white space due to the shortness of the chapters, this is a novella, rather than a novel. I wasn't surprised to find this is actually an extension to Ray Bradbury's original book, Dandelion Wine - snipped by the publishers as being too long.

The book may be short and the writing sparse, but don't be fooled. The prose is thick; with poetry, with references, with characters, with imagery, with nostalgia, with poignancy, with universal truths.

Read it slowly. Then read it again.

The book (in my edition anyway) ends with an 'Afterword', where Ray Bradbury describes his writing techniques and talks about the background to the book - all fascinating stuff and worthy of another post. (Visit Ruthless Scribblings.)

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Talyn, by Holly Lisle

I have been following Holly Lisle's excellent short courses and bought her PDF book, Create a Plot Clinic.

Then it occurred to me. I am learning from a writer whose books I have never read. What if I hate her novels? What if her writing is poor, sloppy, uninteresting or just plain bad?

I was seized with an immediate need to find a Holly Lisle novel and read it.

This was not as easy as it sounds. Holly is American and I couldn't find her books in our local bookshops. Neither was she on our library's shelves. But, I tracked one of her books down to a library in deepest, darkest Lincolnshire and ordered it.

So, what's it all about?
Talyn is a female soldier experiencing a crisis of national and personal identity. The story is set in a world Holly Lisle has created. There is magic and Talyn uses magic to defend her city and her country. There is also sex - quite a lot of sex and some violent sex - so this book is not for children or for prudes.

Points of View
Although Talyn herself narrates the story, some parts of the book are written from the point of view of another person; an enemy soldier. There is no device used to do this and sections of the story flip-flop between Talyn's first person narrative and the soldier's third person sections. (I believe this story structure is unusual and, indeed, can't think of another book where this happens.) Initially, this caught me by surprise, but the shifts were handled elegantly and I found the story was enriched as a result.

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What I liked about Talyn.

• The alternating point of view.
• The page-turning adventures.
• The sex scenes with a definitely female perspective.
• The strong female lead.
• The incredibly real world, created for this novel.

Holly Lisle talks in details about world building, for this book and others, on her website.

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What I didn't like about Talyn.

• Um..
• ... hang on, let me think.
• Maybe the book was a bit too long.
• Maybe the villain was a little bit OTT evil.
• And I am never keen on magic as a device in books - although this is all the rage these days.

I am back on a mission again - to find another Holly Lisle book to read.

The Undomestic Goddess, by Sophie Kinsella

This is not the type of book I usually read.

Science fiction, action adventure and psychological thrillers are my usual choices. I am not a 'girly' girl and I don't like literature that is marked as 'chick lit'. The cover alone would put me off picking this one of the shelves.

But, I am making a real effort to broaden the genres I read. And have read one of Sophie Kinsella's books before and found it entertaining. So, when I found this for sale in a charity shop, I bought it.

What I liked about the book

Told from the point of view of the main character - a young female lawyer who falls from grace and ends up doing something completely different - this was frothy fun. The story moved at a pace and there was always something happening. The language chosen was easy and clear, without being patronising. So, I will confess to enjoying this amusing (but ridiculous) story.

What I didn't like about the book

I just couldn't quite picture the main character as a seriously good lawyer - she was more a Bridget Jones character, dippy and scatterbrained. The basic plot was unlikely. The love interest was too obvious. The ending was predictable.

Who would enjoy it?

Young women (probably younger than the main character) who like the idea of being seriously successful, while living a wildly crazy sort of life with no ties. Great for holiday reading, reading while travelling; or for cheering yourself up when life gets just a bit too serious.

Stephen King's Bag of Bones

I am not a fan of the horror genre and Stephen King is a best selling author so - my illogical thought processes reasoned - I couldn't possibly enjoy his books.

But other authors acclaim his story telling skills and I decided I should read at least one King novel, if only to prove my own prejudices
correct. So I picked this book off the shelf of my local library.

Well, I was wrong. He is not a good writer. He is a great writer.

I read "Bag of Bones" - during daylight hours only! The story was complex, the characters believable and the supernatural elements were woven into the plot with such skill that disbelief was easily suspended (by this reader anyway).

Anyway, back to the library for more ......

Choosing a book?

Try this site:
www.whichbook.net

This Book Will Save Your Life, A M Homes

Just finished reading this book.

I have to confess, I chose it for its title. Who could resist that catchy hook and the doughnuts?

A good read - I couldn't put it down - but not a great book.

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Things I liked:

The opening premise, the view of LA life, the relentless pace, the many different interwoven strands, the page-turning hooks.

Things I didn't like:

Although told as a first person narrative, there was little opportunity to understand the thought process of the narrator. I wanted to believe in this lonely, control freak of a man, but I realised from the narrative voice, a few chapters in, that the author was a woman.

Things just seemed to happen to him and he suffered from many significant external events - each one would have caused his life to change anyway. There were too many unexplained teasers, and unresolved plot arcs, by the time we reached an unsatisfactorily disconnected ending.

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