Atonement by Ian McEwan

This book was bought for me, as a present, by a work colleague after I had enjoyed the film 2 years ago. I have had a mixed relationship with Ian McEwan's books. The first one, Enduring Love, I really enjoyed, and I have recommended it to a number of people. I quite liked On Chesil Beach (click for review). I found Saturday interesting but also disappointing, and I didn't get on so well with Amsterdam either.

I waited a while after seeing the film of Atonement, which I loved, so as to get it out of my head, then a few weeks ago a friend told me she was reading it. It was time to pull it from my TBR pile and give it a go.

It tells the story of a family broken apart by the younger sisters accusation, fuelled by an over active imagination, with consequences that last for the rest of their lives, most tragically for her sister Cecilia, a ward of the family called Robbie, and herself, Briony, the accuser. It spans from 1935, a summers day at a country house, and then throughout the second world war, and finally to 1999 where the far reaching consequences are laid to rest.

I was captivated from the first page, and it did not let me go until the last. The words are rich and skillful, and there is a sustained quality all the way through. I wish I'd taken some of the passages down to share with you, but I couldn't put it down long enough. I intend to go back over it and revisit certain passages for my own pleasure. It was memorable throughout.

I don't know if I enjoyed it more because I had seen the film first, and I have tried to imagine how the book would be for those who do not know the story. Every location is vividly recreated in my head. Each character wrenched my heart as I read about their predicament. The ending brought tears, even though I knew what was coming.

I loved it, and it has joined my list of favourites. I recommend it with enthusiasm. Totally heartbreaking. Brilliant and complete.

For reading groups you can click on the link for Atonement discussion questions.

For Ian McEwan's website click the link.

Also, there are plans to turn Atonement into an opera, and you can read the report on The Guardian Book Blog by clicking the link.

Where have you visited?

I found these maps over on Katrinas Reads, and decided to make my own based on the countries that I have visited during my literary adventures. The top map is the countries covered during my reading in 2008, the 2nd during 2009, and the bottom map is my progress this year so far (obviously needs a bit of work). I am quite impressed by 2008.

Anyway, if you would like to make your own map, click the link

The Zahir by Paulo Coelho

This book was lent to me by a friend who had previously recommended The Alchemist by the same author a few years ago. I had quite enjoyed The Alchemist, although it never reached the 'life changing' heights as it has done with so many others. The cover illustration for this one had caught my eye when it was first published so I was glad to try it.

The story is narrated by an unnamed author whose wife, Esther, a war correspondent, has gone missing. The story starts just after our narrator is being questioned by the police in Paris, where he lives, regarding her disappearance. It is known that she was reporting in Kazakhstan, but it is not known whether her disappearance was voluntary or if she was kidnapped, or even if she is ill somewhere. Our author determines to find her but his search for her and her absence becomes an obsession, a Zahir according to Islamic tradition, that takes over his mind in an unhealthy way. Is his search for her as she is or for her as he wants her to be? Is his obsession built on selfish grounds because he cannot stand the thought that she needs time away from their relationship, which had become stale? His wife has initiated a change that he was not ready for.

The narrators search takes him on a physical and spiritual journey, where he meets many characters who have come across his wife on her own spiritual journey. He learns a lot about her and their relationship. But mostly he learns about himself.

This book was really quick to read, the narrative style being simple to follow. I found it a little more involving than The Alchemist which is probably down to the translation, the original being in Portuguese.

I found the story quite interesting, following each step of the narrators journey of discovery and enlightenment. Some of the life lessons seemed a little obvious at times, although sometimes it is good to be reminded, to make you think. I know Coelho has legions of fans whose lives have been touched by the life lessons that come over in his books. Sadly I have never felt quite so strongly, or been touched so dramatically by his words. I did like this book though and found a lot of its points interesting. I am sure that his books will provide a lot for book groups to discuss. Will I read any more of his books? That remains to be seen.

You can have a look at Paulo Coelho's blog by clicking the link.

February Roundup

An image from Romeo and Juliet seemed a good place to start for the month most associated with love. This is a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Frank Dicksee.

February has been a good month for reading, productive and fruitful...

Read - almost 2 books.

Completed - The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Currently reading - The Zahir by Paulo Coelho

TBR Pile - currently at 80 books according to GoodReads, with 7 novels added...

The Magicians Assistant by Ann Patchett

A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Master and Margherita by Mikhail Bulgakov

The Childrens Book by A S Byatt

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

also some books that are not novels...

The Painter, the Cook and the Art of Cucina by Anna Del Conte and Val Archer

200 Cupcakes: a Hamlyn Cookbook

The Taschen book of 20th century Photography

Go Penguins, a celebration of creativity on Merseyside.

Challenges - Nothing completed, but some books lined up for the 8 Directional Reading challenges.

Wishlist additions -

The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight by Gina Ochsner

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

Tuesday with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Discoveries -

The New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme

Events -

Ghost Stories at the Liverpool Playhouse

The Canterbury Tales at The New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme

The Reader movie with Kate Winslet, after reading the novel last year (review here), I saw the film and really enjoyed it. I think it did full justice to the book, captured the feel excellently, and I cried all the way through it.

March is on its way, plans being made, and hopefully some warmer weather.

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

This book was bought for me by a friend as a present, and then recommended by another friend who had read it for her book group. I thought it was a novel until I started to read it and realised it was a work of non-fiction.

The book tells the story of a widely publicized murder in 1860, that had the whole country talking and went on to influence some of our most well known Victorian novellists.

A 3 year old boy is found with his throat cut and stuffed down the outside privy of a well to do country house. The boy is Saville Kent, son of the owner Samuel Kent, and the police are baffled. Did someone break in, snatch the boy from his bed and murder him? What kind of a grudge would cause such an action? Or were there secrets behind the mansions closed doors? Could it possibly be a member of the family? With the Constabulary in its infancy and only a handful of detectives in the country, the local magistrates call for one of Londons finest, Mr Whicher, to solve the case. It is this character, the all seeing detective, and the circumstances of the case, that influenced some of the later works of Charles Dickens (who knew Whicher), Wilkie Collins and Henry James.

Kate Summerscale has written a very thorough account of the crime, with the benefits of hindsight and with the advances in technology and knowledge, we are provided with a well rounded story that had the Victorians stumped. The author uses the official documents of the day alongside private memoirs and newspaper articles from the 1860's, and well into the 1940's. The mystery continues over decades.

I found this a fascinating read from the start, and for such an influential event, I wondered why I had never heard about it. Although the pace flagged a little in the middle, the book kept me interested as each intricate chapter of this complicated case was played out. I particularly enjoyed the history of the police and the descriptions of early techniques of detection. This includes the origins of terminology we use today, like 'clue' and 'denoument'. Also the reactions of the public, to the crime itself and the class arguments it brought to the surface, and the dislike of detectives, spying on people and their private lives. It is surprising how rudimentary their resources were when investigating. After watching the likes of CSI and Silent Witness on TV, I found myself really surprised at how little they had to go on besides gut instinct and one or two pieces of evidence.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it for anyone with an interest in Victorian England, true life crimes or early crime novels of the 19th century. It would also be a good choice for book groups and some discussion questions about The Suspicions of Mr Whicher can be found by clicking the link.

The Big Green Bookshop

There is a bookshop open in Wood Green, London called The Big Green Bookshop. I have not visited it, although I plan to on my next visit to the capital, but they have an excellent website that includes recommendations each month from some of the prominent book bloggers. They have also set up a shelf in the shop to show the book bloggers recommendations and enable you to buy a copy should you want to, after reading the reviews posted by the blogs author. You will recognise some of our fellow bloggers, if not all of them if you visit the book blogs regularly.

I think this is a brilliant idea and I recommend a visit to the site or the shop. They have recognised that this idea will probably catch on with other shops and it is great seeing bloggers getting a new kind of voice and influence. There are some great books recommended too, and you can order them online if you wish. Why not use the links above and take a look for yourself.

Anthropology by Dan Rhodes

I was given this book for free with the Waterstones magazine. I liked the cover which reminded me of something by Tim Burton. It is only a small book and easy to dip in and out of.

It contains 101 short stories, all told in the first person, about the various girlfriends he has had relationships with. Each story is only a small paragraph in length betraying a skillful hand in writing. They are all complete and cover every topic from extreme happiness, love, jealousy, obsession, boredom, death, all with the authors unique view of the world. Amusing, entertaining, sometimes sad, always weird and unusual, each tale reads as strangely as his girlfriends names. Azure, Tallulah, Sapphire, Mariedel, January and Tortoiseshell. The names are as colourful as the stories.

This book was really easy to read and a delight on each page. Some of the stories made me laugh out loud, all of them made me smile. Anyone with a good sense of humour and a love of anything unusual, dark and off-kilter will like this book. I found myself re-reading some of them. The endings were clever and suitably glib.

This book would make a good present, or as something light and quick to read. The Guardian has called it ' A gleaming box of jazzy miniatures', and I'd agree with that. The author has written some novels that sound equally dark and intriguing. You can check out Dan Rhodes' website by using the link.