Stephen Fry
1995
ISBN 0-09-918961-5
Ted Wallace is an old, sour, womanising, cantankerous, whisky-sodden beast of a failed poet and drama critic, but he has his faults too.
So begins the blurb on the back of this paperback, and right away you get a sense of just how sour and cynical Ted is. The first chunk of the story is told from his point of view, and while he is an outspoken grump, he does have some redeeming qualities. Agreeing to take large sums of money from his dying goddaughter, he leaves the city to stay at the country lodge of an old friend, to spy and record what he sees for her, with instructions to keep an eye out for anything strange.
Strange things - and people - seem to flock to Swafford, and before long there is a large cast of weird and strange characters, beginning with the family themselves. Even Ted, in his self-centred drunken mess, starts to notice that things aren't quite right at Swafford, and resolves to find out what it is.
Much of the first part of the story is told through letters from various people to each other, and it's interesting to see the way they present one face to the person they are writing to and another completely to everyone there (Patricia especially). As the mystery deepens, the tale switches to third-person, flitting from character to character, but it's easy to follow, and the ending builds up into a bit of a deflating climax that you can't put down.
I love the language used in this; it's more formal than most paperbacks, and so easy to lose yourself in.
Date Finished: 28/12/07
Year Total: 45
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
It's a Bloody Try Ya Useless Bastard
Paddy Sweeney
2002
0-9579559-1-X
Starting with two disallowed tries and a punch to the ref, this book epitomises the West Coast Bloke. From ducking shooting with prostitutes to punishing a guy more into the Junior team than he should be, this book outlines some debacles that wouldn't be out of place in real life. The blokes themselves, from Nugger to Knackerless to Echo Arse to Bull Tits, are hilarious caricatures of blokes that any kiwi either knows or can relate to.
However, I found that spelling mistakes throughout the book were quite distracting, and bits of the story were laid on a little thick, but this was a good, quick read that didn't require too much concentration.
Date Finished: 20/12/07
Year Total: 44
2002
0-9579559-1-X
Starting with two disallowed tries and a punch to the ref, this book epitomises the West Coast Bloke. From ducking shooting with prostitutes to punishing a guy more into the Junior team than he should be, this book outlines some debacles that wouldn't be out of place in real life. The blokes themselves, from Nugger to Knackerless to Echo Arse to Bull Tits, are hilarious caricatures of blokes that any kiwi either knows or can relate to.
However, I found that spelling mistakes throughout the book were quite distracting, and bits of the story were laid on a little thick, but this was a good, quick read that didn't require too much concentration.
Date Finished: 20/12/07
Year Total: 44
Book Lover
Jennifer Kaufman & Karen Mack
2006
0-00-722724-8
Dora spends her life in books. When she isn't reading, she's buying books, listening to people discuss books, or over-analysing everything that goes on in her life.
I could definitely identify with Dora and the awkward way she doesn't fit into life, and was looking forward to getting lost in the world of another bibliomaniac, but while the quotes at the beginning of each chapter were easy to digest, must of the actual literary references were quite heavy, and even Dora classifies herself as pretentious in places.
On the upside, the chapters were nice and short, each neatly wrapped up with no pesky cliffhangers. This is a book you read to find the ending, not the bit that happens one page over. The pace is steady and the ending is nicely brief and vague, with one name in the one place that gives the entire story the feeling that it was worth it.
Date Finished: 13/12/07
Year Total: 43
2006
0-00-722724-8
Dora spends her life in books. When she isn't reading, she's buying books, listening to people discuss books, or over-analysing everything that goes on in her life.
I could definitely identify with Dora and the awkward way she doesn't fit into life, and was looking forward to getting lost in the world of another bibliomaniac, but while the quotes at the beginning of each chapter were easy to digest, must of the actual literary references were quite heavy, and even Dora classifies herself as pretentious in places.
On the upside, the chapters were nice and short, each neatly wrapped up with no pesky cliffhangers. This is a book you read to find the ending, not the bit that happens one page over. The pace is steady and the ending is nicely brief and vague, with one name in the one place that gives the entire story the feeling that it was worth it.
Date Finished: 13/12/07
Year Total: 43
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
How To Be A Little Sod
Simon Brett
1992
ISBN 0 575 05916 8
"Well, here I am. And after the nine months I've just been through, this had better be good!"
So begins the story of a newborn baby, from day one to the end of the first year. The opening line suggests the rest of the story is going to be observant and funny, but by page 16 I decided that Baby isn't just a little snot, it's a little bastard with no sense of humour at all.
He and She, the parents, are to be punished and made miserable, although beyond producing such a nasty little shit, I'm not sure what they've done wrong.
I suppose parents might be able to identify with this book and find it funny, but being child-free I found it a real drag with little to keep it interesting. I have the two sequels, 'Little Sod's Next Step' and 'Not Another Little Sod' and although they are quick reads to boost my year total, I'm not going to bother.
Date Finished: 09/12/07
Year Total: 42
1992
ISBN 0 575 05916 8
"Well, here I am. And after the nine months I've just been through, this had better be good!"
So begins the story of a newborn baby, from day one to the end of the first year. The opening line suggests the rest of the story is going to be observant and funny, but by page 16 I decided that Baby isn't just a little snot, it's a little bastard with no sense of humour at all.
He and She, the parents, are to be punished and made miserable, although beyond producing such a nasty little shit, I'm not sure what they've done wrong.
I suppose parents might be able to identify with this book and find it funny, but being child-free I found it a real drag with little to keep it interesting. I have the two sequels, 'Little Sod's Next Step' and 'Not Another Little Sod' and although they are quick reads to boost my year total, I'm not going to bother.
Date Finished: 09/12/07
Year Total: 42
Sunday, December 9, 2007
The Eight
Katherine Neville
1988
ISBN 0 552 15467 9
I first read this book in high school, and remembered that it totally blew me away, so I snapped it up when I saw it in a secondhand bookstore.
My memory was correct: this book is what the Da Vinci Code aspires to be. The vision and breadth is amazing, and this tale weaves everyone from Napolean to Wordsworth, Voltaire and Benedict Arnold, into an intriguing mystery.
Combining mysticism, mathematics, physics and chess, this is the story of a treasure hunt. The treasure is a near-mythical chess set, disassembled and scattered across Europe during the French Revolution. One of the nuns assigned to protect it, Mirielle, embarks on a journey to discover the secret of the chess service, her efforts mirrored over a century later by Cat and Lily.
This is an incredible book, and although parts of the chess explanations were over my head, the language is plain and easy to follow. Cat's both cynical and humourous, and Mirielle and strong and focused, and each woman has their own appeal. Their stories are combined into the kind of book you willingly lose sleep to get through.
Date Finished: 06/12/07
Year Total: 41
1988
ISBN 0 552 15467 9
I first read this book in high school, and remembered that it totally blew me away, so I snapped it up when I saw it in a secondhand bookstore.
My memory was correct: this book is what the Da Vinci Code aspires to be. The vision and breadth is amazing, and this tale weaves everyone from Napolean to Wordsworth, Voltaire and Benedict Arnold, into an intriguing mystery.
Combining mysticism, mathematics, physics and chess, this is the story of a treasure hunt. The treasure is a near-mythical chess set, disassembled and scattered across Europe during the French Revolution. One of the nuns assigned to protect it, Mirielle, embarks on a journey to discover the secret of the chess service, her efforts mirrored over a century later by Cat and Lily.
This is an incredible book, and although parts of the chess explanations were over my head, the language is plain and easy to follow. Cat's both cynical and humourous, and Mirielle and strong and focused, and each woman has their own appeal. Their stories are combined into the kind of book you willingly lose sleep to get through.
Date Finished: 06/12/07
Year Total: 41
Once...
James Herbert
2001
ISBN 0 333 76140 5
This is a story about how fairytales are real, and how Thom Kindred rediscovers the faeriefolk living in the woods around his childhood home. After suffering a stroke, he puts the flashing lights and heightened awareness down to his brain misbehaving, but quickly realises that's not the case.
This was a very different story to what I'm used to from Herbert; this was a lot more adult, and much of it involved sex and sensuality. That said, I spent the first part of the book comparing it to the last book I read by the same author (The Secret of Crickley Hall), and it took a while before I could stop second-guessing what was going to happen next.
I did find Nell's transparency a little annoying - only fangs and a black cape seemed to be missing, but her story had a satisfactory ending (for me, definitely not so much for her). The rest of the ending, although just as neat, was much like a fairytale - very neatly packaged and very sappy. I would have liked to have gotten into Hugo's head one more time, but I guess that would have spoiled the mood.
I didn't feel this was a scary horror like Haunted or The Secret of Crickley Hall, and I found it a bit too light to what I was expecting.
Date Finished: 23/11/07
Year Total: 40
2001
ISBN 0 333 76140 5
This is a story about how fairytales are real, and how Thom Kindred rediscovers the faeriefolk living in the woods around his childhood home. After suffering a stroke, he puts the flashing lights and heightened awareness down to his brain misbehaving, but quickly realises that's not the case.
This was a very different story to what I'm used to from Herbert; this was a lot more adult, and much of it involved sex and sensuality. That said, I spent the first part of the book comparing it to the last book I read by the same author (The Secret of Crickley Hall), and it took a while before I could stop second-guessing what was going to happen next.
I did find Nell's transparency a little annoying - only fangs and a black cape seemed to be missing, but her story had a satisfactory ending (for me, definitely not so much for her). The rest of the ending, although just as neat, was much like a fairytale - very neatly packaged and very sappy. I would have liked to have gotten into Hugo's head one more time, but I guess that would have spoiled the mood.
I didn't feel this was a scary horror like Haunted or The Secret of Crickley Hall, and I found it a bit too light to what I was expecting.
Date Finished: 23/11/07
Year Total: 40
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