This was a recommendation from the Facebook Reading Group - not something I think I would have otherwise picked up. It is a post apocalyptic novel, the world is reduced to ash and burned out cities, everything is melted, dead and gone. The main protagonists, the man and his son are trying to reach the coast of the destroyed US in the hope that there is some life there - this is the story of their journey, and the horror and devastation they meet along the way.
There is little evidence of humanity left in the few survivors they come across on their journey. You want to turn away from the page at some of the sights described, but the power of the writing is such that you don't, you keep on reading, hoping for resolution and some hope for the future. The relationship between the man and boy is touching, frustrating and ultimately profound. You share their fear and their hopes. The sparsity of the language and the episodic telling keep you turning the pages. A modern classic.
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Catch up
A hectic month has meant I am way behind with my reading log - so here's a catch up...
Feather and Bone by Lazlo Stranglov (Matt Whyman in disguise) - scary story of a village cut off from everyone except the rather threatening Mister Petri. Why is he so odd, and what is happening in the deserted chicken sheds, and why is there only the food brought in by Mr Petri and his thuggish sons? An interesting and scary read for children.
Don't Cry for Me Aberystwyth by Malcolm Price - there were a couple of really laugh out loud moments in this amusing thriller, a pastiche noir novel, but it was generally just an OK read.
Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd - a tale of a runaway who takes on the persona of Solace to try to journey to Ireland and find her birth mother. Written with heart wrenching honesty and a real insight into the lives of children in care. Read it with compassion.
Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve - the prequel to the Mortal Engines books. The tale of Fever Crumb, a foundling in the times before all the cities became traction cities, when stalkers were little known in London. Fever knows she is different, but it is not until events unfold that she realises just how different she actually is. A wonderful adventure, full of heroics and sorrow, violence and caring. Watch out for this when it is published in May.
Rowan the Strange by Julie Hearn - set just as war breaks out in 1939, exploring the life of a scizophrenic boy and his role as a guinea pig for the newly discovered electro convulsive therapy. Beautiful, gripping, sad and totaly involving. Hearn's best novel to date.
Warriors of Ethandun by N M Browne - the third novel in the Warriors Trilogy, but can be read as a stand alone title. Dan and Ursula find themselves in AD 878 - King Alfred's time, when there is distrust and magic in the air. Will they survive the horrors and trials of life in Wessex? Well written and involving.
Feather and Bone by Lazlo Stranglov (Matt Whyman in disguise) - scary story of a village cut off from everyone except the rather threatening Mister Petri. Why is he so odd, and what is happening in the deserted chicken sheds, and why is there only the food brought in by Mr Petri and his thuggish sons? An interesting and scary read for children.
Don't Cry for Me Aberystwyth by Malcolm Price - there were a couple of really laugh out loud moments in this amusing thriller, a pastiche noir novel, but it was generally just an OK read.
Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd - a tale of a runaway who takes on the persona of Solace to try to journey to Ireland and find her birth mother. Written with heart wrenching honesty and a real insight into the lives of children in care. Read it with compassion.
Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve - the prequel to the Mortal Engines books. The tale of Fever Crumb, a foundling in the times before all the cities became traction cities, when stalkers were little known in London. Fever knows she is different, but it is not until events unfold that she realises just how different she actually is. A wonderful adventure, full of heroics and sorrow, violence and caring. Watch out for this when it is published in May.
Rowan the Strange by Julie Hearn - set just as war breaks out in 1939, exploring the life of a scizophrenic boy and his role as a guinea pig for the newly discovered electro convulsive therapy. Beautiful, gripping, sad and totaly involving. Hearn's best novel to date.
Warriors of Ethandun by N M Browne - the third novel in the Warriors Trilogy, but can be read as a stand alone title. Dan and Ursula find themselves in AD 878 - King Alfred's time, when there is distrust and magic in the air. Will they survive the horrors and trials of life in Wessex? Well written and involving.
Saturday, 21 February 2009
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
This is another classic from Gaiman - who always amuses, challenges and compels you to read.
The story starts as an ordinary family is murdered by a cold blooded killer - but the baby manages to escape by crawling away and finds his way into the Graveyard of the title. Here he is protected by the mysterious Silas, whilst being adopted by Mr & Mrs Owens - who had themselves died in the 1750s. He is called Nobody Owens (Bod for short) and he is given the freedom of the graveyard so he can can go about the graveyard and see as the dead do.
This is the story of how he grows up, some of the fascinating ghosts and people he meets along the way, the off beat education he receives from the ghosts and how he ultimately defeats the mysterious and secret organisation that wanted him dead in the first place. Wonderfully amusing, frighteningly scary and a great adventure too. The Sleer - a sort of ghostly serpent - that protects the treasures in one mausoleum is a nightmare creature you would never want to meet, it inspires fear and dread in all who enter it's realm (and that includes you as reader too!)
Fantastic ink and wash style illustrations by Dave McKean add to the menace and the enjoyment.
The story starts as an ordinary family is murdered by a cold blooded killer - but the baby manages to escape by crawling away and finds his way into the Graveyard of the title. Here he is protected by the mysterious Silas, whilst being adopted by Mr & Mrs Owens - who had themselves died in the 1750s. He is called Nobody Owens (Bod for short) and he is given the freedom of the graveyard so he can can go about the graveyard and see as the dead do.
This is the story of how he grows up, some of the fascinating ghosts and people he meets along the way, the off beat education he receives from the ghosts and how he ultimately defeats the mysterious and secret organisation that wanted him dead in the first place. Wonderfully amusing, frighteningly scary and a great adventure too. The Sleer - a sort of ghostly serpent - that protects the treasures in one mausoleum is a nightmare creature you would never want to meet, it inspires fear and dread in all who enter it's realm (and that includes you as reader too!)
Fantastic ink and wash style illustrations by Dave McKean add to the menace and the enjoyment.
Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud
I enjoyed Stroud's previous trilogy and looked forward to this first in a new series. I was not disappointed even though the feel of this is quite different.
Halli lives in a time and place that feels Nordic, and is steeped in a history of saga-like stories. He is a bit of a misfit, and an adventurer in a society that has a settled feel to it. He meets a girl, Aud, who is equally as headstrong and misfitting as he is and they challenge all the legends to find a place for themselves. A strong and involving adventure - I hope there will be more to follow.
Halli lives in a time and place that feels Nordic, and is steeped in a history of saga-like stories. He is a bit of a misfit, and an adventurer in a society that has a settled feel to it. He meets a girl, Aud, who is equally as headstrong and misfitting as he is and they challenge all the legends to find a place for themselves. A strong and involving adventure - I hope there will be more to follow.
Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera
This is every body's nightmare realised. To be an innocent person arrested and charged is a horrifying thought, just imagine the horror when not only are you innocent, but you are caught up in anti-terrorist actions and end up in the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison.
This is such a gripping book you are horrified but can't turn away, and must live through all of Khalid's nightmare. The torture scenes are sickening, but need to be read; the sense of time and being totally disoriented is compelling; the fear of normal life on the return to home is understandable and sympathetically dealt with. A book for our times.
This is such a gripping book you are horrified but can't turn away, and must live through all of Khalid's nightmare. The torture scenes are sickening, but need to be read; the sense of time and being totally disoriented is compelling; the fear of normal life on the return to home is understandable and sympathetically dealt with. A book for our times.
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Patrick Ness - The Knife of Never Letting Go
This book has won a recent teenage prize - it's an exploration of how society may develop as man sets off to colonise new worlds, how they live with what they find there, and how they cope with the mistakes.
That makes it seem rather prosaic - it certainly isn't. It is written from the viewpoint of Todd, a boy on the threshold of manhood, who works on the farm of his carers, and has a talking dog - Manchee. The colony they are part of is all male, a sickness has wiped out all the females, and given the men an ability (or curse) in that they can hear each others thoughts all the time. There has been a war on the Spackle who were thought to be the cause of the sickness and who are all thought to be dead as the story starts.
Once you have read the first page you are dragged into this terrifying vision of the future and have to unravel the truth, little by little, as Todd does as he tries to flee the despotic, cruel Mayor and the rest of Prentisstown. Manchee is a wonderful character, with all the characteristics of a truly faithful dog, but he can talk!
I can understand why this won - it's a roller coater ride with fear at every turn.
That makes it seem rather prosaic - it certainly isn't. It is written from the viewpoint of Todd, a boy on the threshold of manhood, who works on the farm of his carers, and has a talking dog - Manchee. The colony they are part of is all male, a sickness has wiped out all the females, and given the men an ability (or curse) in that they can hear each others thoughts all the time. There has been a war on the Spackle who were thought to be the cause of the sickness and who are all thought to be dead as the story starts.
Once you have read the first page you are dragged into this terrifying vision of the future and have to unravel the truth, little by little, as Todd does as he tries to flee the despotic, cruel Mayor and the rest of Prentisstown. Manchee is a wonderful character, with all the characteristics of a truly faithful dog, but he can talk!
I can understand why this won - it's a roller coater ride with fear at every turn.
Charles Dickens - Little Dorrit
I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Dickens until I got annoyed with the BBC serial being on the TV at odd and inconvenient times, so I went out and bought a cheap paperback copy to immerse myself in a re-read (I didn't want to carry the volume from my collected works about in case it got damaged!)
What a pleasure and a joy, the language is so rich, the humour broad and also sly, the plot so convoluted and the characters so engaging. I shan't leave it so long before I re-read another volume! The Circumlocution Office really lived up to it's reputation - and tragically reminded me of the bureaucracy we still see today.
What a pleasure and a joy, the language is so rich, the humour broad and also sly, the plot so convoluted and the characters so engaging. I shan't leave it so long before I re-read another volume! The Circumlocution Office really lived up to it's reputation - and tragically reminded me of the bureaucracy we still see today.
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