Hi! I Read a Book this Week!

Hi everyone! I’m a terrible blogger when it comes to posting regularly these days. I know it. You know it. But I’m still here! Life has kind of taken off for me a bit lately and for a few months now I haven’t been reading much. But I finished a book for the first time in ages the other day, so I thought I’d share some brief thoughts on it with you.

A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy

This is my third Hardy novel, but I’m getting the feeling I should have stopped after my first. Both A Pair of Blue Eyes and Far from the Maddening Crowd are very different to the more nuanced and at times dark Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The former two read far more like very typical Victorian era romantic fiction, where as the latter was much richer in both its content and gorgeous prose.

That said, I enjoyed A Pair of Blue Eyes much more than Far From the Maddening Crowd. The heroine Elfride Swancourt (who was based on Hardy’s first wife Emma Gifford) is flawed but immensely likeable. The male leads are slightly annoying though, especially Henry Knight and his rather possessive and condescending nature. Knight’s views on women certainly highlight the oppressive and sexually-prejudiced atmosphere women existed in during Victorian times. His attitude provides plenty of material that will aggravate modern readers, but is interesting from a theoretical perspective and comprises one of the main themes of the novel.

The bulk of the plot was pretty predictable and didn’t really grasp my attention that well. But this meant I was taken by complete surprise when Hardy chose to end the story in a way totally contrary to my expectations, which I loved.

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Ever since I read and loved Tess of the D’Urbevilles last January I’ve been meaning to check out some of Thomas Hardy’s other work. Unfortunately I found Far from the Madding Crowd nowhere near as enjoyable as Tess.

The plot revolves around the beautiful and flighty Bathsheba Everdene, who must choose between three suitors: the lovely, constant and only likeable character in the entire book Gabriel Oak, the heart breaker Sergeant Troy or the middle-aged farmer Boldwood.

The book starts out lavishing the reader with the same gorgeous writing about country life that I loved in Tess, but as the story got going this diminished. It’s far more like in the style of Jane Austen than Tess, but this wasn’t what I disliked about it. I disagreed with all of the choices Bathsheba made and found her annoying rather than endearing, I didn’t like the way any of the action played out and the only character that I even remotely cared about was Gabriel Oak. I also found the plot very slow moving, but I’ve been pretty busy so I only had the chance to read the book in small sittings and that may have contributed to that opinion.

It was an alright read, but it just didn’t interest me that much and I was expecting more given my earlier enjoyment of Tess. It won’t be my last foray into Hardy’s work though, I purchased a copy of A Pair of Blue Eyes recently and hope to read it soon.

Teaser Tuesday: Far from the Madding Crowd

“The sky was clear – remarkably clear – and the twinkling of all the stars seemed to be but throbs of one body, timed with a common pulse.”

Page 15 – Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Catch Up Post

I have all but fallen off the face of the book blogging planet again. I’m sorry! I’m working as an office temp full-time at the moment and doing assignments for my Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice on the weekends, which means that the idea of sitting at a computer has developed very negative connotations for me. I no longer associate it with anything fun. I hope that will change soon. Also I’m home with the flu at the moment and my brain is a bit foggy, so please excuse me if this post isn’t the best writing ever.

While I haven’t done much blogging over the past two months, I have managed to do a reasonable amount of reading:

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

I really regret that I wasn’t able to post about this one immediately after I read it. I loved this book so much, but I finished it at the end of January so now I’ve forgotten a lot of the detail about why I enjoyed it so much. I was surprised by how readable and addictive Gone With the Wind was to read, given its enormous number of pages. At times I related a lot to Scarlett, at other points I found her pretty contemptible. But Rhett swept me off my feet. And the ending! *Sigh!* Also this book gave me a bit of a better understanding of the American Civil War, which is not something we really learn very much about in Australia apart from through books, film and television.

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

I didn’t realise when I started reading this that it’s pretty much The White Queen but from a different character’s point of view. It was ok, but not as nuanced as The White Queen. I’d recommend it if you enjoyed The White Queen and are still wanting more, but don’t read it over The White Queen.

 

 

 

The Blood Countess by Tara Moss

I wasn’t a big fan of this one. It was enjoyable right up until the supernatural elements of the story were revealed, but then I found it quite cliché and boring. I haven’t read any other Tara Moss and I’m interested to give her another try, but I wouldn’t recommend this one.

 

 

 

White Cat by Holly Black

I loved Zombies v Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier, and that anthology added a huge number of authors to my to be read list. Holly Black was one of them. Her White Cat, the first installment in The Curse Worker’s Series, was really enjoyable and quite original. Here’s a quick grab on the plot from Black’s website:

“Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn’t got the magic touch, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.:

Wildthorn by Jane England

Another young adult read. This one was lent to me by the lovely Renee. It’s set in the Victorian era and follows the plight of 17-year-old Louisa Cosgrove who is thrown in Wildthorn Hall, an insane asylum. She is given no reason for her incarceration and the staff there refuse to call her by her real name. This is a very gripping read about a highly educated woman with strong aspirations for whom everything goes horribly wrong. It’s predictable at times, but that didn’t detract from my enj oyment of it.

 

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Another one from Renee. I loved this book so much! Yelena is excused from the death penalty and freed from prison in order to become the Commander of Ixia’s new poison taster. His right-hand man Valek trains her for this role, but he also poisons her daily so that she can’t escape – if she misses her daily dose of his antidote she will die. But if she stays the General whose son she killed will murder her. I loved the romantic tension between Valek and Yelena. I loved Valek’s character in general. Unfortunately the second and third installments in this series did not come close to Poison Study.

Magic Study and Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

Magic Study was alright, but if I hadn’t been so charmed by Yelena’s horse Kiki and her horsey wisdom I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it much. I didn’t like Fire Study at all, it was kind of all over the place and I wasn’t really invested in what happened to any of the characters anymore. In both Magic Study and Fire Study Valek’s characterisation was really poor and one-dimensional, all the things I loved about him in Poison Study were missing and I think this really impacted on my enjoyment of the books.

The Case of the Pope: Vatican Accountability for Human Rights Abuse by Geoffrey Robertson QC

In this thought-provoking book Geoffrey Robertson QC sets out the various ways the Pope could be held legally responsible for the widespread cases of priests committing child sex abuse. He focuses on possible liability under international law, but also touches on whether the Pope could be sued under domestic law. He expresses his respect for the Catholic faith, its believers and their charitable works, the but argues that its current way of dealing with child sex abuse makes it an enemy of human rights and that as a result the Pope could be held legally accountable.

This is a very difficult book for me to review, as it involves many quite complex legal arguments. Before I do my best to summarise some of it, I’d like to acknowledge that religion is a very sensitive topic for many and point out that this review is not an attack on Catholicism as a whole. I appreciate the legal argument that Robertson puts forth in this book and share his concern about the Vatican’s track record with child sex abuse and human rights. Like many ex-Catholics (me), and also practicing Catholics (several members of my family), I have often felt disappointed by the way the church has handled things and therefore have a great appreciation for many of the points raised in this book.

Robertson delivers a damaging indictment against The Holy See, its refusal to defrock many priests known to it to have committed sexual abuse, its willingness to harbour these priests, to move them to other countries or parishes where their propensities are unknown and where they can continue to work without supervision and its attempts to avoid priests being dealt with under the criminal law of the country they are situated in, instead attempting to run a secret, concurrent legal system by insisting on dealing with them internally using Canon law, which, as Robertson, outlines is disastrously inept at dealing with crimes of sexual abuse. In doing so the Vatican is interfering in the laws of a friendly state – a breach of the non-intervention rule in the UN Charter. In setting out all of these points Robertson attempts to establish responsibility to the Pope, both due to his role as the Pope and also his previous role of overseeing the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the arm of The Holy See which deals with sex abuse.

Issues flowing from these points revolve around sovereign immunity and statehood. Is the Vatican really a state? Does the Pope have sovereign immunity? Denial of statehood would mean the loss of the Vatican’s non-member seat at The United Nations, a soapbox no other religion in the world is privy to. It would also mean that the Pope could be sued under domestic law in some countries.

As a law student, an ex-Catholic and someone who has followed the child sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church I found the arguments and reasoning in The Case of the Pope absolutely fascinating. Especially the chapter on whether the Pope could be tried for crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court. Human rights law and public international law were two of my all time favourite subjects at university and so I loved the novel legal arguments that Robertson put forth.

One of the things I liked about this book was that theoretically one could still be a Catholic and agree with the points raised. Robertson acknowledges that “The very idea of putting the Pope on trial is no more realizable in 2010 than arresting Henry Kissinger or George W. Bush or Robert Mugabe or other world leaders whose diplomatic immunities take symbolic shape in the thickets of security guards surrounding them when they venture abroad. But some unrealizable ideas are useful nonetheless, and the idea that this or any future pope could end up in the dock over their command responsibility for grave breaches of international conventions that protect children is an idea that serves as an affirmation of the rule of a law that no one is above.” It is also an idea that could possibly bring about reform in the church and its attitude towards dealing with sex offender priests.

Favourite Books of 2010

A belated Happy New Year to everyone! I hope 2010 was good to you and that 2011 will be even better. Welcome to my reading recap of 2010, it’s a bit all over the place so I apologise. I struggled a little with putting this post together, I think this was mostly because 2010 was a very challenging year for me personally and I often used reading as an escape, automatically leaning towards contemporary fiction that would allow me to forget about my own life for awhile. There’s nothing wrong with that, but because I chose less challenging titles to read when I looked over my list of completed ones and tried to pick out my absolute favourites few jumped out at me as being really memorable. That’s why instead of picking out a top ten favourite books I’m only going to do a top five and then follow it up with a few favourites from different categories.

Top Five Favourite Books of 2010 (in no particular order):

1. The Passage by Justin Cronin.

“this book was so addictive, so gripping and so wonderful that I finished it in under a week” … and it’s 800-pages-plus long. I can’t wait for the next installment in this wonderful series.

2. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham.

The Chrysalids is an artfully told post-apocalyptic, dystopian story.

“This was a really important theme in the book for me, the value of children looking at things critically, rather than just accepting things as they are and doing as they are told. I loved watching David’s mind awaken as he questioned and thought logically about his surroundings, from the young age of 10 onwards.”

3. The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant.

This one I read and loved, but unfortunately life got in the way of me ever putting together a review of it. Set in a small German town, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is told from the perspective of 11-year-old Pia who is determined to work out why little girls have started disappearing. The story is a wonderful mix of folklore, small town quaintness, German customs and contemporary writing. I absolutely loved the ending too.

4. The Blue Castle by L.M Montgomery.

Another one I loved but somehow never wrote about. The Blue Castle follows Valancy as she takes control of her own life and defies the conventions of her conservative small town and domineering family. Delightful and heartwarming.

5. Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

I adored Tess of the D’Urbevilles when I read it last January, it’s now one of my all time favourite classics. I loved the gorgeous language, the heady descriptions of the lush countryside and the way society’s conventions are called into question in this wonderful book.

“Hardy’s descriptions of the settings in the narrative are always artful, but never more than at Talbothays Dairy, where he mingles love with milking cows, leafy green trees, vast pastures and the hum of nature.”

Favourite Young Adult Book:

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.

Favourite Non-Fiction Book:

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher.

Favourite Anthology:

Zombies vs Unicorns edited by Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black.

Some Statistics:

I’m kind of terrible at classifying books but here goes…

Total books finished: 58. Pretty good considering I read nothing in October or November. Click here for a complete list.

Total classics and modern classics read: 7.

Total books from series or planned to be part of a series read: 24.

Young adult fiction: 8.

Non-fiction: 4.

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

To be honest, the pretty, pretty cover is all it took for me to be interested in reading Paranormalcy by Kiersten White. I really want the dress Evie is wearing.

Paranormalcy centres around Evie, a sixteen-year-old employee of the International Paranormal Containment Agency (IPCA), an organisation aimed at policing the paranormals who live among the unaware human population. That aspect of the story reminded me a lot of the film Men in Black. Evie is especially valuable to the IPCA due to her unique gift to see through paranormal glamours. But as Evie’s friendship with a paranormal IPCA prisoner begins to grow, her perception of the world surrounding her starts to change.

I loved Paranormalcy. I read the entire book in one sitting yesterday. It was just what I was in the mood for, something light – but not too light, something gripping and a means of escape from the everyday world. I found Evie to be a very likeable heroine, she’s honourable, witty and brave while still being very believable as a lonely sixteen-year-old girl unsure of her place.

Other Reviews:

My Books My Life

All the Books I Can Read

(Have I missed yours?)

Zombies vs Unicorns edited by Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black

Best. Concept. Ever. Stealing the blurb from the back cover, Zombies vs Unicorns “is a short story feud that pits horned beasts against the shuffling undead.” A great group of young adult authors have contributed stories about unicorns and zombies to this anthology, with the aim of winning the reader over to either Team Zombie or Team Unicorn. Editors Larbalestier (Team Zombie) and Black (Team Unicorn) punctuate the collection with commentary about the mythical origins and influences behind each piece, as well as an enormous amount of teasing the other team and pointing out why their team is so much better. The result: a hilarious, whimsical and poignant collection of short fiction.

I won’t describe every story in the book, the other excellent reviews linked below have already done this and I’m feeling lazy today. But I think overall I enjoyed the stories about unicorns better than the stories about zombies. So I hereby pronounce myself Team Unicorn. My favourite short story in each category was:

1. TEAM UNICORN: Purity Test by Naomi Novik

I absolutely could not stop laughing when I was reading this one, I’m very thankful I wasn’t on public transportation at the time. A practical unicorn defies convention and seeks out a non-virgin, modern girl to aid him in his quest to rescue baby unicorns at risk of being sacrificed.

Favourite passage:

“”So what do you need a virgin for?”

“Do you see hands at the ends of these?” the unicorn said.

Alison cracked open an eye enough to see that yes, the unicorn was still there, and it was waving a silver hoof in her face. There wasn’t any dirt on the hoof, even though the unicorn was standing in the middle of a torn-up meadow.

“What does being a virgin have to do with opposable thumbs?” she said.

“Nothing! the unicorn said. But will anyone else in the herd listen to me? Of course not! They go off and grab the first thirteen-year-old who coos at them, and then it’s all, “Their purity will lead the way,” blah, blah, blah. Lead the way to a whole bunch of dead baby unicorns maybe. I want a little more competence in my heroine.”"

2. TEAM ZOMBIE: Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan

I loved this story about the daughter of a dictator in control of the island Curacao, a settlement closed to the outside world that shoots down refugees in order to remain safe from the zombie infection. Fifteen-year-old Iza struggles with her father’s power over both her and everyone around her, before discovering that she can be a powerful woman by herself. I found Iza’s loneliness and the tone of this story very moving and poignant.

In short, Zombies vs Unicorns is completely awesome. Thanks to it I now have a whole bunch of new-to-me authors to try out. And I’ve already ordered a copy to give to a friend for Christmas.

Other Reviews:

My Books My Life

Fyrefly’s Book Blog

(Have I missed yours?)

The Beach by Alex Garland

In order to relive my November trip to South East Asia I decided to bump The Beach by Alex Garland up my to-be-read list. It’s told from the first-person perspective of Richard, a gap year student in Thailand. When a half-crazed Scotsman named Daffy gives Rich a map to a hidden island he and some other fellow travellers decide to set out in search of it. Once they reach the secluded island and join its commune they declare it to be Eden and do their best to forget about The World. But as tensions arise in the community and too many drugs start to distort Richard’s view of the Thai paradise it begins to turn into a nightmare.

What struck me most about The Beach was the social anxiety constantly underlying the action. From the very beginning Richard puts a strong focus on recounting the reactions of all the other characters to everything he says or does, he details his often minute and petty reasons for liking or disliking someone and retells every social misunderstanding. This added to the tense atmosphere of the book and put me on edge. As the drama on the island begins to escalate so too does Richard’s tendency towards social anxiety until he becomes very paranoid.

I also found Richard’s fascination with the Vietnam War interesting, he begins by just making occasional references to films set in the war, but as the novel progresses he actually starts referring to people as VCs (Viet Congs) and wandering around thinking in army speak.

As you may have guessed by now, seeing the beach from inside Richard’s head isn’t always a comfortable experience. On top of all of his other quirks, he suffers from vivid and violent dreams, which later progress into full-blown hallucinations. His personality also undergoes a journey, he starts off being rather likeable, but eventually shows himself to be completely self-absorbed and unconcerned with the lives of others. In fact by the end of The Beach the only two characters that I thought had any redeeming qualities were Étienne and Jed.

There are many similarities between The Beach and The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, in which a group of young boys marooned on an island form a society before turning violently on each other. The same tensions between group thinking and individuality and themes surrounding the brutal side of human nature arise, leading to violence.

The Beach was a very well-crafted, nuanced and thrilling read. But it’s definitely one of those books that drags you in and compels you to keep reading but at the same time isn’t a comfortable experience. I admired it but I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed it.

In Which I Return to Blogging

I’m back!

I’ve neglected my blog these last few months, in November I went on a month-long trip to South East Asia: Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore. Then when I got home I was in Sydney for the start of my diploma. THEN I went on a family holiday. But now I’m home. And glad to be back in my own bed! And planning on giving my poor blog some much-needed love. I have heaps of you guys’ posts left to catch up on too so I’ll be flitting around over the next couple of days and leaving you some comment love. But for now I’m going to post a few photos from my trip. I may post some more later.

At The Grand Palace, Bangkok.

Inside The Grand Palace, Bangkok.

Me in front of Angkor Wat, Cambodia, at sunrise.

Monks wandering around inside Angkor Wat.

My tour group at Angkor Wat.

Me at another temple in Cambodia.

The “Tomb Raider” temple in Cambodia.

The “Tomb Raider” temple in Cambodia.

My fried tarantulas with a lemon pepper sauce in a restaurant in Cambodia.

Me eating the fried tarantulas.

The memorial stupa at The Killing Fields in Cambodia. It was erected in memory of the victims of the Khmer Rouge. It contains the skulls of over 8,000 victims. The day we visited The Killing Fields and the S21 prison was very overwhelming, upsetting and intense.

Me at Halong Bay in Vietnam.

Me out the front of Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam,