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chrome_cherryI always mean to keep track of what I'm reading/ have read, and I'm on a constant mission to actually read some more damn classics what with having an English degree and all...
And so I am creating this post to sit at the top of my journal and let me keep track of what I've read over the year by updating it every time I finish a book. I'm intrigued to see how many books I read over the year as well.
I've written reactions to the book, to jog my memory, rather than summaries or reviews. If you do want my opinion or a summary though, feel free to ask.
Fiction
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke
Huge, sprawling, beautifully written; part magical history of England, part love story, part adventure and war, part fantasy. The historical and political details are meticulously researched and accurate, meaning that the magic and legends in the story feel real. I still can't quite get over the fact that they're not.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami.
Japanese surrealist fantasy. On one level it's about psychology, the nature of reality and identity and how we choose to live and the way we interact with others. On another level it's just a mesmerising story.
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
Not his best, and at times the story feels a bit light, and it's always obvious where it's going... But when it's good, it's very very good, and it's amazing how much slips in under the radar to be mulled over later.
The Buddha of Suburbia, Hanif Kureishi
Oh my. I just pulled this off the bookshelf because I was bored and it knocked me off my feet. It's easy reading in the sense that the narrative flows, it's joyful, and the prose just pours into your mind, but every few pages I tripped over a phrase that summed something up perfectly, or that really made me think. It wasn't over halfway through that I realised just how much is going on here. Definitely one for the re-read pile...
Herland, Charlotte Perkins Gilman
I could argue with some of her utopian ingredients, but there were times when the portrayal of an all-female world was so refreshing, and so funny in the way it exposed the gaping flaws in our society, I could forgive them.
Antic Hay, Aldous Huxley
I love Huxley. Funny book, and some of the lines/ views on morality/ lesbians etc could have been written today
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
Yes, I know most people read it in secondary school, but not me! I was expecting things to go a lot nastier, a lot sooner - although, on reflection, the quiet slip into disarray is much more unsettling, and the ending throws just how bad things have got into sharp perspective.
American Gods, Neil Gaiman
SO much better than Anansi Boys! very dense story that I will probably return to - if only for the intellectual satisfaction of working out who all the gods featured are.
A prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
Hilarious, sad - never went where I thought it might. The commentary on the 80's Reagan administration could so easily and accurately be applied to the 00's Bush administration that I had to check the publication date. Very long and complex setup - somehow the writing stopped it feeling contrived, which is quite a feat.
Island, Aldous Huxley
One of my favourite ever books. fascinating - the mirror image of brave new world. Will get a post of its own at some point.
Budapest, chico Buarque
Loved the way this slipped slowly out of reality. Plays around with language - how we learn it, what it does to our personality and perception, and how we represent ourselves to ourselves and others.
Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
Everything I heard was true.
The kind of sprawling history that lets you know the world, and intimate details to get you in the characters head.
Preacher, vol.1, Garth Ennis
I'd read the rest of the series but not the first one.
I will never get that fucking image out of my mind. Great characters though.
Human Croquet, Kate Atkinson
Just what I needed to read to help me make sense of the world at that particular moment.
Non-Fiction
1421: The Year China Discovered the World, Gavin Menzies
Female chauvinist Pigs, Ariel Levy.
A lot of 'this is what I've been saying!', but she doesn't do a lot of her ideas justice. she needs more detail and more examples and to chase people harder. also why is there no examination of how race or class plays into her argument? Good starting point I think.
And so I am creating this post to sit at the top of my journal and let me keep track of what I've read over the year by updating it every time I finish a book. I'm intrigued to see how many books I read over the year as well.
I've written reactions to the book, to jog my memory, rather than summaries or reviews. If you do want my opinion or a summary though, feel free to ask.
Fiction
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke
Huge, sprawling, beautifully written; part magical history of England, part love story, part adventure and war, part fantasy. The historical and political details are meticulously researched and accurate, meaning that the magic and legends in the story feel real. I still can't quite get over the fact that they're not.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami.
Japanese surrealist fantasy. On one level it's about psychology, the nature of reality and identity and how we choose to live and the way we interact with others. On another level it's just a mesmerising story.
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
Not his best, and at times the story feels a bit light, and it's always obvious where it's going... But when it's good, it's very very good, and it's amazing how much slips in under the radar to be mulled over later.
The Buddha of Suburbia, Hanif Kureishi
Oh my. I just pulled this off the bookshelf because I was bored and it knocked me off my feet. It's easy reading in the sense that the narrative flows, it's joyful, and the prose just pours into your mind, but every few pages I tripped over a phrase that summed something up perfectly, or that really made me think. It wasn't over halfway through that I realised just how much is going on here. Definitely one for the re-read pile...
Herland, Charlotte Perkins Gilman
I could argue with some of her utopian ingredients, but there were times when the portrayal of an all-female world was so refreshing, and so funny in the way it exposed the gaping flaws in our society, I could forgive them.
Antic Hay, Aldous Huxley
I love Huxley. Funny book, and some of the lines/ views on morality/ lesbians etc could have been written today
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
Yes, I know most people read it in secondary school, but not me! I was expecting things to go a lot nastier, a lot sooner - although, on reflection, the quiet slip into disarray is much more unsettling, and the ending throws just how bad things have got into sharp perspective.
American Gods, Neil Gaiman
SO much better than Anansi Boys! very dense story that I will probably return to - if only for the intellectual satisfaction of working out who all the gods featured are.
A prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
Hilarious, sad - never went where I thought it might. The commentary on the 80's Reagan administration could so easily and accurately be applied to the 00's Bush administration that I had to check the publication date. Very long and complex setup - somehow the writing stopped it feeling contrived, which is quite a feat.
Island, Aldous Huxley
One of my favourite ever books. fascinating - the mirror image of brave new world. Will get a post of its own at some point.
Budapest, chico Buarque
Loved the way this slipped slowly out of reality. Plays around with language - how we learn it, what it does to our personality and perception, and how we represent ourselves to ourselves and others.
Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
Everything I heard was true.
The kind of sprawling history that lets you know the world, and intimate details to get you in the characters head.
Preacher, vol.1, Garth Ennis
I'd read the rest of the series but not the first one.
I will never get that fucking image out of my mind. Great characters though.
Human Croquet, Kate Atkinson
Just what I needed to read to help me make sense of the world at that particular moment.
Non-Fiction
1421: The Year China Discovered the World, Gavin Menzies
Female chauvinist Pigs, Ariel Levy.
A lot of 'this is what I've been saying!', but she doesn't do a lot of her ideas justice. she needs more detail and more examples and to chase people harder. also why is there no examination of how race or class plays into her argument? Good starting point I think.
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