January Reviews

Sea of Poppies
Amitav Ghosh
4/5
John Murray 16/4/2009 Paperback
Christmas Haul
One of a trilogy, which does make it a little different. I will not be reading any of the other books in this series BUT as you can see from the ranking, that doesn't suggest I didn't enjoy Sea of Poppies. The main take away is the characters. They are all brilliant and nuanced and I thought they interacted really well. The characters developed and changed as we went along. It was important that there were a number of story lines to tie together.
Another reason I absolutely loved the book is because it centres around opium. Opium was my specialist subject at Uni and I try to extend the interest now. From the cultivation and effects to the start of the opium wars, it's all in there.
The only reason it doesn't get full marks is the ending. It doesn't hold up as a stand alone book enough for me. I've decided not to carry on the series because I've warned off the other books that aren't so good as the first one, and it then leaves me with a slightly jarring ending. But it's definitely worth a read if you're interested in India or opium, or a jolly good read!




Umbrella
Will Self
/
Bloomsbury 16/8/12 Paperback
Christmas Haul
Gutted that I had to give up. I want to return to this Will Self book once I have time to get lost in it. I have been too busy to appreciate it though. I heard Will Self read an excerpt from Umbrella at a reading once and so I know that you have to read it in the same way that you approach Ulysses, dramatically, full throttle, letting the language flow over you and catching at characters as they jump around in time.
I WILL read it. I haven't given it a score yet because I think that would be unfair.
For anyone thinking of picking up Umbrella, I must suggest that you consider saving it for curling up in a corner in a pub for hours rather than a commuters book. You can't be absorbing the delicate details of the writing while someone else's actual umbrella presses wetly against your work trousers.

January Reviews

The Miniaturist
Jessie Burton
Picador 3/7/14 Hardback
9/10
Christmas Present!

I actually snatched this book from my dad, who was given this book for Christmas. I was so excited I immediately started reading it and finished it in a week.
Broken neatly into 3 parts, each more exciting and intriguing than the next this beautiful book follows Nella Brant in her new Amsterdam home. Full of gold, Guilds and gossip 17th Century Europe comes alive. With the fantastical twist of a watchmaker's daughter whose watchful presence disturbs the peaceful waterways with ripples. Is she casually observing, predicting the future or orchestrating it?
The characters absolutely made this book for me. They were each so vivid that I remember now a month later. I'd highly recommend this book. Nice one Picador, my 17th century hat is off to you.

How To Win Friends & Influence People
Dale Carnegie
Vermillion 6/4/06 Paperback
7/10
Christmas Present!

I was told when handed this book that it would change my life. And as I read it people would come up to me and start conversations about how it had changed theirs. Twitter notifications poured in to pay attention. Perhaps I'm still too young.
When I finished this, I felt like I should just flip back to the beginning and read it all over again. It was so well written and interesting, and obviously has some great advice that should be drilled into you. but I wanted to give my self a break first. I think I'll pick it up again in a few months and see if I feel any differently about it.
My biggest problem with this book was that it was all advice given from a position of power, how to get your minions to work effectively. Unfortunately I'm one of the minions, so there is never a moment where I can influence anyone really. I just do as I'm told. It didn't really help the little man, just big managers. Which is why I think I'm too young/in the wrong stage of life. My outlook isn't the most possitive, neither am I ever really asking anything of anyone. Plus I recognise that I probably am just being a 23 year old and assuming that I know everything.
It had some brilliant advice which I should try to use more often. Definitely one to pick up again.

2nd Year Undergraduates

My Visit to Bath Spa.

On Tuesday 20th of January I visited my alma mater to speak about my experience post graduation. I LOVED it. First of all I got to meet a few lecturers and staff who I never had before, plus meet up with my old tutors. I also got to meet some other graduates who had really interesting stories as well. It was lovely to meet them all.

There was a distinct feeling of students up at my campus. Usually, in the wild, I see them all spread out or in small groups roaming the cities. I saw a guy skateboarding to the SU. That guy was winning at being a student.

In my final year, much of the campus was under construction while a new giant building was built. We were lucky enough to get to speak in one of the new lecture theaters. Obviously there were about 35 people in the room, this is their writing week to do nothing while the uni puts on career focused workshops.

There were definitely some despairing faces out there. Who didn't know what they wanted to do. But I felt like I crowbarred in enough of what I really wanted to say. One of the questions the leader of the seminar asked was:

If you were sitting in this room right now, what do you wish someone had told you:

"How much time you have now. Once you leave uni, there is no money, and no time. So while you have time and money at uni, make the most of it. Freelance, blog, intern, work shadow, and read."

One of my fellow graduates said: "Ah see, I'm pretty sure someone DID tell me, and I just ignored them. I'd say just make sure everything you do is useful. If you're on a team, think about how that would reflect on your CV."

And

"It's going to be hard. and scary. And it takes months or years of persistence to get a job." Why not start now??

What I enjoyed was that we all had very different stories, and we all said the same things from a different view point. If I was invited back next year, I would try to frame my answers a little better there was so much that I wanted to say that sometimes I felt a little garbled.

It was great to go back and I'd do it again!