Spooky Reviews!

So sorry all, I missed last weeks blog post on Thursday, thank you to those of you who checked back. Here it is in all it's glory, the Halloween reviews!!



Orlando
Virginia Woolf
Hogarth Press 11/10/1928 Kindle
4/5
Kindle Classics

In a strange turn of events, I actually saw the film of Orlando before the book. I found the story much more dark, confusing and bizarre than the film and I really enjoyed that, it felt like I was unwrapping a secret part of the story I didn't know before. I loved the Tiresus style gender bending and the struggles of the genders between them selves. The exploration of ying and yan in a persons' personality as well as their body was interesting as well as the impact of a woman losing her fortune and rights in a world where she was once a man.

It was fantastical in all the right ways and incredibly readable. I was surprised as I've struggled with Woolf's essays before and thought the book would be another dribble of musings from the mind. I find stream of consciousness style writing quite self indulgent actually, so I was pleased to find that Orlando was very well constructed and not in the least annoying. I might even try another of Virginia's soon (first name basis, obviously).

Vathek
William Beckford
Paperback
2/4
Borrowed from sister

Vathek was written at a time when the Arab world was exciting and new. Arabian nights had just been translated into English and was inspiring writers and artists. It is a Faustian tale with the added character of a devilish mother. I did not enjoy this book. I liked the descriptions of all things luxurious and pleasurable. And even the eternal torments were well described, but without any feeling it seemed. It just seems uninspiring in its writing style. There was very little to go on in terms of character and I found it quite biblical: begot Simon, begot John, begot Adrian, begot Ahmed, begot Roger, begot Dave.

I did manage to finish the book in case something interesting happened, but I found it neither frightening nor gripping. Not a Halloween read I would recommend. There are two more books in the collection to go and I am hoping for more chilling tales. Perhaps there was something about the setting that made it difficult to feel Halloweeny. I associate fear with cold shivers and misty moors, Vathek is set some where in the desert or middle east and no one is ever cold with fright and the setting didn't suit the Gothic feel I wanted. Can anyone recommend a book that takes place in the heat and is frightening for next year?

Na No Wri Mo?

One of the biggest pieces of advice that I give out at work and that I was given at Uni was that if you have writers block, JUST WRITE. What better way to do this than to try Na No Wri Mo through November.

What is it?
National Novel Writing Month where writers around the world attempt to write 50000 words in 30 days. They couldn't have picked a month with 31? That's about 1667 words a day.

Why would you do it?
I'm doing it this year because I have a fantasy story which I wrote when I was 16/17 and never finished.  As I get older, I read less YA fiction, less fantasy and therefore I write less about it as well. I feel like if I am ever going to finish this story, it had better be when I am closer to teens than later when I'll have lost touch and become too cynical to try.

I'm also trying to practice the advice that you should learn to finish your stories as well as start them.

But I think for most people the attraction is the community, every week a Pep Talk email arrives from an author who gives you advice and enthusiasm to keep going.

Na No Wri Mo gets alot of flack because the quality of the writing isn't really taken into account when you are trying to get 50000 words out. And that is fair enough, a few people I know, not naming names, have entered Na No Wri Mo a few times and call themselves a Novelist.


So I'm doing Na No Wri Mo, it is very possible that I won't be speaking to ANYONE for the next month...I just have a few little things planned. so forgive me for the next 30 days, I'm MIA behind Na No Wri Mo lines.

May Reads

What did I read in May? I thought that every month I'd do a sum up of that month's reading list and a short review of each book. I'm a bit late with May because I have had so many exciting blog posts to write!

American Psycho. 

Bret Easton Ellis

Picador 03/12/10 Paper Back

8/10

When Ed Wilson at Johnson & Alcock  found out that I had read very little American fiction he threatened to fire me if I didn't read American Psycho as soon as possible. As you can imagine I quickly downloaded the audiobook, borrowed the text from a friend, and watched the movie. 

I absolutely loved this spine tingling book. The audiobook kept me engrossed but my download was an abridged version so I was glad to read the full text. I would actually recommend this to read as an audiobook because some of the chapters are very dense, I found that particularly the chapters on music were hard going for me. I understand the intention behind it, but just in terms of reading pleasure those chapters went way down. The audiobook and movie made these sections a lot more bearable. 

It was pointed out to me that maybe all that dense material was just in an effort to build up the shock factor of horror. I agree, I think it definitely helps.  The main thing to take away from American Psycho is the social commentary on 80’s yuppie New York.  This book disagrees with the idea that people might be able to normalise a serial killer.  On the one hand he has some very strong feelings about Social activism and anti-Semitism; there is outwardly, “something sweet” about him. And on the other, we are introduced to the horrific and dead pan descriptions of his psychopathic blood lusts.

I'm still talking about it and am very glad to have been baptized with fire in American Fiction. Next, Great Gatsby, before my best friend finds out I haven't read it. 

The Bone Season. 

Samantha Shannon

Bloomsbury 20/08/2014 Hard Back

7/10

I love my copy of The Bone Season, just as a book it is a work of art. The Bloomsbury production team made some lovely choices, deep rich blues, and embossing, blazing reds of the end papers and gorgeous cover design as well. I've always loved the feel of big hardback books like this one.

I struggled with the story at first, it felt a little clumsy at times, tiny things which made me think that it had been rushed to press. I would have hoped that for a book that has had so much hype built around the whole series that it would be more delicately crafted. That rushed feeling was repeated to me by a few other readers.

It only took a few chapters to hook me into the story though.  I haven’t read an original Fantasy novel like this one for a long time.  I loved the setting, the reimagined cities of Oxford and London was almost like reading utopian steampunk.  While it is largely set in Oxford it is firmly grounded at Seven Dials in London, which is about 100 yards from my office. It still gives me a little thrill when I wander around to imagine clairvoyants picking at my aura.

I am really looking forward to reading the second book in the series, the cliff hanger-ish ending is maddening, driving me into the arms of The Mime Order Book two. I am hoping that the structural and line edits will have a little more attention paid to them in this second book, without the pressure to get the first book out. If not I don’t think I could stick around for all SEVEN of the planned titles. BUT there is a fantastic storyline, maybe I’ll forget the clumsy edits . . .

Gone Girl. 

Gillian Flynn

Phoenix 3/01/2013 Paper Back

I liked Gone Girl, I thought it was a galloping read and I enjoyed the writing style. It is unfortunate that I read Before We Met first so had already read something similar.

My comparison review of Gone Girl and Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse is available here. 

Review: Before We Met and Gone Girl

Having recently read both, I believe that Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse are both fantastic and essential reads. They are both galloping suspense thrillers, created by two brilliant minds and they both have that quality that makes you beg other people to read it so that you can talk about it with them.  I'm going to try and explain which I like best and why. It's Before We Met. (Sorry, the suspense was killing me).

Gone Girl was published in 2012 by Crown Publishing (part of RH), it tells the story of Nick and Amy Dunne and their five year marriage that has been steadily going south for nearly two years. When Amy disappears on the afternoon of their fifth anniversary, Nick calls the police. As the case unfolds Nick is the only suspect. It is always the husband, right? The story is co narrated by both Nick and Amy, giving the reader some insight into the developing case from both sides.

Before We Met was published in 2014 by Bloomsbury.  Set in London, with a single narrative voice, this psychological suspense thriller had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Hannah and Mark are the perfect couple, in a perfect house, in a perfect and newly formed marriage. And then one day Mark doesn't show up at the airport from New York.  Hannah's parents divorced after her Mother's persistent paranoia of infidelity unhinged the marriage, determined not to follow that example, Hannah struggles to remain calm.

One reason I prefer Before We Met could be that I read it first. Which in the case of these two books is probably going to be rare. Gone Girl was a success in 2012 and is still being read and discussed two years later.  Before We Met's paperback only came out this month so most people will have read Gone Girl first. Before We Met was marketed with a quote from Glamour Magazine that if you loved Gone Girl you will love Before We Met. The two are linked forever.

They both look deeply into what it means to be married, and what can happen if you end up being married to someone mentally unstable, and someone very very dangerous. Both Nick (Gone Girl) and Hannah (Before We Met) are damaged in obvious, gender stereotyped ways. Hannah is paranoid, despite her best efforts, that her husband might be having an affair, she hates this suspicion as she sees herself reenacting her mother's (and every archetype woman's) actions.  While Nick's flaw is his very young, very pretty mistress (because he's a weak and male).

But what Before We Met did that Gone Girl didn't do, is that it started from a happy marriage.  Hannah's struggle with her paranoia in the face of normality made my heart thump harder than the scenarios in Gone Girl. While reading Gone Girl, at no point did I think: "Gosh, I hope my boyfriend never frames me for his murder like this."  It is undeniable that Gone Girl's Amazing Amy has a criminal and highly functioning mind. It is an unusual situation to find one's self in. But Before We Met, if you cant get through to your significant other one lunch time or what ever, I instantly thought: "My God. It is happening, it is happening to me.*checks bank balance*"  Before We Met's story is rooted in such placid normality that it made it more real and more effective.

I would definitely recommend both books. But if you want a real thriller that will mess with your mind in a deliciously talented way, it has to be Before We Met.

Why I'm Not a Writer

There is an essay in the Writers and Artists Yearbook 2012 (Bloomsbury) by Alison Baverstock called Is There a Book in You? It is a very thought provoking essay:

I graduated from Bath Spa University, where the English and Creative Writing staff are some of the best in the country. Spa's MA writing course has a reputation for producing a long list of published authors alumni.  So - budding writers flock to the West Country.  My classes were filled with very talented people, amazing writers with potential basically oozing out of them.

I went to a uni acclaimed for producing authors, I did a creative writing course, and I'm not an author. Why?

I went to university with my GREAT NOVEL unwritten.  I had no big idea to give, really. I already knew that that feeling I saw in my classmates, the great work that just needed to come out of them wasn't in me. I loved my Literature modules, carrying on where I left off A levels with MORE reading, and taught by some fantastic tutors. Creative Writing was my fun. My cathartic 6 hours off from reading (and everything else) to write.

Lecture 1 of my second year I had one of the most simultaneously depressing and inspiring lectures of my uni career. Talking to this tutor was like being hit over the head with your favourite book. You love it, but it hurts! He told us to basically forget the dream of making a living out of writing. That raised some hackles, I can tell you! He probably pushed one or two of the people in the room to really focus on their goals and prove him wrong. But I never wanted to be a writer, and what he did over the next two years was give us some excellent examples of alternative routes that would still keep us in contact with books. I now realise that that is all I've ever really wanted. 

That tutor and many others drilled a sense of hard work and the importance of reading into me.  I have never met a more well read man in my life. He ended up lending me three pivotal books as source material for my dissertation, that he just happened to have! He used to make us read our work out loud to the class so that we could hear how the writer intended it to sound. And he made us comment on people's work, out loud and to their faces.  If I didn't know it before, I knew it after every one of my creative writing seminars.

I'm not a writer because I am an editor.