If you look up the word "goon" in the Dicitonary one of its meanings would be someone who has committed a crime. Although Egan doesn't use it in that sense in the title of her book it is still a very relevant description of time and how it swiftly, maybe even mercilessly catches up with even the best of us. But the question that poses itself is what will you have done with your time when that goon makes itself visible? "Time is a goon right? you gonna let it push you around?" appears twice in the book, once close to the beginning and once towards the end of the novel. By then the characters have matured (or not) and start to realize the consequences of their decisions taken twenty years ago in the throes of their youth and the start of their adult lives when one feels invincible and for some characters maybe overwhelmed by the life ahead of them. This is a happy and sad book. A book about relationships, breakups and love in all places and all forms. It is a book about new beginnings and the end of dreams. A book about death in all its forms; not only the physical but the dying of dreams, of youth and at times of hope. The writing is so fluid and the transition between characters and their interactions is so subtle that you find yourself unwilling to stop the journey and once it ends come the final scene all you want to do is live it again and again. This book begs a second, a third maybe even a fourth reading if you've got the time.
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This is the sequel to The Fifth Child In this sequel we find Ben Lovatt, the neanderthal, out in the world on his own. With no family or friends he is left all alone to fend for himself. So the question here is: How does a person with limited intelligence and with a lack of social skills get by alone in the world? The answer: with real difficulty as we find in this novel and also with extreme ease. Sadly, just as happiness comes easily at times, cruelty takes place just as easily too. This sequel is brilliant in that we learn more about what is taking place inside Ben's head. A thing we kind of wanted more of in The Fifth Child where it was more about his parents and siblings and their struggle to cope with the fact of having such a "person" in their midst. The violence, the hatred and ultimately the betrayals take their toll on Ben and throughout the book he remains wary of people and friendships. At the beginning of the book Doris Lessing speaks in a foreword about "The Cages" found in research laboratories in London. The Cages in the book have been placed in Brazil and so we know that something terrible is going to be attached to their mention. It is both shocking and deeply sad to know that in some way we could all see this coming and yet its harrowing arrival still takes the reader by surprise. This is a harrowing book not in the graphic sense but in the questions it poses to the reader. What is humanity and how do we measure human life? What motivates us to exploit the disadvantaged and how common is it to see something wrong happening and yet not try to stop it? Can a wrong ever be righted? Throughout the story there is a deep sense of foreboding that gets larger and larger as page after page Ben's future becomes more and more complicated. And at the end of the book not only as the reader are you at your last breath but left with a deep sense of guilt that will make you want to read the book again for Ben's sake. At first I was going to label this book as a bit of a tedious read. Packed with characters (five), it is quite trapping. Quite trapping to the extent that it could be suffocating at times. But I do believe that for fictional characters to invoke in me such a degree of irritation (Ned) and boredom (Jack) only means that the writer is a very very good one. The story as the title suggests takes place along 'South of the River' and is rich with description and factual events. It broaches politics (the high hopes envisaged by all as the Labour party comes into power and progressively its demise), sex, fidelity, family and family values, racism, death, partnership, women's liberation, fox hunting as well as a variety of other issues that come about in the course of the novel as the characters go about their daily lives. Lives very similar to our own. It does unmask what British society has become; namely the society that the Blair government has produced whether intentionally or not but has nonetheless. I won't pass my judgement onto you but will leave you to make your own. As I mentioned I stopped short of giving this book an undeserving review. The whole book (according to the author in one of his interviews) was inspired by foxes that lurked around the area of his residence in Blackheath. At various parts of the book we are taken through stories of foxes ranging from the amusing to the utterly incredulous to the absolutely horrifying to say the least. I was amused but not a believer until last night when I was rudely awakened by the sound of a screeching bone chilling wail which, as I looked out of the window, belonged to a squirrel whose ill fortune had made it breakfast to a canny fox. I will never forget that howl or that wail that seemed to be not only an echo but a confirmation of what Morrison had written and now I know without a shadow of a doubt that it will be some time before I forget this book, if ever. For those of you who liked The Shawshank Redemption you'll love this one. This 391-page book published in 2003 is a page-turner. Once you start reading it becomes so very hard to put down. The first of Ellory's novels it takes place during the turmoil events of America in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Mind you this is not history in its boring detail more like conspiracy theories that would make for great dinner table conversation at that dull don't-know-anyone-here party. Try it and you won't be disappointed. The plot revolves around two boys, one black (Nathan) and the other white (Daniel), who meet and bond over a baked ham sandwich in South Carolina. They are six years old and the story begins with Daniel accused of the brutal murder of Nathan and is in prison on Death Watch at the age of 37. A novel about friendship, first love, Vietnam, murder, guilt, human nature and how the choices we make, however insignificant, may live to haunt us for eternity. Tissues at the ready for a very emotional finish. Soul mates from birth, Karim and Raheen finish one another's sentences, speak in anagrams and lie spine to spine. They are irrevocably bound to one another and to Karachi, Pakistan, a city that is violent, polluted, corrupt, vibrant, brave and ultimately home. As the years go by they let a barrier of silence build between them until they are brought together during a dry summer of strikes and ethnic violence and their relationship stands posed between strained friendship and fated love. What I thought: Let me first tell you a story (true one) about me. A time not so long ago (it doesn't all have to be real, does it?) I fell in love. I remember it like yesterday. The meeting of the eyes, the butterflies in the stomach, the stolen glances, all the innnocence that first love brings with it. And then of course that long awaited kiss that sends shivers up and down my spine to this day (maybe now with maturity also comes a cringeing grimace as well). The years have gone by considerably since that first flutter of the heart and yet its bittersweet memory lingers on. If you have ever felt that way then you will get to revisit that feeling when you read Kartography. Kamila Shamsie has managed through her superb character Raheen to translate onto pages what it feels like to be overwhelmingly in love or better to the point up to the ears in it. There is almost a sense of denial that a love could be so strong as we see Raheen doing her best to pretend that it is not there or hanging on to disaster just so that it might actually prove her right and that the love she imagined was there was never there at all. It is a tale of deceit on another level and how parents lie or hide events from their children hoping to protect them only to find that they have messed them up even more. They do it unintentionally and you end up unbelievably willing to exonerate them of blame when you find out how messed up the parents are to begin with. This is a story also about the scattered people of Pakistan. Those who left before it all went bad and yet kept up with the news to prove that they had not forgotten and those who stayed behind to deal with the horrors of daily life. Both seem lost and out of place in each other's lives. This is a story about the truest love man is capable of but also about what mankind does to each other in the name of certain beliefs. This story will linger with you for a considerable time. This is a very affecting book and you need to have two things ready before you start reading: A box of tissues and water-proof mascara (I recommend Maybelline). Enjoy! The Fifth Child is the story of a child born into the 'perfect' family. A family of dreams and hopes made up of a couple who long to have a family of as many children as they can. Both from dysfunctional families, Harriett and David through their idea of what a family should be start their married life together buying a three-storey house that they cannot possibly afford and are obliged to ask for financial assistance from David's father. The happy couple move in and are soon breeding like rabbits. Not one Christmas passes without either a birth or the announcement of one on the way. Their families are totally disapproving yet feel the love and desire between the couple and are happy to spend many an Easter and Christmas filling up the bedrooms for weeks at a stretch. David and Harriett are overjoyed at being the core of the two families and although signs of tiredness and strain are starting to show on Harriett and in spite of their families' disapproval at so many kids, she and David are still happy and delirious with the family they have got. As beautiful a picture author Doris Lessing paints for us towards the middle of the book, she shatters it completely with the birth of David and Harriett's fifth child. The birth of this "goblin neanderthal alien" leaves little of him to be loved by anyone even his own mother who is left terrified with what she has brought into this world. A frightening and gripping novel that will chill you to the bone not for its vivid contents but also for its chilling ordinariness and believability. The sequel, Ben In the World, is already on its way in the post. I can't wait. It has been said that for love to start all it takes is a look or a word. In this book it all starts with a note dropped hastily into an Eritrean boy's lap as he whiles away the horribly long hours of summer in the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Nasir finds himself an immigrant at the tender age of ten fleeing from war in Eritrea. His uncle who takes him and his brother under his wing shows clear signs of having become religious while living in Saudi Arabia and even goes as far as banning the two brothers from ever mentioning their mother calling her an apostate. Nasir unlike his brother is against all forms of organized religion and watches with sadness and anger as the religious police swarm the malls and arrest people who they think are not religious enough. Initially truly happy to be as far as possible from his war-torn village yet also longing for his mother, he is fascinated with Jeddah's lights and skyscrapers but as he grows up we find that he becomes lonely and withdrawn because he is a sensitive boy who believes in love and wants to find a woman one day who he can truly fall in love with. A dream that seems impossible for someone in his situation living in Saudi Arabia. That is until unexpectedly a note falls into his lap from a woman declaring her love for him and Nasir's whole world is turned upside down. In the novel, Saudi Arabia is in Naser's view a never-ending black-and-white movie reel refering to the men in their white 'thobes' and the black-clad women who follow behind them. That all changes when the love affair starts with the woman in the pink shoes and life is full of colour and hope. But Naser lives in a country where love between unmarried couples could mean a lashing or even a beheading in Punishment Square. A country where 'beautiful' men like Nasir are in their 'kafeel's' grip to do with them as they please and where the rape of men by influential Saudi men seems a normal daily exercise. This is a very gripping story once it gets going. There are moments that not only make you feel angry but disgusted at what so-called religious men do in the name of God. The wahhabism rule of Saudi Arabia dominates throughout the novel and even as good things happen in the story the shadow of doom lurks in wait. I did enjoy the story and it did give me a glimpse into the everyday life from an immigrants' point of view. A rare case at best as most writings in Saudi are produced by Saudis themselves. Unfortunately this book will not linger with me for its depth or violence but maybe as a love story with possibly a happy ending one day. I shall leave that for you to decide if you ever read the book. To learn more about Sulaiman Addonia click here. I had read a review about this book when it was first published and it has been on my reading wish list for some time. So although I am now swamped with a stack of books waiting to be read when I happened upon this book, I just had to have it in spite of all my promises to myself to stop buying books for now. Both pocket and time are less than desired. However some books just call out to you. Of course it sounds strange but some books really speak to you and no more so than this one. And on this note I introduce to you The End of Mr. Y, a 'cursed book' that author Scarlett Thomas' main character Ariel happens upon one day after sequence of 'accidental' events. It is as if fate had wanted her to find it. As soon as she finishes reading it, Ariel is thrown head on into an exhilarating world of mystery, love, and time-travel. This is not an easy book to read but if like myself you enjoy debates regarding the creation of the universe and phenomenology, then you will seriously enjoy this well researched book. Finally, a book that deals with big ass issues in an intelligent well thought out manner. Two things that I did not like in the book, the fact that parts of the book felt more like a computer game and the second (probably more disappointing bit) is the epilogue. I won't say more but hopefully you will take the time to read the book and make up your own mind. Stars: * * * * What a heart-warming and totally fun read. Comfort and Joy is about Christmas and the illusion of the ‘perfect day’ questioning why most families go a bit loopy around that time of year. And loopy is the order of the day with a crazy cast of characters guaranteed to the last page to make you laugh, cry and everything in between. This is a very gripping, entertaining book you won’t want to put down that I actually read in one sitting. So good, I read paragraphs of it aloud, the second time round, to my husband. The novel is in three parts, each part starting on Christmas over a three-year period from 2009-2011. We first meet Clara Dunphy rushing madly to complete the last of her Christmas shopping on London’s busy Oxford Street. She loves Christmas and goes the whole nine yards to make sure that each of her sixteen guests shall receive the perfect present. Only three pages into the book and you just know you’re going to love Clara and that there is a bit of her in all of us. Shopping over, she decides to take some ‘me-time’, an expression that absolutely ‘makes her gag’ hitting the Connaught Hotel and getting a bit more than she bargained for. The book dissects the ever changing dynamics of relationships. Kate, my absolute favourite character calls it as it is; Sometimes ‘water is just thicker than blood’ and that family eventually is all about the love that glues it together wherever that glue comes from. Herself a serial wife, she should know a thing or two. She is the extension of yummy mummy to yummy granny (although woe to any of a grandchild who calls her that) and as such is quirky, generous, insightful, lovable and cut-throat honest. She is balanced out by Pat, Clara’s mother-in-law, the conservative granny type with hilarious outbursts. Comfort and Joy offers up a diverse cast of very identifiable, current and believable characters. Sophie and Tim who make a brief appearance at the beginning of the novel will strike a chord with parents who have to deal with the colour pink, eating what you grow and calling a salad ‘leaves’. Another is Tamsin, the primary school teacher and Clara’s best friend dating a much older Jake. Their girlie chatter mostly concerning ‘Mr Penis’ will have you roaring with laughter. Hope; rich, melodramatic and ‘aggressively on the hunt of the father of her child who will also be her bridegroom” and who is hooked on Facebook. This book is seriously funny. Not only is it packed with many laugh-out-loud moments but it is also witty and insightful. It’s all there: Christmas Day mania at its best with a thing or two on ‘vampire friends’ and taking a dump at other people’s houses. It left me surprisingly looking forward to Christmas this year, a bit envious of Clara’s family and that it’s OK not to have all the answers at forty. Special Note: Today The Guardian had this book in its digested read section with a disclaimer that you shouldn't read this if you receive this book for Christmas present. This digested read is so funny and kick-ass and I just had to give it a mention here. To read The Guardian digested read on Comfort and Joy, click here. I have had this book on my wish list for nearly a year now and then voila I was given it as a Christmas present. Excitedly, I managed to read it in one sitting especially that I had just finished reading another book about Saudi Arabia called The Consequences of Love by Sulaiman Addonia. The story is about a sixteen-year-old girl, Nouf ash-Shrawi, who is found dead in the desert of Saudi Arabia. The daughter of a wealthy Jeddah family, there are questions whether she ran away or was abducted and left to die in the desert. To answer these questions, Othman, the eldest son of the ash-Shrawi family enlists the help of his life-long friend and desert guide, Nayir. A devout and strict Muslim, we find that Nayir struggles with issues of his own. Being a strictly religious man he is faced with qualms upon having to work closely with Othman's fiancee, the lab technician Katya Hijazi. A big problem for him as he has never even had a chance to talk to a woman. Also, he had known Nouf when she was an innocent child taking her on excursions in the desert but is now faced to consider her initially as victim and then later as a woman pregnant out of wedlock planning to take her fate into her own hands. This is an attempt at a crime novel although the plot is not so intricate and you will guess a lot of where it is going way before the end although I must admit that I did not see the ending coming and it took me totally by surprise. And I think that is why I liked the book. A gripping novel and although at times slow paced but the descriptions of the desert and the use of the Koranic verses are a window into an exotic culture that is fascinating if not terrifying and claustrophobic. This is not a novel about Saudi Arabia. Little is learned about the country itself and a lot of the stereotypes that have become associated with the country are all there; what was fascinating though that both The Consequences of Love and The Night of the Mi'raj had pink shoes in them. The two events are unrelated but connected to a total stereotyping pertaining to the attitude of men in Saudi assuming that all women must like pink. This is an enjoyable and gripping read and the fact that the author herself lived in a strict Saudi community for a while gives it a degree of authenticity if not sadly complete accuracy at times which leaves one with a sense that there is little that is revealed of a country veiled in complexity. Note: The follow-up book is called City of Veils |
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