A Lil' Update

Writing is fun! I enjoy it so much! Here is the point where I ought to apologise, because I'm sure it's difficult to read some of my posts, but I can't. Although I LOVE it when people read this blog and respond, (thank you, you know who you are) I think I'm going to keep it going for my own sake, as my literary outlet, if you will. I suppose that does not bode well for a would-be author: the readers have to enjoy your work...but I'm an amateur, so I figure I'm exempt! This blog is primarily a forum which allows me to write, and write I shall! I have no lack of books to review, having lately finished 'A Room with a View' by E.M. Forster in addition to all the other books awaiting their turn.
Currently, I am slogging my way through Terry Brooks' 'The Sword of Shannara' which I have (unsuccessfully) tried to read before; although this time, it's actually getting interesting, after a mere 350+ pages. A side note: does anyone else find it extremely annoying when the plot of a book can hold your interest but the author's style is rubbish (Brooks ol' boy, I'm talking about you)? It's so frustrating, because I want to know what happens, but I don't want Terry Brooks to be the one to tell me! I swear, the man uses the word 'hapless' at least once every time I turn the page. Find a new adjective!
*Ahem, rant over.
I have also been enjoying 'The Arabian Nights' as told by Andrew Lang, which is essentially a collection of folklore from the Middle East and Asia. The stories are told by the clever wife of a cruel Sultan who seeks to postpone her death (at his command) by telling him riveting tales, always leaving the end of her stories to the next day, thus buying her time. The tales themselves date from approximately 800AD, and have, naturally, undergone the 'Chinese whispers' treatment; the result being that there are many versions of the same overall narrative in existence today. It's hard to follow at times, and can divert into discussions of Islamic philosophy without warning, but overall it's an engaging read and I look forward to getting through the 1,001 tales.
On another note, I was thinking the other day about how we come to read the books we read. For a time, I was introduced to books by my parents, then by some friends, and then by the book lists behind this blog, and which drives me on my insane quest. How do you choose which books to read? If you're looking for one to read at the moment, start on 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker, or check out my review [see previous post]. I may not 'vant to suck your blooood' but I 'vould' like to read your comments, so feel free to type away.

Review: Dracula

Dracula - Bram Stoker

The legend of Dracula has so pervaded our modern Western cultural consciousness that in reading it, one expects to be denied the suspense, the apprehension, the terror that aught to accompany a genuine horror story. In fact, in our current media climate, vampirism has become almost common, from the teens of “Twilight” to “Vampire Diaries” and “True Blood”, these demons of the night seem to be everywhere in one form or another. Surely this must undermine the strength of our reactions to a book written well over a century ago – a book which contains all of those vampiric clichés: fangs and fiends, castles and crucifixes and blood, blood, blood.

Shockingly, even in 2011, 'Dracula' is surpassingly horrifying.    

Jonathan Harker is a young solicitor on a business trip in Transylvania to confer with the mysterious Count Dracula regarding his latest real estate purchase in Jonathan's native England. The unfortunate Harker soon realises he is a prisoner in the Count's castle. This seems innocuous enough, but consider: Harker has no phone or internet – eliminating all communications that that entails – no car or means of transport, no law enforcement agency to come to his aid. Nothing. He is utterly alone in an isolated medieval castle and at the mercy of the sinister Count. Here, the hapless Harker sees a peasant-woman torn to shreds by wolves at the Count's command, discovers the dungeon where the Count sleeps - glutted on the blood of innocents, and spies his host crawling head-first down the wall of the castle. Once he is eventually free of his incarceration, Jonathan concludes that he must have been suffering from madness, for the evils he had witnessed are too terrible to be real.

Concurrently, Harker's fiancée Mina takes advantage of his absence to visit her dear friend Lucy. Lucy has recently become engaged to the Honorable Arthur Holmwood, having graciously declined offers of marriage from Holmwood's friends Dr. John Seward and Quincey Morris. By some disastrous coincidence, Dracula begins his infiltration of Britain in the same area Lucy and Mina are staying, and Lucy becomes his first victim.

Alarmed by Lucy's inexplicable and sudden decline in health, Dr. Seward enlists the aid of his mentor, the wise Dr. Van Helsing, in the hope of saving her. Van Helsing recognises what none other could: the supernatural cause of Lucy's condition and the broader repercussions of the existence of a vampire. Both men are alarmed by the threat such a creature must pose to not only their countrymen but to humanity, and vow to destroy him before he can create more undead monsters like himself. Quincey Morris, Arthur Holmwood, Jonathan and Mina join Dr. Seward and Dr. Van Helsing on their quest to rid the world of this powerful, terrible evil. The group believe Dracula's intent is to establish himself throughout London, and resolve to sterilise each lair, better enabling them to kill the Count. The Count, however, has plans of his own.

The primal horror synonymous with Stoker's Dracula is a product of the author's successful integration of myth, psychology and anthropology. Having spent seven years researching European folklore on the subject of vampires, Stoker was able to take the most frightening aspects of the regional legends and fuse them into one horrific figure of dread. This method of authorship allows him to simultaneously prey on our existing fears whilst adding to the legend to increase its power and potency.

Bram Stoker is our psychological puppet master, twitching the reader's strings at the height of their tension causing them to jump at shadows (I did that a lot). This is particularly impressive when you consider that the author is able to reach across the span of a century to evoke the desired emotional response from his audience! Exploiting this ability, Stoker's most frightening sequences are not filled with vivid descriptions of gory scenes or violent deaths, but from what remains unsaid, the insinuation of evil: the writhing bundle thrown to Dracula's brides, which squirms and screams ... and is later identified as an infant; or the sated appearance of the vampire as he lies in repose with blood still on his lips – whose?

The Count's intelligence and cunning compound his undeniable supernatural advantages (shape-shifting, control of animals and weather, etc,) to make him a formidable figure of dread. Yet for all that is chimerical and inhuman about Dracula, there remains an essence of humanity in him which grounds his character in reality. We believe in him, fear him even, because he seems so real. He is by turns capricous and accommodating, child-like and ancient, a grandfather figure and a twisted killer rolled into one white-faced, ruby-lipped package.

Dracula is a cult classic with good reason. It remains as chilling, heart-stopping and blood-curdling as it was when first published a century ago. You must read this book, and when you do, have a crucifix and some garlic nearby. Just in case.

Rating: * * * * * (5 out of 5 stars)

Chills and Thrills

Dracula.
I finished this book almost a fortnight ago, and I almost wish I hadn't. It was so chilling and frightening and fascinating and compelling and... insert synonyms for 'compelling' here... that I want to keep reading it!

Back In The Blogosphere

Somehow, in the midst of all the chaos surrounding the recent birth of our second beautiful daughter A. (hooray!) I have managed to read six books. Six books in the past eight weeks! Granted, none have been difficult reads

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2011!!!!!
The silly season has come and gone in a flurry of food and festivities and now that I've had a chance to catch my breath, I have realised how long it's been since I last posted anything. Now, admittedly, I wasn't too worried about my extended absence, assuming that not only was everyone likely to be as busy (if not more so) as I have been, and also assuming that no-one was really reading my ramblings.

Blog Post Resurrection

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so I hope you're all feeling very fond of me by now! Apologies for the extended hiatus, my excuses include:

For Every Book I Read, I Add Another 3 to My List

'Once and Future King' is finished, closed, done and dusted! And now, naturally, I need to know more about King Arthur, Camelot, the Knights of the Round table (or as my daughter calls them, the 'noses lala table'), Lancelot, Guenever, etc. Whilst the book was a wonderful read it has unfortunately ignited a latent passion for historical-cum-fantasy fiction in the literary heart of yours truly, forgotten since I last read Homer's 'The Iliad' or 'The Odyssey'. Although a story which seems familiar, with familiar characters and a generally well known plot may seem as exciting as watching paint dry, just flesh out the characters, breathe life into the setting and fill in the sketchy details with twists and turns and suprises, and voila! CAPTIVATING! 

Get Reading! The Government says so...

First up, to my lovely, supportive encouraging friends: THANK YOU. I did try to enter the book review comp on The Book Depository but all my reviews hover around the 1,000 word mark and the limit was 200 words. And after a while of heavy handed editing (which was like choosing which of your limbs to cut off, I might add), I realised that the competition closed at 5:00pm today. *Sigh, ah well! Next time (hee hee, secretly pleased! It's one thing to do a blog because you want an outlet, and you know that friends will read it, it's another to put it out there in the big bad literary world).

Review: A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

One of Charles Dickens' best known books is certainly also one of his most memorable, poignant and best loved works. I am, of course, referring to 'A Christmas Carol'. Its influence is easily seen throughout modern Western culture in one form or another (particularly during the festive season); in dozens of theatre productions, in silver-screen movies, as an opera, and most prolifically in film including adaptations such as 'The Muppet Christmas Carol', 'Mickey's Christmas Carol', 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past', and most recently 'A Christmas Carol' starring Jim Carrey.

What impact does this extensive media exposure have for the first-time reader?

Boo ya! (Got your attention)

There have been very few times in my life where I have been able to say this with any sincerity: I have nothing to say. No new news! 


I finished book two of George R.R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series - an epic fantasy series, compelling reading - but I can't bring myself to read book three. I literally feel sick at the graphic descriptions of wounded/maimed characters, and the inclusion of a character who is known for his penchant for 'flaying' his victims (ie: skinning them alive) makes me feel woozy. 
I'm reading 'The Once and Future King' by T.H. White, which is immensely enjoyable! But I can only read it

Eh heh heh...Ooops?

It's been two weeks since I last wrote anything, and although I can legitimately plead a hectic schedule the truth is...I have nothing much to say. I'm supposed to be reading 'The Life of Pi', and I do (sometimes), but I seem to inexplicably be consumed by George R.R. Martin's 'A Clash of Kings'. I can't put it down. I keep thinking about it. I've dreamt about it (well, more truthfully, I've dreamt that I was a dragon in it). What is wrong with this picture? It's a brilliant book, but it's not pleasant reading. 
In fact, I am at an impasse with all of the books I have in my bedside table

Printed books, wherefore art thou?

ARRRGH! Book lovers, to arms! Kindle and its kin are taking over the universe! Well, okay, maybe not. But it's just a matter of time before the practical appeal of e-book readers conquers the romantic notions of the printed word. 
So what if an e-book saves space? I love bookshelves crammed with tomes. So what if they'll save us heaps of money when, for example, we travel to Tasmania to buy vintage volumes by the dozen and have to spend almost as much money shipping them back home to Victoria (hypothetically speaking, of course)? I don't care if downloading books onto an e-reader spares me the expense of shipping, or worse, the extra baggage fee at the airport. So what if you can download thousands of out-of-print books for free? I'm sure buying and shipping the book itself wouldn't be that expensive...hmm. And so what if it saves the trees from being cut down to make paper to print books? What have trees ever done for us? Except, you know, give us oxygen and wood and shade...totally beside the point!
The point is,

Questions, questions and congratulations

On my bedside table at the moment is 'The Life of Pi' (chosen via the last poll, by my husband who voted twice), the second book in George R. Martin's 'Song of Ice and Fire' series 'A Clash of Kings', and the sequel to 'Assassin's Apprentice' (by Robin Hobbs) 'Royal Assassin'. All of these books are engaging and interesting in their own right, and yet which fourth tome trumps them all in the bid for my attention? Yup, 'Jane Eyre'. Still! I've put it back on the bookshelf several times, and somehow, miraculously, it appears by my bed each night, my own personal loaves and fishes miracle! That, or I keep retrieving it. One or the other. 

Get Your Heart Pumping...with a book?

I LOVE 'JANE EYRE'! With both my sick hubby and our littlie in bed early tonight, I thought I'd have a minute to myself for a cuppa and a quick skim through an old lit fave, 'Jane Eyre' (by Charlotte Brontë, for those not yet in the know). It never disappoints. Every time I open the cover, I swear my heart starts beating a little bit faster, my little hands tremble and my veins glow with the anticipation! It's not just the quality of the writing that has me all aflutter, but the story is so damn good! And I mean, Mr. Rochester? The chemistry between him and Jane? Wow. Electric!

Review

Assassin's Apprentice – Robin Hobb

The cover of my edition of 'Assassin's Apprentice' has a quote from The Guardian stating “Hobbs is a remarkable storyteller”, and I wholeheartedly concur. She is unquestionably talented and manages to infuse this book with a modicum of originality, which is something virtually unheard of in the fantasy genre these days. In question then, is not the author's storytelling abilities, but the quality of the story itself.

Fitz is many things: our protagonist, our narrator, the bastard son of the King-in-Waiting of the Six Duchies (Prince Chivalry) and an assassin. When his father learns of his existence, he nobly (or should that be chivalrously?) abdicates his right to the throne, leaving little six-year old Fitz to be raised by Chivalry's former retainer, the stoic Burrich. His childhood is spent around the stables of Buckkeep under Burrich's guardianship, with precious little companionship beyond the animals under his care, some of whom he has a special affinity for by way of the Wit, an ancient beastial magic, now forbidden.

Revolutionary Road, done and dusted

As you can see below, the review for Revolutionary Road is up. I had a bit more trouble writing this review than I did with 'The Lovely Bones', because I feel so conflicted about the book. In terms of how it is written, it's enough to make me drooool, but the storyline (although good) is not compelling. So I've actually rated it on those two separate categories : literary content and story. I hope you enjoy the review!
Got the Robin Hobb's review of 'Assassin's Apprentice' coming along, and then I'll review 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens. Incidentally, I'm now reading the second of Hobb's Farseer trilogy, 'Royal Assassin' and the second instalment of George R. Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire, called 'Clash of Kings'. Please vote on the poll for the next literature book to tackle, or I'll just do a blind pick (ie: eeni meeni myni mo)! -L

Review

Revolutionary Road – Richard Yates 

Since it was first published in 1961, Revolutionary Road was widely hailed as a masterpiece, and is acknowledged to be the finest work of its author, Richard Yates. It is an intense portrayal of the tumultuous relationship of a young couple, Frank and April Wheeler, who live a comfortable life in a comfortable suburb and are yet deeply dissatisfied with their lot in life. Convinced that their discontent is the fault of a consumer-driven 1950's American culture, they become equally convinced that their only salvation from the 'hopeless emptiness' of suburban life lies in Europe. A plan is formed; they will move to France with their children (yes, they have two kids) and April will support the family at a dull day job, whilst Frank 'finds himself'.

Review

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie." Thus begins Alice Sebold's poignant novel of tragedy and loss, familial love and life after death - for both 14-year-old Susie and those she leaves behind on Earth. Susie herself is our posthumous narrator, watching from her own sterile, personalised heaven as her family and friends continue to live their ruptured lives after she herself is gone; raped and brutally murdered by an eccentric neighbour in a quiet American neighbourhood in 1973. 

HELP!

Drumroll please.....I've finished Revolutionary Road! I've been emancipated from the self-absorption of the Wheeler family, and I'm ready to review it. One problem. My grand plan for this blog was to have a page ('Read, Reviewed and Rated') where I posted my reviews. Ideally, it was to have a list of titles which could be selected when you wanted to read the full review. My problem? I have no idea how to do this. Google is no help, nor is the blogger help page, so I beseech you - O mighty computer-literate people - tell me how! Or, any suggestions on how else I could post multiple reviews? Help me, help me! - L 


Ahem...Thank you to Nicki for her sage advice, which worked! See comments below. Thanks again Nicki, crisis averted!

Ripped off and...um...annoyed

After an absence of a year or more, I decided to reacquaint myself with the Berwick Market at Akoonah Park this weekend, my motivation being to trade in some unwanted books for some second hand copies of other books on my list. The stall owner gave me a $10 credit for some of the books I traded in, and with the help of some of our own dosh, I walked away with second hand copies of the following: