WEEK TWENTY-FOUR - 'LIFE OF PI' & 'HENRY IV, PART ONE'

'Life of Pi' by Yann Martel
June 7 - 11, 401 pages

I enjoyed this book. It's just a great story that is told very well. It was interesting - I learnt lots of fascinating things about animals. Like 'prusten,' the sound a tiger makes 'to express friendliness and harmless intentions.'

The only parts of this novel that I struggled to pay much attention to were those about religion, but that's just me. It redeemed itself with some excellent ideas: 'To be a castaway is to be caught in a harrowing ballet of circles.' And Richard Parker is a brilliant name for a tiger.

'Henry IV, Part One' by William Shakespeare
June 12 - 13, 116 pages

Another diverting Shakespeare

Yes, I did like 'Life of Pi'. It reminded me of 'Robinson Crusoe' and, as with that novel, I was most impressed with Pi's survival techniques.

'Henry IV, Part One' was good. It took me a little while to get into it and really want to know how what was going to happen. But I did eventually get into it. I should read Part Two.

WEEK TWENTY-THREE - 'THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE'

'The Girl Who Played with Fire' by Stieg Larsson
June 2 - 5, 569 pages

This is the second book in the Millennium trilogy that I started a few weeks ago.

The second is just as gripping as the first. As it got close to the end where everything would be reveled I needed to stop myself; I was not actually reading, but instead skimming the pages in search of new revelations. I don't often read crime novels like this but when I do they absorb me completely, I swallowed this up because I just needed to know what happened. 

This novel features the same main characters while introducing many more. I liked the way the web got so tangled as more information was discovered. Can't wait for the third. 

I actually felt that at times this book moved slower than the first. Perhaps it was just me being too greedy for answers, but  in the middle of the book I was frustrated that it was moving slowly. Still an excellent read.

WEEK TWENTY-TWO - 'KING LEAR'

'King Lear' by William Shakespeare
May 24 - 27, 145 pages

Yes, another Shakespeare. I just can't get enough.

This play is intense. And complicated. At times I struggled to keep up with everything that was happening. But it's worth it. What I like about the Bard (well, one of the many things) is that, despite being written centuries ago, we can still take something from his plays and relate to them. 'We that are young / Shall never see so much, nor live so long.'

It was also exciting to read the line, 'I am a man / More sinned against than sinning.'

A real Shakespearean tragedy. Everyone dies.

I can't help but mention this brilliant exchange:
Oswald   What dost thou know me for?
Kent        A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats, a base proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy-worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking, whoreson glass-gazing super-serviceable finical rogue, one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch; one whom I will beat into clamorous whining if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition.
Oh, how perfect.

Also:

'tis a naughty night to swim in'

'Was this a face / To be opposed against the warring winds?'

'if it be man's work, I'll do 't'

'The younger rises when the old doth fall'

I'm going to see this play in the theatre next week. I am ridiculously excited.

WEEK TWENTY-ONE - 'NOT UNTRUE & NOT UNKIND'

'Not Untrue & Not Unkind' by Ed O'Loughlin
May 20 - 23, 276 pages

Any book with an ampersand in its title scores automatic points with me for starters.

Punctuation aside (I do go on about it a lot, just reading the previous entry), I enjoyed this novel. It's a story that is well told. I liked how it didn't stay in one place. And it was intense when it needed to be and calm when it didn't. I felt like I was there with them - either when they were out in the field amidst the African wars, or having a smoke and telling jokes over whisky. Oh, to be a reporter.

I can't believe this is O'Loughlin's first novel. It is a fine work of fiction. A very interesting read. I want more.

This novel was written just as I imagine a reporter would write it. It was very good. I must admit that I was a bit over my head with the politics and wars in Africa, but I got the general gist.

WEEK TWENTY - 'THE ROAD' & 'THE TEMPEST'

'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy
May 12 - 13, 287 pages

This book is gripping. Intense. Harrowing. Once I started I found it hard to stop, you just can't look away. I really felt for the two characters, willing them on, wishing them warmth and food. I recommend this novel. It is quite brilliant.

My only objection is the serious lack of apostrophes; it was all 'cant', 'dont' and 'wont' when it came to them. Otherwise, great. 'You forget what you want to remember and remember what you want to forget.'

'The Tempest' by William Shakespeare
May 15 - 16, 87 pages

We both know I could gush about Mr Shakespeare for years. I especially enjoyed the epilogue, asking the audience to 'release' him 'with the help of your good hands.'

Both of these books had me up reading late at night because I just had to finish them. I love it when a book can do that, but I don't appreciate it so much in the morning.

Here are some lines I enjoyed from 'The Tempest':

'A pox o' your throat, you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog!' (When it comes to insults, the Bard has undoubtedly the best of them all)

'Your tale, sir, would cure deafness'

'He receives comfort like cold porridge'

'You cram these words into mine ears against / The stomach of mine sense.' 

WEEK NINETEEN - 'ME CHEETA'

'Me Cheeta' by James Lever
May 5 - 9, 306 pages

So, get this: this is an autobiography of a monkey. Except (not altogether surprisingly) it is not actually written by the monkey, or rather chimpanzee. The chimpanzee is Cheeta, Tarzan's side-kick in the movies.

The idea is cute and the book is certainly well-researched. Sometimes I wondered how Lever could know to write things without actually speaking to a monkey. Impressive ghost-writing.

The book certainly had its moments - I liked his idea of the 'Project,' that humans are tirelessly making the world safer by killing dangerous animals - but it wasn't my favourite. A nice, light read. Funny at times. But maybe I should have researched American movie stars in the 30s before reading.

WEEK EIGHTEEN - 'THE SECRET RIVER'

'The Secret River' by Kate Grenville
April 26 - May 2, 334 pages

For some reason I have never read anything by Kate Grenville before. I have wanted to for a while and I'm glad I finally got my hands on this.

I really enjoy Australian literature. It's like I have some immediate connection to the novel because of the common ground I quite literally share with the author. This book did not disappoint. It is beautiful. I did find it quite frustrating; I just do not see how the English couldn't realise that Aborigines are the ultimate environmentalists. They live in a way that just makes sense and they really belong to the land. So why did they treat them as sub-human? As 'savages'? Grr. Not good.

'Thornhill saw that although this voyage, from Sydney to Thornhill's Point, had taken only a day, and the other voyage, from London to Sydney, had taken the best part of a year, this was the greater distance.' 

An excellent read.

'Everywhere was the same but everywhere was different.'