My good opinion once lost is lost forever. You?
I get concerned whenever Dan Brown pops up again – back for more money? – and then get angry. Never in this century have lucrative writing and digestible English been prised so far apart. (Last century? I pick John Gray.) Yuck.
Agree? Good.
Disagree? See how you can stomach the Telegraph’s pick of “Dan Brown’s 20 worst sentences”.
My favourite –
Only those with a keen eye would notice his 14-karat gold bishop’s ring with purple amethyst, large diamonds, and hand-tooled mitre-crozier appliqué.
Dan, put the pen down, take your millions – and shuffle off!
Sorry – I’ll ask in a way you’ll understand:
Shuffle off…radiating a fiery clarity that forecast[s] [your] reputation for unblinking [suckiness] in all matters.
Boooo.
What you may have missed (before your first kiss)
Noticing that you darlings are 25% American and 25% English (the rest of you lovies hang on, presents for you in a minute)….I thought, “Ooh, I’ve got some love to share.”
Atop my list of ‘benefits to growing up all over’ is that, as a child, I got more books: the best of both sides of the pond.
English and American children’s literature (before both were taken hostage and stabbed in the eyes by that awful boy wizard) are so very different.
Now that he’s dead and has relinquished his hold (I haven’t read the series, this is simply what I choose to believe), it’s time to rediscover seriously good.
“But I’m not 10!”
I don’t care. You – or someone you know – probably read about that horrible boy wizard, didn’t you? Kids’ books are gorgeous – some of the richest language to be found.
Ladies and gents, let’s cross the Atlantic.
English readers, try these out.
- A Day No Pigs Would Die – Robert Newton Peck
- Babysitters’ Club series – Ann M. Martin
- Bunnicula – James Howe
- Harriet the Spy – Louise Fitzhugh
- Homecoming – Cynthia Voigt
- The Indian in the Cupboard – Lynne Reid Banks
- Island of the Blue Dolphins – Scott O’Dell
- Julie of the Wolves – Jean Craighead George
- Nancy Drew series – Carolyn Keene
- Number The Stars – Lois Lowry
- Ramona Quimby series – Beverly Cleary
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Mildred Taylor
- Shiloh – Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
- Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain
- The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi
In the land of the free? Did you miss these ones?
- (Absolutely any Roald Dahl book)
- All Creatures Great and Small – James Herriot
- The Borrowers – Mary Norton
- The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
- Famous Five, Secret Seven and Naughtiest Girl series – Enid Blyton
- Five Children and It – Edith Nesbit
- The Jolly Postman - Janet and Allan Ahlberg
- The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark – Jill Tomlinson
- Railway Children – Edith Nesbit
- Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter
- Tom’s Midnight Garden – Philippa Pearce
Did I overlook one of your favourites?
Rest of the world – what tops your list that we need to know about?
What to read on your way to work
It struck me that all of my favourite books read last year were, well, “not uppers”. To reverse any damage done, here’s the book you must run out and buy now:
As the name implies, it’s a series of letters, perfect for dipping into on short transit trips.
Next time you take the tube or ride the bus, start reading. It is so funny, so excruciatingly funny, that seats will open up beside you as your shoulders shake and tears stream down your face. Keep reading.
Snorts will follow, then whole body convulsions. Really, it’s that funny. Soon the train or bus will empty – to escape your unsettling hysteria – and it’s your own private carriage. Win….and….win!
Never, ever, has a book made me laugh so hard. It’s written in the best example of acerbic British humour this side of Fawlty Towers. In a word, brilliant.
“Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult | my top 5 books of 2008
After reading devouring a number of Picoult’s books in a row, I rather impolitely summed her up as “Grisham for girls”. Her cover artwork is recognisable a mile off as “chick lit”. Her stories have sexy lawyers, moral dilemmas and down-to-the-wire oratorial pleas. I hadn’t banked on the exact depth of these dilemmas.
Nineteen Minutes covers a tale with which we’re far too familiar. There are the pretty victims, the distraught parents and the bullied school shooter. Don’t pick sides now, Picoult cautions. You don’t know anything yet. Her characters get in your head until you can’t tell what’s up or down.
Heavy stuff – recruit reading buddies to debate in earnest.
Previous: “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak | my top 5 books of 2008
“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak | my top 5 books of 2008
This novel was a little gem I didn’t see coming. It was a handy response to a mid-holiday plea, “anyone have a spare book!!!” Light holiday fare it was not, as no book has made me cry since I was a little girl.
Like many children educated in what were once Allied countries, this was a story I’d never heard: the German civilian experience during WWII.
After taking a young Jewish girl into hiding, perhaps the kindest man on earth does all he can to top up the world’s supply of love. It’s a gorgeous book – narrated by death – and I cried my eyes out.
The movie version is set for release next year – fingers crossed they don’t ruin it.
Next: “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult | my top 5 books of 2008
Previous: “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides | my top 5 books of 2008
“Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides | my top 5 books of 2008
Author Jeffrey Eugenides and I share a Detroit childhood in common. His timely depiction of the city sliding decades backwards from its 20’s heyday through the 60’s race riots was what kept the book in my hands.
Middlesex is a book of characters. You’ll learn far too much about them, which might make them hard to love. This is a shame, because it’s not a plot book. You know the end before you start and, in the near century it takes to get there, the story drags.
For company you have Callie, the heroine-cum-hero whose hermaphroditic details are discussed ad nauseam. Yep, half boy, half girl, major issues: we got it.
Eugenides’ major conflict unfortunately gets in the way of the good bit: the incest pit of a family whose habitual gene crossing produces the narrator.
The book is dark, complex, funny at times, and has the beautiful prose expected of a Pullitzer novel. I only wonder whether his unlovable characters are a shortcoming or entirely the point.
Next: “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak | my top 5 books of 2008
Previous: “Wild Swans” by Jung Chang | my top 5 books of 2008
China 101 – “Wild Swans” by Jung Chang | my top 5 books of 2008
An autobiographical tale of a resilient family living through remarkable times, history doesn’t come with a more human face. Suffering permeates three generations: a grandmother the victim of the warlord era, a mother coming of age as the Communists take power and an author’s childhood coloured by the Cultural Revolution.
Today, China is trendy – everyone wants to be here for the making of a success story. Published in 1991, it’s a more relevant tale than ever with its nonstop assault of change and upheaval.
Writing from Shanghai, my family home of ten years, these are the stories you don’t hear. They’re the details between the text book lines, as Chang’s family pops up Forrest Gump-like through a century’s worth of history.
Where many inferior books line a sinophile’s shelves, this is the necessary start, middle and end for China 101. I love this book.
Next: “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides | my top 5 books of 2008
Previous: “Fly Boys” by James Bradley | my top 5 books of 2008
“Fly Boys” by James Bradley | my top 5 books of 2008
My 2008 goal was to read 50 books. Business or text books didn’t count: literature only. Given that I rather OD’ed on the former, my year-end tally was 31. This week I’ll review my favourite five.
“Fly Boys” by James Bradley
Not a bed time story. Ever heard of Chichi Jima? It’s a wretched, forgotten island near Iwo Jima. A group of American pilots were marooned here in WWII and Fly Boys recounts their separate fates.
WWII’s Pacific theatre has been the subject of two recent films (Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima), but this book cuts deeper. It’s less a battle narrative, more a complex investigation of two irreconcilable dogmas. Sixty some years later, no fingers are pointed. Bradley instead interviews and comes to know many of the Japanese captors. Hard to stomach but vital reading.
Next:
“Wild Swans” by Jung Chang | my top 5 books of 2008
Business book review | “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss
I saw someone reading this on the bus and thought, “well done, author, you’ve snagged the perfect title.” Isn’t it irresistible? “Get me that bite-sized work week!”
Thesis: “I have a perfect life. Here, try it on!”
The author has built himself a life that affords 164 hours of playtime every week. How? Read the book. It’s a very pretty picture filled with whimsy and Argentinean tango.
Here’s what you already know: passive income is good, compulsive email checking is bad and it’s “completely awesome” to pursue your dreams. This is a self help book disguised as a business book, yet his reminder is sound and enthusiastic.
His time-saving short cuts cause some concerns:
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- He advocates abandoning the newspaper (any paper or news source) to save time. Sorry, what? I’m not sure I can trust an author who shrugs off the value of being informed.
- He votes, sort of. To avoid wasting time digesting election issues and corollary political consequences, he jumps to the head of the intellectual queue…and just asks his friends what they think. Kool aid, anyone?
- He checks his email once a week only. While an empowered and capable staff is commendable, he sees communication as a chore and money as a means to overcome it. Alarming.
Verdict: Despite a few chapters of pure nonsense, Ferriss’ overall theme speaks to escaping the cube and making yourself happy; I can’t argue with that.
Reading time: A book to skim. 2 hours.