The Death of Grass - John Christopher

First off I should point out that this book was originally published in 1956 - lots of things have changed, but so many things haven't!

The story tells of two brothers, one becomes a farmer of a valley farm in Cumbria, the other an architect in London.  When a worldwide virus destroys all variants of grass, and people start starving to death due to food shortages, London (and other cities) obviously becomes a dangerous place to be, especially when the plans of the government become known.

So a group of two families set off from London aiming for the Cumbrian valley, and hopefully safety, picking up others along the way across country.

I envisaged this book to be bleak and chilling (as described on the cover), but perhaps due to the state of the world now, or the fact that I've read The Road by Cormac McCarthy, I found this to be rather sedate and less brutal than I expected.

I guess above all, it's very English - stiff upper lip and do the right thing - especially think of the women and children.  It seems that the author thought that civilisation would fail first in the cities (probably right), but it's in the northern counties and towns which he shows personal brutality and survival instincts.

Like The Road, I read this book in two days!  If anything it's a bit of an extended short story, and very easy to read with no difficult or in depth plots - just the story about the main characters and their trip across the country.

I understand a terrible film was made of it - perhaps a remake is due, but it would need to be low budget and English made for it work - and it would need to be set in the 1950s (this is so not a Hollywood blockbuster).

Since I seem to be drawn to dystopian/post-apocalyptic books I was bound to like this one - I'll be looking out for his other books.

21st - 22nd January 2011

One of our Thursdays is missing - Jasper Fforde

I can't tell you how much I enjoy these books!  There are few authors who I keep a close eye on to see when they publish a new book - Jasper Fforde is one.

The Thursday Next series, of which this is the latest, are brilliant.  Set in the BookWorld, with a cast of characters form not just the Thursday Next books themselves (including a Dodo), but also characters from many other well known books.

In this one the BookWorld has undergone a remake, and is now a collection of landmasses on the inside of a sphere - so everything can be seen from a single point......hard to explain.   Thursday has gone missing, just before she was supposed to attend peace talks, and it's up to the written Thursday to try and figure out what's been happening, and where Thursday might be - that might sound confusing, especially since at one point there are lots of Thursdays, but it is easy to follow really (except when the characters themselves get confused!).

I love the characters, the descriptions of the BookWorld (there is a wonderful map in this book), and they way everything works.  The books are full of literary in jokes (many more probably pass me by!), and interesting comments.

The design  of the BookWorld is pure genius, and even the RealWorld in Swindon (where the real Thursday lives) sounds interesting (unlike the real Swindon!).

Anyone wanting to read this really should start with the first in the series, The Eyre Affair - a treat really does await anyone who is discovering Fforde's books for the first time......I hope I don't have to wait long for the next Next in the series!

Oh, and my favourite joke of the moment comes from this book.......

How many Sigmund Freud's does it take to change a lightbulb?

I don't know, how many Sigmund Freud's does it take to change a lightbulb?

Penis!........No, no, Father!

5th - 12th January 2012

Delirium - Lauren Oliver

What of love were a disease? If on your 18th birthday you underwent a procedure that took away the disease and then you were matched with another 'cured' for life. 

Would life be easier? Probably, but not as enjoyable - I truly believe that in order to appreciate the highs, the lows have to be there too. This book tells the story of Lena, a 17 year old who is months away from the 'procedure', her last summer of freedom before she is 'cured' and matched. I'm sure that this book is aimed at teenagers (the sleeve notes mention Twilight), but I've always liked dystopian novels (think Handmaids Tale or 1984), so that's why I picked it up. 

The story is engaging, and characters interesting and likeable. The writing is easy and non-taxing, but even then I got so involved with the story I found myself skim reading as I wanted to know what was going to happen next! Also, for the first time ever I actually found a passage that I thought was so beautiful I typed it out and posted it to my blog. 

I'm sure if the author wrote something for adults it would be stunningly written. Looking online, I understand this is the first of a trilogy (what a surprise, isn't everything a trilogy these days?!), and the next one is already on my wish list, and I'll probably be recommending it to a few friends. 

Bought on Green Metropolis
Mid December 2011 - 3rd January 2011

Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegurt

I guess this has been on my 'to read' list for many years, for some reason I just didn't seem to get round to it.  Maybe the subject of war put me off, I can't cope with reading about war it really upsets me and so I tend to avoid books about it.  Or maybe it was the title, although I knew the subject wouldn't scare me - the title does make it sound like a horror.

I did worry that it wouldn't be an enjoyable read (although that isn't a reason not to read something) - I was wrong.

In a bookshop just before Christmas I gave in and on the spur of the moment bought it (crazy really as I'm sure that it can be found on the web for only a penny, or in a secondhand bookshop for a couple of pounds!).

Telling the story of Billy Pilgrim we follow him during his world war two experiences, his life before and after the war, his time as a POW, and as an alien abductee....yes, it's a strange little book!

Obviously very anti-war, it centres around the night of the bombing of Dresden, and Billy's time travelling around this point in his life.

In all honesty it's hard to describe this book, it's an easy read and the main character is engaging and interesting, you really do want to know what will happen to him next. 

I'm glad I got round to it, if I have any criticism of it, it's that it's too short.

19th - 20th December 2011

THEM: adventures with extremists - Jon Ronson

Did you know that there are lots of people who believe that the world is controlled by a group of leaders of commerce and government from across the world, all of whom are either Jews or giant green lizards......that's what many people think.

They think that this group meet regularly to plot to rule the world. Ronson spent a year with the believers in these plots and conspiracies, the people who truly believe that there is a secret world order, including members of the Ku Klux Klan.

He goes searching for evidence of the secret meeting places, especially in expensive five star hotels across the world. It took me a while to get into this book, but the writing style is easy and his descriptions of the nutters (although he never calls them that of course) is great, but to be honest it just didn't grab me, perhaps it would have made a better film or television programme?

Maybe some of it is true, I'm none the wiser!

September 2011

Guilty Pleasures - Laurell K Hamilton

I had high hopes for this book, there seem to be loads in the series (15 plus) so finding a new author would have been good.......but it wasn't to be.

The story is told in the first person by Anita Blake 'Vampire Hunter' - but I hated her! She has no likeable characteristics and by the end I was hoping that she would be skated instead of the vampires!

Firstly she seems to have an identity crisis - she's a Vampire Hunter, and someone who can raise the dead (eg. zombies) - but she doesn't seem that good at any of it.  She's scared of everything, and doesn't even know how to do the things you'd expect - like use a gun, pick a lock or quickly kill a vampire!?  She also doesn't seem to know much about vampires!

Secondly, she's just not a nice person in anyway - why would I be even vaguely interested in seeing her live to the end of the book?!

I thought the True Blood books were badly written, but at least the stories in those are well thought out, logical and the characters are great. Guilty Pleasures is supposed to be the first in the 'Anita Blake Vampire Hunter' series, but I still know little about her or what she does - there is no character descriptions, the book just launches into a half arsed story about Blake having to solve vampire murders - which incidentally I'd solved by 214 (a whole 120 pages before Blake worked it out!!).

Characters are introduced but are instantly forgotten as they aren't given enough description or background only to reappear later - which makes keeping track of things very difficult.

To say I thought this book was a disappointment is putting it mildly - it's shit!  Which is a shame as I friend gave me it, she'd enjoyed it and thought I would too.  I'm going to get a second opinion from someone I know who reads a lot of vampire teen novels.

Given to me by Bob
26th August - 12th September 2011

Welcome to Everytown - Julian Baggini

'A journey into the English mind' - says the cover, but to be honest I'm not convinced, unless the 'English mind' it means is the middle aged, male, liberal from the south.

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this book but I'm not sure that it would have been quite so interesting if I hadn't had a vague idea of the places mentioned, and if I hadn't known that he makes some really sweeping generalisations about the average person in the UK.

The premise of the book is that Baggini decides to go and live in the 'most typical postcode in the country' - this is the area that had the closest match of household types to the country as a whole, the place that has the most typical mix of wealthy pensioners, struggling families, aspiring singles etc......and it turns out to be S66 in South Yorkshire.  Maltby near Rotherham in fact.

Although his thoughts on what the 'average' person eats, drinks, does for leisure, where they shop or go on holiday, or what car they drive are interesting, I have to admit to hoping for a bit more of an insight into the people he met and their views and lives.  Instead the book seems to be about him, his prejudices and stereotypical assumptions about working class northern England.

Of course the 'average' English man (or woman) doesn't exist, and anyway it's necessary to realise that despite the fact that Baggini spent six months there he really was only seeing things from the outside.  He didn't appear to work for a living so I can only assume that those he got to know were aware of his 'project', and of course he saw everything through the lens of a middle aged man............

He also seemed to compare Rotherham unfavourably with other places - but not on a like for like basis.  Rotherham is a small ex-industrial town - not a city or university town - like Bristol (where I think he came from).

In comparison to a book a read a few years ago, also looking at the poorer inhabitants of South Yorkshire - Below the Breadline, this book seemed to lack something for me, perhaps it was that I found it difficult to identify with the author - or perhaps it was that I couldn't shake the feeling that quietly he was looking down on those he lived amongst for six months.

Bought on Green Metropolis

1st - 25th August 2011