College Catch-up

I've just returned to College for four weeks before we break up for the Summer so we can start working on our A2 courses. While this is all good and exciting, it means I have no time to read things outside of the curriculum (which is annoying, I'd just started Jane Eyre) so I'm going to be commenting on things I've been reading for my courses instead. At first it's going to be a couple of plays - King Lear by Shakespeare and The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca - which should be interesting as it's something a little bit different, and then I'm going to be reading a selection of novels which centre around the theme for my coursework of 'Houses'. This means re-reading Wuthering Heights and discovering new books like Howards End by E.M. Forster and The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. I'll probably also do a bit of other extra reading, such as The Return by Victoria Hislop for some more thorough knowledge of Lorca's world, and then Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh and The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley for some more House themes.

These are all just ideas of what I could be reading over the summer so I may not read all of them, but I'll give it a good go. Talk soon!

The Girl at the Lion D'Or

This library copy was published by Vintage.

Title: The Girl at the Lion D'Or
Author: Sebastian Faulks
First Published: by Hutchinson, 1989
Audience: 15+
Rating: 3.5 stars
About: Set in France in the mid-1930s, the novel follows a young woman, Anne Louvet, as she takes up a new post as a waitress in a small town hotel: The Lion D'Or. It soon becomes apparent that Anne is keeping her past secret, a secret she might be willing to reveal once she gets involved with a local, and married man, Charles Hartmann.

The Girl at the Lion D'Or was recommended to me by my sister, who'd recently taken it out of the local library. She'd described it as 'decent' and 'pretty good', so my initial impression wasn't overwhelming, but being a fan of Sebastian Faulks' work, I was eager to read another of his classics.

The pace of the novel was much slower than of those I'd been reading lately, but this was mainly due to the attention to detail contained within the description. The novel opens with a beautifully illustrated scene of a train station in the pouring rain, which immediately places the reader within the character's world. Faulks' unprecedented skill of being able to paint a scene then progresses throughout the narrative until a thoroughly depicted atmosphere of the entire town and the characters within it are created. This is what sucks the reader into the book, not the drama or twisting storyline, but the realistic nature of the place the author has created. There is also a constant political undertone which adds another dimension to the story, developing realism and a distant sense of foreboding which was incorporated into the main story.

What I enjoyed most about the novel was it's simplicity. The story follows the lives of people living within the town, mainly that of Anne and Hartmann, and it is the engaging nature of their characters which moves the story along. What is also unusual about this book is the lack of a villain. There are several characters such as Mattlin and Roland who are less likeable and untrustworthy than the protagonists, but there is no good versus evil battle. What drives the story is the accentuated importance of love, however fleeting, amongst the vastness and grandeur of everyday life. Essentially, this is a complicated, yet uncomplicated, love story between two adults as they plod through their unremarkable lives, and it is the love and lust between them which gives them the opportunity to be remarkable, even for a little while.

All in all, I felt that this novel was nice. It was beautifully written, and a captivating love story, but I didn't feel entirely blown away. That isn't to say I didn't like it, I thoroughly enjoyed it for various reasons, but I don't feel like it's a novel I'd read twice. For that reason, I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5, but I also definitely encourage others to give it a go.

Odd Thomas

Title: Odd Thomas
Author: Dean Koontz
Published: by Bantam Publishing, 2003
Audience: 15+
Rating: 4.5 stars
About: Odd Thomas is a twenty-year old short-order cook living in the desert town of Pico Mundo, in the United States. Odd tries to lead an ordinary life, which he finds difficult due to his unique ability of being able to interact with the dead who come to him for help.

Odd Thomas is a book which has been highly recommended to me for months and after continuous nagging I finally agreed to read it. Why did it take so long to convince me? Well, Odd Thomas isn't the kind of book I'd usually go for. The way it was described made it seem genuinely freaky, a little bit like a scary movie in book form, and as a rule, I can't handle anything scary. I had nightmares after seeing Dorian Grey in cinemas. But after reading the first chapter I was hooked, and pleasantly surprised that it wasn't so much scary as tense, fast-paced and thrilling.

From the very beginning of the novel we are thrust into Odd's whirlwind world when the ghost of a little girl comes to him and informs him indirectly (ghosts don't talk) that her killer is just around the corner. Having learned of this girl's vicious rape and murder, Odd confronts the perpetrator (a former school friend, Harlo Landerson) and no gory details are spared - "you carry her blood in your pocket...oh god, Harlo. Sometimes you put it between your teeth. And bite on it". And that's just the beginning. After Odd sees a new face in the Pico Mundo Grille, one which resembles that of a fungus and is followed by hoards of bodachs (shadowy creatures only Odd can see, it is thought that they travel to this world from Hell), he realises that his sleepy little town is in grave danger. With time running out, Odd must work to unravel the horror which is about to be unleashed while also keeping those he loves safe.

While the story told in this book is very dark and usually miserable, the first person narrative told from the perspective of the novel's protagonist, Odd, is comical and light-hearted, and so for the most part the morbid storyline does not become overbearing. It is full of twists and turns which make it constantly interesting and continuously shocking, while being full of charm and wit. Each and every one of the characters is memorable and quirky in their own small way, whether it be Stormy Llewellyn, Chief Wyatt Porter, Little Ozzie, Granny Sugars... (the list could go on) and each of them have an accompanying detailed history of despair and suffering. That's my only criticism of this novel, the level of misery felt by every single character is far higher than I expected. This could be due to Odd's attraction to people whose lives have been as hard as his, but it sometimes becomes tiresome to realise that no-one in this novel has had a normal upbringing. Each new character we meet, who starts off seeming wholesome and happy, ends up having had an abused childhood, or is the last one left of their family, and this is when the sadness of this novel starts to get a little bit overwhelming.

But that is my only criticism! This book has a little bit of everything I love; romance, friendship, laughs, drama, suspense and the supernatural. The relationship between Odd and Stormy is a refreshing change as their love is already established and secure (and so sweet) so there's a certain level of maturity in this aspect of the story; the romance is focused on when/if they'll get married rather than when they're going to have that first kiss. The darker side to the story is written just as well, I distinctly remember one chapter which made my heart nearly burst from my chest as it was beating so hard. The way each minor action of the character was described made the level of suspense nearly mind-blowing, every meeting of their eyes, every inch their hands move closer to the lock of the door, without knowing what's waiting for them on the other side was delicately choreographed so you couldn't put the book down, but with that unnerving sense that you didn't want to know what happened next.

With the end of this review, I'd like to speak briefly about the ending of the book. In all honesty, it's the best ending to a novel I've ever read. It's horrifically cruel and honest and it makes you hate Dean Koontz for causing you so much grief and heartache, but the way he tells it is so clever that you can't help but worship him. Seriously, even if my review makes this book sound like something you'd hate, read it anyway just so you can experience how it ends.

All in all, Odd Thomas is a true literary masterpiece of suspense and charm, and I give it 4.5 stars! I highly recommend it to everyone and I can't wait to read the next in the series.

Call the Midwife

Title: Call the Midwife
Author: Jennifer Worth
Published: by Phoenix, 2002
Audience: 15+
Rating: 3.5 stars
About: Call the Midwife vibrantly describes the experiences of young midwife, Jenny, as she works in the London docklands in the 1950s. 

 This book has become recently popular due to the broadcast of the BBC adaptation of the same name but I started reading this book in August last year and only finished it about a month ago. But this doesn't mean in any way that it wasn't decent - once I'd started reading it again recently I'd forgotten why I'd stopped in the first place.

The writing is so fluid and the insight into the past so vivid and descriptive it feels as though you, the reader, have gone back in time. Each character is beautifully created, even though some only appear for one chapter or less, and it is impossible not to become attached to those who reoccur. There is less romance in the novel compared with the screen adaptation which could be an issue for those hopeless romantics (like myself) who can find stories rather dull if there isn't at least some 'will-they-won't-they' factor involved. On the whole though, I didn't really notice (maybe until watching the television series) as there was plenty of little love stories amongst Jenny's patients. The slight frustration came with the lack of information divulged on Jenny's love life in particular, and the lack of answers we were given to the many questions which were posed. This is understandable, however, as these are true events and true people so a degree of privacy should be upheld... it's just irritating for nosy people like me.

The only few slight problems I had with the novel as a whole was that, due to the many different short stories encompassed within the main narrative, it was quite difficult to get hooked, which was probably why I drifted to begin with. The range of lives Call the Midwife describes is what makes it so truthful however, and so this is only a minor issue if you have a short attention span and need a more high-speed narrative like the Hunger Games in order to get interested. My last comment is about the ending, or lack of finality. Personally, I didn't realise that the story had actually ended, I thought that the glossary and information about the Cockney dialect was leading onto another chapter, and when it didn't I was a bit confused. There was a distinct lack of closure surrounding the end, and it was more like the author was intending to carry on, but never got the time.

All in all, I give Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth 3.5 stars! While I enjoyed it and found it immensely interesting I was not hooked, and the ending left me feeling slightly disappointed.

Next review: something a bit different, Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Currently reading: Paradise Lost by John Milton (eek!)