The Picture of Dorian Gray

After reading almost exclusively non fiction this year I decided it was time to start reading some fiction. I had recently read about Oscar Wilde's the Picture of Dorian Gray in several places so thought this may be a good place to start.

The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the story of an extremely good looking young man who make a pact that enables him to keep his youthful looks throughout his life. Instead of him growing older the effects of his life and the effects of his sin are not seen in his body but in a portrait of himself.

Dorian under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton enters into a double life. While maintaining a respectable reputation within society he secretly begins a lifestyle in search of endless pleasures regardless of the cost. With each step further into a depraved life the only outward sign is the painting (that is carefully hidden in his house)becomes more and more aged and marred.

Wilde does have a way with words and their is some very clever and witty writing. At times I feel he gets a bit carried away with philosophical discussion between Lord Henry and Dorian. While some of these are quite amusing as Henry explains his hedonistic view on life, at times they are rather drawn out.

Overall this is a fascinating tale that looks at human nature, sin and the cost of living simply to pleasure oneself.

If anyone is looking to read this I highly recommend getting the Penguin Classic edition as it also includes some interesting articles written about how the book was received when it was released in the late 1800's

war and peace

i did it. i read 'war and peace'. my cunning plan of reading the 'books' of war and peace interspersed with other books (to keep up my interest) paid off, and about nine months after starting, i finished.

my pleasant surprise was that war and peace is actually a cracking good book. it is such a vast and masterful work of art - combining the society intrigues of victorian novels (by austen and hardy etc) with gritty narratives about napoleonic warfare.

to quote tolstoy (from an article that he published about the novel), "I have spent five years of uninterrupted and exceptionally strenuous labour under the best conditions of life [on this work]." tolstoy doesn't hold back, and he achieves a work of grandeur that succeeds in holding the reader's attention through action and character studies.

my tactic of reading other books in between probably helped, but i actually found that i was pleased to get back to war and peace.

for tolstoy the reason for writing such a book was not mainly to entertain his readers. he had a theory about history that he was evidently very committed to demonstrating.

tolstoy says that war and peace "is not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less an historical chronicle" [although it quite clearly contains elements of all these]. "War and Peace is what the author wished and was able to express in the form in which it was expressed."

the concept that tolstoy wants to communicate is this:

"The movement of nations is caused not by power, nor by intellectual activity, nor even by a combination of the two ... but by the activity of all the people who participate in the events... Morally the wielder of power appears to cause the event, physically it is those who submit to the power. But as the moral activity is inconceivable without the physical, the cause of the event is neither in the one nor in the other, but in the union of the two." (from the epilogue)

this is why war and peace has a cast of over 500 characters. each of them has a role to play in history, actions have ramifications. but at the same time the characters are also swept along by the events of history - participants and victims, as it were.

the only time when the narrative really slows in the book is at the end when tolstoy puts together all his thoughts about history in essay form, just in case the reader has missed the point. this break from narrative is a bit of an anticlimax but i suppose it is necessary given tolstoy's primary aims for the book. this ending shouldn't stand in the way of you reading it if you're not a history student - it comes at the very end as an epilogue, so doesn't interfere with the narrative.

all up, brilliant. highly recommended.

read more about 'war and peace' on wikipedia.

warandpeace-o-meter: finished!

the crime of olga arbyelina

the crime of olga arbyelina, by andrei makine

the local library has a few andrei makine books. it was 'the earth and sky of jacques dorme' that first introduced me to makine and i fell in love with his writing style. 'the crime of olga arbyelina' was my second outing with his work.

it all starts off with a fascinating scene that unfolds in a russian cemetery in paris. an old man tends the graves and tells stories of the people who inhabit them. visitors come to the cemetery to hear these stories, furtively listening to the old man's words and fleeing when he notices them listening. and so, he tells the story of olga arbyelina.

the first scene is of olga sitting on a riverbank in a small town near paris next to the corpse of a middle-aged man. the suspicion of course falls on olga as the murderer - evidently this is the 'crime' that the title talks about. however, the narrative then flicks back about two years, and through suggestions and finally out and out revelation, we find out what olga's hidden crime really is. incest. (yikes!) sorry if i've ruined the story for you, but that all but ruined the story for me.

makine once again shows his genius for poetic writing, but at the point of the revelation, the story becomes a dark irredeemable tragedy that ends in olga's madness and leaves the reader feeling somehow sullied by the reading experience. olga's haemophiliac adolescent son (the other party in the said 'crime') is an unlikeable ghost-like figure who drugs his mother. so it becomes pretty hard going, although makine never writes about his subject in stark and brutal terms, no matter what his characters' crimes may be. perhaps this makes it more disturbing in a way. by being captured by his gentle poetry you feel somehow implicated in the story. you keep reading, hoping for that chink of light that might reveal some hope. none comes.

even though i love makine's poetic language, in this book it sometimes feels like this language is just filling space. a couple of times, i found myself thinking that the whole novel could have been quite an effective short story.

all up, do i regret reading this book? probably. 'the earth and sky' was so much more skillfully done in terms of narrative, structure and language. and because of that i haven't given up on makine.

warandpeace-o-meter: 876/981 (volIII, bookXV, chapVII)

nineteen eighty-four

nineteen eighty-four, by george orwell

you tell yourself that you should read these classic books, and you put it off because even though they are classics you really have no idea what you are going to encounter. i think 'moby dick' has a lot to answer for in this respect. i started reading that book expecting to be absorbed by a rollicking tale of a captain hunting down a particularly nasty white whale. instead, it ended up being 'everything i know about whaling, by herman melville'. terrible tedious stuff with tiny bits of narrative thrown so that melville could claim it was a story. perhaps i've judged too harshly - i never did reach the end (although i intend to one day). but this 'moby dick' gives classics a bad name.

however, i'm into futuristic sci-fi movies and i had an inkling that '1984' was a predecessor to that narrative form. and one day anna was going down to the library and asked if there was anything i wanted. and i thought, "now, what were the books i was going to read?" and i remembered this one.

i started reading it immediately and was pleasantly surprised that 1984 is nothing like moby dick - in fact it is very readable (nearly 200 years of development of the novel form has clearly paid off). it was published the year before orwell died in 1949, and is one of orwell's two most famous novels - the other one being 'animal farm'. as is usual with orwell, the work is very political and allegorical, but that is carried along by good novelistic devices that make the story absorbing.

the book gets a little bit bogged down in one section and part 3 (the last part) is not quite so action-packed. that's all ok though, because the aim of the book is not really to entertainment, but to paint a picture of the distopia that could develop under a socialist totalitarian system. unfortunately the book doesn't have a happy ending, but that suits the story so is probably the best conclusion.

i wouldn't read this if you need cheering up, but if you're into narratives about the future (like me) then definitely get into it. the volume i got was the 'complete novels' and i think i might be back to read more of orwell later.

warandpeace-o-meter: 785/981 (volIII, bookXIII, chapI)

the book thief

the book thief, by markus zusak

i can't remember when or where this book first caught my eye, but i always thought i would like it. it is the story of a german girl living near munich during WW2. as the title suggests, she has a knack for stealing books.

finally i got hold of a copy when anna found it in the library at the school where she teaches. when i got it in my hands, it immediately disrupted my reading schedule and pushed other books that were more established in my reading queue further down the line.

i don't know why i thought i would like it, but i was right. i compare it to the book by andrei makine that i read earlier this year ('the earth and sky of jacques dorme'). both books have an alternative view of WW2 and are told in beautifully poetic ways with children in the foreground.

i find it hard to review fiction, because you always seem to have to give away part of the plot in the process. i don't want to do that, because it would be much better to let other people discover it for themselves.

the story unfolds in a wonderful way, making use of asides, definitions, and even some cartoons (you have to see it to really understand what i'm talking about). it's tragic, with moments of humour - the tragedy never overpowers the book or the reader but it never loses its significance either. surprisingly, markus zusak is an australian - so i guess that makes this book australian fiction but it is very european. the copy i read is beautifully designed inside and out - i think this is the australian and new zealand edition. it has been released with a different cover now (see below) which is nowhere near as good - i wonder if they have changed the inside as well. it would be a shame if they have.

i recommend this book very highly and wish everyone would read it. and i will return this copy to the library, but i really want to keep it.

warandpeace-o-meter: 669/981 (volIII, bookXI, chapI)

the complete stories

the complete stories, by truman capote

you may not know this - i hadn't clicked - but truman capote wrote 'breakfast at tiffany's', which was turned into a classic film starring audrey hepburn. a classic film which, while i'm mentioning it, you should watch. all this, by the way, really doesn't have anything to do with this review, except as a piece of trivia about truman capote.

reading short stories is probably a good way of getting a taste of an author. from a literary study point of view they also often reveal the development of an author, because short stories are sometimes written as a kind of primer for novels.

out of this book i discovered for myself that capote had an extraordinary gift for description, and wrote prose that flows beautifully. unsurprisingly, when you know that he wrote the book 'in cold blood' (which the film 'capote' is all about), many of his stories have a dark edge - something which is known as 'southern gothic' in american literary studies.

the stories date from 1943 to 1982 and find a series of characters in odd situations of 'everyday' life. the characters themselves are usually unsettled to some degree. towards the end of the book capote writes about three autobiographical stories which are quite touching - especially the last one - a perfect ending to the book i thought - all about a visit he made as a child to his birth-father's house in new orleans. this carries added poignancy when you consider that the story was the second-to-last thing of capote's that was published during his lifetime.

i think i'll be reading more by capote in the future. highly recommended.

warandpeace-o-meter: 600/981 (volII, bookX, chapXVI)

our sunshine

our sunshine, by robert drewe

this, apparently, is the book that the film 'ned kelly' was based on. as is often the case though, i didn't notice too many similarities other than the fact that both were about ned kelly.

i picked this up as a quick read - a book that anna got at an op shop i think. it turned out to be quite good. the narrative style is almost a stream-of-consciousness approach - it has a poetic quality to it.

i think there is a connection here between the bush balladry of the likes of banjo patterson ('the man from snowy river' etc) - not that it reads like a ballad, but there is a connection in the atmosphere and feeling. perhaps this connection is merely a result of the australian setting, but either way, i think this is a very australian book.

the book presents the thoughts of ned kelly himself in a way that is almost dream-like and the narrative unfolds through recollections. despite the methodology, the narrative becomes coherent, and i think that this is the true skill of robert drewe in writing this book.

the main setting and climax of the book is the final showdown between the kelly gang and the police, and this climax is where the dream-like quality of the book comes to the fore.

drewe has used a lot of imaginative license with the story, but notes at the end of the book that this is fitting for a main character who is mostly known through legend.

good book, worth reading.

warandpeace-o-meter: 437/981 (volII, bookVIII, chapI)

silence

silence, by shusaku endo

this was a novel i was inspired to read by reading about it in philip yancey's book 'soul survivor'. i got this copy from mum for christmas.

endo has been called 'japan's foremost novelist' and 'silence' (first published in 1969) has been called 'one of the finest novels of our time' by graham greene. endo is a catholic christian, and much of his work deals with the tension between his catholicism/christianity and his japanese culture. in japan, christianity is viewed as a foreigner's religion, but when endo went abroad, he found that he didn't fit into the western world either. so that's a bit of back story on endo.

this is a historical novel set in the time of the missionary endeavours that were undertaken by europe into japan in the 1600s. the samurai class became increasingly alarmed with the effect that christianity was having on traditional japanese society, and outlawed all western mission work. widespread persecution broke out against japanese christians who were tortured for their faith and forced to renounce or be killed.

the main character of this book, rodrigues - a portuguese missionary brother - is sent to japan to carry out christian work despite the new persecution and the fact that others who have gone before him have disappeared and are rumoured to have apostatised...

the samurai force christians to renounce their faith by placing their foot on a picture of christ. this is the position that rodrigues is put in when he is captured. the novel hinges on the ethical dilemma and crisis of faith that he faces about whether to recant, and thereby save the japanese peasants that are being tortured for his sake, or to hold fast to his faith and die a martyr's death.

an excellent and heart-wrenching book.

the house of strife

the house of strife, by maurice shadbolt

this one came from the op-shop - anna was on her usual buying spree at the sallies, and i rescued this from the pile.

having studying nz lit at university i was well aware of maurice shadbolt - i probably read a short story by him or something. 'the house of strife' is part of a trilogy of historical novels based in nz around the time of the new zealand wars, in which european power sort to impose its will on maori tribes that didn't like the idea of colonial government.

i have to say i enjoyed this book immensely - it had all the hallmarks of a cracking good story without sacrificing an intelligent approach.

the narrator of the story is an englishman named wildblood who has made a name for himself writing pulp fiction about 'maoriland' from the safety of a london apartment. when a ruffian turns up with claims of plagiarism and threatening to kill him, wildblood flees on the next ship to the antipodes and finds himself experiencing new zealand firsthand - arriving just prior to one of the first engagements of the new zealand wars.

the new zealand he enters is more alarming and complicated than anything he has ever written about. and thus begins the story...

highly recommended.



on the stereo: 'when it happens it moves all by itself' by telefon tel aviv, from the album 'a map of what is effortless'. www.telefontelaviv.com

trade me: the novel

trade me: the novel, by geoff vause

now, i should clear something up. the amazon ads at the end of each post on this blog might make it look like i'm reviewing books with an eye to profit. but i ain't. if i were - it isn't working... never mind.

i make this clarification because i present here today a book which i was involved in producing (in a small way). so there might be seen as some vested interest. and, i'm going to offer a link at the end of the review where you can buy this book.

geoff vause contacted me at castle publishing mid last year with a book idea that had already received some very positive comments. in the event, he decided to more or less self-publish the book, because the wheels of established publishing houses move slow.

i never actually got to read the manuscript prior to the book being released, as geoff undertook a clandestine operation to produce the book. anyway, just before christmas, geoff sent me a copy of the finished article.

'trade me: the novel' is a storming riot of a tale about the pitfalls and adventures of a group of new zealanders who use new zealand's answer to ebay - trademe. i should fill you in if you're unlucky enough to be living outside new zealand. ebay set up a branch in australia but took their sweet time coming to nz (they still haven't arrived). in their absence, an entrepreneurial new zealander by the name of sam morgan set up a similar (and some would say, better) concept here. anyway, virtually everyone in nz now uses the website. as i write this, there are 39,571 people online at trademe (in the middle of the day, and in a country that has a total population of just 4 million people).

there is obviously a cultural impact from such a phenomenon, and that is grist to goeff vause's narrative. through a series of events, the main characters in 'trade me' become intertwined to disastrous and humorous effect.

i sat and read the entire thing one day - it is very well written. it is also fully explores the lax moral standards of its characters - to the point of gratuitousness. but then this story was never intended to be anything other than an amusing charge through the twists and turns of its hapless participants.

you can buy a copy of the book on trademe itself. trying clicking here - and you should see a list of the current auctions that are running for the book.

the earth and sky of jacques dorme

the earth and sky of jacques dorme, by andrei makine

this was a brilliant book. a novel written by a russian emigre to france. it tells the story (in first person) of a russian orphan who spends time with a old french woman living in russia. she tells him the story of a romance that she had with french airman during WWII. the pilot, jacques dorme, worked ferrying american planes across the siberian wastes to be used against germany on the russian front. in later years the narrator goes on a search to find out as much as can about dorme.

it is beautifully written (translated from french). makine weaves the recollections of the old woman in amongst his own recollections of life as an orphan in communist russia.

apparently makine is quite an accomplished writer and has written a number of prize-winning books. i'll be reading more of his work.



on the headphones: 'mistadobalina' by del tha funkee homosapien, from the album 'i wish my brother george was here'. www.hieroglyphics.com/artists/del/

the curious incident of the dog in the night time

the curious incident of the dog in the night time, by mark haddon

this is a book that has had a lot of rave reviews and won awards. written by mark haddon equally for young adults and adults.

it is a first-person narrative written from the perspective of a 15 year old autistic english boy who discovers his neighbour's dog dead on the front lawn. in his inimitable style, our hero christopher sets about trying to find out who killed the dog and in the process finds out much more about his life than he bargained for - i won't tell you what in case you read it for yourself.

i think this is a pretty good book. if there is an emerging genre of fiction that is written from the perspective of people who relate to the world differently because of mental disabilities, then i have to say the other book i have recently read in that genre - 'the incredible adam spark' - was better. anyway, there are some brilliant bits in this book, and the way the story unfolds is excellent.

on the headphones: 'the night garden' by waldeck, from the album 'the night garden'. http://www.waldeck.at/

the incredible adam spark

the incredible adam spark, by alan bissett

it's amazing what you come across when you're not looking for anything in particular at the library. our library has a new book stand that i always have a look at. take a punt, and sometimes it pays off.

this is a story (in first-person) about a scottish down-syndrome teenager with superhero abilities. as the tagline reads: 'at last, scotland has a hero'.

adam spark, or 'sparky' as he's known, has all kinds of adventures and rides the waves of people's prejudice and the realities of a disfunctional family. it is brilliantly written in sparky's own voice complete with scottish dialect (a la irving walsh) and unique punctuation and spelling. everything is seen through his eyes. at times the harshness of life seems to wash over the hero, but the truth comes out in subtle ways.

and now, for some unforgivably lazy reviewing. i shall quote wholesale from the publishers blurb about the book:

Adam Spark. Eighteen going on eight-and-a-half. Fast-food worker. Queen fan. Last in the queue for luck. On waking from an accident in which he saves a child, he has the distinct impression that all is far from right. What are these curious lights that seem to surround people? Why are animals and machines trying to speak to him? And can he really control time? Is it just his imagination, or has Adam Spark been chosen to become Scotland's first, and only, superhero?

This, however, is the least of his problems. The local gang is luring him into deeper and darker peril. His sister and lone carer, Jude, is giving all her love to another woman. And if Jude abandons Adam - or Adam drives her away - all the superpowers in the world won't be able to save him.

ah- so there you have it. recommended.

the murder of roger ackroyd

the murder of roger ackroyd, by agatha christie

anna is a huge fan of agatha christie and has read pretty much everything that aggie wrote. i, on the other hand, hadn't read anything by the queen of murder mystery.

it is pretty widely accepted that 'the murder of roger ackroyd' is agatha christie's finest work, so i thought that if i was going to read one it might as well be this. there's a book out at the moment called '1000 books to read before you die' and this book makes it onto that list.

obviously the story has all the hallmarks of 1920s, 1930s murder mystery - a rich murdered man, a suspect butler, a former british officer, a beautiful young woman and no end of household intrigues that act as red herrings to the main mystery. there are also the obligatory gatherings in drawing rooms to probe suspects and so on. the investigation in this story is carried out by agatha christie's famous hercule poirot.

there is no doubt that christie was an excellent writer. in this book she writes in first person from the perspective of a male doctor. that is largely convincing, but when people write as members of the opposite sex it doesn't always ring true.

it was a good book, and i really enjoyed it. i'd say it was a good option for my one big murder mystery reading. i won't give away the plot twist that this book is famous for - even if the story is nearly 80 years old.

on the headphones: 'bulletproof' by morcheeba, from the album 'the big calm'. http://www.morcheeba.net/

ss-gb

ss-gb, by len deighton

and now, for something completely different. in need of a little light relief, i read this novel that anna picked up at an op-shop for a few cents.

len deighton is actually quite an established author and is known for meticulous research.

anyway, the interesting thing about this book is that it is set in great britain after it has fallen to the nazis in ww2. it is the story of a scotland yard detective who finds himself working for the ss police and trying to solve a murder that leads to all kinds of intrigue involving nuclear weapons development and falling in love with a leggy blond american journalist (as you do).

it ended up being a little bit too much of a murder mystery for me, and seemed to end quite quickly, the events not having the kind of impact you would expect them to. but nevertheless, i did get the entertainment i was looking for and the setting and premise was interesting. i suspect i'll end up reading more len deighton in the future - not least of all because i can see another four of his books sitting on the shelf here - they are very easy to come by for very cheap.

on the headphones: 'planet telex (hexidecimal mix)' by radiohead, from the 'high and dry' single. www.radiohead.com

the little world of don camillo

the little world of don camillo, by giovanni guareschi

this is a classic work of italian fiction from the post-war period. don camillo is a catholic priest who goes head to head with the communist mayor, peppone. both characters are rogues who try to outsmart each other for the benefit of the church and the communist party.

the book has great humour and is really a rather cunning insight into human nature. don camillo has constant conversations with God, and these also provide some interesting insights.

this seems to be a very good translation and is very easy to read. i think it would make an excellent movie, and apparently it has been done a couple of times - the original italian one receiving the best reviews. it was done more recently in the 80s, but methinks some talented movie maker needs to pick this one up again and do it properly.

very worth reading.

on the headphones: 'verona' by elemeno p (wow, there is actually a slight link there), from the album 'love and disrespect'. www.elemenop.com

that hideous strength

that hideous strength, by c.s. lewis

this is the last book in lewis's space trilogy - although this one never goes into space. the interstellar supernatural spiritual battle between good and evil visits earth itself. dr ransom again features as the hero, although not so much the main character this time.

in this book, lewis focuses on jane and mark studdock - a somewhat unhappily married newlywed couple who find themselves on opposite sides of the great universal struggle. an organisation known as N.I.C.E start taking over small-town england and hope to resurrect merlin (ie the arthurian wizard) from the dead. in the event, merlin does come back, turning this book into a giant mishmash of theology, legend, sci-fi and philosophy. not to mention a little romance thrown in for good measure. the book ends with creatures getting it on all over the place (slight queezy feeling here - but not as bad as seeing hobbits reunited and jumping around on a bed in slow-motion). to find out exactly how lewis manages to get the story to that point you'll have to read it for yourself.

there is some brilliant writing in this book - lewis at his best. he can never resist having his characters indulge in long philosophical discourses but we just have to live with that. lewis is surprisingly free in his discussions of sexuality and allows his characters to be quite gritty. there are some great moments of visual imagery and also some quite brutal scenes. i definitely recommend the entire trilogy.