Halfway to crazy!

It was such a lovely evening last night at Tallaght Library, and many thanks to Emma Perry of the library staff for organising it.

I always enjoy chatting about my novels and the writing process, but an unexpected question from one member of the book club got me really emotional and tissues were required. I won't go into the details but the group were so lovely and supportive, along with plenty of cups of tea and treats.

Sometimes, I have to pinch myself, and especially on evenings like last night when so many people tell me how much they enjoyed a story and adopt the characters as real people the way I do when I'm writing them. Yes, I know, halfway to crazy, but that's how I look on it - if your characters don't feel real to you, they won't feel real to anyone else either!!

Book Club - The Method by Tom Vowler

After the great success of last month's book club choice Before I Go To Sleep, this time we are going to go on a slightly different adventure.  From crime thriller to short story collection - an interesting diversion you might think, but from the sound of it, this is no ordinary short story collection.  So I'm anticipating many diverse, exciting, insightful, love, hate and opinionated charged responses. 

Having read some of the many great reviews about this collection, I can't wait to read it.  Available to order on line HERE. 6.70 Sterling with free delivery Worldwide.

Brief Description:
The characters in this award-winning debut collection are very good at losing things: children, lovers, hope, the plot. They discover the past is not a place easily escaped from, as it pursues them with startling, sometimes horrifying, consequences.
A writer takes his research a little too far; a couple, stricken with guilt and grief, prepare a last meal; a group of swingers is rocked by the arrival of a new couple; a man takes a train journey to learn how to kill again; a deformed brother and sister exact revenge half a mile underground; a modern-day messiah astonishes a criminal gang, and a father is forever tormented by the few minutes his back was turned.
It’s impossible not to connect with these lives and the things that happen to them remaining with you long after reading. Provocative and bold, these stories will get under your skin.

Extract from review  by Melissa Lee-Houghton of The Short Review
Vowler builds layers of insight and understanding; his narratives can be steadily harrowing and difficult to read but always with an unfaltering purposeful edge. We know these stories must be seen through.  His prose leaves nothing to chance, he covers every detail with a keen eye and a wealth of vision. Vowler’s first person narratives are very quick, assured and adept. He is not afraid to be new, to be dangerous with it and flaunt his talent for imagining the necessary elements to compose coherent, robust and most importantly, satisfying short stories.

Book Club Review -Before I Go To Sleep

At long last the reviews are in.  As per usual, there were the usual disagreements, arguments, praise, criticism, all forming an interesting and entertaining cocktail of Book Club opinions.  Having said all that, 'Before I Go To Sleep' has probably been the most successful book reviewed so far.  But enough of all that - here is what everyone had to say.

As a bit of a thriller addict I feel in a good position to pass judgement on this novel. My verdict? Excellent! The idea was original, the execution confident - the experience for the reader is an overall very enjoyable one. I read most of the book in one sitting, I couldn't put it down. So, any negative comments? Well, while not giving too much away, some aspects of the plot were a little too tidy and I didn't feel we were given enough red herrings to keep us guessing. But, when it came down to it, these points didn't really detract from the enjoyment of the novel. 9/10.

'Before I go to Sleep' was a very enjoyable read, though some of the plotting was forced at times, perhaps its greatest achievement as a book about memory loss was to give such entertainment and yet be completely forgettable.  I could read it again next year.  But hopefully won't!

'Before I Go To Sleep' ticks many of the boxes for me.  It was engaging, kept me second guessing all the way through.  Had a great plot with no inconsistencies that I could find.  I liked the premise behind it, although I did think he made a 'not so old women' appear a lot older than her years.  The triumph for me was the final third of the novel as I just could not put it down - managed to stay awake until 4 in the morning in an attempt to finish it.  As a plot driven thriller novel goes, it certainly worked for me.

Before I Go To Sleep is an elegant and compact thriller. It is a genre novel with a sophisticated concept. I found it supremely readable. The style is stripped back to a stark functionality, but there is something refreshing about it's uncluttered surface. The pleasures of the text are in the clever plotting and in how the plotting serves the concept - how the author manages to tell the story of it's amnesiac protagonist is an ingenious feat in itself. Some people in the group have argued that it isn't a classic or very re-readable but I think it is an original and notable example of it's genre.

While difficult for a male writer to narrate from a female perspective, S.J. Watson pulls it off with aplomb in ‘Before I Go to Sleep’. He avoids clichéd female traits to deliver a suspenseful and well-written debut novel. While the writing is very tight, all the loose ends are tied up a little too quickly at the end which pulls the reader from that bubble of imagination. Also, Watson uses some weak structure in places – it’s just too convenient that Christine is abandoned by all of her family and friends, only adding to her vulnerability and state of confusion. However, the reader is tantalised by what is real and unreal in this well-layered story and Watson avoids a ‘groundhog day’ feel by steering clear too much repetition. ‘Before I Go to Sleep’ is a good read; it will pass the bus journey to work but it’s not one for the bookcase.

I'm an avid reader, but this is one of the best books I've read in a while. The first third pulls you in, the middle keeps you tensed and waiting and the last is absolutely un-putdownable. Ticks all the boxes. If I bit my nails they'd be bitten to the quick by now . . .

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this, kept thinking I had the measure of it but I was wrong every time, held me in suspense right to the end.  Didn't take me long to read because i truly couldn't put it down.  I note Ridley Scott has acquired the film rights, this says it all !

Before I go to Sleep S J Watson - I read this novel in two sittings.  I loved the notion that a journal could hold your reality even when if you were unable to hold it yourself - the notion that your own written word might be the only
word that you could trust. It's a riveting notion that you might see, in your own hand, the words ‘Don’t trust Ben’ – about the only person you thought you could trust. The writer’s style - or the writing - didn’t make an impact on me good or bad.  It certainly didn’t intrude on the plot.  I was surprised afterwards to realise that I couldn’t describe it.  I only remembered the characters, and the journal, not the writing.  I think that might
be an achievement! I loved the plot.  I could pick some holes in it but I would have to
be really-really picky. Like: where are the social services? Why did she have to develop a cringey attraction to Dr Nash, there was plenty going on between them without that.  If you set it in Ireland and make Brendan Gleeson play Ben and Gabriel Byrne play Dr Nash it might work.  But Dr Nash is too young....The extent of Christine’s vulnerability was shocking – in the end I just wanted no more bad things to happen to her...I won’t read it again but I will recommend it to everyone as riveting read.

This is a good book; the pages turn, the sentences flow and it’s not demanding.  For a thriller I’m told it’s fantastic and with its high concept and nicely placed plot revelations, I can understand that it is.  My husband, who only reads thrillers, loved it.  I want more from a book.  I want to enter a world that dazzles me with its brilliance.  I want to read sentences that leave me breathless.  I want to learn.  Instead I ran through passages wishing the old biddy, Christine (she’s only 47, but feels more like 60), would stop wittering on and on about how dreadful, and how hard, and how awful.  The poor, unfortunate woman has not a drop of humour and her every waking hour is consumed by her tragedy.  I know this is reasonable considering her tragedy is dreadful, and maybe I’ve just had enough of the economy,  the radio,  and the multiple endearment that are uttered throughout the book that sound like cardboard.  I will add that the authors finest page is his last.  I admired him for that.  

The hand that first held mine by Maggie O'Farrell - Book Club Review

We finally had our book club meeting last week, and boy we are a tough bunch!  But sure I'll let you decide that for yourselves! There are a couple more reviews to come, so I'll update the post when I get them.

'The hand that first held mine' - By Maggie O'Farrell - Winner of the 2010 Costa Novel Award



"The book was an easy read and I was always happy enough to return to it.  The content was questionable in a lot of places, some of it was very schmalshy (new word right there!) and the plot didn't so much thicken as curdle and begin to smell... Hard to see why it won the Costa - though it did help wile away a few tired hours without once taxing the brain so deserves some credit there..."

"There are a lot of good things which can be said for this novel.  At times the writing is rather wonderful, indeed it would be worth the read to study and enjoy the first chapter alone, because therein lies the writer Maggie O’Farrell at her best.  The scene in Soho is masterful, and again I would say worth picking up just to read this section. Unfortunately, the writing style becomes tiresome the further into the narrative you go, perhaps because the characters never quite live up to what the reader might have expected of them.  Nonetheless the author has a very unique style and I can understand why many would find this a very enjoyable read, it certainly is an easy read.  Also, I have to say that the shifts in point of view where done incredibly well, and worth future study of how Maggie O’Farrell perfected this art.

Overall though, this novel was a disappointment.  The characters were often whimsical to the extreme, and not distinctive in the sense that one often overlapped into the other, both in the modern day story and the older 50’s/60’s one.  Nor did the two stories work together well, and you were left wondering why they were set up to support each other in the first place.   Also, I found the mother /child element of the modern day story unrealistic, and like others I wondered if this author had experienced motherhood at all.  I was surprised therefore to discover that she had, and indeed that one of her aims was to highlight this relationship.  Perhaps something got lost in translation, or perhaps the writer was too close to the subject matter to transcend it onto the page, but whatever the reason, if this was Maggie O’Farrell’s intention, the result unfortunately came far short of the mark. "

"Reading 'The Hand that first Held Mine' reminded me of that Dorothy Parker quote - ""This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." It really is just awful. It left me literally asking 'why?' It's poorly written, badly plotted and generally fairly pointless. Characters that the worst chick lit author would be embarrassed by, a plot as absent as its charm, and simple factual errors that were the cherry on the top of this dreadful literary cake. To be avoided. The Hand That First Held Mine? I think you can let go now... "

"Although there are elements of good writing in 'The hand that first held mine', O'Farrell fails to pull the two main stories together. The lack of plot doesn't help and the characters, Lexie in particular, remains wooden throughout."

"I felt this book exists in a limbo between literary and mainstream fiction. It is too banal and conventional to be literary, and it's characterisation is weak and one-dimensional. On the other hand it is too plot less to be a good pacy mainstream book. What sells this book (arguably) is its style which has it's moments but it is ultimately uneven.
I would imagine O'Farrell's style is polarising. It can be very arch and artificial and old fashioned and at times this worked for me, but across the novel it wore me down, and I found it self-indulgent. And this feels like a very self-indulgent project overall - you get the feeling that the author wanted to write about certain things - motherhood in one plot strand, the 50s/60s in another, but I didn't get the feeling that she had a strong plot-orientated concept to support either of these strands. So one plot strand (the weakest), set in the contemporary age, offers her the opportunity to think about motherhood and life with a new baby - but this plot strand has no movement. It feels like a series of plot less, pointless observations. Plot obviously isn't everything, but Elina and Ted are dull, dull, dull characters.
The stronger plot line - set in the 50s/60s - also feels like a free-flowing , directionless exploration of that era. Not a scrap of O'Farrell's no doubt exhaustive research remains unused by the end of it, and the reader is left swamped in over-description. This plot-strand features livelier characters, and Lexie is undoubtedly the novel's best character but that is only in relative terms to the other lifeless ciphers that populate these pages. Lexie is meant to be a girl finding herself and exploring herself, but she never quite lives up to her initial first chapter promise, Innes is meant to be smug and insufferable and is, but Lexie isn't too far behind him, but, fatally, neither of them are remotely interesting.
I got the impression that the author might have wanted to write a period novel primarily, but at some point decided for whatever reason (to make the novel 'relevant' perhaps) to provide a contemporary plot strand alongside. I think the novel would have worked if it had taken that risk and focused in on the 50s/60s - that's when O'Farrell's writing is at its best (relatively). In the contemporary plot strand she feels uncommitted and slapdash (particularly with details regarding babies), and consequently her characters end up being rather flat and the plot mopes about, wringing its hands aimlessly. Having said all this, I would read O'Farrell again under different circumstances. This type of novel is not her forté - her style would suit a more contemporary, experimental novel and her style could be interesting set in that sort of mould. But this is an odd fit of a novel - a stylist (however uneven) trapped in the confines of the dullest, most conventional novel you can imagine."

 

Ethel Rohan - Cut Through The Bone

There are lots of great things about Twitter, not least of which is that you connect with some really good, interesting, and darn nice folk.  You all know who you are, so I don't have to list you here (even though I love lists).

Anyhow (favourite blog/email crutch word), one of these said wonderful folk, is Ethel Rohan.  Ethel is originally from Dublin, but now lives in San Francisco, California.  She is an extremely talented, and successful writer, and someone, who had it not been for Twitter, I might have missed.

I ordered a copy of her short story collection, 'Cut Through The Bone' via Amazon a couple of weeks ago, and the first thing I thought when it arrived was if the contents were as good as the cover, then I was in for a great read.  I was not disappointed.

The first story in the collection, 'More than gone', had the effect on me, that great writing sometimes does.  It inspired me to grab a piece of paper and start writing immediately - which turned out to be the beginning of 'Monkey and the Brain Eater', a story many of you were particularly moved by.  When you read wonderful words, something happens in the brain, at least it does to me, as emotions are connected through the written word - it sends you to a place, a kind of sanctuary, that is pure, deep - a place away from all the complicated busy patterns that often eat away at our lives.

Anyhow (told you my fav blog/email crutch word), back to the matter in hand.  The collection, in my opinion is a triumph, and I haven't even finished it yet.  Why, you might ask - well, I'll tell you.  The second night I was reading 'Cut Through the Bone', I realised that I started to eat up the stories, finishing one, then quickly moving on to another, before I had to shout 'stop', an imaginary 'stop' mind, because I didn't want to wake hubby.  I realised that this is a collection which needs to be savoured.  Each short story deserves its own place, and no matter how wonderful, and tempting it might be to read a number of them every evening, it would be the wrong way to approach them. 

So now, I have the book by my bed, and before I retire for the night, having said goodbye to all the daily madness that is life, I know I am in for a treat, as I get to savour the joy of reading another gem from this collection.  For sure, a book that will be on my favourite book shelf.

Brief Intro to Collection:
In this stripped-raw collection, Ethel Rohan's thirty stories swell with broken, incomplete people yearning to be whole.  Through tight language and searching scenarios, Rohan brings to life a plethora of characters -exposed, vulnerable, and achingly human.

You can visit Ethel's blog HERE, or else via MY BLOG LIST in the sidebar.

'Cut Through The Bone', is available to order as a paperback, or kindle ebook via Amazon here @ http://tinyurl.com/6kvg2p5

Go order it, you won't be disappointed!

Book Club Review - The Girls by Lori Lansens

Okay at long last the book club review of above novel.  Apologies for taking so long, but that 10 day gardening holiday has caused a lot of things to fall behind, and if I do catch up any time soon it will be a minor miracle.

But before I get into the reviews, just to say, only half of us managed to read the book, so perhaps something will be lost in the overall scheme of things.  The subject matter of this fictional story being that of twins joined at the head, seemed to cause much reluctance about reading it, and hence a couple of people steered clear.  Others got caught up in life, as is often the case, but those that did read it, managed to cause great entertainment for those that didn't, as the views were quite diverse as you will see below.

I was irritated slightly by the voice at the start - Rose's obsession with what qualifies as writerly or not etc Also felt the book was trying hard to do more than just be about the girls in their identity as craniophagus twins, ie with all the European references re their adoptive parents... felt this was all very interesting, but not really part of their story for me, but that maybe the writer didn't have enough depth in her own primary characters that she had to flesh out their adoptive parent's story so much.  Having said that where it's relevant - the interactions with adoptive parents is well done.
I hated the thing about the pregnant teen writing loads of poems, just because pregnancy did the opposite for me, but maybe it always just makes a person do weird things.

A beautiful story where the extraordinary is made ordinary. I loved this book, a story about Rose and Ruby, conjoined twins, sisters who are joined at the head. It sounds a bit outlandish, a little voyeuristic and potentially icky - but it is in fact a simple tale. Written as if it is an autobiography, the girls are close to their thirtieth birthday. Rose, the principle protagonist is a writer. She is keen to record her life story. Ruby is less interested, but reluctantly contributes chapters. Gradually it becomes clear why Rose is so keen to put their life down on paper. I loved the small town, the adoptive parents with their own 'outsider' life stories, the storm on the night the twins were born, the attempt by the twins to lead an ordinary life, one which they would have taken for granted if nature hadn't taken them down a more difficult path. An unforgettable read.

I was initially apprehensive about this choice of book, but soon realised that more than anything, it was a story of love and sometimes rivalry and sometimes misunderstandings between two sisters.  There was a lot in the novel that I could have skipped over prose wise, and I also thought that in this case, jumping backwards and forwards in time, and from two different points of view caused the writer logistical problems, as there were a number of errors within it.  Overall though I was glad I read this book, as once I got into it, I enjoyed the narrative voice, and I did feel that sense you get from a good read, that you have somehow entered another world, and one that was worth being part of.  So for me, The Girls got the thumbs up!

Without the ploy of the girls physical condition, this is just a story about two sisters - and not a very good one at that. Readers can expect to twitch a smile at the humorous parts, skip over the grisly details and fall asleep on and off for the rest of the tedium in between.

The Pornographer by John McGahern - Book Club Review



At long last the Book Club Review of 'The Pornographer' and I can tell you it was a very interesting night with many conflicting views which is what makes the whole reviewing process so intriguing, not least of which because we all are willing to do it again next month.  John McGahern's novel 'The Pornographer' of course had the added value of people feeling embarrassed reading it on the bus for fear that the wrong understanding would be taken from their choice of reading material, or wondering after they googled it at work, would someone take them to task about searching unsuitable material.  I suppose in a way this put the novel in context of how brave it was at the time of publication, that all these years on in our world of political correctness that even the choice of title is not for the fainthearted.




Really glad to have read it.  Can’t for the life of me understand why all the woman are throwing themselves at Michael.  He’s a depressive, cynical bastard who is trendy in youth and a pain in the ass when aged.  He and his country relatives drink like fishes.  Josephine is fantastic.  She, for me is the triumph of then novel – the self righteous martyrdom, the old style Catholicism is captured beautifully in her; the way she chases him, tries to corner him, the scheming, her sentences, the Oh boy, Oh boy phrase – I can feel her, touch her, see her.  I know a hundred people like her, mostly aged, but not all.  Every character is perfectly drawn except Maloney.  For me he remained a caricature, sketched in black and white upon the page with no blood pulsing through him. I think the plot was genius.  McGahern took the oldest story in the book and made it fresh by doing two things – writing it from the absconding male perspective and making Michael a pornographer.  It’s a very tightly crafted novel with one of the straightest plot lines I have ever read.  Everything is clearly foreshadowed.  There are no surprises.  Indeed that for me was the surprise.  I kept expecting some twist but there was none.  But for all that the pages turned themselves.  It might not have been a totally enjoyable read because of the pervading disenchantment which only the character of the second nurse escaped, but it was riveting and every sentence was beautifully written.  Indeed the perfection of every line, the capturing if every scene so that I could almost be an invisible presence, drove me to such maddening envy that I almost felt like flinging the book and telling myself it did not read with such sublime ease, really.  Let me just say before I go that I loved the anger in the book but I hated his bloody philosophy, his moralising.  As they say, once a teacher, always a teacher.  Also, I am not sure I would recommend this book to anyone except the oddest person.  This is due to its central thesis of the damn pointlessness of it all, the merry-go-round of life. 





                              
The Pornographer is a brave, admirable book, but its austere aesthetic left me cold. For me, its attack on all forms of Irish 'greyness' wasn't enough to override the fact that the book itself is as drab and grey as the times it critiques.  I can see that it is a necessary book - a novel about the stifled and warped national imagination and sexuality of our past helps us understand where we have come from, but I feel that McGahern's own imagination and nerve fails him - this is a very narrow, parochial book. This is my own personal preference - I would have liked some more of the visionary power McGahern displays in his final novel and in his memoir. I think The Pornographer could have been pushed much further.








                             
The Pornographer drew me in. Unsympathetic characters, in a depressing era, yet utterly compelling. This contradiction just serves to demonstrate the skill of McGahern's writing. Read this book, you may not enjoy it, but it will be hard not to be fascinated.









                              
I read it quite a while ago, the book had left a long lasting impression of superb writing on an interesting and well crafted journey.  One I'd keep in the keepers section, especially for the shock value of the title, but also because John McGahern is always good company.







                           
I really liked the main character Michael.  He provoked strong feelings in our group - others didn’t like him - and that made for great debate and discussion.  To me he was like a classical hero on a sort of archetypal journey with as many or more moments of blindness as there were moments of insight.  After great disappointment in love he was determined to be the prodigal son, to keep his emotions under control, to be direct, to keep things uncomplicated and simple – which is, of course, impossible. McGahern set him up wickedly when he created Josephine.  She looked great but 'boy' was she mercilessly, relentlessly vapid.  Far from keeping his emotions in check Michael grew to almost hate Jospehine. The novel had very black moments.  Michael revisited his and Josephines 'conception' scene on the Shannon by bringing his steamy fictitious characters Colonel and Mavis there and having them commit a heinous act of non consensual sex. His publisher Maloney was also a sobering, underworld, shadowy, hopeless sort of character.  But there were beautiful relationship moments in the novel too and there was was hope for Michael in the end.  McGahern gave him some beautifully poetic insights - which I'm not sure I entirely believed him capable of. I would have like to read more about this character.  I think McGahern is great and wish he had left us more than six novels.









                           
The Pornographer was a very readable novel. McGahern has a knack for telling a story, however the protagonist had too many faults and no redeeming qualities. So, although the pace and plot would keep a reader involved, the book just falls short of good.



    

The Pornographer is beautifully written, and McGahern's ability as an engaging storyteller and brilliant writer is undoubted.  He has the ability to make the most ordinary of things intriguing in their simple truth.  For me it was a page turner and one with a lot of merit.  Also it was an important novel as McGahern took risks to expose a society that may have been lost with the onset of years, an Ireland that could easily be forgotten, but one that in many ways has formed our society of today and from which we should draws many lessons.  The fact that the novel was written from a male perspective, and written with such raw truth, gave me an insight into character creation that was refreshing in it's unique honesty.  Plus we found love, like the relationship between the main character and his Uncle, that was beautiful in it's own way and surprising because of the subtlety of the writing.  All in all, I am glad I read this book, and have learned much from it.    

Book Club - The Pornographer by John Mc Gahern

Okay, it's nearly time to get the reviews of this month's book club selection.  Those discerning individuals who make up the book club will meet again next Thursday and will no doubt be their usual, no holding back opinionated selves, with yours truly 120 socks being one of them!

If any of you have read this book or indeed get a chance to read it over the next week, your comments will be very much appreciated, and will certainly add to what most likely will be another lively debate.

For critical reviews of previous books for November, December & January see links below!

http://120socks.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-skin-of-lion-book-club-review.html

http://120socks.blogspot.com/2010/12/armadale-by-wilkie-collins-book-club.html

http://120socks.blogspot.com/2010/11/room-by-emma-donoghue-book-club-reviews.html