Book Review: God Dies by the Nile

God Dies by the Nile by Nawal El Saadawi

Publisher: Zed Books

Category: Translated literature

Challenges: A Year of Feminist Classics

Synopsis: From Amazon.com: Kafr El Teen is a beautiful, sleepy village on the banks of the Nile. Yet at its heart it is tyrannical and corrupt. The Mayor, Sheikh Hamzawi of the mosque, and the Chief of the Village Guard are obsessed by wealth and use and abuse the women of the village, taking them as slaves, marrying them and beating them. Resistance, it seems, is futile. Zakeya, an ordinary villager, works in the fields by the Nile and watches the world, squatting in the dusty entrance to her house, quietly accepting her fate. It is only when her nieces fall prey to the Mayor that Zakeya becomes enraged by the injustice of her society and possessed by demons. Where is the loving and peaceful God in whom Zakeya believes?

My Thoughts: I wanted to love this book, I really did. But somehow it didn’t capture me. I felt very confused as to what was going on, there seemed to be things happening on the surface and I got those okay, but it also seemed like there were things deep below the surface and I just did not get where El Saadawi was taking me. The different stories seemed connected but I just didn’t see how, except on the surface.

So the surface issues I did get: there was definitely a theme about the treatment of women and poor. The creation of the Other was clear here. The poor girls were doubly victimised through the sexual violence perpetrated against them and through the doing of this under the guise of it being a good Muslim. The power structures in the town were clear where the rich were more worth than the poor and women were the worst off of all.

If one looks at the book through the eyes of the challenge that caused me to read this book, A Year of Feminist Classics, it is clear that this book continues the theme of relative power between the sexes, and women are at a disadvantage. What this book does to take that theme further is to show how women, because of childbearing, are left even more vulnerable. Their “sin” is even more visible in that they can become pregnant. Here the importance of the woman as a virgin becomes clear through the checking of blood on the sheets after the wedding night. The book also shows how the perceived sin of bastards can damage people.

I am currently reading Words Not Swords: Iranian Women Writers and the Freedom of Movement (Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East) by Farzaneh Milani and it deals with some of the issues regarding women in this culture and the need for the virgin bride. These two books are excellent companion reads.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

TSS: Book Review: Tomorrow Pamplona

Tomorrow Pamplona by Jan Van Mersbergen

Translated by: Laura Watkinson

Publisher: Peirene Press

Synopsis: The boxer Danny is running, running from a woman. He meets the family man Robert who is on his way to Pamplona for the Bull run and the two end up travelling together.

My Thoughts: This quiet book really captivated me, and in the end surprised me a great deal.

Van Mersbergen weaves a tale between the present travels of Danny and Robert first to Pamplona and then home again at the same time as the story of Danny’s recent past is told. The jumping between the two time periods is done seamlessly but without confusion. By telling part of the story in retrospect the reader is given a sense of mystery. What has made Danny run. The different times merge at the end of the book delivering a surprise ending

I am not sure if I can tell you why the book surprised me without ruining it for you but I will tell you that the surprise was like a punch in the gut, a punch that Danny could have delivered.

For me the story was a story about the futility of running from your life. No matter what your past holds, no matter which escape you try and make, you will have to face it some day. And although the book doesn’t say it out right I have to believe that you also get what you deserve. No matter if you make the right decisions in other matters, you still have to face the wrong ones you made.

I want to comment on the translation as Peirene stated goal is excellent translations. As I do not speak Dutch I cannot comment on the exactness of this translation, but I can say that the narrative flows incredibly well. I’ve read translations that feel choppy and strange, and that is not the case with this book. At no point did I feel like I was reading a translated work. Not because cultural markers were removed but because the language felt natural. Well done!

This isn’t a long book. It isn’t a book that utters a lot of words. It is a quiet book that holds a lot of truths and a great story. I highly recommend it.

I want to thank the wonderful ladies at Peirene Press for giving me a review copy of this book.

Tomorrow Pamplona is out tomorrow June 6th, 2011.

                      

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Tales from Outer Suburbia

Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

Publisher: Templar Publishing

Category: Short Stories/Graphic Novel

My Thoughts: Do you ever find yourself reading a collection of short stories and thinking “this one will be my favourite in the whole collection” and then finding that each successive one is more of a favourite? That was my feeling while reading Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan. It is a wonderful book with wonderful stories and beautiful illustrations. I mean it starts out so well with the different stories as postage stamps on an envelope, each picture with the cost being the page number.

Each story touched something deep inside me. From “Eric” the exchange student whom no one quite knows if he is happy and who has strange customs but when he leave, gives the family a beautiful gift, and leaves them missing him. To “Alert” where people made bombs into beautiful ornaments. To “Grandpa’s Story” with the story about the trials one goes through early in a marriage/relationship and the importance of co-operation to make the relationship work. But as a writer of poetry I rarely show to others my absolute favourite was “Distant Rain”. Both the story and the graphic resonate with me. The way the story was told on different scraps of papers with different handwriting was so incredibly perfect it literally took my breath away.

I have been wanting to read Shaun Tan for quite some time, ever since I saw this review of his books The Arrivals and The Red Tree from Nymeth at Things Mean A Lot. When he won the ALMA Prize I knew I had to read something by him, so when I spotted Tales from Outer Suburbia in a display at the local library where I work I snatched it up…now I think I will need to buy a copy for myself, as well as copies of his other books. This is a book I will return to often I think.

The ALMA Prize website has some pictures from his various books.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Dowry Bride

The Dowry Bride by Shobhan Bantwal

Publisher: Kensington Books

Category: Lit

Challenges: What’s in a Name, SAAC

Synopsis: Megha is a young woman in India who finds out that her mother-in-law wants her killed as her father has failed to pay the dowry that was promised.

My Thoughts: The story was very compelling and brought to light a very important topic, unfortunately, I felt that the book was both predictable and at times badly written. The dialogue was clunky at times (and I am the queen of clunky dialogue), for example:

“I trust you completely, Kiran, but Amma is a vindictive woman. I’ve lived with her for the past year. When she wants something, nobody can stop her. She’s like a rock hurtling down a steep mountain.” (105)

At this point it has already been established that Amma is a very nasty person but Bantwal seems to be bent on hammering it home. She also doesn’t seem to trust that her readers can understand, or don’t need to understand certain things, such as when she enumerates the foods that Kiran and Megha eat:

Kiran watched with amused contentment Megha eat the rich mkhani chicken curry, alu matar or potatoes with peas, the hot, puff bread called naan, and the rice pulau and salad. (114)

To me passages like this feel very wordy and unnecessary and really took away from my enjoyment of the book. I had similar problems with The Forbidden Daughter last year and I am beginning to think that this authors writing style just doesn’t work for me. I really wish it did though, because I love stories she tells.

I did enjoy the basic story and actually read the whole book in an afternoon. I wanted so much for Megha to be okay, she was a very likeable character. Her desires were completely disregarded by those around her and yet she tried so hard to please them. I did find it a tad unnecessary that she needed a man to save her. I wish she could have been a bit more independent, at the same time I understand that in the culture where the book is set it might not have been possible for her to have more independence.

The issue of dowries and dowry brides that Bantwal brings up is a very important one with regards to women’s rights. Bantwal shows how the young brides are put to the mercy of her husbands family and how badly these families can treat the brides if the dowry is not paid in a timely manner, or if the girls fail to produce a child. Although there are laws against dowries these laws are ignored and disregarded and the girls are put in a very vulnerable position.

Overall the stylistic choices the author makes mean that I will probably not be reading any more of her books, even though I thought the story fantastic and the themes important.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Help [Audiobook]

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spencer, Cassandra Campbell

Publisher: Whole Story Audio Books

Category: Lit

Synopsis: Old Miss Graduate Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan returns to her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi somewhat adrift. She no longer fits in with her old friends, both because they are married and she is not and because she has a somewhat different view of the world. Together with two coloured women Aibileen and Minnie Skeeter ends up writing a book featuring the stories of the hired help in the white houses. The lives of these women and those about whom they write will never be quite the same again.

My thoughts: This book was a bit slow getting started but once it did I couldn’t turn it off.

I really enjoyed this view of the changing south in the 1960s. The voices and experiences of the women seemed truly real. In some respects I could really connect with Skeeter (although I have a very different relationship with my mother). Like her I have often felt awkward and different. As a teenager and in my early twenties I just didn’t fit. The way her searching is portrayed feels very real to me. The change in her was one of the most moving things to me.

In addition to this the voices of the other women in the story felt very true. Their hopes and fears and experiences felt so very real to me. What little I know of the time period I felt that the stories and experiences were really authentic. And that the relationship between the coloured women and the white women for whom they worked seemed like they could have happened.

There were times in the book where I giggled and times when I wanted to cry. There were also times when I really wanted to cringe. This was especially when I wanted to characters to just SAY something (Minnie and Miss Celia spring to mind here).

Overall I loved the message of everyone’s worth being equal. That the lines we draw between people are upheld by people and it is up to us to stop drawing these lines.

I’m having a really hard time writing this review because I loved the book but can’t actually quite articulate why. I guess it boils down to everything feeling authentic and to the likeability of the characters. That and the fact that the message didn’t feel heavy handed.

The Audio Production: I thought the audio production was really well done. I have in the past been really sceptical about books with multiple narrators but after The Help and Room have have begun to realise that multiple narrators can really help lift the book. In addition the multiple narrators really help at the start of the book when, at least I, need some reminders as to who is telling what story. I will also admit that I now have a southern voice running through my head.

I am really looking forward to seeing the movie, and not just because one of my all time favourite actresses has a role in it (Allison Janney).

The Help

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Waste Land

The Waste Land by T.S. Elliot

Publisher: Shamrock Eden Publishing

Category: Poetry

Challenges: The Classic Circuit: The Lost Generation

My Thoughts: Quite honestly, I have no idea what was going on in this poem. I like poetry, and not just the rhyming kind.

I know from previous studies of the time period in which Elliot worked that many artists and writers were highly influenced by what they saw as a fracturing world, after all the contemporary poet Yeats coined the phrase “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”. This fractured feeling is my overwhelming feeling of this poem.

The narrative voice keeps changing as does the motives. This makes for a confusing picture of what is going on. In addition to this the poem draws metaphors and images from a wide variety of sources, both real and imaginary.

There are some often recurring images, for me the most memorable one is that of water in general and rivers in particular. Water is shown as both a life giving force but also a force that is intimately connected to the other big image, that of death.

The death motive is very understandable considering the devastation created by the First World War which had recently ended. But I think it goes a bit deeper than that. There is an image at the end of the first chapter

Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,

A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,

I had not thought death had undone so many.

Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,

And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.

For me this passage can be seen as talking about both literal and figurative death. The line “And each man fixed his eyes before his feet” makes me think of those who refuse to see what is in front of them. To see their fellow man. Couple that with the first line: “Under the brown fog of a winter dawn” you really get a feeling of things being totally obscured.

I would love to read this with someone and have the opportunity to discuss and dissect it further. I often find that I get a better and deeper understanding of poetry in the conversation with others.

I am glad that I have read it but would want to re read it many times.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Room [Audiobook]

Room by Emma Donoghue

Narrated by: Michal Friedman , Ellen Archer , Suzanne Toren , Robert Petkoff

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Category: Literary fiction

Challenges: GLBT Challenge

Synopsis: Jack lives with Ma in Room. He is five and Room is all he knows. But that is okay because he likes Room. And Ma loves him and he loves Ma. The Man is scary. And his best friend Dora, lives in Tv, which isn’t real.

My Thoughts: I started listening to this last year but then life happened. This should in no way be indicative of how good the book was because it was awesome. I thought the audio production was particularly well done.

Precocious children can be very hard to take in books, and I know some precocious children in real life, but Jack was incredibly well done. His voice is so genuine and his observations about life around him feel very astute. Jack’s world at the start of the book consists of Room where all nouns are proper, the is Bed, Rug and Table and then there is Ma. Ma, who, through a very specific schedule keeps Jack active and her somewhat sane. You see Ma and Jack cannot leave Room. They are locked in by the man who has kidnapped Ma.

I was a bit concerned not only about Jack as a narrator but also when I first heard the audio production because Jack is narrated with a child’s voice. I thought that would be really really annoying, but it isn’t, in fact I think it makes the experience even stronger. Especially in some of the more climactic scenes in the book. You really feel like you are there with Jack.

There is so much about this story and the audio production that are great that it is hard for me to review it. I simply don’t know where to start and what not to spoil.

I know everyone and their dog has already read this but if you haven’t I really really recommend you too and I recommend you even more to LISTEN to it. It was awesome!

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Rainbow Valley

Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery

Publisher: Bantam Books

Category: Classic

Synopsis: Anne is grown up and the focus of this book is on her children and their friends. The Blythe children love playing in the little valley below Ingleside which they have named Rainbow Valley.

My Thoughts: This Anne book has never been one of  my favourites. I think part of it is that there is no central character. Sometimes this can be an advantage as it can appeal to many different readers. You can connect with the one that best´suits you. But unfortunately I think that in this case we don’t really get to know any character well enough to connect with them. It is just a little bit to fractured.

One could say that the book focuses on the Meredith children. Mr Meredith is the Presbyterian minister in Glen St Mary where Anne and her family live. Mr Meredith is a widower with four children whom he loves but as he is somewhat spacy to a certain extent neglects. However the book also features the orphan Mary Vance, Walter and Jem Blythe and on one occasion Rilla Blythe. All of these are likeable characters (although Mary Vance drives me insane) but there just isn’t enough of one of them to really drive the story.

Like Anne’s House of Dreams the story is told in somewhat of an episodic fashion. This means that you have little sense of how much time passes between different episodes and I think this in combination with the many characters adds to my confusion.

At the same time this is a sweet story about being children in a, in some respects, less complicated time. The Merediths, the Blythes and Mary Vance play in Rainbow Valley and the Methodist graveyard and other places around Glen St Mary without much interference from the adult world. The benign neglect offered by the adults lead to an imaginary world that for the most part is lovely but on occasion scary.

This is a sweet book but not an essential read in the Anne universe (although an event in this book is referenced in Rilla of Ingleside). Despite this the book has one of my favourite endings of all time. The foreshadowing of the events in Rilla of Ingleside always takes my breath away. It is foreshadowing at its best at the same time as it shows the heartache and longing of whole generations.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Indulgence in Death

Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb

Publisher: Little Brown

Category: Crime Science Fiction

Challenges: 2010 Challenge

Synopsis: Two dead bodies in rapid succession with the only thing seemingly binding them together are the unusual weapons used to kill them with. Eve Dallas has her work cut out for her if she is to solve the murders before the body count grows.

My Thoughts: The book starts out with Eve and Roark in Ireland visiting his family and this sets up a great deal of humour because of Eve’s fear of cows. It is absolutely hilarious. They also manage to sneak in a murder mystery.

Overall this book as a nice addition to the series. It was a fairly fast read with a good mix of crime, humour and sexy steaminess. Roark and Eve do conclude that “If sex is dignified it’s not being done right” which made me snigger . Even and Roark do continue their version of a happy marriage with Roark getting in Eve’s business and them having spats* over which risks Eve should take and how much she should put on herself. One rather big change for Eve is the fact that at one point they discuss the names of future children and she doesn’t get the twitch, I found that VERY interesting.

As with most of these books it is possible to figure out who the murderer( s ) are but really this mystery isn’t so much about who did it but more about the why. At first the victims seem like someone who shouldn’t be killed, not to mention the fact that they don’t seem to have any connection to each other. It was an interesting twist.

And for a personal “yay” as in Fantasy in Death there was at one point a small nod to Battlestar Galactica which the geek in me LOVED. It just made me giggle for a slightly different reason than just the joke in which the reference was contained. You got the joke even if you aren’t a BSG fan but for the fan the joke just got so much better.

*Eve will not like the word “spat” but that is what they do

Purchase Indulgence in Death from BookDepository.co.uk

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Guardians of the West

Guardians of the West by David Eddings

Publisher: Corgi

Category: Fantasy

Synopsis: We once again meet Garion, Ce’Nedra, Polgara, Belgarath and all the others from The Belgariad. This time Garion is older and starting to settle in as a king when events once again draw him into the shadowy battles between the two Prophesies

My Thoughts: The previous books in this series have focused primarily on the character Garion, with the stories being told from his point of view. The books have only deviated from this perspective on a few occasions, when they focus on Ce’Nedra. Growing up I really liked this because I was of a similar age with the characters at the time and I really felt that I could relate to them. This book goes back to a younger narrator at first focusing on the “thief” Errand and his life with Polgara and Durnik in the Vale. This makes for a very clam and slow start to the series, if I hadn’t been emotionally invested in these characters I might not have continued reading, but as it is, if you get to this book you probably will be emotionally involved, it is like getting back in touch with old friends.

The second part of the book goes back to focus on Garion and his life with Ce’Nedra. Again this book feels quite slow and episodic. Timewise it jumps in leaps and bounds. But again meeting old friends is always nice.

It is in the final part of the book where the action is heightened with the murder of a character and the ensuing battles it causes (it is a fantasy book about kings and queens and magic, of course a murder leads to battles :D). It is also here that the intrigue that has been hinted on in some of the previous episodes starts to take on a more substantial form. You start to see where it is leading to.

As I mentioned above for me reading this book is like meeting up with old friends. Good friends whom I have missed. I chose to read the books now because school is really stressing me out and I felt that I needed something that was familiar and comforting and for me these books are all that. The books hold that feeling for me not just because I have read them several times but also because the story lines are familiar and the characters funny in a way I appreciate. There is a certain dry humour in them that I really appreciate. You do need to have read the books in The Belgariad before you read this book to really appreciate them but all the books in the series are so comforting I have to recommend them :D

Purchase The Guardians of the West from BookDepository

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Unseen Academicals

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

Publisher: Corgi

Category: Fantasy

Challenges: Terry Pratchett 2010 Challenge, R.I.P. V Challenge

Synopsis: How can one write a synopsis for a Terry Pratchett book? I I feel like it is trying to herd cats. So bare bones here we go: It is about finding out about yourself. And also about how to make the street brawling previously known as football into a more elegant game played by gentlemen like the wizards, also about pie. And love. And fashion. But in a very Ankh-Morpork way.

My Thoughts: I loved the message of love and acceptance in this book. Acceptance of others but above all acceptance of oneself. And also not judging a book by its cover. All this done with Pratchett’s usual humour and insight.

As I said way back when in my Terry Pratchett 2010 Challenge introductory post I wanted to read this book partially because of my life long love for football (or to use classic Pratchett Foot-the-ball). And I wasn’t disappointed. The explanation of the off-side rule was just brilliant! Not to mention the discussion of fans and who is really in charge of the game.

I will admit that I have not read these books in any sort of sequence (publishing or otherwise) but I had no problem following along in the sequence of things. The wizards, with the Archchancellor always in the lead, really need no explanation. Add to that the fact that the wizards are really background characters, and it matters little if you have read the previous books. The main characters in this book are (I believe) pretty new to the series, and if not that then expertly presented in this book. 

Although this book deals with football I don’t want the non-sports fans out there to shy away from it because of it. It is much more about other things. The football aspect is (and please excuse me, I’m about to put to use my behavioural psychology classes to use) much more about the dynamics of team work, about establishing new rules for old things and as I said in the introduction about finding and accepting yourself. All themes (and now the English teacher hat goes on) that are familiar to anyone, regardless of how you feel about sports.

Overall this was a fantastic book one I really recommend (even though Death only makes a cameo in it)!

Purchase Unseen Academicals from BookDepository

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Haunting Bombay

Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal

Publisher: SoHo Publishing

Category: Horror

Challenges: POC Challenge, R.I.P. V Challenge, SAAC

Synopsis: Pinky lives with her grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousins and the family servants in a bungalow in Bombay’s more affluent parts a decade after partition. The family appear normal on the outside but inside the walls of the bungalow secrets flourish, from the innocent candy hiding of one of the teenage boys to the dark secret that will forever change all of them.

My Thoughts: This was a deliciously creepy book. Seriously I was freaked out almost the whole time. In a totally good way.

The story is incredibly well told. It is full of suspense, and red herrings. I thought I had it all figured  out but then the story threw me yet another curve ball. I really hadn’t figured out the final twist when it came. I should have because there were hints of it but I really had no clue. I thought the solution would be quite different.

The Bombay after Partition is vividly portrayed. The differences in the different stratus of society is palpable. The language is so very beautiful. I loved the way Agarwal mixes English with Hindi in a way that makes the book feel authentic. It made me feel as if I was in the bungalow. The one criticism I have of this (and really the only one I have of the book in total) is the use of italics for the Hindi words. For me this was very distracting. I’m quite a visual reader, I see words as pictures and when I picture differs from the other on the page my eyes are drawn to it, the italicized words make me miss other words on the page, or at least stop my flow. It’s minor, and possibly wouldn’t cause the same problems for others.

The ghost story takes on the culture of the Indian subcontinent and allows the reader to experience a culture that might be unfamiliar (it certainly is for me).  Many of the techniques were common to other ghost stories but some were new to me.

This was another book for the R.I.P. V Challenge and although I don’t normally read spooky books this challenge has definitely gotten me interested in reading more. In addition this is my final book for the SAAC challenge which got me reading books from South Asia, something I will definitely be doing again, I also hope to be seeing more from this author!

This is definitely a book I would recommend (as a matter of fact I have every intention of lending it to my supervisor at school who showed an interest in it when she saw me reading it at lunch).

Purchase Haunting Bombay from BookDepository

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Graveyard Book [Audio]

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Narrated by Neil Gaiman

Category: Children’s Horror

Challenges: R.I.P. V Challenge

Synopsis: Nobody Owens aka Bod grows up in a graveyard where the inhabitants of the said graveyard keep him safe (for the most part) from the Man Jack who wants to kill him. Along the way Bod learns about the graveyard, how to do certain non-living things and above all how to be a good person. However, as he grows older the threat from the Man Jack looms ever nearer.

My Thoughts: I really really enjoyed this book. Although it was quite predictable it was also sweet and mysterious and…I don’t know had some sort of indefinable characteristic that had me gripped from the word go (or should that be from the word boo?)

Bod was a very likeable character who had just enough curiosity to keep the story flowing without making him seem overly precocious or annoying. He was very ordinary (if ordinary little boys lived in graveyards and could fade), he doesn’t always do what his parents and guardian tell him. He feels like the whole world is against him at time, and consequently falls in with a bad lot. I found the story to be simple but profound. Sometimes we have to do things that might seem horrible in order to save ourselves and others. And above all stay true to ourselves.

The writing style in the book is fantastic. I love how the different inhabitants of the graveyard are referred to by their name and epithet. It contributed to the overall feeling of different I got from this book

I loved the narration of the book. I have a particular fondness for authors who read their own books and Gaiman reads his work to perfection. He is soft spoken and this lends itself well both to comfort and to the slightly sinister tone that is present throughout the book. He also uses a particularly British inflection when reading the name and epithet of the different ghosts which lends a certain tone to the story.

I find this review very hard to write because I loved it but I can’t put my finger on what I loved about the book, I do however highly recommend it.

Purchase The Graveyard Book from BookDepository.co.uk

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Gaudy Night

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

Category: Classic Crime

Challenges: Women Unbound, 2010 Challenge (Bad Blogger)

Synopsis: Harriet Vane finds herself returning to Shrewsbury College, Oxford, much to her own surprise. While there she discovers a poison pen note in her gown and a disgusting drawing on the College quadrangle. When the college faculty later asks her back to deal with a spate of notes and “mischief” from the poison pen she does not hesitate. As the year goes on and she comes no closer to finding out the identity of the poison pen she asks Sir Peter Wimsey for help and the two are left to deal not just with someone trying to hurt others, but also with their feelings for each other.

My Thoughts: Oh how I loved this book! I read it because Nymeth of Things Mean A Lot, HIGHLY recommended it and I am just so incredibly glad I did! (I’m also glad I read them in order)

This book had me captured from the very first page, when it transported me to Oxford. The opening passages felt like one of those time traveller movies where you’re current location gets blurred and instead another location comes into focus. I went from being curled up in my bed, dressed in my pjs, with the wind howling and the rain smattering against the window, to the quadrangle at Shrewsbury College, Oxford, in the 1930s. Sayers wrote so vividly that I felt as if I was there.

The vivid writing was one of my favourite aspects of this book, it allowed one to really feel the fear and suspicion that was present at the college. Although the tempo of the book felt slow this contributed to the unease of the situation. One never knew when the poison pen would strike, but life still had to go on, especially if they are to catch the poison pen and all they stands for. Throughout the book I had a vaguely uncomfortable feel of being constantly on edge. Not only about when the poison pen would strike next and what they would do, but also about who they were. The strain of not knowing who the enemy was took their toll on me as well as the characters. Sayers really did a masterful job with creating the tension.

Part of the tension also came from Harriet’s feelings for Peter and her coming to terms with them, and what they meant. As well as Peter’s feelings (although to a much lesser degree) as he grappled with Harriet and her feelings. These multi-levelled tensions just had me captivated and forced to continue reading (really bad case of just one more chapter had me finishing the book in two days, at 3.30am).

A theme that was hinted on in previous books (and one that I highlighted in my reviews) was brought to the forefront in this book, and that is the role of women in society. The story takes place in the, still relatively early days, of co-education at university level, in one of the all female colleges at Oxford. The poison pen’s actions are very much directed towards those women who seek a higher education, and therefore to their* mind attempt to supplant a male field. Through the characters we meet at Oxford Sayers actually manages to make a very compelling argument for education (one of her dear to heart topics). Although we meet more men who are not serious about their education, Sayers also introduces us to women who are at the university for completely the wrong reasons. She manages to show us, the readers, that education only matters if we take it seriously, but that taking it seriously shouldn’t mean let it consume us. A balance is important. Further she argues that a well educated woman isn’t a threat to men, but rather a benefit to society, if she is allowed to use her education (an argument that is nailed down very early on in the book).

For me one of the great enjoyments of the book was seeing Harriet’s emotional growth. She had been so badly damaged in previous books that to see her grapple with her feelings for Peter was very gratifying as one could see a real growth throughout the book. And, as Nymeth mentioned, the river scene, oh my the river scene. Possibly the most perfect scene in the book (although I have another favourite in the final scene of the book). It was just packed with emotion and vividness. Like in the opening scene I felt as if I was in one of the boats on the river. I could see it all in front of me.

If I have one criticism of this book, it isn’t for Sayers writing but rather for the edition I read. It was a modern reprint with a new foreword and I would have loved a glossary at the back explaining all the academic terms. Although I myself am a graduate of one of the Ancients, my Alma Mater has been thoroughly modernised (well excepting the whacking with the Geneva Bonnet at graduation) and I had to do some googling to understand the differences in gowns and some of the academic terms. Now this might just be me and my general academic geekedness but I think that a book where much hangs on the academic world it would have been nice to explain it further to those who are not as involved in it. However, this is a VERY minor point.

Overall I agree with Nymeth on her assessment that one MUST read the books in order, otherwise one misses out on much of what makes this book great. The book also left me wanting to read the books that feature Peter Wimsey and Sayers essay “The Lost Tools of Learning” In addition I want to say that everyone should read this book, it is AWESOME!

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Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Strong Poison

Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers

Category: Crime fiction (classic)

Synopsis: Harriet Vane has been accused of murdering her former lover by way of arsenic poisoning. Lord Peter Wimsey is however certain that she did NOT do it and sets out to find out who the culprit is.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. It was a very easy to read, easy to figure out who-dunnit but thoroughly satisfying as a reader.

Those who read my reviews know that I did not like Agatha Christie because there was no chance for the reader really to figure out who did it, how and why. In that respect this book was much better. It did rather serve the who on a silver platter but the how and why was a bit more of a mystery but I did work out the how before they “told you” and I really liked that.

I also liked the fact that Lord Wimsey uses females for his sleuthing. I loved the idea of an office filled with women who are ready to go out and collect information. It seems like the forerunner to the women who were instrumental in the intelligence community during world war 2. It seems so very intuitive to use women.

Despite the fact that there are several intersting women in the book, especially the murder suspect Harriet Vane, I think my favourite character is Buntner, Lord Wimsey’s man. There is something dry and comforting about him. I love the scene with him and the maid and cook at Urquhart’s. It is also from this scene that one of my favourite lines comes

“Nothing goes so well with a hot fire and buttered crumpets as a wet day without and a  good dose of comfortable horrors within” (106)

There is something so very true with that sentence. I mean why else would murder mysteries and horror movies be so popular? And I have to admit, this book really made me crave buttered crumpets and by extension, English muffins. There is a lot of good eating in this book!

I’m really looking forward to the next instalment in this series.

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Category: Crime Fiction

Challenges: POC Challenge, Women Unbound

Synopsis: Mme Ramotswe is the only female private detective in Botswana. She has vowed to take on all cases. Some are big, but most are small domestic matters, philandering husbands and teenaged daughters with secrets.

My Thoughts: This book, with its rather quite contemplative style rather grew on me. Most crime fiction have One Big Crime that it focuses on. There might be smaller storylines as well, but in general they are connected in some way to the One Big Crime. That wasn’t the case with this book and it made for a different read. Most of the cases were solved in one or two chapters but they added to a whole that was really rather nice. I would put this book in the very cozy cozy mysteries.

Although (as frequent readers of this blog will know) I love mystery books, that wasn’t actually what I loved the most about THIS book. My favourite part of this book was the chapter titled All Those Years Ago which is narrated by Mme Ramotswe’s father and tells both his story and the story of Botswana and its people. It was a beautiful, evocative and somewhat sad chapter. But it really stuck with me. And I think that the descriptions in this chapter and in subsequent chapters are where McCall Smith’s strength really lies, or perhaps it is my own prejudice, I love myself a good description.

I also really enjoyed Mme Ramotswe’s independence (and this is why I am counting it towards Women Unbound). She is set on doing things her way, and although she employs the help of men, especially her friend Mr J. L. B. Matekoni, she does so on her own terms. I also liked getting her back story in the way we got it. She tells the story in a very matter of fact way, but throughout the rest of the book it becomes very clear how her past has influenced both her chosen career and her decision making process.

The book is mainly comprised of short chapters and is in itself not a very long book, the length of the book doesn’t really matter to me (other than the fact that I am now in desperate need of the next one in the series) but I did like the short chapters. I read much of the book at work (yep I can occasionally read at work, one of the few perks (the other being the fact that we wear scrubs and comfy sandals…after years of suits, pantyhose and high heels trust me this is a perk)). The short chapters made it easy to put down the book to do, you know, actual work without loosing the plot.

I will definitely be reading more of McCall Smith (especially since will be going to at least one presentation by him in September at Bok och Biblioteksmässan which is focusing on Africa this year).

Purchase The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency from BookDepository.co.uk

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.