The Crimson Petal and the White

I just published a review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/743561356

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

This book is set in Victorian London and revolves around a group of characters, including Sugar a 19-year-old prostitute and the extended Rackham family. The narration sets the tone for the book and entices you in with a teasing second-person narrative as you tumble into the story. The narrator talks about your own intrigue into what they’re talking about and tells you who to ‘follow’. In this way he introduces you to a few characters before we find the main protagonists William and Sugar.

William seeks out a prostitute, Sugar, who will do ‘anything’ and becomes infatuated with her. The story revolves around how their ‘relationship’ builds but also includes, in detail, the main characters in their lives, giving an insight into how the family, society and London work. These secondary characters are at times much more interesting and more integral to the plot line than one might assume. There is an unspoken intimacy between Henry Rackham, William’s older brother, and Miss Emmeline Fox, a widow who works for the Rescue Society helping prostitutes. There is a classic Victorian mad woman in the attic when we look at William’s wife Agnes and his unseen child Sophie. And we can also compare the lives of his two young male friends, Bodwell and Ashley, to Sugar’s prostitute friends – the hands that life deals each gender are worlds apart.

For me this book was a slow read, but I’m a slow reader, saying that it took me five months to read! I put this down, in the main, to the fact that the book was so big and heavy that I couldn’t/wouldn’t carry it on my commute to work and I was reading others things alongside it. But I think the fact that it took me this long and I enjoyed it, I wasn’t enduring it, says a lot. It kept me captivated even with big gaps between reads, I could remember all of those intricate details and facts that Faber had woven together and laid before me in this tapestry.

All in all I was in awe, some period books leave you unsatisfied but this book made you think about life, think about people and, for me, think about writing. It had the feel of a period novel but it was explicit in the sex scenes and with how openly things were talked about, which would’ve been beyond taboo if they had been written at the time. Where there would have been a pause or a knowing nod to highlight an omission it has now been filled with the dirty details that a 21st-century audience has come to see as normal. The storyline of Henry and Emmeline waves to these omissions and the tension that we feel in Victorian novels where sexual desire is implicit and ultimately becomes combustive if left fulfilled.

This story doesn’t end happily ever after as I optimistically thought at one stage in the last section of the book. And in fact it ends rather abruptly, which that second-person narrative points out to us that ‘that’s the way it always is.’ But I wasn’t disappointed unlike some fellow reviewers; I was left with a sliding doors moment of possibilities before me, which will ever go unknown. Although, apparently there’s a book called The Apple, which is short stories that cover the missing parts of the characters’ endings, so I might give that a shot once I’ve got through my huge pile of Birthday reading. 🙂

 

Let the Right One In

I just published a review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/682483092

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindquist

Not what I expected at all.

I was worried about the ‘hints of paedophilia’ (umm be warned these aren’t HINTS, they’re full blown portrayals of it) and the first chapter really turned my stomach, but that is the point in these things – to shock.

That aside, ultimately, for me, this was a book about friendship and a unique connection between two ‘people’. It’s certainly a new twist on the classic vampire tale and I really liked it. I’m not sure I can get my head around the zombie vampire but all other details of the legend were really interesting, revived and thought through.

Oskar is a lonely child who is bullied and lives with his single mother. He meets Eli who moves in next door at night-time. They meet and bond over a Rubik’s cube and Morse code. They spend more time together and because of how well-written this book is you see their relationship develop with the little motifs and symbols rather than through what is explicitly said.

The same goes for the blood and gore, I don’t go in for horror books (my imagination is too active) but this doesn’t seem to be blood for the sake of blood, it’s so intelligently written that the violence seems unimportant.

There are lots of different characters and groups of people who are followed through this story and I was worried I’d get a little lost, or bored with one set and just want to get back to the main characters. But the stories all tie together perfectly and the characters are all individual and fairly well-rounded, even the ones we don’t see as much.

I think this is an amazing piece of writing and I would highly recommend it, perhaps not if you’re easily shocked but give it a go, you won’t know otherwise.

Ultimately this is a story of soul mates regardless of any of predetermined ideas we have about things – it is two people connecting.

 

NaNoWriMo

Yes! I’ve signed up…I accept this ludicrous challenge…this year when my uncle asks me whether I’ve done it (hopefully) I will be able to say, YES!

NaNoWriMo welcome and my biggest weakness already looming:
‘Even if it’s hard at first, leave ugly prose and poorly written passages on the page to be cleaned up later. Your inner editor will be very grumpy about this, but your inner editor is a nitpicky jerk who foolishly believes that it is possible to write a brilliant first draft if you write it slowly enough.’

And here I accomplish the next point of advice:
‘Tell everyone you know that you’re writing a novel in November. This will pay big dividends in Week Two, when the only thing keeping you from quitting is the fear of looking pathetic in front of all the people who’ve had to hear about your novel for the past month. Seriously. Email them now about your awesome new book. The looming specter of personal humiliation is a very reliable muse.’

Wish me luck!

Bex…I feel sick at this prospect!

 

Flowers For Algernon

I just published a new review at: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/301622105

Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes

I’m not really sure how I missed this book up until my brother recommended it to me recently when I did a shout out for things to read. It appears to be a classic that has passed me by, as a 1959 novella it won a Hugo award and the 1966 novel-length expansion won a Nebula.

This is the story told through journal entries of the main character Charlie Gordon, he starts with an IQ of 68 writing ‘progris riports’ for his Doctors. He is part of a scientific experiment to see if they can raise his IQ. We see Charlie grow in intelligence far more quickly than he grows emotionally and this is seen through his relationships to the people and world around him. A realisation of the world through different eyes and the shock of looking back and remembering himself as he was. His IQ continues to rise taking him past the human average until he surpasses his doctors and continues up to genius level.

He is as lonely as ever at the other end of the spectrum but this time he is acutely aware of it. He is haunted by old-Charlie and the lack of emotional development that he possessed. Old-Charlie can still hold him back from what he wants and is afraid of even if his intellect tries to override his thoughts, intellect it is not everything – fear seems to be the winner here.

The ending is heartbreaking and leaves you feeling a bit empty and sad, it would be wrong to say why because I don’t like spoilers but I really wanted something different especially for his development with Alice.

 

Meeting your Kidol (Geek Idol)

I have loved Jeanette Winterson’s writing since I was 18 and was told to read her Oranges are not the Only Fruit in first year at university. Obviously with my aversion to reading course books I didn’t pick it up at first, but it wasn’t on the compulsory reading list it was a further reading recommendation after a particularly interesting lecture … so I picked it up.

I still remember the feeling when I read that book, of suddenly understanding that my English and Creative Writing course was definitely the right choice for me. There are certain books that when you read them they make you want to write. They’re thought provoking, connect to you in an emotional and intellectual way, inspire you, and make you want to believe in yourself and your writing. When I first read Oranges are not the Only Fruit I felt every word that JW wrote resonate within me, I then started a pilgrimage to read all of her other previously published books, which led to a slight addiction withdrawal as I had to wait in anticipation for anything new she wrote. I’d treasure I post-it note from her. This little obsession kept me away from the university compulsory reading list for a while, I can tell you!

My favourite books are Written on the Body and Stone Gods, which were both read at different times of my adoration for JW’s work. I read Written on the Body while I was still at university and trying to work out exactly why JW’s writing had such a strong impact on me and I was trying to dissect her work for my dissertation. I read Stone Gods when I had joined the rat race working world and had my lunch breaks for a week filled with the magic of Greek gods and mythical inversions in Queen Square in Bath – escapism at its best.

Anyway, I digress. Last night I finally got to meet her and hear her read from her new book, which is labelled as a memoir of her fictional book Oranges mentioned previously. My first impression, which as always is the stupidest thought that enters my brain, was ‘She’s short’. This was made even more apparent when she set herself up on a pedestal of six stamp books as in her words she ‘thinks she should be taller’.

She is such an intriguing and inspirational person, her way of thinking about things just makes so much sense to me. She has layer upon layer of interesting thoughts that can pull back to the simplest most banal parts of life but makes them poetic. I feel like she manages to put my feelings into words which is something I, and I think others too, struggle with constantly. She has a way of rounding things off so they’re succinct but don’t lose their poignancy, and for me make me think on an even deeper level and this is what makes me want to write. She spoke about writing being her therapy and her way of dealing with things but I hope she knows that it is helping others too.

I think she described it as creating a ‘form for chaos’ which is how emotions can sometimes feel when you want to think about them rationally. A few key things that stayed in my mind that she said:

– Writing is a great medium to express and come to terms with our feelings
– Don’t stunt language
– Don’t let that darkness inside become a vacuum or a void
– Language gives the world the means to express themselves and understand what is going on
– Don’t take literature or poetry away from these people

It was especially great to hear her talk in a library when if it hadn’t been for libraries she would not have found books because they weren’t allowed in her house. Well, apart from The Bible. We must strive to save our library culture and not let the recession eat away at such a brilliant resource for so many people. Language brings us together (when it’s not holding us apart).

I spoke to JW after her talk and she signed my book for me and she was indulgent enough to also sign a copy of The Lion, The Unicorn and Me that I’d bought for my twin niece and nephew who were born only hours before (or were still on their way into this world I can’t quite remember!)she spoke of her Godson and said to read to them often. This will be the most special gift I ever give anyone I think!

And some bad pictures for the visual amongst us: