April is the cruellest month...well, not really. Not in Kenya, at least. Different weather, you know.
The Cat Who Turned On and Off - some author who has sold a lot of books
Why has this series (murder mysteries, always “The Cat Who....”) sold so many books? Well, that is a pointless question. Because lots of folks like to read them. I, for one, have not bought any of the books. And now, having read one, I will continue to not buy any of them. If I need a good mystery, I will not go to this series. Maybe I would have liked it better if I had an affinity to cats, or mustaches, or middle aged male characters with mustaches prefer to date lithe young things at least 20 years younger than themselves.
I reckon I’ve been spoiled by Smilla and those GK Chesterton short stories and Dorothy L. Sayers novels. Ooh! Good mysteries are great; mediocre mysteries are pointless.
Anil’s Ghost - Michael Ondaatje
He wrote The English Patient, and while I don’t really remember the movie, I remember not liking the movie. I mean, it was a good movie, I think, but I didn’t like the characters and I didn’t like what happened to them. So even though it was recommended by Mai-Linh, she-who-recommends-magnificent-books, I just didn’t read it.
Then I was roaming the Literature section of the Library, and this book jumped out at me. I think it probably caught my eye because it’s a paperback with a colored cover, and many of the fiction books are old hardbacks, with the spine taped up with colored ducktape so that one often doesn’t know the titles by just looking. So I innocently checked it out.
The main character is a forensic pathologist who works on sites unearthing and identifying causes of death for victims of human rights violations. The main action takes place in Sri Lanka.
It is. Well. It is...magnificent, and harrowing, and upsetting, and uplifting. So upsetting that at times I didn’t want to keep reading; so well-written and compelling that I couldn’t stop reading.
Sometimes I wonder whether I have changed in the past 14 months, living in Kenya. It’s hard to tell - there’s no one around who knew me pre-Kenya and it’s hard to do self-examination when everyday life takes so much energy. But I can tell some of the ways that I’ve changed by my reaction to certain books and movies. I get upset, and it is different than before. I think in the past I was protected more by my lack of imagination. Or maybe not that, maybe just a comforting sense of distance. But now I don’t feel as much distance - it’s more immediate. It’s more real. Anything to do with political repression, with prison camps, with death. I don’t know why, eh? I mean, Kenya has a turbulent recent history, and there’s plenty of repression (economic and underhandedly political) these days, but I do not personally experience that. But even in my sheltered life here, death and suffering is closer to the surface, closer by to everyday life. So I am experiencing these books more closely, beyond the initial shock. But I think that’s okay. I mean, I don’t feel completely knocked off my bearings by it. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - I’ve always had a lot of respect for that book, for its story and the telling of the story, but I think this is the first time I’ve really believed it.
Malice Aforethought - Dorothy L. Sayers
Another early Lord Peter Whimsey book, and a darn funny one. I mean, I don’t know if it’s a funny book, but there are a whole lot of funny comments in it. Yeah, I think it is a funny book. Well, and a lovely mystery - more of a classic murder mystery than some of the others, and far more fun and interesting and better written than the classic classic murder mysteries. Yep.
The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
Um, I don’t know. They are a good read. And I can see why lots and lots of folks love these books. They are well written, and really wildly creative stories that create alternative universes but still manage to be internally consistent, which is always a big plus. My supervisor at work lent them to me. She loves them.
I guess I just don’t take to epics. I don’t know why. With the exception of the Dark Tower series, that’s pretty epic I guess. And all those Clint Eastwood movies. And Harry Potter. But otherwise, I mean, like, the multiple generation stories - I don’t like reading stories that branch over 3 generations and you see the kids grow up and the blah blah blah. I know they are good and worthy to be read. Oh, and the Lord of the Rings. I read those when I was too young, but still. All those battles. Epic fights between good and evil. So maybe it’s the grand scope of these books that I don’t take to.
And when I say I don’t “take” to them, well, this is my second time reading them, and I stayed up way too late last night reading them. So it’s not that I don’t enjoy reading them. I just don’t take to it. I think I get tired of the characters. Lack of attention span? Difficulty staying engaged when there are battle-ish scenes? Definitely difficulty staying engaged during battle scenes. Maybe that’s my problem.
So it’s not the books, it’s me.
The Famished Road - Ben Okri
I never want to not be reading this book.
The Cat Who Turned On and Off - some author who has sold a lot of books
Why has this series (murder mysteries, always “The Cat Who....”) sold so many books? Well, that is a pointless question. Because lots of folks like to read them. I, for one, have not bought any of the books. And now, having read one, I will continue to not buy any of them. If I need a good mystery, I will not go to this series. Maybe I would have liked it better if I had an affinity to cats, or mustaches, or middle aged male characters with mustaches prefer to date lithe young things at least 20 years younger than themselves.
I reckon I’ve been spoiled by Smilla and those GK Chesterton short stories and Dorothy L. Sayers novels. Ooh! Good mysteries are great; mediocre mysteries are pointless.
Anil’s Ghost - Michael Ondaatje
He wrote The English Patient, and while I don’t really remember the movie, I remember not liking the movie. I mean, it was a good movie, I think, but I didn’t like the characters and I didn’t like what happened to them. So even though it was recommended by Mai-Linh, she-who-recommends-magnificent-books, I just didn’t read it.
Then I was roaming the Literature section of the Library, and this book jumped out at me. I think it probably caught my eye because it’s a paperback with a colored cover, and many of the fiction books are old hardbacks, with the spine taped up with colored ducktape so that one often doesn’t know the titles by just looking. So I innocently checked it out.
The main character is a forensic pathologist who works on sites unearthing and identifying causes of death for victims of human rights violations. The main action takes place in Sri Lanka.
It is. Well. It is...magnificent, and harrowing, and upsetting, and uplifting. So upsetting that at times I didn’t want to keep reading; so well-written and compelling that I couldn’t stop reading.
Sometimes I wonder whether I have changed in the past 14 months, living in Kenya. It’s hard to tell - there’s no one around who knew me pre-Kenya and it’s hard to do self-examination when everyday life takes so much energy. But I can tell some of the ways that I’ve changed by my reaction to certain books and movies. I get upset, and it is different than before. I think in the past I was protected more by my lack of imagination. Or maybe not that, maybe just a comforting sense of distance. But now I don’t feel as much distance - it’s more immediate. It’s more real. Anything to do with political repression, with prison camps, with death. I don’t know why, eh? I mean, Kenya has a turbulent recent history, and there’s plenty of repression (economic and underhandedly political) these days, but I do not personally experience that. But even in my sheltered life here, death and suffering is closer to the surface, closer by to everyday life. So I am experiencing these books more closely, beyond the initial shock. But I think that’s okay. I mean, I don’t feel completely knocked off my bearings by it. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - I’ve always had a lot of respect for that book, for its story and the telling of the story, but I think this is the first time I’ve really believed it.
Malice Aforethought - Dorothy L. Sayers
Another early Lord Peter Whimsey book, and a darn funny one. I mean, I don’t know if it’s a funny book, but there are a whole lot of funny comments in it. Yeah, I think it is a funny book. Well, and a lovely mystery - more of a classic murder mystery than some of the others, and far more fun and interesting and better written than the classic classic murder mysteries. Yep.
The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
Um, I don’t know. They are a good read. And I can see why lots and lots of folks love these books. They are well written, and really wildly creative stories that create alternative universes but still manage to be internally consistent, which is always a big plus. My supervisor at work lent them to me. She loves them.
I guess I just don’t take to epics. I don’t know why. With the exception of the Dark Tower series, that’s pretty epic I guess. And all those Clint Eastwood movies. And Harry Potter. But otherwise, I mean, like, the multiple generation stories - I don’t like reading stories that branch over 3 generations and you see the kids grow up and the blah blah blah. I know they are good and worthy to be read. Oh, and the Lord of the Rings. I read those when I was too young, but still. All those battles. Epic fights between good and evil. So maybe it’s the grand scope of these books that I don’t take to.
And when I say I don’t “take” to them, well, this is my second time reading them, and I stayed up way too late last night reading them. So it’s not that I don’t enjoy reading them. I just don’t take to it. I think I get tired of the characters. Lack of attention span? Difficulty staying engaged when there are battle-ish scenes? Definitely difficulty staying engaged during battle scenes. Maybe that’s my problem.
So it’s not the books, it’s me.
The Famished Road - Ben Okri
I never want to not be reading this book.
posted by debbyscott @ 9:32 AM
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