January 2008 Archives
Not wanting to start my Christmas present reading and having tried (in vain) Alison Weir's Eleanor of Aquitaine I resorted to raiding Phil's reading, and Girlfriend in a Coma came recommended.
The novel tells the story of Richard and Karen, with occasional accompaniment from their circle of friends and parents, from young love and teenage togetherness in the twilight of the 1970s, through the 20 years of Karen's coma most of which sees Richard lost in any number of emotional wildernesses despite the fact that 9 months after falling into her coma Karen has their daughter, culminating in a strange sci fi / parallel universe / zombie horror section which sees the rest of mankind killed off by a mysterious sleeping sickness and including god/ghostlike intervention from "unexpectedly dead at 16" schoolfriend and high school jock Jared.
I really enjoyed the first two sections, but the third and final part of the novel left me a cold and it felt like Douglas Coupland had really lost the plot by the end. One of the Amazon reviews describes the novel as "ultimately extremely uplifting" - I'm afraid I found it depressing, because having reached the end of the novel I had no expectation that Richard, Karen and co would make a better job of their lifetimes second time round.
Sue bought me this for Christmas - an excellent choice from my Amazon Wishlist, even if, as Sue said, it was "about the most unchristmassy title" there.
In Bad Lands, Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler, spurred on to look beyond and behind the "Axis of Evil" label applied by certain powerful Americans, visits nine of the world's less, how shall we put it, 'popular' destinations: Afghanistan, Albania, Burma (Myanmar), Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Saudi Arabia.
His reactions range from the disappointed (Cuba) to openly cynical (North Korea) and are neatly drawn together in his chapter titled The Evil Meter TM. Mine ranged from the "Glad I don't ever envisage needing to go there" (Saudi Arabia) to the "One day, I must get there" (Afghanistan, Libya and North Korea). The only caveat relating to this book, which I've been recommending left, right and centre, is the slight contrivance in including countries on the basis of tyrants of times past - particularly Albania and Iraq. With that forewarning, read it - I'll even lend you my copy provided you promise to give it back.....
Bad Lands: A Tourist on the Axis of Evil - Tony Wheeler
Dad and Jean bought me this as a birthday gift when they were visiting last year, and I've only just got around to reading it. A tricky format for bedtime reading (large, square, hardback), but I persevered, and the bite size biographies of women travellers from the 17th to 20th centuries were fascinating.
The accounts are grouped in themes - from artists to adventurers - and illustrated with portraits and pictures from the National Portrait Gallery. Interestingly, Dea Birkett not only covers British women's travels to far flung parts, but also visits to Britain by women from other countries, from Pocahontas to Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.
Amazon.co.uk link: Off the Beaten Track: Three Centuries of Women Travellers - Dea Birkett
Another of Michael's recommendations that took me far too long to get round to reading. A gripping tale of young women in London whose paths cross during the Blitz, and continue to cross and recross in the years that follow. The characters are strongly portrayed and engaging, and the narration isn't linear, which I enjoyed - finding out about past encounters and relationships shifted my perception of what I'd read before.
The other point of interest is that relationships are both straight and lesbian, and the lesbian relationships and people's reactions to them offer an insight into metropolitan life in the 1940s which is rarely found.
Recommended.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Night Watch - Sarah Waters