Wednesday, December 14, 2016

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood

What a truly awful book. It’s a combination of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Cormack McCarthy’s The Road, but without the brilliance. It’s a sort of dystopian novel, though the setting is contemporary, about women who have been shamed by the media as sluts – women who have slept with the whole football team, who’ve been caught having affairs with politicians and so forth. Other people in their lives – friends, brothers, other women – somehow have the power to have them disappeared by a group called Hardings. There are shades of the forced lobotomies of the early 20th century, of the corporate run detention centres of the present, of the systematic abuses of children in care. But it’s such a miserable, depressing, gloomy read. Some women cave in, other women find strength, lots of women go mad. I can see this writer is a fire and brimstone feminist, and good on her for that, but the book is just so bloody depressing. And again, so mundanely written. And it just goes on and on. Emma, who lent it to me, told me not to bother returning it.

Monday, December 12, 2016

The Husbands Secret by Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty's books are chick lit really but absolutely terrific when you're on holidays and cant be bothered concentrating on something more serious. This one is about a murder that took place a long time ago and about the people who knew and or know the family of the girl who died, Janie. It's fast paced and compelling and pretty well written.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

This was a compelling book that jumped around in time a bit and was told from the point of view of the three main women in the story, Rachel, Anna and Megan. It's a murder mystery thriller thing. The problem was that I really didn't like any of the women in it, much less the men, and so didn't engage with them or hope things turned out OK for them. At the same time, I did want to know who dunnit so powered through it on trains and so forth. It was an easy enough holiday read.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

What a heartbreaker: this absolutely top notch gifted neurosurgeon struck down by cancer at the age of 35. His thoughts on death and dying, on a person’s place in life, their purpose, what matters, what doesn’t and, fundamentally, their connection with and responsibilities to other people. Box of tissues required.

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

What a magical little book. It's the story of two older people finding companionship and love but also of the mean spiritedness of others, damaged people like the woman's son. It’s just an afternoon’s read but wise, wonderful and mature.