Review: ‘Salamander’ by Thomas Wharton
An eccentric count in Slovakia summons the great London printer Nicholas Flood to his castle for an unusual assignment: the creation of an infinite book. Flood is intrigued by the challenge as he is drawn to the count’s daughter, Irena. Their passion (and its shattering consequences) becomes the catalyst for Flood’s spellbinding, world-spanning quest in the company of his young daughter, Pica, who was raised in a Venice ospedale. Along the way the novel gathers stories that range from a Chinese tale of jealousy and lost love, to the remarkable history of Alexandria’s other great library, and to epoch-making moments on the battlefields of colonial America. (Goodreads Summary)
I wanted to like this book much more than I actually did, as the story had the potential to be so good. I liked the way that the setting was just far enough removed from the recognisable historical past that it feels uncanny and strange rather than totally different; the ideas the novel has about books are intriguing and enjoyable; and some of the descriptive passages are excellent. Unfortunately, it just didn’t quite live up to the expectations of the blurb or of the beginning of the book.
The book essentially has two plots: the first of the mad mechanical castle and its inhabitants and the second of the journey around the world in quest of the components for the infinite book. Both would have been quite good on their own, but they did not seem to be particularly well meshed together and for most of the book they felt entirely separate. I would rather that both sections had been fleshed out a bit and more interwoven with each other to create a longer book. As it stands, both stories feel skimmed over at times and neither is concluded in as satisfactory a manner as I feel it should be.
I also found the lack of quotation marks very distracting. Direct speech was indicated with dashes and came across more like reported speech, a device which was used all too often in any case. The result of this was that I often found the characters to be remote and unreal. I wish this book had been better.
Salamander by Thomas Wharton. Published by Flamingo, 2003, pp. 372. Originally published in 2001.
N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads. I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.
Review: ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ by Muriel Spark
At the staid Marcia Blaine School for Girls, in Edinburgh, Scotland, teacher extraordinaire Miss Jean Brodie is unmistakably, and outspokenly, in her prime. She is passionate in the application of her unorthodox teaching methods, in her attraction to the married art master, Teddy Lloyd, in her affair with the bachelor music master, Gordon Lowther, and—most important—in her dedication to “her girls,” the students she selects to be her crème de la crème. Fanatically devoted, each member of the Brodie set—Eunice, Jenny, Mary, Monica, Rose, and Sandy—is “famous for something,” and Miss Brodie strives to bring out the best in each one. Determined to instill in them independence, passion, and ambition, Miss Brodie advises her girls, “Safety does not come first. Goodness, Truth, and Beauty come first. Follow me.” And they do. But one of them will betray her. (Goodreads Summary)
This book was a quick read but an enjoyable one, and is far more than a typical school story. There was a slightly sinister edge to the story at times, as Miss Jean Brodie attempts to direct the thoughts and actions of her ‘set’ of girls to transform them into the ‘creme de la creme’, but as the book progresses we see her assertion ‘Give me a girl at an impressionable age and she is mine for life’ both develop and fail spectacularly. The main narrative following the Brodie set at school is cleverly interwoven with brief exerpts from the girls’ futures, allowing the reader to see how the girls will develop and transform through the influence of their teacher.
Throughout the book, the narrative style is witty and humorous, and statements are written in such a way as to allow the reader to tell immediately whether they are from the perspective of the girls or the teacher. A great deal of this reminded me of my own experiences at the girls’ school I attended, and so I often found myself smiling as I recognised things that we did or thought. I can see how this book would make an excellent film, and I’ll definitely look out for it.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. Published by Penguin, 1973, pp. 128. Originally published in 1961.
N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads. I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.
Review: ‘The Dark Portal’ by Robin Jarvis
In the sewers of Deptford there lurks a dark presence which fills the tunnels with fear. The rats worship it in the blackness and name it jupiter, lord of All. Into this twilight realm wanders a small and frightened mouse. Far from family and friends he perishes, and is the unwitting trigger of a chain of events which hurtle the Deptford mice into a doom-laden world of terror and sorcery. (Goodreads Summary)
I first read the Deptford Histories Trilogy when I was ten and loved them, so it was a pleasant surprise to discover the first book in the Deptford Mice Trilogy was just as enjoyable now that I’m a bit older. The characters were well created and individual, the story moved along at the perfect pace and it was exciting to read. The pictures from the author really brought the story alive and I found myself looking forward to the next one eagerly.
The thing that I remember most about these books though is being really, really scared by them. I used to have to read them with my back against a wall just so that I could be sure that nothing was coming to get me from behind, and I loved that. Although this book was still darker than a lot of children’s fiction, this element wasn’t as developed as in Jarvis’ other trilogy. Admittedly, the books in the Deptford Histories are much longer and so might be aimed at a slightly older audience, and I am older myself now, but I do still think that this book could have benefited from a little more of the terrifying descriptions that I remember from these books. Although this was still a good book, I felt that the scariness was missing and I hope to find it again in the remaining books of the trilogy.
The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis. Published by Macdonald, 1989, pp. 243. First edition.
N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads. I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.
Review: ‘The Swan Thieves’ by Elizabeth Kostova
Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life–solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. In response, Marlowe finds himself going beyond his own legal and ethical boundaries to understand the secret that torments this genius, a journey that will lead him into the lives of the women closest to Robert Oliver and toward a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism. Ranging from American museums to the coast of Normandy, from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love, ’The Swan Thieves’ is a story of obsession, the losses of history, and the power of art to preserve human hope. (Goodreads Summary)
I think the reason that this book seems to polarise opinion is because nothing much happens in it. Psychologist Robert Marlowe acquires the renowned painter Robert Oliver as his patient, and subsequently travels around meeting people who might be able to shed some light on the reasons behind Oliver’s breakdown. The majority of the book comprises the memories and insights of these people told in the voice of that particular individual, and so takes place outside the narrative which is really a convenient framework for these first person interludes. This apparently frustrates a lot of people, but it’s what made the book so appealing to me.
‘The Swan Thieves’ is not a book that is driven by action but by a gradual development of the characters encountered, all of whom are vivid and fascinating. I thought the author used different points of view and writing styles well, blending first person narratives in the past and present tenses, third person narratives in the present tense and letters to create an elaborate whole piece by piece. Usually this sort of switching irritates me, so it’s a mark of the author’s skill that in this case I thought it perfectly suited the book. Each different bit of the writing told me more about the characters and it was this gradual revelation and exploration which made this book such a pleasure to read.
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. Published by Sphere, 2010, pp. 607. Originally published in 2009.
N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads. I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.
Review: ‘The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Millennium publisher Mikael Blomkvist has made his reputation exposing corrupt establishment figures. So when a young journalist approaches him with an investigation into sex trafficking, Blomkvist cannot resist waging war on the powerful figures who control this lucrative industry. When a young couple are found dead in their Stockholm apartment, it’s a straightforward job for Inspector Bublanski and his team. The killer left the weapon at the scene – and the fingerprints on the gun point to only one direction. Ex-security analyst Lisbeth Salander is wanted for murder. Her history of unpredictable and vengeful behavior makes her an official danger to society – but no-one can find her. The only way Salander can be reached is by computer. But she can break into almost any network she chooses… (Goodreads Summary)
I think I need to start my review with the disclaimer that, despite what I’m going to say, I did enjoy this book. It was pretty standard thriller fare and I found it an entertaining read for the train journey to and from work. In terms of the story, I thought it was better than ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘ and the translation seemed to have far fewer awkward phrases this time, which made for a much more pleasant read.
Now for the criticism. I thought it was incredibly ironic, given how often praise was given to the skillful editing provided by the characters inside the book, how desperately this book needed a good editor. The plot was really slow to get going and, when at last it did, it was filled with irrelevant details which didn’t add anything significant and so became increasingly irritating as the book progressed. For example, I didn’t care what Lisbeth decided to buy from Ikea and the inventoried list of her purchases (complete with model and number) was just dull. Even if I had cared about her shopping habits, just stating that ‘she bought furniture from Ikea’ would have been sufficient for me to assume that she bought chairs and a table and so on and so forth, without being told this explicitly. The spoon feeding was a bit much. Similarly, there were long passages of dialogue that could also have benefited from being tightened up so that they were sharper and less protracted. Perhaps the reader was supposed to feel as frustrated as the characters did at the inability to get to vital information, but it just left me with large portions of book that my eyes slid over with lack of interest.
That aside, I thought that the whodunnit portions of the book, when I finally reached them, were well thought out and provided the reader with an excellent insight into the character of Lisbeth Salander. In this book she becomes a bit more sympathetic, but still remains mysterious enough to make me look forward to reading book three.
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. Published by Quercus, 2009, pp. 569. Originally published in Swedish in 2006.
N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads. I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.
Review: ‘Prince Caspian’ by C. S. Lewis
Troubled times have come to the magical land of Narnia. Gone are the days of peace and freedom when the animals, dwarfs, trees and flowers could live in absolute peace and harmony. Civil war is dividing the kingdom and final destruction is close at hand. Prince Caspian, the rightful heir to the throne, resolves to bring back Narnia’s glorious past, so he blows his magic horn to call up Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmund to help in his difficult task. (Goodreads Summary)
While it’s becoming apparent that none of the Narnia books are going to rival ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ for the honour of being my favourite so far, I definitely enjoyed this next installment in the series. I thought the book did an excellent job of developing the characters of the four Pevensie children; they were markedly different, but it seemed a logical character progression after the events of ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ rather than an arbitrary change. I also enjoyed the new characters introduced in this volume, particularly Reepicheep the mouse, and I hope that some of them will appear again in the remaining installments.
Curiously, some events which seem as though they should be very important and hold great significance for the characters are not given a great deal of time or attention, whereas other less vital situations are dwelt on more thoroughly. Although I think this is a shame, it is a very minor complaint. Most of the story was well-paced and exciting and on the whole I found ‘Prince Caspian’ to be an excellent book.
Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis. Published by Diamond, 1996, pp. 190. Originally Published in 1950.
N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads. I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.
Review: ‘The Horse and His Boy’ by C. S. Lewis
After Shasta learnt from the mysterious stranger that he was not Arsheesh’s son, he decides to escape from the cruel land of Calormen, and with the help and persuasion of the talking horse Bree, he goes north towards Narnia where the air is sweet and freedon reigns. As they set out on their journey across the harsh desert, Shasta tries to glimpse what is aheads. It all looks so endless, wild, lonely…and free. (Goodreads Summary)
I’ve recently begun reading through the Narnia series for the first time, but this is the first book in which I had absolutely no idea what happens before I read it, which was a pleasant change. Much as I enjoyed it though, I felt that it was lacking some of the brilliance of ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ and ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ as it was set entirely in C. S. Lewis’ imaginary worlds, with no intrusion from the real world. Consequently it was lacking the lovely juxtaposing of the magic of Narnia with the practicality of England, although Lewis makes up for it with some delightfully out of place, old fashioned English phrases (my favourite being Shasta, a boy from an Arabian type culture, referring to another character as a ‘brick’; so very Famous Five). However, I get the impression that the awareness of the wider geography of the lands surrounding Narnia may serve some purpose later in the series and so this novel being set purely in and around Narnia may have a narrative purpose. Either way the story was still entertaining, I just didn’t love it as much as the first two books
The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis. Published by Diamond, 1996, pp. 175. Originally published in 1954.
N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads. I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.
Review: ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ by C. S. Lewis
What begins as a simple game if hide-and-seek quickly turns into the adventure of a lifetime when Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy walk through the wardrobe and into the land of Narnia. There they find a cold, snow-covered land frozen into eternal winter by the evil White Witch. All who challenge her rule are turned into stone. Narnia, once filled with all manner of Talking Beasts, Dwarfs, Giants, and Fauns is now a dark, joyless wasteland. The children can only hope that Aslan, the Great Lion, will return to Narnia and restore beauty and peace to the land. But will the power of Aslan be enough to conquer the dark magic of the White Witch? (Goodreads Summary)
‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ is one of those stories that we’re so familiar with through adaptations that it can be easy to forget how brilliant the original book is. For that reason I was almost tempted to skip this volume because I know exactly how the plot unfolds, but I’m very glad I was strict with myself and read it as, even knowing the story as well as I did, there was still so much magic in the way that C. S. Lewis tells that story.
I think the aspect of the Narnia books which appeals to me the most is the strange blend of magical adventure and thoroughly British homeliness. It’s impossible not to smile at the number of times an important situation is interrupted for supper or tea, which is described in great detail. Any novel where dinner is just as important and receives just as much attention as a battle is bound to be enjoyable, and this one certainly proved to be so. I loved this book just as much now at twenty three as I did at eight when I first read it.
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. Published by Diamond, 1996, pp. 171. Originally published in 1950.
N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads. I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.
Review: ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ by C. S. Lewis
When Digory and Polly are tricked by Digory’s peculiar Uncle Andrew into becoming part of an experiment, they set off on the adventure of a lifetime. What happens to the children when they touch Uncle Andrew’s magic rings is far beyond anything even the old magician could have imagined. Hurtled into the Wood between the Worlds, the children soon find that they can enter many worlds through the mysterious pools there. In one world they encounter the evil Queen Jadis, who wreaks havoc in the streets of London when she is accidentally brought back with them. When they finally manage to pull her out of London, unintentionally taking along Uncle Andrew and a coachman with his horse, they find themselves in what will come to be known as the land of Narnia. (Goodreads Summary)
Due to some apparent oversight in my childhood reading I have somehow managed to reach the grand old age of 23 without ever having read any of the Narnia books apart from ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. I have now determined to rectify this situation, and if this first book is anything to go by I’m very glad I did.
I found the story charming and engaging even though I’m well over the age of the primar target audience; it was told with an elegant simplicity which easily demonstrates how these books have become enduring classics. The illustrations in this particular edition were a great accompaniment to the text. The narrative style with its self-conscious, gleefully conspiratorial asides was a delight to read and I whizzed through the book all too quickly. I look forward to reading the remainder of the series.
The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis. Published by Diamond, 1996, pp. 171. Originally published in 1955.
N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads. I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.
Review: ‘The Trespass’ by Barbara Ewing
London 1849. The capital city is living in fear. Cholera is everywhere. Eminent MP Sir Charles Cooper decides it is too risky for his younger daughter, the strangely beautiful and troubled Harriet, and sends her-but not her beloved sister Mary-to the countryside. Rusholme is a world away from London, full of extraordinary relations: Harriet’s cousin Edward and his plans for a new life in New Zealand; Aunt Lucretia, reliant on afternoon wine and laudanum; the formidable Lady Kingdom and her two eligible, unobtainable sons. However, life in the country can offer only temporary respite to Harriet, who longs to return to her sister.
But when Harriet does come home, London has become more dangerous than ever. Her health, her freedom-even her sanity-are under threat. Escape is essential. Can a young, powerless girl change her life? Can she board the Amaryllis without being discovered? Does she realize that if she flees, more than one person will pursue her, literally to the end of the world? (Goodreads Summary)
It was a rare treat to find a historical novel with the typical stunningly beautiful heroine, magnetically attractive to all men who gaze upon her beauty, which somehow (for reasons which become clear as the novel progresses) managed to avoid being a romance. Not that I have anything against romance, but this certainly made a refreshing change and I found Harriet to be a much more interesting central character for it.
Victorian England isn’t my time period of expertise, but Barbara Ewing certainly seems to know her stuff and, more importanly, how to use it well. There was just enough historical name dropping in the opening sections to root the book firmly in the given era without becoming obtrusive and annoying, after which it was dropped rather than relied upon as a lazy way of indicating “look: this is a historical novel!” Instead, the era was so well evoked and engaging that such clumsy reminders would have been entirely unnecessary.
This was a beautifully written, thoroughly researched book which I really enjoyed reading. The only reason I haven’t given it five stars is because of the way the plot tended towards strings of very suspicious conveniences, some of which required a lot of suspension of disbelief. I know that it’s fiction and such devices are sometimes necessary to get to the desired conclusion, but I would have liked perhaps a tiny bit more subtlety in that respect. Otherwise, an excellent read
The Trespass by Barbara Ewing. Published by Time Warner, 2003, pp. 408. Originally published in 2002.
N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads. I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.