26 May 2011
What I'm reading
I have started Imperium by Robert Harris. I have previously enjoyed several books by this author. He fulfils one of my key criteria for reading a novel: I want to feel that I have learned something. I have a lot of faith in his integrity.
The Hare With Amber Eyes - by Edmund de Waal
This book is really a history of the author's family from the mid-1800s to the present day. But he uses a novel way to tell the story - tracing the fortunes of a set of Japanese carvings - the netsuke - over the years.
It took me a while to read, as it is quite a big book. I also struggled a bit at the beginning - it did not engage me until about one third of the way through. I suppose that the lives of the idle rich in the late 19th Century does not interest me, but the background to the first world war and thereafter was fascinating. I learned a lot. I guess my only criticism/disappointment is that there are no illustrations of the netsuke.
I mostly read this book on my new Kindle, but also on the iPad in low light.
It took me a while to read, as it is quite a big book. I also struggled a bit at the beginning - it did not engage me until about one third of the way through. I suppose that the lives of the idle rich in the late 19th Century does not interest me, but the background to the first world war and thereafter was fascinating. I learned a lot. I guess my only criticism/disappointment is that there are no illustrations of the netsuke.
I mostly read this book on my new Kindle, but also on the iPad in low light.
1 May 2011
What I'm reading
I have started The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal. I like to kind of alternate between fiction and non-fiction and this was being serialised (in abridged form) on the radio (a common source of inspiration for my reading) and sounded interesting. The book seems to have received a lot of media attention and promotion of late.
The Observations - by Jane Harris
This book took a little while, simply because it is quite long (by my standards - 500+ pages in the paper edition). Not a hard read - it kept me turning the pages.
The story is written from the viewpoint of a maid. This is made a little more complex by some parts of the text being extracts from a journal that she was required to write, where she embellishes the truth or even makes things up. Essentially the story is about the relationship between the maid and her mistress, who behaves in odd ways. It turns out that there are are two reasons for this: she is doing what we would call a psychological study of the servant class; she is somewhat unhinged as result of events in the past, which were learn about as the story progresses. The end of the story has a twist and, although there is a true ending, I guess the door is left open to a sequel.
As far as I can tell, this is a new author. On the strength of this book, I'll look out for anything else by her.
The story is written from the viewpoint of a maid. This is made a little more complex by some parts of the text being extracts from a journal that she was required to write, where she embellishes the truth or even makes things up. Essentially the story is about the relationship between the maid and her mistress, who behaves in odd ways. It turns out that there are are two reasons for this: she is doing what we would call a psychological study of the servant class; she is somewhat unhinged as result of events in the past, which were learn about as the story progresses. The end of the story has a twist and, although there is a true ending, I guess the door is left open to a sequel.
As far as I can tell, this is a new author. On the strength of this book, I'll look out for anything else by her.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)