Review 2015 No. 11 | Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl is a legendary figure for whom little introduction or fanfare is necessary. After a near idyllic childhood in Wales (some say a breeding ground for imagination), interrupted abruptly by an English Public school education, he joined the Shell Petroleum Company (the adventures of which form the sequel to Boy, Going Solo). From there his creativity and love of storytelling and language brought him to the world of children's fantasy books. He was a prolific writing (creating seventeen books for children alone) during his 74-year lifetime (including Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). His imagination represented pictorially in illustrator Quentin Blake's work, which are now synonymous with Dahl's writing. His achievement and contribution to the world of fiction, which have put him up alongside the literary greats - J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien - were recognised in his World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, which he received in 1983.

The first of Dahl's two autobiographies, Boy: Tales of Childhood was first published in 1984, the year after he received his Lifetime Achievement Award. Boy is a fascinating insight into what made the genius linguaphile, and confirms the axiom that truth is stranger than fiction (and Dahl never shied from the strange in his writing). In a time before public obsession with high profile abuse cases, Dahl describes the horrific and often torturous nature of the English public school system through his time at St Peter's and Repton School. Dahl also gives a personal insight into 20th century medicine when describing the death of his sister Astri to appendicitis, as well as his own treatment for adenoids and a broken nose (both without anaesthetic). 

Further to Dahl's time in rural Wales with his parents Harald and Sofie, we also learn about his Norwegian blood and lakeside Scandinavian family holidays. As a reader and a writer, what is most prescient and revealing is Dahl's description of writing. He compares a writing career to his time with Shell, juxtaposing a chaotic, schedule-less, but rewarding world with an ordered 9-to-5 existence. That is what draws you in. Dahl didn't have to take to the shed in his garden and write (okay, maybe at the beginning he did it for the money), he continued on day after day because he enjoyed it. He loved storytelling and wanted to share his world with those around him. For that we should be truly grateful. He leaves behind a legacy beyond bound volumes on shelves.

Review 2015 No. 10 | The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit", begins John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's The Hobbit, which has been consistently in print, and widely regarded as one of the finest high fantasy and children's books ever written in the English language, since it's publication in 1937. The Hobbit tells the story of the human-like hobbits Bilbo and Frodo, as well as others such as the wizard Gandalf (literally "Dreamer") and Thorin, and is the prequel to the magnum opus of all magnum opus', The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I could wax lyrical about its many diacritic facets, the fact that it has spawned generations of geeks and a multi-billion pound film trilogy, but I'm convinced that you've heard that all before. In many ways what is key to The Hobbit's success is its self-contained, tight prose and lucid plot. My own Tolkien story began when I was given a copy (and a hobbit house cake!) for my twelfth birthday. It picked up again along the lines of "in a student house in Canterbury there lived a girl (who hadn't read The Hobbit before)". I was enthralled and enamoured in equal measure.

I discovered a treasure (Gollum might refer to it as precious) that was entirely unique, readable, and a crossover novel for all ages. Tolkien was a storyteller, of the kind your mum became when making up stories for you in the back of the car on long journeys, and a true creative. The hobbits lived "between the Dawn of Faerie and the Dominion of Men" and Tolkien lived between the Dawn of the fairy tale and the modern world. This allowed him to create more than books. He created an entirely complete, entirely perfect world. With the diminishment of the academic, literary and social world in which he created The Hobbit, I believe it is a feat that will never be repeated again. He was a one off. It is a one off. Read it!

Review 2015 No. 6 | Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne

The central premise of Around the World in 80 Days is known throughout most of the literary world - as it states on the tin, the tale is about an adventure around the world in eighty days. French author Jules Verne's 1873 classic is number 11 in the Extraordinary Voyages series and was cinematised in 1956. The book succeeded his 1870 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. The story was inspired by just such an journey taken by Bostonian George Francis Train - circumnavigating the globe in the same manner as BBC/TV personality and comedian Michael Palin attempted to in 1989. Archetypal Victorian Londoner Phileas Fogg is following his life of leisure as a man of private means, visiting the Reform Club daily for meals and to read the papers with mathematical precision. This calm, unnerving man's world is interrupted when he strikes up a £20,000 wager (equivalent to £1.6 million today) that he can travel across the world in eighty days - in Victorian fashion, without airplane (as they hadn't been invented).

With the precision and tenacity of Hercule Poirot, and with his trusty French manservant Passepartout (meaning master key/skeleton key, a play on the English 'passport') in tow, he attempts the feat. The story is fascinating and enticing - the premise itself is one most people wish they could have written first - and is telling in its Victorian optimism ('anything one man can imagine, other men can make real'). There are unabashedly racist sentiments in many passages throughout - colonial Britain at its height and eugenics and the Nazi's yet to take hold of social ideas of biological determinism. As an anthropologist I find this uncomfortable at best, but, hey, cultural relativism hadn't been invented and it doesn't change how marvellous this book is. Despite this - as in many classics, particularly those assigned to the higher up shelves - Around the World in Eighty Days is well written and still a brilliant travel adventure to this day. 

Review 2015 No. 5 | The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah (a Poirot mystery)

There are few characters in literary and cultural history that become so human to their audience that they take on a life of their own. Detective Hercule Poirot is quintessentially, simultaneously both Belgian and English. First birthed into the world by 'Queen of Crime' Agatha Christie, in 1920, Poirot has in the preceding decades become both a national and literary treasure. Dame Christie herself wrote 66 detective novels and 14 short stories, a writer so prolific and world-renowned that she has become a genre all of her own. 

All this being said, when it was announced in 2014 that author of the Spilling CID detective series, Sophie Hannah, would be publishing the first non-Christie Poirot novel, the release was to become hailed as "the literary event of the year". As a lifelong Christie fan I knew that I would have to get my hands on it! It is doubly problematic for reviewers when authors revive  another author's character, especially one as lovingly adored as Poirot, who stands in similar ranks to Sherlock Holmes or Doctor Who. Do we judge Hannah by Christie's standards, or assess the novel as a new phenomena - a non-Christie Poirot?

The Monogram Murders has it all - the fastidious mannerisms, attention to detail, charming punctuality and reverence for the truth. Poirot is joined in The Monogram Murders by Detective Catchpole, who neatly diametrically opposes Poirot. Catchpole is the perfect contrast - always late, missing clues, never quite grasping the mystery as it unfolds. The plot itself is Christie - three bodies in a London hotel, linked by past motives mirroring Christie's 1942 Five Little Pigs - but the novel is Hannah. And that, mon ami, is how we should view it. The story isn't a Christie. It never could be. But Hannah's style is all of it's own. She brings passion, revenge and guilt together in a uniquely Hannah way. 

To find out more about Sophie Hannah and watch interviews with her:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/232473.Sophie_Hannah

Review 2015 No. 4 | The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

I started this in October last year. Sitting on the bus I whizzed through about half of it in an hour or two (it was a longgg bus journey). It's hard to know where to start with this one, or how to critique it. Rudyard Kipling had it published in 1894 and his father John Lockwood Kipling provided the original illustrations, but most people will have experienced The Jungle Book, or The Jungle Books if you are discussing the sequel, via the 1967 Disney film classic. Despite this 121 year time lag, the 14 anthropomorphic jungle tales, inspired by Kipling's time in colonial India, are as fresh and witty as when he first put pen to paper.

Kipling writing is at times archaic, but always evocative and magical. The book has your favourite Disney characters - Mowgli the Man-Cub, Baloo the bear, Shere Khan the tiger, Bagheera the panther, Tabaqui - alongside others; Kaa, Rikki-Tikki, Toomai the elephant, and a Sea Cow. I will definitely be re-reading this (at some point), and I think that says a lot.

To purchase the beautiful Penguin Clothbound Classic above, follow the link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jungle-Books-Clothbound-Classics/dp/0141394625/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423037765&sr=1-5&keywords

Review 2015 No. 3 | Live And Let Die by Ian Fleming

“You start to die the moment you are born. The whole of life is cutting through the pack with death. So take it easy. Light a cigarette and be grateful you are still alive as you suck the smoke deep into your lungs. Your stars have already let you come quite a long way since you left your mother’s womb and whimpered at the cold air of the world.” 

With these words in his second James Bond book, Ian Fleming reminds us of something. In the majesty and mystery of the world of the secret service agent - the films, the long-limbed actors, the wealth - we lose sight of one pertinent fact; Fleming was more than a half-decent writer. Here Fleming works with a fundamental of writing - write about what you know - taking Bond on a journey through Harlem, Florida and Jamaica, places he knew well. This novel has all the best bits of the films and more - scuba diving, an international baddie chase ('Mr Big' in Live and Let Die), a Bond girl - and I would argue it is a difficult card to trump. If Fleming follows a trend I strongly believe in - that writer's tend to release the majority of their creative energy in their first book or two - then it will be. The jury's out, as I still have 10 or so of the other Bond novels to digest. I say SAY YES to this one!

Review 2015 No. 1 | Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

Image: http://www.zoella.co.uk

Welcome, welcome to 2015 (on the blog that is)! I hope you had a great Christmas and are having a good New Year and all that. Having been sidetracked with a hectic schedule in the final months of 2014 I didn't manage to read much at all, which has lead me to decide to read and review at least 52 books in 2015 (that's at least one blog post a week! :)). Without further ado, seeing as it is the end of the first week, here are my thoughts on Girl Online.

If you are au fait with all things blog/YouTube/book in the world then you'll probably know that on 25th November 2014 Zoe Sugg, or Zoella to her 6 million+ YouTube subscribers, released her first novel, Girl Online. Everything was going well, the book had rave reviews and had the highest ever first-week sales for a debut author (78,109) since records began in 1998. That was until it came out that Zoe hadn't written the book 'on her own'. Zoella and her publishers Penguin Random House eventually confirmed that Girl Online had been ghostwritten.

So now that the elephant, or penguin, in the room has been dealt with I can say that I don't think it matters. Surely the quality and reception the novel receives is more important? The novel is a form of semi-autobiography, telling the story of a female UK blogger who, like Zoella, lives in Brighton. A love story ensues that leads us through the side roads of Brighton and New York and into the mind of a teenage girl dealing with anxiety disorder. I won't spoil any more of the adventure, but I will say that, whether or not she wrote it herself, Zoella came up with the idea and has used her experiences to empower rather than put down young people. For that, I think she deserves credit for creating one of the few Young Adult books worth reading this year.

Reviews and comments below! Cx

Review: James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Cloud-men causing weather chaos with hailstones? A grasshopper that plays the violin? Set across the iconic metropolis backgrounds of London and New York, James and the Giant Peach tells the tale of James Henry Trotter and a ladybird, glow-worm, centipede and others, as they leave England to sail in a peach to America. 

My first exposure to this literary imaginarium was the 1996 film, which I was obsessed with and watched over and over again as a child. The book, first published in America in 1961, is justifiably more magnificent, with Quentin Blake's illustrations creating the classic we know today. 

The inclusion of several cultural landmarks, such as London Zoo, might be one of the many reasons why Dahl's treasure is included in The Telegraph's list of 15 best children's books. It would be a sin to slander this book in any way. So I won't. It's a gem.

Carpe Diem xx

Review: The Scarecrow of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Image: http://www.halcyon.com/piglet/bk09des.htm

I've just read a book that combines adventure and a royal love story and involves the characters Tok, Cap'n Bill, Princess Gloria, Pon. a mermaid and Button-Bright. First published in 1915, it is The Scarecrow of Oz, the ninth in the 13 novel sequels to the infinitely more famous The Wizard of Oz. Involving Dorothy, witch Glinda, and posing the scarecrow as the hero, this epic ramble through Oz introduces a host of new characters and has existentialist and humanistic leanings. Who doesn't love ambling through a land where popcorn falls like snow?

The true reason I picked this one up and none of the baker's dozen of others, is that it was on the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge list, which I have just picked up again. This book takes my total to 34 (out of 339!) and is a welcome break from serious novellas. Finally, in Ozma's conclusive words "no one can go far astray in the land of Oz, and if Button-Bright isn't occasionally lost, he isn't happy".

Carpe Diem xx

Review: Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

When I first saw this on the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge list my first thought was 'why haven't I read this?'. The short answer is probably that it's an American classic and not a British one. Fast-paced, imaginative and beautifully written, Charlotte's Web is a timeless American children's literature classic. Telling the story of main characters Wilbur and Charlotte, a pig and a spider respectively, who wouldn't want to follow where this one leads? The tale can be read on many levels and is education and entertainment in one. I read this in an afternoon and suggest you follow suit if you haven't already!

Carpe Diem xx

Review: The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

In the literary world there are some authors to whom you can turn for comfort. Some authors, some books are a pleasure to open. When you turn the first page of The Last Runaway, you get just that. The tale of the Underground Railroad in America in the mid-1800s is the warm bubble bath to the wet-fish-slapped-on-your-face shock of other tales. This story (the third Chevalier book I've read thus far) is that of Honor Bright. Using diary entries and various quilts we are guided through her adventure as she travels from England to another Quaker community  in America. She discovers oppression and racism and gets entangled in the Underground Railroad, which aims to move slaves from the south to the north across the Mason-Dixon line. Chevalier is a master of this style. Brilliant!

Chevalier has curated an exhibition on quilts, which is on at Danson House in Kent, England until 31st October 2014:

http://www.bexleyheritagetrust.org.uk/dansonhouse/whats-on

Carpe Diem xx

Review: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

Whilst perhaps lacking the majesty and thrills of the blockbuster film of 2013, the cover of this first edition of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952) illustrates the charm and innocence that the books have to offer. According to Michael Ward's The Narnia Code, the fifth book in the Narnia series is the sun story, Lewis' exploration into the rising sun and dragons (saura). Dragons make several cameo appearances along the crew of the Dawn Treader's journey towards dawn, as they journey towards Aslan's land, beyond the end of the world. Seemingly lacking in a structure or purpose, the voyage is entirely magical and imaginative - I'm glad to finally get to rereading the series!  

Carpe Diem xx

Review: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I thought that as it is nearly a week since my last post, and just four days until Christmas, it is definately time for another review. I have been reading avidly for a few weeks now, but even so my enjoyment of this classic was rather rudely interrupted by tests. In true-to-form style I came round to reading this children's classic in a backwards manner. I was given a beautiful, old copy of Good Wives a couple of years ago and read it before any of the preceding series. I had enjoyed it, and so in my search for classics that I simply must read, I bought and read this lovely Children's Vintage Classics print. Most Booktuber's whom I have seen talk about this book have the Penguin Thread's edition. Whilst it looks nice, I much prefer the illustrations on the front of this one. The story is beautiful if whimsical. It's a tale of the coming of age of four sister's, and also one steeped deeply in Victorian morality. The March sister's lives are heavily based on the author's own life in Massachusetts, and the personal touch stands out. What is amazing is that this 145-year-old story is still around, and I can see why. It says something about it's time, the emotion of the era. For that alone I recommend it.

Carpe Diem xx

Life of Pi book review

Firstly, I have to put my hands up and admit something. I didn't pick up Life of Pi because I wanted to. I didn't continue reading until the last solemn word because I enjoyed it. I read Life of Pi because I thought I should. It was written by Yann Martel and published in 2001, twelve whole years ago. It won a prestigious Man Booker Prize a year later. It was catapulted to the lofty heights of 'modern classic', and subsequently turned into a feature film in 2012. And so you might think that with this mind set that I didn't enjoy it. I hated it. I got nothing from reading this book apart from being able to add it to a list of 'modern classics I have read'. But that is far from the truth. This is one of the simplest stories you have ever read. Piscine Molitor Patel is stranded on a raft in the middle of the ocean for months. With a tiger. Through the tool of first person narrative, themes of growth through adversity, life as a story, and what it means to be human, are interwoven. In this way this fiction book touches on one of the biggest lessons that I learnt during my anthropology degree, more than any other; that reality is the roaming narrative that we each write for ourselves and continually evolve. We create our own meaning. We define our own lives. And that is why I am grateful for this book. Barack Obama was too.

Carpe Diem xx

Review: The Boy Who Fell to Earth by Kathy Lette

From writer Kathy Lette, The Boy Who Fell To Earth traces the story of Lucy and her high-functioning autistic son Merlin, over a period of a year or two. I join my fellow readers on review websites in being disappointed in this book. Tragically chick-lit and insubstantial. As a book largely about living with autism it shines glimmers of hope throughout, however it's one liners and lack of content make it a fail. This was the first Lette novel I have read and safe to say I won't be going back for more. On the positive side, the plot is compelling, with more twists and turns than most, and I did finish it, so if you want an easy read and a laugh-a-minute or are interested in books about autism then give it a go.

Carpe Diem xx

Review: Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella

If you've been keeping up with the blog then you'll know that I'm currently storming my way through the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella (alias). I have reached the final and sixth in the series, 'Mini Shopaholic', but today's review is of the fourth novel 'Shopaholic and Baby'. 

Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood), through a plethora of lucky turns of event, has it all; a hunk of a husband who also happens to be a high-flying businessman, a loving family and now she's pregnant! You'd think she'd manage to get through one day without one of her white lies or mishaps. But no, no sooner is she telling her husband that she's pregnant than the compulsive liar (it's true, I swear) is having a breakdown over the celebrity obstetrician that she's having deliver her baby. 

There's the usual fantasies about designer outfits and holidays, as well as more twists and turns than a crooked house, but strangely enough I'm actually getting into the series and finding some charm in the crazy life of the protagonist. Where else can this story go? It's anyone's guess.

Carpe Diem xx

Review: Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella

Simultaneously the most infuriating and laugh-out-loud chick-lits I've ever read. Shopaholic was recommended by a friend, who let me borrow the entire series, and since I started reading them I've been hooked. How Sophie Kinsella, the alias of Madeline Wickham, could turn out so many books dedicated to her car crash of a protagonist, Rebecca Bloomwood, is almost as much of a mystery to me as how popular the series has been. The book is the third in the series, published in 2002, centred around Becky Bloomwood. The plot jumps around rapidly as Becky attempts to juggle wedding(s), jobs, family, friends and finances. This is a disaster in slow motion. You will either cry with frustration at her naivety and recklessness or laugh at the romance and joy splattered throughout. However much I might have loved to hate this book, I'm already on the next one!

Carpe Diem xx

Review: Lost In A Good Book by Jasper Fforde

UK cover art

A couple of weeks ago when my frenzy of book buying/reading/borrowing began I realised with horror and delight that I still had half of my favourite literary series to read. I quickly became obsessed with Jasper Fforde's book after a recommendation from my best friend. Shortly after I read every Jasper Fforde book in my local library. The problem was that they didn't have all of the Thursday Next series and so I only read half of it (and in non-chronological sequence). Thanks to Waterstone's I found two and the missing books that I was looking for. Lost In A Good Book is somewhat jumpy and spasmodic. BookWorld detective Thursday Next  (a pleasingly strong and rare female protagonist) moves from Great Library, to the opening of Great Expectations, to The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. The idea is endlessly fantastical and represents a high-point of fantasy fiction. A female James Bond-style main character hunting criminals within the pages of nineteenth and twentieth century classics? Come on..... who wouldn't want to read that?

US cover art

Carpe Diem xx

August Favourites 2013: My Review of The Month

As the nights are getting longer and we enter September and the season of leaves, academic terms and Halloween, I can't help feeling excited! Strange as it is, Autumn and Winter celebrations are my favourite time of year. So, on the first Monday of September it is time for me to review the month and reveal my favourite books, cosmetics, music and food from the month of August. What have you been loving?

Beauty: I am still loving the Simple Spotless Skin Triple Action Face Wash, which has cleared my skin up miraculously. Read my review here! 

http://cupcakesandcosmeticsbyclare.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/how-to-clear-hormonal-dry-skin-simple.html

Music: This month has been kind of difficult and transitional for me, so power ballads are in! Specifically I have been obsessed with Kelly Clarkson's Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) from 2011. Who doesn't like this anthem just a little bit? And let's not mention the Jane Austen ring debacle!

Books: This month despite have plenty of time to I haven't actually read that much. I am currently reading J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy, which I have already made a first impressions review of here on my blog for Title Tuesday:

http://cupcakesandcosmeticsbyclare.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/title-tuesday-casual-vacancy-first.html

Food: Out and about travelling and enjoying time with family and friends, as well as some of the best weather this year, I couldn't help having an ice cream or two. Magnums are my favourite. I usually like white chocolate Magnums but this year my new favourite is the Magnum Infinity Chocolate and Caramel. It is dark chocolate, and thus not for everyone, but I recommend trying one!

Finally, however your August has been, thanks for reading and have a great September.

Carpe Diem xx

Title Tuesday: The Casual Vacancy First Impressions Review

Today I bring you a 'first impressions' post on J.K. Rowling's 'The Casual Vacancy' (2012), which I am currently reading:

If I told you that last year a British female author published a book centred around a parish council election, and that it is 503 pages long, then I'd forgive you for thinking that it might be a bit of a yawner. However, if I also told you that this author is the awarding winning creator of Harry Potter and famously richer than the Queen then I'm sure you'd be more interested. And you probably were. If you were swept up in the frenzy that was the release of J.K. Rowling's 'post-Harry Potter' work then you may have read it. Yes, I'm talking about The Casual Vacancy, which I am finally working my way through.

The book is set in the fictional West Country town of Pagford and deals sensitively with the gigantuan issues of class, politics and social deprivation. The parish is set into a frenzy when Parish Councillor Barry Fairbrother dies suddenly. As the story unfolds so does the drama of the lives of the residents of Pagford, whose personalities and daily struggles are eked out through the chapters. Whilst Rowling's liberal leanings shine throughout I am impressed with this novel, which was possibly met with more anticipation than any book ever. I'm don't think it could stand up to Harry Potter's success, but some how I don't think that is the point. The Casual Vacancy is also set for TV adaptation in 2014.

Carpe Diem xx