I'd like to pretend I dallied and drew this meme out to coincide with the opening night of the Sydney Writers' Festival but I'm too honest and the truth is that I've been hella busy this last week or so and therefore rather neglectful of my digital life.
The book I am about to mention comes laden with baggage. Which is to say my boyfriend bags out anyone who can categorically say that something is their 'favourite' anything.
This meme and I have gone through our ups (favourites for various reasons) and downs (hates and overratedness) and have skirted around naming the one book to rule them all (and in the bookmaker's workshop, bind them).
I've mentioned the book, of course. But will the favourite book of my favourite author prevail over the favourite book of my favourite series? Will childhood triumph over my favourite book turned into a movie? Well none of this matters because the book I most consistently name my favourite is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, which I mentioned back on Day #2 as a book I've read more than three times.
Just so you know, I don't have a permanent favourite, but Catch 22 regularly turns up in my top 3 list more often than any other book, albeit not always at the top, so it's my ersatz pick. For the others that often rotate in that top 3—have you been reading this meme?
Anyway, I like it because it's different every time I read it. No matter how many times I read it, and no matter how often I think I 'know' it, it never gets old. Heller never came close with his other writing, but that's almost part of what makes Catch 22 as brilliant as it is—he put all his mojo into this.
"[Yossarian] had decided to live forever or die in the attempt."
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
Showing posts with label book meme. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book meme. Show all posts
17 May, 2011
14 May, 2011
#29: A book everyone hated but you liked
I mentioned William Golding's Lord of the Flies in passing on Day 9 and it's the first one that comes to mind for this topic.
I can think of plenty the other way around, ie 'a book everyone liked but you hated' (Jane Austen books come to mind...), but this topic is a difficult one seeing as I generally buy and read books that come via recommendations, therefore 'a book everyone hated' is too narrow considering the field from which I have to choose.
A lot of my friends detested the books in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy. I quite liked them, despite their flaws, but to say everyone hated them is wrong because I know a number of other people enjoyed them.
Hard one to answer! Tomorrow's will be even harder!
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
I can think of plenty the other way around, ie 'a book everyone liked but you hated' (Jane Austen books come to mind...), but this topic is a difficult one seeing as I generally buy and read books that come via recommendations, therefore 'a book everyone hated' is too narrow considering the field from which I have to choose.
A lot of my friends detested the books in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy. I quite liked them, despite their flaws, but to say everyone hated them is wrong because I know a number of other people enjoyed them.
Hard one to answer! Tomorrow's will be even harder!
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
12 May, 2011
#28: Favourite title
I've already mentioned this on Day #22, but there are a few others:
Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett. It's a Discworld book about vampires, so you'll appreciate that it translates to 'seize the throat'.
She's a train and she's dangerous edited by Lizz Murphy. The subtitle is 'Women alone in the 1990s': I'm assuming it's a feministic text as I haven't actually read it. I found it secondhand in an op shop in Woy Woy. My friends and I used to go for what we called 'Woy Woy Joyrides' where the whole day would be spent there op shopping and lunching. I bought it purely for the title.
Slaves of the Volcano God by Craig Shaw Gardner. I don't actually own this book, nor have I read it. I saw a guy reading it on the train. It was 2004 or 2005 and the title stuck with me because it was such a change from everyone else, who were reading Harry Potter books and Dan Brown novels.
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett. It's a Discworld book about vampires, so you'll appreciate that it translates to 'seize the throat'.
She's a train and she's dangerous edited by Lizz Murphy. The subtitle is 'Women alone in the 1990s': I'm assuming it's a feministic text as I haven't actually read it. I found it secondhand in an op shop in Woy Woy. My friends and I used to go for what we called 'Woy Woy Joyrides' where the whole day would be spent there op shopping and lunching. I bought it purely for the title.
Slaves of the Volcano God by Craig Shaw Gardner. I don't actually own this book, nor have I read it. I saw a guy reading it on the train. It was 2004 or 2005 and the title stuck with me because it was such a change from everyone else, who were reading Harry Potter books and Dan Brown novels.
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
09 May, 2011
#27: The most surprising plot twist or ending
The end of Markus Zusak's The Messenger.
I'd read The Book Thief before this novel, which is an earlier work, and knew he was on his way to establishing himself as a master storyteller. I wasn't disappointed: The Messenger holds the reader's attention right the way through like a mystery should. Then, at the very last, the book suddenly becomes crap because of the ending.
I found it suprising because I'd expected more of Zusak.
(spoilers here)
I'm not entirely sure what this meme topic can accomplish from people who don't want to reveal the twist...
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
I'd read The Book Thief before this novel, which is an earlier work, and knew he was on his way to establishing himself as a master storyteller. I wasn't disappointed: The Messenger holds the reader's attention right the way through like a mystery should. Then, at the very last, the book suddenly becomes crap because of the ending.
I found it suprising because I'd expected more of Zusak.
(spoilers here)
I'm not entirely sure what this meme topic can accomplish from people who don't want to reveal the twist...
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
08 May, 2011
#26: A book that changed your opinion about something
Nothing springs to mind in the sense of me having some minor epiphany about an issue or person from a book I've read. I'd like to think this is because I'm open-minded (so much so that my brain has fallen out of my head) but more than likely it's because I don't read enough books that challenge my status quo.
So I've chosen to reinterpret this meme topic. And the books I've chosen are Enid Blyton books, JRR Tolkien books and Dan Brown books, which all have in common the same opinion-changing element: they all have good plots but are poorly written, yet still sell millions of copies.
I'm just re-reading the Adventure series by Enid Blyton and find her prose utilitarian and oversimplistic, which I suppose is all right when you're seven or eight but actually gets kind of grating when you're an adult. And yet, she is one of the world's most popular authors.
Conversely, Tolkien's prose is convoluted and riddled with unnecessary, overdescriptive elements. And terrible poetry. It took me nine months to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy (I was 20 at the time, so this wasn't a 'reading age' problem) and I don't plan on trying again any time soon. And yet, I found myself wanting to find out what happened next. The plot was so compelling that I was willing to sift through the guff for the nuggets of narrative gold.
I know Tolkien was a linguist but LOTR is seriously a case of him showing off to the detriment of a good story. The books could have been written with a lot more clarity and concision without losing the decoration or the essence. Case in point: The Hobbit had less fancy pants stuff going on and was a better read. I understand Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a children's book, but just because you're an adult doesn't mean you want uninteresting linguistically charged text challenges in a narrative. I should also note that Tolkien has also sold millions of books.
And what can I say about Dan Brown? I've only read one book, The Da Vinci Code, and yes I did finish it. It didn't find it as terrible as some people said it was and I think it's jealous overexaggeration to say "Dan Brown can't write for shit", but I do take the point that Brown does a lot of 'telling' rather than 'showing'. He has also sold millions.
The lesson I take from this is that you don't have to be a good writer for your books to be popular, which changes my opinion about readers. I used to think that any reader would do, now I value discerning readers a lot more. High book sales = good for bank balance; discerning readers = good for writer's ego; high book sales to discerning readers = win-win.
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
So I've chosen to reinterpret this meme topic. And the books I've chosen are Enid Blyton books, JRR Tolkien books and Dan Brown books, which all have in common the same opinion-changing element: they all have good plots but are poorly written, yet still sell millions of copies.
I'm just re-reading the Adventure series by Enid Blyton and find her prose utilitarian and oversimplistic, which I suppose is all right when you're seven or eight but actually gets kind of grating when you're an adult. And yet, she is one of the world's most popular authors.
Conversely, Tolkien's prose is convoluted and riddled with unnecessary, overdescriptive elements. And terrible poetry. It took me nine months to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy (I was 20 at the time, so this wasn't a 'reading age' problem) and I don't plan on trying again any time soon. And yet, I found myself wanting to find out what happened next. The plot was so compelling that I was willing to sift through the guff for the nuggets of narrative gold.
I know Tolkien was a linguist but LOTR is seriously a case of him showing off to the detriment of a good story. The books could have been written with a lot more clarity and concision without losing the decoration or the essence. Case in point: The Hobbit had less fancy pants stuff going on and was a better read. I understand Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a children's book, but just because you're an adult doesn't mean you want uninteresting linguistically charged text challenges in a narrative. I should also note that Tolkien has also sold millions of books.
And what can I say about Dan Brown? I've only read one book, The Da Vinci Code, and yes I did finish it. It didn't find it as terrible as some people said it was and I think it's jealous overexaggeration to say "Dan Brown can't write for shit", but I do take the point that Brown does a lot of 'telling' rather than 'showing'. He has also sold millions.
The lesson I take from this is that you don't have to be a good writer for your books to be popular, which changes my opinion about readers. I used to think that any reader would do, now I value discerning readers a lot more. High book sales = good for bank balance; discerning readers = good for writer's ego; high book sales to discerning readers = win-win.
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
05 May, 2011
#25: A character who you can relate to the most
When I read a book, I tend to relate to almost all the characters but different aspects of each, so this is quite a black and white question for something that needs to be elaborated on in various colours.
Despite this, I've decided to pick Sophie from Patrick Gale's Friendly Fire. A good overview of the book is on Patrick Gale's website.
Reasons I relate to Sophie:
Included and supportive, yet excluded. Sophie makes friends with the boys in the novel and supports their homosexuality and yet was always the outsider because she is a girl. I felt like that a lot when I was at school; I knew I had good friends on whom I could rely and yet in some ways I was always going to be excluded in some way or another because I was never someone's best friend.
Interest in homosexual culture. I get the feeling I was gay in a past life because I have such a keen interest in homosexuality and yet I'm not gay. I'll put it this way, I prefer men but I'm not completely closed to other options.
Unrequited (somewhat impossible) love. That was me for 21 years.
Love of learning. It's lifelong. And it keeps you warm at night when other types of love go unrequited.
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
Despite this, I've decided to pick Sophie from Patrick Gale's Friendly Fire. A good overview of the book is on Patrick Gale's website.
Reasons I relate to Sophie:
Included and supportive, yet excluded. Sophie makes friends with the boys in the novel and supports their homosexuality and yet was always the outsider because she is a girl. I felt like that a lot when I was at school; I knew I had good friends on whom I could rely and yet in some ways I was always going to be excluded in some way or another because I was never someone's best friend.
Interest in homosexual culture. I get the feeling I was gay in a past life because I have such a keen interest in homosexuality and yet I'm not gay. I'll put it this way, I prefer men but I'm not completely closed to other options.
Unrequited (somewhat impossible) love. That was me for 21 years.
Love of learning. It's lifelong. And it keeps you warm at night when other types of love go unrequited.
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
#24: A book that you wish more people would’ve read
This is kind of like Day 7: Most Underrated Book, and I would have nominated that book so to avoid repeating myself I'm going to sit and have a think for a while.
I'm going to say that I wish more people would read books on spelling, punctuation and grammar. The English language is going down the toilet. I don't mind new words and portmanteaus (or is it portmanteaux?) and interesting plays on words but really, you have to know the rules before you can break them.
I saw a press release with the word its' the other day and could do nothing but shake my head (and tweet about it). And the fact that Fairfax has sacked all its subeditors gives me the heebie-jeebies. I'm glad I stopped reading the SMH a long time ago.
So listen up kids, learn your grammar good and then you can tell me what's wrong with this sentence.
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
I'm going to say that I wish more people would read books on spelling, punctuation and grammar. The English language is going down the toilet. I don't mind new words and portmanteaus (or is it portmanteaux?) and interesting plays on words but really, you have to know the rules before you can break them.
I saw a press release with the word its' the other day and could do nothing but shake my head (and tweet about it). And the fact that Fairfax has sacked all its subeditors gives me the heebie-jeebies. I'm glad I stopped reading the SMH a long time ago.
So listen up kids, learn your grammar good and then you can tell me what's wrong with this sentence.
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
03 May, 2011
#23: A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
And once again the shame I feel for not having read a lot of classics falls upon me. There are three books in particular I feel I ought to read: Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho.
I feel I ought to read Great Expectations because I keep getting it mixed up with Jane Eyre. As I understand it, they are totally different stories but both feature a mad old lady (Miss Havisham and doodlesquat's wife... Mrs Rochester).
Jane Eyre I know I've wanted to read for a long time because I wanted to be one of very few people who have read Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea (its prequel) before Jane Eyre itself. I read Wide Sargasso Sea about a decade ago (so long ago I've forgotten what happens), but for reasons I can't remember I never got around to reading Jane Eyre. Another reason I want to read Jane Eyre (and more classics in general) is to understand the jokes in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books.
And American Psycho—I started reading this and got about three chapters in (liked it, wanted to keep going), then my sister, who owned the book, lent it to a friend of hers. Before she got it back she had moved to Canberra and I have never had enough motivation to borrow it from the library (is it banned?) or buy it since.
There you have it, the shame.
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
I feel I ought to read Great Expectations because I keep getting it mixed up with Jane Eyre. As I understand it, they are totally different stories but both feature a mad old lady (Miss Havisham and doodlesquat's wife... Mrs Rochester).
Jane Eyre I know I've wanted to read for a long time because I wanted to be one of very few people who have read Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea (its prequel) before Jane Eyre itself. I read Wide Sargasso Sea about a decade ago (so long ago I've forgotten what happens), but for reasons I can't remember I never got around to reading Jane Eyre. Another reason I want to read Jane Eyre (and more classics in general) is to understand the jokes in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books.
And American Psycho—I started reading this and got about three chapters in (liked it, wanted to keep going), then my sister, who owned the book, lent it to a friend of hers. Before she got it back she had moved to Canberra and I have never had enough motivation to borrow it from the library (is it banned?) or buy it since.
There you have it, the shame.
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
02 May, 2011
#22: Favourite book you own
Well, this is sort of a stupid meme topic. Who wouldn't own their favourite book? I have to agree with The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush that today's meme topic is conspiring with #17 to make me reveal my favourite book before day #30.Instead, I'm going to tell you that of the books that I own, my favourite book title is I have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes by Jaclyn Moriarty, which is close to having the best book cover as well.
However, the best book cover... actually, I don't have a lot of books with awesome covers as I tend to find out about books through word-of-mouth or read a review so the cover usually doesn't do anything for me.
But below are a few that I like. They are all slightly sinister.
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
... and anything by Josh Kirby for Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.
I once bought a calendar featuring Kirby's Discword art and ended up liking every picture so much I preserved them all by wrapping them around exercise books. Most of these ended up with my boyfriend because I don't actually use exercise books, but what the hey.
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
01 May, 2011
#21: Favourite book from your childhood
Wow, childhood is really very broad.
I'll start with early childhood. My favourite book when I was three would have been Dr Seuss' Hop on Pop. I have not seen this book for more than 25 years and I still remember the pictures and some of the content ("We like to hop on top of pop / STOP", "Pup up, Brown down" > this has to be a cricket-related headline one day).
When I was able to read novels I was heavily into Enid Blyton. My word that woman was prolific. I read quite a lot of Wishing Chair and Faraway Tree books as well as most of the Famous Five series, but my favourite was the Adventure series. I had a three-book omnibus of The Island of Adventure, The Castle of Adventure, and The Valley of Adventure. I can count an omnibus as my favourite book, can't I?
(Oh my! They have all eight books in the series for the Kindle. My omnibus was so careworn I think my mum made me throw it away. I'm so tempted to buy them... UPDATE: Blytons bought)
In my early adolescence I read Babysitters Club books, Nancy Drew novels and those schlocky horror stories by people like RL Stine, DE Athkins and Christopher Pike. The one I re-read several times, because it had such a beautiful ending, was Carolyn Keene's The Clue in the Crumbling Wall, #22 in the Nancy Drew series. And you know what? I only just discovered via Wikipedia that Carolyn Keene was a collective pseudonym.
Sorry to disappoint you, I was not some kind of freak wunderkind who read classics at the age of 10. For some reason people still see me like that.
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
I'll start with early childhood. My favourite book when I was three would have been Dr Seuss' Hop on Pop. I have not seen this book for more than 25 years and I still remember the pictures and some of the content ("We like to hop on top of pop / STOP", "Pup up, Brown down" > this has to be a cricket-related headline one day).
When I was able to read novels I was heavily into Enid Blyton. My word that woman was prolific. I read quite a lot of Wishing Chair and Faraway Tree books as well as most of the Famous Five series, but my favourite was the Adventure series. I had a three-book omnibus of The Island of Adventure, The Castle of Adventure, and The Valley of Adventure. I can count an omnibus as my favourite book, can't I?
(Oh my! They have all eight books in the series for the Kindle. My omnibus was so careworn I think my mum made me throw it away. I'm so tempted to buy them... UPDATE: Blytons bought)
In my early adolescence I read Babysitters Club books, Nancy Drew novels and those schlocky horror stories by people like RL Stine, DE Athkins and Christopher Pike. The one I re-read several times, because it had such a beautiful ending, was Carolyn Keene's The Clue in the Crumbling Wall, #22 in the Nancy Drew series. And you know what? I only just discovered via Wikipedia that Carolyn Keene was a collective pseudonym.
Sorry to disappoint you, I was not some kind of freak wunderkind who read classics at the age of 10. For some reason people still see me like that.
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
30 April, 2011
#20: Favourite romance book
When I was 12 my aunt bought me a three-pack of Mills & Boon novels for my birthday. I don't know what she was thinking—maybe she matched my love of books with my newfound 'adulthood' and came up with M&B. I read two of the three books. I sort of liked one of them (it was more romance than raunch) and didn't read the third because I didn't like the look of the girl on the cover or the main character's name or something superficial like that.
I was 19 before I encountered a romance novel again. I took a cultural studies class on writing genre fiction and we had to write analysis reports on the book we'd read that week. One of the genres was romance. I read a nurse/doctor romance novel and wrote my report on the different subcategories in the romance genre. Do you believe there's a subcategory for sheikhs?!?
Anyway, when I saw today's meme topic I thought I could probably take the broader view of a romance novel, which is the simple Shakespearean-style romance: boy/girl meets boy/girl, boy/girl can't have boy/girl due to circumstances beyond their control, the couple overcome the obstacle and marry and/or live happily ever after. This arc includes everything from Jane Austen's books to chick lit.
Turns out I probably don't need to take the broader view because the title that comes to mind is 'Bat', a short story in Tremble: Sensual Tales Of The Mystical And Sinister by Tobsha Learner, although her style isn't all that easy to read (it's a bit jolting—this probably explains why I'm too scared to read The Witch of Cologne, a very thick book).
I read a proof copy of Tremble for a magazine review (our audience was a bit too mainstream, however, so the review never made it into print) and didn't really like most of it because, as I mentioned, the writing style was hard-going for me. But for some reason I really liked 'Bat'—so much so that I ended up cutting it out of the proof and saving it somewhere. Somewhere very safe, I'm sure. All I will say is that it's speculative fiction and a romance between two guys set during wartime.
Another title that popped into my head is Friendly Fire by Patrick Gale, but I can't remember whether that has a happy ending. Good book, anyway, he has a subtle way of revealing things that seems to give the events in the book more weight than a less skilled writer might have been able to achieve.
Incidentally, my favourite Shakespearean romance is Twelfth Night and I have a soft spot for Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing.
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
I was 19 before I encountered a romance novel again. I took a cultural studies class on writing genre fiction and we had to write analysis reports on the book we'd read that week. One of the genres was romance. I read a nurse/doctor romance novel and wrote my report on the different subcategories in the romance genre. Do you believe there's a subcategory for sheikhs?!?
Anyway, when I saw today's meme topic I thought I could probably take the broader view of a romance novel, which is the simple Shakespearean-style romance: boy/girl meets boy/girl, boy/girl can't have boy/girl due to circumstances beyond their control, the couple overcome the obstacle and marry and/or live happily ever after. This arc includes everything from Jane Austen's books to chick lit.
Turns out I probably don't need to take the broader view because the title that comes to mind is 'Bat', a short story in Tremble: Sensual Tales Of The Mystical And Sinister by Tobsha Learner, although her style isn't all that easy to read (it's a bit jolting—this probably explains why I'm too scared to read The Witch of Cologne, a very thick book).
I read a proof copy of Tremble for a magazine review (our audience was a bit too mainstream, however, so the review never made it into print) and didn't really like most of it because, as I mentioned, the writing style was hard-going for me. But for some reason I really liked 'Bat'—so much so that I ended up cutting it out of the proof and saving it somewhere. Somewhere very safe, I'm sure. All I will say is that it's speculative fiction and a romance between two guys set during wartime.
Another title that popped into my head is Friendly Fire by Patrick Gale, but I can't remember whether that has a happy ending. Good book, anyway, he has a subtle way of revealing things that seems to give the events in the book more weight than a less skilled writer might have been able to achieve.
Incidentally, my favourite Shakespearean romance is Twelfth Night and I have a soft spot for Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing.
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
#19: Favourite book turned into a movie
I can tell this answer will turn up in the movie meme I'm going to do after this book meme: it's The Beach by Alex Garland.
It's a fantastic read about a traveller who 'finds himself' (and a whole lot more) on a trip to Thailand in the macro theme of 'paradise' (ideal place) versus utopia (no place). This is an idea I'm currently stealing in my novel (on its second draft—only another four years to go, people) so I'll probably read and watch it again soon.
The movie was widely panned but I thought it captured everything in the book quite well. I'll even forgive Garland's English protagonist suddenly becoming Leonardo DiCaprio (who did a fantastic job, by the way). I also thought Danny Boyle did a great job directing. Highly recommend you read the book and watch the movie (either order, both tops) to decide for yourself.
Honourable mention to Philip Pullman's Northern Lights, which became the movie The Golden Compass. The casting was superb, particularly Nicole Kidman as Mrs Coulter, though I hated how they turned The Church into The Magisterium to avoid controversy.
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
It's a fantastic read about a traveller who 'finds himself' (and a whole lot more) on a trip to Thailand in the macro theme of 'paradise' (ideal place) versus utopia (no place). This is an idea I'm currently stealing in my novel (on its second draft—only another four years to go, people) so I'll probably read and watch it again soon.
The movie was widely panned but I thought it captured everything in the book quite well. I'll even forgive Garland's English protagonist suddenly becoming Leonardo DiCaprio (who did a fantastic job, by the way). I also thought Danny Boyle did a great job directing. Highly recommend you read the book and watch the movie (either order, both tops) to decide for yourself.
Honourable mention to Philip Pullman's Northern Lights, which became the movie The Golden Compass. The casting was superb, particularly Nicole Kidman as Mrs Coulter, though I hated how they turned The Church into The Magisterium to avoid controversy.
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
28 April, 2011
#18: A book that disappointed you
I'm not entirely sure what today's topic is asking. Is it a book that I thought I would like but didn't? Is it a book that I thought would change my world but didn't?
After much thought, I'm going to say Affluenza by Oliver James (not the Clive Hamilton book of the same name and topic, which I want to read but haven't yet). A friend gave it to me as a gift and I read it almost straight away—a rare occurrence.
I found that the data and comparisons he uses seem to be full of holes and too tenuous. This disturbed me because I agree wholeheartedly with the premise of the book (that consumerism leads to unhappiness) and he seems to have drawn the right conclusions, but from information that seems almost irrelevant: a handful of interviews that are not necessarily representative of the culture he is trying to depict.
A book that handles this topic better is Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton. And if anyone wants to lend me the Hamilton book, it'd be most welcome.
(It's May 9. I am writing from the future to say that today I remembered another book that disappointed me: The Messenger by Markus Zusak. Zusak is a talented writer and the book has a compelling premise, but the ending was so disappointing I ended up giving the book away to someone who I knew would bitch about it with me afterwards. I can't say what the ending is without spoiling the plot, but it ruined an otherwise good book.)
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
After much thought, I'm going to say Affluenza by Oliver James (not the Clive Hamilton book of the same name and topic, which I want to read but haven't yet). A friend gave it to me as a gift and I read it almost straight away—a rare occurrence.
I found that the data and comparisons he uses seem to be full of holes and too tenuous. This disturbed me because I agree wholeheartedly with the premise of the book (that consumerism leads to unhappiness) and he seems to have drawn the right conclusions, but from information that seems almost irrelevant: a handful of interviews that are not necessarily representative of the culture he is trying to depict.
A book that handles this topic better is Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton. And if anyone wants to lend me the Hamilton book, it'd be most welcome.
(It's May 9. I am writing from the future to say that today I remembered another book that disappointed me: The Messenger by Markus Zusak. Zusak is a talented writer and the book has a compelling premise, but the ending was so disappointing I ended up giving the book away to someone who I knew would bitch about it with me afterwards. I can't say what the ending is without spoiling the plot, but it ruined an otherwise good book.)
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
27 April, 2011
#17: Favourite quote from your favourite book
Today's meme topic is trying to trick me into revealing my favourite book!
Alas, I'm actually incredibly bad at remembering quotes. Half my study time for English literature was devoted to trying to remember a bunch of quotes (I was pretty good at all the other bits). I like karaoke because I can never remember the words to songs, not even my favourite ones.
The only quote I can think of right now is from Alice Munro's Lives of Girls and Women, which I studied in Year 12 (see, all that memorising did pay off): "Love is not for the undepilated."
I also like "'Oh well, what the hell,' sang McWatt. And flew into a mountain", which is from Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, which I studied in Year 10 (all that memorising, still paying off!).
And from a recent book I read, I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett, there's:
"And where they had gone wrong was in believing , somewhere in their minds, that because two things were different, they must therefore be alike."
Thanks Kindle, for allowing me to clip that.
Oh all right, here's a funnier one: "Tiffany knew that when people creid, they said boo-hoo—or at least that's how it was written down in books. No one said it in real life. But Letitia did, while projectile crying all over the steps."
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
Alas, I'm actually incredibly bad at remembering quotes. Half my study time for English literature was devoted to trying to remember a bunch of quotes (I was pretty good at all the other bits). I like karaoke because I can never remember the words to songs, not even my favourite ones.
The only quote I can think of right now is from Alice Munro's Lives of Girls and Women, which I studied in Year 12 (see, all that memorising did pay off): "Love is not for the undepilated."
I also like "'Oh well, what the hell,' sang McWatt. And flew into a mountain", which is from Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, which I studied in Year 10 (all that memorising, still paying off!).
And from a recent book I read, I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett, there's:
"And where they had gone wrong was in believing , somewhere in their minds, that because two things were different, they must therefore be alike."
Thanks Kindle, for allowing me to clip that.
Oh all right, here's a funnier one: "Tiffany knew that when people creid, they said boo-hoo—or at least that's how it was written down in books. No one said it in real life. But Letitia did, while projectile crying all over the steps."
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
26 April, 2011
#16: Favourite female character
As with yesterday, one honourable mention for favourite female character is from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, Lyra. She is brave and insightful and full of passion to do what's right.
But then there's Lirael, the title character in Garth Nix's novel in the Old Kingdom series, which I've mentioned before. She is also brave and insightful, plus a clever magician.
However, once again I will save the honour of favourite female character for someone a bit out of left field: Harriet from Harriet the Spy. I haven't read the novel for maybe two decades (I don't own it) but when I was thinking about today's meme she came through very clearly.
I was eight or nine when I read Louise Fitzhugh's book. I also wanted to be a writer and I had also developed a sense of stealth akin to spying (this is much easier when you're a middle child, I discovered, the eldest and youngest get a lot of attention and one can just slip under the radar). My spy training included studying a book fit for a junior cryptologist and lamenting the fact none of my friends were dedicated enough to learn the codes too.
So in addition to the consequences of having one's spy book stolen nicely laid out for me in Harriet the Spy as a warning, I must have also retained my admiration for the way Harriet got through the flak to find her true friends.
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
But then there's Lirael, the title character in Garth Nix's novel in the Old Kingdom series, which I've mentioned before. She is also brave and insightful, plus a clever magician.
However, once again I will save the honour of favourite female character for someone a bit out of left field: Harriet from Harriet the Spy. I haven't read the novel for maybe two decades (I don't own it) but when I was thinking about today's meme she came through very clearly.
I was eight or nine when I read Louise Fitzhugh's book. I also wanted to be a writer and I had also developed a sense of stealth akin to spying (this is much easier when you're a middle child, I discovered, the eldest and youngest get a lot of attention and one can just slip under the radar). My spy training included studying a book fit for a junior cryptologist and lamenting the fact none of my friends were dedicated enough to learn the codes too.
So in addition to the consequences of having one's spy book stolen nicely laid out for me in Harriet the Spy as a warning, I must have also retained my admiration for the way Harriet got through the flak to find her true friends.
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
25 April, 2011
#15: Favourite male character
I like Will from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, mostly because his coming of age happens while he is also learning that he's going to have to become the hero of his situation.
I also think Rincewind is a great asset to Terry Pratchett's Discworld, an anti-hero if you will. Trouble always finds him and he always manages to squirm out of it in hilariously unlikely ways. Also, he owns the Luggage.
But I think I will opt for Christopher from Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I mean, Christopher John Francis Boone. Haddon writes him so well and there is so much more empathy for this savant character than I would have thought possible in such a deceptively simple book.
The part that always makes me cry is when Christopher's dad holds out his palm to say sorry and Christopher doesn't touch it because he has become afraid of the one person he thought he could trust.
The part that always makes me laugh is, after a section where he explains that he hates brown things but loves red things he is talking to Mrs Alexander, a neighbour, who is walking her dog Ivor:
I'm quite surprised at what today's meme evoked.
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
I also think Rincewind is a great asset to Terry Pratchett's Discworld, an anti-hero if you will. Trouble always finds him and he always manages to squirm out of it in hilariously unlikely ways. Also, he owns the Luggage.
But I think I will opt for Christopher from Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I mean, Christopher John Francis Boone. Haddon writes him so well and there is so much more empathy for this savant character than I would have thought possible in such a deceptively simple book.
The part that always makes me cry is when Christopher's dad holds out his palm to say sorry and Christopher doesn't touch it because he has become afraid of the one person he thought he could trust.
The part that always makes me laugh is, after a section where he explains that he hates brown things but loves red things he is talking to Mrs Alexander, a neighbour, who is walking her dog Ivor:
“Mrs Alexander didn’t say anything. She walked to the little red box on a pole next to the gate to the park and she put Ivor’s poo into the box, which was a brown thing inside a red thing, which made my head feel funny so I didn’t look. Then she walked back to me.”
I'm quite surprised at what today's meme evoked.
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
23 April, 2011
#14: Favourite book of your favourite writer
Ah, if you haven't already guessed it's Wilful Blue by Sonya Hartnett.
Basically it's about a bunch of (male) artists commissioned to produce some work at a atelier by the seaside, where one of the characters dies. The story is told in retrospect by two protagonists to the dead artist's sister.
Wilful Blue is a wonderful character piece, extraordinary in the way it subtly illustrates the complex relationships between the artists. The things I found most interesting: the manner in which young adult males speak and interact with one another when female attention/sex is not at stake; and the secret life of artists.
And as I mentioned in my last post, the pacing in this book is absolutely superb. It isn't a long book, but there is certainly an unhurried, deliberate reveal of each of the characters' traits and behaviour and the events that occur.
The fact that the reader already knows about the death makes the amount of intrigue built into the novel an impressive achievement and the ending has a redemptive quality to it. At least, we feel the narrators have come to the end of their personal journeys.
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
Basically it's about a bunch of (male) artists commissioned to produce some work at a atelier by the seaside, where one of the characters dies. The story is told in retrospect by two protagonists to the dead artist's sister.
Wilful Blue is a wonderful character piece, extraordinary in the way it subtly illustrates the complex relationships between the artists. The things I found most interesting: the manner in which young adult males speak and interact with one another when female attention/sex is not at stake; and the secret life of artists.
And as I mentioned in my last post, the pacing in this book is absolutely superb. It isn't a long book, but there is certainly an unhurried, deliberate reveal of each of the characters' traits and behaviour and the events that occur.
The fact that the reader already knows about the death makes the amount of intrigue built into the novel an impressive achievement and the ending has a redemptive quality to it. At least, we feel the narrators have come to the end of their personal journeys.
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
22 April, 2011
#13: Your favourite writer
Sonya Hartnett.
She has the goods: tight character development, plot intrigue, excellent pacing and a beautiful turn of phrase.
A lot of her books are about death and incest and loneliness—a desolate collection, but I think one that shows her supreme skill; any writer able to write on these topics without letting introspective pity creep into the writing has skill indeed.
I should also add that she is quite versatile, writing for children at the picture book level right through to young adults and adults, although she is best known for being a YA writer, especially after she won the 2008 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The only other writer I know who is that versatile is Catherine Jinks, but unfortunately I haven't read many of her novels.
I once wrote to her to say how much I enjoyed Wilful Blue and to my surprise she wrote back (I just trawled through a whole bunch of kept letters and couldn't find her notecard, which must mean it's in a box with kept cards that I can't access at the moment).
I have also seen her a few times. At the Sydney Writers' Festival a few years ago in a Q&A session I asked how she managed to get into the mindset of a teenage boy as there are a few male teenage protagonists in her books. She said she writes teenage boys as the teenage boy she would have liked to have been.
Benjamin Law, Sonya Hartnett and Alex Miller
I also saw her in a session with Benjamin Law and Alex Miller at the Melbourne Writers' Festival last year talking about the books that influenced them.
After both sessions I talked to her in the signing queue (the first time I had Wilful Blue signed, the second time I didn't have any books but there was no one waiting after about 15 minutes) and asked her a few questions.
During the MWF session I asked the three writers which book of another author's they wish they had written. Law said David Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and anything by David Sedaris, but the moderator didn't let Hartnett and Miller answer, so when I spoke to Hartnett I told her that I wished I'd written Wilful Blue if only for the pacing. She told me that it was the first novel she felt she really 'got' pacing so was really pleased that I'd noticed.
I have, however, heard a few unsavoury things about her. One is that she can appear quite bitter. A friend who once worked in children's publishing went to a writers' festival session that featured Hartnett and a lady who writes a series of books about horses (I think it might have been Bonnie Bryant who writes The Saddle Club series) and said she was shocked at how deliberately dismissive Hartnett was about people who write not only series, but horse books, as "not real writers". Apparently Bryant said to my friend: "That woman is a little bitter, isn't she?"
As for reports about Hartnett being a recluse, I have no problem with that. She makes the occasional appearance at writers' festivals and award ceremonies, and speaks to journalists when required and spends the rest of the time writing. I envy her. She doesn't need to be in your face for her books to sell, there is no author cult required. Win.
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
She has the goods: tight character development, plot intrigue, excellent pacing and a beautiful turn of phrase.
A lot of her books are about death and incest and loneliness—a desolate collection, but I think one that shows her supreme skill; any writer able to write on these topics without letting introspective pity creep into the writing has skill indeed.
I should also add that she is quite versatile, writing for children at the picture book level right through to young adults and adults, although she is best known for being a YA writer, especially after she won the 2008 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The only other writer I know who is that versatile is Catherine Jinks, but unfortunately I haven't read many of her novels.
I once wrote to her to say how much I enjoyed Wilful Blue and to my surprise she wrote back (I just trawled through a whole bunch of kept letters and couldn't find her notecard, which must mean it's in a box with kept cards that I can't access at the moment).
I have also seen her a few times. At the Sydney Writers' Festival a few years ago in a Q&A session I asked how she managed to get into the mindset of a teenage boy as there are a few male teenage protagonists in her books. She said she writes teenage boys as the teenage boy she would have liked to have been.
Benjamin Law, Sonya Hartnett and Alex MillerI also saw her in a session with Benjamin Law and Alex Miller at the Melbourne Writers' Festival last year talking about the books that influenced them.
After both sessions I talked to her in the signing queue (the first time I had Wilful Blue signed, the second time I didn't have any books but there was no one waiting after about 15 minutes) and asked her a few questions.
During the MWF session I asked the three writers which book of another author's they wish they had written. Law said David Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and anything by David Sedaris, but the moderator didn't let Hartnett and Miller answer, so when I spoke to Hartnett I told her that I wished I'd written Wilful Blue if only for the pacing. She told me that it was the first novel she felt she really 'got' pacing so was really pleased that I'd noticed.
I have, however, heard a few unsavoury things about her. One is that she can appear quite bitter. A friend who once worked in children's publishing went to a writers' festival session that featured Hartnett and a lady who writes a series of books about horses (I think it might have been Bonnie Bryant who writes The Saddle Club series) and said she was shocked at how deliberately dismissive Hartnett was about people who write not only series, but horse books, as "not real writers". Apparently Bryant said to my friend: "That woman is a little bitter, isn't she?"
As for reports about Hartnett being a recluse, I have no problem with that. She makes the occasional appearance at writers' festivals and award ceremonies, and speaks to journalists when required and spends the rest of the time writing. I envy her. She doesn't need to be in your face for her books to sell, there is no author cult required. Win.
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
21 April, 2011
#12: A book you used to love but don’t anymore
This one is pretty hard. I'm not fickle about what I love so I'm trying to think about a book I loved and now merely like (rather than hate seeing as 'don't love' could be taken either way).
... still thinking...
... still thinking...
... still thinking...
I'm going to say Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. It was 1997 (or was it 1998?) and my brother had kindly bought tickets to the musical for my birthday because one of my best friends at the time was in a choir and practising the songs and we both enjoyed the music.
So I decided to read the book first. It was a massive struggle because apart from being quite long, the prose (or at least translation) is very wordy as well. At last I finished it and thought it was worth forcing myself through the boring bits. I only keep books I want to read again and this one made it onto the shelf so it must have passed the test.
I went to see the musical and found it to be a really insightful and quite accurate version of the 500+ page book. In less than two hours.
Now when I think about reading it again I can't bear the thought of wading through 40 pages of a description of a field that Jean Valjean passes through in about 10 seconds during one of the opening songs. In fact, his 100-page encounter with the bishop gets told in one song.
So in retrospect I think the golden glow of past reads has faded and I'll say Les Miserables is no longer a book I love. If it was ever love at all. That's *so* Eponine...
(I'm now listening to the soundtrack, which I still enjoy and sing along to occasionally. I think my favourite songs are 'Stars', 'On my own' and 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables' - yeah, I like the forlorn ones.)
Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
... still thinking...
... still thinking...
... still thinking...
I'm going to say Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. It was 1997 (or was it 1998?) and my brother had kindly bought tickets to the musical for my birthday because one of my best friends at the time was in a choir and practising the songs and we both enjoyed the music.
So I decided to read the book first. It was a massive struggle because apart from being quite long, the prose (or at least translation) is very wordy as well. At last I finished it and thought it was worth forcing myself through the boring bits. I only keep books I want to read again and this one made it onto the shelf so it must have passed the test.
I went to see the musical and found it to be a really insightful and quite accurate version of the 500+ page book. In less than two hours.
Now when I think about reading it again I can't bear the thought of wading through 40 pages of a description of a field that Jean Valjean passes through in about 10 seconds during one of the opening songs. In fact, his 100-page encounter with the bishop gets told in one song.
So in retrospect I think the golden glow of past reads has faded and I'll say Les Miserables is no longer a book I love. If it was ever love at all. That's *so* Eponine...
(I'm now listening to the soundtrack, which I still enjoy and sing along to occasionally. I think my favourite songs are 'Stars', 'On my own' and 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables' - yeah, I like the forlorn ones.)
Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
20 April, 2011
#11: A book you hated
Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.
I'm not quite sure about the past tense for today's meme topic because it implies that I don't hate this book any more or something. Maybe my hate has lessened, who knows? I'm sure as hell not going to read it again to find out, even though there is a copy at my local Vinnies for $2 and there's a 50% off book sale on.
This is because this was THE most boring book I had to read for high school. The plot follows the quest of a young English woman in search of the truth about her great aunt's life in India.
It should be exotic and scandalous and meaningful. It is not. I didn't care at all for the characters and since characters were all that were holding this book together (apart from the "cultural elements"—if you're after literature on colonial India, read Kipling's Kim or something) it fell apart.
I have no idea why it won the 1975 Booker Prize. It put me off Booker Prize winners until Alan Hollinghurst's Line of Beauty (I only read Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things because my cousin recommended it to me; before I knew it had won a Booker).
Okay, okay, boring yes but why hate? Because I was forced to read it all. If I don't like a book a few chapters in, I don't want to waste precious reading time so I move on. And because I was forced to extract meaning from this tedious work and that kind of makes readers turn on a book.
Despite this vitriol, my friend and I did end up naming her toy orangutan 'Chidananda' after one of the minor characters. It was that kind of novel.
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
I'm not quite sure about the past tense for today's meme topic because it implies that I don't hate this book any more or something. Maybe my hate has lessened, who knows? I'm sure as hell not going to read it again to find out, even though there is a copy at my local Vinnies for $2 and there's a 50% off book sale on.
This is because this was THE most boring book I had to read for high school. The plot follows the quest of a young English woman in search of the truth about her great aunt's life in India.
It should be exotic and scandalous and meaningful. It is not. I didn't care at all for the characters and since characters were all that were holding this book together (apart from the "cultural elements"—if you're after literature on colonial India, read Kipling's Kim or something) it fell apart.
I have no idea why it won the 1975 Booker Prize. It put me off Booker Prize winners until Alan Hollinghurst's Line of Beauty (I only read Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things because my cousin recommended it to me; before I knew it had won a Booker).
Okay, okay, boring yes but why hate? Because I was forced to read it all. If I don't like a book a few chapters in, I don't want to waste precious reading time so I move on. And because I was forced to extract meaning from this tedious work and that kind of makes readers turn on a book.
Despite this vitriol, my friend and I did end up naming her toy orangutan 'Chidananda' after one of the minor characters. It was that kind of novel.
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.
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