The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

Oh Dystopia, how I’ve missed you… Any of you read Battle Royale by any chance? No, didn’t think so. It seems I’m one of the few people who actually read the whole book before watching the movie but if you have seen the movie or know the plot this should help. The Hunger Games is Battle Royale but with actually interesting characters! I know, right?

I have to admit, I’m always worried about young adult fiction because often it just does not live up to expectations. And people get really personal if you like or dislike a YA novel. Let’s not forget poor Minnie that was verbally harassed by Evil Smurfette for liking Twilight, she started all this! The Hunger games came strongly recommended by a friend of mine and I have to admit, it pulled it off. First of all, it was incredibly addictive! I read it in less than 24h not because it’s a thin book but because you just have to read one more page!

For the reader that is interested in something more than the primary plot though, there is also a vast array of subjects placed throughout the book, from government surveillance to dealing with clinical depression and children’s rights. The thing that is most interesting about this though is that none of these topics is presented in a preachy manner. They are there and if you are interested enough you will focus on them. If you’re not then simply follow Katniss (or Special K as I’d like to call her) through her quest to survive in a hostile arena.

Yes, I know what you’re probably thinking: We need to talk about that name… Sadly there isn’t a single name in this book that does not request to be banned permanently from literature. Katniss? Primrose? Peeta??? Peeta, really? What?? But, if like me when a lame name shows up you simply replace it with something decent like Betty, Veronica and Archie then you might be onto something. The great thing about Special K is that she is a human being that you can actually imagine would have existed. She is not perfect, she is self-reliant, she is strong, she is clever and she has the emotional IQ of a lamppost. And that is so very refreshing! I’m fed up with heroines whose sole purpose of existence is to fall in love and then be rescued by their boyfriends! It’s good to see Snow-White get up, get a job, fire the Evil Witch and make the dwarves clean up after themselves!

One thing did bother me a bit: it felt like the writer was really trying to force a love triangle out there when one was not necessary. I get that love triangles sell more but if you’re going to make one then shouldn’t you spend the time defining all three sides rather than only two? Then again maybe I’m being picky.

Enjoyed it: Yes!

Read again: Absolutely! Go Team Special K!!

345 days remaining – 7 books down, 93 left.

The Oxford Murders – Guillermo Martinez

Urgh. Really, just urgh! I don’t know whether I should review this thing or just throw it against the wall. I will review it because:

a)    I like my wall, and

b)    I respect books, even crappy books like this one.

First of all: how dare he! How dare he use the beautiful discipline of Mathematical Logic to do…that! The rage! I am a mathematician (as well as other things but let’s not go there) by training and I felt such anger at how he used mathematical elegance to write something like that. It’s beyond me.

But let’s take this all from the beginning, a series of murders occurs in Oxford, the murderer leaves “mathematical riddles” to a young Argentinean mathematician and one of the professors. They work with the police to catch the murderer. That’s the plot. Nice and interesting, huh? WRONG! The idea is there, but it is the laziest piece of crime fiction or mathematical pop fiction I’ve ever had the misfortune to put myself through.

The scientific conversations are at best pathetic. Show me one mathematician who knows his/her Logic theory and yet goes around talking about “Godel’s theorem”. It’s theoremS! As in multiple theorems! Because it’s two of them, not one but two, you genius! And if you feel I’m getting too technical here, if you’re going to make up a city why bother saying: “and this whole thing I’ve made up is Oxford”! I’ve been to Oxford, I don’t recognise any of the things he goes on about. Because they’re made up! So the maths is shaky, the city is made up, now how about the murders? I hear you ask. Well, dear reader, how would you feel if you read a murder mystery, you’ve worked out the murderer by page 50, by page 100 you’ve also worked out the scapegoats, and you were done with the mathematical series when the second clue was up? Cheated, I hear you say! And that’s exactly how I feel. Cheated!

Trying to be a little bit understanding here: let’s say that I caught on the mathematical clues because of my background and they were not too obvious. The rest of the plot was thinner than food wrap. The characters were either completely one-dimensional or chauvinistic pigs! Wonderful.

Cheated. I feel cheated.

Enjoyed it: It hurt me. It hurt me all over. 

Read again: No.

346 days remaining – 6 books down, 94 left.

Liar’s Poker – Michael Lewis

Let me tell you a story. When I was doing my undergraduate I used to hang out with a bunch of people I knew from school. Towards the end of our respective degrees they all started applying for jobs, all of them to investment banks. I was asked by quite a few of them as to the reasons why I wasn’t applying as well. It was an interesting idea and they really sold it well what with explaining the whole get rich fast mentality and so on. I did what everyone in my shoes would do: I did not apply to an investment bank and most importantly I found new friends.  After reading Liar’s Poker I have to say: Best decisions ever.

There are two parts in Liar’s Poker, at least that’s how I understand it. The first part gives a background on the economic situation of the 1980’s, the rise of mortgage bonds, junk bonds and other things I undoubtedly misunderstood. That is another thing you should know about me, although not an idiot (so I like to think) I don’t get along with economics. I still understand inflation using shopping baskets to give you an idea… The first part of the book managed somehow to make even me understand at least the outline of what was going in on in the 80’s and how the housing market can actually affect the whole economy. Hooray for a very patient writer that takes his time to explain things in stick drawing equivalents! The only problem is that everything I now managed to understand is slightly outdated by say 20 years…

The second part is autobiographical and follows the author’s rise from trainee to expert salesman in Salomon Brothers. It also follows how he slowly but surely sold his soul to the devil. The devil, I tell you! The autobiographical parts were much easier for me to read because it didn’t feel like a constant effort of trying to understand technical bits that after twenty pages I had forgotten about and I had to go back to remember what they were for the story to make sense (I’m looking at you Ginnie Mae…).

The whole book was written with humour but somehow I didn’t laugh. That’s probably because I was too busy being horrified! Where do I start: the fact that some of the actual acts in this book were truly evil, setting investors up and lining them up for slaughter, the horrendous bonuses, the fact that the author was miffed about a 45 thousand dollars bonus! My heart is breaking for him… Poor little rich boy! World’s tiniest violin playing just for him! The good thing is that all the things that horrified me are actually acknowledged as really soul-destroying parts of the Wall Street Culture so at least Michael Lewis and I are on the same page. Well, his part of the page is probably made out of platinum sheets but that’s just technicalities.

I never expected to enjoy this book but I really did. It made me feel that with enough patience even I could understand how markets worked. The basics at the very least! And since my knowledge was so limited I really just took his word for practically everything… Now in terms of catching up for the last 20 years, that might be trickier!

Enjoyed it: Yes!

Read again: Probably, if I’m brave enough!

348 days remaining – 5 books down, 95 left.

The Haunted Hotel – Wilkie Collins

I really wanted to be scared. I really really wanted to be scared. I wasn’t scared… What is wrong with me? The story has everything you could ever ask from horror fiction: ghosts, gore, alchemy, secret compartments, insanity, fraud, (potential) incest… And yet nothing! The disappointment…

The story follows primarily a young lady (or middle-aged by Collins’ harsh standards, she was about thirty for crying out loud!), Agnes, who was jilted by her much older fiancé, Lord Montbarry. He goes on to marry another lady, Countess Narona, and they go travelling, taking a courier and a maid with them. They end up in a decaying palace in Venice where they live as hermits after being joined by Narona’s suspicious brother (I imagine him with a mustache but feel free to have him clean-shaven...). Then suddenly the maid quits, the courier disappears and Lord Montbarry dies. A year later the decaying house is transformed into a luxurious hotel and is visited by Lord Montbarry’s family and Agnes… Let the ghost story begin!

Agnes is by far one of the most irritating literary characters I have encountered. She is so good and sweet and everyone loves her and so on. She is little miss perfect… Sooo annoying… And the Countess is just evil and crazy… Hmmm… In terms of plot this story really does have everything you could imagine. Short of a trip to a mental institution, there is little a novel in the 1860’s could include to be scarier. And yet the actual horror part was about 10% of the story, the rest was just there to make the horror part make sense. Mind you, I suppose the actual scary parts might have been considered too scary for the time they were published. I suppose the biggest issue is that in a way I belong to the X-files generation where if you don’t have to sleep with the lights on then it’s not horror. Maybe I’m completely desensitised when it comes to horror. On the other hand I do remember reading Dracula a few years back and feeling scared out of my wits so maybe The Haunted Hotel just wasn’t for me.

In its defence it was a very easy and pleasant read. The truth is if one is trying their luck with Wilkie Collins for the first time, it’s a much faster read than, say, The Woman in White that goes on and on and on. And on. Now as to whether I liked it or not, I think the answer is I didn’t mind it but it wouldn’t go as far as liking it. I certainly didn’t dislike it but that’s as far as it goes…

Enjoyed it: Not bothered…

Read again: If there is absolutely nothing else to read and I’m cut off from civilisation.

353 days remaining  - 4 books down, 96 left. 

Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

My first attempt to dystopia! Look at me, aren’t I all grown up! I know you are probably thinking I’ve been living under a rock or something but I have somehow managed to avoid dystopia like 1984 and Brave New World. I did read The Chrysalids in school but that’s as far as I went. So this was a shock to the system, really. I will be honest, I was never great with Science Fiction neither mostly because it takes me ages to visualise things, so vague descriptions of future technology really baffle me. That’s what happened during the first pages of Fahrenheit 451 where he describes technology like the walls and a mechanical hound etc. Then I just decided to ignore the mechanics of the technology and just roll with it and it worked like a charm!

In my view this book is about degradation of culture and censorship. I cannot say I felt for any of the characters. The majority of the female characters had hardly any redeeming qualities. Only one was pleasant in her own way but it felt as if she was Glinda from The Wizard of Oz randomly placed in dystopia! All the properly thinking characters were male. And if you want to argue that the old lady with the books in the beginning was a “thinking character” I would argue that fanaticism does not mean thinking person no matter who’s side the fanatic is on. In terms of male characters, the protagonist develops hugely in the course of the story. He starts off like a blind puppy and slowly starts using his brains to decide for himself. It’s as if you can see all the stages of development on a human in the course of two weeks. From ignorant child, he turns to stubborn child where mother (in this case the Status Quo) is always right, to angry teenager, to adult. The metamorphosis is captivating.

It really isn’t the plot that drives this book. It’s the thought process behind it. In a world where human life has absolutely no value, you find yourself anguished by the absence of books and in my eyes that’s exactly the link: the result which is the lack of respect for life and the cause which is the censorship of free thinking which is what books represent.

I never thought I’d say that but I found this book quite upsetting actually. It affected me in a way I never expected it to. I always respected knowledge, reading and free thought and I never attempted to imagine a world without them. The writing, which was very powerful throughout didn’t really fully describe that world, but it described it enough for the reader to fill in the gaps. The most brilliant part about it has to be the ending. Who would have thought that a book on a dystopian society on the verge of collapse could end with some, albeit limited, optimism?

Enjoyed it: Was I meant to?

Read again: I think I’m going to have to. There is just so much in this book…

355 days remaining  - 3 books down, 97 left. 

The Poe Shadow - Matthew Pearl

Now, I will be honest, my knowledge of Edgar A. Poe’s work is not vast. In fact I am embarrassed to admit that after two stories and some poems I volunteered for the Tennessee Williams alternative in school and never looked back. Actually tell a lie, I seem to also remember a very interesting adaptation of The Raven in the Simpsons but let’s not go there… What I’m trying to get to is that although not a huge fan of Poe’s work even I knew that his death was mysterious to say the least. And here came a book to explain it all to me – I was sold before I even read it!

I always found historical fiction immensely enjoyable but I always seemed to focus in medieval times. Something about how horrible life could be in the Middle Ages seemed strangely alluring, so 19^th Century historical crime is certainly new territory for me. There is one thing though that really gets to me in historical fiction, and that’s anachronisms. I am excited to report that Matthew Pearl’s work passed my anachronism scrutiny! Hooray for well-written fiction!

The plot follows a young lawyer, Quentin Clark, in Baltimore who is a great admirer of Poe’s work and happens to witness Poe’s funeral. He finds out about the circumstances surrounding his death and tries to shed some light to the mystery. He becomes particularly fixated on finding the real life inspiration for Poe’s literary detective and asking him to solve the crime. When two such candidates become involved the story surrounding Poe’s death becomes even more complex and chaos ensues.

This is the part where I want to point out that Quentin is a moron. An obsessive, hero-worshipping moron! His actions are, for the majority of the plot at the very least naïve if not idiotic! Why yes, if you are being wanted by the police why not stroll around the city for hours. MORON! Aside from the unfortunate mental abilities of the protagonist there is another issue with the book- this book has not met a coincidence it didn’t like. Even statistically there are so many coincidences surrounding what goes on around Quentin that my eyes rolled so far back they came back around.

Yet somehow this book is brilliant! It is well written, well planned out and it creates an atmosphere that you feel you emerge yourself in a foggy 19^th century Baltimore just by opening the cover. And there is another point of brilliance in this book. As explained in the historical note the book is extremely well researched and the plot is used as a method for the author to present his original research findings and opinions on the death of Edgar Poe. The reasoning, which I will admit the author takes ages to get to, is simple clear and elegant. All in all, with the exception of an unfortunate series of characters cropping up, this book is great. More please!

Enjoyed it: Yes!

Read again: A definite maybe!

359 days remaining  - 2 books down, 98 left.

The Last Juror – John Grisham

I thought I’d start with something easygoing. It was either that or an Agatha Christie. I will tell you what I was expecting: I was expecting murder and trial, blood, gore, suspense, counting down the remaining jurors, conspiracies, corruption, Julia Roberts running towards Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise panicking… You get the picture. Seeing from the synopsis at the back I should have got at least half of what I expected. Except maybe for the Hollywood celebrities…

The synopsis suggested that this was going to be a story where a brutal rape and murder occurs, the culprit is caught and sentenced but before he is taken to jail he vows to kill off the Jury that sentenced him. Ten years later he gets out and all hell breaks loose.

Well, the synopsis was absolutely right, we had a rape and murder (quite graphically described btw, taught me to double check the back door was locked! Scaaaary…) and a trial where the defendant was found guilty. This is set in a small town in Mississippi, in the 1970’s. The story is told from the point of view of a newcomer in the town, who is the new editor of the local weekly paper. The writing is great, easygoing, direct, it makes you visualise the story (even when you really don’t want to…) and he makes the protagonist feel like someone you know and care about. But even though all that is in the synopsis is actually in the book, it hardly seems the main focus of the story. Don’t get me wrong, you will get your money’s worth for the first 250 pages, where the crime occurs and the trial happens but then the book somehow enters the limbo of random pieces of information. It spends 150 pages focusing on other issues such as civil rights, religious beliefs, the Vietnam war, all of which are very interesting to debate and read about, and do help put the story into perspective but feel a bit…random. It also is, in a way, a bit unfair to have such important topics all crammed in 150 pages, with sprinklings of “the prisoner is now appealing for parole” to keep the reader hooked. It was a bit weird. And then for the last 100 pages of the book you get the juror killings that the title and the synopsis promised…

I will… try… not to spoil it too much but it felt as if the whole ending was rushed and not really thought through. Everything was a bit too obvious, I’m not saying I needed a really wacky twist but something a bit more challenging would have been nice. I know all this sounds like horrible criticism, and it’s not meant to be that way, I actually enjoyed reading it. I just think I would have been less agitated if the synopsis said nothing about juror killings and the book was called something like Crime in Mississippi (Aren’t I imaginative….). The expectations were a bit too high, I liked it, but I do feel just a tiny bit let down…

Enjoyed it?: I think so… Ask me again in two weeks…

Read again? No.

363 days remaining - 1 book down, 99 left.

The Book Police

Have you ever found yourself face to face with the Book police? I have. And it got ugly. I was on the train and opposite me two girls were chatting. Somehow they got onto the subject of books. My iPod battery had died and I did what most people do: I tried to be entertained by other people’s conversations (“I’m on this new diet, I eat three ryvita biscuits during the day and then when the sun goes down I eat whatever I like” or “Like I told her, she is beautiful but she is too flat chested. It was never going to work out.”). Girl A, let’s call her Smurfette, says to girl B, let’s call her Minnie Mouse: “What’s your favourite book?” Minnie responds: “Oohh I love Twilight.”  I assume she was referring to the vampire series rather than the time of day or the Weisel novel. “It’s so romantic” she added (yep, definitely not the Weisel novel). With that, Smurfette turns into evil Smurfette and starts telling Minnie off for reading trash. Uhm... What? Who made her the book police? No. Really.
What was even worse, Minnie got completely flustered and started backtracking. Minnie, if you like Twilight then you like Twilight. Ditch Smurfette and find some less judgemental friends. And maybe get some backbone as well. That can come in handy. Mind you, Minnie, it can get you into trouble sometimes, but life is more fun.

Don’t get me wrong. I read the Twilight series and I have formed my own opinion on the matter. An opinion that I will happily discuss with anyone interested. You can like or dislike a book. As long as your reasons include anything other than: Somebody told me it’s uncool (is that even a word?) or “it’s for kids” or something equally unimaginative like that (right, just checked the Oxford Dictionary, it is a word, who would have thought!).

But all this got me thinking. How many books do people read because they were told they are literature gems and how many people are too embarrassed to pick up a book that everyone calls trash. There is nothing healthier than having an opinion about something you read. In fact, I’d be worried if you didn’t because that is the whole point of books. What is unhealthy is appropriating other people’s opinions or trying to force your opinion on other people. No. Just no.

I used to read because I liked it. So many random things would make it onto my reading list. “Trash” and “literature gems” had the same likelihood of showing up. Then something happened and I stopped reading very much. To be fair, I suppose the thing that happened was life, and a job, and weird timetables…And I lost it, I lost the love of discovering new things. When I did find time to read I chose the exact same genre, probably even the same author I’d read before because I just didn’t want to risk not enjoying the time I spent reading. Which meant I quickly got bored of the genre and could guess the whole plot by page 50. Not good. And with me getting bored, I completely lost that enjoyment that I used to get from reading altogether. Well I’ve decided this has to change! I have to get my mojo back! I set myself a challenge. A stupid one, but a challenge nonetheless! 100 books in one year! That’s the challenge. I don’t actually think I can do it, because lately I’ve discovered I’m a slow reader, but I really don’t think I used to be a slow reader so maybe that will get better with time? A hundred books though sounds scary. The rules are simple, anything can make it to the reading list, preferably books I can find in the library, because I don’t think I’d be able to afford it any other way.  The most important rule is to read new books, not re-read old ones. And write about it, even the tiniest paragraph. The reason for posting all this? Simply to make sure I do it. I will be honest, I have very little faith on myself. But I will try...

So here it goes... 

365 days remaining - 100 books left