People of the book came highly recommended from a number of reviews. As with Geraldine Brooks’ other book that I’ve read, March, I liked lots of things about People of the book. The story starts in Sarajevo in 1996 where a book conserver is at work on a precious Jewish holy book that was wonderfully saved from destruction by a dedicated librarian.* Different chapters are then interspersed that tell the story of the book backwards to its creation in the 14th century. The set up was a very clever way to explore snippets of history, especially as these sections seemed like the product of loving research.

Sadly the historical chapters often demonstrated the way apparently stable societies can be split apart by racial hatred. As I read I got depressed remembering just how recent so many of the atrocities in Europe alone have occurred. But I also think remembering these events is very important.

Despite enjoying People of the book , as a whole it was still slightly disappointing (which was also the case with March). I felt a little disconnected between the different sections and the ending was a bit dramatic for my tastes. And sometimes the Australianess of the main character was a bit over the top. The pattern of the language felt Australian enough to me that I don’t think all the additional slang words were necessary.

I don’t know if it’s because I would expect to adore a book with a plot like this, and getting closer to being a perfectly satisfying book is more frustrating than simply not being my thing at all. Happily, most people seem to enjoy it so I don’t need to feel bad!

*This book and some of its story was based on the real-life Sarajevo Haggadah. Very cool.

Tags: books, historical, march

Spain was great! I’ll write a post about it soon (with piccies! Hopefully great ones as one of my travelling companions had a very nice camera and an awe-inspiring dedication to good shots).

I admit once I was free of posting along with the group I just gobbled down I, Claudius. And any virtuous thoughts I had about keeping notes went out the window once Sangria and the Prado and the Alhambra entered the picture. So I’ll just post thoughts about all of the chapters in the last half of the book in a big jumble.

( I have forgotten lots of stuff but here are some quick reactions, spoilers as usual )

I, Claudius was a great book to read. It was slow at times with the lack of dialogue and the name-heavy prose. But the sly humour and the sheer madness of the storyline (and the fact that many of the bits were true!) made it worthwhile. I just wish I had been around more to do it justice in my blog.

Claudius the God is on hold at my library. I’m eager to read it. Will Claudius revenge Caligula’s death as he promised even though it was a Good Thing that the mad emperor was offed? Will his fourth (? I’m losing track) wife turn out better than the previous two? Will he make Livia a Goddess? Will the population of Rome boom now that people can survive a year without being poisoned? Good times ahead, my friends!

Edited to add, thanks to Leila at Bookshelves of Doom for arranging this Big Read! It was great trying out a book I probably wouldn't have got around to picking up myself!

Tags: books, graves, historical

I ran late putting this entry up as I was going out for dinner last night with work friends and at the last minute arranged to give one of them a lift, which involved very hasty tidying of the house so I would not be reported to the relevant health authorities.

I don't think I can talk about this book without spoilers. I personally wouldn't heed the spoiler warning as there are so many names and corpses and so on but in case you have a good memory: SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!! FOR EVERY I CLAUDIUS ENTRY FROM NOW ON!!

OK. I was dithering over whether I liked Livia or not. As I said at Bookshelves of Doom, she's evil but in an admirably manipulative and efficient manner. Well, no more dithering after she bumped off Claudius' poor little fiancee! She is very bad and must be stopped!

I liked all the stuff about Augustus hectoring the bachelors for not getting married and it turning out that it's the noble women who don't want to let themselves in for childbirth and the loss of their dowries. However, all the betrothals and marriages and divorces are quite complex, especially as they seem to be keeping it within the same extended family. Say what you will about the role of divorce in society, you have to admit it would be easier to keep track of people's relationships in a society where it was not allowed!

Cladius continues to be shown as learning lots of useful skills about speaking and writing history. But I'm glad Livia seems to be continuing to underestimate Claudius - it seems like a far safer position to be in.

Don't forget there are plenty of insightful comments over at Bookshelves of Doom!

Tags: books, graves, historical

I wonder if I'm the only one getting a Jerome K Jerome vibe? I think it's the self-conscious, witty manner, the random asides and the discussion of ill health (although Claudius is more self-mocking than J).

The stakes of the story are raised as further hints (in the subtle form of a BABY WOLF FALLING OUT OF THE TALONS OF AN EAGLE INTO HIS ARMS) are given that Claudius is going to play a key role in the fate of Rome.

These chapters are very dense with storylines! I can't imagine how the miniseries covered them without dedicating hours and hours of episodes. There are enough things happening to keep any soap opera happy for a few seasons. Livia alone chalks up an impressive body count. I wonder if she's going to be knocked off in the same way - surely someone will think to poison her at some stage?

I don't hold out hope for Postumus having a long and happy life now that he's is the only one of Julia's sons left alive. Run, Postumus, run!

Tags: books, graves, historical

I had so much fun reading and blogging about Rebecca that I'm taking part in The Big Read II at Bookshelves of Doom. I'll be away for the last part of the reading schedule, and can't even promise to post frequently in the first couple of weeks, but I'll give it my best.

We're reading I, Claudius by Robert Graves, with today's portion being chapters 1-3. I admit this isn't a book I probably would have picked up on my own. I sure didn't vote for it. I'm a bit over Roman history, and the boring cover on my copy isn't doing the story any favours. But when I read the first lines, I relaxed a bit:


I don't know if it's the Bujoldian echoes of Ivan-you-idiot but I liked the tone. Claudius goes on to say he is writing his life's story as a record for those who will read it in 1900 years time (according to the local prophet). These first chapters are tales of his parents and grandparents, and various intrigues that feature many a divorce and poisoning. The scene is set for a novel full of intrigue and drama!

There started to be a real tangle of Roman names by the end of chapter three - I hope I can remember them all across the course of the month - one of the problems of slowly reading when you have a poor name memory!

Tags: books, graves, historical

I’m slowly making my way through genres: today, historical mysteries! I’ve recently read the first two Shardlake books by CJ Sansom, which follow the investigations of a lawyer in England during Henry VIII’s reign. The first book, Dissolution, sees Shardlake look into a murder of a government official in a monastery. The second, Dark fire features two investigations, one into the disappearance of the recently re-discovered formula for the dreaded Greek fire, and the other into a teenage girl accused of murdering her young cousin.

This period was so unsettled (monasteries were being dissolved, new Queens constantly on the horizon) that it provides a lot of scope for suspense. Sansom gives a vivid account of the political turmoil of the time and the atmosphere at both the monastery and London. To my largely ignorant mind the books appear to be well researched.

While some of the side characters are well done (I admit a fondness for the sidekick in Dark Fire who swears a lot) others were a bit more stock standard (such as the Wise Moorish Medicine Man). And while I’m complaining, although it becomes clear that Shardlake is starting to lose faith in the righteousness of the reformation, a lot of his feelings are left to be constructed by the reader. I wouldn’t mind a greater focus on this through the stories, though I can see that other people might not appreciate the slowing down of the whole investigation part of the novels.

I think Dark Fire had better pacing and a more intriguing storyline. It would work fine as a standalone novel so have no qualms about recommending people jump straight to it.

Tags: books, historical, mystery, sansom

You know how I just said how I was uncomfortable with fictional memoirs set in recent times? Well, I guess I jumped to conclusions too soon. I read and loved Lloyd Jones' Mister Pip last week, despite the fact that it was told from the first person POV of Matilda, remembering her early teenage years on Bougainville Island during the early 1990s. Matilda recounts the story of how she and the other children of her small town are taught to love Great expectations by their makeshift teacher, the only white man around, who flickers between being a mysterious figure of fun and a defender of the village. The novel, with its story of dramatic changes in fortune, exile and loss captures the imagination of the children. As external events impact upon the village and the lives of everyone in it, the line between fiction and reality is blurred.

The book speaks powerfully about the power of books to impact lives. There’s a lovely moment when Mr Watts says to Matilda that:


Almost makes me want to go give it another chance!

Although the coming-of-age theme is likely to appeal to YA readers, I should warn that there are also very violent scenes in part of the book.

When I was reading I kept picking up sentences that sounded very Australian in construction (beats me how I did this seeing as I couldn't consciously construct one), which puzzled me as I thought the author was British. But no, Jones is a Kiwi who obviously has the good taste to sound like his near neighbours :) Seriously, though, Jones has a lovely clear writing style with realistic dialogue. I think it might have been the fable-like quality to the story that made it a break in my new-found distrust of this type of fictional memoir.

One thing this book made clear was my lack of knowledge over the civil war in Bougainville – basically I knew there had been a war that dragged on for years, there was trouble with mining as well, and that about sums it up. This was made clearer by the fact that the main character was only a couple of years older than me so I could remember what I was doing at the time. I remember my uncle and aunt lived on the island, and there being some type of trouble and my cousins coming back to Brisbane to boarding school (which, at the time, was seen a completely good thing to us kids). Why is it that I have learnt modern history of other Asian nations but not the Pacific islands? It is a gap I would like to address.

Tags: books, historical, jones

I'm on holidays today! Hurrah! I have to do stuff like wash and iron and pack but I've also fit in buying candle holders and a book from the charity shop (it's for charity!), drinking hot chocolate while reading, watching Veronica Mars and vainly trying to identify a flock of birds in the trees across the road. (OK fog has cleared and I think they're starlings. I recognise one of the most common birds in the UK! I am birding queen!)

A book I finished was Lili Wilkinson's Scatterheart. I ordered this book way back in August when it came out with the intention my sister would bring it with her when she visited in September. As happens, she forgot it and the book spent its time being passed back and forward between people who intended to send it with something else but forgot. But a recent Christmas parcel disgorged the book recently (and what a lovely solid feeling book it is).

This is Lili's first published novel - I have also enjoyed her earlier non-fiction book Joan of Arc. This book tells the story of Hannah, a spoiled rich teenager in early 19th century London who tumbles from fortune's favour and is sentenced to transportation to New South Wales. The story mirrors the classic East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and snippets of the fairytale appear at the start of each chapter. Despite my general propensity to skip over things that aren't immediately related to the story I enjoyed these bits. As you might guess, this means there is plenty of romance and adventure throughout the book. All three parts, London, the ship and Australia, are vividly written. I liked the fact that so much of the book happened on the ship as it helped convey the length of time it took to sail to the colony.

Despite moments of historically accurate horror in the book, Lili wisely didn't stuff the novel full of all the bad things that happened in history, which allowed Hannah's story to feel more realistic. All sections of the book felt well-researched. OK, I'm cheating here as I remember Lili blogging about researching, but I'm sure others would notice it too.

Unfortunately, I don't think Scatterheart is available outside Australia. It's particularly a pity as the Australian setting and transportation story would probably be even more exotic to other nationalities. But if anyone would like a copy, the lovely Abbeys has copies and ships all over the place in a very friendly and efficient manner (can you tell they were able to dispatch books in a hurry for me in the past?).

Tags: books, children's, historical

I’ve been overwhelmed with stuff to do this week. I hadn’t realised how much I could fit into my work at home day compared with my get up and dressed and head out to an office day.

Anyway, a long overdue entry. When I filled out that “what am I reading” meme I mentioned that I had stalled on The kite runner. Not because it didn’t seem like a good book, but because it kept reading too much like a memoir to me. I didn’t like to have to keep remembering that it was fiction. I’d stop, feeling briefly cheated and wish I was reading a non-fiction story, and then start up again. It took me a while to notice that this is what I was doing, though!

This was a strange revelation for me, as I love historical fiction and think novels are a great way of illuminating complicated situations in the real world. I had a similar niggling feeling with Sold – it might have even been reading these both of these books within a relatively short period of time that raised the problem in my mind.

I think this is due to two things: 1) the first person POV and 2) the relatively recent setting. I kind of expect new memoirs from people who grew up in Afghanistan in the 70s, whereas I don’t from a sixteenth century slave.

Am I the only one with this strange problem out there?

Tags: books, historical, hosseini

One of my recent reading highlights was a book that’s been around for a few years, although I can’t remembering hearing of it until recently. It was the wonderful Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. ( thoughts on the book - spoilers! )

Two smaller book reviews (I have to go find my WINTER clothes for New Zealand, where I am heading for a conference next week. The South Island of NZ seems to think it is in the Northern Hemisphere rather than a few hours flight from here)…

( Just in case by Meg Rosoff )

( The seeing stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland )

Tags: books, children's, crossley-holland, graphic novel, historical, memoir, non-fiction, rosoff, satrapi, young adult