Books 78-82
To save space, reviews are behind the cut. Over the past little while, I've read the following books:
78. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, 2006, 268 pages.
79. The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer, 1972, 267 pages.
80. The Lurker at the Threshold by H.P. Lovecraft (with August Derleth), 1945, 186 pages.
81. BIGGIE - Voletta Wallace Remembers her son, Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G. by Voletta Wallace (with Tremell McKenzie), 2005, 199 pages.
82. The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays by Martin McDonagh, 1998, 259 pages.
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, 2006, 268 pages.
In this book, Bryson, who was born in 1951, glances back nostalgically over the decade in which he was born, declaring in a time when things were simpler, people were happier, and hope in America was widespread. Raised in Des Moines, Iowa, it does sound like Bryson had a wonderful childhood, with a child-littered neighbourhood of ready companions, a father who was a sports writer and introduced young Bryson to the likes of Willy Mays and Ernie Banks, and such safety that he could walk downtown to meet his mother after work. Bryson tells the story of his young years with his usual good humour, often self-deprecating, and the book is often laugh-out-loud funny. However, I felt that the book went on for too long, and that Bryson stretched the point further than it needed to go - an earlier wind-up would have suited me. However, that is my only complaint about a warm and funny book and I have no hesitation recommending this book or any of Bryson's other writings.
The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer, 1972, 267 pages.
This novel won the Booker Prize in 1972, and Gordimer herself won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991.
There is no doubt that this book and this writer deserve honours. Earlier this year I read Gordimer's July's People and was staggered by its power; this book was not as personally pleasing to me but the writing was brilliant, and the characters she draws are raw and alive. The Conservationist is the story of Mehring [he is never given a first name], a wealthy Johannesburg businessman who owns a farm north of the city which he uses as a getaway. He had entertained hopes of using it as a lovenest but love had flown away with the woman he loved to England and now, alone, he uses the house to doss down on his days away from the office. Unkind to his black workers, and uncaring of their welfare to a degree that twisted me into knots, it seems that the only thing that Mehring really does love is his land. Particularly he loves lying in the long grass near the river, underneath the willow tree. The disasters that befall the farm and the growing lack of servility of his black workers are key components in the life of a self-centred man whose world will soon come tumbling down.
The Lurker at the Threshold by H.P. Lovecraft (with August Derleth), 1945, 186 pages.
I have never read a yellowed, battered sci-fi/horror novel before. This was my first, and my husband has kindly given it to me, so great was my enjoyment. I hardly know what to say about this novel. It is the tale of Ambrose Dewart, the heir of the Billingtons, who travels from England to the inheritance of his ancestral home, and to the eldritch knowledge that his forefathers held. [Look at that - I learned the word 'eldritch' and used it in a sentence!] Of course, the worst happens, and creatures with impronounceable names are called down, mysterious deaths in the Arkham/Dunwich area occur, and the footprints of a giant clawed creature appear in the snow. I found this book at times terrifying, at others hilarious, and I will definitely be reading more H.P. Lovecraft as I have never before read anything quite as much fun as his work.
BIGGIE - Voletta Wallace Remembers her son, Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G. by Voletta Wallace (with Tremell McKenzie), 2005, 191 pages.
Honestly, I wasn't going to include this book in my count as the print is large and there are a lot of photos. After reading it, however, I feel that I deserve to count it as it was so hideously bad - one needs a reward for plugging through a work like this. What an awful, awful book. The big lie is the title. It's not really about the rapper, it's about his mother, and a few pages are about her son. She mentions him, but it is obvious to any clear-sighted reader that her relationship with him with him was superficial and her knowledge of his life was secondhand. The best she has been able to do is to tell about his formative years, and because she was an extremely hard-working single mother, she wasn't around for much of those - for that I cannot condemn her. Unless you are a collector of all things relating to Notorious B.I.G. or all things rap, avoid this book like the plague.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays by Martin McDonagh, 1998, 259 pages.
I discovered that this book of three plays by Irish playright McDonagh is not one to be read when you're down in the dumps and in the house alone. They're depressing to the point where I felt like jumping out of the window afterwards, just to avoid having a life like any of the characters in any of the plays. What a sorry bunch of people McDonagh has created. And yet, they are realistic, horribly so. They are the side of domesticity that few writers tackle - the mother and daughter bonded by mutual hatred, brothers who have caused their father's death, a priest who is willing to do anything, anything, to stop a family quarrel. It's a hard volume to read and that's putting it mildly. However, McDonagh's plays have power and I do recommend them. The others in this volume were "A Skull in Connemara" and "The Lonesome West", and all were brilliant and harsh plays to read.
78. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, 2006, 268 pages.
79. The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer, 1972, 267 pages.
80. The Lurker at the Threshold by H.P. Lovecraft (with August Derleth), 1945, 186 pages.
81. BIGGIE - Voletta Wallace Remembers her son, Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G. by Voletta Wallace (with Tremell McKenzie), 2005, 199 pages.
82. The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays by Martin McDonagh, 1998, 259 pages.
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, 2006, 268 pages.
In this book, Bryson, who was born in 1951, glances back nostalgically over the decade in which he was born, declaring in a time when things were simpler, people were happier, and hope in America was widespread. Raised in Des Moines, Iowa, it does sound like Bryson had a wonderful childhood, with a child-littered neighbourhood of ready companions, a father who was a sports writer and introduced young Bryson to the likes of Willy Mays and Ernie Banks, and such safety that he could walk downtown to meet his mother after work. Bryson tells the story of his young years with his usual good humour, often self-deprecating, and the book is often laugh-out-loud funny. However, I felt that the book went on for too long, and that Bryson stretched the point further than it needed to go - an earlier wind-up would have suited me. However, that is my only complaint about a warm and funny book and I have no hesitation recommending this book or any of Bryson's other writings.
The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer, 1972, 267 pages.
This novel won the Booker Prize in 1972, and Gordimer herself won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991.
There is no doubt that this book and this writer deserve honours. Earlier this year I read Gordimer's July's People and was staggered by its power; this book was not as personally pleasing to me but the writing was brilliant, and the characters she draws are raw and alive. The Conservationist is the story of Mehring [he is never given a first name], a wealthy Johannesburg businessman who owns a farm north of the city which he uses as a getaway. He had entertained hopes of using it as a lovenest but love had flown away with the woman he loved to England and now, alone, he uses the house to doss down on his days away from the office. Unkind to his black workers, and uncaring of their welfare to a degree that twisted me into knots, it seems that the only thing that Mehring really does love is his land. Particularly he loves lying in the long grass near the river, underneath the willow tree. The disasters that befall the farm and the growing lack of servility of his black workers are key components in the life of a self-centred man whose world will soon come tumbling down.
The Lurker at the Threshold by H.P. Lovecraft (with August Derleth), 1945, 186 pages.
I have never read a yellowed, battered sci-fi/horror novel before. This was my first, and my husband has kindly given it to me, so great was my enjoyment. I hardly know what to say about this novel. It is the tale of Ambrose Dewart, the heir of the Billingtons, who travels from England to the inheritance of his ancestral home, and to the eldritch knowledge that his forefathers held. [Look at that - I learned the word 'eldritch' and used it in a sentence!] Of course, the worst happens, and creatures with impronounceable names are called down, mysterious deaths in the Arkham/Dunwich area occur, and the footprints of a giant clawed creature appear in the snow. I found this book at times terrifying, at others hilarious, and I will definitely be reading more H.P. Lovecraft as I have never before read anything quite as much fun as his work.
BIGGIE - Voletta Wallace Remembers her son, Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G. by Voletta Wallace (with Tremell McKenzie), 2005, 191 pages.
Honestly, I wasn't going to include this book in my count as the print is large and there are a lot of photos. After reading it, however, I feel that I deserve to count it as it was so hideously bad - one needs a reward for plugging through a work like this. What an awful, awful book. The big lie is the title. It's not really about the rapper, it's about his mother, and a few pages are about her son. She mentions him, but it is obvious to any clear-sighted reader that her relationship with him with him was superficial and her knowledge of his life was secondhand. The best she has been able to do is to tell about his formative years, and because she was an extremely hard-working single mother, she wasn't around for much of those - for that I cannot condemn her. Unless you are a collector of all things relating to Notorious B.I.G. or all things rap, avoid this book like the plague.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays by Martin McDonagh, 1998, 259 pages.
I discovered that this book of three plays by Irish playright McDonagh is not one to be read when you're down in the dumps and in the house alone. They're depressing to the point where I felt like jumping out of the window afterwards, just to avoid having a life like any of the characters in any of the plays. What a sorry bunch of people McDonagh has created. And yet, they are realistic, horribly so. They are the side of domesticity that few writers tackle - the mother and daughter bonded by mutual hatred, brothers who have caused their father's death, a priest who is willing to do anything, anything, to stop a family quarrel. It's a hard volume to read and that's putting it mildly. However, McDonagh's plays have power and I do recommend them. The others in this volume were "A Skull in Connemara" and "The Lonesome West", and all were brilliant and harsh plays to read.