Deliberately Sad Books

On the recommendation of Jenners at Life With Books I went to the library and found a copy of 'Every Last One' by Anna Quindlen. I picked it up Wednesday morning (there being no overtime available I had a nice three day midweek break) and finished it before bedtime. The story is a portrait of ordinary (for US novels read affluent middle class) family life destroyed by an act of violence. There seems to be an unspoken pact amongst bloggy reviewers that you don't reveal what the event is, so I will abide by it, though as you creep towards the middle of the book it becomes plain what is going to happen. There is nothing very clever or distinctive about her writing but it just flows so nicely. I liked the characters and the details of their live enamoured them to me, and I did identify with the mother as she shares all her joys and concerns of watching her children grow up. Her reactions and behaviour after the event are authentic and believable. The trouble I have is the feeling of being emotionally manipulated, that the purpose of the book is to make me feel sad. I do not get an intellectual response, it does not provoke thoughts, it merely provokes tears. But it was one of those nice 'resilience of the human spirit' kind of books, an undemanding and enjoyable quick read.

So I went upstairs and told Creature what I had been reading and she handed me this: 'Looking for Alaska' by John Green, that her friend Tom had given her for Christmas. Now this one is much less bashful about it's tear-jerking nature ... the chapters are entitled 'One hundred and thirty six days before', and so on, in a count down, so you know as soon as you open the book that something really bad is going to happen. It is about a bunch of teenagers at a somewhat offbeat private school, where they spend their time trying to avoid being caught doing the three things that will get them expelled (smoking, drinking and having sex). Again it was well written with the teenage voices all very credible (sometimes teenage talking can feel stilted when written by adults).

Found myself laughing uproariously several times during the first half, particularly when the Colonel makes up cheerleader chants to taunt their opponents at the basketball game (he is maintaining his record of being thrown out of every single game): "Cornbread! he screamed. Chicken! the crowd responded. Rice! Peas! And then all together: WE'VE GOT HIGHER S.A.T.s. Hip Hip Hip Hooray! the Colonel cried. YOU'LL BE WORKING FOR US SOME DAY!"

Also loved the line when Pudge (aka Miles) asks Alaska about her book collection:

"I am going to read them all. I call it my Life's Library. Every summer since I was little, I've gone to garage sales and bought all the books that looked interesting. So I always have something to read. But there's so much to do: cigarettes to smoke, sex to have, swings to swing on. I'll have more time for reading when I'm old and boring." (p.28)

It's very 'teenage'. As is, "A deep fried bean burrito, the burfriedo proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that frying always improves a food." (p.31)

And, "So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane." (p.109)

All in all a most enjoyable book. It's about the teenage friendships, the adults in their life are all in the background, not relevant to the big picture. It was less intense than 'Every Last One', and I felt more like an observer, as an adult reader, but again the impact and reactions of the characters felt real.

G is for Gomenasai

The door swung open and the smell that drifted out was both stale and putrid. The tap dripped ominously into a sink full of greasy plates. Beer cans lined the window sill, twenty seven of them. The bread on the side had patches of green mould; half a carton of milk congealed quietly next to the kettle. A rattle of gunfire came from upstairs so they followed the sound. Three boys, hunched over controllers in the dark were battling for supremacy at the end of the universe. One glanced up and nudged his neighbour.

"Mum, Dad, you're home early!"

(Linking back to the A to Z Challenge)

(another word suggestion from Creature, 'gomenasai' means 'sorry' in Japanese)

F is for Façade

Mrs Mac hadn't been seen for nearly a week and the flowers on her front windowsill were wilting. She had been expected to Chair the WI meeting the previous evening and had failed to arrive. As he knocked tentatively the policeman found a very determined tabby winding itself around his legs, mewing pitifully. He walked around to the back door and peered in at the immaculate kitchen. The door opened and he could hear the hum of the television. The elderly lady was in the living room, overcome, he assumed, by a massive heart attack, wearing only scarlet nipple tassels.

(Linking back to the A to Z challenge.)

Cakes are pants

I have been craving cake. Nasty processed, sickly, shop-bought cake. But I have better things to do with my money. And we had most of a packet of ready roll icing (left over from the Lizard Cake) just begging to be finished off. I asked Creature what I should put on the cake and she said (of course) "Underpants!"

(p.s. this is not an A to Z post, could have saved it for 'U' I suppose.)

15 days without a head

I read a review of '15 Days Without a Head' by Dave Cousins over on Vulpes Libris, and it's been quite a while since I read any YA fiction so I popped to the library and picked it out.

So, it's about Lawrence and his little brother Jay, and their alcoholic mother has upped and disappeared. Lawrence tries desperately to hold things together, to pretend to Jay that things are ok and to convince the nosey neighbours that they don't need the help of the social services. I liked it because there is no glamorisation, or making him so clever and resourceful ... things are a mess. Lawrence makes some really bad decisions, they have no money and no food and give up on going to school (he's afraid Jay will tell the teacher their mum has gone) and then Jay gets very ill. And then he finds help in the shape of Mina, a girl from school, who's mere presence seems to help him not feel like such a loser. And you can't help but like him, he is so determined, and focusses his whole being on the idea that if he can win a holiday in a radio phone-in competition he can make his mum come home and everything will be alright. It is the neat mixture of trying to be responsible and utter naivety that makes him such a convincing character. Things don't exactly work out ok in the end, but they work out in a believable way, life is tough, and much as you love your family sometimes it's not enough. I liked the way that the guy from social services actually does come in and help them and not judge them, those people need all the good press they can get.

E is for Evanescence

Ben was perched precariously on the stone parapet above the beach, silhouetted by the intense blue of the water behind, the sun glistening off his dark hair and off the peak of the ice cream he clutched. From under her sunglasses she watched him surreptitiously as, with the intense concentration that only five year olds manage, he licked the sticky dome down to nothing. The shrieks of children in the sea and the hum of the fairground rides faded. A fly landed on her hand and she glanced down to flick it away. When she looked again he was gone.

(Linking back to the A to Z challenge.)

(Also the name of this band)

D is for Dystopia

There is the merest suggestion of tension in the air as she crosses the office, but maybe it's just paranoia. She places her jacket on the back of the chair and turns on the computer. Bernard puts a cup of coffee on her desk silently. She opens her mouth to greet him but he avoids her gaze and gathers files from the desk. Sweat prickles at the back of her neck. Just act normal she tells herself, everything will be fine. The knock at the door makes her start.

"Some people to see you Miss Adamson," says Bernard stepping aside.

(Linking back to the A to Z challenge)