The Other Hand

I went to Italy at the weekend. We ate watermelon and went to the circus - there were tigers and an elephant, it probably wasn't ethical but it was exciting all the same. Everything was so sunny and pretty and foreign there, it seemed amazing to me. And now I am back in my grey little country full of fatties and junkies and sheep. Depressing.



20. The Other Hand - Chris Cleave
The editor of this book has opted to forgo a blurb so as not to spoil the story for any potential readers, so I shall do the same. What I will say, is that this is a book that will make you look at ice cubes, pound coins and this country in a different way. It entwines horror with hope, beauty with brutality, and is - terribly - realistic, without being pessimistic. It shocking and funny and heartbreaking all at once, and is a book to be savoured, not gobbled. I am amazed at the ability of this man to narrate from the perspectives of two very different women so convincingly; his writing is exquisite, and hugely intelligent. This is a very important book.

The Graduate

Today I made scones and they were tasty. I'm so tired these days, I don't know what's wrong with me.



19. The Graduate - Charles Webb
Another car boot bargain, and another famous movie that I haven't seen. I'd bet that this is much better in film form, as it's really dialogue-heavy and what little prose there is often reads like stage directions rather than description - it's practically a screenplay. To be honest, I didn't like it. The sense of disillusionment was well done, but Ben is a thoroughly irritating protagonist and there was hardly any sense of place or of time at all. It was so insular, and the lack of communication between the characters infuriated me. No doubt this was to convey the essentially inane nature of life or the tenuity of relationships or something like that...whatever, it was still boring.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

I went to a car boot sale yesterday and got three books, two watches, a Friends DVD, a set of plane-shaped pin badges, a cup of tea and two cakes for a fiver. What a day.



18. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote
As I am the only person in the western hemisphere who has never seen Breakfast at Tiffany's, I can't compare this novella with the movie. This is probably a good thing, because Audrey Hepburn is obviously so iconic and if I had seen it there's no way I'd be able to form my own image of Holly. She's such a great character, simple in some ways and yet totally enigmatic, so lively and likeable - she suits the length and pace of the story, short and fast. Capote's dialogue reminded me of Oscar Wilde a little bit, in the way that it really feels like you're hearing their speech rather than reading it, especially with Holly and O. J. Berman - it's as if the sounds are pre-formed, like your mind has no control over them. I loved all the stuff about gender and sexuality, too, for example: "Of course people couldn't help but think I must be a bit of a dyke myself. And of course I am. Everyone is: a bit." That must have been so radical in the 50s. Hell, that's still quite radical now... Great little book.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

I passed! This is nothing short of a miracle.



17. The Private Lives of Pippa Lee - Rebecca Miller
My mum lent this to me; at first I was a bit unenthused, as the photo makes it look a bit like chick lit, which as we all know is the worst kind of 'lit' (except possibly misery lit, that's pretty vile as well). However, as it's by Arthur Miller's daughter I gave it a go out of interest, and it's actually very good - extremely well-written, clever and genuine. It's pretty action-packed (lots of affairs, quite a bit of sex, a touch of sadomasochism...) but it doesn't seem over the top at all; I actually thought it felt very balanced, with almost sparse use of detail at points. Her characterisation of Pippa is excellent, and she writes really well about the tensions of mother-daughter relationships. It's uplifting, in a bittersweet way. I should probably write something profound about having learnt my lesson about judging a book by its cover now, but I know I will continue to do so, so instead I give you this quote: "You're the Chicklet, not me!" - Gob Bluth.

Eclipse; Breaking Dawn

I have my driving theory test tomorrow and I am going to fail because I've been reading these books instead of that literary gem, The Highway Code. It's okay, I'll just sit on buses for the rest of my life - that way I'll be able to read while I travel! Can't do that while you're driving, you'll die! It all works out beautifully!



15. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer
I'll be honest, this was probably my least favourite part of the series; too much irritating teenage angst for my liking, and at 650 pages I thought it was a bit drawn-out. It felt like five parts filler to one part killer...like weakly diluted juice. I like my juice strong - strong and manly. It was still quite good, though. One of the things I really like about this series is that Stephenie Meyer doesn't shy away from the fact that teenagers actually have sex, which is still quite unusual in mainstream American youth fiction - I especially enjoyed the fact Edward is the 'responsible' one and that Bella is an aspiring nymphomaniac. Jolly good stuff.



16. Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer
This book surprised me in some ways. It's another long one (about 750 pages) and at the beginning I thought it seemed a bit convoluted and self-indulgent, with lots of unnecessary details and sub-plots. However, by the end you see that the whole series has actually been very cleverly structured - the seemingly trivial details and apparent loopholes from the books are all filled in to interweave with the main storyline, and everything ties up nicely at the end. It tied up a bit too nicely in some ways, but by that point I was so attached to the characters I cared more for their wellbeing than for realism or credibility. I will say this, though - Renesmee is a ridiculous name.
Overall, an thoroughly enjoyable series! I'm not quite sure what to do with myself now I've read it all. I suppose I shall sit and wait for the movie, starring Cedric Diggory. Fit.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

I am appalled. The Royal Mail - my occasional employer and lifelong friend, backbone of these British Isles and the hand that connects us to the lands across the sea - has failed me. My Stephenie Meyer books still haven't come. I feel like I'm a junkie and someone's promised me a nice bit of smack, but they've turned up at my house with some bills and a postcard for my brother instead and told me, "Oh, don't worry, it'll be here in 1 - 3 working days". Yes. That is exactly how I feel.



14. What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Peter Hedges
I'm not going to be able to write about this without comparing it to the film version, though to be honest the main I decided to read the original was so I could compare the two. I was actually quite surprised at how much was changed for the movie, especially as Peter Hedges, if Wikipedia is to be believed, wrote the screenplay - quite a few major characters are cut out, presumably to make room for Gilbert's romance with Becky, which isn't all that prominent in the book. The characters are different, too: Gilbert's anger and resentment is much stronger and far more apparent here (though that's largely because the story's written in first-person narrative) and I think he develops further than his film counterpart; Becky isn't quite as quirky as she is in the movie, more ethereal, and also much younger. I warmed to them both much more because of it. The tone is much dryer than that of the film, and the ending, though not altogether bleak, is a bit less Hollywood. On the whole I preferred the book because the story goes so much deeper and you get to know the characters better, but the film is still excellent - Leonardo DiCaprio is amazing in it.

New Moon

I haven't left the house today.



13. New Moon - Stephenie Meyer
God. This series is so addictive. It's so easy to fall into the story, and it's so nice and simple to read, at least compared to Flaubert and Rimbaud and all the other jazz I've been struggling through lately.
This was just as good as the first part - very similar in some ways, but I think Meyer develops the characters and plot enough to get away with the repetitive aspects. I liked how she managed to weave a lot of minor details from Twilight into the overall plot of the series. I love stuff like that, it's clever. The only real downside was that Edward Cullen (the heroine's vampire beau) is absent for most of the story. This made me sad, for I too am in love with him.
I ordered the third and fourth parts on Amazon on Saturday and if they don't come tomorrow I may cry. No, really.