50 Book Challenge 2016 Part Five

[southeastdweller]

Thread five of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2016, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, it's not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

The first thread of 2016 is here, second thread here, third thread here and fourth thread here.

How're you getting on so far?

I'd agree that HhHH is very, very French.

74 Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman. A holiday re-read, enjoyable fantasy with good world building and characters. This is the first in her Split World series, and there's a bit too much jumping between viewpoints/different settings which settles down in later books.

75 Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos. Listened to as an audiobook. Light popular mathematics, unlikely to be much new to anyone with a passing interest in maths / the history of maths but entertaining and well read by the author.

Now listening to and thoroughly enjoying a very well read audiobook of The Difference Engine by Gibson/Sterling.

71. Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers

A classic of the self-help genre, I read this as part of the Miracle Morning arrangement (see previous review of the book by Hal Elrod if you want to know what that is). It's interesting and thought provoking, but the problem I had was that reading it in 20 minute chunks each morning made it drag rather. If you read it normally it's probably fine.

72. The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris

An entertaining rendering of the events leading up to Ragnarok from the point of view of Loki, the Trickster. It's a bit knowing in places with modern pop-culture references, but it's well told and very entertaining.

52/53 It shouldn't happen to a Vet/ If only they could talk - James Herriot.

I first read these aged 14 and I adored them. I have to say, this time round, I adored them again. Lovely books, really nicely written. I'm going up into the loft later to find the rest of the series, wish me luck.

I don't understand the anti first book thing. 'This Thing of Darknes' was Harry Thompson's first novel, and, sadly, his only one as he died soon after.

26 The Sleeper and the Spindle - Neil Gaiman
An interesting re-telling of the tale of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Has the usual magical themes Gaiman likes running through it and it harked back to one of his short stories. There is one where Snow White's stepmother is a magical creature and there seemed to be echoes of that in this book. It was good to read a fairytale where marriage isn't the be all and end all. One to share with my daughter once she's a bit older.

What are people meaning when they're saying 'French' here? Like French philosophy/post-structuralism? Binet far more entertaining than that, though there is a bloodline definitely. I haven't read all that much French literature but have invariably liked all those I have - Dumas, Verne, Proust, Zola, think that might be it - so I guess I don't see it as a perjorative?

I think of all the books I've read this year, HHhH was one where I don't recall finding a single passage boring; I mean it does get thoroughly gripping towards the end, but from the earliest chapters I didn't want to put it down, so it may be a case of it just not being for you if you can't get into it.

Was Girl With Dragon Tattoo not a first novel? I think in Binet's case it allowed him to explore the conventions of the genre and his personal motivations in a way that would have seemed disingenuous in a more experienced published author.

I suppose 'very French' in a willingness to be serious without fear of being viewed as pretentious (somehow I find it hard to imagine a French equivalent of Pseuds Corner). I don't think it's a bad thing at all, and I enjoyed the book.

52 & 53. Fool's Assassin & Fool's Quest - Robin Hobb.
These are the latest in the Fitz and the Fool fantasy series. The first was a reread before reading the second. I love this series, for me Robin Hobb is the best fantasy writer around. The first book is a bit slow moving, spending lots of time with Fitz as a gentleman farmer in contented middle age, but once the plot gets going, it's as compelling as her previous books.
The second one moves there action back to Buckeep Castle where the series started about 10 books ago. Fitz still makes me want to punch him regularly but all the old characters are there. The final part feels like a pay off for persevering through her non Fitz books too as the other threads finally start to merge. I'm just slightly gutted that the third book isn't out till 2017.

54. His Bloody Project - Graeme Macrame Burnet. It's always hard following a book you've been waiting to read for ages and this took me a while to get in to. It's the story of the son of a Scottish crofter who is awaiting trial for murder. It starts with witness statements, then the main part is a long statement from Roddy Macrae, the accused, about the events leading up to the murders. Then there is a bit of medical evidence and the account of the trial. It's a good mix of historical fiction and unreliable narrator. The strongest parts are the bits in the croft.

Author of His Bloody Project should be Graeme Macrae Benet.

I read that as Macrame Beret

Thanks for that sadik, yes that's interesting.

"I suppose 'very French' in a willingness to be serious without fear of being viewed as pretentious"

The exact opposite, actually

I'm finding it flippant, disorganized, imprecise, full of hyperbole & exaggeration ("... writer-diplomats who fill me with disgust ") and a very irritating with its emphasis on the irrelevant and insignificant bits of the author's life such as his dreams (as in, while sleeping) & how his girlfriend called him a "little shit" (not entirely without justification, I imagine), banning him from her sister's wedding.

The navel-gazing faux-profound nonsense ("By pursuing the chain of causality back into infinity, I allowed myself to keep delaying the moment" bla bla bla)

I'm at 30% and really can do with a bit of "willingness to be serious" about now. Hopefully the story will get going soon, too.

Is that what you see as being particularly 'French' then?

It's hard to explain if you are not used to reading a lot of stuff written by French people but yes, this sort of thing is quite common in French writing. I think it's supposed to be cute or even commendably self-deprecating.

Some people like this style, but I personally find it irritating. Especially in a historical novel where I would like to have a minimum of confidence in the author's grasp of the facts.

I think the disorganisation is deliberate. It's the sifting of the writer's knowledge/thoughts in determining how precisely to tell the story - because in the telling of it (and the choices of the telling of it) it becomes as much the writer's as it does the person and histories it relates. Simply by telling it, the writer sifts and shifts versions of history.

I agree that at times it was a bit flippant though.

No comments on the first novel thing, Cote?

I'm fed up. Seem to be reading a lot of things that are disappointing me. Almost finished two more, neither of which I've thought much of. And I have NOTHING after those two. Grrrrr.

Of course the disorganization is deliberate. It's supposed to make the book speshul. Ditto the TMI like girlfriend calling the author "little shit". It doesn't work for me but YMMV.

Re first books - I have talked extensively over the years about how I avoid first books and female authors, so not sure what you think I need to say. Sure, there are good examples of both but I generally find first books lacking in some way and don't get along well with female authors' work.

In general. There are some (few) examples to the contrary.

In HHhH, I think the writing loses points also because the translation is too literal. I think "writers/politicians who disgust me" is a direct translation of "... me dégoûtent", which means "I'm sick and tired of..." and not "I'm disgusted". Or "I allow myself...." which was I doubt "Je me permets.." which is a polite/formal expression that is often used in written French but is just never said in English (unless it is to have something you are really not supposed to, like a cigarette when you have quit smoking, for example).

I see, thanks for explaining, as I said I've only read a few classics and haven't read any modern French novels. I understand about the awkward constructions - I suppose I quite enjoy reading translations because I sometimes like the slightly inelegant but fresh phrasings they throw up, and make allowances for that, but then I don't speak French so perhaps don't have the irritation that comes with seeing it rendered incorrectly.

I hope you can get past it and enjoy the second half when the story takes over (which is the effect he is going for I think, whether you like it or not )

I'm struggling too Remus, 50% through Art of Fielding which started promisingly but is being v dull at the moment. It's got those instances of a male writer doing a woman's point of view, which are not really recognisable to me as a woman. So far she has enjoyed doing a guy's washing up, and enjoyed the feel of her freshly-washed hair and the feel of her new dress

41. The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance by Nessa Carey

This was fantastic! In a simple, clear, and accessible way, the author explains the fascinating new science of Epigenetics: The study of changes in gene expression rather than the DNA - when two identical twins are not exactly identical, or when a change in environment has biological consequences that endure long after the event is a distant memory that are sometimes even transmitted to the next generation.

An example given early in the book was the Dutch Hunger Winter during WWII (November 1944 to the late spring of 1945): Researchers see that children whose mothers got pregnant towards the end of this famine (i.e. malnourished only early in pregnancy), had significantly higher obesity rates than normal. Conceived in an environment of scarcity, the DNA of the fetus tweaked itself to make the most out of its food intake and store as much fat as possible

You know how we were told of something called "junk DNA" (98% of it that does not code for proteins)? Well, it turns out that it's quite useful. And you know how we think everyone is the product of Nature or Nurture? Apparently, that is not entirely true, since our bodies have the means to turn up or down "Nature"'s volume or even shut genes off completely, and "Nurture" can have effects that get transmitted to our children and become their "Nature".

I learned so much in this book that this review can practically go on forever. I highlight quite a bit in books I like or learn from, but the amount of highlighting I did in this one was frankly ridiculous. If you are at all interested in this sort of thing, I would definitely recommend this book.

And I see now that it's just £1.19 on the Kindle. Don't miss it

Satsuki - You are right, I find it very irritating to read a translation from a language I speak. Present tense isn't helping, either. Anyway, I'll push through with this one

76 Any other Name by Emma Newman
Second in her Split Worlds series. The series really picks up with this one, good plot and characters.

77 Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes, The story of Women in the 1950s by Virginia Nicholson
An exploration of the position of British women in the 1950s, including the stories of several individual women chosen to illustrate different aspects of life.

This was OK, but nothing more. I didn't really feel that I'd learnt anything particularly new about the 1950s / women's lives in the period by the end of it. Perhaps it would be more interesting to younger women - my mother left school in 1956 and married in 1958, so I've got a fair view from her descriptions of what life was like.

23. An Autobiography - M K Gandhi. Quite an epic read and a book which has sat on the bookshelf for a number of years as kept starting it and giving up. In Gandhi's words it is a description of his life from birth until 1921 detailing how he came to form his strong beliefs and self- discipline. I found the earlier half of the novel more interesting, particularly the descriptions of his childhood and teenage life. I was unaware he had married so young (aged 13) and was supporting a young family whilst he was studying. It feels quite a personal achievement to have finished the full book as I found the later chapters more heavy going. Lots of details about the political strikes snd causes he supported in South Africa and India.

Book 86
Better: A Sugeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande
Having really enjoyed his ‘Complications’ I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as good. There’s nothing actively wrong with it – it’s an interesting look at how surgeons’ work is potentially rated, and how surgeons have tried to get better at what they do, but it didn’t really feel as if he had enough content to fill a book, so it felt as if there was quite a lot of padding. It was also very meandering, with nothing to really tie it together. The ending fell rather flat too. I feel a bit mean, because it wasn’t awful by any stretch of the imagination, but it could have been so much ‘better’ (see what I did there?!).

cote - I've read a couple of articles about instances of "biological consequences" of environmental changes and been fascinated and wanting to tell everyone about it, but without really understanding how that actually works and is possible, This book sounds like just what I've been looking for, thank you, have bought