I’ve dropped off the thread for a few days, but have enjoyed the book chat in catching up. Finally got round to posting my first reviews of the year.
1.Angelmaker - Nick Harkaway
I was reading this through December and finished early in the new year. A doorstop of a book that took a while to get through, but not for bad reasons - it’s one of those books that needs a slower read to immerse yourself into the author’s world but you will ultimately be rewarded by the effort.
Joe Spork is a quiet clock repairer living in an out of the way part of London and trying to escape his past as the son of a gangster. Edie Banister is a ninety year old former super spy. Chapters start by alternating between present day Joe, and Edie’s past exploits in her spy training and missions. Joe is asked to repair an object, a mechanical doomsday machine, which leads to his being hunted down by psychopathic monks and shady organisations. Can he help Edie complete the mission she started decades ago, use his father’s old contacts to stay alive, and find the brake for the doomsday machine in his family history?
This was a rollercoaster of a book reaching from South East Asia in the mid twentieth century, to a modern day London, albeit populated with Dickensian characters, to rural Cornwall of the seventies. Parts of the London underworld reminded me of Neverwhere, and indeed the book as a whole straddles several genres, from urban fantasy and steampunk to adventure, gangster and spy thriller. Chock full of memorable characters and stories within the main plot, this is a book that will stay with me. The only slight criticism is that the final scene took place within the last fifteen pages. Still a definite bold for the first book of the year.
2. <strong>My Lady Parts</strong> - Doon Mackichan
A memoir, or at least a series of life experiences from the comedian/comic actress. The overriding theme is of an industry that still expects women to conform to certain stereotypes and punishes those who speak out or refuse to play ball. The sexism and prejudice she has encountered over forty years in the entertainment industry is shocking at times but sadly not surprising. A raw account of life and work, funny at times, savage at others, but an important book.
3. <strong>Frankenstein</strong> - Mary Shelley
DD is studying this for GCSE so I felt I ought to read it, never having done so. The plot needs no explanation.
I know it’s a classic and Mary Shelley was very young when she wrote it but her youth is evident in some parts. I got more frustrated with Victor as the book went on, with his life choices, lack of foresight and overdramatic tendencies. if he was on AIBU he would’ve justifiably had his arse handed to him. I wonder if I’d read the book as a teen whether I’d have felt the same way: I suspect so, much eye rolling when I was talking about him to DD.