The Proof Of My Innocence ~ Jonathan Coe

 

Playground ~ Richard Powers

 

The Paris Apartment ~ Lucy Foley

** OK

Too convoluted, too much chop and change, too unbelievable

The Plot ~ Jean Hanff Korelitz

 

Project Hail Mary ~ Andy Weir

 

Piranesi ~ Susanna Clarke

 

The Porpoise ~ Mark Haddon

Pompeii ~ Robert Harris

Post Polio ~ Alph Williams

Purple Hibiscus ~ Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie

**** RECOMMEND ****

Purple : liturgical colour for penance, humility & melancholy. 

Hibiscus : exotic blooms that needed nurturing.

And Kambili blooms despite the turbulent forces and oppression of family and politics that make up her exotic environment.

There is so much that could have made this a depressing read; a narrative  focused on lives lived under the shadow of a violent, authoritarian, religious fanatic.  But it wasn't.  The always-present edginess and wariness of the thought-provoking narrative absorbed me completely.  It was as if I worried for Kambili and Jaja when I wasn't with them.  I was emotionally committed to the characters and their welfare.

Theirs was a life of father-pleasing rote answers, following strict suffocating guidelines, confined and cossetted from the world. The father was such a complex character - a pillar of society, a devoted Catholic, a generous citizen who abhorred corruption ... and a violent, abusive, controlling father and husband.

Maybe, just maybe, not my favourite Adichie.  Maybe, just maybe, that is still "Americanah" ... but then again ... maybe not.  Except for being brought up a Catholic, I have no idea why this book resonated so strongly.  No doubt it is in no small part due to the clarity of the writing style,  the depth of the characterisation, the sense of place and time.  The simplicity of expression, because it was written from the point of view of 15yo Kimbili, made it all the more poignant.

Pachinko ~ Min Jin Lee

** OK **

Like Pachinko machine, a little mechanical.
Like a Pachinko ball, the narrative fell through the gaps

Many of the characters are involved in the Pachinko business and there was mention of adjusting the pins to regulate winnings.  As a reader, I felt a little like this - my involvement in the characters was manipulated.  I felt like a Pachino ball guided around a track but ultimately a random path.  And I wasn't a winner.

I did enjoy the historical and cultural background of the narrative.  While it wasn't unknown history to me, it was well presented in the events of the story. The overt racism against the Koreans in Japan is head shaking!  The bigotry and prejudice is clearly evident.  It is hard to say that it is a good light read (and it is!) but it is also a dark and depressing read.

There was plenty of colour but it started to fade in the second part of the book.  A good edit would have worked wonders (eg a section where they are watching a tv program; a gloss over many years to leap to x years later; inclusion of characters or characterisations that seemed to just tick-a-contemporary-box; exposition rather than action). It would have been a 3 to 4 star read if it had kept its momentum or not become a muddled message mess.


Pachinko (パチンコ ^?) is a type of mechanical game originating in Japan and is used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device.

 

Post Polio, Dogs & the Peotry of Loving and Dying (Draft) ~ Alpheus Williams

The Pier Falls : And Other Stories ~ Mark Haddon

**** RECOMMEND ****

The Picture of Dorian Gray ~ Oscar Wilde

- UNFINISHED -

Perfidia ~ James Ellroy

X NO X

- UNFINISHED -

Perfidy : an act of deception
And so I was deceived into reading it.

And I was bored when I did.  And I was over the staccato writing and the lack of depth to the parade of characters.  The writing style.  It was abbreviated.   There was an air of immediacy.  Unrelenting in it's "hold your breath, something dramatic might happen".  It wore me down.  It was like a parody of writing styles.  Characters may have walked the walk and talked the talk but were rather like caricatures.

Reached the half way point and decided that, like the sentence structure, life was too short.

The Paying Guests ~ Sarah Waters

X NO X
- UNFINISHED -
2015 TOURNAMENT OF BOOKS

I wish I wasn't The Paying Reader!
Refund, anyone??

I was intrigued by the time and place, I was interested in the characters and their relationship, I liked the premise of the unfolding plot ... but it was soooooo repetitious, sooooooo tedious, so padded out with so much self indulgence.  It bored me stupid.

Short story?  Yes!  It would have made a great one!  But, as a novel, it lacked novelty. 

It was a romance ... it was a blighted love affair between one boring-as-batshit character and one trying-to-find-herself-wacko (actually both descriptions apply to both almost-indistinguishable characters!).  It wasn't even a case of style over substance!  The style was gushy, overwrought, period chic lit ... the substance could have been good but it took sooooo long to get anywhere (actually, at two thirds I skipped to the end! Enough was enough!)

This was my first Waters and I was expecting so much, given the reviews for this and her previous good standing ... now I don't know if she is worth the effort!

The Pacific War Companion ~ Daniel Marston (ed)

** OK **

The Professor and the Siren ~ Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lamedusa

The People In The Trees ~ Hanya Yanagihara

*** LIKE ***

Tournament of Books : 2014

Beautiful cover enclosing beautiful writing
Contrast superbly with the ugly fictional memoir

 A piece of tropical fruit,  indulging the senses with its  lush aromas and

imaginary memoir complete with comprehensive footnotes, creates a vivid finely nuanced vision of the island nation and its primitive tribes, evocative in sight and sound,
the jungle closes in around you the deeper you explore this remote tropical island and meet its inhabitants.  Through the eyes of a scientist you explore the culture and customs
tragic consequences devestating behaviour

Pattern Recognition ~ William Gibson

**** RECOMMEND ****