Book Review: 'Suite Francaise' by Irene Nemirovsky

"But what is certain is that in five, ten or 

twenty years, this problem unique to our time, 

according to him, will no longer exist, it will 

be replaced by others...Yet this music, the sound 

of this rain on the windows, the great mournful

 creaking of the cedar tree in the garden outside,

 this moment, so tender, so strange in the middle 

of war, this will never change, not this, this is forever." 

I read it!

What's it about?

Suite Francaise is a tale of a nation invaded; it takes place when Germany first occupies France. The first section follows fleeing Parisians, whilst the second follows the people living in the countryside villages they flee too. However it's often sold on the fact that its author, Irene Nemirovsky, died in the Holocaust. She was a Russian Jew living in France, transported to Auschwitz. This tragedy permeates this half finished novel, making its themes all the more potent.

What I liked...

The depiction of the time period. It was vivid and clearly described. I felt like I learnt something whilst reading this book, which is always rewarding.

I also enjoyed the characters: some of them were awful, but I liked them that way. They were realistic: just normal people under extraordinary circumstances. They showed both resilience and cowardice, and weren't stereotypical heroes.

Irene's projections for the rest of the novel: she wanted it to have five sections rather than the two she got to write. I loved the links between the two sections, when a character from one turned up in another. And I've never read a book with such an interesting appendix.

What I disliked...

The writing. I found it quite clunky, especially the way character's innermost thoughts were revealed.

The love story. I just didn't need it, didn't feel it, didn't like it.

Would I recommend?

Yes, but more as a historical text than of great writing. Don't get me wrong, it was very interesting and I respect Nemirovsky greatly. However it wasn't a read that enthralled me in that way that passes interesting. I wouldn't recommend it unless I'd be quite interested to see the film though.

(Note: I apologise for my shoddy punctuation throughout this post.)

'I need you darling come and set the tone...'

Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Now this was a book that had been raved about on BookTube, particularly by Reagan at Peruse Project, and when something is that loved, I feel the peer pressure. Even more, All the Light We Cannot See seemed like the perfect book for me; a historical fiction set in World War Two, in both Germany and France following two young narrators, blind Marie-Laure and mechanical whizz Werner. 

I bought the book. I put it on my TBR list. I stroked the cover and waited hopefully for the day when I'd finished all my uni books and could give it a read. But when I started it, I found I wasn't that enthralled! What was wrong with me? 

So I put it down... and then the hype got the better of me again and I picked it back up. I sat down and I concentrated, and I suddenly loved it. I think I got more into the novel quickly due to the very short chapters; once I sat down and motored on through a few of them, I was drawn in, I was hooked. As soon as things began to happen to the characters, as soon as they were thrown into times of crisis, I was enthralled. There was something magical about the characters in this novel, how much you lived for them and wanted them to survive and be happy. The historical detail was beautiful too, not overloaded but just perfectly balanced. I also enjoyed the moving back and forward through the years of the novel, from before the war to years after, as this helped build tension and really grip me, especially when you knew something from one section that would impact another later one greatly. 

By the ending the tears had started to pool up in my eyes. Werner! Marie-Laure! I loved them both, and hoped against hope that they would survive. I don't think I realised quite how much I cared for them, and even the peripheral characters; Jutta, Werner's sister, and Daniel, Marie-Laure's father, hardly appear in the narrative themselves, but the reader cares deeply for them because of our deep affection for Werner and Marie-Laure, which is quite a skill. I also loved Etienne and Madame Manec, who made Marie-Laure's scenes in Saint-Malo such a joy. 

Overall this was a fantastic book that said a lot about human nature; our fallibility, our kindness, and our brutality. It said a lot about times of crisis, how we can change under pressure, and how we can often push aside issues to do what we love, or be with who we love. But underneath it all we all have morals or a conscience that end up pushing through. I don't feel like I could aptly say what I feel about this book, because it was simply fantastic, and explored and said so much. It's hard to sum it up, so my advice is just to read it. 

What is it about? How we see the world, in more ways and our senses. And how we act on what we see. 
Would I recommend? Obviously, yes. Why did I even ask myself this question?

'You say I'm crazy...'

Review: The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness

This was an odd book; I liked it, but it was odd. It follows George, an American in London (with uncanny similarities to Ness himself) who is has pretty much checked out of life. It hasn't gone well for him; he runs a small printing shop, is divorced and is all too often told that he is too nice for women and let go. In the opening chapter (which is beautifully written and provides an instant hook, which unfortunately is not replicated again in the novel), George wakes up in the middle of the night to find a crane in his back garden, a crane which has an unusual arrow through its wing. George goes outside and proceeds to remove the arrow, saving the life of the bird. The bird flies away, and George goes back to bed. 

He then meets a beautiful woman named Kumiko, who walks into his shop asking for some printing help. George and Kumiko inevitably fall in love, and over the course of the novel it is increasingly implied that Kumiko is the crane in human form. It is implied that George saved Kumiko and thus she is now here to do the same for him, yet emotionally rather than physically. George and Kumiko work together on artwork and have a remarkably quick romance yet George feels that Kumiko holds something back, which he is throughout the novel trying to figure out, before the dramatic ending. 

Interweaved in this narrative is the story of George's daughter, Amanda, who again needs to be emotionally saved. Amanda is also divorced, a single mother and finds it hard to connect to people and thus has no friends. Kumiko provides a connection that she finds it hard to understand, but proves to Amanda that she is not inherently damaged. 

I felt some aspects didn't quite work; I was confused by the entire storyline with Rachel. Why was she affected so strongly by Kumiko- just because everyone else was? I don't understand why her character needed a resolution; for me, her only purpose was her failed liason with George.  I also couldn't quite understand the relationship of George and Kumiko; I think they needed more standalone scenes together, just conversations, to show their real chemistry, and just getting to know each other. Although their relationship is supposed to be a whirlwind romance, one based on fate and sheer happiness, so maybe that is not actually needed. I also felt like the inclusion of the myths weren't needed; they halted the narrative and didn't always make much sense, so it felt like Ness was trying to hard to include a sophisticated metaphor. I like the idea of the parallel tale and the source material, however I think it would have been better to summarise this at the beginning or weave it in in a more subtle, less chunky way. 

The opening was definitely the strongest part of the novel, as was the relationship between George, Amanda and Jean-Pierre, which I found so endearing. JP was hands down the best character; I found myself laughing out loud at some of his lines, surprising for a small child. He's the kind of kid who cheers up every page he's on, and I'd like to know him in real life. George was also likeable, which I think helped with the story; it would have been hard to read this novel if its protagonist was a grumpy old man. His inherent cheerfulness and strive for happiness makes him a good character who you in turn want to achieve his goals, and feel sorry for when he makes a mistake. Overall I think Ness did a good job with his source material and created an intriguing and endearing novel. It wasn't 100% perfect or clear, however I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. 

What was it about?
Would I recommend? Yes, I think so. 

'Are we an item?'

Review: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Woah. This was a book that had me sitting staring at its closed back cover for minutes after I'd finished it, just so I could truly take it in. It was a book I seemed to have trouble swallowing. For something so slow paced, I am shocked at how many times I had to ask myself did that really happen? 

This novel, Tartt's first, follows Richard Papen, a new student at the fictional Hampden College in Vermont. He is a Californian transfer, originally studying English Literature, who switches to the exclusive study of Classics when he is enthralled by and later taken under the wing of enigmatic, fatherly professor Julian. In these classes he meets five other students; Bunny, Henry, Francis and twins Camilla and Charles. It is when he is eventually invited into their confidences that he is introduced into a world of debauchery and magic usually left to the Ancient Greek texts that they study, and this is where Tartt's novel really begins to twist and turn, to dually surprise and enthrall the reader. It becomes a tragedy of the highest degree, worthy of the time period with which its characters are so obsessed. 

It opens with a murder. First woah. The first half of the novel is then told in retrospect, so you spend the entire time reading on edge, looking for signs and half hoping that it won't happen. 

The reasons behind the murder. Second woah. Too many woahs. This is shocking and very imaginative on Tartt's part; she perfectly orchestrates both characters and acts to make every event seem plausible even if it is inherently shocking. However the power of Tartt's prose is that you keep turning the page even without a shocking event; there are chunks of pages without any remarkable event, and yet I could not put the book down. 

The characters are despicable at times, and certainly not likeable, and yet again I kept reading, which I think is certainly a good thing. I wanted to learn more about them despite not liking them, and thus saw the world through different viewpoints that I did not even think were possible. Their disparity with modern life is intriguing, and they seem to exist in their own world created of history and books and their own discussions.

The outside world is one that has been tread many times in fiction, that of the East Coast liberal arts college, or just an American college in general, however Tartt manages to make the world interesting and vivid. She perfectly portrays the sense of isolation in the town and the bubble that the main characters live in. 

Tartt's prose is phenomenal, and I think it's the kind of thing that simply can't be taught, which sucks for all of us wannabe writers out there. She spends so much time on her novels (10 years apiece) that of course, her work is very much crafted and edited, yet when you read her work its impossible to think that Tartt has anything other than a beautiful way with words. Her novels don't seem ridiculously edited; they probably take so much time for her to write due to their epic length and depth. 

Overall I did enjoy this book mainly for the prose, and the way that Tartt has obviously thought about every single little detail in the backstory of both her characters and her actual plot. The detail and the control over words is very impressive, as is the page turning yet often absent plot. This is a fantastic novel which I think I can learn a lot from.

What was it about? I found this question tricky, I really had to think hard. I suppose it's about how you deal with change in life; how we retreat from reality when life gets hard or boring and choose to prefer to live in our own heads or worlds of our own making. Or possibly the vacuous nature of modern life? How nothing means anything anymore? I don't know, it's going to take some thinking. 
Would I recommend? Yes, definitely. 

P.S The Little Friend is the only Tartt novel that I have not read and thus it is next on my list. I saw a great copy of it in a used book market the other day but realised that I actually had no way to carry such a chunky book home, which of course disappointed me. Reading this book also has me itching to learn more about Classics, so that's another thing to add to the to-do list. 

'When I'm down and feeling blue...'

Review: After Dark by Haruki Murakami

This will most likely be a short review for a short book, but my God, this one was magical. After Dark was my first Murakami novel, and despite mixed reviews on Goodreads, it did not disappoint. 

I was thoroughly hooked by the lyrical, beautiful description of the Japanese city from the opening pages, and whilst this did not continue throughout the whole novel, it's a description that will come to haunt me as it haunted the whole book. 
The novel follows a young girl, Mari, and what happens to both her and her sister over one night in the Tokyo. Here Mari meets people who exist only at night, who have secrets that draw on her own. All of the characters are so well drawn and unique, and could all have been main characters in their own, expanded novel. I enjoyed the un-cliche (is that a word?) portrayal of clever Mari who always wants to better herself, and the full of chatter yet slightly serious Takahashi, a boy she meets on her way. The storyline with Mari's sister Eri is the strange one, and it is the big mystery in the novel which is never quite figured out, however the multiple weaving storylines are so gripping, and I'm not sure how.Although this piece did not make sense a hundred percent, I found it to be so inherently beautiful and enthralling that I couldn't put it down. It opened my eyes up to the Japanese culture which is completely different from anything that I have experienced, and yet the characters and the situation seemed to identifiable. The depiction of the night and the dark was chilling, but also so real and honest. Murakami seemed to do something so hard for a novelist, and condense such a huge theme into such a small work. It is a work that was so broad and yet so condensed I cannot really explain it, and feel that I am just rambling on. It is a work that will stick with me.

This was a book that I got from the library but would love to buy in paperback, it was so good. I've never really been that into magical realism, but I am most certainly into Murakami, so I would certainly like to give his works a try. Norwegian Wood is number one on my list for now, one that I will definitely have to purchase in the near future. 

What is it about? I don't know, and I think it will take me a while to process. Right now I'm thinking secrets, and what of ourselves we choose to reveal to the world and what we hide. 
Would I recommend? Yes, 100%. 

'Some folks like to get away for a holiday from the neighbourhood...'

Review: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

It took me quite a while to review this book because it was honestly fantastic. It's the best book I've read this year so far, without a doubt. I don't know how else to describe it following those words, so here are some reasons why I loved it so much:
- The setting- so beautifully realised. The book is set in Iceland in the early 1800s, following the life of orphan servant Agnes Magnusdottir, who was the last woman to be executed in Iceland in 1829. Icelandic culture is not one I know much about, and I felt like I learnt a lot whilst reading this, which I love. The landscape beautifully reflected the bleakness of the story, so much that it slightly scared me. 
- The character of Agnes. I loved that she was not a perfect, well behaved heroine. She was not    She was intelligent enough to scare other women because of what she could do or say, and intelligent enough to realise that this made her an outcast. She was a character so disliked in her environment that it pains me to think of how much I would love her if I met her in the everyday. 
- The historical period- so beautifully executed. Hannah Kent had obviously done so much research (2 years to be exact) that the time period was so vivid and came across perfectly. None of the dialogue or plotting seemed false for the time, and I felt transported every time I picked up the book to read. 
- The use of other media- letters, poems etc. I always love this when an author tries their hand at putting in other pieces of information into their novel, sometimes written by themselves, sometimes factual. It always manages to sketch out the background so well and flesh out a tale. 
- The ending. It's proved inevitable just by reading the back cover of the book, but I still felt myself wanting to scream out nooooo when it happened. I just wanted Toti to run off with Agnes on his back, saving her. 

What was it about? The difference between who you are and what people see you as, and how this can affect your life. 
Would I recommend? Absolutely, yes, I don't know how it even took me this long. I loved it. Read it, everyone.

P.S. There was also a very inspirational interview with Hannah Kent in the back of my copy, talking about how she got around to writing the book and her writing practices once she started. She wrote 1000 words a day to get her manuscript done, come hell or highwater, and it took her I believe around three months. This seems like a good structure to me, one I'd like to emulate. Anyway, I would definitely recommend reading the interview in the back of the paperback copy, very interesting even if you're not into writing. 

'I don't wanna know if you're getting ahead of the programme...'

Review: The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

This is my favourite book I've ever had to read for my course. This isn't saying much, because I have read some tripe for my course. However I have made my way through Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Oliver Twist and The Valley of the Dolls, all of which I enjoyed and are a form of classic literature in some way. This book follows the protagonist Stephen Gordon from birth, as she grows up on an English country estate and struggles with and becomes aware of her own identity. Stephen is a lesbian, but it is hard for her to accept and understand this in a time when it is wholly frowned upon (the early 1900s). 

The story is an epic, covering Stephen's childhood, early adulthood in London, WW1 and her later years in Paris. It covers the key relationships in her life and also the key events in developing her self understanding and self worth.

It slightly shocked me how long it took her to fully realise her identity as a lesbian; she thought she was some kind of weird abomination, not something definable or of another set identity. The way her Dad tried to protect her from what she was was quite heartbreaking, as was the ending, although strong in its message of a call for equality. The portrayal of a loving relationship in this novel is beautiful and quite realistic in its ups and downs, with the added pressure of secrecy and social dismissal. Stephen becomes a writer, and ultimately it is through her work that she thinks that she will achieve an equality with the other, heterosexual 'normal' people, however at the end of the book she has produced great work yet is still not accepted by the world. It is a novel that is quite sad and bleak in it's outlook, but very frank and honest.  

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would encourage anyone to read it, even if you are put off by the quote about this book being 'the bible of lesbianism' on the cover (I received many odd stares when I whipped it out on the train). 

What is it about? Identity, realising who you are. 
Would I recommend? Yes, wholeheartedly.