Books read in October
Oct. 31st, 2017 05:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofastolatA YA historical romp, a dull fantasy trilogy, some Philip Pullman (including the new one), a literate gorilla and lots of table etiquette.
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
YA. 18 year old Henry "Monty" Montague is about to embark on his Grand Tour, along with his childhood best friend, Percy. Monty is irresponsible, self-centred and pleasure-seeking. Bisexual, he is in love with Percy, and hopes that the Tour will bring them together. However, one of his irresponsible escapades has dangerous consequences, forcing Monty, Percy and Monty's sister, Felicity (travelling en route to finishing school) to go on the run. Soon they are caught up in a hectic adventure involving highwaymen, pirates and alchemists, during which Monty is forced to realise how little he really understands the friend he loves and the sister he has always dismissed.
I found this rather an enjoyable read. The alchemy plotline was a bit silly, with hints of real magic popping up in what looked like being a non-magical historical novel. Despite Monty having only very rudimentary French and no knowledge of any other language except for English, he was able to communicate fluently with everyone he met across Europe, which was, if anything, even sillier. It was very much a modern day book, despite its 18th century setting – gleefully anachronistic in its dialogue, and bringing up such issues as sexism (Felicity's desire to study as a doctor), homophobia and racism (Percy is the son of a plantation owner and a black slave, although raised as gentry by relatives in England.) But I found it all very readable and rather enjoyable, with an engaging and light-hearted first person narrative voice.
The Forsaken Lands trilogy by Glenda Larke
The Lascar's Dagger
The Dagger's Path
The Fall of the Dagger
Fantasy trilogy. Saker is a priest, a scholar and a spy, serving the beleaguered head of his faith – a faith that is increasingly divided between those who favour the older, nature-based ways and those who despise them. When on a mission, Sakar becomes the unwilling bearer of a magical dagger. This previous bearer of the dagger – Ardhi – comes from a distant island recently discovered by merchants from Saker's half of the world. Despising the god-forsaken "savages," the traders have stolen something of great power from Ardhi's island, and he has come to retrieve it. Sent on a mission to a king's court, Saker gets involved in the politics of an impending royal marriage and the plottings of a sinister priest. This leads him on a course that will eventually see him join forces with Ardhi, as well as with a young woman called Sorrel, as they learn more about the magic of both halves of the world, and deal with a growing sorcerous threat.
I found this all rather dull and uninspiring. Book one kept me at least moderately interested – though not that much, since I was entirely unbothered when I discovered that I'd accidentally left it at work one weekend. I did at least read the whole of book two, but book three I skimmed through very swiftly. I can't put my finger on anything specific that's wrong with the series; it just didn't grab me.
His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (reread)
Northern Lights
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass
Most people reading this post have either probably read the trilogy or have no interest in reading it, so I won't bother talking about the plot. I read them when they first came out, and clearly liked them enough to buy them, but I don't think I've ever reread them until now.
On this reread, parts of the story gripped me and even moved me (anything involving traumatised or dying daemons), but in other parts – often the chapters featuring the adult characters – I found my attention wandering. In the second book, I particularly like seeing our world through Lyra's eyes and Lyra's world through Will's. (I'm always a sucker for scenes in we see a world we know through a newcomer's eyes.) However, as the story goes on, I feel that the narrative and character development sometimes struggle to hold their own beneath the weight of ideas and moral lessons. While the closing chapters are powerful, I'm not that sure that I actually believe in them. But, overall, I find more to like than to dislike.
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman (The Book of Dust vol. 1)
Set 10 years before the start of Northern Lights, this features 11 year old Malcolm, whose parents run the Trout at Wolvercote. Malcolm often visits the nuns in nearby Godstow, who have just been entrusted with a baby called Lyra – a baby who is the focus of considerable interest from various people, some of them dangerous. While out in his canoe, La Belle Sauvage, Malcolm witnesses an incident that brings him into contact with Hannah Relf, an academic, part-time spy and student of the alethiometer. As a particularly unpleasant bad guy closes in on Lyra, the flood waters are rising, and Malcolm – along with a teenage serving girl called Alice - might be the only ones who can save her.
I really enjoyed this. I really liked Malcolm, who's intelligent, curious, honest, creative and just an all-round nice guy. Some readers will doubtless find him goody-goody and dull, but I liked him a lot. I also really liked Hannah, the lady academic and part-time spy.
However, I do have some misgivings. In many ways, the book felt like two separate, very different books – the first half a leisurely one full of character interaction and gradual plot development, and the second half suddenly turning into The Odyssey. There were some magical episodes that felt a little jarring and caused me to rethink what I thought I knew about what manner of a fantasy world we were dealing with. (But presumably these magical themes will be developed more in the sequels?) Several of the plot threads and characters from the first half were completely dropped, never to resurface. Yes, this is just book one of a trilogy, but the second book is set 20 years later, so presumably some of these will remain forever dropped. The ending, in particular, left me somewhat unsatisfied. Yes, it was a proper ending, and not a cliffhanger by any means, but I just needed a few more chapters of emotional resolution.
But overall I really enjoyed it.
The Murderer's Ape by Jakob Wegelius, translated from the Swedish by Peter Graves
Children's book set in the 1920s or thereabouts. The narrator is Sally Jones, who is telling the story after the fact, using a typewriter. Sally Jones (never just "Sally") is a gorilla. She can't speak, but she can read, write, play chess and repair engines. For years, she has been travelling with "the Chief," her human comrade, on their boat. But when the Chief takes a seemingly simple transportation in job in Lisbon, he ends up framed for a crime he didn't commit. After some time spent with some new friends, Sally Jones sets off on a long journey across the world to India to track down a witness who can clear her friend's name.
I found this a perfectly pleasant read – nothing massively memorable, perhaps, but nice. I'm still not entirely clear about the whole literate gorilla thing. This isn't a fantasy world full of literate animals. Humans are surprised when they discover Sally Jones's accomplishments, but not quite so gobsmacked (or godsmacked, as I initially wrote :-D ) and disbelieving as they would probably be in the real world. They might mutter that it's unusual, but they still employ her as a mechanic. But I suppose I should just get past that and enjoy the story. Which I did.
Non-fiction
The Rituals of Dinner: the origins, evolution, eccentricities and meaning of table manners by Margaret Vesser
A long and very interesting mixture of social history and anthropology, covering the etiquette and habits of eating through history and across the world. Rather than arranging things chronologically or geographically, the book progresses through the stages of a sociable meal, from initial invitations to saying goodbye. By table manners, she means far more than just the correct way to hold a knife. It's everything associated with the etiquette and customs of the table. Rather alarmingly, the first chapter is about cannibalism! Yes, even cannibals have strict rules about who to eat and how to eat them. I found it all quite fascinating.
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
YA. 18 year old Henry "Monty" Montague is about to embark on his Grand Tour, along with his childhood best friend, Percy. Monty is irresponsible, self-centred and pleasure-seeking. Bisexual, he is in love with Percy, and hopes that the Tour will bring them together. However, one of his irresponsible escapades has dangerous consequences, forcing Monty, Percy and Monty's sister, Felicity (travelling en route to finishing school) to go on the run. Soon they are caught up in a hectic adventure involving highwaymen, pirates and alchemists, during which Monty is forced to realise how little he really understands the friend he loves and the sister he has always dismissed.
I found this rather an enjoyable read. The alchemy plotline was a bit silly, with hints of real magic popping up in what looked like being a non-magical historical novel. Despite Monty having only very rudimentary French and no knowledge of any other language except for English, he was able to communicate fluently with everyone he met across Europe, which was, if anything, even sillier. It was very much a modern day book, despite its 18th century setting – gleefully anachronistic in its dialogue, and bringing up such issues as sexism (Felicity's desire to study as a doctor), homophobia and racism (Percy is the son of a plantation owner and a black slave, although raised as gentry by relatives in England.) But I found it all very readable and rather enjoyable, with an engaging and light-hearted first person narrative voice.
The Forsaken Lands trilogy by Glenda Larke
The Lascar's Dagger
The Dagger's Path
The Fall of the Dagger
Fantasy trilogy. Saker is a priest, a scholar and a spy, serving the beleaguered head of his faith – a faith that is increasingly divided between those who favour the older, nature-based ways and those who despise them. When on a mission, Sakar becomes the unwilling bearer of a magical dagger. This previous bearer of the dagger – Ardhi – comes from a distant island recently discovered by merchants from Saker's half of the world. Despising the god-forsaken "savages," the traders have stolen something of great power from Ardhi's island, and he has come to retrieve it. Sent on a mission to a king's court, Saker gets involved in the politics of an impending royal marriage and the plottings of a sinister priest. This leads him on a course that will eventually see him join forces with Ardhi, as well as with a young woman called Sorrel, as they learn more about the magic of both halves of the world, and deal with a growing sorcerous threat.
I found this all rather dull and uninspiring. Book one kept me at least moderately interested – though not that much, since I was entirely unbothered when I discovered that I'd accidentally left it at work one weekend. I did at least read the whole of book two, but book three I skimmed through very swiftly. I can't put my finger on anything specific that's wrong with the series; it just didn't grab me.
His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (reread)
Northern Lights
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass
Most people reading this post have either probably read the trilogy or have no interest in reading it, so I won't bother talking about the plot. I read them when they first came out, and clearly liked them enough to buy them, but I don't think I've ever reread them until now.
On this reread, parts of the story gripped me and even moved me (anything involving traumatised or dying daemons), but in other parts – often the chapters featuring the adult characters – I found my attention wandering. In the second book, I particularly like seeing our world through Lyra's eyes and Lyra's world through Will's. (I'm always a sucker for scenes in we see a world we know through a newcomer's eyes.) However, as the story goes on, I feel that the narrative and character development sometimes struggle to hold their own beneath the weight of ideas and moral lessons. While the closing chapters are powerful, I'm not that sure that I actually believe in them. But, overall, I find more to like than to dislike.
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman (The Book of Dust vol. 1)
Set 10 years before the start of Northern Lights, this features 11 year old Malcolm, whose parents run the Trout at Wolvercote. Malcolm often visits the nuns in nearby Godstow, who have just been entrusted with a baby called Lyra – a baby who is the focus of considerable interest from various people, some of them dangerous. While out in his canoe, La Belle Sauvage, Malcolm witnesses an incident that brings him into contact with Hannah Relf, an academic, part-time spy and student of the alethiometer. As a particularly unpleasant bad guy closes in on Lyra, the flood waters are rising, and Malcolm – along with a teenage serving girl called Alice - might be the only ones who can save her.
I really enjoyed this. I really liked Malcolm, who's intelligent, curious, honest, creative and just an all-round nice guy. Some readers will doubtless find him goody-goody and dull, but I liked him a lot. I also really liked Hannah, the lady academic and part-time spy.
However, I do have some misgivings. In many ways, the book felt like two separate, very different books – the first half a leisurely one full of character interaction and gradual plot development, and the second half suddenly turning into The Odyssey. There were some magical episodes that felt a little jarring and caused me to rethink what I thought I knew about what manner of a fantasy world we were dealing with. (But presumably these magical themes will be developed more in the sequels?) Several of the plot threads and characters from the first half were completely dropped, never to resurface. Yes, this is just book one of a trilogy, but the second book is set 20 years later, so presumably some of these will remain forever dropped. The ending, in particular, left me somewhat unsatisfied. Yes, it was a proper ending, and not a cliffhanger by any means, but I just needed a few more chapters of emotional resolution.
But overall I really enjoyed it.
The Murderer's Ape by Jakob Wegelius, translated from the Swedish by Peter Graves
Children's book set in the 1920s or thereabouts. The narrator is Sally Jones, who is telling the story after the fact, using a typewriter. Sally Jones (never just "Sally") is a gorilla. She can't speak, but she can read, write, play chess and repair engines. For years, she has been travelling with "the Chief," her human comrade, on their boat. But when the Chief takes a seemingly simple transportation in job in Lisbon, he ends up framed for a crime he didn't commit. After some time spent with some new friends, Sally Jones sets off on a long journey across the world to India to track down a witness who can clear her friend's name.
I found this a perfectly pleasant read – nothing massively memorable, perhaps, but nice. I'm still not entirely clear about the whole literate gorilla thing. This isn't a fantasy world full of literate animals. Humans are surprised when they discover Sally Jones's accomplishments, but not quite so gobsmacked (or godsmacked, as I initially wrote :-D ) and disbelieving as they would probably be in the real world. They might mutter that it's unusual, but they still employ her as a mechanic. But I suppose I should just get past that and enjoy the story. Which I did.
Non-fiction
The Rituals of Dinner: the origins, evolution, eccentricities and meaning of table manners by Margaret Vesser
A long and very interesting mixture of social history and anthropology, covering the etiquette and habits of eating through history and across the world. Rather than arranging things chronologically or geographically, the book progresses through the stages of a sociable meal, from initial invitations to saying goodbye. By table manners, she means far more than just the correct way to hold a knife. It's everything associated with the etiquette and customs of the table. Rather alarmingly, the first chapter is about cannibalism! Yes, even cannibals have strict rules about who to eat and how to eat them. I found it all quite fascinating.
