The Dog - Joseph O'Neill

Review by M

The Dog was longlisted for the Man Booker 2014.

I never thought I'd ever sympathise with a Dubai-based westerner, but The Dog proved me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would especially recommend it to anyone who's ever/never worked/lived in or visited Dubai or who wrestles with moral dilemmas and ethics. Anyone who likes ink stamps or letter seals may well enjoy this too.

The narrator and main character is an American lawyer wallowing in the aftermath of a newly broken romantic relationship and has taken a very cushy looking job as a lawyer to a super-duper rich Lebanese family based in Dubai. The plot follows his related trials and tribulations, with some very drawn out internal debates (some readers may find these sections tedious but I quite enjoyed reading them).

Threaded through this plot are a series of interconnected master and servant relationships, as our naive narrator comes to realise. The realisation about the extended metaphor of the dog - for me (and perhaps for the narrator too) - was at times funny (sometimes very) but over-ridingly sad. Oh, what a loveable but frustrating character O'Neill has created.

The direction of the plot is slightly predictable, which adds to the sense of frustration, although the ending was not what I expected - though very plausible.

A review in The Guardian suggested that The Dog is too similar in many ways to O'Neill's earlier novel Neverland. I haven't read Neverland but I enjoyed The Dog so much, I'm happy to search out some more-of-the-same or even better in his other work.


Publication details: Fourth Estate, 2014, London
This copy: digital copy for review from the publisher

The Guest Cat - Takashi Hiraide

Review by M

A few years back, I thought I didn't like reading detailed descriptions in fiction. On the whole, I probably still don't, but sometimes.......The Guest Cat is one of those times. It's a little book and almost all of it is concentrated on minutiae that make for something far bigger than is immediately anticipated; poignantly uplifting.

Set in Tokyo, a writerly couple of thirty somethings live in a rented cottage just off what they call Lightning Alley: the descriptions of their residence and the light are something to marvel at in themselves. A stray cat wanders in from the alley and becomes something of a guest in the couple's quiet and thoughtful lives.

The Guest Cat is a little book about the surprising and growing intensity of unlikely attachments. It is immediately and quietly alluring, moving at a slow outward pace which defies the rate of thought and change of mind that besets the protagonist.

Originally published in Japanese, The Guest Cat won the Kiyama Shohei Literary Award. This English edition was translated by Eric Selland.



Publication details: Picador, 2014, London, paperback
This copy: for review from the publisher

Books read in 2014

Books Read in 2014 - by Little M

1. Crown of Midnight - Sarah J Maas (finished 2 Jan 2014)
2. Blood Family - Anne Fine (finished Feb 2014)
3. All the Truth That's in Me - Julie Berry (finished March 2014)
4. Hostage Three - Nick Lake (finished March 2014)
5. The Bunker Diary - Kevin Brooks (finished March 2014)
6. Allegiant - Veronica Roth
7. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak (finished 3 May 2014)
8. The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion (finished 8 May 2014)
9. We Were Liars - E Lockhart (finished 17 May 2014)
10. Rooftoppers - Katherine Rundell (finished 29 May 2014)

Little M has started her own, separate book blog called Manchee & Bones. She'll be listing there from now on!


Books read in 2014 - by M
1. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini (finished 8 Jan 2014)
2. Bird - Crystal Chan (finished 26 Jan 2014)
3. Hostage Three - Nick Lake (finished 4 Feb 2014)
4. Alex As Well - Alyssa Brugman (finished 19 Feb 2o14)
5. The Bunker Diary - Kevin Brooks (finished 6 March 2014)
6. The Wall - William Sutcliffe (finished 7 March 2014)
7. Kindred - Octavia E Butler (finished March 2014)
8. Close to the Wind - Jon Walter (finished 3 April 2014)
9. Bone Jack - Sara Crowe (finished 5 April 2014)
10. The Year of the Rat - Clare Furniss (finished 15 April 2014)
11. Jamaica Inn - Daphne du Maurier (finished 21 April 2014)
12. The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri (finished 9 May 2014)
13. The Vacationers - Emma Straub (finished 13 May 2014)
14. We Were Liars - E Lockhart (finished 14 May 2014)
15. Em and the Big Hoom - Jerry Pinto (finished 16 May 2014)
16. The Book of Unknown Americans - Cristina Henriquez (finished 18 May 2014)
17. Flambards - KM Peyton (finished 20 May 2014)
18. The Edge of the Cloud - KM Peyton (finished 21 May 2014)
19. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys (reread; finished 31 May 2014)
20. Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel (finished 14 June 2014)
21. J - Howard Jacobson (finished 28 August 2014)
22. The Dog - Joseph O'Neill (finished 7 September 2014)
23. Dear Committee Members - Julie Schumacher (finished 12 September 2014)
24. This Should Have Been Written in the Present Tense - Helle Helle (finished 15 September 2014)
25. The Children act - Ian McEwan (finished 16 September 2014)
26. The Guest Cat - Takashi Hiraide (December 2014)


Ha! This list will be very telling when it's looked back on in years to come. Just another page in my diary.......

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - Karen Joy Fowler

Review by M

Shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize 2014; winner of the 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

Some novels resonate closely with me for various reasons, and this novel is one of them. As a whole, it engulfed me. Despite some annoying elements, I loved it and won’t be surprised if it stays for a very long time on my ‘list of ‘favourite’ novels.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is a novel about family relationships (and their difficulties), but it specifically explores questions about our humanity, our being, and ethical choices. The way it does this is directly via the plot (which I think is unusual and refreshing) but I’m not saying much more on this because of spoilers. 

Told in the first person by Pearl, she starts her story in the middle when she is making her way through university. She speaks directly to her readership as she takes them back and forth as she finds the courage to tell the beginning and some of the end of what happened to the brother and sister who left her family when she was just a young girl.

Fowler likes to keep her reader guessing but thankfully it is not too long before she introduces the big twist which puts the plot onto a level that goes beyond the everyday of ‘ordinary’ family lives. I’d suggest steering clear of reviews on this novel if you want to savour the impact of the twist when you read the novel. It really put me completely beside myself.

This is a wrenching and thoughtful read, delivered mostly with a light tone that works surprising well (given the subject matter). The annoying elements, for me, were: the character of Harlow (I could have done without her though I see how she makes Pearl think about her own ‘essential’ being); a bit too much tension; and I’d have preferred some of Pearl’s research to have been included as an appendix.

I suspect fans of Margaret Atwood (especially perhaps Cat’s Eye), Ann Patchett and Maggie O’Farrell will thoroughly enjoy this novel. Highly, highly recommended and definitely one to be discussed - but not online for fear of spoilers.

Publication details: 2014, Serpent’s Tale, London, paperback

This edition: gift from Little M

Dear Committee Members - Julie Schumacher

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher

Review by M

For me, this was more self-indulgent than a chocolate box (or whatever else is your guilty pleasure). A series of increasingly disgruntled – and often hilariously cringeworthy – letters, are written by Jason Fitger, a well-established professor of English Creativeve Writing and Literature.  His lengthy letters show he is overwhelmed by the increasing academic protocol of writing recommendations for colleagues, funding and students. All of this is set within the context of university cuts (which seem to affect English creative writing university courses more so than the Economics department) as well as his personal relationship and publishing debacles.

This is a short book and each page is almost tediously ‘more of the same as the last page’ – but I found it immensely addictive. Recommended as a light but spot-on read.

Publication details:  The Friday Project, 9 October 2014, London, hardback

This copy: digital review copy from the publisher

The Midnight Dress - Karen Foxlee

The Midnight Dress by  Karen Foxlee

Guest Review by Alice (15)

Rose Lovell and her dad arrive in yet another town, she knows it will be the same as always, they will stay a while, her dad will get drunk and they will move on, it's happened before and it will happen again, won't it? But this time it's different, Rose makes friends with Pearl Kelly, the 'town sweetheart' who convinces the closed-book Rose to take part in the town's harvest parade. Rose goes to Eddie the town dressmaker whose life is riddled with secrets, tales, and according to the townspeople, witchcraft. Together they create a dress woven and stitched from memories, stories and magic. On the night of the parade the girl with the midnight dress goes missing, and nothing will be the same, ever again.

On top of having a beautiful plot line this book is one of the most spectacularly written books I have read in a long time. Rose is a bit of a goth, loves all things black and most of all the rainforest she discovers after hearing  Eddie's stories. When she meets Pearl she starts to come out of her shell. The way the character Rose is written made me fall in love with her and also feel a little bit of empathy for her, she had never really had any friends before Pearl and her dad doesn't really care about her. The book is written in a way that at the beginning of each chapter you find out a little bit more of the end and that helped me to understand the story more as the plot twisted on.

Anyone over the age of 11 could easily get as absorbed by this book as I did!

This book is brilliant for anyone who loves a good bit of friendship and mystery in a book. If you do then this book is most definitely for you!

Publication details: 2013, Hot Key Books, London, paperback

This copy: review copy from the publisher

Heir of Fire - Sarah J Maas

Heir of Fire by Sara J Maas

Review by Little M

(originally published on Manchee & Bones)

Heir of Fire is the third instalment in Sarah J.Maas's series with Celaena Sarodthien as the main character in a magical kingdom. I highly recommend this series. As this is the third novel in the series I haven't included much of a synopsis because it could be a huge SPOILER!

Celaena Sarodthien is an unbeatable assassin and the King of  Adarlin's Champion. She is continuing her quest to fulfil her dying friend's wish and to find the dark secrets her king is hiding from everyone. Celaena is put to the test. She is pushed to her limits both physically and mentally. She gains a couple of friends along the way and one of them will stay with her forever.

I love this series by Sarah J.Maas; it is high on my favourite books list (the whole series). I loved Chaol in the first two novels but Rowan is now my favourite character with his dry sense of humour and witty comebacks. This third novel really turns the whole story around. This is positive as some books put a plot twister in, which doesn't quite fit. However, this book just made me want to keep reading and reading!

I would definitely recommend Heir of Fire to those who have read Sarah J.Maas and possibly fans of Harry Potter. It is a magical, thrilling novel, which most fantasising teens may like. Well, I did and so do many of my friends. The writing style is pretty straight forward, like many teen novels. Although, there is the odd phrase, which is used far too often. This could be slightly annoying for some but it didn't put me off. Altogether, this is a highly recommended magical series, which teens like me may like.

Publication Details: 11 September 2014, Bloomsbury, London (originally New York)

This copy: digital review copy from the publisher

J - Howard Jacobson

J by Howard Jacobson

Review by M

 

J has been shortlisted for the Man Booker 2014.

 

(Please note: The title of this novel is not J. It is a struck out J but I don’t know how to type that!)

 

I’ve never finished The Finkler Question, the only Jacobson I’ve ever started to read, and the curious thing about this was that there ‘was’ something that I liked about his writing just as there ‘was’ something I did not like. Precise, aren’t I?

When J came up for review (prior to its Booker listing), both this niggle about Jacobson’s writing and the premise for J grabbed my current attention. Going by the blurb, J is both a dystopian novel and a love story, so pretty much right up my street.

Set in the future, a not-spoken -about past frames the novel, and the narrator hovers it over the characters like a thick mist: What Happened, If It Happened. Most of the novel is spent providing clues and red herrings as to What happened, if It happened (my early hunch was that something almost apocalyptic had happened due to social media – but I was wrong and anyone who understands the significance of the struck out J will have a good idea from the offing What has happened).

The narrator expounds philosophically about the pre- and post- treatment of It (for me, this went on a bit too much and was not sufficiently convincing). Post-It, public mood is presided over by an agency known as Ofnow (hmm, Atwoodian handmaids anyone?). Unfortunately, this ‘new’ world that J creates, is not fully explored and just doesn’t feel quite right.

J turns, however (and ultimately,thankfully), around two central characters, Ailinn and Kevern, and their new love affair, the future of which hangs in the balance due to a pair of ugly feet and a murder mystery. Jacobson crafts a believably poignant relationship, and these two characters, for me, are what carry the novel.

As the novel unfolds, the significance of the struck out J and What Happened, If It Happened is deadly serious. It is unnerving and unsettling, and on one count is not something unfamiliar from real life and on another count is not unfamiliar from the worlds of big brother.  

Jacobson puts much detail but also not enough into the plotlines so that some elements seemed superfluous while others were lacking. I found the ending very unsatisfying, partly because some things felt as if they were left hanging, but also because some things just didn’t feel like they fit well. I struggled to identify the ‘tone’ of the novel – there was always a lighthearted humour mingling with something much, much darker. It just didn’t feel plausible enough (though perhaps this is ‘the point’). I think I'd recommend this as a library read to some people.

 

Publication details: 14 August 2014, Jonathan Cape, London, hardback

This copy: digital review copy from the publisher

 

 

 

 

Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

 Adult fiction review by M

 

Station Eleven was pitched as being for Margaret Atwood or Hugh Howey fans.  I’m an Atwood fan but had never heard of Howey. This novel has had a huge (social media) presence, and from what I can gather, many people adore it. I didn’t.

Station Eleven is an apocalyptic novel. A virus, details unknown, kills almost everybody. There are a few survivors who have to start all over again and they’re afraid (typical apocalyptic scenario). A group of them form the Travelling Symphony, which tends to perform Shakespeare. Rather than simply exploring the now, the novel focuses on a few characters and their past, which helps to provide clues as to why survivors choose to protect and sustain certain ‘artefacts’. This held much promise for me but then the novel introduced a very coincidental ‘bad guy’ plot that I did not find very believable nor interesting.

I felt like I was reading something that wanted to be profound. But there was a disconnection for me: too many characters, none of whom were especially endearing to me; a plot that was built upon many coincidences (potentially very plausible but always unexplained, and therefore too convenient).

I couldn’t sense the ‘Atwood’ beyond post-apocalyptic similarities with the MaddAddam world (and on my current re-read of Cat’s Eye, some similar objects turn up: comics, glass ornaments etc ). As an Atwood fan, I was disappointed. The Travelling Symphony doesn’t hold the same place in my heart as God’s Gardeners. I can’t comment from the Howey camp.

 

Publication details: September 2014, Picador, London, hardback

This copy: review copy from the publisher

 

 

 

 

Emily Climbs - LM Montgomery

Emily Climbs by LM Montgomery

Guest review by Alice (14)

This is a beautifully written follow up to Emily of New Moon but you have to read Emily of New Moon first as I did because it would get a bit confusing as to who's who as there are quite a few characters from the first book in this book. I for one can't wait to read the last book in the Emily series (Emily's Quest) to find out what happens next.

(Spoiler alert – if you haven’t read Emily of New Moon, go away and do that first if you're afraid of spoilers for Emily Climbs!)

Emily Climbs is the second book in the Emily series. In the first book, the 12 year old Emily moves to New Moon, her aunt's house after her father’s death leaves her an orphan. Now 14 in the second book, Emily goes to Shrewsbury high school with her friends, Ilse, Teddy and Perry, but going to Shrewsbury means going to stay with aunt Ruth and to stay with aunt Ruth means to give up her beloved writing. Emily now torn from her dreams faces many dilemmas throughout the story.

My favourite character is Cousin Jimmy who although he is not the main character is always willing to listen to Emily and he will always side with her, always thinking her right.

This thought provoking book will make all teenagers and adults sympathise with the woes and dilemmas of young Emily from the start of the book when she is 14 to the end where she is 17. Some of the language on this book may be a bit tricky for younger readers to understand (even I had a bit of trouble with some words!) and this book gets ten out of ten for a deeply satisfying read.

Publication details: November 2013, Virago Modern Classic, London, paperback (first published 1925)

This copy: review copy from the publisher