The White Tiger
Aravind Adiga
Adiga's The White Tiger crosses the entire breadth of India's socio-economic spectrum, from lowly rickshaw drivers, right up to the corrupt politicians, and pulls no punches along the way.
Our protagonist and narrator, Balram Halwai recounts his story to the reader through a series of correspondence with a Chinese ambassador from his office in Bangalore. The correspondence takes us through the various stages of Halwai's life that lead the story's conclusion - the murder of the Halwai's master by Halwai.
From Halwai's humble beginnings in The Darkness we watch his struggle to break free of his caste-fated destiny which would see him end up in a Tea Shop, or as a rickshaw driver.
For me The White Tiger showed a corrupt side of India that I naively didn't think existed. Indeed, as you get drawn further into Halwai's world, you realise that corruption runs rampant throughout the country, and is part of how things 'are done here'. Less of a shock was the seemingly parasitic nature of the Indian family; people forced to give up all their earnings, to marry when ordered and to be generally subservient to family rulers.
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
T. S. Eliot
A beautiful and whimsical book. That pretty much sums up Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. The book wonderfully captures those creatures we love (or loathe, I suppose), cats. The illustrations in my particular edition were just wonderful - a simplistic, almost cartoonish style, but with lush and vibrant colours that capture the fun and playfulness of the poems perfectly.
The book is wonderful reading material for children, young and old alike.
Stardust
Neil Gaiman, Charles Vess (Illustrator)
I saw the movie adaptation of Stardust before reading the graphic novel, and I must admit (much to my shame, and Ms G's chagrin) I was sceptical about whether the the book could draw me in (like the film had). I was wrong. I tore through the book.
While the lands beyond Wall may not be as detailed as other fantasy books, given the short length of the work, I was utterly entranced and besotted by the world Gaiman had created. Let's check of the work for good fantasy requirements:
- Faeries
- Witches
- An outsider brought into the world
- Unicorns
- Blood and / or guts
- (Supernatural) love interest
The Consolations of Philosophy
Alain de Botton
I've had De Botton's The Consolations of Philosophy rattling around on my bookshelf for quite some time - It was given to me as a gift by the lovely Ms G quite a while ago. To be honest I was avoiding it, mostly because it was about 'philosophy'. Like a lot of people I felt that the only good use of a 'philosopher' was flipping burgers at the local fast-food chain. How wrong I was.
The Consolations of Philosophy chronicles the lives and ideas of six of the greatest philosophers through out history, beginning of with the unjust death of Socrates through to the Alpine-affected Nietzche. We see their view on the world, and what it takes to survive and thrive.
The book is broken down into six sections:
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Each of the sections is given to a philosopher, with their ideas and doctrines being used to navigate the troubles that lie within, with commentary and interpretation provided be de Botton.
The format and layout of the is ever changing, thus preventing a heavy topic, philosophy, from ever becoming boring or staid. Combine this with witty and at times pithy insights from the author, and it's not hard to see why de Botton's take on philosophy was described as '\”...the new rock and roll...”.
I can see that people, intellectuals especially, might see this book as 'philosophy lite', but I think that it introduces a subject that may be considered dry and boring to a large audience, and forces one to reflect on one's life - something most of us don't do nearly enough.
Pauline Reage
Story of O was surrounded by controversy when published in 1954, culminating in obscenity charges being levelled at the publisher. Despite the controversy (or perhaps because of) it has gone on to become one of the great erotic BDSM works.
The novel centres around O, a young fashion photographer, and her travails through the ever escalating sadomasochistic practices perpetrated upon her.
While I say perpetrated - early in the novel we see seemingly horrible acts: rape, torture, imprisonment - we begin to see that O derives immense satisfaction and worth from these oppressive acts and violation. While superficially sexual in nature the root of this 'gratification' isn't; she is wholly fulfilled by unconditionally serving her 'master', with sex not integral.
For me the, the story is misrepresented by a poor translation, and would be best read in French, or a different edition (mine was published by Corgi, no translator listed). However by modway through the novel the translation became more flowing; less like French in English, enabling me to grapple the concepts more. While I wasn't able to identify with any of the characters, I was able to appreciate a life style very different to my own.
The author of this review wishes to apologise for an inelegant and grammatically flawed piece of work.
American Psycho
Bret Easton Ellis
To me the chronicling of abhorrent ideas and acts is often worse than the acts themselves. The idea that writers for television shows can come up with ever more gruesome murders every week astounds me, and indicates quasi-derangement on the part of the author. This for me is American Pyscho, Bret Easton Ellis' look into the world of the disconnected and decadent world of the 1980's Wall Street yuppie and the psychopathic protagonist, Patrick Bateman.
Bateman is by all accounts the touchstone of success; a successful 'corporate raider', he is handsome, rich and intelligent. He is also shallow, racist, homophobic and (generally) morally void. Ellis does a wonderful at describing a fundamentally broken person through his descriptions and interactions with a broken upper-class society. We are shown an obsession with material goods - a shallow elite. Pair this with the lack of compassion for fellow man and we have an utterly despicable set of characters.
Despite the loathsome characters I found myself hooked in by the aspects of the crazy narration: the description of minutiae – such as a chapter dedicated to Bateman's morning facial routine; the breakdown and description of items of clothing; the disjointed thought process of Bateman. Not since reading Heller's Catch 22 have I felt such an affection for (or connection to) such crazed characters.
As the book progresses, and Bateman becomes more unhinged, these seemingly harmless obsessions and delirium are interspersed with brutal and senseless violence. Ellis' detailed description of the rape, torture and murder of people may be appropriate given who the narrator is but it becomes gratuitous in the end. We know who he is and what he does, another detailed description of mutilation isn't required.
Despite the heaped on violence, I feel the book is extremely good, and I feel the connections Ellis is trying to make between society and sociopathy are well made, and well founded.