Oil! by Upton Sinclair

I try to avoid giving up part way through books as often as possible, but this is one that I have consigned to the one-day-when-i-have-nothing-else-to-read (i.e. never) pile.   

Prompted to pick it up after seeing the movie There Will Be Blood, I was thrilled when I started this novel to read stark differences between the opening pages and memories of the film.   Whilst the movie is in the voice of the Daniel Day Lewis character, the book is read through the voice of Bunny, the son.  In the movie a young Bunny (about 10 years old) becomes deaf through a workplace explosion, in the book this doesn’t happen – at least not up to where I read and he was an adult at this point! 

There is no doubt that Sinclair has a rich prose full of idiosyncrasies that kept my eyes glued to the first 200 odd pages.  After this I started to lose my way some and reading this became a bit just-get-through-this-section-and-it-will-get-better.  So now I’ve given up.  My hat goes off to anyone who gets through it.  I’ve got too much else on my ‘to read’ pile.

The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

What a classic this little story is.  Written in a style that seems filled with what are apparently literary errors (multiple changes in voice, over use of fragments etc…) this is a thoroughly entertaining and entirely enjoyable tale.

It follows the journey of Precious Ramotswe in her career as a lady detective.  Each case has its own quirky trait. Written as though it’s a playful good-always-triumphs-evil type of story the author then ties in a stark dash of reality or turns the story into a completely unexpected direction that urges the reader to continue.  I felt like I was reading a reality cartoon if that makes any sense. 

This is an unconventionally great little read.

Quarterly Essay: Love & Money by Anne Manne

I’ve often seen Quarterly Essay in bookshops but never gone there before.  There was a lot of hoo-haa last year when David Marr released his discussing something about John Howard spin, lack of truth blah blah.  I never did pick it up because Marr’s politics do lean to the left and I figured it would be a Howard-bash in an election year.

Although, the latest one, Love and Money, authored by Anne Manne caught my interest.  The good thing about the Quarterly Essay is that it’s a relatively short but informative read.  At the conclusion of this particular one, I feel much more up to date about the likes of child care in the current day and age and some of the dilemmas faced by parents.  Drawing on a number of reputable sources Manne presents an easy to read essay with recommendations that don’t seem like brain surgery although do seem to present a logistical obstacle course.  

I can see alternate points of view to those of Manne although she raises valid points.

Pistache by Sebastian Faulks

Marieke Hardy gave this short little book a rap on one of the First Tuesday Book Club episodes some time back and although I didn’t seek it out, I happened to find myself in a Book Grocer store where it glared out at me from the Comedy/Humour Writing section. 

And what a little classic it is.  Penned by Sebastian Faulks it basically takes the piss out of the classics.  It’s only 100 odd pages long and as it’s written in prose, it can be read in little snatches here and there (before bed, on the train/tram etc) or I sat down one night last week and read it in an entire sitting, cracking up.  I found particularly amusing Alan Bennett, Jane Austen and Raymond Chandler.

Very clever.

Me, Myself and Prague by Rachael Weiss

Well, it’s been a while between drinks – I’ve been struggling through Upton Sinclairs’ Oil! these past weeks and haven’t had a chance to post anything about other books I’ve read.  I chanced by Me Myself and Prague at Borders thinking it was probably just another average travel memoir about the Aussie-girl-who-is-sick-of-her-life-runs-off-to-Europe-where-everything-turns-good, but it’s not.  This is a surprisingly fantastic read. 

It’s a year in the life of Rachael Weiss, a Sydney-ite with Czech roots, who relocates to Prague so she can produce the next Great Australian Novel and/or fall in love with a Czech man.  Well, what she has produced is not the next GAN but it’s an immensely readable tale with humour, wit and it makes Prague seem deliciously appealing with so much more on offer than Charles Bridge, which incidentally, gets a great rap at 4am! 

Weiss manages to combine a bit of Czech history, life in Prague today with laugh out loud moments (the Mr Hrabal encounter, driving on a Czech freeway, keeping Stepmother’s floor dry) to deliver a tale that flows impressively

I’m so very much looking forward to visiting Prague!