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!