Travel - Just For Culture

Just For Culture

JFC's Mini Book Review: Letters I Never Sent You, by Paula Varjack

31/10/2016

It was very hard to pick out a favourite quote from this one, but here are two:

"Tomorrow I think I want to spend all day getting lost; understanding, or maybe allowing myself to not understand it at all..."

"I like writing, because writing is like talking. I love talking, but only to some people. Talking is tricky, especially when you're the type that talks faster than you think..."

I saw Paula perform some of these poems in Edinburgh and I'm so glad she released this collection. It's such an engaging read; so real and eventful. It captures the importance of those everyday moments that might mean everything to one person and little, or something completely different, to the next, quite possibly better than anything else I've read. A lot of this book is now underlined!

5/5

Stuart Kenny

JFC's Mini Book Review: The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters

31/10/2016

Interesting plot line, supernatural segments gripping, but book took far too long to achieve not all that much.

Faraday's narration was like getting stuck on a bus next to someone determined to tell you his life story despite having nothing to tell. Why would you decide to write a novel and then give your protagonist so little character? It's like brewing a beer but making it non-alcoholic. Faraday is a non-alcoholic beer. With an extremely boring label. Far too bland a narrator - even with the hinted paranormal links between him and the house later on. Those should've been built on sooner, stronger and not left for so long between dull socialising and irrelevant thoughts. Climatic scenes very well delivered though. Cut this book in half and it can have a third star.

2/5

Stuart Kenny

JFC's Mini Book Review: The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion

31/10/2016

Cleverly written, great range of characters and fittingly direct. No words wasted on meaningless events/exchanges. In certain ways unrealistic at times - if the protagonist is so clever would he not have a better sense of self? - but surprisingly funny, original and worth a read. Easy to get through in a couple of days.

4/5

Stuart Kenny

JFC's Mini Book Review: The Tesseract, by Alex Garland

31/10/2016

Starts out almost as a sequel to The Beach but becomes a lot more intricate as the narrative switches viewpoints. Complicated structure dealt with well by the author but overdone at times, particularly in flashback form. Brilliant final section which ties a lot of the tale together. Interesting characters, some of which could've been developed better. Easy quick read though and worth the time for it.

3/5

Stuart Kenny

JFC's Mini Book review: Poor Things, by Alasdair Gray

31/10/2016

Enjoyable read but hard to argue with the points/issues Gray himself makes about the text through Belle's finishing letter. Good fun but largely pieced together through Victorian Gothic nods that sometimes get ridiculous.

2.5/5

Stuart Kenny

JFC's Mini Book Review: The 39 Steps, by John Buchan

31/10/2016

Wonderful short read. Could obviously do with a lot more development of the villains but to write 110 pages so readable, effectively establishing a genre now familiar to the point of template in the mainstream, while subtly calling back RL Stevenson, Conan Doyle, Laurence Sterne in the text shows the intelligence and creativity involved. Brilliant fun from Buchan and finishable in one sitting. Some hilarious lines! Significantly improved by reading in context.

4/5

Stuart Kenny

JFC's Mini Book Review: The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson

31/10/2016

A good read all round, and Matheson does brilliantly to make such a ridiculous concept so realistic and validly emotional / thought-provoking... But at the same time too much of the book is just poor Scott getting chased by a variety of different sized predators. The characters aren't wildly likeable either.

2.5/5

Stuart Kenny

JFC's Mini Book Review: A Man Called Ove, by Frederik Backman

31/10/2016

Frederik Backman is such a wonderful writer. I didn't expect this to be so sad at times but the story is fantastic and it only gets better the more you get to know Ove. I love how Backman writes animals as characters in his novels in such a unique and comical way. His characters are often quite simple but so well developed and endearing. It makes it so easy to put yourself in his stories. Such a heartwarming novel.

4/5

Stuart Kenny

JFC's Mini Book Review: My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry, By Frederik Backman

31/10/2016

"It's not important what exactly you believe in, but there's got to be something, or else you may as well forget the whole damned thing."

I absolutely love this book! It's so endearing, so imaginative, heartbreaking at times and so emotive. The story is almost surprisingly well developed and told so well through Elsa, and the dream world is perfectly intertwined with the real life tale. I'm devastated to have finished it. The five star rating may also have something to do with my discovery of peanut butter hot chocolate while reading the book, but I'm almost sure that Elsa would approve of that interjection.

5/5

Stuart Kenny

JFC's mini Book Review: Ways of Going Home, By Alejandro Zambra

31/10/2016

"I thought that maybe there was some kind of dirt that I simply couldn't see, and that when I grew up maybe I would see layers of dirt where now I saw only waxed floors and shining wood."

I've been trying to read more books translated from foreign language recently and this has been my favourite so far. I loved the way the narrative divides into past and present, fiction and non-fiction and says so much in 130 pages. It reads so simple but has so much depth and such a strong sense of self in the narration. I had to stop myself reading it a couple of times to make it last more than a couple of days. Can't wait to read more from Zambra. Really recommend this!

4/5

Stuart Kenny