This is the tale of R, a zombie who isn't quite satisfied with his lot in death. He hates his need to rip into living people, and his best friend M calls him a girl for wiping the blood off his hands and face once they have feasted.
Then something miraculous happens - R meets a girl. Okay so 'meet' might be the more positive spin on it as R actually devours the boyfriend of this girl before his memories stir something R thought was lost. He sees Julie and knows he has to look after her, save her. Thus sparking the strangest evolution of the zombie myth so far, and a really good story.
Like so many books I read of late, this one was sparked by seeing the trailer for the movie version, released next February and starring Nicholas Hoult of About A Boy and X-Men fame as R, the zombie who can only remember the first letter of his name. I was instantly fascinated and thought, I read so much about vampires, werewolves and wizards that I might as well give zombies a go. The book is endorsed by the likes of Audrey Nieffenger who is known for complex plots and Simon Pegg, a lifelong fan of zombies - it also has the dubious accolade of praise from Stephanie Meyer, but if The Hunger Games trilogy can still be great literature even with her endorsement then so could Warm Bodies.
(don't get me wrong, I'm as addicted to Twilight as the next person, I just recognise that it is appalling writing)
This story is told through the eyes of R, our hero, and Marion manages to create a vivid portrait of the end of the world through his pearly irises. There is the complication of having 'Boneys' to contend with who are the more violent of the zombie species - no one knows quite how they came to be, but some explanation is offered toward the end. To be honest I'm still not completely clear on them and I felt that a little more explanation would have been handy.
I really enjoyed the relationship between R and M, how even in Death people bond and create social circles. Julie I was less a fan of - she grated on me sometimes but at least she wasn't a sap. The flashbacks of Perry Kelvin (Julie's recently eaten boyfriend) in R's mind are intriguing, but again like with the Boneys there was something lacking with the conclusion of his story. Perhaps it is the reliance of some authors on Divine or Higher Power as explanations, which as an Atheist I don't really hold with but the rest of the story was good enough for me to let it slide.
I definitely recommend this book. It is a sharp and imaginative retelling of the 'love-conquers-all story' and a twist on the tale of zombies - vampires, werewolves and now zombies get to fall in love and change their nature in some way. I say bring it on, and I'll be intrigued by Marion's next venture.
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Saturday, 10 November 2012
Ella Minnow Pea - Mark Dunn
Many moons ago a friend of mine recommended this book to me, and I finally decided to pay the 50p and get an inter-library loan so I could read it.
Its the first time in what feels like an age that I was so hooked on a story that I demolished it in a few hours. Okay so its not the longest book in the world but give me some credit, it does get pretty hard to read the further you get.
The book is an epistolary novel, aka a story told through letters. These letters are from and to an island called Nollop, a fictitious place named after the founder Nevin Nollop, the man who supposedly created the famous sentence 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog' - you know the one that uses the entire alphabet?
This island has worked hard to retain the use of letters as communication, having hardly any computers or working phone-lines, embracing language and using it to its fullest unlike the lazy citizens of the USA who are the neighbours of this small island.
The famous vulpine/canine sentence created by Nollop adorns the council building, but then one day one of the tiles falls off - its the letter Z. The girl who finds it takes the broken tile to the council who immediately jump to an extraordinary conclusion that it is a sign from above and Z should henceforth be removed from speech and writing. This renders all books and music illegal and the beginning of a scary period of time in the islands history as more tiles start to fall.
I thought this was going to be a light book, but it really isn't. Its dark and oddly reminiscent of every fascist regime that has ever existed, or any fundamental religion with any kind of power.
As the letters are gradually removed from the alphabet the islanders find it harder and harder to communicate without breaking the rules, punishment for which includes verbal warning, a day in the stocks or a whipping, and finally for a third offence banishment from the island or death. Scary huh?
Dunn writes as Ella, her mother and father, her cousin and aunt, and a few other sideline characters integral to illustrating the perverseness of the new laws and the indomitable spirit of the human race. You get to know each person through their letters or what is written about them, learning about why they stay on such a backward island and how important it is to fight for freedom of speech - even if in this instance it isn't because a journalist has uncovered the latest MP scandal.
The less letters available to the writers the harder it is to read what has been written, and I confess to reading a lot of the last quarter out loud just to make sense of what I was seeing. I commend Dunn for his skill in writing, it must have been as though he lived on that island too as he could not use the same letters that Ella and her compatriots were now banned from using.
This is a clever little book, I recommend reading it as it captivated my attention even while the Autumn Internationals were on (rugby). It is an intriguing example of another way that people in power who are just a touch nuts might one day ruin our lives.
Its the first time in what feels like an age that I was so hooked on a story that I demolished it in a few hours. Okay so its not the longest book in the world but give me some credit, it does get pretty hard to read the further you get.
The book is an epistolary novel, aka a story told through letters. These letters are from and to an island called Nollop, a fictitious place named after the founder Nevin Nollop, the man who supposedly created the famous sentence 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog' - you know the one that uses the entire alphabet?
This island has worked hard to retain the use of letters as communication, having hardly any computers or working phone-lines, embracing language and using it to its fullest unlike the lazy citizens of the USA who are the neighbours of this small island.
The famous vulpine/canine sentence created by Nollop adorns the council building, but then one day one of the tiles falls off - its the letter Z. The girl who finds it takes the broken tile to the council who immediately jump to an extraordinary conclusion that it is a sign from above and Z should henceforth be removed from speech and writing. This renders all books and music illegal and the beginning of a scary period of time in the islands history as more tiles start to fall.
I thought this was going to be a light book, but it really isn't. Its dark and oddly reminiscent of every fascist regime that has ever existed, or any fundamental religion with any kind of power.
As the letters are gradually removed from the alphabet the islanders find it harder and harder to communicate without breaking the rules, punishment for which includes verbal warning, a day in the stocks or a whipping, and finally for a third offence banishment from the island or death. Scary huh?
Dunn writes as Ella, her mother and father, her cousin and aunt, and a few other sideline characters integral to illustrating the perverseness of the new laws and the indomitable spirit of the human race. You get to know each person through their letters or what is written about them, learning about why they stay on such a backward island and how important it is to fight for freedom of speech - even if in this instance it isn't because a journalist has uncovered the latest MP scandal.
The less letters available to the writers the harder it is to read what has been written, and I confess to reading a lot of the last quarter out loud just to make sense of what I was seeing. I commend Dunn for his skill in writing, it must have been as though he lived on that island too as he could not use the same letters that Ella and her compatriots were now banned from using.
This is a clever little book, I recommend reading it as it captivated my attention even while the Autumn Internationals were on (rugby). It is an intriguing example of another way that people in power who are just a touch nuts might one day ruin our lives.
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
Some of you (if anyone out there apart from myself and James ever reads this blog) may be aware of the Matrix siblings latest movie phenomena, which is the adaptation of British author David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. If not here is the trailer, its what prompted me to read the book.
The film does not get its UK release until next Spring, but so far in the USA it has been met with a mixture of confusion and overwhelming appreciation of its beauty. That is in part I think the fault of trying to use the same actors for different parts no matter the race or age - after reading the book you'll understand what I mean, and I haven't even seen the movie yet.
In synopsis Cloud Atlas is a story told by Adam Ewing, Robert Frobisher, Luisa Ray, Timothy Cavendish, Sonmi~451 and Zachry, ranging from the mid-nineteenth century up until a post-apocalyptic future. The stories move through the ages until Zachry gets his turn, then the stories go back - providing a conclusion to where the tale of each person abruptly shut off, ending once more with Adam Ewing in the mid-19th century.
Each story is linked to the other in some small way, either with a reference to an author of the previous half-tale or that most intriguing detail, the comet shaped birthmark.
Confusing? A little at first, but then you become utterly absorbed by each tale.
I have to admit to finding the first half of Adam Ewing's Pacific journal a little trying, it took a while to catch my interest. But once it was caught my interest was held the entire way through, especially in the futuristic world of Somni~451 - theres something about clones that is both scary and likely to come true, bit like zombies.
You'll note that I'm not exactly giving anything away in this review, which I feel is right and proper for this book. If you cannot get into the story or accept the complexity of Mitchell's vision, that we are all in some way connected and our actions affect our futures (and that our spirits carry on through a form of reincarnation), then you just won't enjoy this book so there is no point in me spoiling it for those who will enjoy it.
The characters are vivid and engaging - as stated before I really liked Sonmi~451 but I think Robert Frobisher was my favourite, especially imagining him as Ben Whishaw (the Brit who plays him in the film) makes him completely come to life. A melodramatic and spontaneous character, truly selfish but makes you feel sad for him as only spoiled young men can.
The writing style is varied, as needs to be when embodying so many characters and timelines and genres - from comedy to sci-fi Mitchell holds his own, does not let the differences overwhelm or detract from the underlying principles of the story. It is really well written.
I highly recommend this book. If you have any intention of seeing the film version I doubly recommend reading the book first, because without knowing the complexities I can't imagine being able to watch the film with any interest - an underlying feature of many reviews that claim Cloud Atlas to be 'boring'.
The film does not get its UK release until next Spring, but so far in the USA it has been met with a mixture of confusion and overwhelming appreciation of its beauty. That is in part I think the fault of trying to use the same actors for different parts no matter the race or age - after reading the book you'll understand what I mean, and I haven't even seen the movie yet.
In synopsis Cloud Atlas is a story told by Adam Ewing, Robert Frobisher, Luisa Ray, Timothy Cavendish, Sonmi~451 and Zachry, ranging from the mid-nineteenth century up until a post-apocalyptic future. The stories move through the ages until Zachry gets his turn, then the stories go back - providing a conclusion to where the tale of each person abruptly shut off, ending once more with Adam Ewing in the mid-19th century.
Each story is linked to the other in some small way, either with a reference to an author of the previous half-tale or that most intriguing detail, the comet shaped birthmark.
Confusing? A little at first, but then you become utterly absorbed by each tale.
I have to admit to finding the first half of Adam Ewing's Pacific journal a little trying, it took a while to catch my interest. But once it was caught my interest was held the entire way through, especially in the futuristic world of Somni~451 - theres something about clones that is both scary and likely to come true, bit like zombies.
You'll note that I'm not exactly giving anything away in this review, which I feel is right and proper for this book. If you cannot get into the story or accept the complexity of Mitchell's vision, that we are all in some way connected and our actions affect our futures (and that our spirits carry on through a form of reincarnation), then you just won't enjoy this book so there is no point in me spoiling it for those who will enjoy it.
The characters are vivid and engaging - as stated before I really liked Sonmi~451 but I think Robert Frobisher was my favourite, especially imagining him as Ben Whishaw (the Brit who plays him in the film) makes him completely come to life. A melodramatic and spontaneous character, truly selfish but makes you feel sad for him as only spoiled young men can.
The writing style is varied, as needs to be when embodying so many characters and timelines and genres - from comedy to sci-fi Mitchell holds his own, does not let the differences overwhelm or detract from the underlying principles of the story. It is really well written.
I highly recommend this book. If you have any intention of seeing the film version I doubly recommend reading the book first, because without knowing the complexities I can't imagine being able to watch the film with any interest - an underlying feature of many reviews that claim Cloud Atlas to be 'boring'.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)