Friday, November 22, 2013

The Long Road

Book Title:  After The Fire, a Small Still Voice   Author:  Evie Wyld  Genre:  Novel  Rating: 3.2 of 5

I picked up this novel with not a lot of expectations. And I finished the novel with the same attitude.

The story revolves around two men in two diffrent time periods. It's set in Austraila. First we have Frank, a middle aged man with a girlfriend and a life in the city. There life seems ideal until one day it just implodes. Frank ends up leaving and taking up residence in a small metal shack near the ocean. He lives day to day rebuilding himself and reawkening to life.
The other half of the story revolves around Leon. We see how his life is affected when his father leaves his life of making candy and treats to fight in the Korean war. His father comes back a broken man. Leon himself ends up being drafted for the vietnam war. And the novel follows his trials as well.

The book won the 2009 John Llewellyn Rhys award. It's a literary prize awarded each year to an author 35 or under who writes a novel in English and it's published in England. It's been awarded since 1942. But how does it stand up? Decently well in my opinion.

The book is written very well with a lot of attention to detail. It does get a little gushy at parts and heads into too much romanticism. An example is Frank being in the ocean...'He floated on his back, feeling like a fat otter, letting the salt water into his mouth, to clean right inside him, where city dust lay on the tops of his lungs.' Yeah I live near the ocean and I personally don't think salt water doean't taste too yummy! And I'm not sure about the cleaning either.
Also another thing that might trip up us readers from the USA would be all the English slang terms used in the book. In one page she uses: windscreen, bonnet, buggered...etc. You can figure out what she's saying, but still it can make for a tough read in some parts.

Still with a couple hick-ups the book manages itself very well. Frank's story is interesting, but it's Leon's tale that will keep you reading. Rage, anger, and a past that won't go away make for a decent page turner. Good novel.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Slow. Too Slow.

Book Title:  The Lace Reader   Author:  Brunonia Barry  Rating: 2.1 out of 5.


This book is given a lot of praise and hype. You can get that much just by reading the jacket. But does it live up to it? As good as "The Sixth Sense?" In my opinion, no it does not.
I do like the set up. Set in Salem, MA, it follows a young woman with special powers learning to cope with the death of a loved one and also trying to figure out the truth of what happened to her.
It has all the makings to be great but I found myself loosing interest in it very quickly. One problem I found was the only two likable characters were the main one and her brother. Oh well, I still recommend it as an interesting read, but get it from the library. You'll be glad you did.

Friendly to Your Mouth and the Environment!

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