The Birds and Other Stories, by Daphne du Maurier
The E before Christmas, by Matt Beaumont
Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel (audio)
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, by Stephen King
The Long Walk, by Richard Bachman (also known as Stephen King)
Absent in the Spring, by Mary Westmacott (also known as Agatha Christie)
Inside the Whale, by Jennie Rooney
June 2010
The Birds and Other Stories, by Daphne du MaurierFirst published as The Apple Tree by Gollancz 1952
This edition published by Penguin Books 1975
It seems my fate with Daphne du Maurier books is to be forever left leaving the table hungry. There are six short stories within this collection, and each of them makes me pause at the last page, before I flick back and re-read, curious to know more, to wonder how I didn’t guess the build up, to pick through the words for any vital clues.
I actually read this book straight after reading the H.G.Wells classic ‘The War of the Worlds’, and it was quite strange to plunge straight into the story of The Birds, yet another way to purge the human race. The Birds of course inspired film director Alfred Hitchcock, but the film is completely different from the quiet menace of the book. It ends abruptly, but sometimes in life there is no explanation, and this story reflects that beautifully. The other stories are equally memorable – the call of austere nature in Monte Verità, the trap weaved from greed in The Little Photographer, the mysterious usherette in Kiss Me Again, Stranger and finally The Old Man, a brilliantly told tale of family history. This latter story stayed in my mind for a long time – I did not guess the ending, and so had to re-read to see the story with new eyes. I love it when a story manages to do that, pull you in so deeply that you believe everything the author says, and then at the end you laugh as you realise how you were duped – it is the work of a conjurer, and I am a delighted child watching the magic. Perfect.
The E Before Christmas, by Matt BeaumontPublished by HarperCollins Publishers 2000
This edition the same
This book is a quick read, an addendum to Matt’s debut novel ‘e’, and revisits the same characters and setting that made ‘e’ so memorable.
When ‘e’ first came out, it was very revolutionary. Composed entirely of emails, we very quickly get to know the characters through their correspondence with each other. It’s very interesting how the way people use punctuation gives a good idea of their character, and this is what ‘e’ does so brilliantly. There is the secretary who overuses exclamation marks and the hippy art director whose every communication involves a smiley face. There is also the back-stabbing – gushing emails of praise to the boss while behind their back emails of vitriol do the rounds. If you have worked for an advertising agency you will definitely smile and nod knowingly at the characters, but even if you haven’t there is recognition of certain types to be found in every office - put-upon Nigel in accounts, the harassed office manager who worries about air conditioning, the creative team who are always to be found in the bar next door.
The e before Christmas bounces you straight into the days leading up to the office Christmas party. Most enjoyable.
Wolf Hall, by Hilary MantelPublished by Fourth Estate, 2009
This version is an unabridged audio book, released in March 2010, purchased via itunes
Wolf Hall won author Hilary Mantel the Man Booker prize in 2009, and I was eager to read it, although decided the audio version would be kinder on my ancient handbag. I am very glad I went for audio, as the narrator, Simon Slater, really brings each character alive with a different voice for each, and since there are so many characters I think this definitely gives the reader (or listener, rather) a helping hand.
The book plunges you into the events of the 1520s with such precision and knowledge that you feel this is the only way things could have unfolded, and the characters – King Henry VIII and his court – are exactly as Hilary maintains. Yet thankfully she does not wield her historic research with too heavy a hand – I am given enough detail to be able to see the clogged Thames, feel the political intrigue, and wonder at life in London so long ago. There is also a nice touch of clever humour here and there – it doesn’t come often, but when it does it will make you smile.
Having said that, this book does require a certain amount of focus to keep up with what is happening. I found the allegorical title of the book to be a bit odd, as I was waiting for a bigger connection with Wolf Hall, as opposed to a few spoken references. It is very heavy in dialogue, with a slight confusion over who is actually speaking (the audio helps here), and I found it hard to reconcile Thomas More of the book with Thomas More in A Man For All Seasons. But I did enjoy listening to it, as well as feeling very much in awe over her command of melding fact with fiction.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, by Stephen KingFirst published by Hodder & Stoughton, 1999 (UK)
This edition by Hodder & Stoughton, 2000
Whether or not you like the horror genre, Stephen King is a master story-teller, and many of his books play on the psychologically creepy rather than the gore so beloved by certain crime fiction writers, for example. He really knows how to send that shiver down your spine, how to make his words linger long after you have closed the book, and how to paint pictures in your mind.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is such a simple premise – a young girl gets lost out walking in the woods with her family. This doesn’t seem enough to power a 290 page book, but the girl in question has a long journey ahead of her, and the state she is lost in is large and full of dangers. Our heroine in the book is very resourceful, much more than I would be at nine years old, and yet the empty woods loom close, and as a reader you can feel them press and settle at your back. Highly recommended.
Other book reviews will be liberally scattered in the week. Wishing you all a happy Sunday!
