It took me over a month to read this book, not because it would be a slog to get through, but precisely the opposite: it felt too momentous, too important not to read it with the utmost care and attention. Very Brittain wrote a memoir that reads, for the most part, like fiction. She had incredible talent as a nature writer and possessed a great gift for making a huge emotional impact while using understatement. Testament of Youth is a thoroughly depressing, dark book, but it weaves through the haze of the ordinary in a way that it never becomes melodramatic. It is honest and true in its nature, and one is amazed at the amount of detail contained in it (though I suppose the use of her old journals helped to reconstruct the memories). The book serves not just as a witness to its time, but as an intimate portrait of somebody who was thrust into devastating war and came out of it the last one of her group of intimate friends alive, left to pick up the threads, battle through her trauma and find some sense in life again. Definitely a memoir with value: historical, literary and psychological.
Just when you think that this would be an OK read but nothing amazing, Thomas Hardy takes you over the head and heart with a baseball bat to remind you he is also the author of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and your feelings are not sacred to him. This is a book about Victorian marriage, social expectations and disappointment, as well as contrasting the honesty and truth (represented by nature) with artifice and pretensions (that come from the bigger, more sophisticated world). Hardy has created an interesting group of characters who populate this novel in a meaningful, humane way. You can judge them, you can admire them, you will probably find yourself in more than one of them. If you are honest, that is.
I would have eaten this up if I were 14. But I am not, and so the tone felt a bit too young. The book did not have the depth and detail I had hoped for. And please do not start me on several instances of modern language (for example, "daddy issues") and two detailed sex scenes, which were not needed AT ALL and frankly ruined the atmosphere of the finale for me. But after all of my complaining, I have to also say that Jean Menzies can write really well. I thought her twist on the Arthurian legend was imaginative and clever, and since I have been her faithful follower on YouTube for years, I know she has great knowledge of the many things mythical and uses that to her advantage.
The Starving Saints is a book that blends horror and fantasy. It is quite weird, for lack of a better term. It is also undeniably thrilling and difficult to put down. The atmosphere of a castle under siege, with hunger and starvation no longer being a threat but reality, is oppressive and palpable. The relationships between the three main characters keep developing throughout, and at times you cannot be sure of what is or si not real. And while this is fantasy, for most of the book, you could almost believe the horrors are some form of psychosis. I have enjoyed books by Caitlin Starling before, but this one is, so far, my favourite. Just beware of trigger warnings for cannibalism.
Author: Rainer Maria Rilke
This is a short collection of stories that are full of gentleness and a certain nostalgia for childhood innocence. God for Rilke is not necessarily the Catholic God, but He does not appear to be an anathema to the Catholic God either. He is Goodness, Patience, Kindness and Empathy, stepping into the stories overtly as well as covertly. To the atheists, the book can still be read beautifully, as a curious collection of fairy tales that connect reality with the spiritual.
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
After Reid´s previous novel, I was ready to give up on her, but as much as I did not care for Carrie Soto and felt bored out of my mind, I loved being with Joan in this particular story. And yes, it made me teary-eyed at one point.
I have come to this in search of something cute and heartwarming. And while it is certainly well-intentioned, it just felt like an illustrated self-help pamphlet for beginners. There is no story, just simplistic art style (easy on the eyes, not complaining) and lots, lots of talking.
The Sad Ghost Club, Vol. 2
A bit more engaging than the first volume, with some hints at something actually happening. Yet again, this has the best of intentions but would probably do lots more for a lot younger people than the old-as-time me.
8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster
First of all, somebody has pitched this book as "fantasy". It is not, there is not a single fantasy element in it anywhere. It is, in fact, one of those hard-hitting historical fiction books that are reasonably short, but because of their scope, they feel much larger. And an old dying lady in an American senior home consents to help write her own obituary, but that quickly turns into a much larger project, as it turns out she had lived many lives and all of them hold a grief, a tragedy, a terror or a mystery. I was very invested up until the story turned to the character of her daughter, there my attention seemed to vain for reasons I cannot really explain, but the ending had me hooked again.
While I was very much taken by Lewis´s reminiscing about his childhood and his first meeting with literature and mythology, I must admit his school memoirs felt dull, and I did not miss the few misogynistic remarks he had woven in. The rather lengthy build-up is ended unexpectedly swiftly, to the point of anticlimax. Still, this little not-biography is very honest and written with the lightness of a skilled storyteller, and will be of interest to anyone interested in the changing of the human mind and heart.
Slewfoot: a Tale of Bewitchery
As good as everybody has told me. Exploration of good and evil, of nature and religion and how both can turn cruel when entrusted to the greedy and self-righteous. You truly cheer for Abitha in everything she does. The last part of the book is quite graphic, being quite faithful to the historical records of the Puritan witch trials. I struggle a bit with books like this because of my own Christianity, but I am glad to say that there is no anti-Christian agenda here, nor a denial/dismissal of it. Just a show of what it may turn into when practised without the actual understanding of its core message. Slewfoot is well-written, well-paced and memorable. And the illustrations are stunning. Would have loved more of them!
What I like about Geraldine Brooks´ writing is the realism. Everything is told with great writing skill, the sentences flow beautifully, and every reaction, every thought and action are so completely normal and believable that it gives the story its soul. Perhaps that is why the Puritans here are actually human, even with their prejudices. (Not saying there was not many a fanatic among them in reality, just that I am not used to seeing anyone write about them as actual people instead of caricatures). The book is, however, wrongly titled. While Caleb, originally a Native American, is an important part of it, it is not his story, but that of a Puritan girl, Bethia. It is her conflicting emotions, her wants and intelligence and also the fight for agency we follow. And it is engaging, up until the very last chapters, which seemed to me underwhelming considering everything that has led to it. Yet perhaps, again, that is the mirror of reality the author strives for.
Author: Agustina Bazterrica
A dystopian monastery that is not really a monastery, as they have cast off God and created a society that is so cultish and horrifying, I probably would have rather died out in the wilderness. Writing? Solid. Unsettling? Definitely. Engaging? Up to a point. I listened to it as an audiobook and more than a few times, even though it was quite short, my mind wandered.
Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson
I am not going to pretend I understood each of the poems. How could I? I dare say some of these would be difficult to decipher even for a native English speaker. But there were several that not only I did understand, but they went straight to the core of my soul. I will refrain from star rating here, as I do not feel it could possibly capture my feelings.
Unfortunately, this book doesn´t really know what it wants to be or what exactly is wants to say and as a result, I have no idea what to write. I don´t even feel like wasting my time reviewing it in any depth.
I Saw It: A Survivor's True Story of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
A non-traditional witness account of the atomic bomb explosion at Hiroshima, as it appeared in the memories of a boy who, by nothing but pure chance, survived it. The majority of the short manga covers the aftermath and the effects the event had on him and his family, but even in the few pages dealing with that momentous August day, the absolute nightmare looms in all its terrible glory. Clearly, the comic was also conceived as a cleansing and coping ritual. I hope it was a successful one.
Hunger: a Memoir of (My) Body
At the beginning, Roxane Gay writes that this book is not for people who are "merely" obese, but for those who are super-morbidly obese. I disagree. I am obese, though definitely not morbidly, and while I cannot compare my plight with what she had to come through, most of what she has ever done, thought, realised and felt I could painfully identify with my own experiences. But it is also a book for people who have been victims and survivors of rape, who have had difficult relationships with their families and struggles with self-worth, and much more. Definitely worth reading.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This is one of the books that started the "cosy fantasy" genre (I think), and it is easy to see why. It is, really, a collection of several short vignettes where the emotional tug and pull keep getting more significant as it progresses. I could have done with a little less repetition when it came to descriptions. At no point I felt like the book was moralising, which can so easily happen in these kinds of books. I am not sure whether or not I shall continue with the series, as I have heard people say that the follow-ups keep getting worse. Perhaps I will just keep my positive impression from this one and move on to something else (?).
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Father of Modern Fantasy
Surprisingly competent, though simple overview of the life and work of one of my all-time favourite authors. Short chapters ensure you can go through the book quickly, but still retain a lot of information. Naturally, this is not a book if you want the finer details and more complex handling, but as a starter for anyone who wants to get acquainted with the Professor, who would occasionally, in his old age, offer his false teeth as a way of payment as a prank, it does its job more than well. The last few chapters focus on Tolkien´s legacy and the way his work has been swallowed up by the pop-culture, and those I could have personally done without.
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
It has been years since I have read and loved The Shadow of the Wind. Perhaps because I had loved it so much, I was hesitant to read another volume in the same reality, created by Zafón. I had nothing to worry about. It is dark, it is Gothic. It is nostalgic and touches the base insecurities we share. It has a touch of madness another great author (Bulgakov) had captured in his masterpiece (The Master and Margarita). The city itself is a character one longs and fears to know, and there is no shortage of moments where you feel uneasy and even paranoid. More than once I actually audibly exclaimed, not the least when I finally recognised how this book ties with the previous one. I was captivated completely by this book that blends a variety of genres! I am so sad that the author is no longer with us, but take comfort in the fact that there are still books he has written, and I have yet to read.
