Mid-year (or just after) resolution: blog more!

The last time I posted anything here was 10th April 2011. Wow, that's a long time ago.

A lot has changed since then. For one thing I now work as a Publishing/Editorial Assistant for a publishing company based in Oxford.

I am going to try to get back into blogging. Oxford is such a great place for literary events and I'd like to be able to attend more events and talk (or write) about them here.

I may still do some reviews but the next thing I post will probably be my summary of an event I went to last week which was a Conversation between Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman.
I am going to aim to blog at least once a month and hopefully I will get into the habit of updating weekly.

World Book Night - Saturday 5th March 2011: Giving away the books.

I wanted to write briefly about the experience of giving out my copies of Margaret Atwood's 'The Blind Assassin' for World Book Night.

I spent the morning filling in the details slip at the back of the books with my name, the book identification number and the place where the book was given out (I don’t know how other World Book Night givers felt while doing this but I know it made me feel a bit like an author at a book signing – and if I could write like Margaret Atwood I would be very happy).

 I started the giving in my local area then moved on to the town centre later in the day. I got a fairly mixed set of reactions. A lot of people were incredibly suspicious when I was trying to give them a book. They immediately assumed that there was a catch, that they had to sign up for something or make a donation. It’s a shame and it made me feel a bit sad that people are so cynical these days that they can’t even accept a gift without thinking that it is some kind of trick.

Luckily not everyone was looking at me like I was trying to steal their first born child – there were a few who were grateful to receive a free book and were interested to hear more about World Book Night.

I found that older people were more willing to stop and speak to me whereas a lot of younger people, unfortunately, reacted with variations of the phrase ‘I don’t read!’ as if it was some kind of terrible chore (which I suppose it may be to some).

I also gave a copy of the book to a few homeless people and a Big Issue seller and they were very appreciative which made it all seem worthwhile.

Overall I really enjoyed the day and the positivity of the people who were excited to receive the book far outweighed the negativity of the ones that looked at me as if I might be trying to entice them to join a cult. I’d definitely like to be involved with World Book Night again and I’m looking forward to 2012’s event which should be global.  

World Book Night Trafalgar Square Launch (Fri 4th March 2011)

I'm finally getting around to writing about the World Book Night Trafalgar Square launch. It's lucky I'd made notes or else I'd have forgotten who read what by now!

In our excitement to get to Trafalgar Square we ended up arriving an hour early. The launch was due to start at 18:00 and wrist-band holders could gain access to the Square from 17:00. While we waited we took a quick look around the maze-like National Gallery. We mainly saw paintings of Jesus and quite a few of people with heads disproportionately bigger than their bodies. Quite a few horses too (paintings of, I mean. Not just wandering around. I don’t think horses have much appreciation of art).

Once it hit 17:00 we entered Trafalgar Square and had a look around the booths of the various sponsors. Waterstones was there selling the World Book Night titles.  Sony was there advertising its new Reader, which we had a look at. We also got a free Innocent smoothie which was lovely.

A small stage had been set up in the square, where a few lucky givers were able to sit for a close up view of events. First up on the stage was Jamie Byng, owner of Canongate Publishing, who came up with the idea of World Book Night. Mr Byng spoke enthusiastically about why we read, quoting C.S. Lewis: “We read to know we are not alone.”

He also talked about World Book Night and what a unique event the Trafalgar Square launch was:

“Nothing on this scale has ever been attempted before. We are literally making history. We are also making literary history. For there has never ever been a gathering on the scale of what we are all part of here today in Trafalgar Square.”

Byng’s speech was greeted with cheers from the crowd, excited to be a part of “a giant celebration of writers and writing, readers and reading”. He then handed over to Graham Norton who was hosting the event. Norton started by reassuring the crowd that although he may seem an odd choice to present a literary event he wasn’t a complete stranger to the world of books: “You may be surprised to know that not only can I read, I enjoy it.” Norton did a fantastic job of keeping the crowd entertained in the freezing cold, at one point pointing out the backdrop of a fire place on stage which seemed to have been put there just to mock us all. Throughout the show he also spoke to the World Book Night givers, who were sat on the stage, about which books they were giving out (and where) and why they’d chosen that particular book.

The first author on stage was DBC Pierre, author of Booker Prize winning novel ‘Vernon God Little’ (which I read at uni). He read from ‘Bleak House’ by Charles Dickens.

Next up was Sarah Waters reading from her novel ‘Fingersmith’ which I have now started to read.

Then it was the turn of the multi-talented Alan Bennett reading from his book ‘A Life Like Other People's’. The section he read was about the last years of his mother’s life in a care home. Many of the things he’d written about rang true for me, the place his mother was in sounds similar to the one my Grandmother is in now. He captured superbly the curious awkwardness associated with regularly visiting one of these ‘homes’.

At the end of his reading he also spoke out about library cut-backs remarking that “the people who are going to suffer are children. Closing libraries is child abuse! It mustn’t happen!”  The crowd reacted to this speech passionately. I can’t imagine there are many book-lovers who are in favour of these closures and Bennett would have struggled to find another crowd as vehemently in agreement with him as we all were.

Rupert Everett was on stage next reading Graham Greene's ‘Travels With My Aunt’.

Next, Monica Ali (author of ‘Brick Lane’) read from Virginia Woolf’s ‘To the Lighthouse’.

After that Mark Haddon took to the stage. He was very charming and funny, announcing that he wasn’t going to read from his own novel (‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’) for fear that he’d ‘pass into a kind of standing coma having read it quite a lot. I mean it’s good and everything but...’. Instead he read from ‘Stuart: A Life Backwards’ by Alexander Masters, another one of the World Book Night titles. He also spoke about why he wanted to be involved in World Book Night:

‘World Book Night is about giving and sharing things for free in a world that’s obsessed with money and profit. Books like this are a celebration of empathy and compassion at a time where we’re desperately short of both.’

Following him was the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. He read a funny extract about a hangover from ‘Lucky Jim’ by Kingsley Amis. He provided more light relief by trying to leave the stage, not through the traditional exit of left or right, but through the middle of the back wall - perhaps drawn in by the representation of the roaring fire that I mentioned earlier. Graham Norton summed this up nicely by declaring, once Johnson had successfully managed to exit the stage, “He’s in charge.” A scary thought indeed.

Next up was poet Lemn Sissay reading from ‘Ulysses’, by Alfred Lord Tennyson. He gave a very dramatic and passionate reading and inspired “coat envy” in Graham Norton.

Then came the moment I had been waiting for. The appearance of Margaret Atwood, my favourite author. She read from her own novel ‘The Blind Assassin’. It was wonderful to be within such a short distance of someone I admire so much and to hear her read from one of her novels. That moment alone was worth the frostbite we almost incurred by standing in the cold for so long. 

Edna O’Brien read ‘Plunder’, from her new short story collection, ‘Saints and Sinners’ then Tracy Chevalier (author of ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’), read from ‘Beloved’ by Toni Morrison (another book I read at uni).

Next on stage was Suggs from Madness, which was a pleasant surprise. He read 'On a Portrait of a Deaf Man' by John Betjeman and spoke about how important reading had been for him as a child, He came from a family who had very little in material possessions but he remembers there being plenty of books. This allowed him to build his vocabulary which helped him make his escape in the lyrics of the songs he would go on to write.

David Nicholls was on stage next reading from his novel ‘One Day’. I read this book a few months ago and have already passed my copy on to a friend; I would definitely recommend reading it if you get the chance. He read out a letter that Dexter writes to Emma fairly near the beginning of the book and hearing it read by Nicholls was even funnier than hearing it in my own head when I read it originally.

The only duo of the evening was actors Hayley Atwell and Stanley Tucci (soon to be seen in Captain America The First Avenger). They read out the lyrics of Cole Porter’s song "Let's Do It".

Phillip Pullman came next reading from his novel ‘Northern Lights’. I’ve seen the film adaptation (‘The Golden Compass’) but haven’t read the novel so I was delighted when this was one of the books I was given at the launch. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Nick Cave read from Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’.

The final reading came from John Le Carré who read from his novel ‘The Spy Who Came in From the Cold’.

We’d been asked to bring a few of our World Book Night books with us to swap at the end and Graham Norton ended the event by congratulating us for not burning them for warmth.

I gave away a few copies of ‘The Blind Assassin’ and received a copy of ‘Fingersmith’ and ‘Northern Lights’.  

Overall it was a fantastic event and although by the end of it I was so cold I could not feel my toes it was absolutely worth it to hear some amazing authors reading some fantastic books. It was also great to meet other givers and participate in such a unique occasion.

World Book Night – 5th March 2011: Do you love a book so much you want everyone to read it?

With the big night less than thirty-six hours away I thought I would write something about World Book Night 2011 which I am lucky enough to be a part of.

The idea behind World Book Night came from Jamie Byng of Canongate Books as a spin-off from World Book Day (3rd of March in the UK). It is intended to get more people reading by giving away 1 million free books and is backed by many publishers and authors. World Book Night will take place on Saturday 5th March 2011 throughout the UK and Ireland. 1 million books were printed for World Book Night; 40,000 copies of 25 books. 20,000 ‘givers’ have been chosen to hand out forty-eight copies each of their chosen book.

The twenty-five titles were selected by an editorial committee, chaired by James Naughtie and consisting of authors, critics, journalists, actors, publishers and more. The selection of books they chose is suitably varied: ‘The Blind Assassin’ by Margaret Atwood, ‘Cloud Atlas’ by David Mitchell, ‘Beloved’ by Toni Morrison, ‘The World’s Wife’’ by Carol Ann Duffy and ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ by Mark Haddon are just five of the novels chosen.

The books have been distributed to collection points across the UK and Ireland and picked up by the givers ready for the big night. On 5th March the givers must distribute their books for free any way they like, anywhere they like and to anyone they like.

Before this flurry of giving commences on the 5th March however, there is going to be an official launch night for the project. Tonight (4th March) there is going to be a spectacular event held in Trafalgar Square to celebrate the scheme. There will be plenty of celebrities including Margaret Atwood, Alan Bennett, Nick Cave, John Le Carre, Rupert Everett, Mark Haddon, Hanif Kureishi, Graham Norton, Edna O'Brien, DBC Pierre, Philip Pullman, Lemn Sissay and Sarah Waters. Many authors will be giving readings of their works and I understand some of the other celebrities may give readings of their favourite books. The event audience will comprise of 5000 givers and 5000 members of the public.

In its inaugural year World Book Night will be limited to the UK and Ireland but plans are already being made for 2012’s World Book Night which will be global.

I first applied to become a giver just after Christmas last year. I found out I was successful on 1st Feb and I picked up my wristband for the Trafalgar Square launch yesterday (as well as getting a special limited edition World Book Night t-shirt designed  by Anthony Gormley!).

The book I’ve chosen to give away is ‘The Blind Assassin’ by Margaret Atwood. Anyone who knows me in real life knows that Margaret Atwood is my favourite author. I’ve read pretty much every novel she’s written (not much of the poetry though, I am embarrassed to admit) and I even wrote my dissertation for my English degree on her novels. So when I saw the choices of books I knew there was no other option for me. I read ‘The Blind Assassin’ a few years ago now and although it is not my absolute favourite Atwood book (favourites are: ‘Oryx and Crake’, ‘The Year of the Flood’ and ‘Lady Oracle’), I enjoyed it thoroughly. It is quite a dark read but also quite funny and fantastical.

Today, before heading to Trafalgar Square I’ll be starting the process of writing my forty-eight identification numbers on to my forty-eight books. This will enable me to track were the books go once I hand them out. This is something I’m particularly excited about as I think it will be wonderful to see just how many people these books get to reach. In order to make this tracking possible World Book Night has collaborated with the Book Crossing website (http://www.bookcrossing.com/) who have provided the unique identification codes.

World Book Night has not been received positively by all; several people fear that giving away these books for free will damage already struggling independent book shops. I hope that the scheme will do the opposite. When first applying to be a giver I noticed that one of the requests that the organisers made was that the books were passed to people who might not otherwise have read them. I think this is an excellent idea and if only a few thousand books are given to people who otherwise wouldn’t have bought a book it could result in many more books sales. I have spoken to many people who have said that they were not readers until they came across one particular book (often the Harry Potter series) which opened their eyes to the world of literature and encouraged them to read more. How wonderful would it be if one of the copies of ‘The Blind Assassin’ I give away speaks to someone in such a way as to make them a reader for life? Even if the majority of books do go to people who are already book fans it could still encourage book sales. I am an avid reader anyway but I know that when I read a particularly good book I tend to look out for more by that author.

There may have been few teething problems with World Book Night (website crashes and delayed information to name a few) but I think that is to be expected in the opening year and I know that I, for one, am genuinely excited and proud to be part of such a seminal and ambitious project.

For more information on World Book Night, including how to register for 2012 go to:

http://www.worldbooknight.org/index.php 

'Room' – Emma Donoghue: Emotional, inspirational and a presentation of love.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, Emma Donoghue’s seventh novel tells the story of a mother and her son held captive in an eleven-by-eleven foot shed, known to them as 'Room'. We witness their day-to-day routine as they stick to the carefully structured activities that make up their restricted world.

What’s unusual about this novel is that it is told from the point of view of the son, Jack, a five year old boy who has never seen the outside world and who isn’t really aware that there is a world outside of Room.

The story starts on the morning of Jack’s fifth birthday as he gradually introduces us to the unique yet utterly familiar world he inhabits. Mundane objects and pieces of furniture have been personified by Jack: Wardrobe is where he sleeps, Table with her scratches (which Jack thoughtfully tries to rub better) is where they eat and Meltedy Spoon is Jack’s favourite item of cutlery. Jack tells us that the spoon’s name comes from the fact that ”he” has gone “all blobby on his handle” from “when he leaned on the pan of boiling pasta by accident.” Amidst these poignant yet sweet recollections of the characters that populate his life he tells us briefly of the shadowy figure of ‘Old Nick’ who visits Room after nine at night: “He brings groceries and Sundaytreat and disappears the trash, but he’s not human like us. He only happens in the night like bats.” Jack’s naivety means that while he knows Old Nick’s visits are bad he does not comprehend their true horror like we, the readers, do. He doesn’t realise the significance of the nocturnal noises he hears:
“When Old Nick creaks Bed, I listen and count fives on my fingers, tonight it’s 217 creaks. I always have to count till he makes that gaspy sound and stops.”

Telling the story from Jack’s point of view is a good move on Donoghue’s part. The book would be a lot harder to read if we had to experience it through the mother's eyes. Jack brings with him the natural optimism of childhood and coupled with his youthful inexperience he manages to make the story a bit lighter. The fact that he has never known any other life apart from him and his Ma in Room means he doesn't realise what he is missing; his life is normal to him. Hearing Ma’s account of the tale would be a much more depressing read.

This small amount of normality is testament to Ma’s ferocious efforts to raise her child in the most ordinary way she can. She has obviously devoted all her time to educating Jack, with scheduled times for play and with random points throughout the day where games are played to improve Jack’s skills in language and numeracy. They practice Phys Ed with a track Ma has drawn on the floor and bounce on the bed pretending it’s a trampoline. Despite the limited resources Jack is precociously smart, he demonstrates reading, writing and mathematics skills far beyond what would be expected for a boy who has just turned five.

Although Jack is intellectually advanced he lacks any understanding of the outside world, something which Ma has actively encouraged. Jack believes that everything he sees in Room is real but everything he has never seen, (like things he’s read in books, or heard of in Ma’s stories or seen on the programmes he watches) are not real. They are just things that occur on the television: “Dogs are only TV....Spider’s real. I’ve seen her two times.” And “Vegetables are all real but ice cream is TV.” This is another place where being inside Jack’s head benefits the narrative; we see exactly how muddled up reality is for him even though he is not aware of it. His perception of the world is very skewed but it’s easy to understand why his mother is reluctant for him to know that there are lots of exciting things in the world that he has never been able to experience.

There are limitations that occur from having a five year old as the nrrator of the story, however. For instance, because Jack (like most small children) only knows his mother as Ma, we never get to discover her real name. Similarly it is unlikely that Nick is the name of her abductor as Jack admits: “I didn’t even know the name for him until I saw a cartoon about a guy that comes in the night called Old Nick. I call the real one that because he comes in the night, but he doesn’t look like the TV guy with a beard and horns and stuff.” It is apt to the reader that Jack has given his captor a name that is associated with the Devil but the questions that he doesn’t know to ask mean that there are gaps in the narrative. Similarly there are incidents that Jack recounts that mean nothing significant to him but that we can identify and contextualise. An example of this is the fact that woven through Jack’s account of the day we see various attempts his mother makes to try to attract attention to them. These escape bids are narrated by Jack in the same way that eating lunch and bath time are. He doesn’t draw attention to them because he doesn’t understand their relevance but it does make the reader wonder what else Ma is doing to try to secure their freedom that Jack may not have mentioned. There’s also the question of how reliable a narrator Jack is. His age (and lack of exposure to the outside world) means that not only is he unclear of how the world works but he is also at an age where imagination runs rife. It’s possible that some of the details he recalls have been elaborated or confused. Ultimately though these limitations do not damage the novel as it is meant to be Jack’s version of the story rather than a blow-by-blow victim statement (thankfully).

A question that has to be asked when reviewing this novel is how appropriate is it to write a work of fiction about something which is obviously inspired by real events. The horrifying crimes of Josef Fritzl against his daughter Elisabeth, the abduction of Natascha Kampusch by Wolfgang Priklopil and the similar kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard by Phillip Craig Garrido spring immediately to mind when thinking about this novel. These were such appalling crimes that the press and the public were fixated on their stories as soon as they were made known. This novel could have come across as sensationalist and vulture-like but thankfully Donoghue’s handling of the story means this doesn’t happen. The sympathy and sensitivity with which she treats her characters ensure that the novel never feels exploitative. Donoghue shies away from any graphic descriptions of the horrors that are present in Jack and Ma’s story and instead of a tale of woe ‘Room’ is ultimately a tale of hope.

Throughout the novel readers get a clear sense of the abundance of love that mother and son share. Through Jack’s eyes we see how hard his mother has worked on bringing him up well and protecting him to the best of her ability. She shields him from Old Nick by hiding him in the wardrobe each night and by trying to maintain a docility of character whenever her abductor is in the room, with the implicit understanding that as long as she gives him no trouble he will not try to take an interest in Jack. It is remarkable that throughout the novel Ma never shows a single sign of resentment or ill feeling towards Jack. Considering the distressing way he came in to the world, Ma would be forgiven for struggling to bond with her son. Instead, however, it becomes clear that Jack is her reason for continuing to live at all. Jack offers her hope, he spurs her on and he makes her survive. Throughout the novel there are signs that Ma has days when she is deeply depressed and perhaps without Jack to depend on her she would have given up long before. Instead she does a remarkable job of bringing Jack up as a single mother. She has no support network and since she was abducted when she was only nineteen, she has had to learn the skills of motherhood quickly using what little knowledge she had picked up as a teenager and with television as her only information link with the outside world. The love between Jack and Ma is the strongest emotion that is brought out in Donoghue’s novel.

It’s impossible to write about the latter half of this novel without spoiling the ending but the turning point comes just before the half way mark in the book when Ma discovers that Old Nick has been unemployed for six months. As she begins to worry about what will happen when her captor runs out of money to feed her and her son she starts to wonder if, young as he is, Jack might just be able to pull off the bravest stunt of his life and get them out of their prison. I would not describe the conclusion of ‘Room’ as a happy ending exactly, but it does feel like a true one. Donoghue does not promise that Jack and Ma will live happily ever after but she does offer a spark of hope in a confusing and disheartening world.

'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte: Love, loss and mad wives.

Jane Eyre is one of my favourite books. I have read it countless times and never tire of it. It is a gothic masterpiece, with superb characterisation and beautiful imagery. I would recommend it to anyone.

Jane is a bright, strong-minded orphan; incessantly reminded of how thankful she should be that she has been left in the care of her resentful, self-righteous aunt and her spiteful cousins, and continuously told how much of a burden she is to her family.

This is the beginning of Jane’s journey to find a place in the world where she will experience love. It is a journey which will see her face much cruelty, humiliation and despair. As she finds love, only to have it cruelly torn away, she discovers how strong she really is. It is this strength of character that eventually leads her on to the right path, and back to her true home.

Welcome!

 I’ve started this blog, primarily, as a place to review books but I may branch out into other areas once I feel a little braver. In the last year I’ve come across more and more blogs dedicated to literature and since reading is a passion of mine I decided to try writing about it too. Comments are always welcome (unless they are about miracle cure berries or helpful blue pills) so feel free to agree or disagree with anything I’ve written at any time. The first review I’m going to post is one I wrote a few years ago. It’s quite brief but hopefully it will get the ball rolling.