Review: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden is a timeless story about the power of love, friendship and positive thought.

I fell in love with Mary Lennox and The Secret Garden as a child primarily through my love of the 1993 movie version of this classic.

Amazon.co.uk says of The Secret Garden: “Mary Lennox was horrid. Selfish and spoilt, she was sent to stay with her hunchback uncle in Yorkshire. She hated it. But when she finds the way into a secret garden and begins to tend it, a change comes over her and her life. She meets and befriends a local boy, the talented Dickon, and comes across her sickly cousin Colin who had been kept hidden from her. Between them, the three children work astonishing magic in themselves and those around them.”

It was this astonishing magic that held me enthralled as a somewhat older reader. It is easy to forget sometimes how strong the power of positive thought it. Sadly, I often find themselves having negative thoughts about myself and other things around me, and I am painfully aware that negative thoughts only prevent us from living a happy life.

What the children in The Secret Garden teach us is the importance of believing in yourself, believing in others and the benefit of leading a positive and fulfilling life.

Rather than go on too much about the important lessons I think we can all take from The Secret Garden, I am going to share with you two quotes that perfectly illustrate what I think the most important lesson to take from this story is.

"At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can't be done, then they see it can be done - then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago. One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts - just mere thoughts - are as powerful as electric batteries - as good as sunlught is, or as bad for one as poison. To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. If you let it stay there after it has got in you may never get it over it as long as you live." ~ Quote page 238

And my favourite:

"So long as Colin shut himself up in his room and thought only of his fears and weakness and his detestation of people who looked at him and reflected hourly on humps and early death, he a was hysterical, half crazy little hypochondriac who knew nothing of the sunshine and the sping and, and also did not know that he could get well and stand upon his feelt if he tried to do it. When new, beautiful thoughts began to push out the old, hideous one, life began to come back to him, his blood ran healthily through his veins, and strength poured into him like a flood. His scientific experiment was quite practical and simple and there was nothing weird about it at all. Much more surprising things can happen to anyone who, when a disagreeable or discouraged thought comes into his mind, just has the sense to remember in time and rush it out by putting in an agreeable, determinedly courageous one. Two things cannot be done in one place. Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow." ~ Quote page 239

This is a book that we can all benefit from reading, regardless of age or country of origin. I hope everyone has an opportunity to read this delightful story soon.

7.5 / 8

Brilliant, couldn't put it down. Everyone should read it - it is totally amazing.

Did you take any important lessons from this wonderful children's book?

Review: One Day by David Nicholls

One Day by David Nicholls explores the heart of friendship and what it means to really love someone and it is one of the most compelling reads I have had in many months.

The premise of the book is fairly simple. It is about Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, two university graduates, whom we meet on the night of their graduation. Emma is a down-to-earth lefty girl from northern England who is keen to change the world. Dexter on the other hand is from a posh, rich family and is only interested in girls, and later, fame. Despite their differences, on the night of their graduation they form a strong and lasting friendship, bordering on a romance.

Every July 15 the reader is given an update on what is occurring in the lives of the two main protagonists over the next twenty years. We see them grow up, grow together and grow apart. It is clear, however, that no matter what is happening in each of their lives, their love for each other draws them to each other over and over again.

Although you only see a glimpse of their lives on one day of each year, it doesn't feel as though you are missing out. Nicholls is able to weave their past year into that one day so effectively you barely notice that it's happening. The only place where I feel this wasn't done so effectively was in the last few chapters of the book, following a cataclysmic event that irrevocably changes the lives of both Emma and Dexter. In these final chapters, I wanted more than I got.

I do think that Nicholls took a risk in One Day in that both of the protagonists felt incredibly stereotypical. Emma Morley was the stereotypical middle class university educated lefty who is determined to change the world, even if she only changes the part around her. Dexter Mayhew on the other hand is the stereotypical upper class male. Apolitical and out for a good time, his greatest priorities are fame, girls and drugs.

The risk in having two such stereotypical characters is that the reader has trouble believing in their authenticity. In my experience, people rarely fall so easily into stereotypes like these.

Despite this though, Emma and Dexter both felt acutely real to me, as did their friendship. You could identify with their lives and their feelings, even as they each changed. Even if you have never felt what they have, you have seen it in other people and so it makes more real in these fictional characters.

Also, their story was endearing. No matter where their lives took them, they were there for one another. There was no one else in the world that they wanted to share things with as much as each other. They enjoyed flirting. They enjoyed the comfort they found in one another. They enjoyed each other.

What more can you want from friendship?

Yes, One Day book is chick-lit, but it also provides so much more than what you might expect from a book of this genre. The writing is witty and in it Nicholls explores the heart of friendship and what it means to really love someone.

7.5 / 8

Brilliant, couldn't put it down. Everyone should read it - it is totally amazing.

Have you read this or have you let the hype turn you off it? I would love to know whether you loved it as much as I did if you read it - I would especially like to know if you think it's an accurate representation of what friendship between a man and a woman can be like.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

From beginning to end Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a wonderfully engrossing read.

I knew that I was in for something special when the book began thus:

"NOTICE

Person's attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted;

Persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished;

Persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

BY ORDER of the author

                                  PER G.G, Chief of the Ordnance"

And yet, so many years later the motive, morals and plot in this story are still discussed worldwide and the book is thought of as one the best books ever produced by an English speaking author.

Most people know the story of Huckleberry Finn. The back of my penguin edition states "when Huck escapes from his drunken father and the 'sivilizing' Widow Douglas with the runaway slave Jim, he embarks on a series of adventures that draw him to feuding families and the trickery of the unscrupulous 'Duke' and 'Dauphin'".

I have gone through several drafts of this review attempting express the breadth of issues that Twain so magnificently weaves into his tale about little Huckleberry's adventures. Twain shows us everything from the worst side of human behaviour such as slavery and child abuse, to the generosity of spirit displayed by even the most beaten and downtrodden of individuals. The penguin book states it thus: "Beneath the exploits, however, are more serious undercurrents - of slavery, adult control and, above all, of Huck's struggle between his instinctive goodness and the corrupt values of society, which threaten his deep and enduring friendship with Jim".

In the character of Huckleberry Finn, Twain has perfectly combined the full range of human nature. I loved seeing his character unfold throughout his many adventures. At time I wanted to reach out and hug him and other times I was deeply challenged by the views and feelings he expressed.

I was held captive by the story as I waited to see which part of Huckleberry would triumph: the part effected by the "corrupt values of society" or his "instinctive goodness" that meant that Huckleberry was able to see Jim as a man in his own right, who deserved a life of his own.

Even if I wanted to ignore Twain's instructions and provide an in depth analysis of all the social issues displayed so realistically and passionately in this book, I would be incapable of doing so. Instead I want to leave you with two of my favourite quotes from the book.

The first is from runaway slave Jim. He has just recounted a story where he gave 10cents to another slave because he had a dream which told him to do so would bring him good luck. Instead, he never sees the money, or any particular good luck, again. The following exchange takes places between Huckleberry and Jim:

"(H) 'Well, it's alright, anyway, Jim, long as you're going to be rich again some time or other'. (J) 'Yes - en I's rich now, come to look at it. I owns myself, en I's wuth eight hundred dollars. I wisht I had de money, I wouldn't want no mo'."

 It is sad to think of someone assessing their self worth according to how much they are worth at a monetary level and yet I found the way in which Jim is able to see the good through the bad, the fact that he owns himself and is therefore a rich man to be very poignant.

Lastly, my favourite quote from young Huckleberry. This quote so perfectly displays Huckleberry's unfailing childish logic and his honest approach to life and himself. He is recounting the superstitious lessons that he has learnt from Jim when he says:

"Jim said that bees wouldn't sting idiots; but I didn't believe that, because I had tried them lots of times myself, and they wouldn't sting me."

I can't wait to read Huckleberry's adventures over and over again.

7.5 / 8: Brilliant. Everyone should read it - it is totally amazing. I recommend that you buy it. 

Were you as taken with Huckleberry Finn as I was? 

Another one of my favourite parts of this book was when Tom Sawyer made his appearance. These two together make one the best literary couples (in a non-romantic sense obviously) I have ever read. What do you think?

The Messenger by Markus Zusak

The Messenger is another humourous, poignant and powerful story written by Markus Zusak with one of the better endings I have ever read in a novel.

The star of this story is Ed Kennedy, a young and aimless teenager making do in suburban Australia. He works part time as taxi driver and otherwise spends his days playing cards with his friends, spending time with his dog The Doorman and longing for his friend Audrey to love him the way that he loves her. When calamity strikes one day and Ed ends up putting an end to a bank robbery, his life changes forever. He begins to receive playing cards with addresses written on them; tasks that he must complete or face the wrath of whoever is sending them to him. But who is sending him these cards?

Ed never has any idea what he is doing. He is forced to make decisions and live a life with some purpose. Some of his tasks are easy and some are hard. He is faced with violence, poverty, love and redemption. He learns about himself and his friends. This isn't a nice story; the tasks that Ed has to complete are often difficult and dangerous and he suffers for it. But the tasks provide him with some drive and ambition and he is able to pass that drive and ambition onto his friends and family when they need it.

I can't be more specific in my critique of The Messenger because it such a clever, surprising and emotional story that I don't want to in any way spoil your own reading experience of this book.

Where Zusack excelled is in the ending. Not only does The Messenger provide us with a touchingly personal story about one person's journey of self-discovery, it is also a story about the writers relationship with their own characters.

7.5 / 8

Brilliant, couldn't put it down. Everyone should read it and I recommened that you buy it.

(PS. The only reason that this is 7.5/8 and not 8/8 is because I enjoyed The Book Thief just a touch more)

Who else thinks that Markus Zusak is one of the best contemporary writers they have read? It makes me proud to be Australian when I read the books that he writes (although I admit that I could just be getting a little carried away).

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

Breaking Dawn is easily the best of the four Twilight books – it was mesmerising and I am disappointed that my Twilight journey has come to an end (it's sad but true).

Spoilers contained herein.

There isn't much to say about these books, because they are not particularly well written with any sort of message or themes that are really worth discussing. But I will just make a few comments about what I enjoyed about this book.

I read Breaking Dawn in two sittings because it was entirely impossible to put down. I just had to keep reading and reading until it was finished. I stayed up way past my bedtime in order to finish it and then dreamt all night about vampires but it was absolutely worth it.

What I enjoyed most about this book was that Bella did not whinge half as much as she usually did.

We also got to see some of the story unfold from Jacob's perspective which provided some interesting relief to Bella's usual melodramatic tone. Having said, Jacob was equally if not more melodramatic in his own way. His narrative voice was also a little too close to Bella's for comfort but that says more about the quality of Meyer's writing than anything else.

Bella just felt more grown up in this book. The events were a lot more adult. She was dealing with issues that I am beginning to think about at the moment. Maybe not the vampire stuff – but marriage and motherhood very much so. So at last, she ceased to be a teenager with an attitude problem and became someone I could identify with (more so than usual anyway).

I don't care what anyone says. I know these books are trash. I know they show disturbing relationships to their teen readers and I worry about what effect it will have on them in the future. I don't agree that it's 'no sex before marriage' message is a realistic or helpful message to today's teens (birth control could have been dealt with in this book but wasn't, surely that is a significantly more practical lesson Meyer could have imparted if she has such an interest in this area of social education).

But I can't help it - I love this series and I loved this book.

7.5 / 8: Brilliant, couldn't put it down. It was amazing and I recommend that you buy it.

The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke (yes, it is as funny as it sounds)

The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke is a hilarious and modern twist on the nursery rhymes and fairy tales that we all grew up with -  a book for all ages and tastes.

The hero of this story is Mr Pigg, Harry Pigg, Detective. He is the third pig who was sensible enough to build his house of bricks and defeat the evil wolf who so successfully destroyed the homes of his brothers.

Following his success and fame, Harry Pigg opens a detective agency, only to find himself seriously in debt. When his new landlord, Mr Aladdin (the richest man in Grimm Town), asks him to recover his stolen lamp, Harry cannot refuse.

What follows is a hilarious journey as Harry Pigg sets out to locate the missing lamp before he his killed. Along the way we see some familiar faces; Jack Horner whom Harry enlists as his sidekick, one of the Billy Goats Gruff who is Mr Aladdin's body guard and The Wicked Witch of the West-side just to name a few. 

The Third Pig Detective Agency is very small book (running to around 150 pages) but it packed to the brim with action and adventure. It is a hilarious and modern take on the nursery rhymes and fairy tales we all grew up on. It is also full of popular culture references that most people will pick up on. My favourite was the enmity between elves and trolls (a reference to Lord of the Rings).

Harry Pigg has a dry and sarcastic sense of humour that only serves to make Burke's clever adaptation of the nursery rhymes and fairy tales even funnier. Burke has done has a great job of creating a Marolwe-esque (I'm currently reading The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler) detective with all the quirks that being a nursery rhyme character with trotters might entail.

This is easily the most entertaining book I have read all year and I recommend it to absolutely everyone, young or old, regardless of your taste in books.


Summary

What kind of read is this?
Quick and easy but laugh out loud funny

Do I recommend this book?
Yes, to everyone.

Do I recommend that you buy this book?
This is definitely one for the book case. I don't think it will ever stop being funny.

Star Rating

7.5 / 8

Brilliant, couldn't put it down. Everyone should read it - it is totally amazing. Recommend that you buy it.

Lovesong by Alex Miller; a story within a story

Lovesong is a beautifully written love story, that is not only about love and family, but is also about the art of story telling. 

Ken has recently returned to his life in suburban Melbourne following a trip to Venice. His wife has recently passed away, he has retired from his life as a fiction writer and his 38 year old daughter has moved in with him following her separation from her husband. In short, Ken is feeling lost and having difficulty adjusting to his new life.

Upon his return he notices a new bakery in the local area, and he soon becomes fascinated with the family that runs it, particularly the beautiful woman with the sad eyes behind the counter. He soon strikes up a relationship with her husband John Patterner, who begins to tell Ken his life story.

The bulk of Lovesong is Ken's account of John's tale of how he met and fell in love with his wife Sahiba in Paris many years ago. Their love story revolves Sahiba's urgent desire to start a family, but her inability to fall pregnant. In the end, she commits a horrible act of betrayal in order to achieve her desires.

The simplicity of this story is beautiful. The prose is simple and bare and the story explores the essence of love.

But there are really two aspects to this heartfelt novel.

First there is the love story between John and Sahiba. Through this story Miller not only explores the essence of love; he also explores the reality of growing old and starting a family. He looks at questions of fidelity and fertility and solitariness within a relationship.

Then there is the story within a story - a story about the act of storytelling itself. Ken becomes drawn into John and Sahiba's love story, until his story becomes entwined with theres'. He also becomes struck with the desire to write their story, despite it not being their story to tell. The ethics of storytelling are thus explored as Ken still determines to write John and Sahiba's story in his own words.

My only reservation about the book was the character of Sahiba. I wanted to like her, and initially I did. In the end though, I felt like her selfishness so surpassed any good qualities that I become somewhat depressed by her. She wanted something so badly, that she was completely unable to appreciate what she had, and was willing to put it all at risk for her own needs. I can't even imagine the pain of being unable to have children, but I cannot use that to justify her behaviour. In the end, I only felt a sense of dissatisfaction at the outcome of their love story.

Having said that, I loved this book.  I cannot remember another book where I have so easily been drawn into and along with the story. The prose makes you feel as if you are floating peacefully down a river. The quality of the story and the writing is remarkable and I can't recommend this story highly enough.

Summary

What kind of read is this?
A simple but meaningful read.

Do I recommend this book?
Very much so, to everyone.

Do I recommend that you buy this book?
I am definitely glad that I won it, but I think that this might be one of those books that you could probably read from the library and then decide if you love it enough to purchase.

Star Rating

7.5 / 8

Brilliant, couldn't put it down. Everyone should read it  - it is amazing!

Alex Miller is an an Australian author that (sadly) I didn't know much about before this years Miles Franklin Award and the controversy that Miller stirred up with his comments about the disparity of funding between what should be Australia's premier literary award and newly created awards such as the Prime Ministers Literary Award. I have written more about this controversy here if you are interested in some interesting discussion in the Australian literary world.

Have you ever read this book? I would love to know what you think of it. Does the story appeal to you? How do you feel about a love story that doesn't just focus on a happy outcome, but explores the innermost desires of people and how those desires have the potential to thwart their love?

The Passage by Justin Cronin

The Passage is a exhilarating and tense post-apocalyptic story that spans the decades before and after a virus has been released by the US Military and destroyed the world as we know it.

It begins as a tapestry of stories from different characters perspectives. We read about a single mother, fighting to raise and support her daughter by waitressing and selling her body to unknown men. We read emails written by a scientist from a jungle in Bolivia, learning that he is known as the ‘vampire guy’ and is on a strange and difficult journey with the military. We get closer to the crux of the story when we are introduced to Agent Wolgast, who’s job it is to convince death row inmates to participate in a military owned scientific experiment, and to then ensure that any record of that person’s existence is wiped entirely. The story then takes a climactic turn when he is asked to kidnap the daughter of the single mother that we meet at the books opening.

It is at this point too that we finally meet the ‘virals’, who are actually humans that have been infected by a virus that makes them almost immortal, super powerful, blood hungry and ready to destroy the world as we know it.

We are suddenly thrust into a world that is unfamiliar to us as the reader. We are introduced to a post-apocalyptic community, living in a gated colony and struggling to survive against the attacks of the virals. Slowly, the stories that we caught glimpses in the early stages of the book are again woven together, and we follow some of the inhabitants of this gated colony on a journey across America, with a young girl fated to save the world, as they battle against the virals, to see if they can find any hope for future survival.

The ever changing genre of the book was sometimes distracting, but for the most part it was fast paced and extremely tense. The novels begins as a thriller, despite elements of the supernatural and science fiction. It is a race against time as FBI agents kidnap abandoned children and kill those that get in their way and the military keeps people at secret military bases and holds people hostage.

Then as we are introduced the post-apocalyptic world, it turns into more of a fantasy novel. At this stage I felt out of my comfort zone. The lifestyle, behaviours and laws of the gated colony were so unfamiliar that I initially I couldn’t identify with the characters or the story. I found it hard to adjust from this fast paced thriller I had been reading to this slow paced fantasy novel. It became slow going and I actually considered giving up the book.

Fortunately, the story picked up again when earlier characters that has disappeared returned, and I again I became enthralled. In the latter sections of the book, it felt closer to a combination of a thriller and Cormac McArthy’s The Road, with elements of science fiction. In the end I was able to move past all the different styles and just be drawn into the action.

The book was character driven and the characters were nuanced, even if Cronin forces the nuances upon you. Everyone had their strengths and their weaknesses; their good points and their bad. In fact, the book dealt with very adult and real issues; survival, death, the effects of nuclear weaponry, disease, marriage and divorce. The issues that the characters had to deal with on a personal level and within their relationships with each other were very authentic.

Even Cronin’s depiction of the virals was nuanced. They were closer to being human that you might originally think; they were able to recognise that their actions were wrong without being able to prevent themselves from committing the atrocities that they do. The complexities of the virals became clearer as the story progressed.

Because of this, it is not really a vampire/paranormal/supernatural novel. The virals are simply humans who have been infected by a disease that has transformed them into something other than human. I feel almost uncomfortable about talking about supernatural elements and fantasy, although I recognise there are not really any other words for it. It very rarely feels like you are reading about something supernatural. Instead it feels like you are reading a possible future. I might almost be tempted to call this speculative fiction of the kind that Atwood writes (although very different story of course).

Although Cronin is obviously a talented and award winning writer, this certainly isn’t a literary novel. There is no subtlety to the writing or the dialogue. Having said that, the writing was still significantly better than what you might normally expect from popular fiction, and I think it the perfect blend of popular fiction and good writing for someone who wouldn’t normally read this kind of book (like me).

There were some things in the book that just didn’t make sense and I wish had been explained. Why hadn’t the virals the expedition met in Bolivia already taken over the world before the military ones escaped? Why did Lacey have a strange connection to Amy? Why could Amy talk to animals before she was infected with the virus (that’s not a spoiler, you find out as much in the opening line) and why does she intimate that ‘they know who she is’ when at that stage she is no one special? How could Wolgast’s partner tell that Lacey was journeying to the army facility? There were other unresolved issues throughout the story that I am sure I will find the answers to in the following novels. But these are questions that don’t seem to have any plausible answers and were just left unnecessarily unexplained.

Despite some misgivings in the middle of the book, I very much enjoyed this book. It was everything you could want from popular fiction; fast-paced, action-packed, enthralling and with skilled writing as well. There was violence, there was sex, there was love and everything in between. Don’t let the books size or genre put you off this exciting read.

Summary

What kind of read is this?
Extremely tense, genre-changing, thrilling read. It is undoubtedly extremely large, but it didn't take nearly as long to read as you might expect.

Do I recommend this book?
Yes, I really do. I especially recommend it to other people like me, who appreciate good literature. This is such a good blend of good writing and popular fiction that it is well worth a try.

Do I recommend that you buy this book?
Again, yes I do. This a book that will stand up well to re-reading I think.

Star Rating

7.5 / 8

Brilliant, couldn't put it down. Recommend that you buy it. I will definitely be reading the rest of this exciting series.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I am not normally into crime fiction, but this book was perhaps one of the most gripping and thrilling crime books that I have read for a very long time.

It has a complex plot involving two separate 'mysteries'; the disappearance of a young girl, Harriet Vanger, in the 1960's and the web of corporate corruption spun by the Wennestrom Corporation.

Michael Blomkvist has been found guilty of defaming the Wennestrom Corporation and his career is shot to pieces, particularly following his sentence of 2 months imprisonment. He insists, however, that Wennestrom is corrupt, and when Henrick Vanger (ex-CEO of the family owned and run Venger Corporation) offers proof of Wennestrom's corruption in return for Blomkvist assisting him to solve the mysterious disappearance of his niece Harriet Vanger 40 years ago, Blomkvist cannot resist. To assist him, he joins forces with Lisbeth Salander, a young, rather 'gothic' girl, with behavioural problems but skills perfect for such a task.

This book didn't have me hooked from the beginning, but perseverance paid off, and from about half way through the book I was hopelessly hooked.

Plot: The plot as twists and turns that I didn't see coming. It is also a lot darker than I expected it to be, with scenes of graphic violence against women. I am somewhat immune to these things because of the work that I do, but I am sure that some people would have found these scenes extremely shocking. I certainly found them shocking, mainly because I didn't see them coming and I am not sued to reading such graphic material in novel form. However, I very much appreciated Larsson's ability to give me as the reader something different to what I am used to reading. Sometimes it good to receive a shock like that. There are many women out there who suffer from these types of violence on a daily basis while most of us sit at home enjoying our happy lives.

My biggest complaint about the plot, and why I had trouble really getting into the book, is that Larsson spent far too much time setting everything up. I think the first 1/3 of the book is about establishing who all the characters are and how they are related. I know it has a complex plot, but this did become a little frustrating.

The book is written from many different people's perspectives and I found that the way in which is went between these different perspectives so frequently was at times quite distracting.

I was also surprised at how much additional book there as after the murder mystery was resolved. I wasn't really quite as interested in the Wennestrom Affair as I was the murder mystery, but I did appreciate that Larsson really tied off all the loose ends.

Characters: The characters were well formed I thought. I really developed a sense of who they were, particularly Blomkvist and Salander. I was surprised at Blomkvist's willingness to sleep with so many people, but each to their own.

For me, it was really Salander that made the book. I know a lot of characters in the book say this about her, but I think it is very true - you really got a sense of her as the victim. Despite her bravado, her intelligence, her strength and conviction, underneath it all her weakness and her neediness (I think) were palpable, and you couldn't help but feel for her. I particularly felt for her in the way in which her relationship with Blomkvist concluded.

Although I accept that most of this review so far reads more bad than god, the way in which Larsson sucks you into the story to the point where you cannot put the book down more than makes up for everything else. This is a book that I would recommend to everyone without reservation and one that I will definitely be re-reading.

Summary

What kind of read is this?

It is a very dark read, but it is gripping. Don't be put off by it's size either, it is an easy read.

Do I recommend this book?

Without reservation. It was really deeply and darkly delicious.

Do I recommend that you buy this book?

Absolutely. This is one that I think will stand up tp re-reading. 

Star Rating

7.5 / 8

Brilliant, couldn't put it down. Everyone should read it. Recommend that you buy it. 

Book Details:  Paperback; 533 pages; published by MacLehose Press in 2008; interpreted from Swedish into English by Reg Keeland

Silk by Alessandro Baricco

This book is a beautiful piece of writing, reading almost as if it is poetry. It is an enchanting love story involving Herve Joncour and the two women in his life; his loving wife and the woman with whom he falls in love with.

This will be an unusul book review for me, but it is an unusual book.

Herve Joncour buys and sells silk worm eggs for his living, as do many of the men from his home town. He enjoys his chosen career, spending many months of the years travelling to foreign parts to collect his eggs, returning this home where he sells his eggs to make a hansom living. In 1861, a dreadful plague hits Europe, destroying most of the viable silk worm eggs available. Herve Joncour travels to Japan to trade with locals for silk worm eggs, despite the Japanese's ban on such trading.

He is smuggled into the country and makes a dangerous journey to a village somewhere in Japan, where he trades for eggs. He meets his host, and more significantly, he meets his hosts mistress. At their first meeting it is clear that she becomes enthralled with him, and Herve increasingly becomes obsessed with her. Despite the danger, he continues to return to Japan, not just for his silk worm eggs, but to see this young girl. They never speak to each other, never even touch each other, but Herve finds that he has fallen in love.

Despite his increasing obsession with the young girl, he puts his efforts at home into building a large park around his home, and taking his wife on wonderful and exotic holidays. Despite his preoccupation, he essentially has a very happy home life and he recognises that he is lucky in his choice of wife.

One day a letter arrives for him, written in Japanese. He believes that it written from the young girl he has fallen for and has it interpreted to him by a prostitute from the city. He discovers that it is an erotic letter, detailing a sexual intimacy that the writer imagines between them but states can never be.

I won't spoil the end for you, but I will say that there is a twist at the end of the book in relation to that erotic letter.

I absolutely loved this book and am so glad that I purchased it. It is extremely short, taking less than an hour to read, but it was one of the most beautiful reads that I have had for a very long time. The prose was amazing, and the narrative flowed so smoothly with the use of repetition that it felt almost as if the story was a ripple in a lake moving slowly towards the shore.

Summary

What kind of read was it?

Short, but compelling and moving. 

Do I recommend it?

Absolutely, I think that this book will amaze most readers, especially those that appreciate literary fiction. 

Do I recommend that you buy it?

Absolutely. This is one book that I am glad is one my bookshelf.

Star Rating

7.5 / 8

Brilliant, couldn't put it down. Everyone should read it, it is totally amazing. Recommend that you buy it.