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 Book of Lost Threads by Tess Evans (An Australian debut)

This review was first published on Book Lovers Inc; a wonderful blog worth having a read of.

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The Book of Lost Threads is a pleasant and enjoyable debut novel by Australian author Tess Evans.

The book is about four miss-matched friends; Finn, Moss, Mrs Pargetterand Sandy. Moss is 20-something woman born to a lesbian couple who is struggling to come to terms with her identity. Finn is the 'anonymous' sperm donor who fathered her. He lives in a small country town called Opportunity, next door to Mrs Pargetterwho is still struggling to cope with the still birth of her child 40 years previously and who has been knitting tea cosies for the UN for several decades. Sandy is Mrs Pargetter's nephew and he has his own family's history to make peace with.

Together they help each other comes to terms with whatever it is that they have each been struggling to come to terms with.; love, guilty, loss.

The characters and their stories were really endearing, especially the story involving Mrs Pargetter and her tea cosies.  It that sense, it was a sweet read, if not a literary masterpiece. The book did attempt to deal with big issues; love, death, family. I particularly admired Evan's having written about the child of a same-sex relationship. This is not a common theme amoungst many books that I have read, and I appreciated that Evans was willing to write about something different. It was refreshing to read about a family that wasn't your typical one, but at the same time you shouldn't read this book and expect any deep analysis of the issue.

Sometimes the characters did feel a bit caricature-ish and the story a little far fetched. I particularly didn't connect to Finn's story about the events that acted as his motivation for moving to Opportunity and living as a hermit.  The time that he spends in the monastery and his subsequent return their in his apparent time of need (which I think was quite overdone) all seemed particularly artificial.

All in all though it was an endearing, easy read. I felt myself going along for the ride with the characters and I enjoyed myself.

Summary

What kind of read is this?
Quick, easy and light hearted.

Do I recommend this book?
Yes. I wouldn't recommend prioritising it, but it is good if you are looking for something easy and heart warming.

Would I recommend buying this book?
Probably not, the library would do just as well.

Star Rating

5 / 8

Good and worth reading if you have the opportunity, but there is no need to prioritise it.

A Blast From the Past: Father Frank by Paul Burke

A Blast From the Past is a weekly meme where I intend to review book that I read in the past that has had some form of impact upon me, whether it be good or bad.

My recommendation for today is Father Frank by Paul Burke.

This was a great little find at a bookstore under Central Station in Sydney. It is the story of Father Frank, a Roman Catholic priest that, strangely enough, doesn't believe in God. Having said that, he loves his job, and doesn't regret the time and work he put in to become a parish priest. He loves working with people and he improves their lives in many respects. I hope that this doesn't offend anyone, I know the thought of a priest that doesn't believe in God is horrifying, but this is a story, and a really nice one. Despite the deep love he holds for his job, Frank has cause to question everything when he meets Sarah, who puts his vows to the test.

I really love this book. Its a very quick and easy read, just really sweet and fun. The characters are funny, the language is funny, it's a comedy. I would definitely love someone else to read it and enjoy it like I did.
Feel free to leave a comment or a link back to your own post about a blast from the past that you want to share with everyone.

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

I had always thought that I would like to read this book and I vaguely remember enjoying the movie. So when I saw this book at the Sydney Book Fair I jumped at the chance to purchase it and I wasn't disappointed.

To be honest, when I first started reading it I wasn't sure how I felt about the style of writing. I'm sure you've heard me mention it before, but sometimes I can find the style of writing to be a barrier between me and the story, and I thought that this might be the case with this book. As it turns out, I'm glad that I persevered because I got used to its unusual style.

The story begins with some new arrivals in a small french town; Vianne, her daughter Anouk and her daughter's imaginary rabbit Pantouffle. Vianne opens a chocolate shop and slowly uses her chocolate and her own brand of magic to open the minds and hearts of the villagers. She cannot, however, open the mind or the heart of the village priest, who sees Vianne as an enemy; not just an enemy to himself and the townspeople, but to Christianity itself. He attempts to force her to leave town and in doing so comes face to face with his own weaknesses.

What i really liked about this story is told, is that it is narrated in first person from both Vianne's and the priest's perspectives. The two characters are set up as enemies, one represents good (Vianne) and the other evil (the priest). What I thought was clever that it was not always immediately apparent from the style of writing who's perspective the chapter was from. Sometimes I found that it was the content of the chapter that gave it away. I could be making this all up, but I think it may have been deliberately done. I think it's a clever way of perhaps saying to the reader that although there is this dynamic of good and evil set up between the two, sometimes good and evil are not that far removed from each other, but that it is a matter of perspective. I would be interested to know if anyone else who has read this book thinks something similar.
This is a good book if you are looking for an easy but magical read.

Star Rating

5 / 8

Good and worth reading if you have the opportunity, but there's no need to prioritise it.