Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
Read: June 2009
This was another weighty but not heavy book from the Twilight series - and the last one...
I was told that this story was better than the last two and that there was lots of sex in it!
To be honest I found it much the sme as the other few books. That there was too much story to get through, and so much explaination and description that the 700-page book could have been two books, or coudl have been shortened to be more punchy.
There were a good few twists in the story that I didn't predict. Again it was the twists around Jacob's story that I enjoyed the most and there was some good humour in it.
I think Buffy The Vampire Slayer had some better morals - sleep with your boyfriend and he turns nasty! But this had some good morals too - unprotected sex leads to pregnancy!!
Most of the loose ends in the story have been tied up - Bella is happy, Charlie is happy, etcetc, but nothing has been totally closed from a future book. Woudl I read another book? I probably would as I have the time here and trashy/easy books can be fun. But I wouldn't buy it. I think reading this series and some of the other fiction I have read this year reminds me why I do enjoy non-fiction more, but maybe it's because I haven't quite found the fiction for me...not a teenage romance, not a singleton looking for love, but something else. I'll just have to keep looking - I have the time at least!!
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz
Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz
(1957, English translation 1991)
Read: May 2009
At just over 400 pages, this book was shorter than Palace Walk and I was really keen to read it in one go, before the summer holidays started. It starts six years after Palace Walk concluded and is named after the street where Yasin's mother had lived, and where he goes to live during the story.
Again the story is told by multiple people, but I noticed this time that the story would follow a character for a few chapters, before changing narrator. I also noticed that the narrative always stayed with male characters in this book, whereas I think that in the first book the mother narrated part of the story. As the two daughters have married, they are now living with their husbands and so play more minor roles in this book, compared to the first. Amina also plays a more minor role, with the story focusing on Yasin, his father and Kamal.
The six year gap between books is illustrated through a nice description of mother as she has aged. The new family that now takes its place for the coffee hour also shows this, as Khadiga and Aisha with their husbands and young children all take their seats. Their conversation also reflects the passage of time; as now talk turns to the trouble Khadiga has with her mother-in-law. It brings a wry smile to your face that the girl who was so good in the first book at dishing it out is now being reined in.
You also feel that time has passed in the frailty of the parents. When Al-Said becomes ill, the family are reminded of the precarious nature of life. They also remember the loss of their brother at the end of the first book. At the time, A-Said was very much against his involvement in politics, but now they see him having died a martyr which I think would have made him happy that his family were proud of what he did.
The family does a good job in the first book of remaining innocently oblivious to Al-Said's other (night) life. In this book though it seems that the sons, especially, weren't so innocent to have not been influenced by his actions. There is only mild surprise that Yasin is becoming more and more like his father, as he, now divorced 6 years, takes another wife, only to soon to be divorced by her for a third (who in fact his father has already had relations with!). I'm not sure how I feel about Yasin; whether to feel sorry for him that he struggles to find a partner to make marriage work, or whether I dislike him for his attitude to marriage and women (he says he soon tires of a wife, but remains interested in a women who is only a mistress). He has inherited a lot from his father, and although his father has this same interest in mistresses, he still manages to keep a marriage and family.
I was surprised though when the rite of passage for little Kamal is not just that of academia. He excels in his academics and he maintains his strong beliefs. What surprised me though was that Kamal too followed in his father's and brother's footsteps by allowing romance to overtake him. Normally a rational person, Kamal's falters, but doesn't just falter, rather falls head over heels and leaves himself no route back to life. The upside to Kamal's journey is the bond he then develops with his brother. Yasin is so pleased to be able to induct his little brother into the life of the underworld of women and alcohol.
The book closes with Al-Said Ahmed suffering from tension and illness. The severity of his suffering is a shock to himself and his family. He resolves to stay off alcohol and women as his family care for him and members of the community pass their kinds thoughts. He seems a reformed character. I wish he were, but can't help being sceptical. Bring on book three!
(1957, English translation 1991)
Read: May 2009
At just over 400 pages, this book was shorter than Palace Walk and I was really keen to read it in one go, before the summer holidays started. It starts six years after Palace Walk concluded and is named after the street where Yasin's mother had lived, and where he goes to live during the story.
Again the story is told by multiple people, but I noticed this time that the story would follow a character for a few chapters, before changing narrator. I also noticed that the narrative always stayed with male characters in this book, whereas I think that in the first book the mother narrated part of the story. As the two daughters have married, they are now living with their husbands and so play more minor roles in this book, compared to the first. Amina also plays a more minor role, with the story focusing on Yasin, his father and Kamal.
The six year gap between books is illustrated through a nice description of mother as she has aged. The new family that now takes its place for the coffee hour also shows this, as Khadiga and Aisha with their husbands and young children all take their seats. Their conversation also reflects the passage of time; as now talk turns to the trouble Khadiga has with her mother-in-law. It brings a wry smile to your face that the girl who was so good in the first book at dishing it out is now being reined in.
You also feel that time has passed in the frailty of the parents. When Al-Said becomes ill, the family are reminded of the precarious nature of life. They also remember the loss of their brother at the end of the first book. At the time, A-Said was very much against his involvement in politics, but now they see him having died a martyr which I think would have made him happy that his family were proud of what he did.
The family does a good job in the first book of remaining innocently oblivious to Al-Said's other (night) life. In this book though it seems that the sons, especially, weren't so innocent to have not been influenced by his actions. There is only mild surprise that Yasin is becoming more and more like his father, as he, now divorced 6 years, takes another wife, only to soon to be divorced by her for a third (who in fact his father has already had relations with!). I'm not sure how I feel about Yasin; whether to feel sorry for him that he struggles to find a partner to make marriage work, or whether I dislike him for his attitude to marriage and women (he says he soon tires of a wife, but remains interested in a women who is only a mistress). He has inherited a lot from his father, and although his father has this same interest in mistresses, he still manages to keep a marriage and family.
I was surprised though when the rite of passage for little Kamal is not just that of academia. He excels in his academics and he maintains his strong beliefs. What surprised me though was that Kamal too followed in his father's and brother's footsteps by allowing romance to overtake him. Normally a rational person, Kamal's falters, but doesn't just falter, rather falls head over heels and leaves himself no route back to life. The upside to Kamal's journey is the bond he then develops with his brother. Yasin is so pleased to be able to induct his little brother into the life of the underworld of women and alcohol.
The book closes with Al-Said Ahmed suffering from tension and illness. The severity of his suffering is a shock to himself and his family. He resolves to stay off alcohol and women as his family care for him and members of the community pass their kinds thoughts. He seems a reformed character. I wish he were, but can't help being sceptical. Bring on book three!
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