Chess – Stefan Zweig

This novella is 76 pages long. As with The Post Office Girl, which I read earlier in the year, it blew me away with it’s intensity. Stefan Zweig says much with few words. It is beautifully written and even in translation is effortless to read.

The world chess champion is on board a cruise ship from New York to Buenos Aires. The narrator learns of him and his story through a fellow passenger. His genius at chess does not extend to life in general. He is a man who shuns social contact and declines the request of the other passengers to play him.

The game eventually takes place, and another which the champ wins without battering an eyelid. If it wasn’t for the money, he would be long gone. Then, a voice in the crowd starts whispering instructions to the challengers, all of a sudden the champ’s interest in piqued. He looks up and realises he has a worthy challenger. Who is this stranger and how can he be skilled enough to match the champion?

It is this stranger’s story that takes the narrative forward with the intensity and suspense building.

Superficially this story is about chess. Beneath the surface it is an exploration of the history and psychology behind both characters. How they have evolved to be the men they are as they face each other across the chess board. Also the author’s history and what had happened to make him the man he was when he wrote the story.

I read this for the German reading and November novella challenges

 

November Novella Challenge

Hosted by J.T at Bibliofreak

Guidelines: For this challenge, there are 4 levels of participation:

Level I: Read one (just one!) novella by November 30, 2009

Level II: Read four novellas (one each week, perhaps?) by November 30, 2009

Level III: Read eight novellas (two a week?) by November 30, 2009

Level IV: AKA, the As Many As You Freakin’ Can level: Read as many novellas as you freakin’ can by November 30, 2009

I think this is a lovely idea and I would love to spend the whole of November snuggled up with and surrounded by novellas. I’m behind on my other challenge reading though so have opted for 4 novellas. I never realised how many there were until I started looking.

Some ideas:
The Golden Pot – E T A Hoffman
Chess – Stefan Zweig
The Invention of Morel – Adolpho Bioy Casares
The Passport – Herta Muller
The Uncommon Reader – Alan Bennett
Disquiet – Julia Leigh
Death in Venice – Thomas Mann
The Girl with the Golden Eyes – Honore de Balzac
Lois the Witch – Elizabeth Gaskell
Up at the Villa – W. Somerset Maugham
The Pumpkin Eater – Penelope Mortimer

Happy reading to everybody joining in.

 

The Woman in Black – Play

A few week’s ago I read Susan Hill’s atmospheric The Woman in Black. It was my first experience of a ghost story that I can remember. It had lots of little thrills and I enjoyed it.

Last night we headed out with other Halloween creatures to see the highly acclaimed play. It was excellent! The Fortune Theatre is a fittingly atmsopheric venue – it’s old and narrow and creaky. Every time somebody moved in their seat it sounded like a squeaky door slowly opening….

The story of the story is told by just two characters (well three really..!) with minimal props and is really well done. After a slowish first half, the frights came in the second – creepy rocking chairs and music boxes… plenty of gasps and jumping in the audience. Lots of fun!

If anybody has the chance to see it – I would definitely recommend it.

 

R.I.P IV Challenge – Completed!

A huge thank you to Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings for hosting The Readers Imbibing Peril IV challenge and inspiring us to read books from the following:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

This was my first opportunity to join this incredibly popular challenge and it was wonderful. I have discovered the joys of suspensful, spooky reading at this time of the year and books I wouldn’t have thought of choosing previously. We even carved our very first pumpkin, “Tern” who has been looking down from his mantle and keeping us company throughout the week.

I signed up for:

Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.

Books Read:
1. The Victorian Chaise-longue - Marghanita Laski
2. The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. The Woman in Black – Susan Hill
5. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
6. The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield
7. The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
8. Out - Natsuo Kirino

I honestly can’t pick a favourite – I loved most of them.

Not that I want to wish away time but I’m looking forward to next year’s challenge already!

 

Summertime – J.M. Coetzee

A confession first. This is the fourth book I have picked up with “summer” in the title. The other three I have abandoned after the first few chapters. I’m trying to complete the Reading through the seasons challenge and I am finding it a challenge! So, I was determined that even if it was terrible I was going to finish this book.

Shortlisted for the Booker prize this year, Summertime is the final book in a trilogy of fictional memoirs written by John Coetzee about John Coetzee after his death. As it sounds, it is unusual. Boyhood and Youth are the first two in the series. It didn’t seem crucial to have read them first and I hadn’t.

Coetzee chooses a fictional English biographer to interview several people that were close to him during the 1970’s prior to his success as a writer. These include a married woman he was involved with, a favourite cousin, the mother of a girl he taught English to and co-workers. The intriguing and quite frustrating question that arises out of this is if any of the people are real and if any of what they say about Coetzee is true.

The setting is rural South Africa, the picture that emerges is of a reclusive man, dysfunctional in his relationships although quite successful with women in an unsatisfactory way. Coetzee is certainly not using this as a vehicle to big himself up – if it is about him at all. The Coetzee we learn about is the black sheep of the family, lives with his ageing father, does a bit of teaching, writes a bit of poetry.

I’m not exactly sure what I thought of the actual story. Described on the cover as “sometimes heartbreaking, often very funny.” I have to admit I wasn’t involved enough with the characters to agree. I enjoyed the reading but in a curious rather than engaged way.

What made it worth reading was that it made me think. Coetzee explores his views in different ways. Sometimes quite subtly, sometimes with an expected punch. I remember finding the same thing with Disgrace when I read it last year. An example is his stance on vegetarianism which in this book is briefly touched upon but I found myself thinking about it long after finishing the passage. Ingrained in his writing is his relationship with South Africa, the country, it’s people, the politics, should he as a white South African feel entitled to call it his home?

I read this for the Reading through the seasons, 2009 Pub and Book Awards 3 challenges
Published: 2009
Pages: 272

 

The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

This is another of those books that has been on my “should read” list for a while but one I haven’t been that motivated to try. I think it was probably the time travel bit that sub-consciously put me off – I’m not especially adventurous with anything fantasty/science fiction related but I needn’t have worried. This is quite simply a beautiful love story and the first book I have ever read that has made me cry.

Henry time travels. Back or forward in time, outside of his control. It appears to be stress related. He always travels naked leaving piles of clothes in random places just as he disappears. He meets Clare in the meadow of her parents house when she is 6 and he is 36. He already knows then that they will marry when she is 22 and he is 30.

The book really is a story of their love and their lives together and quite often apart. The “chronology” is a bit hard to follow as Henry’s age changes back and forth throughout. For the first few chapters I was flicking back trying to piece it all together but in the end I gave up and just went with it and it worked much better.

I connected with both Henry and Clare’s characters. Especially Clare as a little girl trusting and helping this man who would come into her life every few weeks or months or sometimes years, leaving him clothes and food and accepting that sometimes he would arrive from a time when for him, they hadn’t yet met.

The story is told in a down to earth and contemporary way which I liked. It could have all been a bit surreal otherwise but Clare and Henry’s interactions helped to keep it all real.

There were a couple of things I didn’t like so much – Clare’s language when describing how she was feeling at one point was totally out of character I thought and I was quite shocked. Not that I’m overly prudish but I thought it was unnecessary and a bit odd. I also would have liked the “less polite” side of Henry’s character to have been more integrated into the story – I didn’t fully accept that aspect of him.

But they are just small things and didn’t detract at all from my enjoyment of this wonderful, long overdue read. I left it at work once by mistake, and was devastated to have to go a whole night without reading it.

Read for the RIP IV challenge, Guardian 1000 novels, Whitcoulls challenge

Published 2003, 518 pages

 

Classics Challenge – Completed!

Timeframe: 1 April – 31 October 2009.
Goal: 6 books

A big thank you to Trish at Trish’s Reading Nook for hosting this challenge. I was a bit tentative about joining, having read so few classics. I’ve absolutely loved it and read some wonderful books with a couple of changes from the original list. I read Northanger Abbey and The Picture of Dorian Gray instead of The Red and the Black and Wuthering Heights. Both are on my TBR list. I didn’t want to rush through Wuthering Heights and The Red and the Black was just too ambitious I think!

Books read:

The woman in white – Wilkie Collins
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
To kill a mockingbird – Harper Lee
North and South – Elizabeth Gaskell
Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde

Bonus – “should be” classic:

The Savage Detectives – Roberto Bolano

There is a tv programme in the UK, The Book Show, where each week’s guests are asked to pick their favourite literary character. Out of these books, I would pick Margaret Hale from North and South for her modest and principled and passionate nature – and her taste in men! My favourite overall book was Jane Eyre – but it was a close call. They were all impressive in their own way.

 

The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield

Reading for Carl’s R.I.P challenge and Trish’s Classics challenge has introduced me to the wonderful world of gothic fiction. I didn’t think I would, but am find myself loving it and  excited to have so many still to discover, Rebecca, Wuthering Heights, Dracula and so on and so on…. just wonderful.

This week I have been gently making my way through The Thirteenth Tale. It’s quite long at 456 pages and takes place over the autumn and winter months. It’s a story that I wanted to pace myself through but I can understand other readers picking it up and not being able to put it down.

‘All children mythologise their birth. It is a universal trait. You want to know someone? Heart, mind and soul? Ask him to tell you about when he was born. What you get won’t be the truth: it will be a story. And nothing is more telling than a story.’

Margaret Lea is a book lover and blossoming biographer and has spent her life surrounded by books in her fathers antique bookshop which she lives above. I loved this passage below:

‘By three minutes to eight I was in my nightdress and slippers waiting for the kettle to boil. Quickly, quickly. A minute to eight. My hot water bottle was ready, and I filled a glass with water from the tap. Time was of the essence. For at eight o’clock the world came to an end. It was reading time.
The hours between eight in the evening and one or two in the morning have always been my magic hours. Against the blue candlewick bedspread the white pages of my open book, illuminated by a circle of lamplight, were the gateway to another world’

Margaret is commissioned to write the biography of the famous yet mysterious author Vida Winter. Arriving at the author’s eerily silent house in Yorkshire Moors country, she finds a dying woman who after telling stories all her life, now wants to tell the truth about her past – or so she claims.

That past is one of decades of family secrets and tragedy and centres around the twins Emmeline and Adeline March and the now forgotten Angelfield House.  In true Jane Eyre style (a book that features prominently), there is a decaying isolated mansion, secret inhabitants, an influential governess, a devastating fire.

At first I was a bit worried this book might suffer under the weight of expectation. I had heard so many good things about it and for the first few chapters I wasn’t blown away. I have to admit it wasn’t so much Vida Winter’s story that I loved but the healing effect on Margaret, who lives with her own secret and sadness, as she discovered it. I felt I was with her each step of the way and thought Diane Setterfield made wonderful use of the seasons to create a sense of passing time.

I would have liked Margaret’s troubled relationship with her mother to have been part of this healing process. Although we learn of the reason for their troubles, I felt this was introduced into the story without really being resolved.

My favourite character was Aurelius Love, who unexpectedly pops up as Margaret is researching the story. He reminded me of one of those larger than life characters in a childrens book  – a delight.

So – did it live up to the hype? Yes, for me it did, although in a different way than I thought it would.

 

The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde

“If only it was the picture who was to grow old, and I remain young. There’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t give for that. Yes, I would give even my soul for it”

First paragraph The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink flowering thorn.

Oscar Wilde’s only novel is a sensuous, decadent, witty, seedy tale. Straight away I knew I was going to love it. The opening paragraph sets the scene – indulgence of the senses which is one of the major themes of the book.

Young, beautiful and innocent, Dorian Gray’s beauty has enchanted the painter Basil Hallward. The resulting portrait is exquisite.

Lord Henry Wotton meets Dorian Gray through the painter and is immediately taken with him. He takes him under his wing and begins to influence him with his theories on life – art and beauty being the most important things and should be pursued at all costs. Religion, morals, marriage, convention – all undesirable and to be avoided.

Lord Henry Wotton is the sly villian encouraging Dorian Gray to lead in effect a double life, that of a respectable gentleman by day while indulging in unmentionable pleasures of the senses by night.

Lord Henry Wotton is the representative of Wilde’s wit. On almost every page is a statement about life – mostly obnoxious and controversial – and hilarious.

‘Not at all,’ answered Lord Henry, ‘not at all my dear Basil. You seem to forget that I am married, and the one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties..’

Dorian Gray finds his wish for eternal youth and beauty granted. He remains physically the same while the painting which is under lock and key bears the effects of his sins, slowy growing more and more grotesque.

Of course there is a price to pay for everything and this is the moral side of Wilde’s story.

Controversial when it was first published, hints of homosexual relations and it’s apparent lack of morals meant it was poorly received by many critics. Wilde made several amendments to the second editon in response. The book was also used as evidence against Wilde in his subsequent trial.

None of the major characters were especially likeable or admirable in the story. What I loved about it was the humour, the vivid descriptions and the thought provoking themes. The difference between respectable Victorian London and the dingy night houses on the outskirts of the city were wonderfully written. I came away wanting to learn more about Oscar Wilde.

Published: 1891
Pages: 213
Challenges: RIP IV, Classics, Guardian 1000 novels

 

Out – Natsuo Kirino

It took a few chapters for this book to work it’s magic but once it did I was hooked. Initally I found the writing a bit stilted. My only other experience of a Japanese author is Haruki Murakami and the style between the two is quite different. That said, on the whole I enjoy direct writing and once I got used to it, thought it was perfect for a thriller like this.

Four women work the graveyard shift in a boxed lunch factory in downtown Tokyo. Each occupies a different positon on the production line. The hours are long, conditons harsh, prospects for the future poor. At the end of their shifts, the women are exhausted. Each of their home situations is equally bleak, for different reasons they all feel trapped in their domestic lives.

When one of the women gets into trouble, the other three lend a helping hand. Their shared despondency and desperation provides a kind of solidarity, almost a feeling of girl power.. for a while. What evolves is a downward spiral of grisly events, with some dark and suprising twists. Each woman is profoundly affected by her actions.The biggest threat they face is their own group dynamics and this is a fascinating aspect of the story. As is the attitude of the male characters towards each of these women and the very high value placed on youth. The strongest of the women, Masako is 43 years old yet despite this apparent “disadvantage”, she is the most appealing of the women to the male characters and is the heroine of the story in a bizarre kind of way.

Maybe not a story for those with a queasy dispositon! Quite different from anything I’ve read before, I enjoyed it very much and look forward to reading more by Natsuo Kirino.

Published: 1997 (English, 2004)
Translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder
Pages: 520
Challenges: Lost in Translation, Japanese Literature Challenge, RIP IV