As any regular reader of this Blog knows I read, a lot. Read some good ones lately and a few clunkers too.
This week I read Julian Barnes Man Booker Prize winner
The Sense of an Ending and I liked it very much. Reading reviews of it I discovered that people were very divided about this book, they either liked it very much or didn't like it at all.
It's the story of Tony, told in the present tense and of his teenage years, the friends he had and his girlfriend Veronica. His friendship with Adrian and his romance with Veronica are central to the story. The author asks what is memory, what is true and what is only what we want to remember. And is history the lies told by the victors or the self-delusions of the losers?
Remarkable book.
Another one I quite enjoyed was
A Nasty Piece of Work by Robert Littell. I've read a number of Littell's books, most of them about spies (
The Company about the CIA was excellent). This one was a bit different, Lemual Gunn--that's Gunn with 2 n's--- is living in the New Mexico desert inan old airstream trailer built for Douglas Fairbanks when he was making a movie. He's a former cop who also worked with the CIA until they parted company, acrimoniously.
Onella Neppi, who he calls Friday---that's the day he met her--has been working as a bail bondsman for her uncle and she's afraid that the $125,000 bond she put up for a client, one Emilio Gava, may be forfeited, that he has done a runner.
The book is the story of their search for him and about finding each other. The ending definitely caught me off guard.
Another I really enjoyed lately was
Trigger Warning by Neil Gaimen. Trigger warnings are those things that put us on edge, maybe even frighten us. This collection of short stories is one that will stick with me for quite a while. I particularly liked "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury". The premise being, dothose we forget cease to exist?
Right now I'm rereading
Rebecca by Daphne Du Muarier (it's even better than I remember) ,
High Rising by Angela Thirkell and
Minding Frankie by Maeve Bunchy, one of her last books.
What have you been reading lately?
I recently listened to a collection of Maeve Bunchy's columns, and other of her works. Enjoyed it all. I must read Rebecca again.
ReplyDeleteI do agree about the Julian Barnes. I have just read it and found it an excellent read.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever heard of Julian Barnes - looking him up on Amazon just now, I find that he's written a lot of books.
ReplyDeleteI've been in a period of re-listening to Jane Austen novels lately. Pride & Prejudice at the moment.
Just found The Sense of an Ending available as audio book through the library for me so I'll give it a go that way :)
ReplyDeleteHow interesting to see what you are reading for a change. I have not read any of those books you mentioned. My latest has been "Little Dorrit" by Charles Dickens which I thoroughly enjoyed. But you are quite up to date with my readings as one of my most faithful blog followers. Hope we will have many many more boosk to talk about in the future.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week,
Marianne from
Let's Read