Maria’s blog

I was really looking forward to reading this book, since I loved The time traveler's wife. I was a little bit disappointed. Her fearful symmetry is not bad, it's ok, but nothing spectacular.

Her Fearful Symmetry

Audrey Niffenegger

The book starts after the death of Elspeth and deals with the extreme effects this has on the lives of her estranged twin sister, her husband and their twin daughters Julia and Valentina. The main subjects of the book are death and identity. All of the main characters in the book lose someone or something important to them and they deal with it in their own way. There's also quite a lot about identity since it revolves around two identical "mirror" twins. If you are so identical to someone else, are you your own person or are you just two parts of one organism? And if everyone sees you as the same, how do you make them see you as two different people? How do you live separate lives without actually separating?

The plot is interesting, it is actually larger than life, but somehow finishing the book left me feeling a bit 'meh'... As for the major twist towards the end, I kind of saw it coming so I wasn't exactly blown away. I do think that the most disturbing thing in the book, something a main character does, is kind of rushed and not quite properly dealt with, so that annoyed me a little... I feel that the author tried to make Her fearful symmetry something really grand and complicated and thought provoking but didn't quite achieve it. 

A quote I liked:

"He had never realised, while Elspeth was alive, the extent to which a thing had not completely happened until he told her about it."

And I really loved Martin's speech about what being in love feels like:

"Being in love is... anxious... Wanting to please, worrying that she will see me as I really am. But wanting to be known. That is... you're naked, moaning in the dark, no dignity at all... I wanted her to see me and to love me even though she knew everything I am, and I knew her. Now she's gone, and my knowledge is incomplete. So all day I imagine what she is doing, what she says and who she talks to, how she looks. I try to supply the missing hours, and it gets harder as they pile up, all the time she's been gone. I have to imagine. I don't know, really. I don't know any more."

Just a quick post to list the books I read last month... 

Ok I'll admit it, I have an addiction problem. I can't seem to stop reading Jeeves and Wooster novels. These are the books I read in August:

Books read - August

• Her Ladyship's guide to modern manners by Lucy Gray
• The code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
• Joy in the morning by P.G. Wodehouse
• The mating season by P.G. Wodehouse

The code of the Woosters was my airplane book because I felt it would put me in a 'british' mood for my trip to London. It was as always a hilarious, incredibly written story and it made the 4,5 hours flight seem much shorter.

I picked Her Ladyship's guide to modern manners at Buckingham Palace's gift shop after our tour of the state rooms (which was fantastic, the audio guides offer really detailed information). I thought it would be a fun read, you know with all the savoir vivre rules telling you how to sit, speak, eat etc. However, I failed to take into account the modern part of the title. This book does not tell men which hand to use to raise their top hat when greeting a lady, instead there are chapters about emails, travelling by public transit and dinner parties. So it wasn't funny, but it was still informative and wasy to read. (Plus, the cover is this gorgeous purple colour...)

I then returned to Wodehouse and remained in the sunny world he created till the end of the month. It is seriously amazing how warm and fuzzy these novels make you feel. No matter how shitty things may be, Bertie can surely make you forget about your problems and just laugh!

All right, here are the books I read in July:

- Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

- How to travel with a salmon & other essays by Umberto Eco

Books_read - July

Let me start from the bottom. My good friend M recommended How to travel with a salmon claiming it was funny and strange. Having read The name of the rose and Foucault's pendulum I was a little hesitant because Umberto Eco can be a bit um, exhausting. But, M was right. This collection of essays is very different from his novels. Each essay is very short, silly and very entertaining. I think my favorites are "How to eat on the aeroplane" and "How to use the damn coffeemaker". Unfortunately, I read the Greek translation so I can't post any quotes...

I had been missing that "Harry Potter feeling" lately and I really wanted to reread the whole series. But I also wanted to catch the new movie so I just picked up Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I enjoyed reading it again (for the third time) and now I really want to try and squeeze Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in my August reading...

I started reading Right Ho, Jeeves immediately after I finished Thank you, Jeeves which I loved. Not only did it not disappoint, I think this one is even better! I am constantly amazed how this author uses the English language and creates something so perfect and unique. Even the names he chooses for the characters are brilliant. I mean, can you think of a more silly name than Pongo Twistleton? Right Ho, Jeeves is very very funny and it revolves around another complicated situation for Bertie which only the brilliant Jeeves can untangle. Poor Bertie is always eager to help, if only to prove he can do what Jeeves does, and he always has the best intentions, but most of the times he ends up having to listen to something like this:

'Attila,' she said at length. 'That's the name. Attila the Hun... I was trying to think who you reminded me of. Somebody who went about strewing ruin and desolation and breaking up homes which, until he came along, had been happy and peaceful. Attila is the man... To look at you, one would think you were just an ordinary sort of amiable idiot - certifiable, perhaps, but quite harmless. Yet, in reality, you are a worse scourge than the Black Death. I tell you, Bertie, when I contemplate you I seem to come up against all the underlying sorrow and horror of life with such a thud that I feel as if I had walked into a lamp post.'

If you haven't already read a Jeeves and Wooster novel you should really give it a try and I promise you'll love it!

Could not resist posting some of my favorite Bertie-isms:

"In this life, you can choose between two courses. You can either shut yourself up in a country house and stare into tanks, or you can be a dasher with the sex. You can't do both."

"But we Woosters are men of tact and have a nice sense of the obligations of a host. We do not tell old friends beneath our roof-tree that they are an offence to the eyesight."

"There is enough sadness in life without having fellows like Gussie Fink-Nottle going on about in sea boots."

This conversation was one of my favorites:

'...It wouldn't be a bad idea to give her a brief description of a typical home evening at your Lincolnshire residence, showing how you pace the meadows with a heavy tread.'

'I generally sit indoors and listen to the wireless.'

'No, you don't. You pace the meadows with a heavy tread, wishing that you had someone to love you.'

Another ridiculous experiment by Danny Wallace, another hilarious book! Before saying yes, Danny actually became the leader of a collective sort of by accident and this book chronicles his adventures...

Join Me: The True Story of a Man Who Started a Cult by Accident

Danny Wallace

He merely asked people to join him. Even though he didn't really know what he was doing in the beginning, he slowly became immersed in this project. His obsession with meeting his joinees took over his life and ruined his relationship but reading about it is very, very funny... In the end, even though the purpose of the collective was set almost by necessity it is quite brilliant: all the members should try to perform one random act of kindness every Friday! I'd dare say this became a phenomenon, since thousands of people from around the world have joined and are still helping old men cross the street or carry their groceries...

As is the case with Yes man, this book is more than a funny story. It is inspiring in it's way, whether it makes you want to help old people or answer odd ads in the paper...

PS I joined.

Here are a few of the many funny/clever/absurd things Danny says...

"I grabbed my coat. We were off. Well, I grabbed my coat, waited the best part of an hour for Hanne to choose between one pair of black trousers and another virtually identical pair, had a cup of tea, approved the trousers, and then we were off."

"It was a happy relationship. I was prepared to forgive her slight Norwegian quirks, she was prepared to forgive my entire personality."

"The most ordinary people can easily be the most inspiring.."

"A group of Americans sat down at a table behind me and began to talk about their day, loudly and with the confidence of people who think no one else in the country can possibly understand them. They weren't particularly impressed with Paris. Or the food. Or the French. The croissants weren't as good as the ones you get in America, it seems. Nor the wine. I imagine you probably also got better French people over there. You certainly get better Americans."

"But I put it down to the fact that we live in entirely different worlds. His, where every piece of information, public and private, is immediately to hand and technology rules the day, and mine, where if the toaster isn't working properly I hit it with a shoe."

"At first I was amazed at the scene. Here we were - the Voice of British Asians and the Voice of Polish Butter - in many ways two classic cultural icons, sitting together for probably the first time in the history of the world."

"And these people were relying on me. The wanted to do good... they just never had enough of an excuse before."

I really liked The Hobbit. It is a marvelous story of an incredible adventure. It is perhaps not as epic as The Lord of the Rings, and it is certainly shorter, but just like you’d expect from Tolkien it’s full of trolls and goblins and elves and men and spiders…

The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien

Mr. Bilbo Baggins is the rather reluctant hero of this tale, at least that’s what he likes to think so. He constantly pretends he would prefer to be at home drinking his tea and smoking his pipe, but you can see how this journey thrilled him and made him stronger. Ultimately, the success of the mission is based on his ability to get over his fear and his preconceptions about himself. Even though he didn’t believe it, he proved to be a very brave, cunning hobbit with a special talent in burglaries! His companions are 13 dwarves with funny names who in the beginning do not really appreciate Bilbo. Of course, Gandalf is with them, helping them in the most perilous times on their quest to retrieve their gold from the dragon Smaug.

The Hobbit is exciting, funny and easy to read for the most part, it doesn’t have the grimness that some parts of the trilogy have, possibly because the subject matter is lighter. I think the most alluring thing about The Hobbit (and The Lord of the Rings) is that ordinary people (hobbits to be exact) turn out to be the heroes. Bilbo himself describes hobbits as “…plain and quiet folk and have no use for adventures.” But in the end it is obvious that he was wrong.

I never thought I would ever have to answer such a question, but Bilbo didn’t either…

“And what would you do, if an uninvited dwarf came and hung his things up in your hall without a word of explanation?”

Bilbo’s mom’s last name was Took and Tooks were considered a bit weird by the other hobbits because “once in a while members of the Took-clan would go and have adventures.”

“Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick.”

I intent to say I’m feeling Tookish whenever I have a yearning to travel, to see new things (which is often). I hope it will catch on!

The change in Bilbo could not be put better:

“Already he was a very different hobbit from the one that had run out without a pocket-handkerchief from Bag-End long ago. He had not had a pocket-handkerchief for ages. He loosened his dagger in his sheath, tightened his belt, and went on.”

“It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterwards were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait.”

In the end, the dwarves respected Bilbo, ant there are perhaps a few things hobbits could teach us too…

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

EDIT: I don't know why the fonts in this post are so kooky, apologies.

Ok, so I had a suspicion that I would like this book, both Michelle and Emily have raved about this author. Well they were right, I loved it! It is such a lovely, funny, entertaining book I would recommend it to absolutely everyone... This was my first P.G. Wodehouse novel and now I want to read everything he has ever written! His writing style is superb, really, it's like every word is exactly the right one and every phrase is so elegant...

Thank You, Jeeves

P.G. Wodehouse

Bertie Wooster is adorable, I especially enjoyed the way he talks about himself or the Woosters in general, it was endearing and very funny. Apparently he has a habit of getting himself into absurd mix-ups, which make for very enjoyable reading. Bertie's life is complicated by the people that surround him, like the overzealous police men who kept harassing him due to his 'unorthodox' choices of places to sleep. Of course, Jeeves is amazing, so wise and insightful and proper, he is the ultimate problem-solver. With chapter titles like 'The butter situation' and 'Development of the butter situation' this is truly a hilarious book about rather silly situations that will definitely make you laugh. But it's not just that it's funny. There's a certain 'englishness' about Bertie's and Jeeves' world that's comforting and heartwarming. One of the reviews on the cover of my copy mentions that P.G. Wodehouse should be prescribed to treat depression and I couldn't agree more!

On every other page there were probably half a dozen of phrases that I wanted to write down... Here are a few:

"I was a shade perturbed. Nothing to signify, really, but still just a spot concerned. As I sat in the old flat, idly touching the strings of my banjolele, an instrument to which I had become greatly addicted of late, you couldn't have said that the brow was actually furrowed, and yet, on the other hand, you couldn't have stated absolutely that it wasn't."

"... Kept calling me 'Sir' too, which struck me as dashed silly. I mean, if you're asking a fellow to come out of a room so that you can dismember him with a carving knife, it's absurd to tack a 'Sir' on to every sentence. The two things don't go together."

"You can't rattle Jeeves. Where scullerymaids had had hysterics and members of the Peerage had leaped and quivered, he simply regarded me with respectful serenity and, after a civil good morning, went on with the job in hand. He is a fellow who likes to do things in their proper order."

"In this world, Jeeves, you can do one of two things. You can set yourself up as a final authority on whether your fellow man is sane or not, or you can go blacking your face and getting put in potting-sheds. You cannot do both."

I'm away for the week so this will be a very short post, but I promise I am going to post separate reviews for each one of these books... (my thoughts on Unaccustomed Earth are here)

So, my June reads:

• Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Join me: The true story of a man who started a cult by accident by Danny Wallace
• The Hobbit by J.R.R.Tolkien
• Thank you Jeeves by P.G.Wodehouse

June was a very good month when it comes to my reading, all the books were very, very good!

I finished reading this last week, but with the release of The Sims 3 my time spent online has been reduced significantly (the same as time spent sleeping or talking to others but that's another story, possibly for the Simaholics Anonymous...).

Unaccustomed Earth

Jhumpa Lahiri

Anyway, I had a change of heart about this book somewhere close to the end. I liked the first story, but it felt a bit underwhelming. The following three stories, although interesting and very well-written bored me a little. But then, the fifth story caught my interest for some reason, even though it deals with the same relationship issues as the previous stories. I don't think it's the book's fault really, I generally prefer longer novels than short stories. I don't know, it just feels like nothing really happens in a short story...

Now, the second part consists of three stories which are related, all three stories make up the story of two people. These I loved! Hema and Kaushik alternate as the narrators and we basically see how they journeyed through their lives, coming together for a tiny little bit of time and then being separated forever. I actually thought there would be a happy ending: these two people who belonged together will finally find each other and realize everything they've been through has led them there... Boy was I wrong. The ending was very sad but beautiful at the same time, and actually that's the feeling the whole book left me.

The author has an amazing ability to write about the complexities of relationships, especially in families. In very simple language she can describe the character's complicated feelings and most private thoughts. I think the book also offers a very good insight to the life, culture and particular ay of thinking of Indian immigrants in the US.

Ok, so quotes... I loved the opening quote which is actually from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The custom house:

"Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in th same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth."

A very nice quote about the strangeness of suddenly not existing.

"But death too, had the power to awe, she knew this now - that a human being could be alive for years and years, thinking and breathing and eating, full of a million worries and feelings and thoughts, taking up space in the world, and then in an instant, become absent, invisible."

I found the following quote a bit silly, because it is a well known fact that Mediterranean men, Italians and Greeks especially, will flirt with anyone! It doesn't matter if you are madly in love, engaged, married or a nun, chances are if you are decent looking they will flirt with you!

"During her years with Julian, even when she was by herself, men had sensed that her heart was taken, that she would not pause to consider them, as if she were a passing taxi with its off-duty light on. But now, thought she was engaged, she was aware of the Roman men who looked at her, sometimes called out. And thought she was flattered by their attentions, it reminded her that her hear did not belong to Navin in the same way."

This is the quote that made me hope for a happy ending in Hema and Kaushik's story:

"It was unquestioned that they would not part yet, unquestioned that though they had not seen or thought of each other in decades, not sought each other out, something precious had been stumbled upon, a newborn connection that could not be left unattended, that demanded every particle of their care."