David Guterson - East of the Mountains

Background: This is the final book read, as part of the Take A Chance Challenge hosted by Jenners. Challenge#7, i.e. Random Bestseller reads:

Go to Random.org and, using the True Random Number Generator, enter the number 1950 for the min. and 2008 for the max. and then hit generate. Then go to this site and find the year that Random.org generated for you and click on it. Then find the bestseller list for the week that would contain your birthday for that year. Choose one of the bestsellers from the list that comes up, read it and write about it.

So, I came up with 1999, May 6, and the book I ended up picking was David Guterson's bestseller, East of the Mountains.

Review:

While a 1999 bestseller is promising, I regret to say I didn't finish this book. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have picked the book up, but, let's face it: the whole point of this challenge was to pick books I wouldn't have normally "taken a chance on". The thing is, the book is really beautifully written, with amazing descriptions about the landscapes, that the author brings to life:

At the far end of Keechelus Lake, the sky eastward opened wide over distant coulees, buttes, and canyons, all swathed in morning light. Ahead lay a low film of red on the horizon where the sun was new; the road wound down through a a stand of grand firs with long, broad, flat needles.

The story revolves around Dr. Ben Givens, a widower suffering from terminal cancer. He decides to go on a last hunting trip, from which he never intends to return, as he meticulously plans his death, so that it seems like an accident. Essentially, he doesn't want his daughter and grandson to undergo the pains of seeing him suffering.

However, almost before he starts his journey, his plans are turned upside down, by an accident, but he continues with his dogs, on foot, reflecting on the life gone by.

It does sound like an interesting read, but the minute the book started talking about hunting, and killing small birds, I stopped reading it. I don't know why, but, it just made me wary. It's weird, because I enjoy a good murder mystery. My love for reading started with crime thrillers, and I have read some reasonably gory books centring around misanthropists and misogynists. Yet, I just can't stomach cruelty to animals... and, I don't get why!

I'm not going to bother rating this book, because clearly, it's not for me, but, I am going to spend some time introspecting as to why cruelty to animals hits me so hard. I stopped reading this about two weeks ago, and I'm still at a loss.

Any ideas? Do any of you feel strongly about something that you can't really explain as well? Is it just a temporary thing? Please help!

Michelle Magorian - Goodnight Mr. Tom

This incredibly poignant well written story tackles various important and sensitive topics, some of which are still valid today, despite the book being set around the time of the second World War.

Set in the English countryside, Michelle Magorian tells the story of Willie, a timid little specimen, who is an evacuee from London, and is made to stay with the reticent grumpy Tom Oakley, who Willie calls Mr. Tom.

Mr. Tom is thoroughly unprepared for the scared nervous creature that's at his doorstep, as he half-expects the evacuee stereotype - the wild ill-mannered children, who cause more chaos than anything else. However, he soon finds out that Will has been continuously abused by his mother, and his small body is covered with sores and bruises. But - the psychological damage surpasses the physical, as Willie cowers at the thought of getting on the wrong side of Mr. Tom, and is petrified of doing anything to annoy him. He also wets his bed, throws up his food, expects absolutely nothing, and tries to shut out the world around him, as his mother has brainwashed him into believing that people will only like him if he's invisible and quiet.

However, Mr. Tom has demons of his own. Ever since the death of his beloved Rachel and son, he had resigned himself from village activities, and kept to himself, grieving alone. Yet, when Willie walks into his life, unexpectedly, he attempts to change, and provides the young boy with a happy home, almost selflessly. Be it clothes, food, shoes, or spending time narrating stories or organising surprise birthday parties!

A children's book, there is no surprise that Will (calling someone Willie sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?) overcomes his childhood traumas, makes friends, works hard, and is a talented artist, under the protective loving care of Mr. Tom - the hero. Yet, half way through the book, Will gets a letter from his mother in London, who is ill, and wants him back...

This story will make you laugh, and it will make you cry. You'll hate the woman that's Will's mother, but you'll wish for more Mr. Toms in this world. You'll mourn the tragedy of war, but cherish the permanence of friendship, and you'll come to terms with life not being fair, but, things having a way of working out - eventually.

As a children's book, this is incredible. Yet, as an adult, I found this book a little too simple, without the raw emotion I'd love to see in a book like this, which could bring it to life. Of course, one can argue that it might not be a book for children then...

Rating: B+

William Goldman - The Princess Bride

Mish @ Stage And Canvas convinced me to read this book with a comment on the Great Movie Adaptations' Weekly Geeks. It sounded like a fun, light-hearted read, and that's exactly what it was. Fun. Light-hearted. Feel good. It's a book that combines the best elements of all the classic fairy tales, and exaggerates them to the point of hilarity. There's true love, poison, revenge, hatred, pride, giants, miracle men, witches, great fencers, epic duels, beasts, torture, the villain and his cronies, and the hero who has to save the day.

It's a complicated plot, where in the opening section, the most beautiful girl in the world, Buttercup, realises she's in love with the farm boy, Westley, and she professes her love, which is obviously reciprocated. However, Westley decides to go to America to seek his fortune, but he is killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts. Devastated, Buttercup says she must never love again. And she doesn't.

When Prince Humperdinck  (don't you love the name?) finds her, he asks for her hand in marriage, saying the matrimony needn't be bound by love. Buttercup agrees to the union, but, before the grand wedding, she is kidnapped by a genius Sicilian hunchback, a giant (who fears loneliness), and a wizard fencer (who is seeking revenge on the nobleman who killed his father). A man in black, better with the sword than one of the best fencers in time, stronger than the giant, and cleverer than the hunchback saves her, but ends up leading her to the nightmarish Fire Swamp, with quicksand and ROUS, or Rodents of Unusual Size. And this is there I stop telling the tale, lest I give too much away.

How can you not love a book which has lines like:

My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

or,

"Fool!" cried the hunchback. "You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia,' but only slightly less well known is this: 'Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.'"

He was quite cheery until the iocane powder took effect.

I was literally laughing out loud, and was thoroughly entertained. I loved the movie, and I love the book a little bit more, specially for its twisted plot, and for the obscure ending.

What, in my opinion, is truly genius though, is the fact that this is supposed to be the "good parts" version of S. Morgenstern's classic tale of true love and high adventure. However, S. Morgenstern is a figment of Goldman's imagination, and doesn't actually exist. Why is this genius? Well, only because at the beginning of the book Goldman states it's his favourite book ever, and his father read it to him while he was recovering from pneumonia. Throughout the book, Goldman adds "notes," explaining some of the cuts he has made, for the original work was apparently epically long. These notes also include some of his thoughts, like, how a children's book is bound to have a happy ending, and how, the leading lady will not be killed by sharks half-way through the book!

'Life isn't fair, Bill. We tell our children that it is, but it's a terrible thing to do. It's not only a lie, it's a cruel lie. Life is not fair, and it never has been, and it's never going to be.'

These comments from the so-called "abridger" reads completely independently, and, can easily be skipped/skim-read. But then, Goldman talks at length about the trouble he had with his fictitious book's estate, and he makes an incredibly convincing case - which, retrospectively, I attribute to being satirical as well.

It's a great book for children, and adults, and it just is a fairy tale as no other.

Rating : A+

John Christopher - The Death Of Grass

Background: While this month, my blog entries seem to be focused a lot on the Take A Chance challenge, it's only because the challenge is up end of month, and I am actually trying to finish it. After this, I only have one more challenge to tackle, and I've already started the final book (David Guterson's East of the Mountain).

This is challenge#1, i.e. "Random Book Selection". My random directions included going to the fiction corner at Waterstones, and selecting the fourteenth book from the third shelf on the second book-case. Coming up with a Penguin Modern Classic, I think, was a shade of luck.

I don't normally compare or contrast books, but, the best way to define this book would be Lord of the Flies meeting The Road. Considering The Death of Grass was published in the 1950s, and The Road in the 21st century, it might not be the fairest statement, but, when I finished the book, that's the first thing that came to my mind.

Survival of the fittest. That's what it's about - even if it means civilised people killing their fellow citizens, contemplating leaving a young boy to die, heartlessly killing a couple, and keeping their eyes on reaching a "safe haven" of sorts. Finding comfort in the fact that they will be able to re-acquaint themselves with humanity upon reaching this haven, the protagonists (and their countrymen) resort to barbarism and anarchism, just to survive.

He stared up at her, incredulously, while she did so, and was still staring when the bullets began tearing through his body. He shrieked once or twice, and then was quiet. She went on firing until the magazine was exhausted. There was comparative silence after that, broken only by Mary's sobbing.

A developed country, England, is in turmoil, after the Chung-Li virus has wiped out all their "grass" and "grass crops," including rice and wheat. The Chung-Li virus has already caused widespread disruption in Asia, and the Europeans had seen them resort to their worst sides as the resulting famine ensured the lack of food for everyone. However, they attributed the disaster to the "lack of thoroughness" of the Asiatics, and figured that being in a developed country, they would never stoop so low.

The ecosystem is collapsing, but the government issues some false press that the virus is in control, in order to calm the civilians, and prevent them from panicking and acting out of haste. However, what the government has in mind is, for lack of better words, scary. Atomic bombs can deplete life; subsequently drastically decreasing the number of mouths to feed. Aid from the United States has come to a halt, and now, England is battling alone.

John Custance, an architect in London, on a heads up from a close friend, decides to make a break for his brother's farm in the North, with his family and close friends. There, he figures, they will all be safe, until the crisis is over, and they can return to normalcy.

However, what ensues begs the question: Can their lives ever return to what it used to be like? The journey up North is difficult, violent, and life-changing in every way imaginable. People kill for food, for shelter, for survival. The fall of the government has just led to people's darker sides taking over, and we see brutal scenes of rape, as well as, pure cold-blooded killing. Some members of the group are trying to hold on to their humanity. Some have left it behind, with the single goal of reaching the farm in mind.

This is a bleak depressing book, which makes me question my faith in humanity. When push comes to shove, will we resort to killing our own to survive? When the ecosystems break down, will we sacrifice everything that supposedly differentiates us from other beings, just to make it? Will we do anything in the world to protect our friends, families and loved ones? Even if it means compromising on the ideals we've always believed in?

Just as most of the book is bleak and disheartening, the ending is unbelievably despondent, and you're just left gaping, wondering how on earth did humanity end up like this. And then, you thank your stars that this is merely fiction...

...But, for how long?

Can you imagine killing someone in cold blood, just because they have shelter and food? And how would you react when you knew the odds were against you, but, you knew exactly what you had to do if you wanted to live another day?

Rating : A

Molly Keane - Full House

I stumbled upon this book in a second-hand bookstore, and fell in love with the cover. It's also my first green Virago Modern Classic, and I was quite excited to begin this journey... luckily, it didn't disappoint, which is nice, as my last two reads haven't been exceptionally good, by any standards. Set in the backdrop post the Great War, Full House introduces us to one of the most frightening mothers in literature, Lady Bird, and her family which is undergoing all kinds of transformations. John, the oldest child was on the brink of insanity, and was sent to a hospital. He is now returning home, much to the delight of the entire family, and Eliza - a friend to both, Lady Olivia Bird and Sir Julian Bird - has come to their magnificent home, Silverue, to share this momentous occasion with them.

However, while the early pages of the book deals with John's return, the story quickly develops into an account of the Bird children, their governess - Miss Parker, as well as the adults: Eliza, Julian and Olivia.

There's Mark, the cruel albeit adorable child, who is the apple of everyone's eyes, and everyone is completely captivated by his beauty, so much so that no one wants him to grow up. There's his older sister, Sheena, who is in love with a boy, but their engagement has been delayed due to their age. John, of course, is the oldest of the three, and his return home is the catalyst for the rest of the story, which includes posh tedious tennis parties, a garden tour for fundraising which exhausts everyone as Olivia pushes them to do her bidding, broken hearts, new loves, and changed lives. Questions are asked about total honesty, about doing what's right, and about loyalty. More questions are raised about true love, happiness, and friendship.

And of course... there's Lady Bird. A funny name, if there was one, but a formidable character, nonetheless. Cruel, girlish, and more focused on being an "older sister" to her children, than acting as their mother, Lady Bird is accustomed to getting her own way, and Julian indulges her. Her children don't have the nicest things to say about her, and despite threatening to leave, they never really intend to. Yet, she never registers her children's true opinion of her, as she focuses on looking "oppressively young", creating fantastic flower decorations, and contemplating a Swiss governess for her youngest son.

The inconsequence and the obviousness of all her posturings and nonsense. How could she blind herself to the fact that they could not deceive her reasonably intelligent and spiteful offspring. They did not see even the shadow of her pretended self, only her pretences. And in her affections she was most sincere. She had nothing else except her beauty, and that cold not affect them at all.

Words cannot do justice to the depth of this story. The writing is beautifully vivid, and the Birds are one of the most enchanting families I have across in the world of books. As the past catches up with the present, as old secrets emerge, and as despair overtakes some members of the house, one cannot help but share the emotions: sympathise, love, regret, shed tears, and hope for a happy ending, after everything the "poor dears" have been through.

This book was originally published in the 1930s, and the dialog is fantastic; full of "dears", "sweets" and "darlings". Terms of endearment and thrown about carelessly, as are aspersions cast. For instance, little Markie, at the age of seven, calls his sister "bitch". I was fairly taken aback there. Yet, hopeless romantic that I am, paragraphs like the below did make me smile and wonder where the times have gone? Where the innocence and tranquility has disappeared to? And maybe... to an extent, I am glad we don't talk like this anymore.....

"Eliza, look at me. Darling, you're so wonderful. Why didn't I know before you cared about me. Darling, tell me. Don't be so obstinate. Oh my god, I love you so much. I think I do, don't I?"

"How can I tell you if you love me, sweet one? I only know about myself."

In a nutshell, I loved this book. The candid opinions, the selfishness, the adorations and the affections.

Rating : A

PS : I am trying out a new rating system, linked above. Please let me know what you think of it - does it work, or not so much?

Susan Hill - The Beacon

Background: I ended up picking this book for the Take A Chance Challenge#5. You might have noticed that in my original book selection, I had opted for Mary Higgins Clark's Just Take My Heart. However, that book is not out in paperback yet, so... I went back to the phone book and found the name "Hill".

With Howard's End Is On The Landing out recently, and loads of bloggers reviewing it, I figured Susan Hill was the sensible choice! And so, here it is... Susan Hill's The Beacon. Just for the record, this is the first Susan Hill I've read....

The book opens with Mrs. Prime's peaceful death at The Beacon, where she lives with one of her children, May. Two of the others have married locally, and quiet, almost reticent Frank lives in London. May had gone to London to study to escape from the bleak country-life, but, hallucinations and nightmares drove her to return to the safety of home within the year.

While May is contemplating making the call to her siblings, she tries to figure out if she should call Frank - Frank who betrayed the entire family, and who they haven't spoken to since. This leads to retrospection: looking back at how events unfolded, and the impact it had on the family as a whole.

Mostly written in May's voice, this book does explore a very interesting topic. Frank's ultimate betrayal is writing a book in first person, entitled The Story Of One Boy's Brutal Childhood, where he talks of his life in the "cupboard under the stairs" (very Harry Potter-like), and the abuse he suffered at the hands of his older siblings and father. However, as the other children (now adults) remember it, this is mere fabrication, and none of it ever happened. However, as they live in a small village in Ireland, the family name has been tarnished, and it's almost impossible for them to vindicate themselves. Also, a doubt has formed in everyone's mind, and the siblings themselves cannot determine what's the truth, and what they have deleted from their memories.

While the premise is interesting, i.e. how a memoir like Frank's victimises the family, the book in itself fell flat. It started off being interesting, but as it progressed, it left a lot to be desired... specially the ending, which was at best ambiguous. Based on this, I don't think I'll be seeking out more of Susan Hill's works.

Rating: 2.5

Carlos Ruiz Zafón - The Angel's Game

I absolutely loved The Shadow Of The Wind when I read it back in April, with its glimpse into old Barcelona, fantastic story-telling and hyperbolism extraordinaire. When The Angel's Game hit the stores a few months back, I picked it out almost greedily, and stacked it on my bookshelf, waiting for the "right" time to pull it out, and lose myself in the magical world of Zafón's writing.

The Angel's Game takes us back to old Barcelona, towards the end of World War I, through the eyes of David Martin, an aspiring writer. The opening lines set the mood for the book:

A writer never forgets the first time he accepts a few coins or a word of praise in exchange for a story. He will never forget the sweet poison of vanity in his blood, and the belief that, if he succeeds in not letting anyone discover his lack of talent, the dream of literature will provide him with a roof over his head, a hot meal at the end of the day, and what he covets most: his name printed on a miserable piece of paper that surely will outlive him. A writer is condemned to remember that moment, because from then on he is doomed and his soul has a price.

The narrator starts off as a sensationalist story-writer; his thrillers are first published weekly in a newspaper, and he goes on to assume a pseudonym, to write a monthly series of books entitled City of the Damned. While his stories were well-received, David's attempt at a serious novel met with bad reviews, and a combination of disappointment and enticement led him to make a deal with the devil himself : Andreas Corelli, a Parisian publisher, who offers David a small fortune, in return for David writing him an epic book, a book that would create a brand new religion, to which Corelli would play god (or, in this case, the devil).

David inadvertently gets sucked into Corelli's game, digging up secrets from years gone by, witnessing murders, being a subject of police investigations, and almost living a life that existed in his series, City of the Damned. His best friend marries his lover, an adolescent moves in with him in order to find a writing mentor, and subsequently turning his life upside down, and his residence, a creepy tower in the sinister dark side of the city, holds infinite mysteries of its own.

The book also takes us back to the Cemetery Of Forgotten Books, an incredible concept that Zafón introduced in his debut novel, and it sounds equally fantastic. This time, David goes there to hide a book, and is subject to the same rules as Daniel was in The Shadow Of The Wind.

However, that's where the similarity ends. The book has some great characters, with Isabella (the adolescent who seeks David out to be her mentor) being a personal favourite, but the story was disjointed, and had way too many bizarre things happening, leading to a disappointing ending, where the loose ends remain untied. The book started promisingly, and is quite fast-paced, but in my opinion, it's at the expense of things not being explained coherently, or the writing being rushed.

Zafón's a talented writer, and there are phrases and sentences that leapt off the page and made me chuckle, or nod in agreement. Like his protagonist, he seems to be a sensationalist writer, enjoying the luxury of hyperboles and scandal. In fact, in parts the book, I thought that some of David's experiences were first hand accounts - the way David is treated by his publishers, the art of procrastination, and the way of research.

It's unfortunate, so, that his second book didn't live up to all the hype that the first book had created.

Rating: 2.5

Dodie Smith - I Capture The Castle

Dodie Smith's I Capture The Castle is another one of those books with a fantastic opening line, which makes the reader want more:

I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining board, which I have padded with our dog's blanket and the tea-cosy.

An enchanting narrator, seventeen year old Cassandra (described as Jane Eyre with a touch of Becky Sharp), attempts to capture eight of the months of her stay at the castle, in three journals: the six penny book, the shilling book, and the two guinea book.

Poverty-striken, with barely any new income coming in, the family is trying to figure out the best way to make ends meet. All the antiques have been sold, and the castle is but bare now. Cassandra's father, also a writer, hasn't been able to work since he was in prison for three months, and the money coming in from the successes of his first book is now nil. His second wife, Topaz, occasionally poses nude for artists to earn money, but even that isn't much for she has to live in London during these jobs, and living there is expensive. Cassandra's older sister, Rose, is bitter and disgruntled with the state of affairs, and contemplates working the streets in order to make some quick money; whereas Thomas is still going to school and giving a helping hand around at home. Finally, there's young Stephen, the son of their now deceased househelp, who is completely enamoured by Cassandra, despite the fact that it seems to be unrequited.

When Simon and Neil Cotton, the inheritors of the castle, which the family has leased, come into their lives one day, Cassandra focuses on getting Rose and Simon together, in order to improve the quality of Rose's life, and see her happier. However, what transpires is heart-wrenching, as the seventeen year old realises that love is complicated, and somehow, things don't always turn out as one intends them to.

Cassandra is a lovely and fascinating narrator, and her writing is full of literary and musical references, be it Lord Fauntleroy, or Debussy. Hidden throughout the book are loads of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte references, and one of my favourite parts of the book read:

"I thought of the beginning of Pride and Prejudice - where Mrs. Bennett says 'Netherfield Park is let at last'. And then Mr. Bennett goes to call on the rich new owner."

"Mr. Bennett didn't owe him any rent," I said.

"Father wouldn't go anyway. How I wish I lived in a Jane Austen novel!"

I said I'd rather be in a Charlotte Bronte.

"Which would be nicest - Jane with a touch of Charlotte, or Charlotte with a touch of Jane?"

There are even art references, and I was quite surprised by a surrealist Dali reference. These references added to the book, and I found myself being fascinated as I was surrounded by intelligent well-read characters, and not girls who are looking to sit pretty and not do much else.

The emotions are also portrayed beautifully, and the honesty the journals portray are heartwarming. She comes across as a conscientious child, innocent and "consciously naive", and when she acts impulsively, her guilt and self-criticism begs for sympathy.

The one "captured" character, though, that I just didn't understand, was the father. He turned a blind eye to the problems of the castle, where his children were dressed in torn worn-out clothes, and there was barely any food at home. Even when Stephen, someone who "worked" for the family without taking any wages, offered to get a job and contribute to the household expenditures, the father carried on as though everything was right as rain. Some of the other characters were convinced that he needed psychological help, whereas others labeled him a genius.

I loved this book to bits, and thought it was a wonderful story, from the perspective of a very charming seventeen year old. The characters are incredible, the story touching, and the turn of events mind-boggling and wistful. And the book didn't have a typical ending, which endeared me to it further.

Rating: 4

Natsuo Kirino - Out

Desperation leads one to do strange things; things one would not do under normal circumstances - things one would not even consider. This is the essence of one of the bleakest books I've read this year: Out. Natsuo Kirino's bestseller follows four women working in a bento-box factory, who turn their lives upside down, as circumstance dictates. Yayoi, in a fit of rage, strangles her husband, who was enamoured by a young hostess, and had wasted away all their savings. On realizing that she'd killed him, she contacts Musoko, one of the other factory workers, and asks for her help in disposing off the body.

Musoko instantaneously decides to help, and picks up the body from Yayoi's place. After work that night, she speaks to Yoshie, and convinces her to lend a hand. Yoshie is reluctant, but, when Musuko promises a monetary reward, she concedes. Financial difficulties, and a teenage daughter plus an old mother-in-law to look after means Yoshie can always do with money!

And finally there's Kuniko, a compulsive spender, who needs money to pay off the interest on her loans. Greedy, materialistic and untrustworthy, it's no surprise that Musoko doens't trust her enough to ask her for help outright. However, when she goes over to Musuko's place, to beg her for a loan, Musoko and Yoshie are in the middle of dismembering the body, and they pull Kuniko in.

After cutting the body into tiny pieces, they put the fragments into garbage bags, and decide to leave it around the city - it would be the easiest way to dispose off the body. The three girls take some of the bags each, while Yayoi plays the role of the worried wife.

When a set of bags are discovered in the park, the police suspect Satake, the psychopathic owner of a club and gambling outfit, as Yayoi's husband had gotten into a fight with him on the very evening he was killed. The girls are under the impression that they have pulled it off, and can get away scot-free...

But, old secrets come to light, and the story follows on into a glimpse of Tokyo vice: loan sharks, illegal gambling clubs, prostitution, and the like.

The book is gory, with grotesque screens described vividly: be it the dismemberment of Yayoi's husband, or a rape scene, where the rapist is stabbing the woman and causing her to bleed to death, while raping her. If you have an overactive imagination, or a sensitive tummy, this book isn't for you!

It's also a glimpse into society in Tokyo: about sexism and racism, work ethics and culture, money and vice. The women are lovelorn, their relationships with their husbands have faded into nothing, and the poverty that binds their hands, leads them to make some shocking decisions. It's not a book about friendship - it's a book about desperation, and the choices made subsequently. The ending is as bizarre as it gets, and it's another bloody gruesome picture.

The suspense in the book is limited to: will they be caught? The crime's committed in the opening chapters, and in my opinion, some of the book dragged on. It's not the best book I've read this year, but I was wolfing it down, eager to know what happened next. Some of the writing fell flat, and I personally thought that the translation wasn't great.

Rating: 3.5

Daphne du Maurier - Rebecca

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me.

So opens Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and it's an opening line that piques the reader's curiosity. Also, it seems to be a retrospective metaphor for the narrator's, a young girl who remains nameless, life at Manderley.

The late Mrs. Rebecca de Winter, the lady of Manderley, the wife of Maxim de Winter, the attractive tall dark-haired woman, who was politically correct and loved by one and all for her social graces, and her "breeding", inspired the title of this classic. But, she's not the narrator. In fact, the narrator is the "other woman", the new Mrs. de Winter, the new lady of Manderley, a young girl of low social standing, who is also socially awkward and shy.

Maxim de Winter meets the narrator in a hotel at Monte Carlo, while she's a companion to a rich and pretentious woman. While the woman tries her level best to charm Maxim, he is quite taken by the young narrator, and when the old lady falls ill and hires a nurse, Maxim spends a lot of time with the "companion", and they both find that they enjoy each other's company, despite the massive age difference. He never talks of Rebecca, and she never asks. She's heard the gossip about the lady of Manderley, a Manor house in Cornwall, drowning in a sailing accident, and Maxim's immediate breakdown.

When her employer decides to cut short the holiday, she runs to Maxim, who proposes marriage: she can be a companion to Mrs. Van Hopper, or she can marry him and be the lady of Manderley! She happily agrees to the latter, ignoring the fact that Maxim has never said anything about love. In fact, Mrs. Van Hopper, who the narrator has nothing but contempt for, offers the young girl a final piece of advice:

"Of course," she said, "you know why he is marrying you, don't you? You haven't flattered yourself he's in love with you?

But, the couple get married, honeymoon in Italy, and then head to the wonder that is Manderley.

Yes, there it was, the Manderley I had expected, the Manderley of my picture post-card long ago. A thing of grace and beauty, exquisite and faultless, lovelier even than I had ever dreamed, built in its hollow of smooth grassland, and mossy lawns, the terraces sloping to the gardens, and the gardens to the sea.

However, the happiness and wonder of the honeymoon ends right there, as the narrator meets the staff, who expect someone from a high social class - someone similar to Rebecca. The scornful Mrs. Danvers, who runs the household, treats the narrator with utter contempt, for, how can someone like her replace the Rebecca that Mrs. Danvers was devoted to? Her social awkwardness, her insecurities, and her mannerisms brings out the worst in Mrs. Danvers, who is excessively hostile, seemingly focusing on making the narrator's life uneasy...

How much more uneasy can you make someone who is haunted by her husband's dead wife's ghost, that she can almost see Rebecca, hear the conversations Rebecca has with the staff, with Maxim? How can she escape the past, and try out a hand at being the Lady of Manderley, when everything that she wants to do has already been done - be it cutting the flowers, or placing them neatly in a vase, for decorative purposes; be it sitting at the desk in the morning room, or going for walks with the cocker spaniel, Jasper? And, how can she compare to the beauty that was Rebecca when Maxim's own sister told her that she was nothing like Rebecca?! And, is Maxim still in love with his wife who hasn't even been dead a year?

Just as the reader comes to grip with the story line, the plot twists, and the reader (or me, at least) can't help but continuously flip the pages, and beg for more - to find out more about Rebecca; to find out more about Mrs. Danvers; and most importantly, to find out more about Maxim. The twists keeps the book interesting and gripping, and one can't help be amazed by how things pan out.

I loved the book to bits. I really did. In fact, I was due an early night yesterday, but I was up 'til the wee hours of the morning finishing this classic. The prose is descriptive and beautiful, and the story incredible. Manderley sounds heavenly, and I've spent most of my day trying to imagine what Manderley would look like, based on du Maurier's vivid descriptions. Wild flowers, gardens, the sea, the library, the "west wing", the "east wing", the works, really!

However, I did find that the narrator's character one-dimensional, and I don't think I really understood her. Maybe it's the times (the book was written in the 1930s), but, I can't help but wonder what can prompt a young girl to marry someone her father's age? Is it just the thought that there's someone out there who loves her, for she did delude herself into thinking Maxim had asked her to marry him because of love? And how can someone be so forgiving, and turn a blind eye to all their lover's flaws?

Have you read Rebecca? Or, any other DDM? What did you think of it? Would you love to live in a place like Manderley? Or, is it just not for you?

Rating: 4.5

PS: Thanks to Sandy from You've Gotta Read This for hosting the read-along. I'm running way ahead of schedule (it was meant to be 16 chapters by the 8th, and the rest of the book by the 15th), but I just couldn't stop reading! Blame du Maurier and Rebecca, not me!

Amy Tan - The Joy Luck Club

Amy Tan's debut novel, The Joy Luck Club, is the first book by her that I have read. It is also the first book I've read with strong Chinese references, so I wasn't quite sure as to what I should expect from this book. The Joy Luck Club is the story of four Chinese women who have immigrated to the United States of America, under different circumstances, and all four are attempting to bring up their daughters in America - daughters who think like Americans, despite their mothers best efforts to instil in them their Chinese culture and heritage.

The San Francisco version of the "Joy Luck Club" was set up by the late Suyuan Woo (June Woo's mother, whose death the reader learns of in the opening lines of the book), and it was a gathering of four women, with their husbands, as they played mah jong, and invested the "winnings" in the stock markets . Suayan Woo had started the same back in China, pre-immigration, during the time of the Japanese invasion, when hope was scarce, and joy minimal.

Each week, we would forget past wrongs done to us. We weren't allowed to think a bad thought. We feasted, we laughed, we played games, lost and won, we told the best stories. And each week, we could hope to be lucky. That hope was our only joy. And that's how we came to call our little parties Joy Luck.

While the stories of the daughters were typically American, with marital problems, single motherhoods, identity crises, and struggling between being American, with a Chinese exterior, the stories of the mothers were far more interesting (to me). Be it the escape from China during the war, to leaving babies on the road, with gold on the side, so that someone with a good heart could give the babies a good home. One of the mothers was forced to marry someone who was very rich, and everyone considered her to be lucky. Desperate not to let her family down, she lived up to the expectations, until, she managed to orchestrate an escape, with her new family's blessings. There are stories on losing children, of losing faith, and, being the fourth wife to a rich man, after the first husband had passed away... and how, being the fifth is better than being the fourth!

It was an interesting witty insight into a historical war-ridden China, but, I found that the daughters had very stereotypical characters, and nothing made them stand out. They were selfish, self-obsessed, and at times, it came across as though they were almost ashamed of their Chinese heritage - something one of the mothers pondered on as well. There was jealousy, rebellion and pettiness, that I found both, crass and cringeworthy. But, it was all very superficial as well, and I found that I couldn't care less about them - even if I tried. The writing, all in all, was good, and flowed naturally. It was funny, in pieces, and poignant in places. It was bleak, at times, but not bordering on complete despondence, thereby keeping the hyperbolism to the minimal - something I appreciated, for in books like these, occasionally, I find that the author gets carried away.

Have you read this book? Or, anything else by Amy Tan? What do you think of it, and would you recommend any of her other books?

Rating: 3.5

Neil Gaiman - Coraline

Coraline has just moved to a new house, and after acquainting herself with the neighbours, she sets about to 'explore' the place, for, you see, she is a self-acclaimed "explorer". She finds the well she's been warned to stay away from, just to know what to stay away from, and spends as much time outdoors as possible. However, one rainy day, she stumbles upon a door in the living room, which opens only to greet her with a brick wall. And apparently, nothing on the other side - or so Coraline's mother tells her.

However, surprise, surprise! One fine day, the brick wall disappears and Coraline finds herself in a parallel world, where the "flat" seems to be an exact replica of her flat - including Mother and Father, or the "other mother" and the "other father" - who look similar to Coraline's parents but...

Coraline went into the kitchen, where the voice had come from. A woman stood in the kitchen with her back to Coraline. She looked a little like Coraline's mother. Only...

Only her skin was white as paper.

Only she was taller and thinner.

Only her fingers were too long, and they never stopped moving, and her dark-red fingernails were curved and sharp.

"Coraline?" the woman said. "Is that you?"

And then she turned around. Her eyes were big black buttons.

Her "other" parents don't want much - they just want an obedient daughter to stay with them, and love them.... and when Coraline's ready to commit to that, they can sew the buttons on to her eyes as well! Creepy...

I loved this book, for its simplicity, innocence, and of course, the feel-good factor. It's a children's books, but the story is enjoyable for most people, and while there are bits and bobs which are predictable, one has to keep in mind the audience the book is meant to cater to. You have talking cats, spying rats, an unassuming heroine, and some great characters.

I haven't seen the movie, yet, but I do want to... might have to rent it on DVD or something.

This was my first book by Neil Gaiman, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more of his works.

Rating: 4