A Clergyman's Daughter (George Orwell)
And so I reach my final George Orwell novel: 'A Clergyman's
Daughter'. I decided to leave this one until last as, you know, 'The
Clergyman's Daughter:; she sounds like a right frigo! But it's the fact that
she has less-than-frigid moments that get her into so much trouble.
Living a repetitive life in a small Suffolk village, Dorothy is the
servant of her father, ensuring the running of the local church, and indeed
lots of the daily life of the village. But lured by the advances of an older
local (piss) artist, and the fear of the scandal it will bring, she soon finds
herself awake in London, lost and confused as to how and why she got there. She
then goes on a journey to find money, food and shelter, all the while keeping
her secret safe.
Being Orwell, this is a critique of something, and here it is various
institutions keeping the little man in his place: Dorothy struggles to get
consistent pay as a hop picker; before being constantly moved on as a homeless
in London; before working in a low-level private school, where education and
the magic of teaching come second to obtaining the school fees from the
parents. In all areas, she is kept in her place, unable to go against the
status quo, as the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. She, therefore,
returns to her old life, the scandal now died down, in yet another system of
daily struggle, but one supposedly more respectable.
The switching of scenarios asks some faith in the reader: To go from
scenario to scenario in quick succession, often without real explanation,
doesn't leave this as a story with natural flow. The whole chapter of random
dialogue between London's homeless is difficult to follow, but serves to show
the various characters that inhabit the
streets.
This is not his best, probably his worst, but is still an interesting
work, nonetheless. Orwell done, now for the complete works of Katie Price.
Days to read: 20
Days per book: 14.9
The Shipping Man (Matthew McCleery)
The enticing back cover of this book reads thus:
'Part fast paced financial thriller, part ship finance text book, The
Shipping Man is required reading for anyone with an interest in capital
formation for shipping.'
Now, this book isn't really aimed at me. But it is aimed at my wife,
and that is why I bought it for her as a gift - I'm that kind of husband.
Robert Fairchild is a bored American stockbroker?, investment banker? -
one of those sorts of jobs - and unwittingly finds himself with the opportunity
to buy himself a shipping vessel, courtesy of a mysterious Greek stranger. Soon
realising that venturing into the shipping industry - like buying a flat in
Budapest - isn't as simple as Monopoly, he finds himself left with a ship in
need of some TLC (don't go chasing waterfalls). Needing to get rid of it quick,
he comes to a mutual agreement with an unusual Norwegian, as his shipping
adventure continues.
It's not really the stuff of classic literature, and immediately on
reading you know this is written by someone whom isn't exactly an English
Literature graduate. Broken into short, simple paragraphs, this doesn't paint
pictures with words, and has dialogue designed to describe financial
transactions, as opposed character development.
So, is it any good? Well, if you want classic literature, definitely
not. If you work in the Norwegian ship finance industry, it will probably make
references to things you come across on a daily basis, and as such, you can
feel a connection to it. It's entertaining enough, and offers some insight into
a world in which I have never really expressed an interest.
It's fair to say this has niche appeal.
Days to read: 11
Days per book: 14.9
Satantango (Laszlo Krasznahorkai)
I fell for Foyles of Charring Cross Road's marketing, picking this up
off the 'suggestions shelf' and buying it as it was written by someone with a
Hungarian name - my Hungarian wife was with me at the time, and was able to
confirm it was indeed a Hungarian name (doesn't Hungarian look like Higuain?!).
I subsequently learnt that Bela Tarr's epic film adaptation is over a
whopping seven hours in length and opens with something like ten minutes of
cows standing in a field. This is going to be a real page-turner then, isn't
it?!
A village lies in wait in Eighties Hungary; waiting for The End. The
inhabitants spend their days drinking, suspicious of each other, with nothing
to hope for. Until one day, news comes that the charismatic Irimias is due to
return after some years away. On his arrival, the village bursts back into
life, with the villagers eager to follow him to a better tomorrow, whatever
that may be. But their habits now entrenched, the group cannot help but live
out the same problems that plagued their days, just in a new location.
Much like the film after it (I'm guessing), this is one that is a
challenge for its audience. There are no paragraphs, well, one per chapter
anyway, meaning that this is written in long blocks of text, making it
difficult to follow exactly who is talking, when; or leave a pause for breath.
But essentially, you know it means it's written by someone better than you are.
This is a long slog, but a rewarding one: the officers' translating
Irimias' 'reports' toward the end bringing humour; as does the tragedy of the
conclusion. It is not always the most entertaining, but absorbing and clever,
and as you come to the end, you just know you're going to give a third of a day
in attempting to watch it on the moving picture box. I like cows.
Days to read: 17
Days per book: 15.0
The Nakano Thrift Shop (Hiromi Kawakami)
Feeling forced into reading Kawakami's 'Strange Weather in Tokyo' after
months of Internet marketing, the marketing for her latest work was much more
direct and easy: It was everywhere in Foyles, so it was picked up and bought.
Now, the former was somewhat light, but enjoyable enough, so didn't
fully satisfy. This is something that can also be said of 'The Nakano Thrift
Shop'.
Hitomi is a young and naive girl whom takes a job at a small thrift
shop, run by the strange middle-aged womaniser, Mr Nakano. The slow life in the
shop means that Nitomi, Nakano-san, his sister and the other young employee, Takeo,
spend much of their days sitting around and yacking, while eating take-away
ramen. Nothing much happens then, until Hitomi starts making whoopee with Takeo,
leading to obsessive mobile phone antics.
I said Hitomi was naive, and that is pretty much the theme of this
book. She seems confused in the adult world, unsure of her life goals both in
work and love. She is, therefore, a little annoying. As the narrator, you are
put into her state of mind and may find yourself not always agreeing with her way
of thinking, or just annoyed by it.
The writing style is quite simplistic, stating things blatantly, rather
than laying seeds for the imagination, and so it doesn't ask too much of its
reader. This will no doubt make it a 'bestseller', easy for daily commutes, but
won't challenge you too much.
Like 'Strange Weather in Tokyo' before it, this is the very definition
of a light read.
Days to read: 12
Days per book: 14.9
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