Review: Eric Linklater’s Poet’s Pub

As an avid reader, finding new books is a relatively easy thing to do. I listen to book recommendations from the thousand podcasts I listen to every day (Book Riot is the best one), read the many book blogs I follow, or just go on Goodreads and find a ton of new books that I will eventually add to my TBR list. So basically what I’m trying to say is that I have this area of the reader’s world covered.

But this wonderful book was different. This book was one of those, I loved both the title and the cover, sort of books. I always wanted to read a book about a literary club or a pub and the title of this book was perfect. What I didn’t know is the history behind this important book.

It was one of the original ten titles that Allen Lane choose for his first penguin books. In addition to Hemingway’s’ A Farewell to Arms, Eric Linklater’s Poet’s Pub was one of the first Penguin originals that the British people read and enjoyed.

One other thing that intrigued me to read this book, was that it was titled “A literary Cheers” and I love Cheers.

So I was all set for a good (maybe) great read and Linklater did not disappoint.

The Plot: I always think that if a book becomes a classic, then it has to be good. Linklater’s Poet’s Pub is no exception to this concept. The story revolves mainly around this poet/turned pub manager Saturday Keith, and the strange group of visitors that he encounters. I don’t want to spoil the main plots (yes there are many) but all you need to know is that the people that Keith encounters all should have their own books and stories, most of them are very interesting and can hold on their own.

Characters: Now if this book was marketed as being a literary Cheers then you should at least have strange characters that we will eventually fall in love and care about. I don’t think I hate any of the main characters that we have in this book. Most of them are, in not likeable, very interesting and can bring different elements to the story. I enjoyed getting to know them and learning about their lives. I will not be surprised if some writer out there decides to write a spinoff novel of one the characters in this book.

Writing Style: one of the negative points that I have on Linklater is the way he ends each paragraph. Let us just say that Hemingway would have hated his long paragraph with his endlessly written sentences. He gives us long descriptions and at the end of each paragraph, he writes a short sentences summarizing all of what he previously have written. So why the long descriptions if you can write a shorten version of it. Other than that, Linklater’s style was enjoyable.

All in All: I loved this book and enjoyed it. I would recommend it for all readers, but especially for those Cheers’ fans.

Review: Wonder Boys, By Michael Chabon

Note: Positive or even negative, as it may be, this review is only one man’s take on a book that so many readers love and adore. This is my first Michael Chabon novel, so my opinion will be based on this book only.

If I ever go to a bookstore, browse for a full hour, and then come up with nothing to buy, I always go for the literary novels. Books that have writers as their main characters always interest me. As a reader, stories about writers and their complicated lives is a genre that I enjoy and is in the mood for. Chabon’s Wonder Boys had all the signs of this genre, a writer who has published a somewhat successful book and in addition to this, he’s an English professor with interesting students. I was preparing myself for a wonderful read. I was very disappointed.

Writing Style:

Trying to use the same method of Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye, Chabon starts his book with a strange and unrelated short story about this unknown writer. Reader will get the best introduction to Chabon’s writing style. Long paragraphs with no sign of meaning or even purpose. This first chapter will poorly showcase what Chabon calls The Midnight Disease. Long unnecessary paragraphs detailing the whole scene, while giving the plot short sentences with strange interactions between the characters. All in all, I did not like his style. At least Salinger had a purpose for each sentence he wrote (believe me he does, I had a whole semester in college trying to prove this point) but Chabon’s unwanted sentences just did not make any sense and left me confused most of the time.

The Plot:

This is the only element that I actually liked and made me go through the whole book. Of course it did not help a lot, as Chabon gave small attention to the plot and focused on the scene and the damn elements in each room. But he wanted his readers to get a taste (and just a taste) for what is actually happening in each chapter, without giving us the whole picture. Yes, I admit, that this aspect of his writing will make most readers angry, but at least they will finish book.

Now let’s break down the story line (without spoilers of course). A writer/professor locked in an unhappy marriage, goes on a weekend long adventure. This strange trip leads to murdering a dog, stealing an expensive jacket, and finally, meeting his favorite reader. Weird events without any connection between them, made the chapters unpleasant. The main character, Grady Tripp, meets along the way many of his strange friends and ex-lovers that always seem to make his life measurable. The story moves along slowly and without any real pace and this made me put the book down so many times. The only thing that made me finish the book is the false idea that Chabon gives you, of that the actual story will soon begin, it never did.

Characters:

I really liked the main character at first. Tripp was both a writer and an English professor. Two jobs that I want and wish to have. However, one of the thing that I did not like in Tripp was his sense of failure, as he spends the whole book blaming his life and himself about all the horrible things that are happening in his life, but seems that every actions he has in this book makes his life more miserable. He wrote a somewhat successful book, had a good (not great) job and seems to be on the verge of finishing a new book. So why does he always feel that he is a loser and a failure. He himself is the one damaging his life. Another element that shuns a light on Tripp’s character was all the other characters he encountered. They all seem normal to me and react normally to each situation. This made Tripp’s actions weird and just stupid at times. I know Chabon wants to display Tripp’s flaws, but one should always give his readers a reason for each action or at least a purpose for what the character is doing.

All in all:

I did not like this book. I finished it and wanted to give it a fair review. The story line was good but not great, although slow and with many (so many) flaws. A book that I will forget about quickly and never even think about again. Many of my friends told me that Wonder Boys was not a good introduction to Chabon’s work but at least now I know his writing style and, in a degree, his attitude towards storytelling. I may read his work again in the far (very far) future, but for now, I’m going for the classics.

Review: The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith

Before I start my review and picking on every aspect of the book, I want to declare from the beginning that I did not like the ending. It’s predictable and just plain. I’m not going to spoil it for anyone but if you’ve read the book, you’ll know what I mean.

That being said, I loved this book. The protagonist, Strike, is a very interesting character that Rowling handled very well. Balancing the mix between despair and comic relief, Strike was an enjoyable detective, with the help of another great character, his secretary, Robin. The interaction between these two characters was not only fun but very important to humanize Strike.

Although the plot did not bring anything new to the crime genre, it brought London to life, at least for me. I’m one who goes and spends most of his time in London walking around and just taking it all in. Rowling’s image of London reminded me of those wonderful walks in my favorite city. The story went along smoothly, but predictably as I mentioned earlier. That did not take anything away from the enjoyable reading sessions that I had with this book, as in any crime or detective story, we all want to know what happened.

I don’t normally give a book a five star. Especially if I hated the ending, but I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s been a while since I’ve read a good book. This is definitely a good one.

George Orwell: The (Perfect) Essayist and the (not so great) Novelist

While finishing my contemporary literature class, back in college, I came across this English writer with a weird mustache. I also remembered the term “Orwellian” being said so many times in class, and being that I was still a freshmen at the time, I didn’t know what that term meant or stood for. After reading both 1984 and Animal Farm, I’ve gotten to know George Orwell (the writer) better. In addition to those two famous books in English literature, I’ve read a non-fiction book that he wrote that had many of his essays on many topics. With those three books, I can now state my opinion of his work and on his style of writing.

One of the reasons I was interested in the works of George Orwell was the word of mouth that he got in every literature class I’ve attended. Doesn’t matter is the class was about English literature, the name of George Orwell was always spoken about and stated. The general opinion is that Orwell was one of the best writers of not only his time and period, but in any literary period. In fact, many consider his more relevant now than any other period.

My own personal opinion is this. Yes he is a great essayist. But no, he’s not a great novelist or a storyteller and before all you book lovers attack me for this statement, let me explain.

Let me begin with the general approach that most readers take, including me, when wanting to enter the world of George Orwell. We tend to begin with his most talked about and properly famous book, 1984. I started reading this book and actually enjoyed it, at first at least. Orwell quickly shifted his reader’s attention from the actual story, to just chapters filled with his own political ideas. I don’t mind a writer expressing his own personal ideas in his novel, but Orwell did not only do that, he just did not care about the two main characters in the book, or any other for that matter. He focused on presenting his political ideas of this communist-like state and just showcases the horrors of that dystopian world. I do get the argument that in order to get the reader to imagine this world, Orwell should spend most of his time describing it. But what he did not do, is balance the chapters between having chapters that focused entirely on describing this world and none that tackle the storyline or the characters involved.

I’m saying that Orwell did not present his characters or his plot well, but what I’m saying is that he could have made the characters, the center of the story and not let the world that these characters live in be the center of his book.

Orwell’s approach was to shape his story around one character, Winston Smith. We spend most of book reading his inner thoughts and ideas about this world. The problem is that Orwell presents Smith’s ideas as facts about this world and not what Smith truly feels. Readers will see this world as only Smith sees it. Which indicates that we should think about all the horrible elements that this world has, using Smith own ideas only. This approach undermines Smith’s character. He could be any other character, there is nothing special about him or any other character. What’s important to Orwell was to present this world without giving his characters any importance. Although I did not like this approach, but I got to say that it was a useful tool, not to improve the character development that the book really needs, but the description of this world.

In other words, Orwell succeeded in presenting the perfect dystopian world. A world that at the book’s publication was not only relevant, but was considered a legitimate prediction of what to come. This communist-like state was a real threat to his readers. Although at times, highly exaggerated, Orwell did in fact predict a future that happened. I’ll give him that, but only that. As his story did not matter and I did not really get attached to his main character or even to the his lover. That’s the problem that the book had, in my own opinion at least. As a political book, Orwell’s 1984 is a masterpiece, but as a novel and a story, it was a boring one. I know my opinion is not a popular one, but I just did not like his story telling. That’s why I consider him a brilliant essayist, he made me imagine this horrible world. But he just didn’t succeed in getting me attached to his characters or even to poor Smith.

Having said that, this is not me telling you not to read George Orwell’s books. I’m just a normal reader and a critical thinker that had his own opinion of Orwell’s books. I want you to read all of his books, get to know the writer, and then form your own opinion about this famous icon of English literature. This the beauty of literature, the discussion that we have as readers and the different opinions that we form. I didn’t like Orwell’s books but there are millions that do and that consider him one of the best English writers of all time. GO READ ALL OF HIS BOOKS, and then tell me what you think. I will always respect your own opinion, whatever it may be.

And after you read the book, visit this interesting website that takes a look at the different covers that Orwell’s 1984 had since it publication in 1949.

Bookgram

“Don’t just read the book, take a picture of yourself doing so”. We are the bookgramers. I know it sounds weird, but that’s us. A bunch of readers who figured out that reading a book it just not enough, we need to take multiple pictures of us reading it or placing the book next to your fresh cup of coffee. That’s us.

And by the way, we are proud of being so. We don’t want to know what you ate today, all we want is to find out what books you read. You’ll get all of our likes if you only posts pictures of the books that you are reading. While using the famous hashtag of course: #ReadingNow

We all love reading and one of the best aspects of this wonderful act is the idea of having a community that you can share your love of reading with, discuss the latest books each of you read, and just talk books. I think that bookgramers are the next step, if not the next, they are certainly a great addition. If you ever want to spend your hours and days looking at endless pictures of books and coffee mugs, then add me on Instagram @akaboali

Writers writing about writing.

One of the important tasks that any reader has during any reading session is the trying to figure the writing process and method that the writer had while writing his book. What ideas formed these words and what were the elements that influenced him and eventually resulted in producing this work of art. These tasks that the reader tasks go along with the actual reading process that one takes. They usually differentiate between the critical reader and the normal one.

As these tasks are never easy to do, I’ve always wondered if there were books that writers themselves write about their own writing process. Their own personal and raw thoughts all written in one book is a very helpful tool for both readers and also upcoming writers who should be exposed to the world that these writers (famous or not) were part of. While there are not many, but I’ve found two books that are more than enough.

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Ernest Hemingway on Writing

This book, while short, takes you into the world of this famous American writer. We know about his wild personality, all the fighting, fishing, and (sometime awesome) actions. But in this book, we get to his literary thoughts and the mainly, his writing process. I read this digitally (I couldn’t find a print copy anywhere) and really enjoyed it. We get to learn many things about the writer and how he always wants to cut every single paragraph to the basic words and sentences that a reader should read. I’ve read most of his novels and that’s the first comment I had, he talks about it and elaborates more on this method. Any writer or even a reader should read this book. Yes it’s a short book that you would finish in an afternoon, but the gains that you will get from it are many.

By the way, the last page of Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms is, in my humble opinion, the best written text produced in the history of literature. I know it’s a large statement to say, but what I felt while reading this page and eventually finishing the book showcased the true purpose of literature.

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Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath

I should note that the reader should first read Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath before reading this book in order to understand most of the references that he talks about. This amazing book that takes you, day by day, into the life of this famous and brilliant writer. Steinbeck was known to keep a journal while writing most of his books and in this one, you get to be inside the mind of this writer while he writes one of the best American stories of his time. The Grapes of Wrath is a tragic story of a family’s survival. A reader will read about Steinbeck’s own relationship with this fictional family that he created and how he reacts to the events that he himself is creating. A wonderful read that many will then understand the basic and mundane tasks that any writer will go through when writing a book, as he takes you day by day into his writing world. There are also many personal notes and comments on his own life and wife that are helpful for any interested scholar.

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These two books were the ones that I read and liked. They give you a good sense about the writing world and what it takes to be a writer. It’s never an easy life, being a writer, but it sure is an interesting one.

 

A smile and a book for me.

On a very hot day, my father, ever the workingman, came home with a smile and a book for me. He gave me both, first the book and then a large and ever lasting smile. This was my first introduction to the world of reading. Whenever I open a book now, I always remember that wonderful smile my dad had. If you need to know, the book was Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist.

Today, I’m a proud reader and a full time smile creator.

You’ll see both in this blog.