Week twenty Book thirty-one : The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared

 

A whimsical and unbelievable story that is as charming and likeable as anything I have read. It's silly, it's satirical, it's sensible and in the end it's just a lot of fun. It's basically Forrest Gump, but here Forrest is a 100 year old Swede whose life unfolds in an astounding way while murdering/manslaughtering and absconding with way too much money.

It's a great commute read, holiday read or even just a "I want something lite and happy to read" read.

Week twenty Book thirty : The Humans

 

Divided on this as I like Matt Haig's writing and I enjoyed reading it. It was not inventive, it was derivative. Did not stop it from being entertaining though. It was a bit twee and constantly made very human comments and assumptions about what human was being like, from a human perspective, not a very alien one. "Oooh isn't it weird how all humans do this? And that's totes not logical! Lol!" 

Having said that - still enjoyed it. Glad I read the Midnight Library before this though, as his writing and perspective has improved and his angle much more emotionally inventive than this.

Week nineteen Book twenty-nine : The Dry

 

Another "can't put down" page turner. Set in rural Australia and fraught with tension and heavy with secrets. I was thinking it would be a good slow read after racing through a very different Aussie novel, but I was so wrong. It's pacing, characters and settings were just too good.

I really want to go see the film now, might pop to the Lido and check it out.

Week nineteen Book twenty-eight : A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing

 

This book is not for everyone, it contains a lot of sex but not the titillating kind. Instead it's bleak, desperate and damagingly self-inflicted. 

BUT. I really loved the writing, the raw brutal honesty in her self-deception and sabotaging behaviours. Less of a desperate cry for help and more of a desperate cry to be heard.

Again, this may offend/disturb people, but I still felt compassion and empathy for the narrator no matter what she does.

Week nineteen Book twenty-seven : The Sellout

 

Beautiful written, but exhausting in it's bold and vicious satire. I didn't revel in it's cutting humour, but I absolutely ate up his prose, his style and turn of phrase.

It's about racism, post and pre modern types, and everything in between.

It's also nihilistic, and for once the journey was so much better than the destination. 

Good for fans of amazing writing and uniquely clear voices.

Week eighteen Book twenty-six : Never Be Lied to Again

 

Or, How to be an Asshole in 5 minutes or less.

The crux of nearly every "suggestion" or "strategy" is to lie to the person you're talking to. Or misrepresent, or manipulate (badly). 

It's out of date advice wrapped in the comfort of an expert, one of the things he literally warns you off. Also not convinced that the use of pronouns is as random as he makes pains to point out. I started to notice that the Agression, Anger, Strength examples were stacking up male, and the Flattery, Jealousy, Attraction examples skewed female.

As his premise is lie to the liars, I assume that the "random" thing was also .... a lie. 

Skip.

Week eighteen Book twenty-five : Best Foot Forward

 

Was not expecting that much, I like Adam Hills, but now enough to say I love Adam Hills. What was likely to be a funny and witty memoir by an Aussie comedian I like (love) and respect (seriously) - what I got was an addictive and unputdownable stand up gig that lasted a couple of days.

If you like Adam Hills, joyousness, happy stories and general Aussie banter, then this is for you. 

Or Spicks and Specks.

Or Stand up.

Or celebrity name dropping (cough Billy Connolly cough).

Or the Last Leg.

Or, well you name it...

Week seventeen Book twenty-four :Wham! George and Me

 

An unabashed teen of the 80's reads a book about some of the most famous teens (initially) of the 80's. Hardly a big surprise that I enjoyed it. I did thoroughly enjoy this memoir though, filled as it is with the coincidence, determination and luck that accompanies most of these stories (at least the true ones). 

Definitely a reminder of that time, and the course of the fame that I watched grow from Young Guns onward. It's a definite sore spot that I never saw them, or George live, and after his death why I spent a fair amount of time and money seeing acts I wanted to see, before another year like 2016 happens. 

I'll also confess to a deep sadness when Andy talks about George's death, or moves deliberately to eulogistic terms to describe him. 

If you're a fan you'll love it, if you're not then you probably won't read it, but you could do worse.

Week sixteen Book twenty-three : The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez

 

Delightfully written and wistfully delivered story. Provided you don't examine the events too closely, or think too much beyond the superficial romantic nature of it all.

The bilingual writing, the cultures mixing together and the fact it's (mostly) set in a bygone era, are forgiving enough for the selfishness and phallocentric machismo that drives much of the narrative.   

A lot of people pay the price of one man's desires, where women exist to serve the destiny of men, or to curse them and be overcome. 

So there's a bit to forgive, but it's still engaging and it's still beautifully written.