Joshua Foer - Moonwalking with Einstein

In lieu of a post about the fantastically engaging and beautiful book, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (which I'm currently very much enjoying), I have decided to review Joshua Foer's Moonwalking with Einstein. My local bookshop, University Bookseller, runs a fantastic popular science reading group (Think Tank Book Club) and this was our book for the month. I don't usually post about books that I haven't been asked to review (mainly because I don't have enough time to do so because I have a pile of books waiting to be reviewed) but with this book, I decided I had to.

The book is Foer's journalistic self-experiment of interring himself in the world of mnemonists. Though it might sound like some kind of religious cult (it is a little bit like that...), it actually refers to the art of memory. He uses scientific and anecdotal sources to explore his experience, and makes it informative, thought-provoking and entertaining. As the quote on the cover suggests it really is "A great yarn grounded in real science". In fact, it's so good that it's the first popular science book I've managed to read all the way through. The personal narrative of a human endeavour makes it more like a story than a book about science which makes it eminently more readable than many other pop-sci books I've read.

This is what popular science should be! Engaging, entertaining and informative.

Script Frenzy 2012

So I'm doing my thing of OLL fandom once again! This time, it's Script Frenzy; from the 1st to the 30th April, I will be writing a script of 100+ pages. This post is all about inviting you, my lovely bookworms, to join me. If you're anything like me, your bookwormishness doesn't extend merely to fiction or nonfiction, but beyond that to poetry and drama (maybe not so much poetry, I guess...) We're not just talking about stageplays here, people, it's comic book scripts, screenplays, radio plays! Endless possibilities, endless opportunities, waiting to be snatched up by you!

And don't try to get out of it with excuses such as 'But I don't know how to write a script!' - the lovely people at OLL have thought of that. Click this link to be taken to their wonderful page full of guides and how-tos! And if that doesn't inspire you, watch some of your favourite films, go and see a play, stick on a great TV programme, or turn on your radio - think of all the things that you could do next month, the film you've always wanted to see but no one else has made it, the TV show you've been waiting for, the stageplay that you wished you'd seen whenever you were dragged by your teacher to the theatre!

The best thing? You simply register here and it's all free. (Though I do recommend you donate an help pay the bills towards this wonderful frenzy of script writing!) And if that still hasn't caught your attention, anyone who signs up/logs in to the Script Frenzy site before March 31st gets entered into a prize draw to win some wonderful prizes including "a playbill signed by the cast of the new Broadway comedy Seminar: Alan Rickman (Yes, the Alan Rickman!), Hamish Linklater, Lily Rabe, Hettienne Park, and Jerry O’Connell."

What on earth are you still reading this for??

Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles

Care of Wooden Floors is the debut novel of Will Wiles, by day an architecture and design journalist, by night a novelist (it would seem). It was selected last month as one of the Waterstones 11 - eleven novels chosen as the best debut novels of 2012 (some more of which are to be reviewed here, such as Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child, February 2012, and Jenni Fagan's The Panopticon, May 2012). 

So. Reading Wiles' debut novel was not the easiest or most relaxing thing in the world. It is, at times, cringe-worthy - not due to the writing but due to the actions of it's protagonist. It's a little like watching Peep Show or The Worst Week of My Life - sometimes you just want to look away and grimace. It is essentially a series of increasingly unfortunate events - including negligent homicide and manslaughter, but treated in a surreal manner which feels rather... dream-like. In fact, the entire book, a series of events, predicted by a man the reader never really meets, is essentially like a dream. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong, and at the end of it all there were no consequences and the protagonist heads home feeling rather bemused and slightly philosophical.

The writing itself is heavy-handed. Layer upon layer of metaphor and simile. It's focus on building structures and architecture is obviously part of its author's passion, but I did not feel that it suited the character all that well - considering he is a freelance writer for the local council. However, once overlooked, the claustrophobic atmosphere that the language and descriptions bring actually make sense: this is a man trapped in a country he does not know, no one speaks his language, and the only place he has to call home is a flat belonging to a man with severe OCD. He is also a repressed writer. After a while, the language makes perfect sense.

I cannot in all honesty say I would ever read the book again - which is a tad unusual for me. The 'series-of-unfortunate-events'-style has never appealed to me, it makes me feel too uncomfortable, too frustrated with the character. Maybe I'm too much like his friend?

Ewart Hutton's "Good People"

This fortnight, I've spent my time with Ewart Hutton's debut novel, Good People (out on the 2nd February, next month). It aims to be the first in a series of mystery/crime novels based on the adventures of the disgraced half-Welsh, half-Italian copper, Glyn Capaldi. Its premise put me in mind of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's comedy film, Hot Fuzz: City cop makes big mistake and ends up in the back-end-of-no-where, in a community of people who are too close for comfort. However, the big differences are that Good People isn't comedy, and is a heck of a lot darker. Also, the cavalry turn up a lot sooner as well.

As you'd expect from a good crime-novel, there are plenty of twists, plenty to keep your mind ticking over, trying to get ahead of Capaldi himself. It is an enjoyable and easy read, though at first for me Capaldi's character really grated. He sounds like something out of an American crime drama - he wouldn't have been out of place in New York. However, he is out of place in Cardiff and South Wales... fortunately that voice wears down into something a lot more readable and believable. Hutton, a little way in, finds Capaldi's real voice and that's when the fun really begins.

Saying this, the story doesn't leave you waiting around, ready for something to happen for the sake of long-haul character development - it doesn't immediately indulge in describing Capaldi's past. We pick up hints of what happened to him in Cardiff, but only enough to keep whetting our appetites - the story in the background of the current mystery. It's very well put together, and it knows it's part of a series - there's plenty of time to get to know the characters over the next stretch of books so it gives us information on a need-to-know basis.

In the strain of recent crime dramas, such as CSI, Hutton bravely takes on a disturbing crime for his first novel. Sexual deviancy with a side order of murder, in plenty of detail. For some more delicately-minded readers, it might not be the best read. Personally, it doesn't faze me - but I've read another review where one person was affected by it (A great detective story, just a bit graphic - a fellow Waterstones reviewer). However, as I pointed out before, if you've watched enough CSI Vegas in the last couple of years, sexual deviancy is probably not a problem.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel, I pretty much just sat and read the whole thing over a couple of nights, quite happily. I even allowed a number of cups of tea to go cold in the process! I'm looking forward to seeing what the next novel might bring.

Season of Light by Katherine McMahon (Finally...)

Well, Christmas and the start of term have been very busy for me! Essays, organising conferences, researching for curating an exhibition, job applications - and an interview! - and obviously course-related reading and essays... but now things have settled down, I'm finally able to give you my review of Katherine McMahon's Season of Light! (Please forgive me for being so late with it...)

I love historical fiction, it's something about the settings and the fashion... this one particularly caught my eye as it is set around the time of the French Revolution and deals heavily in the idea of cosmopolitanism which was rife with women of eighteenth-century Britain. As you can tell, it intrigued me because the eighteenth-century is my specialism. Usually, when I pick up historical fiction, it's based in the era of the Tudors, in the strain of Philippa Gregory or Hilary Mantel. I know enough of the period to enjoy the books, and not enough to make me skeptical of what is written. All I can say is, I was very pleasantly surprised that my specialism did not blind me to the brilliance of Season of Light (and, indeed, it gave me no particular pause for thought in that way). I even smiled as a familiar name popped up here and there, such as Madame Genlis or the better known Robespierre.

It begins with a quote from Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities (a World Book Night book for 2012!) which is where the novel gets it's title, Season of Light. The quote really sets the scene, Dickens' view of the division of opinions during the the French Revolution really hits the spot for me. It was a time of fear, intrigue, and terror, and also hope, whether you were French or British. The story encapsulates this in the whirlwind romance and desperation of Asa's situation, which is so easy to get drawn into. If you enjoy Jane Austen, you will enjoy this more - the feisty heroines and their bold independence are even more engaging.

The Joy of Books

A delightful stop motion animation from a Canadian couple - I loved it so much, I just had to share! ^_^

New review coming up this Thursday!

The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari By Robin Sharma

Just as I promised, this fortnight I'm reviewing Robin Sharma's The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.

Beginning with the title - I really wasn't sure what to expect, and frankly I was a little apprehensive. But a change is always good, no matter how small. So I dove into it with an open mind and found myself enjoying this unusual book. It's not unusual in a sense of originality compared with anything else on the market - it's that it has an unusual premise. The Secret Letters of a Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is essentially a spiritual self-help book in a fictional format. You follow the journey of Jonathan Landry as he collects talismans for his cousin, the monk, who needs them for someone whose life is in danger. It follows a typical hero/quest story line - at first reluctant, he decides to go for it and the journey inevitably changes him. But the content makes the journey a lot deeper than that.

Making the book even more unusual is it's place in the series. The other books follow in the spiritual self-help strain: Discover Your Destiny with the Monk ho Sold His Ferrari: The Seven Stages of Awakening and Leadership Wisdom with the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: The 8 Ritual of the Best Leaders. Following on from the fictional book, these are non-fiction guides, much like Sharma's other self-help books. It seems the fiction is like a stepping stone into the world of spiritual self-help.

However, this doesn't mean that the book can't be enjoyed for its own sake. For myself, I think I would prefer to leave it at the fictional stage - I didn't feel drawn in by the guide, more by the fable that was presented, the anti-hero turned hero, coming to terms with his past and present and looking forward to a bright new future. Definitely a feel good book!

Overall, I can't say I'm absolutely raving about it, but it was enjoyable enough. If it sounds like your kind of thing, find a copy and see what you think.