Literary Brooding

The Lost Book of Salem Katherine Howe The story in a nutshell is that student Connie Goodwin intends to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. Yet things get complicated when her mother wants her to handle the sale of Connie’s grandmothers abandoned home near Salem. While cleaning Connie finds an old family bible, a key and piece of parchment fall out. On the parchment is the name Deliverance Dane. Connie finds herself compelled to reveal the history of Deliverance and questing for a long lost book of magic. This book was a disappointment on many levels and that is a shame as the idea held great promise. I am going to start with some of the things that bugged me about this novel and the first thing was some of the descriptions or actions of characters. Many a time I would read a line and go how does that even work? For example Connie is described in one scene as sitting at the bar tapping her head. Tapping! I even tried it and did not make sense. Then

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier Virago Modern Classics 2003, 428 pages It is a classic novel, it has had countless of words written about it and the opening line is famous. So what insight can I add to what is considered an all-time classic novel? All I can tell you is what I love about the novel. I love how Du Maurier has created a novel with atmosphere, amazing characters and a wonderfully complex plot. The star of the novel is Rebecca who we only come to know through the recollections of others. What makes Rebecca wonderful is how invasive she is. Though dead for over a year Rebecca is everywhere, tainting everything, impacting everyone and still influencing the outcome of everyone and everything. Even though so many love her, you know that there is something sinister about Rebecca. It is amazing story, a wonderful read and so beautifully crafted.

The Third Day, The Frost  John Marsden Pan McMillan, 1995, 278 pages This is the third book in a trilogy that went on to become a seven book series.  I picked up this book for the bargain price of $1 (I love country second hand junk shops) and it was a good investment. The story is about a group of Australian high school kids who have found themselves out in the bush trying to fend for themselves after an invasion by an unnamed Asian country. Instead of capitulating and becoming victims, the group uses guerrilla tactics to cause mayhem. In this book we catch up with the group who are recovering from another successful mission but they are reeling from the loss of a friend and suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.  It is in these early moments of the book that you see the toll that has been taken on the group both physically and mentally. The dynamics of the group are shifting, while they remain committed to their objectives, they are tired and have had enough.  They decide t

Head to Toe – Joe Orton Minerva Publishing 1990, 192 pages I have read some pretty bizarre books in my time but Orton’s effort really takes top place. I have long been a fan of Orton’s works having read and seen his plays. I have even read his journals which I thought were fascinating. In Head to Toe, Orton has us follow Gombold who travels around a rather large creature. Gombold meets up with an array of characters and situations from an assassination, to the war between buttocks and being in prison. There is no easy way to classify this novel or what it is all about. It is quite difficult to review because when you finish it really is what the f*ck have I just read. The story and concepts are completely out there and you find yourself caught in a world that makes no sense at all. Yet the novel is compelling to read, easy to lose yourself in and for some explicit reason you want to know what happens to Gombold. The one thing that I am sure of that is that Orton has lampooned p

Raven – A Time of Ghosts by Richard Kirk Corgi, 1978, 203 pages. I picked this up at a second hand store for $1 and I was willing to overlook the cover of a woman wearing only a helmet carrying a sword jumping into battle. I have purchased fantasy books from the 70’s where the marketing was displaying females in fantasy novels as nothing more than naked sex goddess. I had found that did not really represent the story between the covers. On this occasion it does. This is the second book in the series and I have not read the first one, nor do I intend to. Raven and her band of warriors are out chasing some evil wizard and seeking some personal justice. The world Kirk has created is not that bad, there is some interesting elements to it and the story is not that bad. What you really need here are strong characters and this is where things become difficult. Raven is your golden-haired beauty, wielder of a sword, a body every man lusts after and Kirk has created her as a woman who k

American Gods - Neil Gaiman published 2005, Headline, 656pages I have to be honest I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman’s work and to not state that outright will be a poor attempt to disguise my bias. I own several versions of American God’s and have read them all but I like to come back to this edition as my re-read. Why? I do not know I just prefer the version and enjoy making my way through the novel and all its intricacies. I first read the book in 2007 and I think a gap of seven years is a nice time to come back to it. Days before his release from prison for armed robbery, Shadow is informed that his wife Laura has died in a car accident. His hopes of returning to a job, a loving wife and new beginnings are dashed. On the way home Shadow meets Mr Wednesday, a mysterious character who hints at a world of Gods and the possibility of a war between the old and new Gods. That is the superficial level of the novel but it is much deeper than that. Gaiman is the master of creating