Love For Books

The vivid prose of Nathanael West

Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust is one of those books that is over a touch too soon. The book is incredibly short, but it feels incredibly important in its commentary of human responses to the American Dream as prescribed by Hollywood.

The vivid images in the novel represent West’s real strength – that of descriptive prose. Riot scenes and cockfights are brought ferociously to life, whilst the thought-processors of the chief characters are rendered much more subtly. These sections feel full of meaning, but West never spoon-feeds us anything, rather letting us decode his material for ourselves.

West’s career was cut short by his untimely death in a car accident, but his influence has continued into the 21st century. If you want a sample of his vivid prose, The Day of the Locust comes highly recommended.

Nabokov is the true master of style and voice

Vladimir Nabokov is most famous for ‘Lolita’ – the book that is widely considered his masterpiece. Other than ‘Lolita’, I’ve sampled two of Nabokov’s novels: ‘Despair’ and ‘Laughter in the Dark’ – both of which were a real pleasure to read.

Although it’s probably fair to say that Nabokov is an acquired taste, he is not terribly difficult to read once you’ve got to grips with his style. Very few authors can match the man for flare, which is incredible considering Nabokov wrote in two different languages – his earlier works being written in Russian and his later works, like ‘Lolita’, in English.

Nabokov is all about rhythm, style and voice. His narrators and protagonists often display very dominant characters that exude the kind of authority only a true master is capable of rendering.

Next for me will probably be ‘Invitation to a Beheading’ or ‘Ada or Ardor’ – two books I’ve been meaning to get around to for a long time now.

Kindle By Amazon

Amazon have launched an e book reader so you can read your books as you go along using a electronic device which has E Ink which makes it easier to read.

they have 2 versions:

Kindle 3G wireless reading device (free 3G & Wi-fi) £149.00
Kindle 3G wireless reading device (Wi-Fi) £109.00

you can buy books for as little as £0.00 and newspaper subscriptions for around £8.99 depending on what newspaper you are subscribing to.

I have never heard of them before but i believe they have been around for a while but i think they have only just become popular due to the I-Pad being launched.

Twilight Series

My friend got me hooked on the first twilight book (named twilight) and i read the book within 3 days and had to buy the rest of the collection.

The books are called:

Twilight
Eclipse
New Moon
Breaking Dawn

The general story is that there is a family of vampires who live in a town called Forks and a girl called Bella moves to live with her dad and falls for one of the Son’s called Edward and finds out his secret.  Bella’s father is friends with a Billy Black who lives in the area of La Push and his Son falls for Bella but further on in the films he turns into half man half warewolf.

The cast are:

Bella Swan – leading lady
Charlie Swan – Bella’s dad

Dr Carlisle Cullen – vampire dad
Esme Cullen – vampire mum
Edward Cullen
Alice Cullen
Emmet Cullen
Jasper Cullen
Rosalie  Cullen

Billy Black – La push father
Jacob Black

if you have not already read them and watched the films i would recommend to men and women to do so..

Katie Price – You Only Live Once

Katie Price has launched yet another book and this one is about the last 2 1/2 years of her life which include her break up to Peter Andrew and her meeting and marrying Alex Reid.

Bizarrely she had dedicated this new book to her Ex Husband Peter Andre and she has made an over the top tribute to this on her Opening Page even though they had a messy break up last year.

She also dedicated her book to her 3 children (2 of which were with Peter Andre and the other by Dwyte York).

Her new husband Alex only got a short message on the 2nd page..

New Biography books out

There seems to have been a surge in celebrities releasing their biography books in the past few weeks.

Stars such as Gok Wan, Chris Evens, Michael McIntyre, Darren Brown, Russell Brand and many more have put them on the shelves in time for the Christmas shopping season to start.

It is a great time to buy them as in most highstreet shops and online stores they have been slashed to half price with a saving of up to £10.00.

I want the Jamie Oliver 30 minute meals which he has been showing on Chanel 4 at the moment and i am sure this will be a fast seller..

let me know if you have read any and can recommend them..

Real life

I love reading books about things that have happened in real life. I am not really a fan of fiction. When I am in a book shop, I usually head straight towards the auto biographies. I particularly love to read about famous people and the events in their lives which have helped shaped the way they have lead their lives and who they are as people. I think a lot can be learnt from reading about peoples journeys through life and how they handled what life has thrown at them. Often people who write books have had very colourful lives and they are just very interesting to read.

Waterstones Petition Call

I am calling for a petition. To stop the Poetry and Classics section from getting any smaller, and to bring it back to the front of the shop – where the DVDs are. DVDs?! In a bookshop?! Really.

I used to love browsing the poetry section in Waterstones, and eventually choosing a title that I hadn’t heard of, from a poet who I didn’t know existed, to be either delightfully impressed, or expensively disappointed. But it didn’t matter. It was nice to read something new and fresh.

Now, though, I have to ask a member of staff where to find the poetry, because it is usually one tiny column, split between Poetry, Classics and Drama (including Shakespeare, no less) and it’s hidden away around the corner in the back of the third floor somewhere.

When I eventually get there, there is nothing new to be found. Although the poets there are fantastic, famous, and very certainly worth reading, I find no pleasure in looking through the section. I want to find something new, something I haven’t read before, something unexpected.

Is that just me?

Stephen Fry in America

I know quite a few people who don’t much care for Stephen Fry, but I think he’s fantastic. I do think that playing Scrabble whilst having QI on in the background should officially be called cheating.

However, for those who like him as I do, reading the Literary counterpart to his hit Stephen Fry in America series, was quite an eye opener. With phrases like “I already look seven shades of twat, what else can they possibly do?” it is Stephen, through and through.

I learned plenty about the good old U S of A, and facts about states and cities that I had never comprehended.

If you have seen the TV series, and quite liked it – or haven’t seen the series – read the book. Sectioned into relatively small chapters, one on each state, it is an easy to get through, light hearted, tongue in cheek account of different peoples, cultures and traditions, all of which seem strikingly familiar, and yet so alien. It is quite bizarre.

Election books: the cure for insomnia?

Insomnia is a very serious condition. It can completely disrupt day-to-day life and in extreme cases ruin lives, so it is incredibly important that some kind of cure be found for the affliction. I think I’ve found it – election related books.

Yes, election fever has kicked off in the UK (well, for a month – not a patch on those 18 month marathons in the USA) and as a result, the shelves are being hastily rearranged to show off the books produced by and about our illustrious political leaders. Of course these books have been out for months, as they knew it was election season soon enough, but now you will have them rammed down your throat at every turn.

If you don’t believe me – just check out your nearest book shop. You’ll find all sorts of immensely boring material, ranging from diatribes against everything establishment (expenses, the closed-shop of public schoolboys in politics), histories of the candidates (Cameron being the favourite here) all the way through to a collection of speeches from Gordon Brown himself.

Yes, try to contain your enthusiasm.

I can barely stay awake when Gordon Brown is on the TV, never mind condensed into speech form and stuffed into a book. Do I really care what he said to the Pottery Enameler’s Union in 2008? Is it really that awesome a prospect to read about how he promised that Britain wouldn’t be hit by recession? No, it bloody isn’t.

If there was ever an award for ‘Driest Topic in a Book’, the book of speeches from a hapless Prime Minister would be getting out of its seat already to pick the damn thing up.

There are, as always, a few gems out there which will make the topic of politics as much fun as jetskiing with Mr T. However, weeding out the dross may well cause you to give up all hope. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.