The Magician's Nephew by C.S Lewis | The Chronicles of Narnia #1

This is the story of Diggory Kirke whose Mother is sick and so has been sent to live with his strange Aunt Letty and Uncle Andrew in London. Whilst in London he meets Polly, his next door neighbour and one day on one of their adventures they end up in Uncle Andrew's mysterious room on the top floor of the house. Once there, Uncle Andrew tricks the children into touching magical yellow rings that take them to another world. This world is in actual fact The Wood between the Worlds and from here the children travel to a world that is nearing the end of it's life span and to a world beginning it's life named Narnia. 

There was a quite a bit of misogyny at the beginning of the book which was quite distracting. Diggory made repeated comments about Polly's being a girl. The suggestion was often that she was too emotional and not very brave because she was a girl. The character of Uncle Andrew also made similar comments and I found this distracting and frustrating. I know that this book is set in the early 20th century, but it was published in 1955 and is history really an excuse for sexism? I think not, but perhaps this is best left for another post. Suffice to say it was a sticking point for me. 

Having said that, overall the first half of this book was so much better than the second half. At the beginning the plot was very much a fun, exciting fantasy adventure. I loved the concept of The Wood Between Worlds which is filled with so much possibility. The trip into the dying world was good, but not as creative as I had imagined. When compared to Neverland, The Land of Oz and even to an extent Narnia, this world isn't really anything special. In fact the only difference I can see to Medieval England is that the people are somewhat bigger and there is magic. I think the magic in this world may have been Lewis' dig at sorcery of that age, but that could just be me reading too much into it. 

Another thing that I took issue with in this book was the character of Uncle Andrew. He was creepy and unfeeling. The part of the book where he is trying to entice the children to touch the magic rings is uncomfortable to read and I just don't feel that his character makes sense. I understand that a boy may have become obsessed with magic, but then why is he so reluctant to travel to the other world himself? The character himself protests that it is his age, but that is really a poor excuse. Furthermore, at the end of the book we learn that Andrew is taken back into the bosom of the family even after his cruel and reckless actions of sending two children to an unknown world. Where is his comeuppance? Why would such a theologically Christian book in it's plot allow such sins to go unchallenged? 

The second half of the book was just poor. The book is marketed as the first book in the Narnia series and yet the book seems to assume that you already have knowledge of the events that have already occurred in Narnia. Moreover the birth of the land itself was not as useful as you might think. I'm not sure that it makes any difference how the world began and I fail to see how it adds to the lore of the world in any way. Even with the second half of the book being the Genesis of the land of Narnia, it still failed to answer questions such as why humans are referred to as Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve. Now living in the West it is quite easy to read the blatant Christian theme happening there and of course there are hundreds of parallels with this story and those in the book of Genesis in the Christian Bible, but really what does that have to do with a nice children's story? Why is Alsan-Jesus a lion? Who made him the boss?

Frankly I find this book to be wholly unnecessary to the Chronicles of Narnia and a complete indulgence on Lewis' part. If you are looking for an allegorical version of the story of Christian/Jewish creation then this is the book for you. If you are looking for a high fantasy children's novel, save yourself a couple of hours and skip this one.

Rating: ★★

Next in series: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

World Book Night 2014

As any book connoisseur will know it was World Book Night last Wednesday and as part of a personal challenge to implement ten traditions in the next 12 months, my partner and I started what we hope will be our annual World Book Night Book Swap.

The aim with the book swap is to share our love of a book that we have read and loved in the past year and get the other person to read it within that month. In the future we are hoping that our choices will be a secret until they are presented on that day, but this year excitement got the better of me and we told each other long before the day.

My choice for him was Aldous Huxley's Brave New World which I read last year for a university module. I bought him Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood for his birthday last month and he loved the dystopian genre which really sealed my choice.

His choice for me was the Russian classic The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. The inspiration behind this choice was that he is a great lover of Russian literature and this is one that he has enjoyed most recently. I am very excited to read my first piece of Russian fiction and look forward to reading one of the classics. We will do reviews for both of these books closer to the end of the month when we have both completed them.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris | The Southern Vampire Mysteries #1

I have to admit that this is technically a re-read as I read most of this novel about 5ish years ago just as the TV show was getting started. Now I'm the kind of person who can't read a series at the same as it being on TV or in the cinemas. There has to be, for me, some distance from getting the story from one medium and getting the story from another. I know that the TV show hasn't officially ended, but after how bad the last two seasons were for me, I am personally done with True Blood and so I can get on to reading the Sookie Stackhouse series! 

The plot begins with Sookie Stackhouse who is a waitress in a little American town called Bon Temps. Only Sookie isn't just a waitress because Sookie is telepathic. In this universe vampires are very real and have 'come out of the coffin' two years prior to the beginning of the story. I have to admit that I know very little about Black history in the American south, but this story does appear to be very reminiscent of the race prejudices and racial barriers that have existed in this part of the world and from what the text itself suggests, still do.  

The novel is interesting because it really does not fit into genre classifications. It is simultaneously a paranormal romance, murder mystery, fantasy, vampire novel. Moreover, whilst reading the novel I never felt as though any of those strands were out of place or jarring. You do get the sense as the story continues that there are bigger themes to come as the series continues, for instance the lore of vampires, Sookie's affliction and Sam's origins. Having said that, the primary issue in this story, the unveiling of Gran's murderer is resolved satisfactorily at the end of the book. 

The romance between Bill and Sookie was an interesting comment on interracial relationships, but in other ways very typical of the romance genre, in that it was very intense and quite sudden. I don't know what it was about these two, but I just never found myself rooting for them in the way that I would expect myself to when reading a romance novel. I wasn't invested in their relationship at all and despite the explicit declarations Sookie makes about missing Bill I just don't believe that she ever did. (Though it never appeared to me that she missed her Gran either.) On top of this, Bill struck me as a very unconvincing romantic hero. I know that superficially he seems to tick all the boxes. Broody and enigmatic? Check. Worldly and protective? Check. Handsome and sexually talented? Check. He has the makings of a desirable hero, but I just didn't want him. I was even trying to picture Stephen Moyer for most of the book! It just didn't click for me.

Another problem I had with the plot is the way in which Sookie's abuse as a child was dealt with. I didn't understand the point in it being there. I am by no means suggesting that the sexual abuse of children has no place. I'm sure that it could have been a very worthy addition to Sookie's character and a worthwhile exploration of the impact upon it's survivors. It could have even added to the commentary that is going on discussing who are more monstrous: vampires or humans? It could have done all of those things and yet it didn't. It was quashed as suddenly as it was introduced. It may be that it gets brought up in later novels in the series and gets dealt with there, but I am a firm believer that if you can't do such an important topic justice then just don't do it.

One of the issues that I think Harris dealt with incredibly well was the violence against women theme. All of the murderer's victims were women, all of the murderer's intended victims were raped and chosen because of their consentual sexual relationships with vampires. This is the story line that kept my interest throughout this novel. The judgement that is bestowed upon these women by the people in their community was interesting because it mirrored to a lesser degree the feelings of Renee himself and meant that almost everyone was a suspect. Sookie, through her telepathic talent, encounters many of the people that she has grown up with thinking that the women deserved to be murdered because of their dealings with vampires, because of their 'blue collar', low-skilled jobs. It was interesting that a comment was being made on the value of women, both because they were women, but also because of their working-class status. This story line adds another layer to the exploration of prejudice that this novel seems focused on. I was very pleased that the murderer received his comeuppance at the end of the book and that the victims of his misogynistic hatred were given at least some justice. In the next book I would like to see more of what happens to Rene.

Overall, this book though the language was quite simple and easy-going surpassed my expectations with it's hard-hitting themes. I will definitely go on to read the next book in the series and am looking forward to seeing more differences between True Blood and the books that the TV show originated from. I have to say that I did miss the presence of Tara in the novel, who appeared in HBO's televised version of the stories. I also missed the more comedic side to Jason's character, but I hope that both these things will make an appearance in later Sookie novels.

Rating: ★★★

Next in series: Living Dead in Dallas

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol is the first of the City Year book club reads and was a very seasonal choice. The story follows the spiritual transformation of the protagonist Ebeneezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve as he is visited by four ghosts. The story is one that has remained popular for over a century and if you live in the West the likelihood is that you've seen some kind of retelling whether that be Muppets, Disney or even Blackadder-style. 

The novel itself was very short and moved along at a moderate pace. When we first meet Scrooge it is difficult to believe that he will have any redeeming features as he works Bob Cratchit to the bone, sits hoarding his treasure like a fat dragon and I have to admit that by the end of the book I'm not sure that I was filled with the joy of Christmas cheer. Here is probably a good point to stop and insert a disclaimer that I don't myself celebrate Christmas and haven't done so for the past four years. 

For me, Scrooge is Dickens' representation of the bourgeoisie, a greedy Capitalist who gives up love and laughter in order to be rich. Scrooge is preoccupied with thoughts of little more than profit. He refuses to put more coal on the fire for fear of what it will cost and even lives a relatively Spartan existence himself, although nothing close to the poverty of those he would have locked up in prisons and workhouses. 

The book did, however, work as a ghost story. The Ghost of Christmas Past is for me the most frightening of all the ghosts. The description of him alone is enough to frighten children. He is an amalgamation of Scrooge at every stage of his life. The ghost vacillates between the beauty of youth and the ugliness of old age.What we find comforting about age is that it is a progression. It suggests that we have time, that we have cause and occasion to develop each laugh line, to use all of our muscles in the pursuit of adventure, to wear out our sight and hearing having listened to incredible music and witnessed stunning views. To be confronted with a condensed version of yourself, in the way that Scrooge is, emphasises how short a time you have to do all of those things. It also works to present a distorted reflection of Scrooge's self and begins the systematic breaking down of his character's identity. Furthermore, it is what the ghost represents that must be the most frightening, after all the thing about the past is that it has happened and there is nothing that anyone can do to change it.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the novel as it was the source of a story that seems embedded in my culture. I found nothing redeemable in the character of Scrooge and thought his transformation happened too quickly. Having said that, the novel worked for me as a ghost story and it's themes helped to reinforce my abstaining from Christmas. This is the only Charles Dickens novel that I have ever read, but I would definitely read more in the future.

Rating: ★★★