Nose in a Book

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Read for: Banned Books Week, 1% Well Read Challenge, Canadian Books Challenge

The more I read of Atwood, the more I come to realize what a brilliant writer she is.  I read a few of her books about ten years ago and I think I just wasn’t ready for them yet.  Everything I’ve read of hers recently (even the ones I haven’t enjoyed) have really struck me in some way or another.

Most people have read this one, and those who haven’t usually know what the general plot is so I’m going to make my summary brief.  This one is another dystopian society – Gilead.  Offred is a handmaid which means that her sole purpose is to procreate.  Handmaids are sent to Commanders and their Wives in the hopes that they will conceive a child.  If she does, she bears the child and then moves on to another Commander.  Handmaids (and in fact all women) are allowed almost no freedoms and are carefully watched to be sure that they do not  step out of line.  As the novel unfolds, Offred, whose real name is never revealed, reveals Gilead came to be.

I really liked this book, actually a lot more than I was expecting to.  Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down (which for me and Atwood is rare).  As I mentioned earlier, Atwood is a brilliant writer, but besides that she has the ability to tell a really great story.  Even though, Offred was in a truly depressing situation, Atwood kept giving little hints that all was not lost, there was hope yet.  Offred clung to the hope of her daughter and husband from “before”.  She was able to find friendship in unexpected places.  I liked that in the darkest of times, Offred was able to see the simple beauty in the flowers (or perhaps she imagined them, which makes it that much more amazing).

On the other hand, parts of this book were terrifying because Gilead is so plausible.  Almost every part of this society has some historical (and some not-so-historical) counterparts.  There have been times in the past and in the present in parts of the world, where women have been treated as less than human, as just bodies to clean up, cook and have babies.  Even the way Gilead was formed was scarily real and even reminiscent of certain incidents following 9/11.

I am really glad I finally took the time to read this book, but I’m also glad I waited until this point in my life because I don’t think I would have understood it as well without the lens of experience I’ve been able to view it through at this time.

Other reviews:

• Book Nut
• things mean a lot
• read_warbler
• it’s all about me

If I missed yours, please leave a link in the comments.

Tuesday’s Child by Louise Bagshawe

Oh, how I’ve missed chick lit.  I haven’t read in quite a while because of all the other great books I’ve been hearing about on the blogosphere.  Then in the last couple of weeks I’ve read four.  I just decided I needed something a little lighter to squeeze between Fahrenheit 451 and The Handmaid’s Tale.  One of the questions from weekly geeks this week was about whether or not I have changed what I read knowing I will be publicly reviewing them.  And I have been, but then I just decided, who cares?  There is a lot of really good chick lit out there and it definitely has a place.

So anyway, this one was about Lucy who was perfectly happy with her life.  She had a job she loved (reviewing video games), a great place to live with her best friend (Ollie) and she was happy with herself.  But then her best friend got engaged and asked her to move out and the magazine she was working out folded.  Now she has no place to live, no job and her best friend’s new fiance has informed her that there is only room for one woman in Ollie’s life and she’ll have to butt out now.

So Lucy gets a new job with a super hot new boss and everything seems to be going swimmingly, except for the fact that her boss seems to think that he can buy her with fancy clothes and super swank new place to live.  Oh, and the fact that she’s in love with her best friend who’s engaged to a total cow.  And because it’s chick lit, you all know how it ends.  But just in case you don’t, I’ll leave it at that!

I think that’s what I like about chick lit.  It’s light and fun and comforting.  Everything always works out in the end and the second you start reading one of these you know everything is going to end happily ever after.  I think what separates good chick lit from bad chick lit is writing style and how interesting the in between parts of the book are.  And this one was really great.  I liked the writing and the story was engaging and interesting.  I’ll definitely add Louise Bagshawe to my list of acceptable chick lit authors!

Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison

A fun book about four women, each with their own unique set of problems, who come together because they all love shoes.  They form a club with the purpose of trading shoes.  But, of course, they end of friends and help each other face their problems.

This one was exactly what you want when you pick up a book that looks like this.  It was fun, light and definitely had some funny moments.  I’ve previously read Harbison’s Secrets of a Shoe Addict and enjoyed it just as much.

Simply Divine by Wendy Holden

This one was also typical chick lit but with a definite twist.  It was also much longer than a typical chick lit novel.  There is so much going on in this novel that it’s almost impossible to attempt a summary.  Jane, a journalist, has just been dumped by her boyfriend when she meets socialite Champagne D’Vyne and begins ghost-writing her column.  Jane isn’t a huge fan of Champagne but she keeps turning up in the most unexpected places.  I really enjoyed this one and will probably seek out another novel by Holden the next time I’m in the mood for something light and funny.

Little White Lies by Gemma Townley

I think of the three, I enjoyed this one the most. Natalie, newly moved to London, feels that her life isn’t interesting enough.  The previous tenant of her flat still gets mail and phone calls – more than Natalie!  After a night humiliation Natalie decides to open one of the more interesting-looking pieces of mail that are sitting around her apartment.  It leads to her impersonating the old tenant, Cressida, and of course all of the crazy, funny situations that might lead a person to.

I’ve read a few of Townley’s novels before and I’ve enjoyed each and every one of them.  Definitely a good pick when you’re looking chick lit!

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Read for: Banned Books Week

First of all, can I just say that I think it’s truly ironic that a book about books being illegal is banned?!  I had no idea what this book was about when I first picked it up except the whole dystopian future thing.  It seems pretty common for dystopian future books to be banned or at least challenged, doesn’t it?

Anyway, in this novel, written in the 1950s and set sometime after the turn of the century, firemen are no longer employed to fight fires, their new task is to start them.  At the firehall they receive alerts that tip them off to the presence of books and off they go to burn down the house of whomever was hiding the books.

As the novel begins, Montag a fireman, enjoys starting fires but as he is walking home from work one day, he meets a young girl and what she says causes him to question what he has always thought.  This girl actually plays a small role in the novel but is the catalyst for Montag to change his entire way of thinking and acting.  She has a huge impact on him.

I don’t generally enjoy books in this genre and this was no exception.  However, I can see the value in them, if that makes sense.  And this one in particular was actually quite accurate in some ways.  Montag’s wife was the epitome of everything that was wrong with their society.  She had these little seashells that she wore in her ears and they were constantly playing news and ads and who knows what else.  Remind you of anything?  The other thing she did was spend the day in front of her wall sized televisions (3 walls, and she was saving up to do the fourth wall) watching other people live their lives.   It reminded me a lot of reality TV.  One night she invites her friends over to watch some TV with her and one of her friends says this

“I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten.  I put up with them when they come home three days a month; its not bad at all.  You heave them into the ‘parlour’ (what they call their TV rooms) and turn the switch.  It’s like washing clothes: stuff laundry in and slam the lid.”

I have to admit, I’m guilty of doing this sometimes.  In fact, just last week I was counting down the days until my oldest would go back to school because he was driving me crazy!

It’s creepy how well Bradbury was able to see the future.  However, he didn’t foresee the internet and I think the internet is so important today in the sharing of information.  As we’ve seen, it’s becoming harder and harder for governments and other authority figures to suppress the spread of information.

Although, as I’ve said, I didn’t really enjoy this book, I can understand it’s importance and appreciate Bradbury’s cleverness.  And I definitely don’t think it should be banned or challenged.  The only people who would want this book challenged would be people who support the suppression of information.

Dancing with Ana by Nicole Barker

Dancing with Ana is a young adult novel about a girl in high school who decide she is overweight and needs to go on a diet.  Immediately she begins starving herself.  There is also a subplot about a friend of hers that has an issue with her mother and is afraid of the ocean.

Now, I’m not really an expert on eating disorders or abusive parents but it all seemed a little bit too easy and wrapped up a little too nicely at the end.  I found the character development was shallow and the characters unrealistic.  I realize that I am not the target audience for this novel but I still had a hard time making myself finish it.

The book dealt with a serious issue (two, if you count the abusive mother subplot) but it was just so cheesy that it was hard to take seriously.  It just seemed a little too easy for Beth (the main character) to decide that she was ok with the way her body looked.  This book really had potential to be something more but in my opinion it missed the boat.   I also found the writing style to be off-putting.  I can’t really put my finger on what bothered my about it, but it was just a low level read.  Not simple and eloquent, just simple…

Anyway, I really didn’t enjoy this book but I do have one good thing to say about it.  For a book with obviously such a low publishing budget, I was amazed at the lack of spelling and grammatical errors.  I’ve read books with huge promotional budgets from major publishers with more errors than this book had.  Kudos to the editor!