Welcome to this week’s blog. Here’s our roundup of your comments and photos from last week.
First a question from ivan1066, who has been reading George Macdonald’s The Princess and the Goblin:
Why did no one tell me about this book? Calling it a ‘fairy tale’ does it a disservice. The writing clips along at a nice pace. It reminds me of The Princess Bride in some parts but never becomes too clever clever. Any other MacDonald fans out there?
Philip Hensher’s The Friendly Ones has fascinated dihuet:
I have just finished listening to Philip Hensher’s The Friendly Ones, a novel that shows the lives of and conflicts within two neighbouring families in Sheffield, with flashbacks to experiences in Bangladesh up to 1971, and the relationships or links between them - with losses and turmoil on both sides. Although it was long, I was sorry when it came to an end. It certainly was engrossing and I also came way with a better understanding of and renewed interest in what happened before the independence of Bangladesh. I remember Bengali students at Durham University, in 1969, I think, celebrating the uprising but I was not at all aware of the background. As Hensher shows, most of the English didn’t know the difference between someone from Pakistan or Bengal.
And now for something completely different:retropian read the “delightfully weird” Borne by Jeff VanderMeer:
Let’s see: A giant insane flying bear called Mord who terrorises a post-apocalyptic toxic waste of a city. Mutant feral children, hyper-aggressive grizzly-bear-sized Mord proxies. The Magician, a wizard of a genetic engineer who seeks to wrest control of the city from Mord. A seemingly “normal” human protagonist Rachel and her partner Wick who is also an ace genetic engineer who live in hiding from Mord and the Magician. Oh, and a mysterious creature of unknown origin and capabilities called Borne. All of whom have a connection with “The Company”, a bio-tech firm that seems to have unleashed a genetic apocalypse. Monsanto gone mad.
Back in the historical realm, dylan37 has reread Alone In Berlin by Hans Fallada:
A masterpiece ... This is what happens when quiet people resist, and words become the only available weapons. There are shadows and mumbled dark threats, stolen glances and half remembered dreams... Ultimately, this rare, compelling tragedy stands alone, and we should be grateful it outlived the ashes of Berlin.
While nina1414 has just finished Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin:
These vignettes were based on his experiences there. It was a weird experience... sitting on the balcony in the evening and reading about Bernard, an acquaintance who is being persecuted, reading what they said to each other and then I looked up and saw the tree in front of my second-storey balcony, heard the birds and I was back in 2018... head down again and I flew back to 1933 and Bernard and Christopher were alive and kicking again. I tell you, reading books like that, it’s like time travel.
William Faulkner’s Light In August has impressed paulburns:
Faulkner traces the sad or tragic fates of a black orphan boy growing to manhood who looks white, a middle aged nymphomaniac descended from Carpetbaggers, a pregnant woman searching for the fleeing father of her child, that irresponsible father, a disgraced cleric and an upright labourer, all set in mostly Jefferson in the Deep South. Their interrelationships make gripping reading. Well worth a look.
Finally, SydneyH is having a good time:
I’m reading A Christmas Carol by Dickens in a cosy state of happiness.
Dickens is for life, not just for Christmas, after all.
Interesting links about books and reading
- Anthony Bourdain’s legendary first New Yorker essay.
- A new study suggests readers may be less likely to develop dementia.
- Reading is also good for children.
- A fascinating insight into the mind of crime writer Donald E. Westlake.
- Round of applause for this New York Times headline: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Nightdress.
If you would like to share a photo of the book you are reading, or film your own book review, please do. Click the brown button on this page to share your video or image. I’ll include some of your posts in next week’s blog.
If you’re on Instagram and a book lover, chances are you’re already sharing beautiful pictures of books you are reading: “shelfies”, or all kinds of still lives with books as protagonists. Now you can share your reads with us on the mobile photography platform – simply tag your pictures there with #GuardianBooks, and we’ll include a selection here. Happy reading!
