I've managed to get quite a few books in this term, through much effort trying to sustain a daily reading schedule on the train and before bed, and trying to break bad habits like incessantly checking my phone. The five books I've read this term, in chronological order, are: The Shining by Stephen King, Ausländer by Paul Dowswell, The Bone People by Keri Hulme, The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker and Erebos by Ursula Poznanski. Currently I'm reading Voss by Patrick White.
The Shining, Stephen King — 500 page book
I've been wanting to read this book for years now, from when I watched the movie as a little kid: it absolutely terrified me and changed how I perceived many situations throughout my life. I found the book very gripping. Stephen King writes very descriptively about certain rooms (especially involving gore) and it's got an interesting progression of the plot, as the story is told through the perspective of the son, the dad, and the mum. King also uses interesting devices (e.g. mystifying the concept of murder by spelling it as R E D R U M) and language that isn't too difficult to understand. I really liked how he developed the insanity of the dad through isolation and his obsessive perusals of the hotel's archives.
Probably the most terrifying part was when the hotel started running on its own, with its ex-residents being revived from the dead; Jack getting drunk and promising to the bartender he'd teach his family a lesson and the dog man that Danny encounters are just wonderful scenes to read at 11 at night. It also shows many conventions in practice back in the 70s–80s, like the use of the n-word and domestic violence, that are seen as issues nowadays. Managing to finish this 500 page book in a week actually quite surprised me, and really shows how much I enjoyed it.
Ausländer, Paul Dowswell — based on a true story
This is the type of book I felt that I would pick up, read in a day or two, and then forget about it. But it was definitely not a bad book, with interesting development of the main character who began as a possible concentration camp Jew, to going out with the most attractive German girl in his neighborhood. It gave a perspective of wartime Germany and the comforts and struggles of the residents. Its also a book that draws upon actual events that occurred at the time (World War 2) which gave insight as to how the Germans slandered the antagonistic English and praised their own men at the battlefield. On a side note, this book was easy enough that it allowed me to practice on speed reading, which is also how I managed to read the book in a few days.
The Bone People, Keri Hulme — Man Booker Prize winner (of 1985)
This book is very funky, for better of a word. Its got confusing paragraphing where I can't tell whether the character is thinking or if the narrator is speaking, and the range of vocabulary is quite tedious to endure. Though I really enjoyed how Keri Hulme portrayed the characters and described each of their personalities. The relationships of each of the characters were vague in the beginning, but through feuds like Kerewin's discovery of Joe having abused Simon, and the three of them going on a trip to Kerewin's beach really shook things around and it didn't just go along as a clichéd relationship, but instead you hate Joe for beating Simon but then Simon loves Joe and cuddles with him in bed but then Simon is almost killed at Joe's hands but then Joe repents by becoming a hermit. You really feel like no one really knows where to go with the relationship and this love that they seek for each other is just around the corner, at an arm's reach, but none of them know how to get it. I was extremely warmed near the end when Simon ran away from the orphanage (or maybe it was the doctor) and goes back to Kere's tower, only to find the place demolished and what's left is Kere's sculpture of the three of them. But I did get confused in the last chapter, as much as I did with the very beginning, about what was going on with the unity of the three and whether Keri Hulme intended it to have a dreamy effect, that it never actually happened. Overall, this was an incredibly impactful book and I would definitely come back to it in future to get to experience the story again.
The Dreamers, Karen Thompson Walker — published in 2019
Jumping from a book written in 1985 all the way to a book published only a few months ago showed me interesting ways in which writers from different time periods expressed themselves. I had made myself imagine, when reading books like The Shining and The Bone People, old fashioned streets and buildings, but then not for this book. I notice how this book has details that are relevant with current affairs: many characters from different cultural backgrounds (e.g. the main character Mei being Asian), homosexuality and single parenthood. I felt like this book doesn't dwell too much on small details, like dragging out conversations between characters, but instead, for example, begins describing a person fixing a sink at a house, then goes on to talk about what other people in other houses are doing, then onto what the whole town is doing with this disease that is going around, then to the entire of America and the insignificance of the town when brought up to that magnitude. It also doesn't stick on certain people for much, as I have mentioned earlier with the diverse characters, and hops to this group and that group quite often. Though, that may be because I had read just a book with virtually three characters. In the little chunks that Walker writes in, though, I do get waves of forlorn. Like when she comes up to the part where the gay biologist accepts his death/sleep (which is interchangeable in the story) to join his mentally disordered husband, who has also succumbed to the disease, or the part where the younger of the two sisters who are currently father-less is lost somewhere, and the older sister goes in the former's bed and cries herself to sleep. I guess having read an award winning book made me critique this book pretty harshly.
Erebos, Ursula Poznanski — female author
The story had a warming love story, with Nick trying to win over a girl in his grade, Emily. It was sad as Nick lost contact with a few of his friends and almost losing a friend's life. I thought it would be awkward to implement the gaming aspect, but it was interestingly tied with Nick's real life. Looking back at the whole thing, the end is completely unexpected, which is what I love about the book. The game was created by the father of a student at Nick’s school, a student Nick knew, and it was his attempt to spread joy to others, which we know backfires. It was also interesting to read my first translated book, as the author is German. Personally I couldn't pick up any parts that sounded odd.
Voss, Patrick White — Nobel Prize for Literature (unfinished)
Oh man, this is a hard book to read. The way the room that Laura Trevelyan is sitting in is described in the first few pages is so different to the usual "the couch is in the corner, the table in front" type of straightforward manner. I had to completely change the way I looked at the words on the page, which truly made me understand what it is to sound poetic. It didn't even matter that White used difficult, obscure words, those could be easily searched up, but it was the way in which sentences were written and structured that takes me five minutes to get through a page. But once I got used to the way he was writing, I think around the part where Voss meets his fellow adventurers, the scenes that I was reading were completely different to any other book I've read. For example, when the maid serving Laura was giving birth, there is no mention of "the baby is born", or "birth". Instead, there is the sunrise, the colors flooding the room that depict emotion of the maid, the midwife and Miss Trevelyan. Then there's also Voss and Laura's love for each other, which I still do not know when it truly began. It says that Laura is hesitant when Voss touches her hand, but I'm not sure is that her distaste for the German or her shyness. And even in the letters they send to each other: I see how he compliments her, but I don't get why or what he means with his humility.
As the story goes on, I found it to be a little easier to read. Perhaps because it deals with more basic concepts like Voss and his men setting up camp, herding sheep and communicating with wild aboriginals? I'm enjoying this book more as a challenge, since I think I've missed so many details that White keeps bringing up that it isn't sounding like what he intended. Though I will inevitably read it again, in several years time.
Books in the future
I've got my mind on reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis for the "based on the book cover" category and since I've seen it around quite a bit. Also, if I can get my hands on it, David Foster Wallace's The Pale King. It'll possibly pose as a bigger challenge than Voss and it also ticks off the "published posthumously" category. I currently own Catch-22, which I'm not currently sure what category that would fit but I know is a famous book and also several Stephen King books like Pet Semetary that I would like to read.
