My rating: 2 out of 5
Book review:
The Forgotten Garden was rather disappointing, as I was sure that I would love this book. Secrets, mystery, a hidden garden...these are ingredients that I love. Just not the most fortunate use for them in this plot.
For one thing, this book should have been half its length - so many and not particularly beautiful descriptions, detailed rendering of unimportant gestures and unnecessary talk. And the secrets were not really secrets, I could glimpse at several possibilities, one of which turned out to be true in the end. If the mystery were deeper, the writing more alert, it would have made a perfect easy read. I made sure to be a fast read though, as I couldn't waste too much time with this book, seeing that it didn't please me the way a good book should.
Some parts of the story are indeed catchy, the setting of Blackhurst estate is amazing (though I made little use of the map enclosed), but some of the characters and events are not quite believable. Nell, for one thing, behaved in a stupid manner; no matter the author's attempts to explain her behavior, I just couldn't relate to her choices. On top of that, I wasn't fond of any particular character in this novel, because they were not easy to like.
If you made a résumé of this book, the resulting story would be interesting enough, but the 500 pages are not worth the time spent in its company, if you're looking for a gripping, fast-paced novel.
My rating: 4 out of 5
Book review:
The Noodle Maker was a pleasant surprise for me. It consists of several loosely interconnected short stories, sometimes with a touch of surreal, often with a delicious dark humor, and mostly absurd.
A satire of the Chinese society affected by the Open Door Policy (instituted by Deng Xiaoping in 1978), this book has an interesting array of characters: the failed writer who dreams of his big novel, but instead writes political-oriented articles about everyday made-up heroes; the professional blood donor who has become a rich man exploiting the benefits of his occupation; the jealous actress who wants to get revenge on her lover by committing a most peculiar suicide; the young woman whom nobody thinks is still a virgin because of her rather huge breasts; a talking dog who debates with a man that dogs are superior to humans.
My favorite was the story of a middle-aged man who still lived with his mother, both taking care of their business - an independent crematorium. Man, was this a bizarre and twisted story! The son has a whole philosophy in choosing the right music for the dead, according to their status in life and the money their relatives pay.
There was also a mention of Nicolae Ceaușescu, out late Romanian dictator, in a funny context (I'll try to translate it):
The year when Ceausescu was due to visit their town, the mayoralty decided to hide the ugliest buildings on the main boulevards behind pressed wood panels, previously painted as to resemble a line of good-looking houses. Ceausescu was passing in a hurry anyway, so only his first impression was of importance.
What Wikipedia says about the author:
Ma Jian is a vocal critic of China's Communist regime. His works explore themes and subjects that are taboo in China. He has continually called for greater freedom of expression and the release of jailed writers and other political prisoners. As a result, his books have been banned in China for the last 25 years, and since the summer of 2011, he has been denied entry into the mainland.
I strongly recommend this book if you want to get a cynical glimpse of China, if you enjoy dark humor and don't mind a heavy dose of absurd and surreal.
My rating: 3 out of 5
Book review:
Post Office was Bukowski's first novel, written at the age of 49. However, this was not his first work - throughout the years, he had published poetry and short stories. Yet, only at 49 he decided to dedicate himself to writing and finally quit working at the postal service, with the support of his future publisher. I wonder whether the outcome would have been different for Bukowski, had not been for this turn of events...
The novel (which is mainly autobiographical) recounts the main events from the troubled life of Henry Chinaski, from his first employment with the Post Office until he finally quits, after 11 (or 12) years. I couldn't believe this was true - I thought that Bukowski was a writer from the beginning! The important women in his life also appear in the novel and I could see he was not picky - he could do with ugly and much older women...
What a messed-up life he had, this Bukowski! Drinking, gambling, a boring job that wrecked his body and mind, not to say anything about the constant lookout for women (yet, this is not a bad thing from a man's perspective, is it?). He has a cynical approach to life and he shows little feelings - he doesn't seem to care when women leave him, like he wasn't even in love with them. Yet, he is not completely indifferent: he shows sympathy for an old colleague, he defends a dog and seems to love his daughter (his only child, in real life).
I had mixed feelings toward this novel. At times I liked it, other times I didn't. And it was like that till the end. Yet, I don't feel sorry for the time spent reading it, because it was interesting enough. And quite funny. Anyway, I wanted to read Bukowski for a long time and maybe it's best that I began with Post Office, because, through this novel, I got a glimpse of his life.
My rating: 5 out of 5
Book review:
I wonder why so few people have read this novel, because it's quite amazing. I can't say that it's completely original, because it reminded me of Kafka (The Castle) and Saramago (All the Names), but imagining an institution where people's dreams are analyzed... That is a brilliant idea, masterfully developed by Ismail Kadaré.
Mark-Alem comes from a powerful Albanian family, the Quiprili (Köprülü), and his relatives decide that he should apply for a job at one of the most influential institutions of the Ottoman Empire - Tabir Saray, the Palace of Dreams. Thus he begins his ascent to the top, although fearful and confused, never fully aware of what he is supposed to do. In this huge machinery of control, the dreams from all over the empire are gathered, sorted and analysed, in order to choose one Master Dream that is presented each Friday to the Sultan. Dreams are believed to foretell important political events, thus being of utmost importance to the Empire.
We follow Mark-Alem's journey through the mysterious Palace of Dreams, with its nightmarish passages where he usually gets lost, with the thousands of dreams stacked away in its huge underground archive, with the kafkian beaurocracy and the strange happenings that make people paranoid. Without realising, Mark-Alem becomes an active part in the events that will unfold in the story, bringing misfortune to his family.
Absorbed in the world of dreams, Mark-Alem comes to believe that this is the real world, powerful and vivid, while the reality outside gradually becomes gray, dull and less and less attractive. He gets more and more isolated, his relatives remaining his only connection to the earthly world. He seems oblivious to any romantic relationship and the only mention of a possible wife comes from his uncles, but we don't ever get to know the girl. The lack of a sexual dimension makes the character a bit too flat, but contributes to his total immersion in the fantastic world of dreams, a sort of hell that Ismail Kadaré wanted to create in his novel.
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