Having said - erroneously - the story was set in America I am now happy to report it was actually set in New Zealand! I knew it wasn't the UK but it didn't seem quite right for America either so I'm glad to have that point cleared up. I finally gave it a 4 star review on Amazon.
There was some excellent writing in the book and it raised some profound questions about the connections between theatre and reality and how much we are all playing a part in our lives. I got really sick of the Saxophone Teacher - who is never named - but the other characters were well drawn and believable especially Stanley - the drama student and Isolde the sister of the girl involved in the scandal at school.
Some scenes were written as though they were being performed in a theatre and others were described several times from different viewpoints. As I said before it almost didn't matter what order you read the book in but I got more used to that as I got into the story. Overall I did enjoy it though the first 100 pages were very confusing.
Showing posts with label Eleanor Catton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eleanor Catton. Show all posts
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Saturday, 8 August 2009
The Rehearsal
After my - sort of - rant yesterday it is actually improving. I read 100 pages so I'm now two thirds of the way through. I do wish authors with pretensions to being literary novelists would realise that they don't have to mess around with the conventional novel structure in order to be well thought of/famous. There is some excellent characterisation and some very well written scenes - all spoilt by the mix and max attitude to plot and timescale. Maybe a definitive review tomorrow.
As light relief I started reading The Checkout Girl by Tazeen Ahmad. I love books about people's jobs and having worked in a supermarket - as a shelf filler rather than a checkout person - I'm finding this interesting. The author, a journalist, took a job at Sainsbury's in order to improve her own finances and has written the book about her experiences. She decided to use it as a means to find out how the recession is affecting people and her descriptions of customers and their purchases are a real slice of life. If I ever decide to write a novel set in a supermarket I shall have plenty of material!
As light relief I started reading The Checkout Girl by Tazeen Ahmad. I love books about people's jobs and having worked in a supermarket - as a shelf filler rather than a checkout person - I'm finding this interesting. The author, a journalist, took a job at Sainsbury's in order to improve her own finances and has written the book about her experiences. She decided to use it as a means to find out how the recession is affecting people and her descriptions of customers and their purchases are a real slice of life. If I ever decide to write a novel set in a supermarket I shall have plenty of material!
Friday, 7 August 2009
The Rehearsal
The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton. This is not a book I would have chosen to read but the blurb made it look interesting. A scandal involving a pupil and a teacher rocks a high school somewhere in America. In fact a whole community is rocked by it and a local drama college decides to turn it into a play. Sounds OK - reminiscent maybe of Zoe Heller's Notes on a Scandal about which I had somewhat mixed feelings.
As I have to write a review of it I've been forced to persevere with reading it and have managed just over 100 pages so far. It is improving but I'm beginning to think it should have come in loose leaf format so that you could throw it up in the air and read it at random. It dots around in time and space, people seem to say exactly what they're thinking, incidents are described and re-described from the point of view of each protagonist , there's a very strange saxophone teacher keeps cropping up just when you think she's disappeared for good and well I'm not sure where the plot is but it doesn't seem to be contained in anything I've read so far. But even after all that it does have something indefinable about it even though the sentence structure is sometimes eccentric and makes me cringe.
Perhaps I can, with a concerted effort, finish it over the next couple of days and move onto something more interesting.
As I have to write a review of it I've been forced to persevere with reading it and have managed just over 100 pages so far. It is improving but I'm beginning to think it should have come in loose leaf format so that you could throw it up in the air and read it at random. It dots around in time and space, people seem to say exactly what they're thinking, incidents are described and re-described from the point of view of each protagonist , there's a very strange saxophone teacher keeps cropping up just when you think she's disappeared for good and well I'm not sure where the plot is but it doesn't seem to be contained in anything I've read so far. But even after all that it does have something indefinable about it even though the sentence structure is sometimes eccentric and makes me cringe.
Perhaps I can, with a concerted effort, finish it over the next couple of days and move onto something more interesting.
Saturday, 1 August 2009
Currently reading . . .
The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight by Gina Ochsner - I've been reading this for what seems like eternity and I keep thinking I'll stop and admit defeat. It is just too much attention to bodily functions, dirt and incomprehensible people who might or might not be dead.
Crusaders by Richard T Kelly - again I've been reading it for too long and keep thinking I'll give up. It's quite good and an interesting subject but about 150 pages too long and rather over written.
The Third Rumpole Omnibus by John Mortimer - a pick up and put down book as it's short stories and always a joy to read.
Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 by Lisa Appignanesi - I've just started this and it's very interesting. I had completely forgotten that Mary Lamb murdered her mother. Surprisingly enough she did not end up in prison but spent a short time in a private asylum and was then released into the care of brother Charles. She used to have a relapse every so often and would pack her own bag and tell her brother he needed to take her to the asylum.
Waiting in the wings - Anne Brooke's The Bones of Summer and Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. I've wanted a copy of this ever since it came out and I finally decided I'd have to buy it. At 700 pages it is going to take some reading but I shall give it a go.
I also need to read - and write a review of - The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton which seems to be a sort of DIY story in that you could almost read the chapters in any order. I've read about 20 pages and have totally lost the plot. I think I'm going to have to start again with it. Reviews seems to suggest it is very clever - which I suspect translates as the reviewer couldn't understand it and hopes someone will enlighten him/her as to the meaning of the whole thing.
Crusaders by Richard T Kelly - again I've been reading it for too long and keep thinking I'll give up. It's quite good and an interesting subject but about 150 pages too long and rather over written.
The Third Rumpole Omnibus by John Mortimer - a pick up and put down book as it's short stories and always a joy to read.
Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 by Lisa Appignanesi - I've just started this and it's very interesting. I had completely forgotten that Mary Lamb murdered her mother. Surprisingly enough she did not end up in prison but spent a short time in a private asylum and was then released into the care of brother Charles. She used to have a relapse every so often and would pack her own bag and tell her brother he needed to take her to the asylum.
Waiting in the wings - Anne Brooke's The Bones of Summer and Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. I've wanted a copy of this ever since it came out and I finally decided I'd have to buy it. At 700 pages it is going to take some reading but I shall give it a go.
I also need to read - and write a review of - The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton which seems to be a sort of DIY story in that you could almost read the chapters in any order. I've read about 20 pages and have totally lost the plot. I think I'm going to have to start again with it. Reviews seems to suggest it is very clever - which I suspect translates as the reviewer couldn't understand it and hopes someone will enlighten him/her as to the meaning of the whole thing.
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