Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Published June 18, 2013 by William Morrow and Company
[Goodreads][Amazon][Indigo Chapters]

Summary:

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.


Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

Review:

Okay, this is going to be my last review of a Gaiman book for a long while...or at least until he comes out with something new. I'm sure you're all sick of me tooting his horn but what can I say? I am a fan! In compliments to my recent adventure to see Neil Gaiman live, I felt it was necessary for my next post to be about why he was touring - his new book, of course! It has already debuted as the number one as a New York Times Bestseller and already, the rights to make this novel into a film has already been acquired by Focus Features.

So what's my impression of Ocean at the End of the Lane? Well, I admit that I was surprised about the small size of the book! I guess you could say I was used to the lengthy numbers from American Gods or Neverwhere but this didn't distract from the lovely pacing of the book. Although a short read, it didn't feel like it was too quick to pass, and it was really reminiscent of the feeling I got when I first read Coraline. It's something that I really enjoyed about reading Ocean -- how the tale could span through an array of demographics despite age or gender.

Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Coraline, and now Ocean at the End of the Lane have something in common with each other - young characters facing monsters; Gaiman understands fairy tales, creatures, childlike fears and things that haunt us in the darkness. Curiosity brings us to these places and great storytelling makes us stay. The author clearly demonstrates over and over how his mind floats in wonderment and childlike imagination (which, as a creative type, I sometimes envy.)

If I were to describe this story, I would call it childhood. I would call it nostalgic. I would describe it as haunting and very, very real. How does a work of fiction become real? By the way you relate to it, by how you envisioned the adult world but also by what you thought of as terrifying. Most of all, as a child, how much did you understand about your own world? Perhaps, the adults just never understood your world.

I love Ocean at the End of the Lane. I really do. Although it was short, I felt that it was what I was looking for in a summer read - easy but emotionally linking. I particularly recommend this book to any teens and adults, either snuggled up in bed (be sure to check under it first) or out and about under the shade of a tree.

Rating: 5/5 Bookworms

Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

May 22, 2007 by Riverhead Books

[Goodreads][Amazon][Chapters Indigo]

Synopsis:

"Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.

A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love."

Review:

I don't know why it took me so long to pick up anything written by Khaled Hosseini. Reading A Thousand Splendid Suns was an incredibly humbling experience; both heartbreaking and heartwarming but absolutely moving. It's not often my eyes want to water, something which I had to prevent as I didn't want to embarrassingly start bawling in the middle of a busy cafe.

It's now that I understand why this book is often praised and loved and it only makes me so excited to read Hosseini's new book; And The Mountains Echoed. A Thousand Splendid Suns is not just a heavy read, but an experience -- this is something you read to learn about being really, truly human. This is something you read and suddenly you've been given an intense life lesson about what love is. I'm not just talking about romantic love, but love for your mothers, your children, and of course, love for yourself. This book is heavy. This book is hopeful. This book is beautiful. You finish this story, close the book and you spend time in the silence of thought. By finishing this book, you're rewarded with a greater appreciation for your own life. The roof over your head, your full belly, the running water and just how precious your friends and family are.

I learned absolutely so much in this book; especially about the historical events in Afghanistan in the last few decades and about the experience of war. I learned about how much the human spirit could take, and I learned enormously about motherhood and companionship. I learned about the power of faith, too. 

I highly recommend this book to…anyone, maybe everyone. There are some definite mature subjects such as domestic violence and yes, war, but you'll take away so much from this book and won't regret ever picking it up.

Rating: 5/5 Bookworms

Review: Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

Published June 5th 2003 by Vintage (first published July 28th 1999)

[Goodreads][Amazon][Chapters Indigo]

Synopsis: 

"Ever heard of a culling song? It’s a lullaby sung in Africa to give a painless death to the old or infirm. The lyrics of a culling song kill, whether spoken or even just thought. You can find one on page 27 of Poems and Rhymes from Around the World, an anthology that is sitting on the shelves of libraries across the country, waiting to be picked up by unsuspecting readers.

Reporter Carl Streator discovers the song’s lethal nature while researching Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and before he knows it, he’s reciting the poem to anyone who bothers him. As the body count rises, Streator glimpses the potential catastrophe if someone truly malicious finds out about the song. The only answer is to find and destroy every copy of the book in the country. Accompanied by a shady real-estate agent, her Wiccan assistant, and the assistant’s truly annoying ecoterrorist boyfriend, Streator begins a desperate cross-country quest to put the culling song to rest."

Review:

Let me first off let you all know about how Chuck Palahniuk never, EVER fails to blow my mind. Lullaby was no exception to this rule. I would however like to say that although I did like this book, it's not the best he's ever written. Then again, it's not making itself out to be the best. This book was written as a way for Palahniuk to cope with a tragedy in his life and he wrote this solely for himself -- yes, it's published and shared among readers but in the end, so is this blog. I write solely for the joy of writing, but I also want to share my thoughts and feelings about what I'm writing as well.

So to enlighten those of you who don't know, Palahniuk wrote this book to help him cope with a big decision. In unfortunate tragedy, his father and his father's girlfriend were murdered by the girlfriend's ex-boyfriend. The murderer was caught, and was put on trial, but they gave Palahniuk the opportunity to be a part of a decision; does this murderer live, or die?

This is a large theme in the novel -- the idea of playing God. Who are we to decide who lives or dies? When that power is imparted on us, what do we use it for? There's also the old "sticks and stones" idea. How badly can words hurt? There's also a lot of mention about how much we're influenced by the media; noise from televisions, radio, movies, music and so on and so forth. This book, as strange as any of Chuck Palahniuk's books ring with a lot of things worth thinking about. It's also a story about a merry band of misfits on a road trip, which is also kinda fun.

Lullaby isn't Palahniuk's best work, in my humble opinion, but it isn't bad either. I think if you're a fan of his other stories then you would enjoy this. Although I liked reading this, Invisible Monsters still rings as my favourite from this author. I really liked the themes and ideas that this book portrayed, but I also felt that the direction was disjointed and the characters were difficult to like sometimes. Basically, it was good in places but fell apart in other areas. With that, let's move onto the bookworm rating:

Rating: 3/5 Bookworms

Review: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

I took this at the bookstore...
I want a hard copy so bad :/

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloane

Published October 2nd 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Synopsis: 

"The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone—and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead “checking out” impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he’s embarked on a complex analysis of the customers’ behavior and roped his friends into helping to figure out just what’s going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore."

Review:

I want to start off by saying that I was so heartbroken by this book. Not that there's extremely sad subject matter. In fact, this was SO fun to read. It broke my tender little heart because every good book has to come to it's conclusion. I finished this book. I held my breath on the last page before finally closing the cover and exhaling. I wasn't sure what to do with myself after that. I think this is what love feels like. 

This book is the man I want in my life. Appeals to my geeky side; the girl who laughs at cat memes on reddit, the artsy side; the side that studied typography in her first year of college and of course, since this book is about a bookstore, the bookish side of me. That one is self-explanatory. There are all these humble little elements that give this book such a vibrant and youthful personality. The flow of the writing and language is quirky and uplifting. This book almost made me shout in the middle of a coffee shop: "WAS THAT A STAR WARS REFERENCE?! THAT WAS A STAR WARS REFERENCE. OHMYGODITWASASTARWARSREFERENCE!" In fact, this book, being only released last year is laced with the loveliest of pop culture references and odes to the most prolific technological empires of our time (Google, Apple.)

I think one of the best parts about Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore was how the characters were really easily relatable. In fact, I'm pretty sure I know my real-life equivalent to Mat.

Something to note about this book is how subtle the themes are. You don't really notice as you might be having too much fun trying to figure out things about mysterious books and symbols. You're trying to think of who the heck some of these characters are. But the themes are there. How do we immortalize ourselves? The purpose of design and language. Is technology and our internet overlords making our old crafts, like printing and publishing, obsolete? Or are we working the old and the new into something bigger, better and more harmonious? Don't think too deeply on these subjects, however, as this book is about having fun; it's about having a great adventure, solving mysteries and doing it with our oddball friends.

I want to make mention that the cover was designed by my favourite cover designer, Rodrigo Corral, who you might know for designing the covers for a

uthors like John Green and Chuck Palahniuk. Apparently this particular cover... it glows in the dark. Apparently I was an idiot and bought this book for my Kobo - I think I'll need to get my hands on a hard copy of this book. I wish I had more money.

If I would recommend this to anyone I feel as if it would be a great read for anyone interested in design and who are interested in the direction technology is growing. It's a great casual read for those who are more prone to sticking to the Teen/YA section of the bookstore and who want to dive into something that's still youthful but maybe not entirely focused on a coming-of-age story. This book is so lighthearted and an absolute joy to read and it would make a great companion if you're up in the air or on the road.

Last but not least, on my personal Twitter account, I posted about how upset I was about finishing such a lovely book - so much so I almost could cry. Robin Sloan tweeted me back. I might have been hyperventilating as it was the most unexpected thing to read and it made my experience with this book even more fulfilling. I didn't even think that was possible!

Rating: 5/5 Bookworms

Review: The Magicians

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Published 2009 Viking/Penguin Books

Synopsis: "Quentin Coldwater is brillant but miserable. He's a senior in high school, and a certifiable genius, but he's still secretly obsessed with a series of fantasy novels he read as a kid, about the adventures of five children in a magical land called Fillory. Compared to that, anything in his real life just seems gray and colorless. 

Everything changes when Quentin finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the practice of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. But something is still missing. Magic doesn't bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he though it would.

Then, after graduation, he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real."

Review: I admit it. I didn't finish this book. I think I made it through about 30 pages before I shook my head, disgruntled, and abandoned trying to read this.

I actually went looking for this book at my local library, was excited to pick it up as I had researched into it. John Green, writer of The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska actually commented on this book in a Vlogbrothers video, saying that if we enjoyed Harry Potter then this would be an interesting take on the magic school genre. Not that this book is any of John Green's fault but I had heard that this book has been called the "Harry Potter for adults." Well, everyone, I'm sorry to say, but whoever said that originally is a liar, liar pants on fire.

Harry Potter has this charming, quirky quality to it. From the get-go you're engaged with Harry's character, the strange things that happen to him and how he interacts with the world. I think the important thing is that in that first book, you really like Harry. He's humble and genuine - he has good intent.

The Magicians is meant for an older audience (16+, I would say) and no, it's not Harry Potter. I get that.  But if you're going to compare it to that; don't. Even if it's to make a crude comparison. I would have been happy with it just being categorized in the likes of "magic school kind of story."

I feel like Quentin is a poor protagonist. I feel like the writer was trying too hard to make him out to be a horny teenager. In the pages I did read, he whined about how a girl didn't like him and tried to not look down the blouses of two other female characters. Was it necessary to mention it multiple times? Probably not. I get it. He's a young and filled with hormones and I really don't care. I can barely stand people whine about how they can't get the girl/guy in real life, let alone in the beginning of my novel when I'm trying to just get to know the character.

Also, something I really dislike is when writers make "genius" characters and make them extremely pretentious. I also especially questions the logitics of Quentin's characters when he's writing an exam and claims that the stuff happening on his paper was "hi-tech paper" and that it was "hi-res." Hey, genius, have you... I dunno, questioned your whereabouts and what's happening around you or anything? Oh right, you didn't because you're still pretentious.

Does this book get any better? I don't know, and I don't care to find out. Maybe it does get better, maybe the character develops into something more likeable... maybe this read wasn't for me.

Rating: 1/5 Bookworms 

April: What I've Read and What I'm Reading.

Being unemployed and having no money to really go anywhere unless I need to means that I can really only do so much. I've mostly been spending my time either on the internet or reading, of course. There is a high probability that as of late, I've been reading far more than I've been internet-ing. I think I may have forgotten to eat a meal once until my stomach gargled and by my annoyance, sought to satiate it so it wouldn't disturb my book any longer.

I started a reading challenge at the beginning of the year. I always loved to read but struggled to find books that might interest me. Fortunately, the internet has bestowed upon me the glory that is Goodreads. Now, I've successfully ventured back into the habit of reading something daily and have committed to reading 24 books within the year... which considering the pace at which I'm going this month, I may have to increase. 24 books within this year almost seems...too easy, considering how many books I really want to read. Maybe I should really push myself and go for 50? 100? I guess we'll see.

On that note, what have I been reading as of late?

I started reading House Of Leaves in March and finished it the first week of April. Can you say amazing? It kind of blew my mind. A story built with three stories - a challenging read with an experimental (VERY experimental) format. The book itself is dark, terrifying, and if you have a vivid imagination, it may make you look twice when you're alone the in the dark. It's also a fun read! I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for something different and who's looking for something that will really make them work and think about what possibly could be going on in this book. The pages, the "journey" it even takes you on, it's absolutely beautiful and disorienting.

With my fellow Goodreads redditors, I've been reading Fool by Chrisopher Moore. Although we have the month to read it, it's a quick read and I may just jump ahead and finish the book early. For those of you who don't know, this novel is a retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear from the point of view of the Fool. I've read Moore's Bloodsucking Fiends before and in comparison, the humor is vastly similar but he really shows his talent as a writer with his creative use of language. This book definitely has me smiling and chuckling to myself in places, and this isn't meant to sound like the book is terrible, but I imagine this book would be a good read on the toilet, too. What? Your best ideas happen when you're in the bathroom, right?

This month seems to be the month of humorous or satirical books for me. My brain must not know that April Fools happens only one day as the latest book I had finished was Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. I am ashamed to admit that I had never actually read any of Vonnegut's novels until I read this book and I have to note that I ought to read more. Eerily enough, on the day I finished this, I was told that it was actually the six-year anniversary of Vonnegut's death. It's the strangest book-related coincidence I've encountered... well, it's the only one (so far).

Last, but not the last book I'll probably be reading this month is John Dies at the End by David Wong. Well, it's not really by David Wong as he's the writer, narrator, and a main character in this story and it is in fact written by Jason Pargin who is a senior editor for Cracked.com. I started reading this book just yesterday (April 12, 2013) and I'm actually already through it halfway. In fact, I think I may even finish it today as I'm having a difficult time putting it down. This book is always full of action and something is ALWAYS happening which makes it really difficult to put down. It's funny (My favourite quote so far: "My butt cheeks clenched so tightly not even light could have escaped.") and the imagery that's put in my head makes my skin crawl. House of Leaves scares you by tapping into what fears you have in your psyche; John Dies at the End scares you from the sensations of bugs crawling up your skin. Reading suddenly makes you scratch the back of your neck and arms.

I've had a very, very good month for reading so far and it isn't even the end of April. I'm debating as to what my next novel should be as I have a plethora to choose from and seemingly no end to the list of books I wish to read. I've had a month full of very, very fun books and may continue the trend. As for next month, I have a few books in mind for both fiction and non-fiction. I think I may well read The Great Gatsby again and have a book vs. film review for the upcoming movie as well.

For now Literates,

Fare Thee Well.