Yet again I seem to have mostly
forgotten what I have been reading. This is not a commentary a quality of the
books. It is more my memory which is becoming like a sieve with each passing
day. The positive side of this is that I can finally reread books without
remembering what comes ahead. I am not entirely sure if I have already read Alice Munro’s Runaway but it does not
matter because I enjoyed the book thoroughly and if I am doing it the second
time without recollection of the first, so much the better. Runaway is a
collection of short stories, located yet again somewhere in Northern Canada in
small towns. Munro’s characters grip you beautifully and keep you engaged with
their little human foibles. Short
stories can sometimes be too short or too brief to capture the stories they
tell. Not so with this collection. You read a piece, savour it and feel
satisfied.
I discovered two authors this
time around both of whom I enjoyed. This has been a stroke of good luck since
finding a good author is a lot tougher than it looks. Incidentally both authors
were brought to my attention in the Guardian’s Books section.
I had noted down Alan Furst’s
name dutifully in my reading list and found his Dark Star in the library. This
is a spy novel set in Poland just before the Second World War. I am no fan of
spy novels, yet this one kept me going. Unfortunately I could not finish it
before the extended due date and my mood changed and I moved on to other books.
Then I went looking for him again and found Spies of Warsaw. Same settings.
Clearly Furst specialises in one thing and he is bloody good at it. Spies of
Warsaw held my attention a lot better. It traces a French military attaché posted
in Warsaw. The attaché though is just an excuse to lovingly dwell into details
of what the spy network would have been like back then and you sit there
enthralled. One point I especially enjoyed was the author’s casual comment on
Allied countries who spy on each other. Everyone knows everyone does it but
when you are caught out by your so-called friends, it is embarrassing. Reminded
me of U.S. and Germany now!
The other author Kate Atkinson
was in the news for not having made it to the Booker list this year. The
library stocked an older novel ‘When will there be good news’. Despite the melodramatic
name, the novel itself is quite gripping. A little girl witnesses a horrific
incident. Years later, a young teenage babysitter worries about her employer. A
policewoman wonders about her marriage while getting obsessed with one of her
cases. An ex-policeman is on a questionable journey but is totally sidetracked.
All these paths meander, sometimes joining together, sometimes not. It has been
a while since I have read a fast paced thriller and I do enjoy my share of
them. I am now waiting to go back and find another book by her.
There was Nadeem Aslam’s The
Wasted Vigil. Inspired by a post on a friend’s facebook page, I looked for his
Maps for Lost Lovers but the library only stocked this. Through its fictional
setting, it describes the sad and long period of turmoil that Afghanistan has
been going through. Another book that made me feel glad I have the life I have
and was not born a woman in a fundamentalist setting.
Apart from these notable books, I
turned to an old favourite P.G. Wodehouse’s A Pelican at Blandings for comfort reading. What an
author. What an author.
Also read a book by a ‘chick-lit’
author discovered by mom. Jane Green’s Other Woman chronicles the
daughter-in-law and mother-in-law relationship. Like all these things there is
a kernel of truth that gets stretched but not to the point where you throw your
hands up.
There was Maria Semple’s This One
is Mine. The story revolves around two women. One of whom is married to a very
well-off man, has a child, a good home, a good life and yet wants more. The
other longs for all these symbols of stability and chases them. The protagonist
sounded like an early and unpolished version of the one in Where do you go
Bernadette. The latter book I loved. So this one was a slight disappointment.
Now I recollect reading these books
a while ago and forgetting to jot them down in the blog. Chicken, mules and two
old fools by Victoria Twead. My mom had recommended it as light reading after
spotting it on a blog some time ago. It indeed is, describing a couple who move
countries, live in an idyllic location, renovate the house they are living in
and make a killing selling it. Sounds like it is your dream come true? Yeah, I felt
that way too.
I also read Salmon Fishing in the
Yemen by Torday. The name sounds light and funny, the book is less so. It
starts off wryly enough describing a mid-level fisheries scientist who is roped
into the hopeless project of starting salmon fishing in Yemen and the story
goes on to tell us if that is actually achieved. There is a slight heaviness to
the tone, with funny episodes having an underlying bleakness. Don’t expect
laugh out loud and you should be ok.
I am quite satisfied with
how 2013 has ended in terms of books. A friend and I were discussing books and
she was amazed that I found time to read despite holding a full time job and
having a kid. She is quite an avid reader herself, so it was well thought out,
serious compliment. I thought about it and told her that reading seems to be
the only constant in my life just now what with the baby and changing countries
and all.
So here is hoping I get to read more good books next year. Happy new year all.
