A Life Like Other People's - Alan Bennett

A Life Like Other People's was lent to me by a work colleague with the phrase "he couldn't put it down once he started it" - definite praise. I had read Bennett's fiction, The Uncommon Reader last year and loved it and this biography of his parent's marriage and the life of their family was no exception - a beautiful, haunting read.

A Life Like Other People's is the core of Bennett's memoir, Untold Stories and it's focus is really on his parent's marriage and relationship but also the increasing episodes of depression his mother experiences when Bennett himself is middle aged. Bennett's writing is honest and stark - his descriptions of events clear and vivid and his reflections of his own behaviour and thoughts around particular events are introspective and telling. The title of the book comes from the feeling that the Bennett family was always a little bit apart from other families in their area - both in action and thought. Bennett himself felt this difference as a child and reflects on it now as an adult. What I found interesting is that the Bennett family was probably very similar to many other families of the era in lots of different ways - they had their family secrets (one in particular that Bennett discovers in the process of his mother being hospitalised for the first time for her depression) just as I am sure many other families did.

Bennett's reflections on the treatment of people with a mental illness and the elderly is a particular strong point of the book:

A life varies in social importance. We set most value on the life of a child.

Aunty Kathleen's life was at its lowest point of social valuation. She was seventy-three. She was senile. She was demented, and she was of no class or economic importance.

It is Bennett's writing that turns a fairly simple family story into an addictive and compelling read. I can't wait to read more.

Orlando - Virginia Woolf

Orlando was the third read for the Woolf In Winter Read Along with this particular read being hosted by Frances at Nonsuch Book.

Woolf has described Orlando as a "Writer's Holiday" for herself and I felt it was also a sort of "reader's holiday" for me in terms of my Woolf reading. Not that I haven't totally loved and enjoyed my earlier reads but the intense focus on her characters inner lives and thoughts is draining to read - enlightening and amazing, but draining as well. I found Orlando to be an extremely entertaining read - a great story and a fascinating character to follow.

I feel this is another Woolf book where it really would have helped my appreciation of the novel to have a deeper and fuller understanding of Woolf's life and in particular her relationship with Vita Sackville-West, for whom Orlando was written. Overall though that lack of knowledge did not impede me from loving the story - and especially the freedom with which it was written.

Orlando starts life as a young boy in sixteenth-century England and moves through the ages to end up being a woman writer in 1928. The whole concept sounds so fantastical but Woolf makes it work. Before starting the book I was eager to read how Woolf would create this transformation in gender and I really liked the scene where this occurred:

We are, therefore, now left entirely alone in the room with the sleeping Orlando and the trumpeters. The trumpeters, ranging themselves side by side in order, blow one terrific blast -

'THE TRUTH!'

at which Orlando woke.

He stretched himself. He rose. He stood upright in complete nakedness before us, and while the trumpets pealed Truth! Truth! Truth! we have no choice left but confess - he was a woman.

Woolf goes on to write:

Orlando had become a woman - there is no denying it. But in every other respect, Orlando remained precisely as he had been. The change of sex, though it altered their future, did nothing whatever to alter their identity.

For me this is one of the most important paragraphs of the novel - the premise that sex or gender is in many ways irrelevant to a person's identity and character. Quite a powerful concept for the time in which Woolf is writing.

I loved Orlando as I have loved my earlier Woolf reads but I particuarly enjoyed the slight break from the intensity that Orlando delivered - I'm ready for The Waves now!

A Fraction Of The Whole - Steve Toltz

Even though A Fraction Of The Whole had been shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize and it was by an Australian author (I like to support our home grown writers as much as possible) I was not really drawn to read this one. Then I saw the book praised very highly indeed by one of my favourite local journalists and I thought I would give it a go.

The book started out very positively for me - a striking opening paragraph to draw you in and then some funny, sharp writing to follow that introduction. The narrator of the book, Jasper Dean is in prison - for what exactly we don't know but it clear he is going to tell us eventually.

The premise of the book is that it tells the story of the Dean family. Jasper's father and uncle both become very well known identities and personalities in Australia - but both for very different reasons - and Jasper seems to be eternally caught in the middle of their fame and infamy trying to carve out an existence for himself.

The book could definitely be described as a "saga" and I don't mean that in a melodramatic, soap opera kind of way. The book covers so much in terms of time, geography and emotion. At times I thought the book was moving too fast and there was not going to be enough time to tell the whole story, but then, given that the book is 710 pages long, I admit there were times towards the end when I thought things were dragging a little.

Toltz is an amazing story teller - it felt as though Jasper was there in front of you narrating his life - there was definitely a connection and sense of empathy built even though some of the events and actions taken by the characters are (thankfully!) far outside the realm of what I would be expecting to experience in my own life!

When I finished the book my partner asked me if I had liked it and I honestly couldn't give an answer to the question because I was not sure! It was a fantastic read and an amazing story but could I say I 'liked' the story?? I'm still not sure about the answer to that one but I know that I am glad that I have read it and that I can pass it on to others. I will definitely be reading more work by this author.

Woolf Love

Deciding to participate in the Woolf In Winter Read Along has opened up a whole new literary crush for me. I never thought I would connect with Virginia Woolf's work as much as I have and I must admit (as you can see above) my book buying restricting policy has taken a bit of a beating of late thanks to my new found obsession!

I am currently reading (and loving) Orlando and will then move on to The Waves as part of the Read Along but after that I have these Woolf books or Woolf related reading to move on to:

A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf - I have heard so much about this one and even though it is only the smallest of books I have never picked it up before.

Selected Diaries - Virginia Woolf - A lot of the books of Woolf's I have been reading make reference to her diaries and letters and I am thinking they will shed more light on her writing process and the aspects of her life that contributed to and influenced her work. Also, I love the covers of these Vintage editions.

The White Garden - Stephanie Barron - I first read about this one over at Nonsuch Book and thought it sounded like an interesting read - but it was the Woolf link that clinched it for me.

Vanessa & Virginia - Susan Sellers - The reading of this one will enable me to take place in the Not The TV Book Group discussions which I am looking forward to.

A Writer's Diary - Virginia Woolf - I actually bought this one after hearing Susan Hill rave about it in Howard's End Is On The Landing.

Have you got any other recommendations I should add to my collection?

The Infinities - John Banville

The Infinities is my first John Banville read and I have to say that I am intrigued.

The book takes place over the course of one day. The Godley family have come together after the father, husband and patriarch of the family, Adam Senior, has suffered a massive stroke and has been brought home to die amongst his loved ones, his second wife Ursula and their two children, Petra and Adam Jnr and Adam's wife, Helen. The twist to the novel is that is narrated by the mythical Greek god, Hermes - clearly the funniest character in the book for me. Hermes introduces the reader to each of the human, mortal characters and in doing so also shows us how the gods intervene in the family life and the course of events of that single day.

I would normally struggle with a book set up with this premise but I jumped right into this novel with no problems at all - the way Banville constructed the world of the gods and the world of the humans and the way the two intersected so seamlessly made the reading, in that regard at least, easy for me. I did find Banville's writing extremely 'literary' in places and many times a word had me reaching for the dictionary (I admit I got a bit lazy in the end and just kept reading on when a word had me stumped) but this didn't detract from the story or the characters for me. As I mentioned earlier this book contained a lot of humour, particularly in the scenes where the gods were involved, and there were also some beautiful phrases and snippets - my favourite would have to be this description; 'the lemony sunlight of the Italian noon'.

Overall an enjoyable and reflective read for me. Do you think I would enjoy any of Banville's other novels?

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

I actually finished The Secret Garden at the beginning of January but for some reason I have been holding off on doing my review - partly because I really wanted to love this book - but I just didn't. After reading Hodgson Burnett's adult fiction The Making Of A Marchioness last year and absolutely loving it I expected the jump to The Secret Garden would be an easy one. I gave a beautiful hard covered, illustrated edition of the book to my god daughter last year for her 4th Birthday and her father told me he had started reading it to her one night and had stopped because he felt the topic areas were a little full on for a 4 year old. Now she just looks at the pictures until she gets a little older! I can see his point - the grief and loss described at the beginning of the book is quite confronting. At the time that the book was written death and illness would have been quite common place for children to see and hear about - but in our modern society children are often shielded from this aspect of life.

I have to say that I do love my edition of the book - beautiful to look at and hold in your hands and there is a wonderful and enlightening introduction by Alice Sebold which I read last.

I have gone over and over why this book didn't work for me. I have tried to place it in the context in which it was written and to some extent that has helped - but this book is still loved and raved about today by so many. I can certainly connect with the themes of hope and growth and I can appreciate the messages that the author was conveying through the story but I just didn't connect with the characters at all - and (I feel a little awful to admit this) I really did not like Mary at all!

I think I have to make my peace with the fact that this wasn't the book for me and continue on reading Hodgson Burnett's adult fiction which I am definitely in love with.

Up In The Air

One of the things I have been trying to do more of lately is go to the movies and generally watch movies/DVD's that I want to see. I always seem to be saying "Oh, I really wanted to see that" but by the time I have gotten around to it the movie has moved on from the cinema and I then have to wait what feels like forever for it to come out on DVD.

So, my partner and I went on the weekend to see the new movie starring, among others, George Clooney - Up In The Air. I should probably first admit my bias for anything that involves Clooney - I am a huge fan of his work (and his looks!) so I was destined to like this movie anyway but I have to say I thought it was a great piece of work overall. I found the whole cast brilliant - of course Clooney stood out for me but I also thought he was outshone at times in particular by his co-star Anna Kendrick.

The movie centres around the experiences of Clooney's character Ryan Bingham, an American business executive whose job it is to fly around the country firing people. Bingham loves his lifestyle - he spends over 300 days a year in the air and away from his "home" and he has what many people would view as superficial and transitory relationships with anyone who has entered his life. I loved the scenes where Bingham is shown preparing for his trips and moving through the airport processes - I must admit I could kind of like that lifestyle too I think!

The company that Bingham works for has just hired Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) straight from college and she has some pretty radical ideas about how the company can change it's work practices and save money by moving to firing people via video link up. Needless to say Bingham is not happy about these proposed changes and sets about showing Keener just how his world operates - and why it needs to operate in the way it does - both for the employees who are receiving the news but also for himself.

The movie touches on some very real and topical issues for workers in the current climate and I thought this material was handled really well and in a way that makes the audience think about the real human and community effects evolving from economic problems. The personal lives of the characters were blended strongly with their working persona's to create complete, holistic and real characters with strengths and flaws. Totally watchable - and not just for Clooney!