The Wasp Factory

Author: Iain Banks (or Iain M Banks)

Published: 1984

What They Say: Meet Frank Cauldhame. Just sixteen, and unconventional to say the least:

Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim.

That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again.

It was just a stage I was going through.

What Elaine Says: Oh my! Where do I start with this.  Disturbing but riveting is possibly the easiest description of this. This is my first Iain Banks novel but I guarantee you it won't be my last.  The writing is fantastic. Banks has a knack of conjuring the most disturbing images with the simplest of sentences. 

A controversial book when it was released The Wasp Factory takes us into the daily routine of Frank.  Frank is a 16 year old who lives on a remote Scottish island with his father. He also happens to be a murderer. We join Frank when he discovers that his brother has escaped from a mental hospital and is on his way back to the island. The story Frank proceeds to tell us is, in parts, truly horrific*.

You can certainly see why the book caused such controversy when first released but actually as a piece of writing it is rather spectacular.  Banks delivers a narrative that is so simple, so matter of fact and yet so chilling,

This is the first novel by Iain Banks and while much of his future works are science fiction (a genre I haven't paid that much attention to), this has definitely left me wanting  to read more.

*Not the faint hearted, be warned The Wasp Factory contains some rather graphic descriptions of animal torture.

Elaine's Rating: 7/10

Quotes:

“My greatest enemies are Women and the Sea. These things I hate. Women because they are weak and stupid and live in the shadow of men and are nothing compared to them, and the Sea because it has always frustrated me, destroying what I have built, washing away what I have left, wiping clean the marks I have made.”

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The Lighthouse

Author: Alison Moore

Published: August 2012

What They Say: The Lighthouse begins on a North Sea ferry, on whose blustery outer deck stands Futh, a middle-aged, recently separated man heading to Germany for a restorative walking holiday.

Spending his first night in Hellhaus at a small, family-run hotel, he finds the landlady hospitable but is troubled by an encounter with an inexplicably hostile barman.

In the morning, Futh puts the episode behind him and sets out on his week-long circular walk along the Rhine. As he travels, he contemplates his childhood; a complicated friendship with the son of a lonely neighbour; his parents’ broken marriage and his own. But the story he keeps coming back to, the person and the event affecting all others, is his mother and her abandonment of him as a boy, which left him with a void to fill, a substitute to find.

What Elaine Says: Oh dear.  This little Booker Prize shortlisted novel really is quite disappointing.  Let's start with the positives though (and it's a biggy).  The writing is brilliant.  Short, sharp and clear.  Moore really is accomplished.  Unfortunately, with this particular story, the style leaves the reader slightly removed and shines a light (no pun intended) on just how dull the main characters are.

I found myself uninterested and even irritated by the main characters, Futh, who is on a walking holiday in Germany and Ester, the hotel owner seeking solace with anyone that passes through her hotel.

Ultimately this is a case of (lack of) substance over style.  As a writer, Moore is one to watch.  As a storyteller? Well, we'll see.
  
Elaine's Rating: 5/10

Quotes:

"In the night, there will be a storm.  It will be brief, if a little violent, and hardly anyone will realise it occurred, although they might hear it raging, thundering, in their dreams.  

 In the morning, by the time people are up and about, the sun will be out again, and the soaked pavements will be dry, and there will be very little evidence of damage."

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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Author: Rachel Joyce

Published: July 2012

What They Say: When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking. To save someone else's life.

'The odyssey of a simple man, original, subtle and touching'. - Claire Tomalin
 
'From the moment I met Harold Fry, I didn't want to leave him. Impossible to put down.' - Erica Wagner, The Times

What Elaine Says: Charming and heartwarming are probably the two best words to describe this simple story of an elderly gentleman who decides to walk.

After receiving an unexpected letter from an old friend, Harold Fry leaves his house to post a reply only to end up walking the length of England to see her. Harold doesn't intend to do this and when he realises what he is doing, he doesn't know why he's doing it.  As the miles pass however, Harold reflects on his life and comes to understand the importance of what he's doing. He also meets some interesting characters along the way who touch his life in some way.

Another side of the story is told from the point of view of Harold's wife.  She is left behind and understands what he's doing no more than he does.  It's an interesting addition to have this viewpoint and in fact a lot of the emotional weight this book has, comes from having this side of the story included.

It really is just a lovely little novel.  It won't change the world but it will certainly make you think it's a beautiful, if complex, place to live for a little while.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is Rachel Joyce's first novel.  She is currently working on her second novel 'Perfect' and if it's anywhere near as heartwarming as this is, it will be well worth a read. 

Elaine's Rating:  8/10 

What Sheli Says: I really enjoyed this. I found some parts a little slow, but thought it was a heartwarming and lovely story.

There have been a lot of books of this kind around over the last couple of years and I don't really think that this one stands out from the crowd. However, it is enjoyable and well written and well worth reading.

Some parts of the story are really funny and overall it is a real feel-good uplifting type of story that makes you take a different view on human kind.

I received this as an advance review copy from Netgalley. 

Sheli's Rating: 7/10

Quotes:

“He must have driven this way countless times, and yet he had no memory of the scenery. He must have been so caught up in the day's agenda, and arriving punctually at their destination, that the land beyond the car had been no more than a wash of one green, and a backdrop of one hill. Life was very different when you walked through it.” 

“If we don't go mad once in a while, there's no hope.” 

Little Known Facts: A Novel

Author: Christine Sneed

Published: Feb 2013

What They Say: The debut novel from award-winning writer Christine Sneed: a many-layered story of fame, family, and identity.

The people who orbit around Renn Ivins, an actor of Harrison Ford-like stature—his girlfriends, his children, his ex-wives, those on the periphery—long to experience the glow of his flame. Anna and Will are Renn's grown children, struggling to be authentic versions of themselves in a world where they are seen as less important extensions of their father. They are both drawn to and repelled by the man who overshadows every part of them.

Most of us can imagine the perks of celebrity, but Little Known Facts offers a clear-eyed story of its effects—the fallout of fame and fortune on family members and others who can neither fully embrace nor ignore the superstar in their midst. With Little Known Facts, Christine Sneed emerges as one of the most insightful chroniclers of our celebrity-obsessed age, telling a story of influence and affluence, of forging identity and happiness and a moral compass; the question being, if we could have anything on earth, would we choose correctly?

What Elaine Says: I was caught a little off guard by just how good this novel is. The premise, while interesting, has the potential to be a little thin, so I'll admit my expectations were set decidedly low.  However, I hoped that Sneed would deliver something with a bit more weight behind it and she did. 

Little Known facts is a touching, amusing and quite honest look at fame and those it touches, either directly or indirectly.  It's a simple story and it's simply but beautifully told.  I found myself empathising with every character in the book and perhaps gleaning a little insight into why movie stars so often behave as they do. 

Sneed's writing is quite charming.  Each character has their own distinct voice and the 'story' unfolds through many peoples eyes.  It's an effective narrative for this type of book.  There's no story as such to be told here, it's merely a glimpse at what life may be like in the public eye.

Easily readable and spot on with regards to pace and length, I very much look forward to Sneed's next novel.

Please note this was an advance review copy
 
Elaine's Rating: 8/10

Quotes:

"There are countless ways to be unhappy, so many more, it seems to me, than ways to be happy, which could be one of the reasons why happiness is so elusive."

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