Category: Book Reviews

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Posted May 26, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Classic / 0 Comments

Title: Crime and Punishment (Goodreads)
Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
Translator: David McDuff
Published: Penguin, 1866
Pages: 671
Genres: Classic
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

While I often find it hard to review a classic novel because we already know it’s stood the test of time, it is even harder to review one that has been translated into English as well. Some of the beauty in the writing could have been lost in the translation and because there is so many different translations out there, how do you choose which one to read. This version of Crime and Punishment was translated by David McDuff and I must admit I didn’t really notice anything wrong with the translation at all. It was only upon reflecting that I realised that something could have been lost in the translation.

I have to admit I really love Russian literature and Crime and Punishment will be the front runner for my favourite Russian piece of literature. Raskolnikov is a conflicted character; he is showing a lot of interest in the classes and thinking he is of a higher class than others believes he has the right to commit murder. Contrary to the title, this novel doesn’t really focus on the crime or the punishment but rather the inner turmoil of Raskolnikov as well as the impact on his intellect and emotions. It is not until the very end that the sense of guilt overwhelms him and he confesses and ends his alienation.

Despite the rest of the characters in this book, the bulk of this novel plays out in the mind of Raskolnikov. Fyodor Dostoevsky must have been a very skilled writer to be able to get into the mindset of such a deranged mind. While the murder of two people is definitely a crime, I think the moral that comes across in this book is that the biggest crime was that Raskolnikov placed himself above his fellow man. I wonder if Dostoevsky was trying to also show the reader the dangers of rationalism and maybe utilitarianism.

I’m really surprised how fast I got through this book and the fact that I really enjoyed this book even though I was warned time and time again that this was a very difficult book and not to expect to enjoy it. I’m a huge fan of a book that deals with the inner turmoil of a person especially in a macabre way. It reminded me so much of Markheim by Robert Louis Stevenson and makes me wonder if books like the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsey were influenced by this classic novel. I have a feeling that I will be thinking about this book for a long time and might have to reread it one day.

The Need to Make Speculative Fiction a Genre

Posted May 25, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature, Speculative Fiction / 0 Comments

Recently in the book club, I started a conversation on the difference between speculative fiction and science fiction, which maybe was met with a little bit of confusion but I think that was mainly due to people thinking of speculative fiction as an umbrella team that covers science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction and more genres. This is correct but I want to talk about Speculative fiction as a genre for now.

While many people thing of speculative fiction as encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, I would like to see a shift away from this definition and more towards the genre that Margret Atwood has been fighting for. I think she said it best when she defined the differences between the two as:

“What I mean by “science fiction” is those books that descend from HG Wells’s The War of the Worlds, which treats of an invasion by tentacled Martians shot to Earth in metal canisters – things that could not possibly happen – whereas, for me, “speculative fiction” means plots that descend from Jules Verne’s books about submarines and balloon travel and such – things that really could happen but just hadn’t completely happened when the authors wrote the books.”

I think there is a real need to separating the two as some books that are classed as science fiction don’t really fit into the general conception of sci-fi. I’m talking about books like George Orwell’s 1984, Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea and even Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale.

This brings me to my point, and an interesting problem. While it would be nice to separate the two genres so that people don’t get the wrong impression of a book being classed as Science Fiction; how do we choose which goes where. Take Jules Verne as an example. At the time of his writing, these books would definitely be considered as science fiction, but with the progression of time, most of the technology in Verne’s novels have been realised; making the books speculative fiction. So how do we class these books, do we make them science fiction until the technology catches up or do we just class books as speculative fiction if there is a possibility that these events could actually happen? I would love to hear people’s thoughts on this.

Drive by James Sallis

Posted May 24, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Pulp / 0 Comments

Title: Drive (Goodreads)
Author: James Sallis
Series: Drive #1
Published: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006
Pages: 168
Genres: Pulp
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

I’ve been thinking about this book a bit lately and I’ve put off reviewing the book for a week because I wanted some time to collect my thoughts. First of all, most people who know me know how much I love the old hard-boiled and noir novels. But modern noir has been a little off putting for me simply because I never feel they can get the tone and style right and for the most part, they don’t. Now when I think of James Sallis’ Drive, I don’t think this at all. To put it simply, I love and adore the way he went about writing this book.

Drive tells the story of a man simply known throughout the book as Driver; a stunt driver for Hollywood and a getaway driver on the side. This book is so non-linear that I do worry if I tell more about the story I might be giving away something that should be discovered by reading this book. This is a short novel that is jammed pack full of a fantastic noir story that could hold its own against Noir greats like The Postman Always Rings Twice or The Killer Inside Me.

There was so much to like about this book but there were also some things that really bugged me as well. Driver is a mysterious protagonist but I felt he talked far too much for something that would have been more suited as the strong silent type. I’m not sure if he was supposed to be written that way but for me, the impression I received from the character and whenever he spoke, didn’t seem to fit my image of him. There has been a recent movie made about this book and I’m keen to see it but I have a feeling there will be a huge difference between the book and movie. I can see a linear story (which I’m ok with) but I can also see them doing the Hollywood thing and try to make a romantic connection between Driver and one of the women from this book. All in all, this book is well worth reading and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel Driven.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Posted May 23, 2012 by Guest Post in Erotica, Guest Posts / 20 Comments

Title: Fifty Shades of Grey (Goodreads)
Author: E.L. James
Series: Fifty Shades #1
Published: Vintage, 2011
Pages: 528
Genres: Erotica
Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

I first came to hear about Fifty Shades of Grey through blog posts and friends, and couldn’t believe all the hype and excitement this book was creating amongst the reading world. It was phenomenon. I read several romances and erotica in the past so I became curious. I think the only thing that I was holding me back was the BDSM relationship. I’ve hardly read any books that involve BDSM, so I was slightly a bit nervous. But curiosity got the better of me and I decided to give it a go.

Now that I’ve read it, I’d have to say it was the worst book I have ever read and I want my 2 weeks back. When a few people mentioned that it was mommy porn, I should’ve taken their comment seriously, and not just waved it off as a silly and biased comment toward this genre. By the end of it, that is exactly how it felt.

The sex scenes were continuous, repetitive and boring; one scene, after the other, going through the motion of sex with a little variation of positions or setting but it was all the same – Porn. There was nothing sexy about it. It lacked any passion, class or emotion and I was numb the whole way through. As far as the BDSM was concerned, there was nothing new that I haven’t read previously. It was more talk and negotiation on how far Ana will go than the act itself. There were a few bondage sessions here and there but it was very light.

The writing was pathetic and utterly ridiculous, which made the characters unlikable. Ana is meant to be this intelligent, 22 year old literary student but her personality didn’t match to her persona. The constant use of these juvenile words and phrases such as ‘Inner Goddess’ or ‘talking to the Subconscious’ or ‘Holy Fuck’ almost made me want throw the book against the wall. She would gush or blush over the most so trivial things and came across as being an immature and stupid lady. It’s how I would expect a young teenager to act.

Christian on the other hand, I had an instant dislike him immediately. He’s a deranged and twisted character who likes to dominate every aspect of Ana’s life, not only in the bed; he would question her on how often she would eat, stalk her and set out rules on he would like her to act/behave around him – otherwise she would be punished (BDSM style). I felt the author tried very hard to make him seem appealing or sexy by Ana gushing and being aroused over his looks, charm, sexual comments but his behaviour was a complete turn off and he sounded creepier to me. I honestly can’t understand what women can see that is so appealing in Christian’s character!?!

All in all I think this series could be a great introduction to the genre, if you are new and interested in reading erotica as they ‘flying of the self’ and most people are raving about it. But unfortunately, it didn’t work for me and I have no intention of continuing the series in the future.

This is a guest post by Mish; when she is not reading she is busy moderating that Aussie Readers group on Goodreads. Big thanks to her for this post and being the first guest blogger on Literary Exploration.

The Fix by Nick Earls

Posted May 21, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Contemporary / 0 Comments

Title: The Fix (Goodreads)
Author: Nick Earls
Published: Random House, 2011
Pages: 291
Genres: Contemporary
My Copy: Personal Copy

(or visit your local Indie bookstore)

I started reading The Fix thinking this was going to be a literary novel but found this to be more like a YA novel with adult content. It took me a while to adjust my thinking about this book from literary to light hearted but when I did get into this mindset, I did start to really enjoy this book. In the back of my mind I was wanting something with more substance; something that would make me think.

Josh Lang is unemployed with aspirations of being a respected investigative journalist but all he can get is a job as a blogger expressing the opinions of a Gen Y male living in Brisbane. His brother offers to get Josh a job at the Star of Courage doing PR work which eventually leads Josh into a much more complicated situation involving a gunman, mini golf and a stripper.

While this book could almost be classed as a mystery novel, there is nothing really in the book to make it suspenseful or even a page turner. The characters feel very shallow which might be a way to portray some Gen Y character types. This book was light and easy to read but also felt too predictable. I can see what Nick Earls was trying to do in this book by slowly building up the tension but it felt like it was being built too slow that any feeling of tension was lost on me. I was waiting and waiting for a twist or a burst of excitement to come that when it did come I was expecting it.

While I did enjoy reading this novel there were a few things that stopped this book from being exciting. I love the whole blogging element in this book; as a blogger I can relate to the way his mind worked when it came to possible blog posts. There were enough little quirks in this book to make it a light and enjoyable read. I would say this felt like a transition book between YA and adult fiction more than anything else. I’ve only read one of Nick Earls’ short stories before reading this book so I can’t really judge this book in any way, shape or form. I think this book would be a great Summer read for someone on holidays and wants something quirky and easy to read.

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

Posted May 20, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Thriller / 0 Comments

Title: Into the Darkest Corner (Goodreads)
Author: Elizabeth Haynes
Published: Myriad, 2011
Pages: 403
Genres: Thriller
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Cathy’s relationship with Lee seems good to begin with, but as his true self starts to emerge, the more she is pushed into the darkest corner. This is a story of a very abusive relationship and the chilling effects it has on Catherine. Lee is controlling, abusive and thinks he is smart enough to get away with it; but can he?

Written in two parts, Into the Darkest Corner slowly unfolds the destructive relationship between Cathy and Lee. It also includes the story four years after, showing the damage done to Cathy which has left her isolated, suffering from OCD and post traumatic stress. The two different time periods are written in a slightly different format showing the chilling tale of a woman slowly slipping into her darkest corner, then showing her trying to recover from all the damage. The two different writing styles are what makes this book so haunting; it’s like watching a car crash, you can see Cathy’s happy and party-like attitude slowly dissolving.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s dark, chilling and very disturbing; it was sickening at times but still an exciting novel to read. I had real pleasure reading something so dark; not often do you find a book so disturbing and yet so enjoyable to read. While I think this book was really good, I couldn’t recommend it to anyone that might freak out or identify with Cathy too closely. This is not a light book and definitely not for overly emotional or the faint of heart. I was really impressed with Elizabeth Haynes’ debut novel Into the Darkest Corner and I can’t wait to read her next book.

The Red House by Mark Haddon

Posted May 18, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literary Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Red House (Goodreads)
Author: Mark Haddon
Published: Jonathan Cape, Random House, 2012
Pages: 272
Genres: Literary Fiction
My Copy: ARC from Publisher

Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

It’s hard to review a book like this; Mark Haddon is a very talented writer and he has some brilliant techniques employed into this novel. However, I can’t help comparing this book to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and ultimately I think this book lacked something to make this book great. With the huge success of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I can’t help but think that Mark Haddon has gotten overly confident with his writing. While it was refreshing and enjoyable to read a book with so many interesting writing techniques; I never really connected with the plot or the characters. I was so excited about reading another book by this author and I feel I made a rookie mistake by going into a book with such high expectations.

The Red House is the story about a well off physician, Richard, and his new family (recently married a woman with a sixteen year old daughter) taking a vacation. Richard invites his sister Angela and family to join them as they hadn’t seen each other since the funeral of their mother, fifteen years ago. Angela’s husband Dominic and three children are not as well off as Richard and took advantage of the offer as they wouldn’t be able to afford a vacation any other way. Together for a week in a rented cottage in Wales starts to show the cracks in everyone’s relationship and exposes just how dysfunctional the family really is.

Mark Haddon is contently switching between narrators in this book, I think I counted eight different points of views throughout this book (might be more) and one of those was an all-seeing third person narrative. With the narrative always changing and each character only giving a glimpse of an insight, this book started off a little confusing and hard to keep track of all of the main characters. One thing I’ve found that Haddon did in this book as well as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time that I really liked was that he wasn’t afraid to expose the inner voice of each character and allowing the reader an insight into the flaws and thoughts of each one of the characters. There were also a lot of references to pop-culture within this book that was quite enjoyable to read; especially all the references to each book the main characters were reading.

The Red House was actually a nice easy read and I was surprised how fast I got through this book; this could have been all the blank pages throughout the book. While I never really connected with this book the writing styles used throughout this book were interesting and almost experimental at times. Some of it worked and some of didn’t, I think Mark Haddon was overly confident when he wrote this book and it seemed to come through in the novel. I’m sure many people will love and enjoy this book and don’t let my opinion stop you from reading it. For me I struggled making that connection and I tried and tried to enjoy this book but it just didn’t quite get there.

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

Posted May 16, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Dystopia, Literary Fiction, Speculative Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: Super Sad True Love Story (Goodreads)
Author: Gary Shteyngart
Published: Random House, 2010
Pages: 334
Genres: Dystopia, Literary Fiction, Speculative Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

While this may be a story of a modern relationship; there is so much more in the novel worth exploring. This Dystopian American back drop mixed with some very interesting concepts; including the fact everyone is ranked based on their Finances, Personality, Attractiveness and Fuckablilty, makes this a fresh and different style of novel. Gary Shteyngart offers a witty and very humorous novel but this book goes much deeper than this; I found many interesting concepts in this book, which were well thought out and made for an opportunity to make in-depth conversations based on this book.

By reading this review you are denying the existences of this review.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Posted May 13, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literary Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Sense of an Ending (Goodreads)
Author: Julian Barnes
Published: Jonathan Cape, 2011
Pages: 150
Genres: Literary Fiction
My Copy: Hardcover

Buy: Amazon (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

When I see a book that is only 150 pages, I automatically think the book won’t have much to offer, but then I remember some great novellas like, George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and now Julian Barnes’s A Sense of an Ending. Winner of this year’s Man Booker prize A Sense of an Ending is the story I always wanted an angsty book about the teenage years to be like. I think back to Catcher in the Rye and think The Sense of an Ending is everything that classic should have been, all Catcher left me with was the need to slap Holden repeatedly.

The book follows the story of Tony Webster forty years later who receives an unexpected letter which leads him to remember his life forty years ago. The obsession with girls he had, his very first relationship and the memories of talking about philosophy, classical music and literature with his friends. This book is beautifully written, it was a real pleasure to read; it was intelligent, witty and I’d highly recommend it to everyone.