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1

The Great Book Project 19 of 20 – Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Monday, August 1st, 2011

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Holy hell. This post has been a long time in the making. I’ve just been so bloody busy with stuff that I’ve not had a chance to come up for air.

I actually read Persepolis while on holiday in Cape Verde on the first week in July, but when I got home I had a few projects on the go with my business that have pretty much dominated my life for the last 2/3 weeks. It’s only in the last few days that I’ve started to feel like I can afford to mess about with my time.

So here I am, ‘ramping down’ from my projects (hate that term) and I’m able to bash out some words on the old bloggedy.

I had a great time at Cape Verde, thank you for not caring. Check out some of my photos. Sat about the pool all day and ate and drank far too much.

While there I read the book in question but also read part two and half of part three of The Hunger Games trilogy. Get inabootit if you can. Amazing books.

Persepolis

Persepolis was a very quick read. It’s actually a graphic novel. Just black and white slates. But don’t let this fool you. This book never made number two in the Times top 100 books of the naughties for nothing.

Within the monochrome pictures we are given a historical look into the plight of an Iranian woman through the different stages of her life. Dealing with the tyranny of a government beset on keeping its people, and especially the woman, under the grip of Islamic Law. Having to cope with Iran’s War against it’s neighbour Iraq and, worst of all, dealing with the strange and wonderful enigma that is the Muslim male.

In many respects this book is a carbon copy of a previous book in my project Reading Lolita in Tehran, but the way they approach the same topics couldn’t be further apart. I enjoyed how this book takes such a serious and terrifying subject and shows it in a light comic book style.

After reading the book I watched the movie adaptation which, basically, takes the slates and gives them movement. But somehow I didn’t feel like the movie had the same impact as the book. I would recommend the book over the movie any day.

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Next up is that last in my project. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I’ve still not started it yet as I pretty much haven’t touched a book since coming back from holiday but with any luck I’ll be finished this project very soon!

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The Great Book Project 16 of 20 – Payback by Margaret Atwood

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

It’s been a mad month for me. And I mean mad in the “I’m a lunatic” kinda way. I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t stop letting stuff get to me. Wee stupid things get me wound up to the point I want to bang my head against a wall. Need to keep telling myself to calm the hell down and stop being a girl.

I’ve also been a bit of an arse when it comes to the bevy. Something has changed. My theory is that it’s to do with FOOD. I seem to forget to eat after a few pints. I need to get my stomach full before going out and, if the session is likely to last more than, say, four hours, then I bloodly-well better have a Gregg’s or something in-between too. (DISCLAIMER: I’m not daft enough not to realise that it might be too much drink!)

Perfect opportunity to try this theory is this weekend where I’ll be hitting Edinburgh with the boys to celebrate the arrival of my mates boy Maxwell. Congrats Andy!!

Payback Yo!

So in-between my panic attacks and drunkeness I’ve been slowly crawling through the next one in my project. The full title is actually Payback: Debt as Metaphor and the Shadow Side of Wealth. Going into this I thought I was in for an economics lesson; learning how banks work, how debt is managed etc. But I should have paid more attention to the sub-title. This book is actually nothing like that. It’s about debt as a psychological principal. Let me try to explain that a bit better:

If you are in debt then you owe someone something; therefore you believe that the person you owe something gave you it in return for something else of equal value. It’s all about Balance. You have to be in dept because you recognise that what you received is a fair trade for what you will owe. What do you say to a bank teller when you want to know how much is in your account? “Can you tell me my BALANCE please?” You know the symbol used in many banks? A two pan balance? This book is about fairness, not just in monetary terms but also from a moral standpoint.

Margaret Atwood goes into great detail on the subject. From debt to your god, original sin (Btw did you know that in the original bibles the actual word used in place of Sin translated to DEBT) to the different types of debt used as a plot device in literature. Such as The Christmas Carol as plot driven by monetary debt and The Godfather as moral debt.

I really enjoyed Atwood’s tone. I found her quite funny at times which was surprising. Sadly though this book was let down by drawing out a topic that could have been adequately summarised for me in a few pages. It’s not that Atwood didn’t find ways to keep it interesting, its just that it isn’t a topic I would find myself wanting to read about in my spare time.

I think I would give her another go; I think that a fiction book by her would be awesome. Sadly, overall, this book didn’t interest me enough to warrant a high rating. Sorry Margaret.

Rating: ★★★★½☆☆☆☆☆

I’m near the end folks. Four more to go. The next one in the list (number four of the Times top 100 books of the decade) is indicated as Masterworks of the Classical Haida Mythtellers trans Robert Bringhurst (2002). But I’ve realised that this is actually several different books. Bit of a bummer. So what I’m thinking of doing is either reading one of the books or reading number 21 in the top 200. Need to make up my mind. I’m sure that Kindle availability will have a big say in my decision. Opinions on the matter in the comments if you please.

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The Great Book Project 15 of 20 – Austerlitz by W.G Sebald

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Oh my god. Where the hell do I start with this one? This book was almost the death of my project. I struggled with it so much. But a few days ago I had a chat with a couple of dudes in my work about how I was going to give up on the book – that I was about half way through it and in the depths of dispair. My workmates both gave me a bit of abuse and explained how guff it would be if I threw this book to the side and destroyed the integrity of what I was trying to do. So I just blitzed the final half of the book over the weekend there and today.

Austershitz

There were a few other issues at play here that have all added up to why it has taken me so long to get through it…

I was immediately demotivated my the fact that I couldn’t get this book anywhere in Kindle format. My Kindle has been a great companion to me the last six or so months, so I was gutted when I ended up having to buy this book on ebay for a couple of squid. If you looked at the title of this post you might be fooled into thinking that this is the top 4 book in the Times top 100 books from which I have based my project on, but no, I’ve been putting off leaving my Kindle to the side. Austerlitz is actually number 13. That’s 8 books I’ve read before I’ve had the guts to go back to paper.

Another reason was that I’ve been so busy with Lucid Studio and not had as much time to read as usual. You know what it’s like if you read a book little a bit at a time, sometimes days between reading session. Granted, I would have probably prioritised anything above sticking my nose in this, but I really have been dead busy. Working on my business stuff most nights.

Also, and this might be me getting a bit too personal, I haven’t been 100% the last month or two. Been a bit down so, in my experience, I need to be in the zone emotionally to enjoy relaxing to a book. If I’m feeling down I need to watch telly and veg. Stuff this concentrating palava.

MacBook Pro

Last reason for my book avoiding antics was that I finally got myself a nice shiny new MacBook Pro. You might remember it being on my bucket list. Yes. I finally did it. And as the minutes pass I can’t believe it has taken me so long. Been working on my latest stuff using it and it’s been amazing. I feel so much more productive. I donno what it is about the mac OS, but I just feel it encourages you (subliminally) to do things the right way.

So excuses out the way. What about this god-damn book?

I’m gonna keep this short because the quicker I forget about this the better. Austerlitz is a book written from the point of view of Sebald. It is written as if non-fiction (I’m not sure if it is), and details the life of an architectural historian, named Austerlitz, whom Sebald meets by chance one day in a train station. He portrays this man as an extraordinary human being. Insanely knowledgeable in so many ways. A man who never reached the heights his knowledge should have taken him.

Sadly I found absolutely nothing of interest within the pages. As much as I could recognise the colourful way that Sebald flaunts this geezers knowledge, I couldn’t get through two or three pages without dreaming about giving Angry Birds another shot. I’m not joking here. The WHOLE BOOK is one big paragraph. No chapters. Not one line break. That’s too much for a guy to deal with on the 240 bus at 7:50am.

It’s beyond my intellect to understand how this book made the top 20 of The Times Best books of the decade list.

I’m glad I listened and finished the book for the sake of face, but I’ll be gladly selling this on ebay tomorrow.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

I’m so near the end now. I’m going to read something outwith the project next. Back to my amazing Kindle. Then its onto Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth by Margaret Atwood. See ya soon! (promise!)

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The Great Book Project 14 of 20 – Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

Sunday, January 23rd, 2011

Goodreads tells me that I started reading this book on the 19th of December. Which means I flicked through the first few pages when I got a chance over the Christmas period. I didn’t really get swept away by this book until the first week in January.

It’s hard to know where to start with the latest book in my project. This really is an extraordinary story both within the pages and outwith. Suite Française was written during the second world war but was not discovered until the mid 90′s when Irène Némirovsky‘s daughter decided to open the pages of a journal that she presumed was her mothers diary. Instead it turned out to be the manuscript of this book, unfinished, but with notes on where the epic tale was intended to head. Unfortunately Jewish born Irène Némirovsky was murdered by the Nazis in an Austerlitz gas chamber in 1942.

As a result the published Suite Française is the first two novella’s of an intended five. The first tells the tales of many interconnected French civilians as they attempt to flee the invading German Army. The second is set after the invasion and centres around the small town of Bussy where the German occupiers are living alongside the French. There are some overlapping characters in each novella but both could be read independently.

The first story is all about chaos. It reminded me of Lord of the Flies: How the breakdown of society can bring out the best and worse in people. Throughout the whole novella we never encounter a German soldier, there is never a moment you would associate with a traditional war story. What we get instead is various situations where people are in disastrous circumstances not as a result of guns or bombs, but of the breakdown of traditional values and the new rules of survival.

France during occupation

The second part is, in my opinion, far superior. Némirovsky gives us a very real look into what it would be like to live in a small town by an occupying force. Instead of these Nazis being the nasty, murderous types we get used to in war stories, we get a group of men who are charming, completely considerate and determined to win over the hearts of the town and its people.

Also, unlike the previous part of the book, we are not bogged down (at least I was in the first book) with countless characters. This part of the book is predominantly about a young woman, Lucile, and her relationship with a German Officer who is living in one of the rooms of her home. It was great to see how, as their relationship develops, Lucile uses this to her advantage to become one of the more able members of the town.

It is soul destroying to see the way Némirovsky painted the German Soldiers only to be killed at the hands of them in reality.

Another great book. It took me away from the madness of my bus journeys through the east end of Glasgow. Would have been great to see where the next three books would have went.

Rating: ★★★★★★★½☆☆

Next up it’s (rather ironically) Austerliz by W.G Sebald. I ended up having to buy this book on ebay as I’ve been unable to get it for my Kindle. I’ve had enough of war for the moment though so I’m going to read something outwith the project then start this one after.

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The Great Book Project 13 of 20 – The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Sunday, January 9th, 2011

Hey folks. Happy new year and all that. Sorry for being away for so long (not that you bloody-well cared anyway). Been a bit hectic over the Christmas period so haven’t had the chance to update my progress on the project.

Had a brilliant Christmas. First as a married man, which was weird, but totally awesome. Got loads of pressies and had [voice of Commandant Lassard] many, many great nights out, including a wedding down in London town.

The Tipping Point

I actually finished this book in the first week of December just before my birthday. That’s how lazy I have been lately (much to the disdain of my business’s clients!). So excuse me if I’m kinda vague when talking about The Tipping Point.

Straight off the bat I can tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a book of the authors theories surrounding what makes something go ‘viral’. From fashion trends to crime rates to Sesame Street, this book gives us loads of great wee anecdotes to support the rules and strategies. It’s the kind of book that you could have in the toilet and pick up any time. Each little section has enough on its own to keep you satisfied.

When I say Gladwell examines what makes something go viral, he actually investigates the people involved (some people he bloody-well meets in person). He analyses the personality of infectious people and what causes ideas to stick where other ones slide disappointingly down the wall.

Gladwell clearly knows what he is talking about and I found it hard to argue with any of the points he brings up.

It’s difficult not make the book sound like a bit of a drag, but I can assure you that the narrative jumps about enough to make the content very interesting and engaging.

Rating: ★★★★★★½☆☆☆

Something I’d like to point out that I’m discovering through the progress of this wee project; apart from ‘The Rapture‘ I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed all the books on the list. But I’m noticing that the further I get into the list the less I am being gripped by the books. I don’t know if this is because the books on the list are becoming more refined as we get to the top. Remember, I don’t consider myself to be a literary guru, so I could very well be missing something. I’m also thinking that it’s because I’m learning my own taste now and would rather get through my own ever growing list of books I want to read. We’ll see how I feel as I get closer to the top.

I’ve already started number 14 on my list which is Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky. See ya soon!

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