fiction

The Coma – Alex Garland

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The Coma has been described as ‘chilling’, which is a perfect word as far as this book is concerned. The story is set in the dream-world of a man in a coma and his struggle to adjust to his new state. I found the concept very interesting and the writing style in which Garland tackles the subject especially impressive. This is not because he uses long words, or detailed descriptions. On the contrary, his style is simple and the book is a quick read, taking me only two sittings to read cover to cover.

The protagonist is Carl, who, getting beaten up on the tube on the way home from the work, is knocked into a coma. When he wakes up, everything seems a bit odd. He has hallucinations and finds himself in different places without knowing how he got there. He worries that he might have brain damage, after all he did hit his head. On his way back to the hospital, the story becomes quite unsettling. After realising that he is probably still in a coma, and needs to find a way to wake up, Carl tries to thinks of memories that might snap him out of it. And that’s when the nightmare really begins. Continue reading →

The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood

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Not often do I read a book that takes my breath away. Margaret Atwood has managed to do that twice. First with The Handmaid’s Tale, an absolutely brilliant and imaginative book, and now with The Blind Assassin. Every moment of reading, felt like a luxury, like eating a very rich and creamy dessert. Atwood writes beautifully and has some very inventive descriptions. It’s rare to want to read a sentence for a second time, not because you didn’t understand it, but because you want to savour every word.

The story is of two sisters, Iris and Laura Chase. Iris is now an ‘older woman’ looking back on her life and all the events leading up to her sister’s death at the young age of twenty three. We learn in the very first page that Laura drove a car off a bridge and immediately our interest has been grabbed. Why did she do it? Continue reading →

The Autograph Man – Zadie Smith

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I haven’t read a book like this for a long time and it was a nice change. Reading Zadie Smith is like a breathe of fresh air with her colloquial and modern style of writing. The dialogue between the characters is believable, even if most of the storyline is a far fetched.

Alex-Li Tandem is an Autograph Man who buys, sells and fakes autographs. He has an unhealthy obsession with a movie star, Kitty Alexander. He is a lazy, self destructive twenty-something, living in a messy apartment, spending his days drinking and smoking too much while watching old films. After waking up one morning with a horrific hangover and no memory of the last couple of days, Alex-Li finds a very special autograph, one that he has been waiting years to receive. But why has it been sent now? And is it really authentic? He travels all the way to New York to find out. Continue reading →

Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks

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I have mixed feeling about this book. On the one hand, I found the descriptions of life in the trenches in the First World War powerful and thought provoking, but what lets Birdsong down for me, is the weak romantic storyline that continues throughout.

The opening chapters set the scene in a small town in France, where a young English man, Stephen Wraysford has come to learn more about his trade in textiles. He stays in the the grand family home of the Azaires. Here he embarks on a love affair which will change the course of his life. There are some suggestive scenes with forbidden glances and hasty fumblings and also a couple of steamy sex scenes put in for good measure. As I read these parts, it didn’t feel realistic, and it almost felt as though these passionate encounters were only added to sell more copies. Continue reading →