For Decades ‘08.

B. Wahlström, 2002.
(first published 1926.)

Back cover blurb:

Mannen satt som jag lämnat honom, i länstolen framför eldstaden. Hans huvud hade fallit åt sidan. På ryggen, strax under kavajkragen, syntes ett blankt föremål - en märklig dolk.

Dolken från Tunis av deckardrottningen Agatha Christie - en klassiker som trollbundit läsare över hela världen!

I’m not a big Agatha Christie fan, not because I dislike her writing, but because I haven’t read much of it. I have read The ABC Murders and now this one. The first I read because I had run out of books whilst on a boat, and this one I read because I was interested as to how Christie would handle the topic. I already knew who murdered Ackroyd, I just wondered how on Earth it could be written convincingly. Without spilling the beans, I was so amazed. It was so clever! Alright, I wish I didn’t know who was the killer. (That is why I am trying to convince someone who doesn’t know who the killer is to read it. I have been this far unsuccessful.)

To my great disappointment, I couldn’t find an English copy of this book. I lent it at the library, because I wasn’t so desperate that I would pay for it. (I usually am.) However, despite searching high and low, I couldn’t for anything find it in English. I went mad looking in the English section. Therefore, I had to settle with the Swedish translation. I dislike reading in translation, because I feel that it is very likely something’s been lost in the translation. Therefore I try not to. (which is why I read so much in English!) Though, I think, this translation was pretty decent. I mean, I never ever cringed. And that’s something.

HarperCollinsPublishers, 2008.
(first published by Earthling Publications, 2007.)

Back cover blurb:

Things are unreliable. Things break. Things fall apart.

Even at 11 years old, Mark knows this all too well.

By the time he moves out of London to the wintry Brighton seaside, the situation is already bad. His mother is ill, and Mark hates his new stepfather. There’s nothing to do and the new house feels nothing like home, filled with odd sounds and hidden rooms … and a strange old lady in the basement.

Shadows are soon gathering, as life goes from bad to worse. Mark knows he has to do soemthing, but he doesn’t know what. And the only people who might be able to help him … may not even exist.

This book was really expensive and I bought it without even being sure what it was about. Okay, so first I thought I wouldn’t buy it, but after picking up a less expensive book, I just turned around and picked out the book out of the bookcase again. What can I say? I am a very impulsive book buyer, as well as drawn to pretty things. And this was very pretty.

As I often do, I believed the story was set in the nineteenth century. When, on the first few pages, the boy talks about his skateboard, I started to feel a bit suspicious. Obviously it was not set in the nineteenth, but in the twentyfirst century. There were, however, bits of the nineteenth century in it. Through that, I was not at all disappointed. (which I often am, following these misbeliefs.)

And oh, it was such a pretty and homely book. Or, maybe homely gives the wrong impression. In many ways it was unsettling, but it had an atmosphere which felt very safe and at ease. So to speak. The story, about a boy whose mother has cancer, was obviously sad, but everything worked out and, somehow, I knew that would happen all along. It’s a hopeful book, and it is lovely.

For Here Be Dragons.

Bantam USA, 1997.
(first published by Bantam Books, 1996.)

Back cover blurb:

In A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin has created a genuine masterpiece, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill the pages of the first volume in an epic series sure to delight fantasy fans everywhere.

In a land where summer can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family born to harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a take of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs periously in the balance, as each endeavor to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

I didn’t think this book was so long. I really didn’t. It looks like it’s maybe 500, but definitely not 800. Partly because of this, I guess, I had problems really getting into the book. (I am not a big fan of too long books, when I can’t think of any justified purpose of them being so long.)

Another reason why it took 500 pages for me to get into it was all the main characters. Every chapter was told from a different perspective, and it honestly took hundreds of pages before I for sure knew what was going on. That the main characters all had nicknames which were used interchangably with their given names didn’t make the thing better. There was a different plot for every character. Alright, so, the different doings influenced the rest, but the first few hundred pages I was completely lost. Admittedly, it only took a bit before I got a new favourite character, but after a while I realised she wasn’t really a favourite character, just that I always knew what was going on in her world, and I was thankful for that. Of course, for her nothing happens. She basically thought about dragons and had sex with her husband. It was safe. All the other characters rushed about cutting each others’ heads off. Not very nice.

So, for the first 500 pages, I was unsurewhether I liked the book or not. Now that I’m finished, I feel that I do quite like it, but on the other hand, I feel it was a bit too complicated and too much happening all the time. Or maybe it is just that I am used to a straightforward narrative without any thought required on my part. Still, it is a bit bad that it takes more than the book before I can even know if it’s any good. Before I can tell between the main characters! Yet… the story was cool.

For Decades ‘08.

Giunti Gruppo Editoriale, 2001.
(first published by Longmans, Green & Co 1886.)

Back cover blurb:

It was the cures of mankind… that in the agonised womb of consciousness, these polar twins should be continuously struggling.

I just must say that this edition is so weird. It was bought in Italy, it’s published by an Italian publisher, but still it’s in English and all! It’s crazy. Because of this, I have been completely unable to find the cover. It’s not much to see, really. It’s a picture by Toulouse-Lautrec, which is a little weird, I think.

Me being a human being, I more or less knew what this novella is about. What did not know was the perspective it was told. It is told indirectly, without any real showdown with Jekyll and Hyde. And that was amazing. I didn’t have a clue that it was told in that way. I’ve previously seen the musical version of this story, and perhaps some TV-version as well (I can’t really remember, I see so many strange things), and there it is told very straight-forward. The novella is completely reliant on the suspense that is built up. You know something is strange, but you can’t really see what it is, until just at the end. I suppose that is an element of gothic fiction. In the musical there was women in it (SHOCKING I KNOW), but in the novella, there’s nothing of a kind. In fact, there are very few characters. There’s the narrator, two of his friends, a butler and Jekyll/Hyde. And possibly some other very small roles, as well. It is impressive what an atmosphere Stevenson builds up with only these few characters.

I read this the evening after finishing Assassin’s Apprentice, and if the Forged scared me, it was nothing against how Mr Hyde terrified me. Right, I am very easily scared, but still! Stevenson is more than a little talented. (read, a lot.)

Collins, 2000.
(first published 1977 by Macmillan Children’s Books.)

Back cover blurb:

Welcome to the worlds of Chrestomanci where magic is as common as mathematics - and twice as troublesome in the wrong hands!

Everybody says that Gwendolyn Chant is a gifted witch with astonishing powers, so it suits her enormously when she is taken to live in Chrestomanci Castle. her brother Eric (better known as Cat) is not so keen, for he has no talent for magic at all.

However, life with the great enchanter and his family is not what either of them expects and sparks soon begin to fly…

There’s a badge on my copy of this book proudly saying Hotter than Potter!. I assume Collins added this badge to sell more copies, and seeing as my sister bought this novel eight years ago, I guess it worked. However, if they did it in order to make children actually read the novel, they have failed dramatically. This novel stood in my bookcase for eight years, merely because of that badge. Being a Potter fanatic during the turn of the millenia, I believed anything which claimed to be greater than Harry Potter must be awfully bad, because, obviously, Harry Potter was the best. This was the reasoning of a ten-year-old, mind you.

Admittedly, if it wasn’t Diana Wynne Jones who had written this book, I doubt I’d ever have read it. I have, since getting to know who she is, held in quite high esteem, even though I never have read anything by her before. Although many of my friends have read many of her books, I have never really got around to it. When I, in preparation of the summer, looked through my bookcase, I found this book, placed under W, as it should be. I thought that, seeing as the greatest Potter-era is over, I might as well read some children’s fantasy. Actually, it is here I admit that I in a way prefer children’s fantasy, because they are rarely as pretentious as adult fantasy often is. They are also a lot more fun to read, I think.

So, to begin with, I wasn’t very impressed with the book. I was vaguely interested during the first two chapters, but not much more. After the slow start, however, the book became more and more exciting. I spent a lot of time flailing because I disliked Gwendolyn so, and even more time cooing because I found Chrestomanci so amazing. He was so charming! The last few chapters I read with unbearable excitement. Magic! Gardens! Animals! Stuff! The magic teacher! I can’t really remember his name, but he was pretty awesome as well. This autumn I’ll have to read some more Wynne Jones. Maybe I should read Howl’s Moving Castle, so I can let my family watch the film some time…

For Here Be Dragons.

Bantam Spectra, 1996.
(First published 1995 by Spectra/Voyager Books.)

Back cover blurb:

Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father’s gruff stableman. He is treated as an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz’s blood runs the magic Skill - and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family.

As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom.

This if the first (new for me) fantasy novel I have read in Ages. (so long the Ages is capitalised!) Earlier, I used to read fantasy novels all the time, so returning to this kind of literature after quite soem time, I felt a bit unbalanced. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Additionally, I wasn’t sure if this was a very serious novel, or a more light-weight one. Soon I realised it was a serious novel. It was also a quite unsettling novel. (The forged scared the living daylights out of me.)

So, the plot was quite slow-moving, and at times I wondered if there even was a plot, but the more I read of the novel, the more I liked it. If the plot ever was boring, Hobb’s language made up for it. In a way, I wish I could read the second book in the series now, partly because of the story and partly (yes, I am that way inclined) to find out what the gay is. But I’ve got my planned reading, and anyway, I don’t have my hands on the second novel. Maybe this autumn I’ll be bothered finding it. Probably.

Nordstedts, 2008.

Back cover blurb:

Dolly har en tråkig pojkvän och vänner som är seriöst psykiskt störda. Hennes familj består förutom en exemplarisk mamma av en död pappa och två syskon, som båda är döpta efter Astrid Lindgren-figurer. Själv är hon döpt efter en silikonfylld countrydiva. “Ni förstår att en relation är omöjlig”, säger Dolly. Alla hennes favoritfilmer är amerikanska produktioner, och det är hon mycket stolt över. Dolly associerar snabbt, driver iväg i fantasin, är elak, rolig och faktiskt ganska känslosam. Efter några timmar i hennes närhet är man sig inte riktigt lik.

This book is arguably the most discussed book in Sweden, possibly after Lars Norén’s diaries (which I, for the record, never intend to read). I was interested by this book, but I can’t really say why - it was not because of the author’s young age, which everyone else seems to be fawning over. I don’t see the interest in hounding someone because of their old or young age. Every review I read was ecstatic; this was the stuff!! What is interesting, is that every review has treated it as a novel for adults. If the reviews had not been so ecstatic, I bet they would have discarded it as a teenage novel. Because that is what it is, really.

And yes, it is a very good novel. At places, at least. I didn’t really like the whole subplot with the imaginary rockstar who is obviously imaginary, but they never really state it. That is, I guess, one of the problems with a novel written in the first person perspective. Fortunately, this subplot was… although quite important, not really the biggest part of the story. So I really liked it. It was well-written, funny at places, and so sad at others.

Right, there was another reason for me liking it. There were references to Morrissey. And quotes! And, well, any book which talks about Moz wins my heart directly. The first reference was after just ten-fifteen pages, so it made me one very happy camper. yaaaaay Moz. Admittedly, it was mainly There is a Light That Never Goes Out, but that is one bloody good song. And it fitted so nice in the plot. Oh, it was a good story. For those of you who know Swedish, you won’t lose anything reading it. So go and do!

1. Wynne Jones, Diana: Charmed Life (1977)
2. Williams, Tad: The War of the Flowers (2003)
3. Tolstoj, Leo: Anna Karenina (1877)
4. Svensson, Amanda: Hey Dolly (2008)
5. Stevenson, Robert Louis: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1886)
6. Smith, M.M: The Servants (2007)
7. Sayers, Dorothy L.: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928)
8. Sayers, Dorothy L.: Murder Must Advertise (1933)
9. Nilsson, Per: Svenne (2006)
10. Nabokov, Vladimir: Lolita (1955)
11. Martin, George R.R.: A Game of Thrones (1996)
12. Marr, Melissa: Wicked Lovely (2007)
13. Lovecraft, H.P.: Omnibus 1 – At the Mountain of Madness (1966)
14. Hobb, Robin: Assassin’s Apprentice (1995)
15. Garner, Elizabeth: The Ingenious Edgar Jones (2007)
16. Connolly, John: The Book of Lost Things (2006)
17. Conan Doyle, Arthur: His Last Bow & The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1917/1927)
18. Christie, Agatha: Dolken från Tunis (1926)
19. Brontë, Jane: Jane Eyre (1847)
20. Bray, Libba: A Great And Terrible Beauty (2003)
21. Brandreth, Gyles: Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders (2007)
22. Barnes, Julian: Arthur & George (2005)
23. Austen, Jane: Sense & Sensibility (1811)
24. Abse, Dannie: The Strange Case of Dr Simmonds & Dr Glas (2002)

For Decades ‘08.

Prion, 2007.
(first published 1941)

Back cover blurb:

none

Biggles and his boys are in Finland, trying to do away with intruding Russian troops. Then they meet a Polish scientist, who has made great scientific advances about the atom bomb or something like that (all I understood is that it is something Very Important, and after getting the mission they don’t care about what is in the papers, really.), who has hidden away these papers, but must be retrieved by the British, so the Russian or German troops can’t get to them. Biggles, Algy and Ginger jump onto this chance like a crocodile jumps onto its food. Unfortunately, they don’t do very well. In the end they get the papers and they even survive, but before that they have won and lost the papers a number of times, of course to the evil von Stahlhein. They lose an unbelievable amount of aircrafts, but that is part of the charm. While trekking through an icy lake, Algy exclaims ‘D’you know, [...], I remember the time whn I used to do this sort of thing for fun. We called it a picninc.’ (354-355) This quote more or less sums up what happens in this novel. It is a very failed picnic.

But it hilarious. We have double-agents, smoking, Ginger stealing food, planes being lost, Biggles being chased by a bear. Could it be better?! Alright, maybe it could. Sometimes, the story trudges on quite slowly, and I, as a reader, am impatient to get on with the story. It is maybe my impatience, or perhaps some flaw of W.E. Jones’. Despite this sometime slow language, it is a hell of a story.

For Decades ‘08.

Prion, 2007.
(first published 1940.)

Back cover blurb:

none

Biggles! Biggles, Biggles, Biggles. When I was young, the only proper series of childrens’ books I read was the Nancy Drew novels, which admittedly weren’t the most fascinating things ever, but they managed to pull me in, at least. Having read Biggles now, I feel that I ought to have spent my childhood reading those books. Not only would it have suited me much better as a person, but also they are better novels, with more rounded and convincing characters. Biggles? Pretty cool. Algy? Hilarious. Ginger? So cute. And an evil Nazi! It felt so remniscent of all these modern films where there are evil Nazis, Communists, etc., except this was from the time where the Third Reich was actually going on! Oh, I haven’t read much Second World War fiction, but I feel that a childrens’ novel from that time is good enough.

And everything was so British! And no one swore, even though people smoked quite a lot. The only thing I can say against this novel is that they had so much plane terminology which I’m not familiar with, but seeing as they are about planes, it isn’t that strange. Hopefully I will learn.

Plotwise, this novel is hilarious. They are hiding in a rock and doing raids on German places now and then. I think they lose about five planes, and later they steal a German plane and people get stuck on the rock and everyone loses everyone else, and it is just brilliant. So over-the-top! When you think the novel should end, because everything is fixed, you realise there are another fifty pages, and something will go horribly awry before the novel ends. And, I think, because of all these crazy stuff that barely seems plausible, it is an extremely good story.