Wicked Lovely
Melissa Marr
328 p.
Harper Teen, 2008.
(First published 2007.)
Back cover blurb:
RULE #3:
Don’t stare at invisible faeries.
RULE #2:
Don’t speak to invisible faeries.
RULE #1:
Don’t ever attract their attention.
Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. When the rules that have kept Aislinn safe from them stop working, everything is suddenly on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.
Faery intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr’s stunning twenty-first century faery tale.
Right. The cover of this book is gorgeous. The story, not as much. It isn’t a bad story, no. It just reminded me a bit of the Twilight series, which I can’t really say is praise. However, it didn’t feel as far-fetched. I can buy glowing faeries, but never glowing vampires. Like in Twilight, there is a bit of music that I do not find appealing (e.g. Limp Bizkit), which kind of put me off. Despite this, it was pretty fun!
As usual, I felt more sympathy for the mythical creatures than I did for the humans. Aislinn was a little boring, her grandmother was annoying, and Seth was just… dull. Aislinn’s would-be faerie boyfriend is much better. He was ~dazzling~, without the annoying Edward Cullen-aspects. Okay, maybe he wasn’t very cool, but he was like Edward Cullen without the Lame-o. (I hate Edward Cullen. Almost as much as I hate Bella Swann.)
There is apparently a second book in this series, but I don’t really feel that interesting. Especially as it isn’t even about sparkly-king. It’s about tattooes! I’m not even interested in tattooes! Of course, it does have a very pretty cover. Maybe if it’s on sale. Or if I feel like half-bad teenage fantasy.
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July 30th, 2008
Filed under English, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult
7287pwkr
The Strange Case of Dr Simmonds & Dr Glas
Dannie Abse
194 p.
Robson Books, 2003.
(First published 2002.)
Back cover blurb:
‘Take the phial from the medicine cabinet, I thought. Hesitating, haunted, I eventually went down to my surgery to pick up my leather emergency bag,
And so Dr Simmonds drove through the night to treat the aging, sick and loathed husband of the young woman whom he loved.
Inspired by the disturbing 1905 Swedish classic, Doctor Glas by Hjalmar Söderberg, a novel which questions the possibility of pure moral murder, Dannie Abse draws on his own medical experience as a doctor to create a strange, luminous story of love, infatuation and deceit in 1950s London. The Strange Case of Dr Simmonds & Dr Glas was longlisted for the 2002 Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Wingate Prize.
This book centres around a Swedish novel, which I read last autumn in school. It was one of the best books I read that autumn. And The Strange Case of Dr Simmonds & Dr Glas has in many ways the same kind of feel as Doctor Glas. The story is incredibly similar, without making it redundant. It is very good. And cleverly told, too.
Of course, in the choice between this novel and Doctor Glas, I would easily choose Doctor Glas, but this is a really good book. And if you’ve read Doctor Glas, do read this. …if you haven’t read Doctor Glas, read this anyway.
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July 29th, 2008
Filed under English, Fiction
7287pwkr
Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita
309 p.
For Russian Reading Challenge.
Replik, 2001.
(First published 1955.)
Back cover blurb:
none (they stuck the bar code over the text!)
So, Lolita. A tale about peadophilia and desire and such things. And, surprisingly, a dull tale. I expected it to be many things, but dull was not one of them. Everyone speaks so warmly about it! (though, of course, damning the subject.) But I, however I tried, could never really find it very interesting. In my eyes it was to a great extent the rantings of a deranged man. (A man who willingly calls himself Humbert Humbert can’t be sane, especially as he sometimes, in first person, describes his actions in third person. What!)
Of course, I could blame this on that I read it in translation. It was full of tiny, annoying typos (e.g. Lo!ita), but I can’t say it was a bad translation. It is of course possible that the translation was bad but well-written.
I must say I really liked Nabokov’s language, even though I didn’t care too much about the story. It flowed nicely, and it built a feeling which, although it made me quite uneasy, was believable. Naturally, I believe the language is even better in the original language, so I assume I’ll have to read something more by Nabokov, then in English.
(Okay, to distract our thoughts for a moment, here’s a fun story about the first Swedish translation of Lolita. The man who translated it shared Humbert Humbert’s passion for young girls, and added to the story several explicit sex scenes. After some time, I believe it was after publication but I can’t swear on it, Nabokov read the Swedish translation. He was one of these writers who knew every language. He, of course, was more than a little surprised to find stuff in the novel that he hadn’t written! Needless to say, in all subsequent editions these added passages have been removed.)
I’m a little sad I didn’t like it much. I mean, T-Rex in Dinosaur Comics talks loads about it! And other people, too! Though, I guess, you can’t like everything. And perhaps, it might have been the burning sun and the 30 degrees Celsius that put me off. I feel that it might not really be a lazy beach book. Still, now I have read it, and one day I might re-read it and discover that it really is terrific. It might be one of these books that has to grow on you, and I might have given it too little time. How can I know?
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July 29th, 2008
Filed under Challenges, Classics, Fiction, Russian Reading Challenge, Swedish
7287pwkr
Per Nilsson
Svenne
286 p.
Månpocket, 2006
Back cover blurb:
- I Sverige ska svenskarna bestämma.
Så kunde han säga.
- I Sverige ska inte EU-byråkraterna i Bryssel bestämma. I Sverige ska inte de multinationella storföretagen bestämma. I Sverige ska inte USA:s president bestämma. I Sverige ska svenskarna bestämma. I Irak ska irakierna bestämma. I Libanon ska libaneserna bestämma. Eller hur?
Så kunde han säga, han som kallade sig Dackeman.
Svenne är en vanlig sjuttonåring från en liten by i södra Sverige. Bara på grund av sitt namn dras han in i ett politiskt spel som varken han eller någon annan riktigt förstår. Ett nytt nationalistiskt parti med en karismatisk partiledare växer sig starkt, och efter ett halvår är Sverige förändrat.
Men allt får sin ände under några dagar av kaos och upplopp. Efter det måste Svenne fly för livet. Han misstänks vara ansvarig för hämndaktioner, mord, misshandel och straffläger. Nu gömmer han sig undan polisen och alla som vill hämnas. Det här är hans berättelse.
This is one of the few books my brother has read. And like the few books he has read, he loved it. (If he would read more I am certain he would adore it, but the rest of my family reads, so I guess that’s why he doesn’t.) In a deal we made, I said I’d read this book, and he’d read a book of my choice. I’ve read this book now, but he hasn’t touched the book I’ve told him to read. (which is a bit lucky - I’m considering changing it to another book.)
Now, this book is basically about the end of the world. Yeah? Yeah. And it could be a real dazzling novel, if the language written was not so damned useless and the story was not told in such a ridiculous way. There are a hundred chapters, and the majority of these chapters begins with “Yeah,” and then a repetition of the last sentence in the previous chapter. Those chapters that did not begin that way, were shoddy poems. The narrator is this Svenne, who accidentally becomes involved in politics (he’s a little daft), and it is narrated to a Muslim girl he meets once. The poems are also dedicated to her, and they are painfully bad. And the language is boring, plain and dull.
There’s nothing really wrong with the story though, except I got a bit bored with all the outrage in the novel, as well as I feel he stretched it too far. It got all a bit over-the-top. (on the plus side, it was subjunctive history!) However, it must be said that it wasn’t a really bad book, but maybe it didn’t really deserve winning Augustpriset. Of course, I know nothing of the other nominees. 2006 was long ago.
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July 28th, 2008
Filed under Fiction, Swedish, Young Adult
7287pwkr
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