BOOK REVIEWS

Saw a short version of the film 'the road' - pretty good. It's interesting that the intimacy between father-son comes across better in the film that the novel. perhaps it's a male author a bit starchy - difficult to evoke the same sense of sentimentality in a tough bloke without compromising his tough survival exterior....felt that the road was highly constructed as a novel - not organic, flowing naturally - more like oooh this will really horrify them every 40 pages or so just to effect impact: 

'What's really, really disgusting?'
'...A woman roasting her own baby!'
'- yeah, how desperate must they be to do that?' 

Obviously not desperate enough to grab the roast meat (remember we are STARVING) and run with it. Where's the placenta? Illogical. AND the reference to Auschwitz with the piles of shoes and blankets in that house...why would they want to freeze their food? Freezing them will only make them eat up more of their energy stores = tough meat. PLUS what were they doing with the blankets/shoes etc? nothing. Again illogical but there with the slap- shock factor.

 

Tim Winton's Breath. Don't know a female yet who loved it - such a boys book. And how is the sudden wrap at the end? i completely didn't buy it - grand sweep over wife and kids to sudden psychological impact of his youthful dalliances. Bullshit. He was atoning for having plumbed the depths of depravity = psychologically damaged man. wank. he needed to go there more to make it believable except he got bored when the sex was over, rolled over and went to sleep to finish the novel as quickly as possible. crap. ripped off having to put up with all that macho bullshit to get to the end empty handed. THIN.

 

On a happier note - just finished Revolutionary road- read it? OH MY GOD it is wonderful. It's up there with Capote for character analysis, I loved it, found it hilarious - without actually laughing - wry humour in his harshly realistic cauterizing of the suburban marriage. One of the few books I want to turn around and read again to linger over his clever insight and share passages of his brilliance with others. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. I definitely like my character novels. If you cannot see yourself in this you are as delusional as they are about themselves. Something for all of us to be learned here. Desperate to see the film now while it is all still fresh...stay tuned

Want to read the slap next - heard of it?  Shit I haven't ploughed through this many novels EVER before - I've read 11 books so far this year!!!  I wonder what's happened to me?