David Szalay - Spring

 



A novel told from the point of view of four very different characters. Main character is a winner and loser of the IT-bubble with vague plans to become a winner again. Others are a receptionist in a luxury hotel with big dreams and expectations, a papparazzi with dreams of a better life, a dodgy horse trainer with political aspirations and last but not least an enjoyer of life without expectations, only adjusting to whatever is coming his way and exploiting that to the most. They all influence each other's lifes, use the others without excuse, escaping loneliness. Things go wrong because of the lack of real feeling for the other; the lack of real commitment and misunderstandings, maybe because of that. All in all life is here shown as one big disappointment and missed opportunity.
This all sounds like the book is very dark, but it is not. It's very enjoyable and I'm certain readers will recognise certain situations in the book as something they could have encountered themselves or maybe really did.
I can really recommend it

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ireland, a History - Thomas Bartlett

Image
This is quite a good book, but I only give it 4 stars for a few reasons. While I learned a lot about the Irish independence war, the civil war, the Troubles, the Plantation, the reasons why Ireland was for so long a colony of England I did not like a few things. The writer often tells us the same thing twice, three times or even more. This happens on the same page or on following pages. Words can be altered, but it still will be the same. While I feel for the Irish and almost feel angry about what I read the writer has a lot of understanding for the English. I was a bit amazed by that, because the writer is being born in Northern Ireland. I also feel he could have included more about musicians like Phil Lynott and others who played in North and South during the Troubles. I won't forgive the writer for mentioning a country named Holland three times. When people talk I don't mind it too much, but in a work like this I do. There is no country with the name "Holland". The
Read more

Shrines of Gaiety - Kate Atkinson

Image
  A very amusing novel. I don't want to spoil the fun for future readers and won't talk about the characters. I loved the casual almost cynical style. It makes the book very different from standard crime novels. The last chapters are used to take care of loose ends, but it did make me wonder if the writer had a bit enough of the whole thing. It had been easy to have added quite a lot more of details. It's a bit like a TV series where you get the explanation of the episodes you watched for your eyes, lasting no more than 5 minutes. Then again, the book is long enough and it did not feel too much like rushing towards the end. Other readers might disagree with me, I would understand that. All in all I enjoyed reading it and 5 stars is exactly what it deserves in my opinion.
Read more

Human Croquet - Kate Atkinson

Image
Yet another novel by Kate Atkinson that I truely loved. Isobel, the main character and often the point of view is one of the amazing interesting characters that fill this book. The playing with time and different ways the story could develop in, might be a bit confusing but I can see how all these possibilities really cry out loud that they need to be written out in the book. I do not mind at all. Often I can be a bit of a puritan, prefer just one point of view in a novel most of times. In this book there are different layers that make it impossible to write it in such a way. What strikes me most is the effect that it has on life when the nature of people is not compatible and yet they are forced to live together. I can recommend the book very much and 5 stars is very much deserved.
Read more