tartan_skirt's Books > Book reviews by tartan_skirt

Tipping the Velvet (Virago V) review

Posted : 9 months, 1 week ago on 17 February 2009 11:51 (A review of Tipping the Velvet (Virago V))

Tipping the Velvet is quite the romp into a world of lesbianism in Victorian England, Waters' style of writing pulls you in from the very start, submerging the reader right into the world of the protagonist, Nancy Astley. The story is broken into three parts, the first being of a romantic vein, the second rather racy, and the third more settled while bringing the story to its resolution. As with any romance there is some degree of inevitability in the course of events, but I think that overall the story is a satisfying one that keeps the reader on their toes. The ending especially worked extremely well for me, as Nancy finally stopped running, and did not give in to the invitation by Kitty to come back to her and live a lie. Throughout Waters' plays with language, most prominently with words such as "gay" as they meant in the Victorian era (i.e. "happy") which provides a nice prod at the controversial lesbian theme of the book as a whole.

Overall I thought it a wonderful book, and will definitely be picking up her other novels, and watching the BBC adaptation of Tipping the Velvet rather soon.

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Labyrinth

Posted : 11 months ago on 24 December 2008 02:13 (A review of Labyrinth)

This book is a historical fiction grail thriller/mystery following in the wake of such works as The Da Vinci Code, and though Mosse is definately a fine weaver of stories the overall skill of the writing produced here is not great, as with its forerunner mentioned above.

I found the work at times to jar with the flow of reading when I had to question not only Mosse's vocabulary choice, but the validity of the actions represented. As it is a huge work, nearly 700 pages in total, there are bound to be mistakes where the editting has failed, but I would expect more from a writer than to contradict themselves mere paragraphs apart. Mosse also represents herself as a somewhat lacking scribe, as the quality of her language use is often lower than it could be. I found myself questioning her grammar frequently and her overuse of words and phrases more often. I don't claim to be perfect myself, but this is the kind of thing which can interrupt a good reading of a novel. The way the author started and ended using the present tense to write also didn't sit with me well, and I'm glad that this was disregarded for the work as a whole.

Nonetheless, Labyrinth is a decent historical fiction/mystery read (and a much better grail thriller than The Da Vinci Code). The story itself is interesting and involving for the reader, as any mystery should be, though I found myself less interested in the present-day Alice story than her historical counterpart. Not a bad read, but not something I would seek out again, and I probably won't continue to read her writing unless I hear her writing style has improved.

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Paradise Lost

Posted : 11 months, 2 weeks ago on 12 December 2008 10:08 (A review of Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics Series))

For all of Milton's religious and socially backward personal views I actually loved reading Paradise Lost, but not for the way Milton probably ever intended it to be looked at. There is so much to the work which make readings so varied and abundant with meaning ready and waiting to be plucked (reference intended).

I was reading Milton's epic poem for my English Literature class and preparing to write an exam on it (done earlier today), so I was taking especial care to read with a couple of core specific ideas in mind in conjunction with the work (especially ideology, as that was the title of the course). In my personal reading of the book I ended up considering a lot to do with gender roles and free will.

I liked Milton's utilisation of blank verse, until then never used in English narrative poetry, especially to this extent, though used in drama frequently. You do have to remember that it is a poem, and thus it does often require either reading outloud or listening to an audiobook to get the metre and the enjambed flow of the language and imagery. I ended up actually lying in the bath reading it outloud to myself with Apocalyptica playing in the background once or twice. The first 3 or 4 books arguably are the most interesting of the 12 it is divided into, and the last 4 or 5 is almost entirely composed of conversation between Adam and the archangel Michael, and this does drag on a bit (which is where an audio version helped me greatly).

Taking this into consideration it is no wonder that the Romantics believed Satan to be the true protagonist of the poem, who has fallen and ventures out on a journey to revenge his fate and that of the other fallen angels. He is successful in his task, but ultimately fails as they are punished again. I prefer to see him as a false protagonist figure (much akin to Marion Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho) who is almost wholey abandoned as a key figure as Adam and Eve are more introduced. I much like William Blake's idea that "[Milton] was a true Poet, and of the Devil's party without knowing it," which backs the reading of many of the Romantics that Satan is the real protagonist, and that there are a multitude of other possible readings of the text other than what Milton actually intended, which was to "justify the ways of God to men."

I spent much of my time considering the ideas of fate and free will within the book, and in my reading I came to the general opinion of fate being present throughout even when God predeicts that Adam and Eve will fall, but by free will and not by fate. In my particular reading it would also support an anti-Milton-esque view on the submission and weakness of women, which I found particularily interesting, but that really isn't the type of topic that many will find interesting here...

God as a character I found rather banal and stiff. Milton goes to such efforts to make his Satan animated and an active hero to his own cause that in comparison God just seems droll. Satan definately provides more literary and plot interest throughout the book; God provides more of the theological questioning behind the events of the book, and Milton's particular depictions of characters.

Thats just some of my thoughts, but I have to sum up that Paradise Lost is an epic poem worth the reading. It sparks much in the realm of philosophical and theological debate and pondering, even just in a literary context (personally I am not religious in the slightest but as characters they are very interesting when refering to religious texts). Anyone interested in literature should give this one a read, though I suggest getting an audio version to help with at least the first reading. ;)

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Beautiful collection

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 14 July 2008 12:13 (A review of Suicide Girls)

Dating from back in 2004 this book features a lot of the older and some now defunct SuicideGirls from the alternative erotica website of the same name. Only having come into proper contact with the concept in the last year I cannot comment on the book as related to the controversies quarrels that arose some while back, causing some of the models to leave, some migrating to GodsGirls, so rather I am leaving all that aside and concentrating on the book as a piece of art, representing the culminating experience, at the time, of Missy Suicide and all the models pictured.

The book is dived into two main sections: photos taken of the models by Missy, and self-taken photos along with profile-like excerpts. The first section features a nice range of pictures, showing the varying moods of the sets from playful, sumptuous, energetic, moody, artistic and a plethora besides. The second section also has some nice pictures, but its more about the self-expression of the models, featuring some of the stories behind their joining the site and choosing to freely show their bodies on the internet. It is here that the reader can get a real view into the down-to-earth stance that is the basis of the SuicideGirls concept. It may be pornography, but its also art, taking the image of an old fashioned "pin-up girl" as its integral form and throwing it together with music and life cultures that are not necessarily considered the norm, thus giving both the models and the audience/members an outlet of feeling part of something bigger and not alone in how they think/feel/look.

This is a book which documents a revolution in alternative erotica, while at the same time displaying some fantastic eye candy to the reader in a classy and stylish way. A beautiful collection of images and thoughts.

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Childrens Classic

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 14 July 2008 12:06 (A review of Where's Wally Now?)

This, along with the other books in the series, is one of my favourite books from my childhood. And as far as activity books go, I remember getting a LOT out of this book in terms of entertainment value and time consumed. It may be extremely easy for me to find Wally (that’s Waldo to you Americans and otherwise) nowadays, especially after thoroughly trouncing the book over a hundred times, but going back over the lists of objects to find within the landscapes can still stump me occasionally. I truly love this book and look back on it fondly.

If only they made puzzle books for kids like this nowadays. *sigh* Screw new books, give this one to your kids and let them learn the joys of finding out just where Wally is.

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Average-y

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 14 July 2008 12:04 (A review of The Abortionist's Daughter)

I picked this one up randomly when I recognised it in a charity shop after seeing it on Richard and Judy’s book club on channel 4. I’m not usually one to follow these kind of things, but its nice to branch out once in a while and see what else is out there.

The Abortionist’s Daughter, Elisabeth Hyde’s third novel, sort of reminded me of Alice Hoffman, especially in The Blue Diary, or Jodi Picoult’s style of writing. It isn’t really what I normally read, but it is one of those books that I pick up if I’m looking for a venture outside (or perhaps inside) the box. Overall it wasn’t a bad read, quick and easy enough to get through, granted the whodunit aspect of the story was rather predictable and the characters were basically your standard models in this sort of book.

Not bad, but not astoundingly great either. I guess the best way to describe my feelings toward this book would be one or two notches above meh.

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Nice collection

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 9 July 2008 03:10 (A review of The Book of Goddesses)

This book serves as a nice introduction into the subject of Goddesses, giving brief introductions into the mythology of twenty-six varying deities from all over the world. While the sections are indeed short, it is a good broad starting point with interesting details about each figure. The illustrations are also a treat as they are prints of hand drawn watercolours and thus have a more pleasant and at times sketchy quality about them which gives the book its true character and aesthetic appeal. The figures of the Goddesses themselves show the main focus of the skill of the author in illustrating her work, as they are more complete and stylistically developed than the surroundings and accompaniments, overall giving a storybook quality to the work. It is also a very easy read as it is described as a “gift book”, probably meant to inform a newer reader on the subject, and is especially good in this respect as it covers a wide range of female figures, many of which are lesser known.

Not a bad collection, but not for those who are looking for very detailed descriptions of the subject of Goddesses.

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Lame

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 9 July 2008 02:28 (A review of Bad Cat: 244 Not-So-Pretty Kitties And Cats Gone Bad)

Personally, I did not get much humour out of this book. To me it just seemed like a pale, and often toned-down version of LOLcats, and it was probably not meant for people too familiar to the net-talking felines. I found the jokes rough and strained at best, with the odd crude one thrown in which managed to throw you me and just stare and say “WTF?” while I pondered if the safer side of humour is really that safe at all. But as other people have given this a good rating maybe I should just look at it and say I’m just not the target market and this just isn’t my thing. Oh well.

Since I managed to laugh about a total of three times while reading this I’m sticking to my LOLcats. Roll on Caturday.

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The Jungle Book

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 9 July 2008 12:46 (A review of The Jungle Book (Puffin Classics))

I just read this for the first time because it was on the reading list for my second year Eng Lit course and I'm glad I did. I found it very interesting for a children’s story book, and it also makes you very aware that a lot of kids books these days barely touch upon deeper issues as works like these used to. Kipling's imperialist background shows through in the undertones of the work, making for an interesting work to read from both a storytelling perspective and that of a literary and historical study.

Now to find the second collection of stories...

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Hi, Dave? It's Dave here...

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 9 July 2008 12:19 (A review of Are You Dave Gorman?)

Are You Dave Gorman? is a humour/travel/random book, and the result of a drunken bet between two men. And what a result. We as readers get to follow the eccentric adventures of Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace as they attempt to find "loads" of people named Dave Gorman, and as a consequence experience a multitude of highs and lows as they progress towards their goal.

The way the book is written with dual narration from both men is highly entertaining and, I believe, a very successful means of telling the tale. Gorman and Wallace are no strangers to British comedy, being a comedian and journalist/comedian respectively, and thus the book is highly recommendable for fans of both British stand up comedy and writers such as Douglas Adams, Stephen Fry, and Terry Pratchett (though I don't think they are quite up to the standards of these three just yet). The book is funny and highly entertaining throughout, with a slight touch of seriousness thrown in just for the hell of it, and will leave the reader smiling at the end.

:)

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