the glass room by Simon Mawer

yet another from this years booker shortlist ,this actually the first i read .the book is mainly set in the glass room a modernist house in the czech republic .i felt this work better as using a building as the main plotline for a book than alaa al awany the yacobian building . the story covers the peroid from the 30’s to modern day most of the action happening before and during the second world war .Maybe using the glass room is a good way at putting a spot light on the peroid and visualizing one small part of a large story like a magnifing glass .this was mawers eigth novel and shows a writer that is slowly growing in to a great writer

Summertime by J m Coetzee

This is one of the six books to make the booker shortlist .This is by two timer winner and nobel prize winner J M coetzee going for a hatrick of bookers . The premise of the book is a journalist going round interview former friends of coetzee in the seventies , and that coetzee himself is now dead .This could quite easily turn in to a piece ego massage luckily it dosen t as the person that comes through as coetzee through the interviews isn t always a likeable person ,it’s hard to learn anything new about the famous shy coetzee a man who tends not to talk about his fiction .this is the third of a trilogy of which the first two i ve not read ,so could only judge on this book which i found a little frustarting as the line between fact and fiction is blurred and can make the reader confused .maybe coetzee should have written a book about a fictional writer and a autobiography about himself

booker shortlist

yesterday saw the booker 2009 shortlist announced

A.S Byatt  the childrens book

Adam Foulds the quickening maze

J.M. Coetzee summertime

Hilary Mantel wolf hall

Sarah Waters the little stranger

Simon Mawer the glass room

    the list seems to have a lot of faction books this year and you could ask is coetzee really biography ,so far i ve read the glass room which i loved ,but to be fair am going to read the rest before saying who i want to win this year ,shame to see William Trevor miss the cut love and summer is a sweet book 50s ireland. i ve put a link to each writers wikiepdia page .

breath by tim winton

 

Is a book set in australia ,following the teenager piklet and his coming of age .a lot of the story surrounds water and surfing trying to catch the next big wave on dangerous breaks ala laird hamilton ,with his older friend loonie the local publician son that his strict paarents disapprove of  and sando a older surfer .as the tale unfolds the story takes a unexpect twist as piklets is left alone with sandos partner eva ,while sando and loonie abandon piklet to roam the world in search of breaks .this novel is fast moving and a true coming of age tale in the tradition of catcher in the rye or the graduate

THE LOST CITY OF Z BY DAVID CRANN

This book was on the samuel johnson shortlist which first brought it to my attention ,having always loved adventures in the amazon ssince reading william price book as a 10 year old.It centres on the story of percy fawcett who was maybe the last great gentleman explorer .Crann paints fawcetts background then tells you about the fate city of z expedtion ,where fawcett dissappeared in what could have easily made a episode of ripping yarns .then you find out about there rescue missions  and myths legends asscioated with fawcett .The book is clearly written and wonderfully research with loads of footnotes and biblography for futher reading .The film rights have just been sold to brad pitt

my recent book buys

RECENT BOOK BUYS

• THE COLLECTED STORIES BY LORRIE MOORE ON FABER
• THE INTERRAGATION BY J M G LE CLEZIO ON PENGUIN
• THE DIARY OF A SNAIL BY GUNTER GRASS ON VIRAGO
• DEAF SENTENCE BY DAVID LODGE ON PENGUIN
• DUBLINERS BY JAMES JOYCE ON PENGUIN CLASSICS
• THE WORLDS 1000 BEST SHORT STORIES ON MASTERPIECE FROM 1904