Week 16 Book 2- The "old" maid wins out

So from a confronting portrait of Australian suburbia to some Austen action with Persuasion.

Anne Elliot is 27 and is unlikely to ever make a good match. When she was 21 and supposedly much more beautiful, she had been engaged to a naval officer, Captain Wentworth, and, despite of her overwhelming love for him, she had been persuaded to break the engagement because he was deemed not worthy of her hand. Now she lives with her (also unmarried) 29 year old sister and her father in a house that they can no longer afford and which in any case is entailed to a cousin as the three Elliot children who survived to adulthood were all female. Forced to lease the house a naval officer and her wife (who turns out to be Captian Wentworth's sister), the family relocates to Bath though Anne first goes to visit her youngest sister, her husband and her brother-in-law's extended family. The society of Henrietta and Louisa Musgrove (the younger sisters of Anne's brother-in-law, Charles) attracts visits from Captain Wentworth- returned to England and looking for a wife, any wife as long as it isn't Anne whom he is still yet to forgive for breaking their engagement. Anne living for the time with Musgroves and Captain Wentworth visiting them begins to often bring them into contact with each other, and Anne starts to wonder at her lingering feelings for the captain. Tragedy strikes Louisa Musgrove just shortly before Anne moves to her new home in Bath and as Anne leaves she is faced with the possibility that following the tragedy, Captain Wentworth may propose to Louisa. In Bath, she finds her sister and father trying to lean on wealthier relatives in order to appear better off, she reacquaints herself with an old school friend who has fallen on bad times, and she gets to know her cousin who seems to be pursuing her but who she suspects has dubious motives. Then Captain Wentworth arrives in town and......


A while ago, a friend of mine who is more than mildly Austen obsessed suggested that people get together and watch an Austen miniseries one afternoon. Going through her massive collection, we picked an adaptation of Persuasion and I mentioned (possibly ill-advisedly) that I had not read the book. She was shocked as have been others of my acquaintance (including my mother who counts it as her favourite Austen novel). I have always liked Austen but it was just unfortunate for Persuasion that there wasn't a Hollywood version of or a TV adaptation starring Colin Firth whilst I was in year 9 or 10- this was when I first read Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility and Emma (in that order). Also counting against it was that the next Austen I read was Northanger Abbey which I studied for year 11 and did not enjoy at all. After that I was worried about her remaining two complete novels- a worry that was borne out for Mansfield Park which I started and could not finish a few years ago- so just kept rereading the first three I'd read (I think the count on P&P would be well over 10 times (no that isn't sad!), S&S and Emma both over 5). I feel I owe someone an apology for waiting so long as Persuasion is definitely better than S&S and Emma, and is just about equal to P&P (I'd have to reread to confirm). Firstly move aside Elizabeth Bennett and Marion Dashwood, I have a new favourite Austen heroine. I just loved Anne Elliot as she was so self reliant and so sensible (in the modern not the early 19th century sense of the word). She was just brilliant. Also I can now appreciate more the comment the friend mentioned earlier made on my facebook status a few years ago when, on my 27th birthday, I stated that I was now as old as Charlotte Lucas and would need to find myself a Mr Collins, and she replied that I was also as old as Anne Elliot and should not give up hope of getting a Captain Wentworth. And talking of him, he can't knock my favourite Austen man off his spot (Mr Knightley if you're asking and no I'm not sure why) but he comes close and I may prefer him to Darcy. Ultimately the thing I loved most about this book was how cutting the satire was. Austen was definitely on her game with this one and it may just be the most successfully satirical of her novels. I actually found it the funniest of her novels- not to dismiss P&P which is quite funny in parts. Finally I just love that (being an Austen novel, I'm sure I'm not giving anything away) the "old" maid gets the man she wants and not another Mr Collins. I remember being mildly horrified (though only 15 at the time) when I first read the conversation between Elizabeth and Lady Catherine in P&P when she says that it is unfair for her younger sisters not to be out just because she and Jane did not marry early. I felt like screaming "EARLY seriously! You are 20 and your sister is 22. There ain't nothing late about that!" and Charlotte Lucas's speeches about how she would marry Mr Collins because she wasn't going to get another offer are just heart breaking. I know that was the reality of the early 19th century and that not being married by age 20 or 21 was mildly horrifying to them but it is just so nice for Austen to acknowledge that they could be an exception to the rule (not that Anne, who is 28 at the end of the book, is old by modern standards).

The cover of the version I read

Just 'cause Rupert Penry-Jones is kinda pretty, I haven't seen this version though. I must borrow it from someone.

Next I promise some Anne Bronte which will also be the end of my months of reading....

Week 16 Book 1- Suburbia, kids and controversy

Well once again my friends of the blog world, I lied to you. This week I told you I would be reading Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and I have been. Then again as you can see from the title of this post one out of three don't work-it has kids (well a kid) and controversy but you can hardly describe the moors as suburbia. That's right I've made another diversion from my course. A few weeks ago I ordered a second hand copy of Christos Tsiolkas's The Slap following the debut of the television adaptation- if I'm watching a TV adaptation of a novel, I like to have read the novel or be reading the novel as it goes on. I thought that it would likely not arrive until after October but it arrived on Wednesday and despite being a bit busy I finished it this morning.

For those not in Australia or just oblivious the online debate that is raging amongst ABC viewers about the series, some plot summary action- though for those watching the miniseries be warned there may be minor unavoidable plot spoilage. Greek Australian Hector and his Indian-Anglo Australian wife, Aisha, have a barbeque for their friends and family. At the barbeque, Hector's cousin, Harry, slaps Hugo, the spoilt misbehaving three year child of Aisha's friend, Rosie, and her alcoholic husband, Gary. The child is slapped hard across the face but immediately prior to the slap Hugo was throwing a fit after being dismissed in backyard cricket game, swinging a bat at Harry's eight year old, Rocco, and kicking Harry in the shins. The slap and resultant legal action then resonate through the novel as each chapter follows the later events in the life of someone who was present at the barbeque starting with the events at the barbeque as focused on Hector, then moving to Aisha's unmarried Jewish friend Anouk who wants to be a novelist but currently works for a TV soap and is shagging the show's star, to Harry the self made man, to Connie the 17 year old assistant at Aisha's vet clinic who has been flirting with Hector, to Rosie the hippy mother who dotes on her son and ignores her husband's obvious alcoholism, to Hector's father Manolis who is grappling with getting older, to Aisha who is dealing with the effect of the slap on her marriage and the possibility of divorce, and finally to Connie's best friend and the son of a nurse at Aisha's vet clinic, 17 year old Richie, who is coming to terms with his homosexuality.

The initial suggestion of the title and then the event of the slap is sure to be off putting to some and the mass debate that went on via facebook and twitter after the first episode of the miniseries was none too surprising. Physical discipline of children is a controversial topic especially when the person dishing out the discipline isn't the parent. It is not just an issue of how to discipline but also if you discipline your kids at all. Tsiolkas's intent in writing the novel was to cause this kind of discussion and he succeeds. I personally am going to try to not weigh into the debate too heavily just to preface what I'm going to say by stating that I may not be a parent but were I one I would advocate the parental discipline though likely not of the physical variety. I found The Slap appropriately confronting in parts. I didn't care for Tsiokas's over use of the 'c' word as it is a word I find a bit too guttural for regular use and though it can be employed well if only used briefly for effect (in Ian McEwan's Atonement for example) but it just went a bit over board for me as the characters are middle class suburban adults and only Harry struck me as the kind of individual who would use it that often. I did applaud the point where Aisha recoiled at her husband's use of it. This complaint aside it is a brilliant novel. Sure the characters are largely unlikeable- in particular though at the epicentre for the slap, Harry, Gary, Rosie, and Hugo- but I find unlikeable characters interesting and the characterisation of Anouk, Aisha and Richie (the characters I most liked) I found quite sympathetic in their sections. I think I reacted most strongly against the character of Rosie as the novel's other contenders for least likable were Harry and Gary who I expected to dislike and Hugo who is just a child. For me, the presentation of Rosie wasn't overtly harsh (nor was that of any of the other characters), it was just overtly truthful and I found her extreme earth mother with no discipline lifestyle, her wilful ignorance of her husband's alcoholism and the growing development of a borderline Oedipal relationship with Hugo unbearable. It has been said a lot but I agree that this novel may be one of the most important Australian novels of recent times, if not ever. It perfectly envisions middle class insecurity on many issues and its dealings with the issues of race, wealth, marriage and family are largely spot on. Tsiolkas's prose is almost sublimely honest (except for the previously mentioned complaint). It will definitely be too confronting for many but if you can stomach confrontation and are watching the miniseries I strongly recommend reading the book. If you like complex middle class stories of unlikeable people, then like me you will probably find it very un-putdown-able and I'll stop now before I accidentally give any more miniseries spoilers.

A few words on the miniseries thus far (well not this week's version of the Connie chapter as I was at work late on Thursday and am yet to catch up on iView), all in all it is a good interpretation of the text (Melissa George as Rosie, in particular, is beyond perfect casting) but has made some weird changes to the book. I'm still yet to figure out why they made the barbeque Hector's 40th as it is just a barbeque and he is 43 in the novel; why they made Rocco 11 or 12 instead of 8; why Anouk's novel is about her, Aisha and Rosie when the plot isn't mentioned in the book; why Aisha isn't Indian. On more significant plot points why they made Connie hate Hector at the end of the first episode (she doesn't in the book, she just gets angry at being dismissed) and why they made Hugo behave so badly at the barbeque that he appeared to be a bit educational disabled (he is "normal" three year old in the book and he doesn't pull up flowers or destroy CDs at the party). I can understand why they might have needed to make Anouk's mother alive (she has already passed away following a battle with breast cancer before the action of the book) and why Rocco ran away (he didn't in the book) as episode padding. My one worry is that when I see the last episode that may have pushed the Connie and Hector thing a bit far- she doesn't see him in the book after the action of the barbeque. Still holding out hopes that it will largely be a good adaptation.

Next up still not The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as not only did I finish The Slap today, I also read Jane Austen's Persuasion in one sitting.

Week 15- Slowly walking through the caste system

After the big ethical challenges of last week's book, I moved onto something I often try to avoid...the Man Booker Prize winner. I've read more than a few Booker Prize winning and shortlisted books (my erstwhile book club went through a period where we seemed to read one after another for what felt like an age). Don't get me wrong, the Booker is worthy prize that recognises worthy literature but often times the "worthy" books shortlisted for the Booker are depression inducing in the extreme (e.g. Schlinder's Ark won the Booker, as did The Inheritance of Loss, Disgrace and Amsterdam). That said I can't write them off completely as they also let Possession, Vernon God Little, The Life of Pi and The English Patient win, and though not completely cheery these have a mildly more cheerful lease on life than some of the others. My Booker Prize resistance is probably one of the reasons The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy has sat unread on my bookshelf for many a year but no longer....

The God of Small Things is set across two time periods. Firstly the late 1980s, when Rahel returns home from the States to India in order to reunite with Estha her twin brother whom she hasn't seen for 23 years after they were separated following a tragic family event- the aftermath of the event and their separation has resulted in the adult Estha not speaking for many years and the adult Rahel being unable to relate well to others resulting in her divorce. The other time period is the 1960s and the story of the events that ended with the separation of Rahel and Estha. The 1960s time period is told out of order so from early on it is revealed that the twins' English cousin, Sophie, died somewhat suspiciously when she was visiting them (Sophie was 11 and the twins were 8) and that the twins' mother felt guilty for this because of a controversial love affair she was having. How the child died, who was involved and who the twins' mother was sleeping with are gradually revealed as the novel plays out, as are the histories of the twins' grandmother, their uncle, their mother and their great aunt, and the politics of communism and caste in that region of India. The focus of the novel ultimately is the idea of love- the twins' fear that their family will love their white cousin more than them, their fear that their mother will stop loving them, their great aunt enduring unfulfilled love for a Catholic priest, the fact that both their mother and uncle married outsiders and ended up divorced, the rules of who can be loved and how, and the injustice that these rules can at times.

Like many "worthy" novels and, in my experience, many Indian novels, The God of Small Things moves very slowly and is often more description than narrative. Thankfully  unlike the similarly slow and similarly Booker winning Indian novel, The Inheritance of Loss, I did not find the slowness quite as painful....in fact I didn't find it painful at all. I was also delighted that this novel was not as depressing as the Booker Prize winning label might make it appear. It is more of mood piece and less of a sequence of increasingly suicide inducing plot points. The slowness of events is compensated by the mild feeling of suspense about the events of the 1960s which is upheld for much of the novel- I guessed who the mother was sleeping with about halfway through and guessed some of the other events that would unfold but was still in two minds about the means of Sophie's death until it was actually revealed. The novel initially starts by alternating chapters between the 1980s with flashbacks and the 1960s without but then gradually is swamped by the events of the 1960s and the 1980s fades into the background. The twins as children (ultimately the side of the twins you see decidedly more of) are delightfully insecure characters and their family is wonderfully colourful even if some members of it are largely unlikable. The idea of caste and the separation of this family as Syrian Christian is fascinating to me as someone who hasn't read much that focused on these ideas in the past. The description that helps cause the slowness is quite vivid and you almost feel as if you are walking the streets and experiencing the events of the twins and their family. All in all a powerful novel but the pace might be a stumbling block for some.

From one woman author to another....possibly to finish off the Novel Challenge, I'm now reading Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall- back to my comfort zone of 19th century female authors. If I do finish it with time to spare, I'll be reading Persuasion to finish.

Week 14- Ethics and Meat

A few posts ago I mentioned that I was heading to the Festival of Dangerous Ideas at the Opera House. The more info on that is that it was to Jonathan Safran Foer discussing the ethics of eating meat taking off from his book of a few years ago Eating Animals. Whilst there I picked up a copy of the book and it is this week's book for my novel challenge (not that it is a novel).


Eating Animals is a examination of the factory farming industry in the States and the effect on personal eating habits that knowledge of the practices of this industry might have on an individual. Foer began research into the meat industry following the birth of his son as he struggled to determine what the most ethical food choice would be for his family. He clearly read at length on the issue, interviewed factory farm workers, activists and family farmers, and visited farms and slaughter houses. He explores all the possible concerns with the industry (animal welfare, environmental, health, etc.) and also presents the process of meat production at some times graphic lengths. Foer reveals in the opening chapters of the book that he is a vegetarian so you can guess where he is going.

So off the bat some disclosure for any who don't know me in reality. Much like I don't recall a time before I wanted to spend time in London, I can't recall a time when I wasn't passionate about the environment- it was definitely prior to high school but I'm not sure how much earlier- nor can I recall what sparked the passion. I do remember when I got into animal welfare issues, I was in year 7 and I read about the animal testing methods being used by companies such as Procter and Gamble (to this day I do not buy their products knowingly- there are so many brands under the umbrella that they can be hard to avoid but I avoid the ones I know- so much so that the smell of Pringles, which I've never eaten, makes me a bit sick). When I was 15, I decided to bite the bullet and declared to my parents that I was embracing vegetarianism- ultimately my mother and I compromised and I just give up red meat. In the last 13 years I have only eaten red meat on four occasions- two by accident, once for a week whilst away with friends three years ago, and once at last New Year's- the latter two to make it easier for people and in all cases I've felt quite sick after the red meat eating. My distance from red meat is so complete that the smell of a butcher shop makes me feel mildly nauseated and has done for about 10 years. I gave up farm salmon 6 years ago, non-free range poultry 4 years ago, and nowadays I usually only eat white meat once a month, if that. I try not to buy leather products, buy soup with animal based stocks in it, cheese with animal based rennet, etc, etc. On the opposite end of the spectrum I also come from a long line of farmers on my father's side of the family.

Disclosure over. This book could be one of the most important and accessible works published on the issue of factory farming. The prose is easy to read, the language isn't over intellectual and the tone, unlike many books and articles on this issue, is not at all forciful or judgemental. Foer concludes that vegetarianism is the most logical response to the horror of factory farming but he does not judge the meat eater or order people to change their food choice. Foer advocates wise, ethical and informed food choice but does not force anyone- his tone when speaking of PETA and other organisations' extreme forcefulness on the matter of veganism shows that he does not agree with that kind of forced conversion at all. He speaks with admiration of several of the family farmers he meets and does not judge them- in fact he applauds them (especially one turkey farmer) for their attempts to ethically keep their animals. The stories of slaughter and animal welfare in the factory farms are sickening at points but neccessarily so. These sections of the book made me profoundly angry, profoundly sad and profoundly ill. The descriptions of an aged cow from a petting zoo licking the face of a slaughter house owner before death and the treatment of pregnant pigs in factory farms both nearly brought me to tears- on both occasions on public transport. Factory farming has to be one of the largest autrocities that the civilised world not just allows but then turns its back on and pretends isn't happening. After one particularly horrible section I rang my father to confirm that I was correct in my belief that our family had never been involved in factory farming and the tone of his voice when he replied showed the similar attitude of disgust to that expressed by the family farmers that Foer interviews in the book when talking about factory farming (our family has farmed wheat, cattle and sheep, and has never (to my father's knowledge) been involved in factory farming). This book is telling the story of factory farming in the States and there are few (if any) countries in the world have a larger market share of meat that comes from factory farms. In Australia the percentage of meat from factory farms is much smaller and the poultry industry is better regulated (as far as I know). That said poultry and pork in Australia is still predominately from factory farms and any Australian salmon sold in supermarkets is. After reading this book I'm giving up poultry and seafood becoming a proper vegetarian- not becoming a vegan as soya/rice based milk tend to make me sick but will be continuing to buy organic vegetarian cheese, organic milk and free range RSPCA endorsed eggs (Foer states in the book that organic and free range are both uncertain terms and this is true but the dairy industry is Australia is much less factory based than in the States, organic does normally mean better treatment for cattle (Foer acknowledges this) and the RSPCA is normally pretty strict on their welfare standard so I trust their recommendation on eggs).

Foer talks at length about the effects of food and food culture on social structure, social decisions and social stories. As Foer correctly states food choices do easily influence others (e.g. my ceasing to red meat food did cut the number of meals involving it for not just me but my whole immediate family when I lived at home; my changing to free range poultry only meant the family switched to free range, organic turkey for Christmas; and often at social events where food is shared my being a "vegetarian" (in loose sense of the word) has meant that one or more vegetarian dishes are ordered in place of meat ones), food is at the centre of community life. Unlike many other issues it is almost true that one person's choice can start to change the choices of many as Foer puts it "We eat as sons and daughters, as families, as communities, as generations, as nations, and increasingly as a globe. We can't stop eating from radiating influence even if we want to". Like Foer I wouldn't want to force anyone to embrace vegetarianism but I do think that this book is a must read and I will likely be forcing people to read it in the near future.

 If you want to hear the talk Foer gave at the Opera House, video of it is available online at http://play.sydneyoperahouse.com/index.php/media/1486-jonathan-safran-foer-fodi-2011.html?catid=&field_name= - I recommend you check it out.

On to my next book, God of Small Things.....

Week 13- Your pocket guide to stalking

Leaving my recent obsession with the novels of Jonathan Franzen behind us, let us all breathe in the air of stalking "fun" that is Ian McEwan's Enduring Love.

On the way back to their London flat from Heathrow, Joe Rose (a science journalist in the mould of a much milder version of Richard Dawkins) and his partner Clarissa (an English academic who works on Keats) stop for a picnic in a field. No sooner do they open their wine and they hear screaming. A hot air balloon has broken its anchor rope leaving a 10 year old alone in the basket in high winds. Joe and several other bystanders run to the boy's aid and attempt to pull on the rope and bring the balloon down. In the attempt one man dies as the balloon lifts in the high wind and the other men let go leaving him to fall to his death. One of the other men who was attempting to help retrieve the balloon, Jed Parry, perceives that Joe is giving him some kind of sign and commits his undying love to Joe. Parry believe that Joe is drawing him in and reciprocating the love he feels. Parry is also a devote believer of his own twisted version of Christianity and he commits to making Joe believe as he does. Parry follows Joe wherever he goes and starts leaving insane numbers of messages on his phone and writing him deranged letters. Joe instantly believes that Parry is highly dangerous but Clarissa and the police won't believe him so the stalking continues and Joe's other relationships start to crack under the pressure of his attempt to prove Parry is a threat.


Awww Ian McEwan... always one for darkness. McEwan's amazingly beautiful Atonement is one of my favourite novels even for its sadness and the only other work of his that I have read is the heartless, depressing but also brilliant Amsterdam. McEwan readers I know are of two camps- the fans who love his work even with its inherent darkness and the admirers who read his work despite the fact that they find it depressing. I think I edge towards the fan side though both Amsterdam and Enduring Love made me none too happy and Atonement makes me cry. Like the other McEwan I have read, I found Enduring Love beautifully written and masterfully crafted. Unlike the others it also had this rapidness to it which was driven by the compelling creepiness of the story. The story of the balloon accident is described vividly that seems like it will be highly significant to the novel and to have it merely act as the catalyst for the later events just shows McEwan's talent. Like many of the books I've read of late I found the main character not the most likeable of people- Joe's treatment of Clarissa grated and he was more than a tad pompous. I did like the character of Clarissa though as she seemed the most rational person in the book- also I've got to support people who work on the Romantics, they're my people. Parry is one of the best and creepiest pictures of a stalker I've seen in fiction and he seriously wigged me out- his overt religiosity will jar with some readers of faith and it did rattle me a bit until I remember that the version of creepy religious fervour displayed by Parry is a common symptom of psychotic conditions and that wasn't McEwan putting all people of faith in the bin of raving loon-doom (or maybe he was but I choose to believe he wasn't). Definitely worth the read and it is a fast read but be prepared for the creep factor.

Also just discovered (or re-discovered as I'm sure I saw reviews for it when it was at the cinema) that there is a movie of Enduring Love which stars Daniel Craig as Joe, Samantha Morton as Claire (not sure why but they renamed Clarissa) and Rhys Ifans as Parry. Can I say (not having seen it) that it looks DREADFUL! Every character is miscast in particular Daniel Craig, usually always a welcome addition to any film, as Joe is supposed to be mid-to-late forties and balding. Reading the user review that comes up first on IMDB makes it sound even worse as whoever wrote this review repeatedly says Parry is gay which is not stated in any way in the book- he is obsessed and in love but he is also insane and the form of his obsession whilst seemingly homosexual is never spoken of in sexual terms in the book. Best avoided like the plague I think.

Done with stalking and with fiction for the moment, next post will possible involve my proselytising about the brilliance of vegetarianism after I finish Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals.

Belated Week 12- More news from the file marked obsessive

A few weeks ago I made the half hearted promise to you the denizens of blogland that I would stop ranting on the brilliance of Jonathan Franzen, that I would not mention his books and that I hold off on reading the copy of Freedom that I had bought until after October. Well as it turns out, I would make a good politician as my promise fades as so many heated election promises, and for you this week I bring you another happy vacation to land of rabid fandom......

The Berglund family made up of Walter, Patty, Jessica and Joey live in the Minnesotan suburbs (like many of Franzen's families). Walter, a passionate environmentalist from a struggling middle class family of hoteliers, has settled for a calm life with the woman he believe is the love his life and he is known by most people to be the nicest person they know. Patty, his wife and the daughter of a rich lawyer and a New York senator, was a champion basketballer in school until she busted her knee in college and since then she has become what she believe to be the perfect housewife. Jessica, their eldest, is all-in-all a overly well adjusted and calm individual whose life is much tidier than those of her family. Joey, the youngest Berglund, is a too cool for school type who starts sleeping with the elder girl next door when he is 13 and moved out of his parents' house and in with his girlfriend, her mother and her step-father when he is 16. Walter's best friend and a regular feature in his and Patty's life is Richard Katz a semi famous musician who cannot commit to a woman, a band or much of anything. The novel enfolds the long story of the Berglunds like a series of Russian dolls on the outer edge the opinions of their neighbours, then the next layer in Patty's retelling (in the third person) of her life story and at its core the stories of Walter, Richard and Joey. It is a struggle for each of these complex individuals to find themselves and, during a time where the American idiom was/is so focused on freedom, it is also an exploration of how we define freedom at difference times and in difference ways whilst constantly questing for some personal semblance of it.

There are many things here that are much like Franzen's other novels in particular The Corrections- the interesting family interactions, the characters who aren't the most likeable of people, Minnesota and the funny....and yes THE BRILLIANCE! When I saw Franzen at the Opera House there was much discussion of this novel being as it is last novel of his to be published. Franzen was impressed when it was noted that this novel is less biting and satirical than The Corrections as many critics/readers seemed to miss this. I have to say clearly they are dolts if they thought that was the path Franzen was retreading. The presentation of all of them shows an immense love of the characters and heartfelt desire to present them as real people going about their real lives, and there is none of the mild tone of mockery and observational distance that is present in The Corrections. The characters are no more likeable than the characters in The Corrections but Franzen is much nicer to them. Franzen does again also show his commitment to dysfunctional people- very clearly here as Jessica (the well adjusted Berglund) almost gets less page space than Patty's estranged sister, Abigail. I felt a connection to all of the principle players as they were just so real though I will say more so to Patty and especially to Richard (not sure what it says about me that for the second time after The Corrections, that I particularly like to commitaphobe who likes girls much younger than himself) than to either Joey or Walter. The book exploration of the theme of freedom is fascinating especially as the characters grapple with their political and personal ideals especially in a post 9/11 world.The prose is profound (AGAIN) and it is very funny, very beautiful and very heartbreaking in parts. I will now stop before I babble....I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book though it is a tiny millimetre behind The Corrections in my opinion but still AWESOME....

Currently halfways through Enduring Love by Ian McEwan so will have words on that soon and I'm also about to start on another book from someone I saw talking at the Opera House of late, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.

I haven't begged you all for a while but if you've been following the journey of the many books, PLEASE sponsor me (even a couple of bucks would be appreciated)-

http://register.thenovelchallenge.org.au/The-Novel-Challenge/clarewoodley

Belated Week 11 Book 2- Just Kill Him Already

From depression to hatred combo-ed with dirtiness and jokes....Nick Cave's The Death of Bunny Munro...


Bunny Munro is a door-to-door salesman of beauty products. He sleazes his way through the south of England sleeping with lonely wives, lonely single mothers, lonely waitresses, prostitutes, and well pretty much anyone with a pair of X chromosomes. Bunny is convinced his winning charm will work on any woman and when he sees a woman he instantly imagines them naked, in particular one specific section of their anatomy. Somehow he is shocked to discover on his return home from a sales trip that his depressed wife, Libby, (who is off her meds and is long aware of his infidelities) has committed suicide in their apartment- piling the table high with pizzas and bottles of coke to feed their nine year old son, and then locking her in her bedroom and hanging herself from an aircon vent. Bunny collects Bunny Jr and, after unsuccessfully trying to palm Bunny Jr off on his grandmother, embarks on a massive sales quest which is more about him desperately questing for a shag whilst his son sits in their car. Bunny drives from council estate to cheap housing areas, and Bunny Jr sits in the car reading his encyclopedia. Bunny and Bunny Jr keep seeing visions of Libby, and Bunny is mildly obsessed with the stories of a guy in a devil mask who is travelling south and is killing and raping women along the way.

Bunny is pretty much without compare one of the most repellent characters I've ever read. Cave goes to no effort to make this man at all likable especially if you are a woman reading this book- in fact the reverse is true as the book continues and towards the end there is an off hand statement about the fact Bunny date raped a woman once. As he continued to imagine woman by only one section of their anatomy (Cave actually includes an apology to Kylie Minogue and Avril Lavinge- the main objects of Bunny's lust- in the acknowledgements at the end of the book) and to assume that every woman who didn't jump into bed with him was a bitch or a lesbian or both, I started to think I've never been happier with a book's title then this one...come on KILL HIM already! Then was the point where I realised (and I'm sure this isn't giving anything away as it is an uncertainty that will dawn on all) that there was more than one Bunny Munro in the book. Bunny Jr is adorable and oddly naive for the hellish world he lives on the edge of. Bunny Jr escapes into his world of ideas and his dreams of his mother, and you just hope that his father won't rub off on him at all.

I have much love for Nick Cave even if I have much hate for his main character. The book has that perfect Cave-isque combo of darkness, laughs and dirtiness. It is a good companion/contrast piece to The Road comparing Cave's borderline abusive, ignorant father/son relationship on the road with McCarthy's beautiful father/son relationship in the face of adversity and forced relocation. If you are one of the people I mentioned in a previous post who do not like book which are frank about sex, the language of this book (though not the actions, Bunny talk about sex alot and sexualises women to the extreme but very little sex actually takes place) means it is DEFINITELY not the book for you- the same applies if you don't like cusswords as Bunny is a quite liberal with them, so much that his son has picked some of them up. In fact the cover of the edition I own got me to the point of being awkward about reading it outside the house (it is just the picture of someone's crotch which, whilst appropriate considering Bunny's obsession, would have attracted at best odd looks and at worst inappropriate leering on the public transport). Personally hatred of the main character and waiting for his death may not have kept me going were it not for quality of Cave's writing. I will say if you can't survive on hatred for the misogynist horror that Bunny is, you should look elsewhere but believe you me no-one who has read this book (at least based on the reviews I've read) likes him in the slightest.

Not sure where this was the cover as I've only seen two in Australia- the one I read with its crouch picture and one with someone in white rabbit costume

Also just 'cause I can and 'cause LOVE his music, have the film clip for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Where the Wild Roses Grow featuring Kylie Minogue...not just because it was the one of the two songs that got me initially hooked on Nick Cave's music (the other being His Red Right Hand) but also because the singing budgie needs some redemption after the filth Nick Cave drags her image through in this novel.

Currently mid way through long weekend reading of fun, two books at once...more info soon....