The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett

It's taken me approximately two months to read this book, hence my quietness on this blog space. The book is 974 pages long (wowser), although I only found that out just now because the copy I had on my kindle didn't tell me the page count or what page I was on, which was a little weird.
The setting for the Pillars of the Earth is the building of cathedrals in the twelfth century. At first I thought this sounded boring, but the whole cathedral thing is only really the backdrop for all the lying, murdering, treachery, cunning and intrigue. And actually it was quite interesting to learn about how cathedrals were built, even though a lot of the time I didn't understand the lingo.
The first chapter dives straight into the action, leaving you with a sense of mystery and of a story to unravel. After this initial chapter, however, I found it moved a bit slowly and wasn't convinced for probably the first 100 pages or so that I was going to like it. Then, following some rape, destruction and general development of character relationships (good and bad), I became utterly entranced. Once I was in its grip, I couldn't put the thing down. The story spans about 50 years and Follett gives the overall picture whilst also honing in significantly on the most important parts. The detail of some of the things he described was quite amazing. During one fight I was actually holding my breath, as if I was watching a film instead of reading. The way Follett describes things allows you to see every exactly in your minds eye, as it happens, and to understand how the characters feel.
Prior Philip, one of the main characters, gave me lots of profound things to think about. He is innately good, and I very much enjoyed the two-ing and fro-ing between him and others in the never ending battle between good and evil. I also liked the strong female characters in the story. You've gotta love a good witch, haven't you?

I will now share with you one of my favourite quotes from the book. I liked it mainly becuase it reminded me so much of the attitude here in Saudi.
Prior Philip is considering just letting God decide whether the cathedral will be built in Shiring or Kingsbridge, rather than fighting his corner. But he knows that isn't how it works.  

 

He knew that would not do, of course. Having faith in God did not mean sitting back and doing nothing. It meant believing that you would find success if you did your best honestly and energetically.

 

His opinion is in direct contrast to the Saudi mentality. Inshallah here means, 'I will do nothing about this but if it's meant to happen then it will.'
No, people, no.  

 

If you're up for an adventure, and have enough time on your hands for it, then I highly recommend this book. And there's a sequel World Without End, so the fun doesn't have to stop there!

5/5  ¶¶¶¶¶

An Idiot Abroad, Karl Pilkington

The full title of this book is An Idiot Abroad, The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington, with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, but I think my chosen title is better seeing as the second two people didn't do a whole lot. Plus it's a bit of a mouthful don't you think?
I actually read this before reading A Christmas Carol, but amidst the excitement and flurry of all the Christmas cheer here in Saudi Arabia, I forgot to review it.
I've seen a few episodes from the TV series but Lee downloaded the book onto my kindle so I figured I'd give it a go. I do love Karl Pilkington: his generally unimpressed take on supposedly impressive things, his strange and intricate way of viewing the world and his unapologetic grumpiness. Perhaps I should take a leaf out of his book with regards to this last part, and stop apologising too.
An idiot abroad sees Karl on seven trips to see the wonders (the new ones, except one): the pyramids in Egypt, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, the Taj Mahal in India, Chichen Itza in Mexico, The Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan and Machu Picchu in Peru. I love the illustrations and photos-mainly of him looking miserable- but couldn't enjoy them to the full because my kindle is black and white. At the beginning of each chapter there is a famous quote about the wonder, followed by one from Karl. For example, he says of the Great Wall, "It was knackered. So knackered that it wasn't really a wall. I remember hearing that you're supposed to be able to see the great wall of china from the moon, but that has got to be bollocks 'cos even as I stood right next to this bit I had problems seeing it."
In general he hates everywhere he goes, partly because he's not a fan of being out of his comfort zone, but also because Ricky and Stephen go out of their way to make his life difficult. They force him to meet up with random, weird people and eat scary food such as fried insects.
I did find his pessimism and nonchalance a bit irritating at times, especially when he visited Christ the Redeemer, a place I really, really want to go to. I found that the more I read, the more he was actually putting me off going anywhere ever again. Then I realised how unfair it is that he got to do all this stuff for free, in fact he was paid to go to these places and see all these famous sights. How unappreciative! But that's just it, isn't it? Often when things are given to us for free we don't appreciate them.
But then I forgave Karl because he had an epiphany where he acknowledged that he was lucky to get to go to all those places for free.
And he is completely hilarious. He takes bags of monster munch with him on every trip and hates most of the customs and food of the cultures, but still jumps in and does everything he's asked/made to do with plenty of enthusiasm: from dancing on a float at the Rio carnival, to wrestling in Mexico and riding a camel for hours in Jordan. He is also very inquisitive and not afraid to question other people's customs.
The book has left me with images of a far too busy Christ the Redeemer, a dead sea with tons of spit in it, a great wall that's falling down and many more reasons not to go to any of these places. The one  wonder he didn't slag off too much, however, was Machu Picchu, which just sounds great and is still top of my list of places to visit.
I have to say I find Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant pretty annoying. They don't give Karl much credit for the fact that he is the funny one and the one whose words people enjoy reading. Just near the end of the book Ricky calls to tell Karl they've changed the name of the series from 'Karl Pilkington's Seven Wonders' to 'An Idiot Abroad.' Karl's pretty unhappy and definitely doesn't agree to it, but as the title proves he was bullied into it in the end. I suppose the bullying is all part of the act, and you could say that he would be nothing without the other two having made him famous, but still sometimes it's a bit much.
All in all, an entertaining, and surprisingly educational read.

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Marley was dead, to begin with.
Those famous words that say to people around the globe: Christmas is here. I know for me anyway, when I sit to begin my annual reading of A Christmas Carol, the opening line makes me want to curl up in bed with a cup of tea, surrounded by fairy lights  and festive music to read the whole thing from start to finish.
If you haven't ever read the book, then you should. We all know the story inside out and back to front from all the different films that exist, but there's something about hearing it straight from Dickens' mouth that makes it all the more special. His descriptions of the surroundings, sights, sounds and smells are just wonderful, really transporting you into the atmosphere of the place. As a writer I could certainly learn a thing or two from Dickens in terms of description. He sets the scene beautifully, without going on and on like other Victorian authors (cough cough, George Eliot).
It goes without saying that I love watching the films as well, and I'm not ashamed to tell you that my forever favourite is The Muppet Christmas Carol. I was surprised actually in how true some of the speeches in the film are to the original text, to the point where I was visualising various muppets as I read.

For example:
The founder of the feast indeed! I wish I had him here. I'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and I hope he'd have a good appetite for it...It should be Christmas day I'm sure, on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stinky, hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge.

Who said this? We all know the answer is Miss Piggy.
All that was missing from the novel is for her to say 'and badly dressed!' and for Melinda and Belinda to gasp in horror. I think if Dickens could see The Muppet Christmas Carol then he would surely agree to insert this line into the orginial.   
My only disappointment in reading A Christmas Carol this time is that I read it on my Kindle, where there were just explanations of the illustrations rather than the pictures themselves. But then I guess that's what you get for being able to buy the entire works of Dickens for 50p!
Which one should I read next?

5/5 ¶¶¶¶¶ 

 

The Name of this Book is Secret- Pseudonymous Bosch

OK, I promise the next book I review will be adult fiction. But for now...

The Name of This Book is Secret is a children's mystery book that starts out by saying it can't possibly let the reader know anything about the mystery or secrets in question, for fear of danger. Names are changed and information blanked out with X's, all quirky but not something that can be kept up if there's to be any storyline. The book soon settled in to being more of a normal story, which I liked on one hand and didn't on the other. I felt that it was a cop out after all the going-on about protecting the secrets and changing information, and meant the style altered significantly a few chapters in. But having said that, it meant we could get on with the story.
The plot involves a girl called Cass, a 'survivalist' who carries around a rucksack of important things in case of emergency. But the thing is that Cass has never yet had to survive anything. She makes a new friend Max-Ernest and together they get themselves involved in solving the mystery left behind by a recently deceased magician. They find a symphony of smells- a scientific instrument that allows you to communicate through smell, which proves to be very useful. The children meet a beautiful couple- Ms. Mauvais and Dr L- who look too perfect to be true. The children soon become suspicious that Ms Mauvais and Dr. L have something to do with the magicians death. After lots of sneaking around and uncovering secrets, Cass and Max-Ernest believe that Ms. Mauvais is much older than she seems, and that she and Dr. L are in the business of kidnapping children. So when a boy from school called Benjamin Blake goes missing, Cass sets out to rescue him. She and Max-Ernest follow him to the Midnight Sun Spa, where he is going to be used horrifically to feed the needs of the youth seekers, of which Ms. Mauvais is the leader.

I found this book interesting enough and I think many children would like it. The problem for me is that the book pretty much copies Lemony Snicket's style (A Series of Unfortunate Events) but it's simply not as good. All the build up doesn't pay off, and I felt at the end that there was too much mystery still uncovered. There are four more in the series, but I don't agree with leaving questions unanswered and plot undeveloped just because there are more books to come. I firmly believe a book should be able to stand alone, as well as be part of a set.  

3 out of five ¶¶¶

I Used to Know That: Geography: stuff you forgot from school, Will Williams

I bought this book for an extremely reasonable 99p, with the intent of refreshing my fuzzy and unreliable memory re: GCSE Geography. The author puts a modern and relevant spin on concepts, as well as reminding you of certain ways of teaching long passed that are amusing to look back on. I found the physical Geography section a bit mind boggling, with too many tricky graphs. But it was still fun to re-visit river formation and coastlines. Unlike when I was at school, I really enjoyed the human Geography chapters, probably because I am more interested in the wide world now than I was then and have first hand experience of a few places. There were lots of statistics about consumerism and the effects of natural disasters, as well as a refreshing stance on global warming.
After reading this book I felt inspired to jog my memory on the other subjects, specifically History, Maths (eek) and Science (double eek). But unfortunately, as is a trend with Kindle products, the offer is no longer on and the price has gone up to 4.91, which just seems a bit steep for something I got free when I was sixteen!

3/5 ¶¶¶

The Wise Man's Fear, Patrick Rothfuss

The second book in the trilogy The Kingkiller Chronicle (the third yet to be published), I was very excited to read this after loving the first instalment. Set in a fantasy world somewhere between Middle Earth and Hogwarts, the 1000 page story looks back on the early life of the legend Kvothe, a man now in hiding as a pub owner in a small town. The retelling of Kvothe's life picks up where it left off, at the beginning of his second year at university, with all the familiar people in tow: his best friends Sim and Wil, Devi the money lender, Ambrose the arch enemy and Denna the elusive but irresistible girl. After one term of lectures, lute playing, increasingly dangerous fights with Ambrose and continually scraping money together, Kvothe has to go to court for a crime committed in his first year. After this is dealt with, the people closest to him recommend he take a break from university, so he goes in search of Maer Alveron, a rich man who might just become Kvothe's patron if he plays his cards right. With quick wit and a fighting desire to survive, Kvothe soon finds himself living in the Maer's house, comfortable but bored and pretty much a prisoner.
At this point I'm afraid to say that for me the book got a little dull, dragging on for about a hundred pages. It just felt like nothing was really happening. I was extrememly glad therefore when Kvothe was finally sent by the Maer on a mission to kill some bandits. This was the beginning of many adventures, including mass killing, rescuing kidnapped women, losing his virginity to Felurian- a mythical creature so beautiful that men die rather than leave her- and training to be a Adem warrior. When he finally returns to the university Kvothe is a grown up, self assured and rich. I couldn't help mourning the loss of the cute-but-terrible-with-women pauper Kvothe, but alas, we all have to become adults sometime.
The most intriguing parts of the story were when Kvothe was continuing in his quest to track down the evil Chandrian. Especially his conversation with the Cthaeh, the all knowing oracle tree that revels in telling people everything bad about their lives. But I found myself wanting more of this, and willing Kvothe to get a little closer than he did to the truth.
The Wise Man's Fear was all in all an extremely enjoyable epic read (is it me or are books getting longer?), and one I would definitely recommend, although of course The Name of the Wind needs to be first.

5/5  ¶¶¶¶¶

F**k It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way, John C. Parkin

The F word in the title, huh? It must be worth a read!
I decided to look into this book after someone posted it on Facebook. I've always cringed at the phrase 'self help' and would never be seen dead in that section of Waterstones, but the Kindle has allowed me to explore new areas without anyone knowing. Haha! That's right, I can read self help books, erotic chick lit, even the bible and no-one will know.
At the beginning of the year I read The Secret, and enjoyed it in part but found the majority of it incredibly cheesy. Also it focused far too much on money. Of course we all want money, but I think the idea of being able to 'make money come to you' is quite gross. Like saying all poor or starving people just lack The Secret. And money often doesn't equal happiness anyway.
Fuck It, on the other hand, was much more up my street. The way of life involves realising how insignificant we and our problems are in the grand scheme of things and through this developing the ability to say 'Fuck It' and not worry. It talks about ways to relax and how to implement the Fuck It way in different areas of life. I particularly liked the part about not beating yourself up for not reaching certain goals, or for not doing things when you expected to. It's all about just letting things happen whenever, really. John C. Parkin is a bit cynical (maybe cos he's English) which made everything easier to read (for me, an ultimate cynic at heart). He's spent a lot of his life studying Eastern religion, and has taken a lot of it on board but with a very Western twist. He makes things seem achievable, rather than leaving you feeling like the ideas are too spiritual. For example he calls meditating 'sitting and thinking for a while.' And he's very aware of himself, his views and how not everything works for everyone. After explaining something he'll say something like- but not all of this will relate to you, so pick and choose what you think is good, and if you don't like any of it, then, well, fuck it.
I like that a lot.

I do think this book could be taken too literally, and lead to someone saying Fuck It to being pro-active, leading them to just wait for the bad stuff to go away and the good stuff to come. Which I don't believe would end well.
For me that's not what the book was saying though- the Fuck It way is simply about not worrying so much about stuff.  

Have a look at the website if you feel like it. Particularly the video of Parkin's kids talking about the Fuck It way of life. Pretty funny watching children being allowed to swear so much.

5/5 ¶¶¶¶¶