This was the driest of the Karla books to me, a slow moving and intricate unravelling as Smiley figures out what secret could possibly lead to Karla'sThis was the driest of the Karla books to me, a slow moving and intricate unravelling as Smiley figures out what secret could possibly lead to Karla's downfall. Interesting, but probably the Karla book I enjoyed least....more
Living in England during World War II, Derek and his friends Peter and Geoffrey are used to the sound of air raids. It's background noise to them, andLiving in England during World War II, Derek and his friends Peter and Geoffrey are used to the sound of air raids. It's background noise to them, and when the sirens go off they're excited rather than scared like the adults. The boys decide to build a new fort, and in the process start feuding with another group of local kids.
One of her few (only?) books without a fantastical element, this feels very grounded in and lived in. Everywhere there's signs of war - the poor quality food, the bomb shelters, the mothers going to work in factories - but for these kids, it's all they have ever known. The tension rises and rises, and the ending is quite bleak. ...more
After separating from her husband, a woman moves into an apartment with her young daughter. Set in 1970s Japan, this is a very slim novella, good prosAfter separating from her husband, a woman moves into an apartment with her young daughter. Set in 1970s Japan, this is a very slim novella, good prose, bit depressing as she struggles though both the social complexities and her own feelings. But doesn't ultimately end depressing....more
After the downfall of Haydon, Smiley is in charge of the Circus. One of his operatives, Westerby - the "honourable schoolboy" of the title - is sent tAfter the downfall of Haydon, Smiley is in charge of the Circus. One of his operatives, Westerby - the "honourable schoolboy" of the title - is sent to Hong Kong and throughout south-east Asia, tugging on a thread that becomes a potentially huge coup for British Intelligence and their "cousins" aka their USA counterparts. But it's clear from the early stages that this is ultimately seen as a failed mission, and there's a sense of growing dread as Westerby gets too close to his target, and Smiley is dealing with more subtle power struggles within the Circus.
Of the three Le Carre books I've read, this is easily the most dense and daunting. Each chapter was incredibly full of detail, full of doing and being and outward action, but puzzling those pieces together into the bigger whole is a slower process. I thought there were some incredible passages and sequences in this - one of the most memorable ones is just a meeting between the British and USA intelligence agencies, where they sit and talk in a room - but also long stretches where I wasn't sure what the point was....more
After a regime change inside British intelligence and the death of the former Control, George Smiley has been put out to pasture, as have many of his After a regime change inside British intelligence and the death of the former Control, George Smiley has been put out to pasture, as have many of his peers. But then he's called back in to track down the mole who's infiltrated the organisation at the highest levels.
Smiley is a bureaucrat, putting the pieces together from first hand accounts of peers and colleagues, and from internal memos and files, only rarely getting involved personally. There's a few tense sequences - when Guillam smuggles papers out of the archives and is nearly caught, or a flashback sequence to a failed mission - but the effect is much more about the slow accretion of detail, the story becoming apparent through all of these refracted angles.
There's so much detail but also so much left unsaid, the reader left to finish the thought. I found that quite satisfying.
He paints such a cynical, morally ambiguous world. None of these people are particularly happy! Loyalty and friendship mean nothing! Spying is not glamorous or thrilling, but just a very difficult and thankless job. ...more
The final book in the series is still a great read, but the weakest for me. I love seeing all the protagonists of the series together at last - but thThe final book in the series is still a great read, but the weakest for me. I love seeing all the protagonists of the series together at last - but the book separates them for long stretches, Will and Bran doing magical quest things, the Drews on a different journey. Reading as an adult, I did for the first time feel the lack of urgency to Will and Bran's quest through the Lost Land. It's beautifully written but things happen in a dreamlike way, seemingly without need for much effort on their part. ...more
After falling ill, Will is sent to his aunt's farm in Wales to convalesce; and also, as an Old One, he must seek the golden harp that has the power toAfter falling ill, Will is sent to his aunt's farm in Wales to convalesce; and also, as an Old One, he must seek the golden harp that has the power to wake the ancient Sleepers.
In the Welsh hills he meets Bran, a strange albino boy accompanied by a white dog. Bran is just a mortal, unlike Will, but he seems destined for some bigger fate.
Another re-read. Bran looms so large over the memory of this series that it's always a bit surprising to realise he only appears in two books. I like Bran a lot, a boy who has always been an outsider and embraced it, but who has yet to discover who he really is. I don't feel I have a lot to say about this one, it's just as interesting and mysteriously beautiful as the previous books, but I do miss the Drews! ...more
The Drew siblings return to Cornwall after the Grail they discovered in 'Over Sea, Under Stone' is stolen by the Dark. They expect another summer of aThe Drew siblings return to Cornwall after the Grail they discovered in 'Over Sea, Under Stone' is stolen by the Dark. They expect another summer of adventures with their Great Uncle Merry - but are disappointed when they realise they'll be expected to mingle with some boy called Will Stanton, ugh. WHO????
This is possibly my favourite book in the series. I love the Drew siblings and I especially love Jane. She bears witness as the village women construct the Greenwitch - a wicker man type figure, though with less human sacrifice - and before it's thrown into the ocean as an offering for good luck, she makes a wish as is traditional. But Jane makes a wish not for herself, but for the Greenwitch, and it's her act of compassion which comes full circle at the end. A very fairytale kind of arc, like sharing bread with an old crone in the forest who later turns out to be a sorceress....more
Will Stanton turns eleven years old and discovers he is one of the Old Ones, fated to battle the magic of the Dark. Another re-read and I do think it Will Stanton turns eleven years old and discovers he is one of the Old Ones, fated to battle the magic of the Dark. Another re-read and I do think it holds up.
I've seen this book criticised for its 'plot coupon' structure - Will has to collect the six signs, another one popping up every couple of chapters - but I think the writing is just so beautiful it doesn't matter at all. The domestic scenes with the Stanton family (nine children, good grief) are so warm and lovely, but the magical scenes are so eerie and powerful.
Just as in Over Sea, Under Stone, the Dark is both terrifying and supernatural, a black rider on a black horse - but also prosaic and everyday. A farmgirl with a basket of fresh bread could as easily be an agent for the dark as anyone. And the Light is the same too - there's a whole subplot that really made me think the Light was just as terrible as the Dark, in some ways. ...more
Nora is a single mother in 1970s Melbourne, hopelessly in love with Javo, who is in a constant struggle with addiction.
This Australian classic is semiNora is a single mother in 1970s Melbourne, hopelessly in love with Javo, who is in a constant struggle with addiction.
This Australian classic is semi-autobiographical and reads like it, there's a very organic feel to the way the days flow and how people come and go through Nora's life, the arcs are loose and nothing settles neatly. The writing is very evocative and vivid.
But also frustrating. LOL. The quotidian feel of it, how every day unfolds more or less the same way, how she keeps falling in with Javo and then falling out again, is at times hypnotic but towards the end increasingly frustrating. You're never going to work it out! Just give up!
More interesting than Javo is Nora's community of boho progressives who sleep together, live together, share drugs, share everything. I wish there was more focus on this and their messy lives. But Nora's point of view is so deep inside it and so internalised that the narrative never lets you take a step back and see it as a whole. ...more
Third in the Merlin trilogy sees Arthur securely on the throne, Mordred's birth and supposed death, the marriage of Arthur to Guinevere, and the fadinThird in the Merlin trilogy sees Arthur securely on the throne, Mordred's birth and supposed death, the marriage of Arthur to Guinevere, and the fading of Merlin's powers. At one point Merlin is lost in madness for months, on another occasion left for dead. Is Morgause going to win against him at last, or is it the mysterious Nimue?
The birth and hiding away of Mordred is a dark mirror to Arthur's own birth and upbringing, and a fainter echo still of Merlin's own wanderings in the wilderness before being acknowledged as a prince. Stewart really loves these echoes and redoublings, and there are repetitions throughout the book with two Gwens, two Ninians - two deaths for Merlin! Etc etc.
It's so interesting seeing what Stewarts picks and chooses from Arthurian legend and how she puts her own, often very convincing spin on it. So with the May Day babies, the slaughter of all the newborn children by Arthur, she places the work at Lot's door. Nimue comes into the story and although the narrative opens the door to reading her as an enchantress who drains Merlin to death and then abandons him, Stewart gives her a kinder arc, painting her as a real successor to Merlin's powers.
The book ends on a peaceful note. She did go on to write the fourth book about Mordred - so that's all still coming! But in this trilogy, she found a happier stopping point that feels satisfying. I really enjoyed this whole trilogy, it's so well written and such a good take on the Arthurian legends....more
Arthur is born and hidden away from the world, and Merlin goes on his travels before returning to oversee Arthur's upbringing.
For a good half of the bArthur is born and hidden away from the world, and Merlin goes on his travels before returning to oversee Arthur's upbringing.
For a good half of the book we do not see Arthur except as a tiny baby, and then just at the right time - after we have been on sufficient adventures with Merlin in the east - Stewart swoops us back in and catches Arthur as an eager youth who's already showing himself as a leader of men.
More and more players from Arthurian lore take the stage here. Sir Ector and Cei (Kay), Morgause and Morgian, King Lot. I am enjoying these books so much, despite the inevitable dread of all the sad things to come, because the writing is just SO good and most of the characters are so interesting and shaded (not Morgause though lol)....more
A retelling of Merlin's life, from his childhood as the bastard son of a princess, then a youthful and curious king's man, who grows a reputation as aA retelling of Merlin's life, from his childhood as the bastard son of a princess, then a youthful and curious king's man, who grows a reputation as a wizard until Uther calls on him to help pull the strings that will lead to the conception of Arthur.
Stewart's angle is to take a more 'realistic' approach to Merlin's life - he's not the spawn of the devil but rather the result of a brief, illicit affair about which his mother refuses to speak. The two dragons under the mountain are symbolic, represented by a fallen flag and a meteor. Merlin moves the Dancing Giants to Stonehenge not through magic but well-applied mathematics.
But there's a streak of magic in this too. Despite being a first person narrator, Merlin is at times still an opaque and uncanny presence, especially when the gods choose to speak through him and guide him towards some unknown fate.
I have actually read this series before but I was very young at the time and I have almost no memory aside from thinking I didn't like them much (as opposed to The Once and Future King, which I read several times). Reading this again now, I can see why it didn't appeal to a younger me and why it does appeal to me now. It's quite dark and dour at times, but it's also wonderfully crafted and really put me through the emotional wringer....more
Told from the point of view of harpist Cadwan, this is the story of Boudicca - Queen of the Iceni and leader of the great uprising of the native tribeTold from the point of view of harpist Cadwan, this is the story of Boudicca - Queen of the Iceni and leader of the great uprising of the native tribes against the Romans in AD 60. The story follows her from childhood, barefoot and stubbornly trying to follow her father's hunting party, through to her marriage and motherhood before the yoke of the Romans grows too heavy; and finally to the bitter, bloody end.
I knew how this story would go but it still involved me emotionally and then destroyed me totally as Sutcliff can do. Like so many of her stories it evokes such a vivid sense of time and place - the way she describes nature, the way she talks about war - and locates these legendary, mythologised yet so very fallible and human characters in them. The very sense of inevitability to it all makes it so much more tragic.
I knew how it would end! And Boudicca does terrible things in her revenge too. But I still wish it could end differently.
Elsa, just eighteen, is the mistress to Victor, who owns an antique shop. They are invited to a weekend with millionaire Hamish and his wife Gemma, anElsa, just eighteen, is the mistress to Victor, who owns an antique shop. They are invited to a weekend with millionaire Hamish and his wife Gemma, and Elsa finds herself quite, quite over her head.
It's been a very long time since I read a Weldon book but she's much as I remember in this 1977 novel. She's very sharp-eyed when it comes to the fallibility of both women and men, but especially men, who are usually boorish or stupid and sexist. Her women can be awful too but it's often because they're forced to be. I think I liked best the description of Victor's wife Janice, who in his absence finally abandons any pretence at being a good housewife and lets herself be free - slovenly, lazy, sexually available. Go on Janice, you do you!
This novel felt typical to me in the sense that it starts out in a realistic place, and returns there from time to time, but slips so easily into the fantastical, allegorical, and farcical. Little Sisters intertwines itself into so many fairytales, Rapunzel and Bluebeard and others, and it layers itself into repetitions and circles (secretaries falling love with bosses, severed ring fingers, little girls lost in big cities), while also very much being the story of Elsa being stuck on a horrible weekend away with her horrible older boyfriend.
And like the other Weldon novels I read, it left with me a faintly unpleasant aftertaste! It's well written and easy to read, and very very funny and sharp at times; but everyone is so unpleasant, and such horrible things happen to them, that it's a relief when it's all over....more
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