I've polished off a record number of books during my 3 weeks of annual leave, which officially ends today. The two books that have most impressed me were:
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
My first McEwan read bowled me over by his lyrical language. Even descriptions of the most banal things seemed beautiful. On Chesil Beach is about a newlywed couple's wedding night. The characters in the novel win you over in their youthful naivete but its just so sad that it ends up being the same thing that dares to break them apart. I could barely put this book down, it was a short and easy read but leaves such an impression.
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
This book gives you sympathy for terrorists. It makes you want to befriend them. This book won the Orange Prize in 2002. It's about a hostage situation in a diplomat's house in an unnamed Latin American country. Among the hostages are an opera singer, a Japanese CEO, a translator and a priest. Amazingly the characters seem to forget the predicament that they're in which leads to a devastating ending. I loved this book and finished it on my flight home from Singapore.
Currently reading: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Currently listening to: Josh Pyke, Chimney's Afire
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2 comments:
Hi Tash! Stumbled across your blog through Vogue. Thanks for the book reviews, I am so reading the McEwan book - is it a new release? Also, hope you don't mind me asking; how is "Love in the Time of Cholera" so far? I'm told it's the greatest love story of all.
Hi DistinctivelyTish
Thanks for the comment!
On Chesil Beach was published in 2007, so not really new but was a good introduction to McEwan's work.
I'm halfway through "Love in the Time of Cholera" and the language is incredibly rich and emotive. It takes awhile to get into the story though as it starts in the present and then goes backwards to explain how they met etc. It is very much an unrequited love story but I'm holding out for a happy ending, hopefully!
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