Month: August 2011

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One Day- David Nicholls

I initially started reading One Day by David Nichols, because after having read a lot of heavy, ‘serious’ literature lately, I wanted something light. I had heard some discussion about it in connection with the film, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. I was intrigued, but suspected that it would just be a bit of light ‘chick-lit’ froth, that would be enjoyable, but hardly ‘life changing’.  How wrong I was. This is a wonderful book, and one I suspect will become a well-worn favourite to be returned to regularly like an old friend. Which is appropriate because that is what the book (and the film too I suppose)  is all about.

The main premise of the book is that we begin with the meeting of the two main characters following their graduation from university, on the 15th July 1988, which is also St Swithin’s Day. We then revisit the two characters every year for the next nearly 20 years, always on the same day. With each chapter, and each passing year, we are quickly become acquainted with what has been happening in their lives over the last twelve months.

As I said, I loved this book. The two main characters are great, with great depth. We don’t always ‘like’ them, indeed there are times when the male lead in particular makes me want to throw things at him, but we still retain a desire to keep up with the events of their respective lives, and how their friendship grows and survives through all that life can throw at any relationship.

It is also an emotional book, surfing the joys, the sadness and the in-between of these two people.Be warned, you will need to keep the tissues on stand-by on several occasions. But there are also plenty of laugh out loud moments too. Although this will probably appeal more to women than men, it is an excellent book that I would happily recommend it to anyone.

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Children of the Elementi- Ceri Clarke

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Children of the Elementi by Ceri Clarke is a good read in the Fantasy Genre.  We begin the story with the dramatic overthrow of the Elementi Empire. The Empire had been held together through the combination of the five most senior Elementi, who had dominion over the elements. These were fire, water, air and earth, with the fifth member being the High-King who had a little of all four elements and provided a means for all the elements to work in harmony together. However, unbeknown to those behind the overthrow, the offspring of each of the Elementi rulers were spirited away, to be called on to return the Empire to its peaceful, former glory.

This story got going straight away. I found that I was hooked almost immediately. The writing is fast passed and easy to get through. As an example of the genre, Children of the Elementi ticks all the right boxes.

If I had any criticism, it would be with the ending. The book isn’t very long, and while brevity isn’t necessarily a bad thing, in this case the conclusion does feel a little rushed. In other words I wanted more.

But otherwise this is a worthwhile novel, that will probably take a couple of hours to knock over.Definitely worth tracking down.

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Cloud Atlas- David Mitchell

Cover of "Cloud Atlas"
Cover of Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell was published in 2004, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.  It is a series of six short stories, spread across time beginning in the 1800’s and finishing in a post- apocalyptic future.

In addition to being six stories, it is also divided into two halves. In the first half we move through each story, in chronological order, moving forwards through time. Each story comes to an abrupt end, leaving the reader anxious to know what comes next, only to continue on into the next. The experience is not unlike watching television. We move from historical fiction, through to 1970’s political thriller, to a futurist sci-fi drama, with no more than the turning of a page.  A testament to how good this guy is as a writer, despite the shock of being dragged away from a story that we have become emotionally involved in, we are quickly sucked into the new world within no more than a few paragraphs.

Something else that is noteworthy is that with each change of story, as well as changing between eras and genres, each story has a new voice, they are all written from a different point-of-view.

As I said the book is in two halves. The first half is mainly concerned with the narrative of each individual story. The reader is vaguely aware of a ‘link’ between them, but we are absorbed in the ‘here-and-now’ of each new story. But, something happens about mid-way through the sixth story (incidentally the only one of the six that is told without any break). The book shifts from being merely a description of the events unfolding, and begins to explore some far bigger, and weightier issues. It starts to ask some big questions about freedom, about the role and nature of history, about the difference between civilisation and barbarism (and who gets to decide which is which). Following the conclusion of the sixth story, we start moving back through the other five stories (from where we left off) in reverse chronological order.

This book is brilliant. There were times when I was reading where I felt compelled to write down quotes from it, to remember later. Other times I simply had to sit and ponder the questions that this book asks of it reader. I had to leave a full day before I could even think about starting another book, because I had been so deeply affected, and didn’t want that feeling to go away.

Apparently, this book has been made into a film, set for release sometime in 2011. I’m not sure whether this will translate on to the screen effectively. But, I understand the impulse of those behind the project to want to share this with as many people as possible.

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