todayiamadaisy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
todayiamadaisy) wrote2014-10-01 11:28 pm
todayiamadaisy) wrote2014-10-01 11:28 pm
Entry tags:
Secrets of the Heart
September books read
* The Lighthouse: The Mystery of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers - Keith McCloskey (2014)
I have recently started listening to the weekly Futility Closet podcast, which is a fine way to kill half an hour. It is about Interesting Things. I have learnt all sorts of stuff: about the poor chap who had to sign 12,000 cheques in three days during the American Civil War, the White Star line stewardess who survived three sinking ships (including the Titanic) and said that the most important thing she learnt was to rescue her toothbrush, the accountant who got hold of a copy of the British postal guidelines and decided to test them by seeing if he could post, among other things, a turnip, his dog and himself (that is the most accountant-y thing I've ever heard), and how Robert Louis Stevenson assigned the rights to his birthday in a contract, which probably now vests in Barack Obama. No wonder he is going grey, having an extra birthday each year that he doesn't know about.
One of the podcasts was about the Flannan Isles lighthouse mystery, in which three lighthouse keepers on a remote Scottish island MYSTERIOUSLY vanished in December 1900. Well. It's not that mysterious, is it? One would assume they had been tragically swept out to sea, but, you know: people. Why believe the obvious when you could say it was aliens or giant birds or pirates or the Little People?
Not long after hearing this story, I stumbled across this book about it, which seemed timely. Alas, I wouldn't recommend it. It doesn't know if it wants to be about this particular incident or all lighthouses in general, and it is in desperate need of a good edit. (Although I did learn things. For example, I have never given so much as a second's thought to how lighthouses are funded. If I had, I would have guessed they are a government service. No, though. In the UK, at least, they are self-funded. They charge ships to pass. So there you go.)
Anyway, if you are interested in finding out more about this particular incident, I'd recommend reading the article that the podcast was based on, which is both much shorter and much better written.
* The Lives of Others - Neel Mukherjee (2014)
This is the first of the Booker nominees for this year. It is also the book that I started two months ago, then put down because I just wasn't up for all the head-lopping that happened in the prologue. Once you get past that part, it is about three generations of a wealthy family in Calcutta in the late 1960s. It is a clinical explanation of all the events that have led the family to being such an unhappy bunch. I mean, seriously, these people have got problems. They ALL have problems. How many problems? Well, let's just say that one of them is a terrorist, and he's the most sensible one in the whole family. The rest of them are nuts. I was going to list their problems for you, but I made a family tree (PDF) of them instead. Do enjoy it.
There is an awful lot of this book, but even so, quite a lot of what’s happening is left unsaid. Even all the people who died in the prologue; they’re not connected to the main family in the story, and you sort of have to squint to see how they fit in. I’m not sure he knew how to end the book. It sort of reaches a natural conclusion in 1970, even if finishing there would leave a lot of loose ends. Only it doesn’t end there, it jumps to 2012 and gives a surprise happy ending for one character and an epilogue about a completely new character that reveals something else that was left unsaid in the main story.
In summary, it's quite good and beautifully written and I can see why it's the favourite to win the Booker. It's also a bit of a downer.
* The Lighthouse: The Mystery of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers - Keith McCloskey (2014)
I have recently started listening to the weekly Futility Closet podcast, which is a fine way to kill half an hour. It is about Interesting Things. I have learnt all sorts of stuff: about the poor chap who had to sign 12,000 cheques in three days during the American Civil War, the White Star line stewardess who survived three sinking ships (including the Titanic) and said that the most important thing she learnt was to rescue her toothbrush, the accountant who got hold of a copy of the British postal guidelines and decided to test them by seeing if he could post, among other things, a turnip, his dog and himself (that is the most accountant-y thing I've ever heard), and how Robert Louis Stevenson assigned the rights to his birthday in a contract, which probably now vests in Barack Obama. No wonder he is going grey, having an extra birthday each year that he doesn't know about.
One of the podcasts was about the Flannan Isles lighthouse mystery, in which three lighthouse keepers on a remote Scottish island MYSTERIOUSLY vanished in December 1900. Well. It's not that mysterious, is it? One would assume they had been tragically swept out to sea, but, you know: people. Why believe the obvious when you could say it was aliens or giant birds or pirates or the Little People?
Not long after hearing this story, I stumbled across this book about it, which seemed timely. Alas, I wouldn't recommend it. It doesn't know if it wants to be about this particular incident or all lighthouses in general, and it is in desperate need of a good edit. (Although I did learn things. For example, I have never given so much as a second's thought to how lighthouses are funded. If I had, I would have guessed they are a government service. No, though. In the UK, at least, they are self-funded. They charge ships to pass. So there you go.)
Anyway, if you are interested in finding out more about this particular incident, I'd recommend reading the article that the podcast was based on, which is both much shorter and much better written.
* The Lives of Others - Neel Mukherjee (2014)
This is the first of the Booker nominees for this year. It is also the book that I started two months ago, then put down because I just wasn't up for all the head-lopping that happened in the prologue. Once you get past that part, it is about three generations of a wealthy family in Calcutta in the late 1960s. It is a clinical explanation of all the events that have led the family to being such an unhappy bunch. I mean, seriously, these people have got problems. They ALL have problems. How many problems? Well, let's just say that one of them is a terrorist, and he's the most sensible one in the whole family. The rest of them are nuts. I was going to list their problems for you, but I made a family tree (PDF) of them instead. Do enjoy it.
There is an awful lot of this book, but even so, quite a lot of what’s happening is left unsaid. Even all the people who died in the prologue; they’re not connected to the main family in the story, and you sort of have to squint to see how they fit in. I’m not sure he knew how to end the book. It sort of reaches a natural conclusion in 1970, even if finishing there would leave a lot of loose ends. Only it doesn’t end there, it jumps to 2012 and gives a surprise happy ending for one character and an epilogue about a completely new character that reveals something else that was left unsaid in the main story.
In summary, it's quite good and beautifully written and I can see why it's the favourite to win the Booker. It's also a bit of a downer.