I’ve leant my other Hunger Games books out, so grabbed the next Roald Dahl book in the series while I wait! This one is so short, only 50 odd pages, and lots of that is illustrations! I thought I’d never read it before, but as I got about halfway through I realised I definitely knew the story.
Utterly brilliant, hardly about the finger at all, but about a family that shoots ducks, and how they are punished by the finger…. Easy to read in one sitting, definitely recommended for a quick laugh!
Wow, I don’t know when I last read a book this quickly! I saw the film earlier this year, and it was great, but the book (as always) just tells you so much more.
The whole concept behind it is truly horrific. Twelve districts, under rule of “The Capitol”, each year, a girl and boy are taken from each district and put in an arena to fight to the death. All for TV.
And yet it’s told so well, I literally couldn’t put it down. It’s written in the first person, and so it’s just like she’s chatting to you, telling you her story. It makes the relationships and feelings infinitely more believable.
Just a fab book – can’t wait to read the next one!
This is the second book I’ve finished this week! Although I guess you can see why…!
Such a classic though, it deserves to be read lots! And as happened when I read James and the Giant Peach last year, I found bits I couldn’t remember in the slightest! There’s a fantastic chapter about square sweets that look round:
[from chapter 23 – Square sweets that look round]
On the table there were rows and rows of small white square-shaped
sweets. The sweets looked very much like square sugar lumps – except that each of them
had a funny little pink face painted on one side. At the end of the table, a number of
Oompa-Loompas were busily painting more faces on more sweets.
‘There you are!’ cried Mr Wonka. ‘Square sweets that look round!’
‘They don’t look round to me,’ said Mike Teavee.
‘They look square,’ said Veruca Salt. ‘They look completely square.’
‘But they are square,’ said Mr Wonka. ‘I never said they weren’t.’
‘You said they were round!’ said Veruca Salt.
‘I never said anything of the sort,’ said Mr Wonka. ‘I said they looked round.’
‘But they don’t look round!’ said Veruca Salt.’ They look square!’
‘They look round,’ insisted Mr Wonka.
‘They most certainly do not look round!’ cried Veruca Salt.
‘Veruca, darling,’ said Mrs Salt, ‘pay no attention to Mr Wonka! He’s lying to you!’
‘My dear old fish,’ said Mr Wonka, ‘go and boil your head!’
‘How dare you speak to me like that!’ shouted Mrs Salt.
‘Oh, do shut up,’ said Mr Wonka. ‘Now watch this!’
He took a key from his pocket, and unlocked the door, and flung it open … and suddenly … at the sound of the door opening, all the rows of little square sweets looked quickly round to see who was coming in. The tiny faces actually turned towards the door and stared at Mr Wonka.
‘There you are!’ he cried triumphantly. ‘They’re looking round! There’s no argument about it! They are square sweets that look round!’
These days it’s hard to read it without picture both of the big films that have been made of it.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – 1971
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – 2005
It’s rare for a remake to ever live up to the original, but in this case, in so many ways, the newer film is much closer to the book than the old film. I guess the other film changed it’s title but it’s still the same story. In the newer film, the Oompa Loompas use the ‘correct’ words for their songs (although the classic oopma loompa doopa de doo from the old film will remain a classic!), and Veruca Salt has the same story as in the book, whereas they changed the squirrels for geese in the old film! The old film also had a scene where Charlie and his Grandpa were caught breaking rules, which just isn’t in Charlie’s character, or the book, and a whole plot with Arthur Slugworth trying to get each child to steal a recipe. Not that the newer film was perfect! Willy Wonka seemed high as a kite for half of it, and there was a whole plotline about his relationship with his father who was a dentist, which was totally surreal.
At the end of the day though, they’re both fab films – the old has some beautiful songs in it (other than the oompa loompa songs! (check out pure imagination and the candyman can) And I’d highly recommend watching both of them – and reading the book of course!
But really, one film has a chocolate waterfall and river that look like thin hot chocolate, the other that looks like proper melted chocolate – which would you rather?!
Obviously this is one of the films of the moment with lots of Oscar nominations etc, but before it was a film it was a well respected book, actually winning the Man Booker Prize in 2002. (This is the first time I’ve ever read a Man Booker Prize winner, and I’m probably prouder than I should be!)
Before I read the book I was told the first 60-90 pages are a bit of a slog, but then suddenly you won’t be able to put it down, and there’s a massive twist at the end that’ll make you want to go back and re-read half of it!
I can testify to that last bit – I’d love to re-read chunks of it now, but I have to say I found the first chunk of the book as fascinating as the rest as we learnt about this guys background and childhood, what makes him who he is.
The book is so clever and totally draws you in like a good book should. Highly recommended!
No burglars came again last night
Just as they failed to come the night before,
and for all the nights I can remember
No burglars yet again although I listened, as I always do, for them
Once more they did not oil and ease the rusty bolt that
holds the garden gate
Behind the shed beside the house
Nor did I hear them moving in the yard
at some hear-sobbing wretched hour
It was the ticking of a clock upon my wall
That sounded like the pad of evil steps a hundred feet away
They did not creep inside, their blind-from-birth brutality
reduced to stealth and whispers
They did not stand above me.
Were not there with threats and ugly promises, intoxicated
by the scent of fear incontinent
Nor did they then, with weapons that I meekly placed into
their hands, proceed to sever from my chilled insides the
screaming child who has evaded birth for so long now
They did not not come
They were not there again last night.
And what if they should never come?
Such a waste of nights
I might have slept
But if I had, I feel quite sure
They would have come
Those burglars – oh, yes, they would have come
From “Silences and Nonsenses – Collected Poetry, Doggerel, and Whimsy” by Adrian Plass. Published 2010 by Authentic Media
No copyright infringement intended, just thought this was a brilliant poem and wanted to share – will happily remove if requested.
I’ve only read 2 books since May, one took a few days, the other a few months! Guess which way round that was….
James and the Giant Peach – Roald Dahl
As a child I don’t think I ever read this. I’ve actually found a Roald Dahl Box Set cheaply as I think I only read one of the books as a child, though I did see the film version of a few! Reading it there were whole chunks I’d never heard before, the cloud men was something totally new to me, although the songs of the centipede etc were as familiar as if I’d seen the film yesterday 🙂
Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
I bought this book a couple of years ago after hearing several recommendations, and so made a start on it this summer. The preface and foreward took me forever to read, but as soon as I started the actual book I saw why everyone raved about it so much! If you plan on reading this, I’d definitely recommend skipping the preface and foreward! The book is based on the radio broadcasts he made in the war, and is full of written illustrations (sorry, I just spent ages trying to think of a better phrase than that and utterly failed – let me know if you think of the words I meant!!) to help the reader understands his concepts and ideas and really manages to make a lot of sense with them.
There was one point I was reading it and had to double take as he said something quite unexpected, but that aside, it’s a very good book to read through and make you think!
There you go, one day left of 2012 and I’ve managed the 12 books – onto 2013 and lets see if I can beat that! (I’ll limit the Roald Dahl’s or I could read several!)
What books have you read and loved in 2012?
One of my new years resolutions this year was to read more, to finish books, and this included cancelling my magazine subscription. It’s now May, so how am I doing?
My friend Alana reads a LOT of books! If you check out her blog you’ll see book reviews on there all the time! There’s no way I match up to that, but I am on my fourth book this year, which doesn’t seem too bad.
I was hoping to alternate trashy with respectable, and while Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis has been permenantly next on the list but keeps getting pushed back, I don’t think it’s been an entirely bad selection of books!
One Day – David Nicholls
I always like something that’s a bit different. This book is set over 20 years, but we only ever meet the characters on St Swithuns day, 15th July, each year. We follow Emma and Dexter from the time they finish university through to their early 40s and see what’s going on each time. And even so, the plot still flows well!
I originally saw this in the cinemas and thought it was fab. Often when you read a book before seeing the film, you’re disappointed by the adaptation, so this time I decided not to read it until later. To be honest it’s been a few months since I finished it now, but I definitely enjoyed the book even though I obviously knew the twists coming up (but had forgotten a fair few of them by the time I got to them!).
Silences and Nonsenses – Adrian Plass
Other than the ‘fun’ poetry books you end up flicking through as a child, I’ve never had a book of poems before. I hated analysing poems at school, and I’m definitely not deep enough to get most poetry, but Adrian Plass is a hilarious, gifted, and very wise speaker and writer, so when I heard that his wife had lovingly collated his poems of the last 25 years into a single book, I thought I’d try to be all sophisticated and the like and give it a go.
The man’s a genius. I’ve had the privilege of having a chat with him before, albeit briefly, and he’s just as genuine in real life as in his writing. He’s done some tours and a book with Jeff Lucas, and they are both men who are not afraid to admit that they’re not perfect, and to share their faults openly! Such an encouragement, but also with a giggle!
The Time of my Life – Cecelia Ahern
I’ve read every full book that Cecelia Ahern has written, and she’s brilliant! Her most well known book is P.S. I Love You, mainly because of the film a few years back, and this was her first book. Her first two books were relatively ‘realistic’, whereas since then every book has had some element of the supernatural. Not in a vampires or sorcery or dark way, not spells or incantations or anything like that, but in one book a women has an imaginary friend who’s actually real, in another we discover the place where all the missing things and the missing people go. Her imagination must be a fascinating place to be!
This book itself is about a woman who is called to a meeting with her life… I don’t want to go any more into it than that for fear of giving too much away!
The Irresistable Revolution – Shane Claiborne
I first heard Shane Claiborne speak at the Baptist World Youth Conference in Germany 2008. This was the first time I really heard anyone speak on Social Justice at any high level, and it was powerful. His book is no different. I can’t write huge amounts as I’ve only read just over 100 pages (although that was mainly all in one afternoon – an impressive feat for me!). I couldn’t put it down – Shane shares his experiences living out with the homeless as God calls us to love our neighbour. This book is challenging beyond belief – I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here!
In summary – I’d recommend any of these books to any of you!
ineke.co.uk 