It’s been a good month on the book front, I’ve got to say. I nabbed a brand new copy of Michael Faber’s Under the Skin from the library. First published a decade ago, the novel has had a revival thanks to the movie adaptation starring Scarlett Johansson. I’d heard a lot of buzz about that, but didn’t know anything about the novel, a fact I’m a bit embarrassed about.
Anyway, let me say, right now, unequivocally and absolutely, that Under the Skin is marvellous. Dark, captivating and evocative, it strikes a wonderful and difficult balance between genres – in this case, the literary/speculative divide that is also occupied by authors I adore like Margaret Atwood. Even Adam, who normally detests my reading tastes, was interested in my opinion of it. So good.
I’m going to leave the next book, Tracy Ryan’s Claustrophobia, as a teaser mention, because my review of it is going to be in an upcoming edition of The Big Issue (amazing publication).
I doubt Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn needs much of an introduction: one of those ‘mega-book’ publishing stories, it has been on best seller charts since its release at the start of 2012, and is currently being turned into a movie too. I’ve heard lots of different opinions about it – both good and bad – and I was intrigued to form my own, especially as it’s not my usual kind of read (although I already knew one of the ‘spoilers’ of the plot, so that was a bit of a shame). Most people who have a problem with the book have a problem with the ending, but I actually liked it; it puts a big fat full stop on the whole sordid story. A ‘happy’ resolution wouldn’t really have made any sense. A real page-turner, it’s not short, but I got through it quickly.
Dead Europe is next on my reading pile – I love Tsiolkas’s writing and this is the one of the harder books of his to track down from the library (which is where my copy is from).
Last, I will mention my current read, My Year Without Matches, gifted to me personally by the author Claire Dunn (who is a sweetheart). I cracked it open on my flight home from Sydney on the weekend, and I was immediately drawn in to the tale. As the title suggests, the book recounts her adventures of living ‘off the grid’ and in the bush of northern New South Wales for a year, listing her joys (and travails). As I am from the country, and grew up not too far away from the area this is set, I also feel the odd pang of homesickness as I read: the deafening chorus of cicadas and the simple pleasure of sitting quietly in nature, intuiting more than you might imagine from the surroundings and its wildlife, are familiar experiences for me. Magic – read it.
Note: aff links
