Short Story Sunday and a Novella

Last year I barely read any short stories, like poetry and plays short stories are something I love but they tend to get abandoned in the crush of big old novels.
I'm aiming to read more, and hopefully post each Sunday about one. There did use to be a Short Story Sunday feature but I can't find anything up to date so I'll just keep myself company.

'The Daughters of the Late Colonel' by Katherine Mansfield
The death of their dictatorial father leaves Josephine and Constatine lost and bewildered. Not from sadness, but from merely knowing what to do. Every adecision they need to make, every action they take is laboured with fear of the father. Would he approve? Will he hate them?
Motherless and unmarried the girls have been ruled by a tyrannical father and maid, friendless and unworldly the young women are orphaned in a world which they barely know.

I really enjoyed this short story, I wanted to shake the girls and give them some bravery and strength.

'Anthem' by Ayn RandLast night I managed to knock a novella off the tbr pile, and one perfect for the dystopia challenge.

Anthem is set in a world in which children are brought up in a centre rather than with their families, taught only the basics at school and then assigned a work placement for life. The main characters in this novella discover an unknown place, a place linked to the time before. They sneak to this place as often as possible, discovering not just the thrill of doing what is not allowed but also the thrill of knowledge and discovery. For the first time they are able to think for themselves - just so long as no one finds out.
Written in first person in a series of reflective journal entries we gradually see the constraints of the society, as well as the things that are gradually being learnt, things we take for granted.

Surfacing by Margaret Atwood

First up Happy New Year, hopefully this one will bring love, happiness and laughter for everyone. Having gone to bed at 10.30 last night (damn cough was just too annoying!) I had a clear head and plenty of time to read today.

Surfacing kicks off my attempt to tackle more of the 1001 list this year. Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' is one of two books that sent me to university to study literature, I've since then read and loved about 6 of her books. This one I've been avoiding as I'd heard it had bad reviews, but it was sent to me so I thought I should really give it ago.

The main character (who I think remains nameless - I sure can't remember her name and have scanned and can't find it), travels with her new boyfriend and two new friends back to northern Quebec, in search of her missing father. She grew up on a tiny island inhabited by just her family, now on the island she must search for clues of her father.
The novel sounds like it'll be full of clues and answers but in reality the trip home is for her a way to find herself. Her friends are shallow and the boyfriend quiet, all they add to the trip is a mode of transport and people to be amused.

For me I never felt like I could connect to any of the characters, the main character is pretty emotionless through most of the novel, she never seems interested in finding her father, and the novel is more of a description of the things they do to fill the day. Then all of a sudden there is this bizarre ending, which just left me wondering what was going on.

July's People by Nadine Gordimer

My last 1001 book for the year! I was aiming for 30 this year and I just managed it.

July's People is set in South Africa at the time of the black uprising, white families houses were being destroyed, parts of the cities were bombed and many were killed. This novel tells the tale of the servant July's plight to save the white family he has worked for. He transports them to his home village were they take up residence in one of the mud huts. The focus of the story is on how this family, both parents and young children cope living in a traditional village, living without the conveiniences of a fridge, television and society life.

I enjoyed looking at this glimpse of a white family in a different setting - often novels focus on the servants reaction to the big city. However, I would have prefered to see more of the African's ways of life, they form a background rather than a character, even July of the title only comes and goes. My biggest gripe, and something many books annoy me with, is the writing of the children. Their speach and actions were way too old for the ages they were meant to be. A baby asking eloquently whether he can go to the ciniema, a three year old who communicates in full sentences and can be suspected of having stolen a car!

Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson

Years ago I read Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and loved it and did something that I used to do which was go by a selection of books by that author. I think I brought four books I now on the third - its no wonder mount tbr is so big!

Sexing the Cherry is a fantastical novel. It starts with the discovery of a child, Jordan, abandoned in the Thames in the 17th century, he is discovered by and brought up by a giant of a woman. Early in his life he sees the first banana brought to the shores of Britain, from then on he journeys the real world and the unreal worlds of him mind.

This novel is a complete work of fantasy, times and worlds change, weightless dancing girls, worlds which don't understand gravity and meetings with the king. I loved it this time around but when I attempted to read it a few years back I quickly gave up, certainly the type of book you have to be in the right frame of mind for.

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

A good 6 months ago my Mum handed me this book and told me that I would love it, it duly sat in my tbr pile waiting for me to get to it, and as I was home for Christmas I thoght I'd give it a shot.
The book tells the tale of two Mormon wives both trapped in polygamous marriages but split across a 100 year time divide. The earlier wife's tale is told through a story and extracts from her biography, letters and diary entries of the time and someones Masters thesis. She was the first wife to go public to the rest of America and reveal how the lives of these women were ruled.
The story set in modern times is actually told through looking at her gay son who has been rejected from the faith and by her many years before. She is suddenly arrested for the murder of her husband and he goes back to his old home to try and discover the truth.

My mum loved this, I thought it was okay. The story of the earlier wife was more credible, but because of the various sources I felt it would have woked better on its own as a single novel. While the second story would belong more to the trashy novel type of book - the story was okay, but a little to easy for him to solve, and way too many coincidences.

The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon

8 years ago I was meant to do a university module on post-colonial literature focusing on immigration/emigration, this was on the reading list, I got put in a post-colonial literature class but not the one I'd applies for. This book has stayed on my mental tbr list for all that time and today I finally got to it.

The Lonely Londoners focuses on a group of immigrants from Trinidad, who arrive in dank foggy London just after the war (why is London always foggy in books? I've been there loads of times and never recall it being foggy). Mainly young men, this novel looks at the lives that they create for themselves, in a country that once wanted them but quickly turned its back on them.

The writing is vernacular, which I know some people struggle with, but I quickly found a nice voice in my head so it didn't hinder the speed I read in. Focusing on a small group of men the story focused a lot on their white girlfriends and the way that the men all swindle each other and others around them for money. The strangest part featured a 4 page, no punctuation account of these black men being paid to sleep with white prostitues so white men could watch - this seemed very out of place in style, and I just wanted them to get angry, rather than see it as a free 'treat'.
The style of the novel shows a way of life, but never goes beneath the surface and really shows you how the characters felt about their treatment. Having said that I enjoyed it, but thought that 120 odd pages was enough - no story, character stood out to keep the novel moving for much longer.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I think I've found a new favourite author. After I had read We Have Always Lived at the Castle I knew that I wanted to read more of this author who I previously hadn't heard of. This was the next book that the library had available.

The Haunting of House Hill follows four people brought together to stay in a haunted house. Previous residents have all fled after just a few days declaring business elsewhere that has made them abandon the house, but never declaring that they were scared. The main character Eleanor, a lonely woman who had previously spent all her life nursing her sick mother feels the full force of the haunting.

The book grabbed me from its very beginning, the oddly angled house, the odd way that the characters interact with one another and the mystery of what it is that possesses the house ring out from the pages. It is scary, but I never was scared when reading it. I found it strange rather than scary, perplexing. Apparently this book is the basis for two films both called The Haunting, neither of which I've seen I'd like to know how they portray the characters when much of the book is pschological fear.