The Collector

Author: John Fowles
Publisher: Vintage Classics
Published: 2004 (Originally 1963)
RRP: £8.99

Frederick Clegg, a lonely, boring clerk becomes obsessed with the art student Miranda.  He watches her from his office window, he follows her into shops, but seriously lacking in any confidence or indeed social skills he knows she will never be his.  As his hobby he collects butterflies, an interest that he has been scorned for throughout his miserable, boring life and then one day he wins thousands of pounds in the pools.  Suddenly he has a greater sense of power, a feeling that he can do anything and he sets his sights on making Miranda the latest addition to his collection of beauties.  Knowing she will never love him, he buys a remote house, refurbishes the cellar and decides to keep her as his special ‘visitor’.  His motives are as innocent as wanting to spend time with her, disgusted by any physical intimacy and he spends the time showering her with gifts.  It’s not all roses and sunshine though and obviously these things don’t and never will end well. 

The first section of the book is written from his perspective, you feel as though you really get inside the strange mind of this lonely and pathetic man and in some ways it stirs up sympathy towards him.  It later switches to the diary Miranda kept whilst in captivity so you are equally able to understand how the experience effects her and how her feelings towards him change almost hourly from disgust to pity to fury.  Seeing the story from both angles is an excellent tool to really help the reader know the characters and see how they change but I couldn’t help feeling annoyed and bored by the Miranda diary section.  I just didn’t like her enough!  

Fowles apparently wrote the book to show the dangers of power getting into the hands of people incapable of handling it, of course the subject matter clearly establishes this but the fact Miranda is so unlikeable and arrogant takes away from the argument.  I get that she is meant to be a strong-minded idealistic ‘artist’, but in my opinion she seemed just as inhuman as Frederick (and that’s saying something!).  I think the book feels like an over-the-top sermon by one of those TV priests, preaching about God, what it is to be human and art, it’s relentless.  References to butterfly collecting are clumsily added in here and there as though an afterthought during Fowles’ final draft.  Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate it, I genuinely found the character of Frederick quite interesting but that wasn’t enough for me.

Rating: 4/10

I'm the King of the Castle

Author: Susan Hill

Publisher: Penguin Decades

Published: 1st April 2010 (Originally 1970)

RRP: £8.99

  This is the story of a boy named Edmund Hooper who lives in a grand old house with his widowed father and an old collection of moths.  Mrs Kingshaw, a divorcee, is employed to live with them as a house keeper and brings her son Charles with her.  The boys are made to spend time with each other by their parents but they instantly take a dislike to each other.  Hooper intimidates Kingshaw and belittles him constantly, even Kingshaw's plan of escaping the bullying is ruined when Hooper follows him into the woods.  They get lost, Hooper nearly dies and Kingshaw becomes more confident in who is, however when they are found everything reverts back to normal with Hooper dominating him.  Their parents get closer and are oblivious to the torment happening under their noses until it's too late.

  The blurb of the book describes the story as 'a chilling portrayal of childhood, cruelty and persecution, of parental blindness and of our own ambivalence to what are supposed to be the happiest days of our lives.'  I think that sounds like quite a gripping storyline.  Yes, the book certainly does explore the relationship between the two boys in great depth.  Yes, we are given valuable insights in to the minds of each of the children to help deepen our understanding of the cruelty going on.  Yes, the parents are too wrapped up in their own blossoming relationship to contemplate the effect on their children.  Yes, the mother does come off looking particularly poor.  But...the book was just not interesting.

  What I found particularly boring about this book was that nothing really happened.  I don't feel that the bullying that went on was particularly intense, it was just a lot of boys calling each other babies.  I got that the whole experience in real like for a child like Kingshaw would've been intense and horrific, but this is story-telling, you've got to grip your reader and it just wasn't full-on enough.  On the whole the book was a series of incidents, most of which felt insignificant because I just didn't care about any of the characters at all.  All the way through I was just thinking 'What now?' and tapping my foot impatiently counting down the pages.  I can imagine, because of the amount of speech, that this book would be better performed on stage as a play.  It may appeal to those who want to read about realistic scenarios but I want escapism, something completely apart from everyday experiences.

Rating: 2/10

The Children of Dynmouth

Author: William Trevor

Publisher: Penguin Decades

Published: 1st April 2010 (First Published 1976)

RRP: £8.99

  Dynmouth is a dull seaside town on the south coast of England full of seemingly mundane characters going about their monotonous daily business.  Except Timothy Gedge.  Timothy Gedge, a lonely teenager, likes to watch what the adults of the town are up to.  He knows all of their secrets.  Determined to become famous and enter the Easter Fete 'Spot the Talent' competition he uses his knowledge to manipulate the adults and children around him to achieve his goal, without any remorse for his actions.

  Originally written in 1976 I can imagine that this book raised a few eyebrows and I think it still achieves that. The book tackles many difficult themes; infidelity, homosexuality, murder, suicide, secrets and the damage life has imposed on a teenage boy.  Cleverly written, it feels like a film with each scene being seen through the eyes of a different character, this enables you to feel the effects Timothy's actions have on the people around him. The story unravels at a gentle pace much like the pace of life in this quiet town and feels as though it will reach a huge climax, maintaining suspense throughout.  There are no hard-hitting action scenes in the book, instead the interest lies in the manipulation and creepiness of Timothy.

  I did enjoy this book, it was macabre and gripping.  Having a child as the central character, achieving all this destruction I found interesting; instead of being horrifying, I just found it sad.  In the penultimate chapter Mr Featherstone states "His eyes were the eyes of the battered, exceot that noone had ever battered Timothy Gedge...Existence had battered him."  Although the character of Timothy was strange, I did feel great pity towards him, an unwanted child, neglected of attention, determined not to work in the sandpaper factory and had developed distance from people.  The book was really thought-provoking and I would recommend people give it a go.  It's not action-packed but it is definitely full of intrigue.

Rating: 7/10

The British Museum is Falling Down

Author: David Lodge

Publisher: Penguin Decades

Date: 1st April 2010

RRP: £8.99

  This story, originally written and set in the 1960s, follows a day in the life of Adam Appleby, a practising Catholic studing for his Literature PhD.  He is happily married to his wife of just over three years and because of the Catholic churches stance on contraception already has three children.  He wakes anxious that his wife might be expecting their fourth child, all the signs seem to be pointing that way despite their obsessive use of thermometers and charts to avoid such an event (and to kill the remaining romance of their marriage).  He leaves desperately unhappy on his clapped-out scooter to the Museum Reading Room to work on his thesis.  The day doesn't go well, in fact it goes terribly with a lack of motivation, fire alarms, a man-hunt, an explosion, failed job offers and a test on his marriage. 

  The book really delves into the thoughts and feelings of Adam throughout this day and as the book progresses you begin to feel a great affinity towards him and pity his lack of good fortune.  There are plenty of in-jokes which make you feel part of his exclusive club and some great laugh-out-loud moments.  David Lodge is clearly a very intelligent writer, references to literature are woven throughout the story and quotes about the British Museum add humour to the start of every chapter.  Interestingly the role of narrator isn't consistent throughout and suddenly you are cast into the shoes of Adam and experiencing his day as him rather as an uninvolved witness. 

  What was great about this book was how great it felt to laugh at this unfortunate character despite my conscious telling me he deserved more of my pity.  The story was like a trampoline, with Adam experiencing joyful highs, immediately followed by crashing lows which just added to the pathetic-ness of him.  My favourite section of the book was the epilogue, where we are suddenly transported into the mind of his wife in the middle of the night.  It feels great to finally get to explore her character because during the rest of the book we are only concerned with whether or not she is pregnant again.  It ends with a three-page sentence, a final joke since Adam's thesis was on the use of long sentences in literature.  This is clever humour, to the extent that at times I felt I shouldn't be enjoying this much because by know means am I a literary boff, but nonetheless the story is so truly encapsulating it is definitely worth a go.

 

Rating 8/10

The Incredible Book Eating Boy

Author: Oliver Jeffers
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
RRP: £10.99 (Hardback)

'Henry loved books.  But not like you and I love books, no.  Not quite...'

  This is the story of Henry, a boy obsessed with eating books.  He soon discovered that the more books he ate the smarter he got.  He ate a book about goldfish and then knew how to care for his pet.  Soon he became exceedingly clever.  But he kept on eating and eating and eating.  Soon enough he realises eating books probably wasn't that good for him after all and things suddenly take a turn for the worse...don't worry though there's a happy ending.

  This book is uniquely illustrated using a range of paper textures throughout.  Behind each painting, text from all different types of books is traceable, it really adds to the book-mad theme of the story.  The illustrations are simply designed but beautifully executed in a combination of paint and pencil line.  The characters themselves have very expressionate faces which add an extra depth to the humour of the story.  The text appears to be typed using a typewriter, again adding to the overall style and charm of the book. A wonderful disclaimer on the back and a big chomp taken out of the back cover really make this book stand out from the norm.

  This is definitely the best Oliver Jeffers book available, it's witty, individual and has a good message to children.  It stresses the need for time and care when reading to fully appreciate what's written in front of you, rushing gets you nowhere and can often leave you confused.  A real stroke of genius, this book not only promotes a love of books but gives useful guidance and food for thought (haha!)  in a fun and exciting way. This is a must-read for everyone out there, young and old alike.


Rating: 9/10

Creature of the Night

Author: Kate Thompson

Publisher: Definitions

RRP: £6.99

  Aimed at teen readers this is the story of Bobby who is forced to move from Dublin by his mother to the countryside to avoid debt collectors and to stop Bobby getting into even more trouble.  At only fourteen Bobby was part of a gang who would cause mayhem on the streets of Dublin, robbing people, stealing and burning cars and getting stoned.  He is convinced that life in the countryside is not for him despite finding the farm equipment quite fun and tries at all costs to return to his old friends.  But they've moved on, things aren't the same and when he lands one of his so-called friends in prison the rest turn their back on him.  Life too in the countryside turns pear-shaped when his little brother starts to talk about a tiny old lady who visits at night through the dog-flap, convinced she's a fairy.  Things get more bizarre culminating in the discovery of a gruesome murder.

  This isn't a light-hearted story by any means.  It follows the journey of a troubled family in a difficult time in their life but as a reader you feel great empathy towards the characters; you feel the loneliness of Bobby and sympathise with his young mother.  As the book progresses you learn that Bobby's mother was only fourteen herself when she had him, the age he is now and he begins to realise the struggles she must have had trying to raise him.  He is baffled by the trust people in the country put in him and although he keeps letting them down they don't give up on him, a lovely sentiment although unfortunately quite unrealistic.

  This is a book of two stories; one about the transformation in the life of Bobby, righting his wrongs and learning new skills, the other about the dark superstitions of the countryside.  I don't believe the two halves have been gelled successfully.  To me it feels as though both halves have not been finished.  The murder remains a mystery and in the epilogue we whizz to the future and find out he becomes a mechanic when a page previously he was still stealing money from his family.  Personally I think this should exist as two entirely separate books, I don't feel that the stories compliment each other or add any depth.  I also think the book will date terribly, lots of cultural references and slang that will probably be appealing to youths now will quickly become outdated.  

Rating: 5/10

Tuesday

Author/Illustrator: David Wiesner
Publisher:  Clarion Books
RRP: £5.99

  This is a picture book of very few words...twelve in fact.  The words in this book exist only to tell the time, the rest of the story is told through dazzling and humorous images.  The story itself begins before the inner title page, upon opening the book a sequence of images shows how frogs relaxing on their lily pads begin to levitate.  The rest of the story follows the frogs' journey as they fly around town on their lily pads.  Along the way they startle a man having a midnight snack, get caught in washing on a line and watch T.V in the house of a sleeping elderly lady.  As the night begins to fade and day breaks however their lily pads gentle fall back to land and the frogs hop off to the nearest rivers, lakes and ponds.  When the town awakes they are left wondering how on earth all these lily pads ended scattered around.  The following Tuesday night brings an even greater surprise...

The action is captured in hues of green and blue beautifully depicting not only the light at that time but also the mystery and magic of the story.  Every frog is unique and able to express a variety of facial expressions which greatly amplifies the humour of the tale.  It is easy to get sucked into the images with the amount of detail that Wiesner has included.  More notably what sets this book apart is the way images are laid out on the page.  Wiesner uses a range of comic book style boxes to sequence events and larger pictures are painted from a variety of interesting angles that help you see the action differently.


  This book won the 1992 Caldecott Medal and it is clear from it's uniqueness and imagination why that is the case.  The book has a lot of scope for exploration, it doesn't have to be read conventionally, children can study individual pictures, the book can even be read backwards.  I tend to prefer books with more text although I imagine if text were to be added to this book some, if not all, of the magic would be lost.  Having said that books to me contain words.  Without words it's art.  Art can tell stories, but art is never as great when it has been printed in a book.  It needs to be seen face-to-face to fully appreciate it.


Rating: 8/10