Penelope, Rebecca Harrington

This is an odd one. It follows Penelope as she starts at Harvard, we meet her as she moves in and the novel ends as she moves home for the summer. As I mentioned in my last post it is very American, I think it gets lost in translation, maybe if you went to university in America (preferably Harvard) it would make more sense.

Penelope is a bit of a drip, she has no opinions and doesn't ever know what's going on (to the point where you don't believe she could have ever got it together enough to apply to Harvard). The only reason she seems to be there is so the other characters have someone to bounce off. The others are all quite funny, but are over the top caricatures. It wasn't bad enough for me to stop reading it, there are some funny moments and bits you can relate to, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Thanks Virago for the proof!

Next is The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan. I've had my eye on this since it came out sometime last year, looks like a page turner.

The Universe Versus Alex Woods, Gavin Extence

This is brilliant, very funny, life affirming and heartwarming without being twee or predictable. Its one of those stories that if I write a synopsis here it will sound very dark and probably depressing. This is a synopsis lifted from Waterstones.com (they can say it way better than I can so why not)

A tale of an unexpected friendship, an unlikely hero and an improbable journey, Alex's story treads the fine line between light and dark, laughter and tears. And it might just strike you as one of the funniest, most heartbreaking novels you've ever read. Alex Woods knows that he hasn't had the most conventional start in life. He knows that growing up with a clairvoyant single mother won't endear him to the local bullies. He also knows that even the most improbable events can happen - he's got the scars to prove it. What he doesn't know yet is that when he meets ill-tempered, reclusive widower Mr Peterson, he'll make an unlikely friend. Someone who tells him that you only get one shot at life. That you have to make the best possible choices. So when, aged seventeen, Alex is stopped at Dover customs with 113 grams of marijuana, an urn full of  ashes on the passenger seat, and an entire nation in uproar, he's fairly sure he's done the right thing ...

The Universe According to Alex Woods is one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read.  It is one of those books you want to be reading constantly as the world Extence has created is just so good to be in. Alex has a very wry, dry sense of humour and comes across as quite naive at first, though you soon realise he is just very to-the-point and is pretty savvy. Definitely one for anyone who has ever thought the rest of the world is crazy.

Thanks so much to Hodder & Stoughton for my copy!

Currently reading Penelope by Rebecca Harrington, not so sure on this one, very American...

Papillon, Henri Charriere

I loved this. It is a true story (any embellishments or mistakes politely ignored) written by Henri Charriere, nicknamed Papillon owing to a large butterfly tattoo on his chest. He is extraordinary. Condemned to the penal colonies of French Guiana for a murder he didn't commit, he refuses to take the punishment and is determined to escape. After nine attempts, during one of which he lives with an indian tribe for over six months, he does finally get free and into a country which doesn't hand convicts back to France. You can feel him getting more and more desperate in the build up to the last couple of attempts.

Papillon is such an enjoyable read, simply written, personal and not at all laboured. Its very human, though in a weird way. The prisoners are pretty much just unpredictable and a law unto themselves (as you'd expect) The prison guards are generally The Enemy and for the most part portrayed as sadistic. Then there are those who help him on the occasions he gets free of the colony but is not yet home-and-dry. You can feel that these last set of people have been elevated to the status of saints in Papillon's eyes (except, conversely a group of Nuns).

I have never come across anyone, in a book or in life who has half his determination and tenacity. His strength of mind and character are no less remarkable either, the man survived three and a half years in solitary confinement (in two stints) without it affecting his mental health, half starved, in a tiny cell, watched from a walkway above 24/7 and not allowed to say a word or be spoken to. Papillon is also particularly charismatic, must be for so many of his fellow prisoners to put their lives in his hands and to naturally take him as a leader. All in all it is brilliant to have him talking to you for a couple of weeks, and you're a little bit in love with him for most of the book. His only flaw seems to be the way he treats the women he gets involved with. The last one he abandons without saying a word (and not because he couldn't say anything either) This is the only time in the whole book and around 10 years in the penal system and all the horrific things he has to bear that you think, Papillon, no need.

Next up is The Universe According to Alex Woods by Gavin Extence, which I have been giggling my way through for a couple of days now. Reading it is like cutting through butter so chattings about that will no doubt be up in a day or two.

Preface

This will soon be a blog chock full of reviews of books. Mostly novels with a smattering of travel/history and general non-fiction titles - true crime too as I am currently reading Papillon by Henri Charriere. I work in a bookshop so I often get proofs of new books, meaning some of the reviews may even be topical.

The plan is to write a review after I finish each book. So if its a short book the review will come pretty soon after the one before, if its long and im busy we may be waiting weeks, all adds to the fun hey? 

So stay tuned for an opinion on Papillon- currently on page 261 of 560 and right now the going is good.