Recently Reading: The Thing Around Your Neck

This was my introduction to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's writing. I'd heard Bey feature her Ted talk 'We should all be Feminists' on Flawless of course, and seen countless instagram pics of her books Half A Yellow Sun and Americanah (now on my to-read list), but I'd never actually read any of her work. Sytlist Magazine's recent book issue featured The Thing Around Your Neck in their pick of short story collections and said 'Adichie's is an important voice and we want to hear it again and again'. Adichie was the only writer on the list of 100 holiday reads to be featured twice; they love her that much.

And now I can see why. The quote on the cover from the Telegraph 'She makes storyelling seem as easy as birdsong' could not be more accurate, Adichie weaves authentic tales using such lyrical language that stories flow effortlessly. Settings, whether in the city of Lagos, suburbs of America or rural Nigerian towns are painted vividly in this collection of short stories which largely feature female protagonists. It was a delight to feel the strong sense of Nigerian identity that ran through all the stories for example through mentions of different Nigerian languages and customs, whether the stories were set there or in the States. The different facets of the immigrant experience are explored throroughly, from the expectations of family and the presumed grattitude one must exhibit for the help with a visa to trying to find African food or black hairdressers in white neighbourhoods.

Stories of war and homosexuality are handled as delicately as adultery. Adichie's characters are imbued with a subtle intelligence and the only flaw I could find is that although all very different, I found the women mostly to be passive until the very last story, The Headstrong Historian, which featured two strong women, Nwamgba and her grand daughter Grace/Afamefuna.

Divides in Nigeria due to class or education were interesting to discover and having not read much literature by African writers, The Thing Around Your Neck was a polished intorduction. I can't wait to read more of Adichie's work.

Recently Reading: The Hand That Feeds You

 

I was disappointed by this thriller from pretty much the first page unfortunately.

Written as a collaboration between two writers, Amy Hempel and Jill Ciment under the name A J Rich, a lot of the inspiration came from a third writer friend, but unfortunately the blended writing meant that at times it felt distinctly written by different people and neither writer went quite deep enough.

The book opens with 30 year old Morgan Prager who is styudying victimology, who comes home to find her fiancee Bennett unrecognisable, completely mauled by her dogs and very, very dead. Morgan has a soft spot for dogs and her adopted dog Cloud and two fostered pit bulls are covered in blood...when law enforcement eventually arrives, one dog is killed immediately and the other two taken away as dangerous dogs. Morgan is devastated at this multiple loss, but when she tries to notify Bennett's parents she can't find them...the further she looks into the man she thought she knew the more she realises she didn't know him at all. Although, for Morgan this is given weight by the fact that she always goes for unsuitable guys, it just didn't ring true for me. Who in this day and age never meets their partners friends and family, goes to their house or workplace, has them meet the important people in their life and yet says yes to a diamond ring and a wedding? The fact that as Morgan researches further, more women who have had the exact same fake relationship are uncovered rings so false to me. I mean, really? What kinda woman? I just couldn't buy it.

Impeccably researched, I found the information about dog breeds, the process of looking after or fighting for a dangerous dog and also the theories around victims and sociopaths incredibly researched and this is where the book is strongest. Unfortunately, the character of Morgan is not fleshed out enough and as it is a first person narration there never seems to be enough depth to her thoughts or feelings to make us really care about her or to differentiate between the telling of the banal details. It is revealed that Morgan was raped as a young woman with the exact same tone as she would describe doing her shopping or hacking her ex lovers email account. This also hinders the build up of suspense, crucial to a thriller like this. I worked out the killer around 50 pages before the end, which was a definite anti-climax.

All in all, it's not too thrilling when you care more about the dogs than their owner.

Recently Reading: Us

 

The protagonist in 'Us' by David Nicholls of 'One Day' fame, is a middle-aged, middle class and very, very suburban man. Not the kind of voice I'd usually find particularly interesting, but Nicholls' skill at pulling together a complete character means that this novel about family is genuinely touching and entertaining in the most normal and relatable of ways.

We meet biochemist Douglas Peterson as his wife Connie tells him that after almost 25 years of marriage, she thinks she'd quite like to break up. When their arty and angsty son Albie goes off to uni after the summer she doesn't really see the point in staying together. Except Douglas really, really loves his arty, liberal wife and can't imagine life without her, so that rather scuppers his plans. They had planned a Grand Tour around Europe, taking in all the cultural sights and delicacies of Italy, France and Spain as a family, before Albie heads off to study photography at uni (a bone of contention with Douglas already). Connie decides they should still go ahead with the trip as she hasn't quite made her mind up and Douglas thinks he can use the time to repair the damage done to his relationship with his son and make his wife realise she should stay with him. What could go wrong? A lot, obviously.

Nicholls intercuts the present day possible break up anxiety of Douglas and the awkward moments of their holiday with the love story of Douglas and Connie. These were actually my favourite parts of the book, a look back at how a couple who were and still are so different came to fall in love. Douglas, staid, steady and responsible is instantly enamoured by free sprited, artist Connie; his life of boring dependability a world apart from her bohemian lifestyle of sex, drugs, parties and bad relationship choices. It was so interesting to have the whole relationship told frrom one point of view, although we only ever see Connie through Douglas eyes, we are able to glean so much about her personality through their interactions. While he remains devoted, and I am drawn to Connie's non-conformist personality, the reader can still see her snappy, often self-righteous behaviour in a way that Douglas cannot. Personally, it served as a warning of mismatching relationships (I'm single and looking for meaning everywhere lol)

While 'Us' takes us through the heady days of first falling in love, Douglas' jealousy and insecurity into eventual married life, we see a portrait of family life as it really is. Arguments and selling out for financial security, the loss of a child and of parents. Douglas' narration as a fairly 'normal' guy who just wants to get on with life, for his son to work hard and get a well paid job rather than something arty, for his family to stay together and bumble on and on; it's strangely charming. He doesn't like hot food, he can't resist arguing with his son, he is a stickler for rules and regs (there's a hilarious scene where he thinks it's acceptable to demand a recount at a parents quiz at Albie's school. Connie and Albie are mortified; he doesn't clock.) He has turned into his father without meaning to.

The Grand Tour of course goes tits up and Douglas thinks that he can somehow turn it into salvation for his family. By the end of the book you have grown so fond of Douglas and his nerdy little ways and are hopeful for the couple as he really does love his family. Nicholls then throws in a series of unexpected plot twists and revelations towards the end so expertly you almost fall off the bed but it all ties in perfectly. Some writers do this for shock value and you are left unsatisfied or feel cheated; not so here. It seems it all works out as it should, even if you hadn't expected it.

A sensitive tale of love and family from an ordinary guy.

Recently Reading: The Kite Runner

I read Afghan-American writer Khaled Hosseini's second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns years ago and was incredibly touched but have only just read his debut novel, the hugely successful The Kite Runner and again was moved by the plight of the characters against the larger backdrop of the hell of war.

Told from the perspective of Amir, the wealthy, pampered son of a respected businessman the book spans three decades and takes us from a prosperous Afhanistan to Pakistan, to America and back again, Afghanistan by then almost unrecognisable as a country ravaged by war and currently under Taliban rule. Amir, who loves storytelling and goes on to become a writer, is presented as a tender and thoughtful child much to the disappointment of his father but he is also jealous, cruel and cowardly as many young boys can be. This side of his character is shown almost always in respect to Hassan, the Hazara servant boy he has been raised alongside. The book really delves into themes of the father - son relationship, of feeling inadequate and the desperation to make a parent proud at any cost.

After a dramatic turn of events with a local bully, things are never the same for Amir and Hassan...and when Amir and his father escape Afghanistan before things turn really nasty, he is running away from so much more than just political unrest. Amir would likely never return to Afghanistan but many years later he has to...and it may just provide the redemption for the guilt that has riddled him for years. I don't want to give too much away but some of the story is heartbreaking, a country corrupted and destroyed. I found the experience of Amir and his father landing in America as migrants so interesting and relevant with all the migrant stories in the news at the moment. Having held positions of wealth and power, to see the characters adapt to their new lives as a student and his rich father now holding a menial job..the inner strength needed was painted beautifully.

Hosseini writes Afhganistan and the Afghan people beautifully, almost lyrically, whether he is describing the community coming together for the local tradition of kite racing, the wedding customs or even the decaying neighbourhoods when he returns many years later; every word is laden with reverence and respect for the country and its people. If the book is a love song to Afghanistan, it is one of heartbreak; when the relationship goes bad and is almost completely destroyed...but the ending has the tiniest flicker of hope.

Recently Reading: The Girl on the Train

  

What can I tell you about The Girl On The Train that you haven't already heard? Not a lot really, other than to say you should defo read it. I actually wasn't sure if I should get it because I'm not a hardback fan and that's what was on offer in Sainsbury's but, well, it wasn't the number 1 hardback in the UK for 20 weeks (longest ever) for nothing.

Like I said, you've probably heard that it's being made into a film and the incessant comparisons to Gone Girl. I get that to a certain extent, but The Girl on the Train actually feels more realistic, not least because it's set over here in the UK and also because the crazy and tragic things that unfold in the book all seem like things that could, in our own lives, happen, by accident. You know, without backdating years worth of diary entries and faking your own death.

The device of the unrelialable female narrator is used to brilliant effect; the narrative is told primarily through Rachel, a drunken divorcee without much to smile about, her enigmatic would-be neighbour Megan and her ex's new wife Anna, who takes just a little bit too much pleasure in Rachel's spiral into dispair.

Rachel has lost her husband, her flat and her job due to her descent into alcoholism and while at first the reader is a little sympathetic you soon start to tire of her self-pitying, indulgent and careless behaviour and just want to give her a 'fix-up' slap. She perves on a couple she can see from the train on her commute, a kind of real life Instagram stalk, giving them names and creating a love story for them...until the woman, Megan, goes missing and Rachel turns all True Detective. Her drunken past means the she becomes a literal unreliable witness. Tut. Rachel gets deeper and deeper into something she's not too sure she can handle...and along the way begins to question some of her memories about her marriage to her hard done by ex, marred by tragedy and hampered by alcohol fuelled blackouts.

Hawkins brilliantly constructs an unlikeable character but manages to get us back onside as the book progresses, weaving the three women's pasts and presents together to a tense and terrifying climax.

I read this book in one weekend and probably could have done it in a few hours if I didn't put it down to go out partying. Books and booze make for a pretty good weekend really!

Read it. Instagram the book if you're really cool (Reese Witherspoon did). You could wait for the film but you'd be missing a trick.

Recently Reading...

I'm always reading and it's one of the greatest pleasures in my life.

I thought I'd share some of the books I've been reading lately and maybe get some suggestions of books to read next!

First up is The Rosie Project which I read on holiday a couple of months ago and it is the perfect holiday read. Set in Australia, Don Tillman is a genetics professor on the autistic spectrum, most likely Aspergers Syndrome, but he doesn't know it (a funny moment is when he delivers a lecture on Aspergers, listing quality after quality that he exhibits, without twigging). Having reached middle age without even getting to date number 2, he decides he wants to get married and creates a thorough and frankly tactless questionnaire designed to find the perfect wife. Rosie, who he meets at the University, smokes, is a sometime vegetarian and leads a pretty wild life; she definitely doesn't meet the criteria...but when has that ever mattered to Love?

A light and charming read, The Rosie Project is a testament to the unpredictability of love and Don's way of viewing the world makes for an interesting voice. A quick and untaxing read, it is perfect summer holiday read as I mentioned.

My favourite book of the three, Maggie O'Farrell is a beautiful writer. Set in the heatwave of 1976 in London, the sticky, claustrophobic, unbearable heat sears through every page of the book. Robert Riordan goes out to get a newspaper as he does every day...but this time he doesn't come home. His wife Greta, the Irish matriarch of the family might know where he is, but she is not letting on. Robert's sudden and out of character disappearance brings home his children in the search for him, and the complicated dynamics of a close, working class family are crafted so perfectly. 

Michael Francis, a father himself whose marriage is on the brink of collapse due to a one time infidelity and a wife whose resentment has built over the years, is the only brother and the peacemaker. The sisters, once so close are now estranged and the reason why is teased out slowly, throughout the book. There's Monica, the eldest, a goody two shoes to her siblings, who is now caught in her own struggling second marriage, trying to be a step-mother to two girls who hate her and Aiofe, the wild, youngest sister who has relocated to New York. As the book is set in the 1970's we can understand why her obvious dyslexia has not been diagnosed, but the descriptions of her life as she tries to struggle through without anyone realising, are heartbreaking.

As the family join forces to find their father, the intricate writing delivers a portrait of a complicated and realistic family. The plotline of the missing father actually feels very secondary to the family dynamics and when the reason Robert is missing is uncovered, it is a slight let down, but overall the book is brilliantly written and well worth a read.

Lastly, The Husband's Secret, another book set in Australia, funnily enough. Centred around the generations of families who have attended a Catholic primary school in Sydney. This book is sweet, with some nice character development, but was a little too chick-lit for me. The big secret seemed a little unlikely to have gone undiscovered for so long but did link the characters together in a feasible but not obvious way. The three protagonists are all female, but without any of the complexity of my favourite women in modern fiction. Cecilia, the super mum and Tupperware queen, who knows everything about everyone and manages to keep all the plates spinning effortlessly, Tess, who suffers from social anxiety but manages to run a business and who has escaped to her mothers after discovering her husband and cousin, who are also her business partners, have fallen in love and want her blessing and Rachel, who never recovered from her daughters murder and is now dealing with her son moving her beloved grandson away to New York. The most interesting feature of this book, is when the narrators voice changes from describing the actions of thoughts of the characters to that of Fate, explaining what would have happened to the characters if things had been different, a Sliding Doors type of peek at what might have happened.

More recent reads coming soon!

Read: Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

Image from Literally Darling

If you're still looking for a Christmas gift for the woman in your life, this could be it. No, this should be it. For ladies who play Scrabble, girls who have watched 'Girls', young women who love the Hunger Games, females who have danced to 'Blurred Lines' or sexist rap tunes, watched Django, had an abortion, been raped, experienced racism. But especially those women who don't think of themselves as Feminists, because this book of essays by writer and professor Roxane Gay breaks down just why we shouldn't give up on the feminist movement and why its okay to be a 'Bad Feminist'; it's better than being no feminist at all.

The book is written in short, easily digestible essays that examine such up to the minute and relatable moments in contemporary culture, from reality TV shows like Love and Hip Hop to the R'n'B singer and ex of Rihanna, Chris Brown, all through the prism of feminism and the impact that they have on women and society as a whole today.

The feminist movement is often criticised for being un-inclusive and repeatedly being told from the perspective of heterosexual, middle class white females and this can be alienating for some women, leading to (sometimes necessary) divides and separate spaces for black feminists or gay feminists for example. Bad Feminist at least attempts some interscectionality, as Gay is a black woman of Haitian descent, and this informs her own experiences and ways of relating. The book is divided into sections: [ME]. [Gender & Sexuality], [Race & Entertainment], [Politics, Gender & Race] and [Back To Me], and for me personally it was refreshing and validating to see essays regarding black issues such as representation and even the creative output of media by and for the black community such as Tyler Perry films and 'Fruitvale Station' being analysed and discussed with the same gravitas and importance as the rest of the book.

Gay's writing is deeply personal and funny which makes it easier to consume as there are a lot facts, figures and theory which can often be difficult in non-fiction writing, but her voice is so strong it feels as though you are just reading the thoughts of a much more articulate older friend. Gay is very vocal on Twitter (@rgay) and I don't know if that influences her ability to write in such an easy style - being succinct in 140 characters is a skill after all. There is even an essay called 'When Twitter does what journalism cannot'. I didn't personally agree with everything she wrote but I could never undermine her passion and commitment.

" It's hard not to feel humorless, as a woman and a feminist, to recognize misogyny in so many forms, some great and some small, and know you're not imagining things. It's hard to be told to lighten up because if you lighten up any more, you're going to float the fuck away. The problem is not that one of these things is happening; it's that they are all happening, concurrently and constantly"

And that's why we need more young women to identify as feminists, to not be worried about being called a man hating lesbian who doesn't shave her legs or get caught up on worrying about being the right kind of feminist. Gay's book lets you breathe a sigh of relief to know you can want to wear pink stripper heels and have a man at home to have kinky sex with and still identify as a feminist. If that's what you want.

Read: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

I had seen lots of tweets proclaiming 'This book will make you cry!' and as a part-time softie, fully expected to experience the waterworks while reading this novel about teenage cancer sufferers falling in love. But I didn't.

That's not to say the tragic plight of 17 year olds, Hazel with thyroid and lung cancer and Augustus with osteosarcoma, is not emotive, as they are handled with grace, sensitivity and dark humour. For me it was that the characters didn't always read as natural in a book rooted in naturalism - the young characters suffered from what I call Dawson Creek Syndrome, sounding like fully qualified analytical psychiatrists in there everyday speech bar the odd 'whatever'. The dialogue often felt forced and overly pretentious which detracted from the characters believability. 

The tender intensity of first love however, is delivered beautifully in the softer, less OTT moments, such as the pairs habit of simply saying 'Okay' to each other when they didn't know what to say, or to check on each other or for a number of other reason all wrapped up in this one word.

Another line that really resonated was the concept of how you can fall in love with someone at different paces. Augustus professed his love early on for Hazel but she tried to hold back, determined for there to be as few victims as possible because of her illness, she tried to keep their relationship platonic but eventually admitted to herself 'I fell in love the way you fall asleep...slowly, then all at once'

With Hazel's prognosis terminal, mortality is a huge theme in the book. Probably the most heartbreaking moments were ones that looked at Hazel's fear of hurting her lost ones.

"I'm like. Like. I'm like a grenade, Mom. I'm a grenade and at some point I'm going to blow up and I would like to minimize the casualties, okay?"

'"NO!" I shouted. " I'm not eating dinner, and I can't stay healthy, because I'm not healthy. I am dying, Mom. I am going to die and leave you here alone and you won't have me to hover around and you won't be a mother anymore, and I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about it, okay?!"'

The moment's when Hazel sounded her age, like a regular teenager always hit home harder the injustice of losing someone so young.

The concept of legacy from the point of view of a person so young, who has known they were never going to live long, is an interesting one and Hazel and Augustus felt differently about it. Do we need to make an impact on the whole world or is touching the hearts of our loved ones enough?

"Here's the thing about Hazel: Almost everyone is obsessed with leaving a mark upon the world. Bequeathing a legacy. Outlasting death. We all want to be remembered. I do, too. That's what bothers me most, is being another unremembered casualty in the ancient and inglorious war against disease.

I want to leave a mark."

Despite my misgivings, the book is incredibly well written and researched; the hospital and cancer detail and terminology is detailed yet treated glibly by the weary survivors and this makes it all the more poignant. The book is clearly aimed at young adults and I'm going to try and get my 16 year old sister to read, as the sombre topic and offbeat characters are right up her teenage angst ridden street.

The Fault In Our Stars has been turned into a movie too starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort and will be in cinemas June 6th. Check the trailer here:

All images taken from The fault in our stars movie.com, luckyendings.tumblr.com and incrediblydeviantart.com

Read: Big Brother by Lionel Shriver

I found out the personal parallels between author Lionel Shriver and her protagonist Pandora Halfdanarson only after reading the book, for which I'm glad. It gave an additional layer of poignancy and I can see that perhaps the novel was a work of catharsis but had I known in advance, Pandora's character would have been painted with even more self-indulgence.

Shriver's own brother was morbidly obese and died of cardiac arrest. The book explores the complicated relationship the Western world, but particularly America, has with food.
The book begins with Pandora stating her case to take in her annoying yet brilliant brother Edison who has hit hard times, despite her husbands blatant dislike for him; he is her big brother who she hero worships and has done since they were children growing up with a fame hungry TV star father. However his arrival is a shock, in the few years since they have last seen each other Edison has gained so much weight he is barely recognisable and has become the sort of person that other people are visibly disgusted by without the lingering aftertaste of sympathy. He is HUGE.

He is also brash, loud and an incessant brag who elicits pity from Pandora's teen step daughter Cody but fails to impress her step son Tanner and constantly rubs her perpetually on a restricted calorie diet husband Fletcher up the wrong way. In many ways Fletcher and Edison represent Shriver's views on the two opposing relationships Americans have with food - over indulgent, glutinous and perilous versus pious, restrictive and joyless. Pandora's character seems to stand for a female take on food; all her food memories are tied to events and occasions rather than flavours, her favourite photographs based on how thin she looks.

Pandora takes on the mammoth task of spearheading her brothers weight loss - moving in with him and even joining him on a diet of powdered drinks - and risking her marriage to save his life. Although this scenario seems unlikely, Shriver manages to pull this off through her detailed explanation of the precarious situation and the pressure it puts on her personal relationships. The weight loss is supposed to pale in comparison to the change in personality Edison undergoes, humbled by the experience of hitting rock bottom; there is a horrifying scene where Pandora literally has to scoop up Edison's runaway shit. That has to be rock bottom for anyone. However it falls flat because Edison is a rather 2D character full of grating catchphrases and we never really scratch the surface of the emotional impact of his life threatening size, we never feel truly sorry for him nor despise him.
Pandora, whilst much more developed, as a self-sacrificing reluctantly successful business woman with a desire to blend in and be normal in her anonymity, seems an exercise is self-flagellation after finding out Shriver's own story.

We Need To Talk About Kevin, Shriver's most well known novel, is so twisted and complex that I was approaching the end of the book which appeared to be wrapping up neatly, wondering if she'd lost her edge. I needn't have worried; I was quickly met with two gruesome twists, however they felt a little like after thoughts and were under developed if brilliant. Either one would have worked beautifully if just left to sit with the reader a little longer.

Shanika Says: While by no means perfect, Big Brother is an interesting examination of food, family and how the two are so often linked.

Gone Girl

'Gone Girl' is a book you'll be begging people to read, just so you can discuss it with them' Mail On Sunday

This. This this this! I have been recommending this book left and right and actually asking friends to read it so they can understand what I'm going on about. I woke up the morning after finishing the book wishing there were more chapters and for the last pages of the book I was definitely shouting out loud as I read every twist and turn. I was that invested.

To be honest, Gone Girl isn't the kind of book I'd normally pick up, a crime thriller on the face of it, as that's not a genre I'm that into, but I'd seen so many people reading it on the tube. That plus it was only £3.99 in Sainsbury's and I love a bargain.

What can I tell you about the book without giving it all away? Well actually quite a lot, there are sooo many twists and turns that you just won't see coming. For the first part of the book we are not sure who to believe. There is a dual narrative; present time chapters from Nick and diary entries from his wife Amy, who has disappeared on their 5th wedding anniversary. All the evidence points to Nick, but his voice in the novel is so strong, we are not entirely convinced. The narrative style allows us to hear two differing accounts of a marriage breakdown and we as the reader are not sure who to believe with each page.

The book covers a number of themes; including the effects of the economic climate on communities and particularly male pride, the media and how it can be used to manipulate the general public and also the lies we tell, even in relationships..
It explores the intricacies of marriage between two very complex people and shines light on the notion that sometimes we don't know everything there is to know about the people we feel we should.
"What are you thinking, Amy? The question I've asked most often during our marriage, if not out loud, if not to the person who could answer. I suppose these questions stormcloud over every marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?"

Both Nick and Amy are deeply flawed characters, and at times highly unlikeable, but the fact that we can find admirable traits in them both speaks volumes about the writing. One of my favourite parts of the book was Amy's theory on the Cool Girl. Cool Girl is the 'hot and understanding' girl that all guys want, a girl who basically is into all the same things as him, who looks hot and makes his life easier and is essentially not a real girl but someone girls pretend to be to get men to like them.
"It may be a slightly different version - maybe he's a vegetarian, so Cool Girl loves seitan and is great with dogs; or maybe he's a hipster artist, so Cool Girl is a tattooed, bespectacled nerd who loves comics. There are variations to the window dressing, but believe me, he wants Cool Girl, who is basically the girl who likes every fucking thing he likes and doesn't ever complain."

One of the most interesting/disturbing notions of the book, is that someone who is ostensibly bad for you, can actually bring out your best qualities, can make you more focused, think clearer, work harder, be your best self. This works against all the principles I've learned and re-learned recently so kinda fucked with my head a bit. Ooops....
"I'm the bitch who makes you better, Nick" Amy antagonises Nick in an argument and he concedes to himself, "Because she was right: As a man, I had been my most impressive when I loved her - and I was my next best self when I hated her. I had only known Amy seven years, but I couldn't go back to life without her. Because she was right: I couldn't return to an average life."

My main criticism of the book would be levelled at how it ended. In some ways it was a complete success, as it seemed like it was heading in one way and then flipped right at the end and because by the end you're not really sure who you want to triumph anyway. Arrgh it's hard to say without saying too much!
However, the last few chapters did seem rushed in pace compared to the languid, hugely detailed style of the rest of the book. It did increase the tension but it means that the book didn't flow completely, it was a little disjointed.

I was verrrrrry excited to hear that the book is being made into a film though! Reese Witherspoon's production company and Twentieth Century Fox have bought the rights to the book, with David Lynch lined up to direct, Ben Affleck playing Nick and Rosamund Pike as Amy. Also, the brunette from Robin Thicke's naughty 'Blurred Lines' video has been cast as Andie...I don't know why this makes me lol but it does. I just know it's gonna take ages to make and I actually wanna watch it, like yesterday so I'm going to have to work on my patience...

Shanika Says: One to read! 

Gillian Flynn, who is also writing the screenplay for the movie.

The Slap

I like to read. Pretty much anything I can get my hands on, magazines, blogs, cereal packets at breakfast...anything really which can be a tad annoying for my nearest and dearest. I’m definitely a member of #teamrealbooks so a Kindle is NOT on my wish list, I love taking books in the bath and that just seems like a risk too far. I like a lot of different genres. I’ve had my teen years full of romance novels, bonk busters (aahh Jackie Collins) and chick lit; now I prefer real life situations, complex characters, plausible dialogue.

A book I read at the end of last year, ‘The Slap’ by Christos Tsiolkas has all of that and then some. The books blurb pretty much sums up the premise: ‘At a suburban barbecue one afternoon, a man slaps an unruly boy. It’s a single act of violence. But this event reverberates through the lives of everyone who witnesses it happen.’ This one act strongly divides moral opinion among the BBQ attendees, shatters relationships and continues to cause waves for months. It’s an international best seller and recently been dramatised by the BBC, starring Melissa George and Sophie Okonedo, so obviously I’m not the only one who thought so, but here’s a few reasons why I loved the book:

The narrative structure is not unique but is rarely executed so well. Each chapter is told by a different character, all of whom were present at the BBQ when the slap took place and continues over the following months as the aftermath ripples through the group. The BBQ provides the perfect setting to showcase the interconnectedness of a number of relationships; family, friends and work colleagues spanning three generations and one of Tsiolkas’ strengths lies in providing authentic voices for both men and women of different races and ages. Cultural, age specific references help ensure the voice is just as strong and believable for 17 year old Richie ( Lily Allen, The Streets, drugs, university pressure and unrequited gay love) as for Manolis in his sixties (Greek words and phrases, thoughts of mortality and memories of his migration to Australia from Greece).   

Every single character is flawed. Every one. And not a ‘oh she’s always later or a bit bitchy or a shit cook’ kind of flawed, seriously flawed. A bit like most of us then. None of the characters are all bad and none are all good, there are no out and out heroes or villains here. They are plagued with vanity, selfishness and lie frequently, they are unfaithful and scheming and yet they all seem so very, very normal. The people most closely involved in the slapping incident – Harry and the parents of the kid/brat (depending on how you view it) – are ironically the least likeable characters, presumably so that the reader sides with neither and actually has to decide their opinion based on just the act itself. Harry, who hit the child, is deplorable in a lot of ways; he is masculine to the point of Neanderthal, racist towards both white Australians and the Aborigines, misogynistic, violent – but he is hard working, fair to his employees, enterprising and family orientated. The boy’s mother, while being a sort of hippy Earth mother lumbered with an alcoholic, work shy husband, detracts from her victim status because of her unwillingness to discipline her child, her jealousy of her friends and her refusal to see other points of view or accept blame.

Tsiolka’s exploration of female friendship really struck a chord with me. Aisha, Anouk and Rosie have been friends since their teens and the trio have the bond of history but they often hold opposing views on things such as children and family, so the slapping incident brings these underlying tensions to the fore. Rosie is so steadfast in her belief that she takes Harry to court while Anouk believes the slap was justified and so an apology should suffice. Aisha’s character was completely caught in the conflict; having witnessed Harry’s violent side before when he attacked his wife, breaking her jaw, she finds the slapping of the child disgusting but feels pressured by her husband Hector, Harry’s cousin, to support her family. These tensions simmered beneath every meeting of the friends, but were symptoms of other issues at play between the women and the majority of female friendships. Rosie adores and admires Aisha, cherishes their friendship and yet at the same time is tortured by jealousy at her financial standing and seemingly perfect home life. I think most females, as proud as they are of their friends sometimes experience feelings of jealousy and this was dealt with realistically; subtle hints over the months the book spanned. Anouk and Rosie, while often sharing moments of genuine affection towards each other due to their shared history, had outgrown each other and both knew it; Anouk found Rosie judgemental and weak, Rosie thought Anouk abrasive and cold. The friendship only remained because of Aisha. Yeah, I’ve been there...

The last thing I liked was that the book was set in suburban Australia. I can’t say I’ve read or watched much set down under; I’m not counting the pre-watershed, family fun of ‘Neighbours’ and ‘Home and Away’ here, obviously. Tsiolka’s writing is rich and highly detailed and so the images he paints of both the Australian coast and the suburbs are undeniably strong. He is able to perfectly capture a slice of society. The issues between white Australia and the Aborigines are well documented, but several of the characters are of Greek origin. The racial separations between the characters were so ingrained but also typical of ‘modern racism’ – everybody was civil, courteous even, on the surface, but the individual chapters allow the reader to digest their real thoughts. While I was relatively unsurprised by the white characters intimidation by or fear of the Aborigines, I was taken aback that some of the Greek characters felt the same and looked down on them, calling them derogatory names like ‘wogs’. I’m not entirely sure why I was surprised, perhaps it was the absolute vehemence of Harry and the fact that he was instilling his beliefs into his young son that shocked me. I was even more shocked that both the Greek and Aborigine characters looked at the white Australians as ‘trash’. The references to them as alcoholics with no morals were so casual it was almost a given, and maybe I’m ignorant but I wasn’t aware of the stereotype so it was an eye opener.  

Oh yeah, and all of the adult characters lamented the lost generation with their rudeness, lack of respect, desire to look like sluts and spoilt behaviour. Ah, good to see it’s the same for the youth over there as it is over here.



Christos Tsiolkas