Review: The Whale Rider

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Been reading this in class with my Literature class. Despite a few questions about relationships (ie are Koro and Nani the mother and father of Rawiri and Porourangi, or the grandparents and if so where are the parents) this is a wonderful little book to introduce secondary students to well-considered literature.

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Review: Pale Fire

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can't believe it's taken me so long to get around to reading this. What have I been doing? In essence a commentary on a long poem, Nabokov skilfully, whimsically and brilliantly weaves a convoluted tale of academic arrogance, royal intrigue, petty international politics, assassinations, literary criticism and huge dollops of dry, knowing humour that unfolds slowly like the first buds of May developing. Wonderful.

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Review: Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar

Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar by David Crystal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm really enjoying (Crystal has a lot of say on that usage) this recent series of books that esteemed linguist David Crystal has been putting out. Grammar is not the most glamorous subject but one that is hugely important if we are to make sense of what people say and write, and if people are able to make sense of what we utter. Crystal's a descriptivist and that emphasis on describing English's ever-evolving grammar and its role in the making of meaning is what makes me enjoy this book so much. Well worth a read.

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Review: The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very illuminating insight into the mind and thought-processes of a young man with autism. Clearly written and very honest in providing and insight into the condition. If you work with autistic kids or those on the autistic spectrum, it will help you come to a better understanding of their difficulties with everyday life.

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Review: Hot Milk

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sofia is not the most likable of characters, but then again there aren't many likable ones to be found. She's a young woman lost in herself and the world around her, looking after a mysteriously ill mother and battling sexuality and identity crises.

There's a lot going on here, while at the same time there's a not a lot going on - almost like a bonfire of the inanities - but Levy's use of interconnected images is intriguing. Jellyfish (named Medusas) abound, escape and fear of escape is threaded through the novel, familial relationships (the gamut is run here - sibling, maternal, paternal) are dissected against a backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea and European austerity.

Intriguing.

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Review: Imperium: A Fiction of the South Seas

Imperium: A Fiction of the South Seas by Christian Kracht
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Interesting little tale of coconuts and nutty Germans at the turn of the last century. Cameo roles from a number of historical figures, an oft-times unreliable narrator and a nice little touch at the end.

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Review: Zero K

Zero K by Don DeLillo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With all that is happening around us, it's no surprise that DeLillo has one generation cryogenically freezing itself for future thawing while the other gets left behind in a seemingly increasingly violent world. Weaving a new possible re-Creation myth, DeLillo's latest is a ponderous examination of father-son bonds, or rather the lack of them, which ultimately ends up feeling like an unresolved puzzle. One to go back to in a few years, I think.

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Review: Norse Mythology

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With a voice as calm and sonorous as ever, Gaiman leads us through the tangle of Norse gods and demigods to Ragnarok and beyond. Not the longest of reads but a very enjoyable one.

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Review: Dune

Dune by Frank Herbert
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Not read this is such a number of years, and it's heartening to see that it still manages to capture the imagination. For me, it's the breadth of ideas and possibilities that Dune unleashes that makes it special, more so than Herbert's often workman-like prose. Some of the characterizations, with hindsight, are fairly clunky and the multiple POV switches seem like from another time. Which, I suppose they were. And I'm sure that Duncan Idaho had a greater role in my memory of my teenage traispse through the book than he has in reality.
A worthwhile revisit, though I don't think I'll be picking up Dune Messiah any time soon.

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