Book Review - White Tiger [Aravind Adiga]

I enjoyed this, but it didn't stick in my brain very well. I think that's partly just because I'm spoiled with (a) perspectives on slum life in India (a la Slumdog Millionaire) and (b) examinations of Indian English (thanks OU). So it's not a bad book, and is original and well-written, but I just couldn't get those two points out of my head.

Book Review - White Tiger [Aravind Adiga]

I enjoyed this, but it didn't stick in my brain very well. I think that's partly just because I'm spoiled with (a) perspectives on slum life in India (a la Slumdog Millionaire) and (b) examinations of Indian English (thanks OU). So it's not a bad book, and is original and well-written, but I just couldn't get those two points out of my head.

Book Review - If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things [Jon McGregor]

If such a thing exists, this was a well-written sack of shit. It felt like somebody doing really bad NLP on you, and I was actually quite offended at the denouement that the author had attempted to repeatedly dupe me with literary tricks when it could have been so much better. There - I didn't spoil the plot, even though I pissed all over the book :)

Book Review - If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things [Jon McGregor]

If such a thing exists, this was a well-written sack of shit. It felt like somebody doing really bad NLP on you, and I was actually quite offended at the denouement that the author had attempted to repeatedly dupe me with literary tricks when it could have been so much better. There - I didn't spoil the plot, even though I pissed all over the book :)

Book Review - The Ivington Diaries [Monty Don]

This book is a series of diary extracts written by Monty Don as he basically set his rural garden up from scratch after the collapse of his jewellery business and subsequent depression. His style is occasionally annoying, and being a book very much on one theme, you do get fed up of certain obsessive issues of his. For example, pleached limes. Love you Mont, but shut up about your damn pleaching already! ;) Another thing that is hard to get used to is that the diary extracts, although pretty much covering every day within the year, are taken from many years of journal-keeping. So the timeline that is days in the year actually wanders through many dimensions, where dimensions = years. It's cool enough when you get used to it.

Obviously I loved this book because I love Monty and I love gardening. But I did roadtest it on 0ct0pus and it seems to have a general appeal too. You get a good insight into what makes gardeners tick, why gardening is worthy, and particularly why gardening is therapeutic - I'd like to read more of his books on this theme. Monty is also a good advocate of gardening as an imprecise art, rather than the technical exactitude a lot of books seem to imply, so that has to be good :)

Book Review - The Ivington Diaries [Monty Don]

This book is a series of diary extracts written by Monty Don as he basically set his rural garden up from scratch after the collapse of his jewellery business and subsequent depression. His style is occasionally annoying, and being a book very much on one theme, you do get fed up of certain obsessive issues of his. For example, pleached limes. Love you Mont, but shut up about your damn pleaching already! ;) Another thing that is hard to get used to is that the diary extracts, although pretty much covering every day within the year, are taken from many years of journal-keeping. So the timeline that is days in the year actually wanders through many dimensions, where dimensions = years. It's cool enough when you get used to it.

Obviously I loved this book because I love Monty and I love gardening. But I did roadtest it on 0ct0pus and it seems to have a general appeal too. You get a good insight into what makes gardeners tick, why gardening is worthy, and particularly why gardening is therapeutic - I'd like to read more of his books on this theme. Monty is also a good advocate of gardening as an imprecise art, rather than the technical exactitude a lot of books seem to imply, so that has to be good :)