Paper and screen

It's simply a novel about a guy who goes to college and becomes a teacher. But it's one of the most fascinating things you've ever come across 

- Tom Hanks.

I really couldn't have put it better myself. 'Stoner' by John Williams is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I don't think I've found myself as absorbed and totally moved by a book since 'Any Human Heart' by William Boyd. I suppose in a way they're quite similar in style, narrating a man's life and all its ups and downs, but done in such a way that you can't tear yourself away from it yet you don't want it to finish. Someone asked me if it was good last week and I found myself nodding frantically and I actually said "it's touched my soul". I don't even know what I meant by that but it just seemed the right thing to say. It really did touch me, so much. I felt quite bereft when I had finished as I knew I wouldn't be reading about Stoner anymore. I think it's safe to say it gets a highly recommended from me.

Touching of souls wasn't limited to paper this week, although this film was originally a book: 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'. I read the little paragraph about it in the tv guide and I kind of knew what the story was about but I went ahead and watched it anyway. I can't say I'm glad as I was properly heartbroken by the end, but I am glad I watched it if you see what I mean. 

At the heart of the film was friendship, and I could never shake the sensation that in all my years of studying and reading about Nazi Germany it had honestly never occurred to me that of course, the people who ran those camps might have had children of their own. Who were innocent to what was going on around them and just wanted a friend to play with. I won't say what happens at the end in case anyone decides they want to go through a few tissues one night but I can still hear Vera Farmiga screaming Bruuuuuuunoooooo at the end *blood runs cold*  

I think maybe I need to lighten things up a bit. Anybody got any good comedy recommendations? 

Sedulity

It's not often that I walk away from a book. I'm a bit like a dog with a bone and will keep on nibbling at it until I finally reach the end. It could take months, literally the same book for months. It's not at all fun. I really should learn to just let go. Which is exactly what I did on the advice of Fizz. 

This is the current book I've been battling with:

I have only read one other book by Lionel Shriver: We Need to Talk About Kevin. Even though it was dark reading matter I seem to remember that it was easy to read, as in it flowed well and was easy to follow. Fast forward to The Post-Birthday World and the stickiness and all round bleurgh. 

First up, the characters were really not that interesting. I got through to just before halfway and I didn't care at all what was going to happen to any of them. The various book reviews inside talk about the humour (er, nope), the brilliant observations of life (uh, really?), and the cleverness. Ah the cleverness. Yes, her starter was clearly an expansive vocabulary. She followed up with eating a thesaurus for her main, and rounded off the meal with a dictionary for pudding. Seriously Lionel, what is with all the big words?! I spent much of my reading time feeling absolutely stupid and the rest strongly resisting the urge to go and get my dictionary to find out what she was trying to say. This does not make for pleasurable reading. 

Curious I went to my go-to book review venue and there was a real mixture of five star wonderfulness versus two star well below par. My favourite review and the one I most agree with was when the book was described as a "chore". Oh yes. Very accurately summed up. And so I quit. Right there. I pulled my bookmark from my place and filed it in the return to charity shop pile. Sorry Lionel, but your parallel-universe structure and giant words just didn't do it for me. So much so that I will be giving any of your other books a very wide berth. Epic fail.