Susan Hated Literature

It is January, so that means the Six Nations is just around the corner, and I’ve just gotten my ever-so-secret instructions from the Irish Rugby Supporters club that’ll enable me to purchase my ticket for the match against France tomorrow. Nice one. Just the one, but that won’t stop me. I’m so heading to Croker for the rugby.

We will also get a chance to buy two other tickets, either for France or for England. I’m aiming to get to for the England match, have half promised B#5 that if I get them he can come along. But we’ll see what happens.

Anyways, a before Christmas Donagh of Dublin Opinion got in contact regarding books of the year, but of course it has taken me this long to get around to it. And because I rarely buy hardback books, and pay no real attention as to whether a book is new or old, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to regard this as a “Books of 2006″ type post, more a “books I enjoyed in 2006″ list.

In no particular order, my top reads of 2006:
• The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
  This is a children’s fantasy sequence, arthurian in places, the first in the series of 5 was published back in 1965, but they really aren’t that dated at all. An example of some great writing, with no effort made to talk-down to a child’s level or anything so nasty.
• On Another Man’s Wound by Ernie O’Mally
  Ernie O’Malley’s account of his life fighting the Irish War of Independence. Entertaining and gripping account of how people from all sorts of backgrounds ended up on the same side.
• Seeking Whom He May Devour by Fred Vargas trans. David Bellos
  I loved this book, which I picked up because of the cover
  
  but I loved for the writing, characters and the plot. Mainly for the character of Adamsberg though, he is great, and I’m waiting for more of Vargas’ work to be translated from French so I can enjoy them.
• The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
  Anther old children’s fantasy, though this is very, very different to The Dark is Rising. It is simple, and childlike and totally adorable. A little dated, but who cares.
• Thud! by Terry Pratchett
  Terry Pratchett is nothing less than a genius. Everyone should at least try to read some of his Discworld novels. But just because you don’t like one is no reason not to try another. I enjoy most of his books, but I LOVE his watch ones. Vimes has to be among the greatest of all fictional characters ever thought up.

And of course honourable mentions must go to the following:

Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black

Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace

George Hook’s autobiography Time Added On

Temeraire by Naomi Novik

We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Back from the Brink Paul McGrath’s autobiography, written with Vincent Hogan

Check out the other lists and reviews from this technorati page

Tags: 6nations2007, Alias Grace, Back from the Brink, Beyond Black, Croke Park, favbooks2006, Favourite books, Ireland V France, irishblogsandbooks, On Another Man's Wound, rugby, Seeking Whom He May Devour, Six Nations, Temeraire, The Dark Is Rising, The Little White Horse, Thud!, Time Added On, We Need To Talk About Kevin

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ISBN: 0007157762
Author: Hilary Mantel
DDC: 823.914

Travelling: the dank oily days after Christmas. The motorway, its wastes looping London: the margin’s scrub-grass flaring orange in the lights, and the leaves of the poisoned shrubs striped yellow-green like a cantaloupe melon.

Alison is a medium, she travels around London passing on messages from those who have “passed”, or at least passing on some of the messages. Because the dead are just people afterall, and not all people are nice, or worth listening to. And then there is the fact that they can get confused and lose their memories after death. Or even forget who they were. And sometimes they are downright malicous.

Alison isn’t alone, she has her manager/assistant Colette, who is recently divorced and who in many ways, wants to believe, yet never really does.

A terrible childhood, abuse, murder, violence, neglect haunts Alison. She has to deal with the spirits as they try to pass on their messages, and their pettiness. And she has to deal with her spirit guide, Morris. He is about as far from the ideal guide as you can imagine. Foul mouthed, mean spirited and hostile, Alison wishes he’d move on, and stop her remembering her past.

“Fucking stuck-up cow” he said, as Colette went out. “White-faced fucking freak. She’s like a bloody ghoul. Where did you get her, gel, a churchyard?”

And when he starts bringing back friends things get much worse, because they are all men from Alison’s childhood. And childhood was not a good time for Alison, with her prostitute, neglectful, drugged mother:

and her mum says, so am I balck and white, am I stood in the fucking meadow, and if not, what leads you to believe I am a fucking cow?

I really enjoyed this book. It is a wonderful blend of light and dark, of horror and humour.

Colette was puzzled by the woman, who urned most of her statements into questions. It must be what they do in Surrey, she decided; they must have had it twinned with Australia

Never turning into farce, and at its heart it is about Alison, and her relationship with people. Colette being the main other in her life. Have to say though that I never warmed to Colette, she is very unsympathetic, and her thoughts on the overweight Alison can be very offputting. Not to mention her controlling temperment. Sometimes you wish that Al would just snap back, or refuse to go along with whatever diet Colette is forcing her to stick to.

Well worth picking up, I’m glad the cover of this book attracted my attention as I was browsing in the three for two section.

Tags: 10 Stars, 823.914, Beyond Black, black humour, excellent, ghosts, Hilary Mantel, horror, humour, Medium, psychic

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