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: 0098461560
Author: Fred Vargas Trans from the French: David Bellos
DDC: 843.914

On Tuesday, four sheep were killed at Ventebrune in the French Alps. On Thursday, nine were lost at Pierrefort. “It’s the wolves,” a local said. “They’re coming down to eat us all up.”
The other man drained his glass, then raised his hand. “A wolf, Pierrot, my lad. It’s a wolf. A beast such as you have never clapped eyes on before. Coming down, as you say, to eat us all up.”

Yes again a cover influenced purchase, so I am glad to report that a good cover can lead to a good read too. I really enjoyed this book. The language, characters and descriptions are fantastic, so I suppose a lot of praise must also go to the translater as well.

The book opens with the character of Lawrence Donald Johnstone, a Canadian in France to film wolves. He’s been away from his true love, grizzly bears, for far too long, and is rooting in in Mercantour. Not only for the skinny European wolves, although he has come to love them, but also because there’s a woman, Camille, in his life.

But when dead sheep, always ewes are found the locals begin to look at the “foreign Italian wolves” with suspicion and hate. They organise local hunts. Coming to believe that it is all the work of one, huge, extraordinary animal.

Camille has her own ideas, especially after a friend Suzanne is found killed just like a sheep. She begins to suspect that a local is responsible. She doesn’t buy into Suzanne’s theory of a werewolf, but she sets out along with Watchee the shepard and Soliman, Suzanne’s adopted son to track down the killer. Things, however, do not turn out to be quite as straight forward as she’d hoped, and she is forced to ask an old friend for help. This old flame is Commissaire Adamsberg. And he is quite a character.

That is how Adamsberg used his brain, like an ocean that you trust entirely to feed you well, but wich you’ve long ago given up trying to tame.

I loved Adamsberg. He is so very different from the logical reasoning detective in the Sherlock Holmes mode. Instead he is an interesting, fascinating character, with his own, highly personal way of getting things done.

‘Dunno’ was among the frequent of Adamsber’g utterances. He fell back on it neither from laziness nor from lack of wits, but bcause he really did not know the answer and was ready to admit it. The commissaire’s passive ignorance bemused and maddened his deputy, who could not conceive of the possibility of taking any apropriate steps in full ignorance of the facts. Wavering was Adamsberg’s most natural element, however, and his most productive by far.

Or maybe it just that I see parts of myself with my wavering in him.

The whole book is full of wonderful turns of phrases, and great characters. The actual plot itself is not so important, and you’ll probably have worked out the ending before the characters. But that isn’t really a negative point, in my opinion, I was content to just read and enjoy this book.

Splitting a guy in two goes beyond the legal limits of violence between neighbours

I enjoyed it so much, that had I not been the final stop on the train I may actually have missed it, I was so engrossed in the book.

Camille shrugged. “Sometimes things just click for all sorts of lousy reasons, but loads of good reasons just cant unclick them ever again.”

Tags: 10 Stars, 843.914, Adamsberg, brilliant characters, crime, David Bellos, detective, Fred Vargas, French, murder, police, Seeking Whom He May Devour, sheep, translated, wolves, wonderful writing

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