I have read one Margaret Atwood novel before (Cat’s Eye), and remember being very impressed by her writing. I was thus pleased to find her short reworking of Odysseus’ tale (as commonly told in the Iliad and the Odyssey), both because she wrote it and because I always enjoy old stories told from new perspectives.
In The Penelopiad we are told the story of Odysseus’ wife Penelope, as she waits (for twenty years) for him to return from the Trojan war. Her thoughts and reflections are interspersed with those of her maids, who echo the role of the chorus in Greek drama.
This was a quick read, but very insightful and excellently written. It is wonderful to come across a simple thing done very, very well, especially by someone who is clearly intelligent and well-informed.
Alexander McCall Smith’s book The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is very popular. I have a distrust of public opinion however, at least regarding literature, so I started reading it with a somewhat sceptical view.
Etienne van Heerden se nuutste boek, Asbesmiddag, was die eerste ordentlike Afrikaanse roman wat ek in ‘n lang tyd gelees het, en ek moet erken dit was veral aan die begin nogal uitdagend.
Ever since I saw the recent Hollywood movie I’ve wanted to read I am Legend by Richard Matheson. I found the film somewhat shallow, but got the impression that the book would have more substance. I was therefore quite pleased to stumble upon it in a library in London.
Meanwhile Don’t Push and Squeeze is the autobiographical account of the year that South African Robert Berold spent in China teaching English.
I found Barry Hines’ book A Kestrel for a Knave quite by accident at a charity book fair, and it was a good find. This short book is a gem – simple, direct but very touching.
I read Orcs, by Stan Nicholls, while on holiday in the UK. It’s a book I had seen many times in bookshops, and I was intrigued by its stated purpose of casting orcs, the traditional bad-guys of High Fantasy, in a new, positive light.
Continuing on the theme of dystopian societies is Ben Elton’s novel, Blind Faith. The basic premise is a future where the current internet culture (as stereotyped by inarticulate American teenagers), combined with charismatic evangelism and new-age faith, has led to a society where every moment of every person’s life is public, and broadcasted to the entire world.
Ayn Rand’s epic novel Atlas Shrugged is one I’ve wanted to read for many years (it has, to my shame, been lying on my bookshelf for at least 4 years), and I am so glad that I finally did.
