1909: The Ghost Pirates

Book Name: The Ghost Pirates

Author: William Hope Hodgson

Genre: Horror

Year Published: 1909



So this book I literally chose because it was called "The Ghost Pirates" and I'm pleased to say it didn't disappoint. Despite the occasional issue with nautical language I found this story really enjoyable (and to be honest I just substituted the words I didn't understand for "that place" or "that thing" and the sentences worked just fine :P) It's about a sailor on a ship with a bad reputation but nobody believes in ghost stories... you know, until they start getting killed off.
Anyway, I don't want to give away too much, so suffice to say, it has a good horror atmosphere, light on description of what's attacking them and heavy on the psychology of the main character and his mental state. Thanks to the tension and pace of the writing, I found this book hard to put down, which has been a pretty rare occurrence of late thanks to being super busy with work, theatre and NaNo.
Speaking of NaNo, that's basically the reason this blog post is so late - I actually read it in September, but then was doing prep in October and of course writing in November! Also, (spoiler alert!) my next book I'm reading is To Kill A Mockingbird and I was having trouble getting hold of a cheap/free copy. I don't like to start reading my next "100 Year Challenge" book before I've written the blog post on the old one XD
Anyways, I really do recommend this. It's not too scary if you're worried about that, but it does have some good old style horror (seeing as how it was written in 1909). It has some good characters and in particular the narrator is someone you can actually empathise with which is always a bonus. Plus the fantasy elements of the story are interesting to the point I'm considering stealing some for my roleplaying game :P So yeah, give it a read!

Other Books I Considered: Sorekara - Natsume Sōseki
Books I Read Inbetween: A Feast for Crows - George R. R. Martin

1919: The Moon Pool

Book Name: The Moon Pool

Author: Abraham Merritt

Genre: Fantasy

Year Published: 1919

When I was compiling my book list I tried to create a mix of titles I'd heard of and had therefore wanted to read for some time, as well as choosing some completely random ones so as to discover new authors and perhaps inspire people to read some older, less-known works. I had never heard of Abraham Merritt, but thanks to a quick internet search implying that he might have influenced H.P.Lovecraft I decided to give The Moon Pool a go.

I'm certainly glad I read this book, although it was a bit hard going at times. Merritt has a very descriptive style of writing which can make it feel as though you are reading a constant stream of metaphors and similes, but the story is overall compelling enough that it's not too much trouble. In fact sometimes it can be very interesting to be given such vivid descriptions, given the book's fantasy setting.

The main story of The Moon Pool is about the discovery of an underground race and a kind of monster, referred to as the Dweller or the Shining One, which comes to the Earth's surface and feeds on humans. The build up to the discovery and learning about the race and this 'lost world' scenario was really interesting, but I found that at times the book focused a little too much on the romance between one of the people exploring the underground realm and one of the inhabitants thereof. Without giving too much away hopefully, there is at least a reason for this development in the end, but I suppose I just didn't enjoy the fantasy/romance genre battle that seemed to occur occasionally.

Overall, I can see why this is cited as an influence on Lovecraft, though for me, Merritt's work didn't always flow as well and there's not as much of a horror element for definite. I would recommend it though for anyone who enjoys reading about alternate worlds and races and it's a decent old fantasy title that deserves a little recognition I feel.

Other Books I Considered: A Damsel in Distress - P.G.Wodehouse

Books I Read Inbetween: A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold - George R. R. Martin; When Did You See Her Last - Lemony Snicket; Newt's Emerald - Garth Nix; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Tom Stoppard; French Without Tears - Terence Rattigan; Grace Note - Samuel Adamson

1983: The Piano Teacher

Book Name: The Piano Teacher

Author: Elfriede Jelinek

Genre: Novel

Year Published: 1983

So it turns out A Song of Ice and Fire is a terrible series to be reading alongside other books as I never seem to read anything else... but back in March(!) I did finish reading The Piano Teacher. (Thanks E-T for lending me a copy.) The cover described it as "the masterpiece of Elfriede Jelinek, Austria's most famous writer." I'm not sure how true this statement is as I know pretty much nothing about Austrian literature, but I had heard of the film adaptation and I certainly really liked the book. It is about the life of Erika Kohut, who lives with her super overprotective and overbearing mother, her fascination with sex and peep shows and her relationship with one of her students. Whilst the story is a bit hard to describe without just explaining everything that happened, it does cover various points of Erika's life with flashbacks and also follows her mother and student's actions in parts, which makes for quite a choppy and sometimes hard to follow storyline.

When I began reading The Piano Teacher I was worried it wouldn't flow for me. The opening sentences are extremely short and to the point e.g. "She is trying to escape her mother. Erika is in her late thirties."..."Erika entered, her father exited." Whilst these kinds of short sentences were commonplace throughout the book, I ended up finding them a nice change from other authors - Jelinek was able to fit a lot of depth and description into her work without having long winded and lengthy paragraphs about one small detail. On top of that, I also really enjoyed the way she described everything, with great use of metaphors, such as this description of a concert audience: "...fat islands floating in the amniotic fluid of the notes. They imbibe temporarily, but do not understand what they are drinking."

I really enjoyed this once I got into it and was able to deal with the story's rhythm. The way Erika's character was developed during the book and having such an intense link with her feelings and thoughts really made this a winner for me. There is definitely an adult theme to this book, including as mentioned sex, but also abuse/violence and perhaps depression, so bear that in mind if you were interested in reading it. It is certainly worth reading at minimum for Jelinek's wonderful use of language.

Other Books I Considered: Pet Sematary - Stephen King; The Sheep-Pig - Dick King-Smith

Books I Read Inbetween: An Abundance of Katherines - John Green; Across the Nightingale Floor - Lian Hearn; How to Make a Golem and Terrify People - Alette J. Willis; A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow - George R. R. Martin

1934: Mary Poppins

Book Name: Mary Poppins

Author: P.L. Travers

Genre: Children's

Year Published: 1934

Once again I'm kinda late actually writing this blog post as I kept intending to go see Saving Mr. Banks but unfortunately as the cinema costs money & requires free time I haven't got round to it... Also my friends wanted to watch Frozen instead ^^;

Anyway, the book was pretty good although most of the stories weren't the same as the ones in the Disney musical. This is because Mary Poppins is a series so the stories are drawn from multiple books. However, when I rewatched the film after I finished the book, I noticed things I hadn't before. For example, in the opening song with Bert, he sings short pieces about Mrs Corry and her tall daughters as well as Andrew the dog's owner - Miss Lark. These characters actually have full chapters in the book.

Although I haven't got around to watching Saving Mr. Banks, I did see a documentary about P.L. Travers prior to reading the book. Apparently Walt Disney had a really hard time convincing her to let him make a film of Mary Poppins as she was worried how well the stories would be conveyed on screen. It took him around 20 years to persuade her meaning the film didn't come out until 1964 and even then she still objected to some parts such as the songs.

Anyway, I think I might have enjoyed this book more if I wasn't expecting the same stories as the film which is a problem I usually try to avoid by reading things before watching them. I'm doing this with Game of Thrones at the moment and it's taking forever but I always find this way works better. Of course it was somewhat unavoidable in the case of Mary Poppins, given the fame and popularity of the Disney film compared with the books. Interestingly, even when I went to get this out at the library and asked for Mary Poppins, the librarian directed me to the DVDs and asked a lot of questions about whether I was a teacher and how old I was when I indicated I actually wanted the children's novel. However, this is a classic of children's literature and I'd recommend it to adults also as a light read in the same way that you might enjoy reading Harry Potter.

Other Books I Considered: Goodbye Mr. Chips - James Hilton; Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie

Books I Read Inbetween: The Last Continent - Terry Pratchett; Kat, Incorrigible - Stephanie Burgis