#justread Kolymsky Heights

Author: Lionel Davidson

Tags: #philippullman #coldwar #siberia

Discovered: The window of Daunt Books in Marylebone

Where read: (in part) Ozone Coffee, Leonard Street, London

What's the story?

This cold war spy thriller is set in the freezing tundra of Siberia, one of the most impenetrable places on Earth and home to a top secret Soviet research base and laboratory. The story follows our all adventure protagonist Jonny Porter whose verve and unique native Canadian background provides the perfect linguistic and cultural disguise to infiltrate the high security Soviet base. Classic spy fiction.  


The Word's Shortlist view:

Kolymsky Heights is a page turner from the very off, a secret message in a cigarette package sent to an Oxford professor and a complete preserved Mammoth carcass turning up in Siberia - this is thriller fiction at its most compelling. Porter's journey across the Arctic Sea from Japan to Russia is a masterclass in spy fiction. Davidson invests so much attention in the detail that every aspect of the story is completley believable the only trouble is that the pages and pages of detail can, at times, hold the narrative up. At times I was actually willing the characters on. 

At times this novel is brilliant but at other times boring. My guess is that fans of the genre (Le Carre et al) will delight in the pace but for the rest of us this feels a bit like committing to a 12 episode box set just because the pilot episode is so good. Still, I'll always be grateful for Daunt books for continuing to showcase old and new fiction at its very best. For more wonderful bookstores see the tweet of the week below.

Looking for a thriller in similarly freezing surroundings? My moneys on Arne Dahl's Bad Blood http://wordsshortlist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/bad-blood-macabre-slice-of-urban-gothic.html

Tweet of the week:

Weird and wonderful #bookshops worldwide – in pictures http://gu.com/p/429at/stw  #books

The Word's Shortlist

@wordsshortlist

'That book guy', tweeting mainly about fiction and reading but with occasional sidebars into art, Japanese culture and architecture #readmore

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Essential Bank Holiday reads...

Colorless Tsukuro Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

Stay up with me by Tom Barbash

Mrs. Hemingway

Author: Naomi Wood

Tags: #Hemingway #poolside #summerreads

Discovered: Marylebone Train Station (after missing my train)

Where read: (in part) waiting for the next train

What's the story?: 

This novel follows the literary career of one Earnest Hemingway through the lives of his four wives Hadley, Fife, Martha and Mary. The story moves from from the Cote D'Azur to Key West like flicking through the pages of Time Magazine or Vogue as Hemingway's career moves from war journalist to literary sensation changing his lovers as often as his flannel trousers.

The Word's Shortlist view:

This is a light and enjoyable read perfect for the pool or beach side. Strong female characters and glamorous locations will no doubt mean this book sells by the bucket load at airport bookstores. The star of the story is Mr Hemingway himself and the highlights are the chapters devoted to the Hemingway's summer vacations with F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. An entire novel could have been devoted to their jazz, gin and bridge marathons.

Anyone, like me, interested in Hemingway as a writer will be mildly disappointed - the trouble with the first person narrative from each wife is that Earnest is kept at a distance. That said, as a man who existed in the relationship mire between ex-wife and future wife we actually see much more of the man through his lovers.

For an equally strong female lead, the word's shortlist recommends 'The Miniaturist' http://wordsshortlist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-miniaturist-eerie-prophecy-of-dolls.html

Twitter: @wordsshortlist

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The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the secrets of the World's Happiest people

Author: Helen Russell

Tags: #Denmark #lego #Jutland

Discovered: The Book House, Thame

Where read: (in part) TAP Flight to Portugal

What's the story?: 

London based journalist Helen Russell is on a mission. Following the decision to relocate to Denmark, with her husband's work (for LEGO of course,)Helen challenges herself to embrace the experience and sets out to uncover the secret to the Danish happiness formula. 

The Word's Shortlist view:

This is a really clever cultural study packaged as a whimsical diary of one woman's attempts to settle in rural Jutland - or 'sticksville-on-Sea' as the little coastal town is referred to. From social humiliation and lonely winter afternoons to summer parties and LEGOLAND Helen's friendly and personal style is revealing but never indiscreet. 

Through personal anecdotes and interviews we quickly build a first-hand portrait of the happiest country in the World. What makes's the Dane's tick? Well its more than LEGO bricks and pastry and this brilliant book has the answer.

Twitter: @wordsshortlist

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A bookish photo tour of Lisbon...



Sunday morning bookstore pop up at Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara

Grafitti at Elevador da Gloria

Flea market find at Campo de Santa Clara

Holiday reading 

Book wall at Museu Coleccao Berardo 

  

A sensational slice of Shinjuku nightlife

Title: After Dark

Author: Haruki Murakami

Tags: #shinjuku #tokyo #lovehotel

Discovered: Working through the Murakami back catalogue

Where read: (in part) drinking tea in Canterbury town centre

The Word's Shortlist view:

So where to go after Murakami's classic A Wild Sheep Chase? Regular readers of this humble blog will recognise my Murakami obsession which this month is being sated by his 2004 novella (yes this one is a mere 200 pages long!) After Dark.

After Dark is a slight departure for Murakami in so much that the story is written in the third person and is more a destination piece that a character driven story. Some might be put off by the lack of a clear plot here but the real star of the story is Shinjuku -  Tokyo's most idiosyncratic district of neon, hostess bars, pachinko and karaoke.

The story takes place during one single night in Shinjuku with a range of nocturnal characters, including Mari and her sister Eri, whose lives criss cross with others like the Tokyo Metro. Much of the story is centred around the Alphaville love hotel - anyone intrigued about what makes a hotel in Japan a 'love hotel' should read this book simply to find out! 

The third person narrative, and use of screen-play style camera direction, is voyeuristic. As reader you are transported to this evocative setting and allowed to dip in and out of various scenarios without immersing yourself completely. The story effortlessly captures the atmosphere of staying awake all night, perhaps in any city, but especially in the neon fuzz of Tokyo.

Why read After Dark? A great introduction to Murakami (indeed to Japanese fiction) and a sensational slice of Shinjuku nightlife. Feeling inspired? Try Ryu Murakami's In the Miso Soup. Next for me more Murakami with South of the Border, West of the Sun.  

Follow this link for an amazing animated short Shinjuku Nights from Twistory Studios https://youtu.be/KtCKATWLOgc

Twitter: @wordsshortlist

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Discover your next read with The Word's Shortlist bookshelf...


What to read right now:


* The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro: Reviewed here
http://wordsshortlist.blogspot.com/2015/03/what-when-tolkien-went-to-hay-festival.html?spref=tw

* The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell: Reviewed here
http://wordsshortlist.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-perfect-brew-between-literary.html?spref=tw

* Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan: Reviewed here http://wordsshortlist.blogspot.com/2015/01/harrowing-and-lyrical-in-equal-measure.html?spref=tw

* Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng: Reviewed here http://wordsshortlist.blogspot.com/2015/01/this-is-story-about-secrets-and-family.html?spref=tw

* Brooklyn by Colm Toibin: Reviewed here http://wordsshortlist.blogspot.com/2015/01/tender-sincere-and-beautifully.html?spref=tw

#amreading this month..


After Dark - Haruki Murakami

Your Father Sends his Love - Stuart Evers

The Folding Star - Alan Hollinghurst

@wordsshortlist

The Easter Penguin has visited, #littleblackclassics

Title: Little Black Classics

Author: Hans Christian Andersen, Robert Louis Stevenson and Leo Tolstoy

Tags: #classics #penguin #easterreads

Discovered: Brilliant poster campaign on the Underground

Where read: In-between easter eggs and hot cross buns this Easter

The Word's Shortlist view:

There can be no finer way to spend Easter than rediscovering the classics with Penguin's brilliant Little Black Classics series.

"There sat the dog with eyes as big as mill wheels" Hans Christian Anderson The Tinder Box

"If I stopped now, after coming all this way - well, they'd call me an idiot" Leo Tolstoy How Much does a Man Need

"Is it me you love, friend? Or the race that made me? Robert Louis Stevenson Olalla 

Discover more here http://www.littleblackclassics.com

Happy Easter reading 

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What happened when Tolkien went to the Hay Festival?

Title: The Buried Giant

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Tags: #fantasy #ghibli #kingArthur

Discovered: The Oxford Literary Festival 2015

Where read: (In part) On the way to Dover Castle

The Word's Shortlist view:

Fans of Kazuo Ishiguro, and let's face it who isn't, have waited a considerably long time for a new novel. Admittedly we've had a number of short stories and the film adaptation of Never Let Me Go but its been 10 years wait for a new novel. Wait no more.

The Buried Giant is something of a departure for Ishiguro, delving as it apparently does into the genre of fantasy fiction (or mythical realism if you take the Studio Ghibli line). That said, dig a little deeper and you'll find the unique storytelling that Kazuo Ishiguro is so celebrated for.

The novel is set in the early mediaeval (perhaps Arthurian?) period in British history, after the Romans have retreated. Landscapes of wild and rocky vistas are home to small tribes and communities living underground in rabbit warren villages. This is a land of superstition and a time when the mythology of giants, ogres, pixies and, yes, dragons are rife but this is less A Game of Thrones, and more Tolkien at the Hay Festival.

Like The Hobitt, The Buried Giant is an episodic fable based around the journey elderly couple Axl and Beatrice must make to find their estranged son. "There's a journey we must go on , and no more delay". Although the couple meet an array of characters on their journey its the collective loss of memory, understood to be dragon's breath, that is most memorable part of the story. What horrors have led to such mass social dementia?

Whilst the book's fantasy elements are beautiful written there is something missing when it comes to the human characters of Axl and Beatrice themselves. Its incredibly difficult to empathise with either character which ultimately makes this read enjoyable but unfulfilling. 

Can Ishiguro produce a novel that delivers as a fantasy genre piece AND a work of literary fiction? Yes of course, but is this his best work? Im afraid not.

Find a link to the book's trailer here http://theburiedgiant.co.uk

Twitter: @wordsshortlist

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THE perfect brew between literary fiction and fantasy

Title: The Bone Clocks

Author: David Mitchell

Tags: #time #murakami #drwho

Discovered: The Man Booker shortlist 2014

Where read: (In part) Craft Coffee Greenwich Peninsular

The Word's Shortlist view:

The Bone Clocks is a remarkable and ambitious journey through time and place via numerous first person narrators. The intricate plot is bursting with original ideas and themes that bend realism and fantasy over its 608 pages. For me, this is David Mitchell's best work yet - and after Cloud Atlas that's a stunning achievement!

The journey begins in the familiar surroundings of suburban Kent in the 1980s with an inauspicious family, a head strong teenage girl, Holly Sykes, and her younger brother Jacko. What follows is a story in six parts each based around Holly at different stages of her life from teenage runaway to adult and parent.

It must be said, the novel is a complex and challenging character driven piece that moves backwards and forwards through generations. Its genius lies in the way the lives of each of the disparate characters are connected in some way to Holly but a certain amount of perseverance is required.  

The environments that Mitchell creates are imaginative and broad - from Cambridge in the 90s to Iraq in 2004 before moving to the future and ending in Ireland in 2043 with the European economy in free-fall.  

Throughout the first two thirds of the novel a fantasy sic-fi plot bubbles away but this isn't fully explored until the later parts of the book when we come face with the Horologists - a band of immortals with an almost vampiric view on succession planning. The way this section is linked to the realism of the other sections is a remarkable feat and pure Mitchell.

Many will read the novel purely as its David Mitchell, others as it was Man Booker shortlisted but for me this novel is the perfect brew between literary fiction and fantasy, a place which The Word's Shortlist has often celebrated in Murakami novels such as The Wind up Bird Chronicle.

Still need convincing? Check out David Mitchell's own playlist 'Music for a lost Horologist' to accompany the book. Where else would you find Shostakovich and Maria Callas next to The KLF, Yoko Ono and Talking Heads?

Listen to the full playlist here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1yRBByypyFczSNnS2Jqymt1/music-for-a-lost-horologist-a-bone-clocks-playlist

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