Author Archives: Delia

I believe magic still exists in the world and it lives in the books. There is something special about being in a library or a bookstore, with so many stories around, waiting to be read, to be rescued from the shelves and taken home.

It strikes me how very like Zafon’s “Cemetery of Forgotten Books” (a concept I’ve read about in two of his novels, Angel’s Game and The Shadow of The Wind) the whole process of choosing a book is. You go into a bookstore and all the books on the shelves are waiting patiently, waiting to be touched, opened, read. Waiting for you to choose. The air is heavy with the scent of anticipation and the joy of discovery. And every time I’m looking for that special book, the one that will tell me more than all the other books around, the one that will take my hand and never let go.

This time it was Fahrenheit 451 that caught my eye. I have heard of it, of course, but never knew what it was about and I opened it and read the first sentence. Need I say more? The book had cast its spell on me and I was lost, couldn’t resist, didn’t want to, so I sat down there near a shelf and began reading, feeding on the words, that first sentence revolving in my head over and over again: It was a pleasure to burn.

At almost 200 hundred pages (including the interview with Ray Bradbury at the back) the book is a quick read and the prose is wonderfully charged with emotion. The reader is introduced to a world where books are hunted down and burned like witches at the stake, where people are more or less machines going through motions, a life without meaning and individual thought, with lots of visual distractions and repressed anger. And Guy Montag, fireman, fits the pattern beautifully. That is, until one day he meets Clarisse, who is different, who likes to think and walk outside and look at people when she talks to them. Their encounter has the effect of a spark in Montag’s soul, igniting his curiosity, making him wonder and question and search for answers. But it’s not easy breaking away from the neat monotony of life, and this he finds out soon enough. With the help of Faber, an old English professor, Montag is determined to find out more about the long lost world of books and as memories come back to him and he starts feeling again, his actions have terrifying consequences, making him a fugitive, running to stay alive.

The more I read the more I thought of OrwelI’s 1984, a novel describing a dystopian world where the communist regime controls everything and where everyone has its specific place. But whereas Orwell’s novel dealt on a larger scale, Fahrenheit 451 is more concentrated, focusing on books, the consequences of their disappearance from the world in favor of the media. Visuals versus thought. Readily made ideas versus imagination.

The end is reminiscent of “The Book of Eli” (the movie), in which the main protagonist carries a book with him and then loses it, but it’s not really lost. I’m afraid saying more will give away too much so I’ll stop here and just add: it was a pleasure to read.

Read in May, 2011

I got The Glass Palace from a colleague at work and I had no idea what to expect.

In the beginning, the book has the feel of a memoir, a personal story put together with historical facts, starting with the British invasion of Burma at the end of 1885, then going through the Second World War and ending almost in the present day. It spans across generations and several countries, and it begins with introducing Rajkumar, an Indian boy orphaned from an early age who uses his ambition and determination to rise from his humble origins as a poor boy in a foreign land, to a prosperous teak merchant.

The march of the British forces into Burma’s city of Mandalay is the catalyst that sets things in motion and it is at this time that Rajkumar has his first encounter with the Royal family. In the pandemonium that ensues he sees Dolly, one of the queen’s maids and she makes such an impression that years later he goes to search for her. From this love story events start to unfold, and it is their descendants’ lives that the author is following in his narrative.

The author introduces the characters gradually but by the end of the book all of the family connections and their ramifications made it difficult to keep track of how they were related.

One of the themes running through the novel is that of the dispossessed. People separated by war, forced to abandon their country (as was the case with King Thebaw and the royal family – one of my favorite stories within the story), trying to adjust to a new life in a new land.

The action progresses at a steady pace with very few changes. The glimpse into the art of photography, used to add more depth to the romance between two of the characters, was interesting. As I delved deeper into the narrative, I had the feeling that the author manipulated the characters to describe the events of the time, rather than letting their stories become part of the history. Although the roles they had to play were focal points in the narrative, I wish there was more of their stories, rather than the story of the times they lived in. But that’s just me.

The end is touching and provides a suitable finish to the tale, bringing back that intimate feeling from the beginning of the book.

Sometimes I like to get to know a book backwards. Just turn to its last pages and see what I can find. And at the end of this one, I found the following:

“I meant to put my hands on her shoulders to hold her still but when I reached for her they found her smooth neck instead.”

First impression may not be the most accurate but it is the most powerful. I had one of those feelings of- I need to get this now– that happens every now and then but not too often. And in this case I was glad to see my first impression was also accurate.

And so, it wasn’t until later on when I got home and read the words again, that I noticed the author of the story that got my attention was none other than Joe Hill, and his little weird story was called “The Devil on the Staircase”.

Stories brings together 27 short horror tales into a beautiful collection. It starts with Roddy Doyle’s “Blood”, a rather funny and chilling story that’s a very strong first step on this horror journey.

Neil Gaiman contributes with “The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains”, a story that builds up slowly in an odd folk-tale like fashion until the unexpected conclusion at the end.

“Catch and Release” is another one of my favorites. It is a seemingly normal tale and I was deceptively lulled into complacency as I began to care about the main character and at the end it delivered such a turn as to send tendrils of fear down into my very soul. It made me think a chilling thought: yes, this could very well be true.

“Juvenal Nyx” is quite a nice twist on a vampire story whose end left me wanting more.

Jodi Picoult’s “Weights and Measures” was an amazing story of grief and loss and how it can transform people and not just in the psychological sense.

“Unwell” and “Parallel Lines” are about the relationships between two sisters and how those blood ties become thick ropes of bitter emotions.

“Human Intelligence” started out rather slowly but the end was so unexpected and funny, it made me smile.

There were a few stories I didn’t care much about but they made me appreciate the ones I liked even more.

A very entertaining book with gripping tales and unexpected endings and a just below the surface feeling of the surreal which makes one wonder, for a fraction of a second, if they couldn’t very well be real.

Read in April 2011.