Monday, November 9, 2015

Spring reading

Lionel Asbo: State of England by Martin Amis


This is one strange book that includes a kid that has an incestuous affair with his 34 year-old gran (who had his mother when she was 12) and lives with his uncle who wins lotto shares his name with Tony Blair's Anti Social Behaviour Orders.

I liked the quickie characters more than the actual plot which was more Laugh-Out-Loud than believable but that was the whole point. I mean, who feeds their dogs Vindaloo and Tabasco Sauce??? 

This book is cited to be a satirical look at British culture which would make it a really sad country if this book wasn’t so laugh-out-loud funny. STARS ****

Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi


This book has so much to offer and covers so much. It opens with the final moments of the life of a cardiologist but really it is minor aspect of the story. 

The story cleverly and seamlessly flips backwards and forwards to key moments in his life and the effect that it has on his family.

As the story progresses it becomes less about him and more about his family and the legacy that he leaves behind.
 
Ghana Must Go covers everything - the complexity of family life, the struggles of immigrants in their new country and so much more! STARS ****

Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser 

There are two types of travellers: a Tourist and an Asylum Seeker. This is a story of both.

Question Travel follows the lives of two characters as they face the different challenges that life throws up and as time goes on the story we see how their lives intertwine until the tragic events on 26th Dec 2004.

It is beautifully written with contrasting characters. Laura the Artsy Gen Xer who likes to travel and Ravi the Sri Lankan who flees to Australia after seeing his wife murdered as a result of her political activism. They both end up working for Lonely Planet but their understanding of travel are different.

This book is a critique of tourism and questions western notions of travel. It made me think about my own obsession with travelling my motives for doing so. It is a bit of a slow moving story but give it time as it is worth it. STARS ****
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