21. Black Widow - Sandy McCutcheon

I was apprehensive about reading this before I’d looked up some history of the Beslan school siege, and I read a couple of the BBC news stories from the time before I even opened the book. However, when I did, I was hooked immediately. The initial chapters let us know that the entire book will span 3 days, which scared me that the story would be grossly disappointing with too much detail. However, I was mistaken, and found it to be a great read.

The book follows the story of 6 women who were caught in the siege, who want to get their revenge. Included in the story is a lot of Chechen and Russian culture, as well as societal observations from during the siege. The way in which the women get revenge is disgustingly fascinating - I feel bad for being so interested, and although some of the details of the explosives are probably hit and miss (no pun intended), the rest is cruelly impressive.

It is not exactly a happy book, nor one for the faint-hearted. It is however, interesting, eye-opening, and occasionally predictable. Particularly the ending. However, despite being predictable, it was not as overly disappointing as it could have been. It does however, end very quickly.

20. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

This book can now be added to my ‘read after seeing the movie and regretting it’ list. Same goes for Trainspotting and several others that escape me at the moment.

Reading the introduction to it, I realised I might actually struggle with the nadsat language used, but after just a chapter, it wasn’t an issue. The context is plenty, and it definitely adds to the story - especially towards the end where it’s use is slightly decreased. Often I have trouble with complex language in books because I don’t take my time reading it - reading aloud would be okay, but reading to myself not. Thankfully this was fine, fantastic even, it’s a fascinating use of words.

The story itself, if my memory serves me right, differs from the book slightly. Probably because I can’t remember the movie so much (it’s been a few years), I found the book to have a lot more substance and story. It could just be that I’ve forgotten details, but it’s no surprise that I’d prefer a book over the movie. It’s also started to renew my interest in how the mind works, and the nature/nurture and conditioning debates. I didn’t enjoy studying psychology at school, but I still find the subject interesting and this definitely made me think a lot more about it.

I’d highly recommend this book to anyone that asked. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s definitely worth a read at some point. Then watch the movie, because it’s pretty damn good as I remember. Must watch that again.

19. Cocaine Nights - JG Ballard

Having never heard of this book, the title and cover caught my eye when my friend was reading it, so I borrowed it after she was done. The beginning got me hooked and I started reading intently, but soon found it was going nowhere. A slight twist on a murder mystery, I thought it’d be fast-paced and dramatic, but what little drama it had, was not particularly thrilling.

The story turned into more of a societal observation of many areas of rich coastline in Europe - how people move there but retreat into their own houses within their gated communities. With the twist of one man changing it, of course.

Overall I wasn’t overly impressed, and the ending was most certainly an anti-climax. Although there was no build up, so I’m not sure I can really call it that! The ideas and observations of the society were interesting enough, but could have been done much better - same goes for the murder aspect.

18. Schindler’s Ark - Thomas Keneally

The first time I was introduced in any major way to this story was in an ethics class, when, with little warning, the scene of the bodies being piled up was put on. A shock, but the story immediately intrigued me, and I quickly saw the rest of the movie and read about it, but it was only a few weeks ago when I finally got a copy of the book from a friend.

I started it immediately and found it oddly easy to read – I expected complicated vocabulary and structure, but it was very easy to follow. I cannot remember how it compares to the movie, but the book is fantastic in it’s own right and I can see how well it converted to a movie.

I guess I shouldn’t say I enjoyed the book, 6 million Jews died (aside from the gays and disabled..), but this is a heart-warming read, about one person who could see through the bureaucracy and did what he knew in himself was right.

17. Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden

Another book on a World War, but this time the first. And another change of subject, Native North Americans from Canada. So this had the potential to be a pleasant change to the norm for me, but turned into a tedious and quite slow book. It has three main lines to follow for the majority. Firstly, the story of a young man returning home from war and travelling up a river with his aunt. Secondly, the childhood and lead-up to going to war with his friend (or cousin, I lost track). And lastly, the story of both of them in the war. Although relatively easy to follow, it became very old very quickly.

The story itself followed their adjustments to a Western lifestyle, and a chaotic war-time one at that. However, their hunting skills from their usual lives come in handy and they quickly become popular amongst their colleagues – but not without suffering the crippling addictions and mental problems that come with it. It’s hardly a happy book.

Towards the end, it becomes predictable and drags on – and the final ending which could have been fantastic, was too short and ended too quickly. So it dragged on during it, and finished too quickly. Should have been the other way around.

16. Girl, Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen

I saw the movie of this book last year in one of my psychology classes, but was not aware it was a book, or true. However, when Kat received some her new books and I saw this was one of them, I kidnapped it and started reading straight away – that was Monday. I finished it last night.

Written in a slightly different way to the movie, more intermittent and jumpy, with medical notes slotted in at appropriate times. It’s a very easy read, and is only short – reminding me of ‘Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption’ being made from a short-story into a full-length movie. But the details it includes and insight into psychiatric hospitals is amazing, it’s an engrossing book. The book does not differ from the movie too much, and I’d highly recommend both to anyone. However, having seen the movie first, as I read I cannot help but see characters in the book as their actress counterparts (in particular, Angelina Jolie as Lisa), and as it’s been a while since I saw the movie, I cannot remember whether the specific details are correct in the movie from the book. Now that I’ve read it, I will definitely have to see the movie again!

One chapter of the book is taken direct from the diagnostic book used by psychologists and psychiatrists, the section describing borderline personality disorder. Having studied psychology, I know of the book, and how influential it was, and is, for doctors through America. The description, and Kaysen’s analysis of it, is bitterly amusing.

15. Claude and Madeleine - Edward Marriott

At first I was little confused in reading this book, it seemed to be a fiction although told in the same way as some dramatic docos. The last 20 pages being references, I’m led to believe it’s a true story!

It follows the story of Claude and Madeleine, who met in Vietnam, are French and become secret agents of sorts after the Nazis conquer France. It follows their efforts to do their bit for the resistance and to prove to the British that they’re capable of it. However the book gives so little information about their characters and relationships and focuses on the activities and tasks, presumably because the references only give location and factual information rather than character details. So it is left unfabricated in that sense and we must assume why they act as they do.

The ending is quite an anti-climax, mostly because with 20 or so pages left, you’re expecting much more of a story. For it to suddenly end and begin to cite references is a shock, but that’s how it goes and there was simply no more story to tell. Despite reasons for the book being short and uninformative, some parts were fascinating and gives a small insight into the lives of secret ‘agents’ during WW2.

14. Firesong - Jospeh Hone

Well this book has taken me quite literally months to read. It was very hard to get into, and finally very hard to follow later on. The story followed 2 twins in WW1 Russia, just before the revolution, and their way of surviving through the revolution and after. Sounds simple, yes? Well not quite. The author insisted on describing events and items in excruciating detail, making the whole book much longer than it could have and ought to have been. The story would have moved much faster and probably have been more of a pleasure to read if this were the case.

The characters of the story were all blatantly different to help the reader differentiate, but it was done in a very simplistic and patronising way. The prologue was far too long and also had too much detail. The speech used in it was also far to simple and obvious that it was trying to tell the reader what had changed – it would have been more bearable as a narration I think. Lastly, the story was believable to a point, however certain aspects such as ‘magical powers’ and many so-called coincidences ruined this.

Stripped down, the basics had potential, but the author managed to maul the story and make it hard and boring to read.

13. Life After Life - Raymond Moody

As always when reading these true stories about the hard life someone has had, I take it with a pinch of salt. For example James Frey’s ‘A Million Little Pieces’ turned out to be largely falsified, so I’m always careful when reading this sort of book now – rather than get sucked in and have a huge amount of sympathy for someone who simply has an overactive imagination.

Although this is the first book of his I’ve read (I believe he has 1 or 2 others), this one is definitely readable without having read the others. It follows the end of his time in low security prisons, leaving to a hostel and finally making another life for himself. It details all his criminal exploits as he is emerging from prison, believing it is the easiest way to become self-sufficient quickly. He also takes the path of a ‘low risk’ job – that of an author. This book tells how he wrote, edited and then promoted his first book.

However the main story through this is one of love. The unconditional love of his mother, who has stood by him during the 20 years in prison and continues to look after him after he leaves prison. Then the hard, fighting yet immensely passionate love with his young girlfriend. There is a very spiritual side to this story, and he has very spiritual attractions to people, but the one with Janice is fascinating. I won’t spoil this one, but I’ll say that it’s definitely worth reading despite the anti-climax of the end. It is still an amazing piece of writing, with the kind of life that very few people have, or choose to have.

12. Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen

What could have easily been a generic nice story with nice characters and nice animals was actually a fantastic story of love, loss and respect. Following 2 parts of the story, one being a young Jacob, dropping out of college after his parents’ death and the random luck that the train he jumped should be a circus train. The other part follows a 90 or 93 year old Jacob in a nursing home, frequently forgotten by family and patronised by the nursing home staff.

Based on many true stories of circus trains in the United States, it is easy to follow the many characters and the simplicity of the hierarchy they all follow is unbelievable. Jacob is attached to the menagerie after they find out he was training to be a vet, and becomes a hugely important part of the story when he realises just what Rosie the elephant can do. All the while falling in love with a married performer.

The story ends in a way that is hard to believe true – while the rest is – but is beautiful all the same and makes for a hugely enjoyable book.