By far, the standout choice was Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. The movie stars Andrew Garfield, Carey Mulligan, and Keira Knightly, all of whom are great actors. I had seen the movie prior and enjoyed it but was unsure of what I was getting myself into when I chose the book. The book is narrated by Kathy who Carey Mulligan plays in the film version. It takes place during modern day but in a world that has bred children, known as donors, to heal all diseases. These children are raised in a "school" closed off from the outside world where their inevitable future is to one day give up their bodies so that others can live. The crux of the novel asks the question whether we are all just at the mercy of an irrevocable destiny or whether we decide how our life is to turn out. The answer to that question is what the three main characters, Tommy, Kathy, and Ruth, wrestle and come to grips with through the book.
The novel itself is written beautifully and the pacing is unique. It's not a book that lends itself to a quick read. Although just over 200 pages, it took me a bit longer than normal to finish because of the brilliancy of the prose and real life pace it's written in. As Kathy moves the reader through her life and through her memories of what occurred in Halisham, the school where they grew up, she recounts certain moments in their lives that defined who she was, who her friends were, and how they maneuvered in a world where everything was potentially preplanned. Throughout the course of the novel, they come to understand they can never have a real job and that there was no escape from what they were raised for, yet for most of the book, there was an underlying sense of hope that maybe they could do something else with their lives.
I've never read such a novel that has left me with such a deep seated sense of grief. It was a book that stayed in my mind for several days after. The book continually asks the reader to ponder the idea that we have no sense of control over what happens in our lives, that we grasp for hope that can be illusive, and in the end, we have to decide how we want to live in the circumstances that we are in. It's definitely a book I recommend.
One thing that did strike me as interesting is that the physical characteristics of the three main characters are never explicitly stated. Having seen the movie first, Carey, Keira, and Andrew were the people I envisioned as Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy. It would be interesting to see who I saw in those characters had I not seen the movie first. There is some sexual content but not enough to take away from the beauty and the intropesctiveness that the book requires. I'm excited to watch movie again just to see how the director took and interrupted the pace and the characters.
My two fun reads of the month were I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore and The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. Again, I had seen the movies first. I Am Number Four was a lot fun. It was about John, or Number Four, who was saved from his dying planet when he was little and sent to Earth. Now the battle that raged on Lorien has come to Earth and he must save our planet. The opening chapter reads like screenplay with all the action in the present tense which I think helps set tone and the mood for the rest of the book. I also love the fact that the author has fully given himself to the novel and the world that he created to the point where he is a character from the planet, Lorien, and his biography says that he's currently hiding, waiting for the war to begin.
I had to give in to a Nicholas Sparks book just for a fun, quick read and that is exactly what The Last Song was. In typical Nicholas Sparks tradition, it had a happy/sad ending, people fell in love, and people died but it was a good book. It had a good message of reconciliation as well. The interesting thing was that he wrote this book simultaneously with the screenplay in which Miley Cyrus was to play the lead. The nice thing was that it doesn't read like a "written for Miley Cyrus" book. It's worth a read.
The month also ended up being a bit of a British authors month as well. Stardust, An Education, and Bridget Jones' Diary are all written by British authors. I was excited to read Stardust since it's one of my favourite movies and it was a good, quirky Neil Gaiman read that even included The Lion and the Unicorn fighting for the crown which gave me a bit of a laugh after doing the musical Wonderland where the Lion and Unicorn were fighting for the crown. Bridget Jones' Diary, although, I really liked the movie, left me with something to be desired. Her sarcastic humor was great at first and then after about 20 pages, I got really tired of it and did not have the sympathy for Bridget like I should have. An Eduction a memoir by Lynn Barber and it was really well written. She's worked in magazines and done journalistic writing for years so the prose was succinct and to the point. But there was a sense of humor that was refreshing.
Walking through the library one day, True Grit was on display and I thought it would be a nice addition to the reading list this month, seeing that it was the complete opposite from the refined British novels I had been reading. I have not seen the movie yet. But I loved the fact that the narrator was 14 year old girl and her character had a lot of gumption throughout the whole book. It was a really cool read and well written. Even the way he described the violence was almost nonchalant like it happened all the time but being the Old West, I suppose there is some truth to that.
Lastly, The Help rounded out the month. There had been so much talk about the book and so much hype with the movie, especially with it being Award Ceremony month, that I was hoping I wouldn't be disappointed and I wasn't. Kathryn Stockett moves between three different narrators; Minnie, Aibleen, and Skeeter. Each have a different voice, different style and a different perspective and they are all well done. Set in the South, in the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, it's a world that I have very little experience with; the White people and the African Americans who still worked as maids almost 100 years after slavery was abolished. Although, I feel like this book has been talked about a lot, it was a good read and I did really enjoy it. However, I felt like the ending was a bit of a cop out. I just didn't feel like Aibleen's story, who starts and ends the book, was quite finished. There was a bit more that I needed from her story that I didn't get. I'm not entirely sure what more I needed but there was just a sense of it being unfinished. But all the same, I really enjoyed it.
Truth be told, I am often a movie snob. I like a good story, good acting, good directing, and I have to enjoy my characters. So in choosing the books for this month, I wanted to be a bit of a pretentious reading snob as well. Of course, choosing The Last Song, I am Number Four and even Bridget Jones' Diary probably spoiled my pretentiousness. But it has been interesting to read the words that inspired the films and seeing the reasons why these novels justified a movie. I will also be re watching all the movies from these books just to see how they were interpreted. In the case of all of the books, the imagination, the prose, the characters, or simply the story itself certainly gave enough reason for someone to decide to put what was on the page onto the screen.
Alright, so random reads, movie reads . . . .where to now? A world tour of sorts. I love traveling and I love other cultures and the US and England are not the only countries who write books. March will be translated works. Some French, some Italian, and some Brazilian authors have already been found but what other countries I shall travel to by month's end, well, you'll wait and read.
Never Let Me Go- Kazuo Ishiguro
I am Number Four- Pittacus Lore An Education- Lynn Barber
Bridget Jones’ Diary- Helen Fielding
True Grit- Charles Portis
Stardust- Neil Gaiman
The Help- Kathryn Stockett
The Last Song- Nicholas Sparks
