mybackup2022 | Feb. 22nd, 2004

Finally finished Gogol's 'Dead Souls', which is an absolutely marvellous book, albeit unfinished. The German translation was excellent as well. It took me a bit longer to read than I'd expected, because in spite of looking rather slim, it has more than 500 pages (ultra-thin paper and small print). I'll have to look for another of his works, because I simply love the sharp wit, irony and characterization.

Paul Auster's 'Oracle Night' had me on my knees, worshipping, as usual. His prose is so simple, almost barren. The intricacies of the plot appear only when you stop to think about it, but never while you're reading. The story is full of reflections about writing without giving the reader the feeling that the author is self-enamoured. I don't think there's another writer who could turn a story about writing (with a terribly complicated a-book-within-a-book-within-a-book plot)into something you just can't put down. Yes, I'm totally and shamelessly fangirling about Paul Auster.

Helen Fielding's 'Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination'. Well. Er. While Bridget Jones certainly is a Mary Sue (although one can't really speak of Mary Sues when it comes to orginal novels, as opposed to fanfic) she's also a kind of female archetype--the far-from-perfect but 'good' woman who deserves and gets the 'good' man. Olivia Joules, OTOH, is an entirely different type of Mary Sue, in all her dreadful glory. A reporter of medium skills at best, she dreams of being a great reporter. What makes her a lot less sympathetic than Bridget Jones, is that in order to be successful she bends to the almighty rule of male chauvinism. She becomes a Secret Agent and saves the world. And she gets the guy. It's quite a shallow book, and, while reading it, I couldn't fight the feeling that Fielding wrote it because she had a contract to fulfill.

Now I've started reading Ian McEwan's 'Atonement'--only some 20 pages so far and thus too early to make any judgements.

Plus, I've succumbed to temptation and ordered Lois Mc Master Bujold's "Cordelia's Honour" (the first two books of the Vorkosigan saga put into one volume), although I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like it. The summary didn't look too appealing, but I've seen too many enthusiastic comments to simply overlook its existence. Plus, I've ordered Alexander McCall Smith's 'The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency' and "The Kalahari Typing School for Men', because it sounds like fun.