Sometimes we all need to escape our every day world so this post is all about books that will take you to a different place. .....
A dark and frightening place to explore the complex minds of some of the most frightening minds, an exotic place where the summer warmth will take you far away from this wintery day, or a place in the past when the world was different.
Why not choose a couple from each section and have a discussion comparing the narrators, the locations, the historical context....
Books to take you to a dark place...........
A dark and frightening place to explore the complex minds of some of the most frightening minds, an exotic place where the summer warmth will take you far away from this wintery day, or a place in the past when the world was different.
Why not choose a couple from each section and have a discussion comparing the narrators, the locations, the historical context....
Books to take you to a dark place...........
· “You” Caroline Kepnes
This is for reader’s who don’t scare or shock easily…Possibly the most frightening and sinister protagonist in a long time. Bookseller Joe falls in love with Beck and then begins to secretly infiltrate her life so he can engineer chance meetings and work his way into her affections…….
· “The Collector” John Fowles
The original psychological thriller – an absolute classic and one full of suspense and tension. Withdrawn Frederick abducts art student Miranda and keeps her locked in a house in the middle of the countryside.
· “Lying in Wait” Liz Nugent
A respectable, professional and wealthy couple discover a body in the garden of their country house. Just what is their involvement with this apparently homeless person and can Lydia protect her family as the evidence against them builds.
· “The Woman in Black” Susan Hill
Truly unsettling this has got to be the best ghost story of them all! Guaranteed sleepless nights after reading about Arthur Kipps job to sort out the paperwork of recently deceased Alice Drablow at the remote Marsh House.
· “Into The Darkest Corner” Elizabeth Hayes
Queen of psychological thrillers, this novel will get under your skin as you become caught up in Cathy’s hidden past. Trying to rebuild her life, she thinks she has left everything terrifying behind her….. Cathy’s struggle with OCD is so palpable and told so effectively that you will be checking the locks 15 times the next time you try to leave the house!
Books taking you to an Exotic Location or the Past (a foreign coin
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· “The Tea Planter’s Wife” Dinah Jefferies
Gwen is 19 when she joins her new husband in 1920s Ceylon where he runs his plantation. As she learnt to adapt to her new country, new husband, new life, she uncovers clues to a mysterious past which her husband refuses to talk about…..
· “Circling the Sun” Paula McLain
This is the unusual and inspiring story of Beryl who is taken to Kenya at the turn of the century. Abandoned by her mother she grows up with her father who has a more unconventional approach. She grows up amongst the local tribes people and acquiring skills deemed unladylike by the rest of Western society. This is the story of her ambition to be the first woman to fly a plane around the world.
· “The English Girl” Katherine Webb
Archeologist Joan travels to the Oman to meet her heroine, the reclusive, pioneering explorer Maude Vickery – first woman to cross the desert. As their friendship develops, so to do the secrets and lies that Maude has buried deep over the long years. Can Joan uncover the truth? And at what or whose expense?
· “The Shadow Hour” Kate Riordan
It’s 1922 and Grace is sent by her grandmother to work in the stately house as a governess. Quickly Grace realises this is a house and family full of secrets, and somehow linked to her grandmother’s past as well. But can Grace uncover the truth and find out who her grandmother really is?
· “Half a Yellow Sun” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Adichie’s novel is set in Nigeria during the late 1960s. It focuses on one decade of tumultuous politics through the eyes of five characters. Detailed, complex but beautifully written this is an engaging, compelling and fascinating read.
"Over the Edge" by Chris Numpsa
ReplyDelete(...) If only psychologists, therapists, etc. could just get a grasp of this fact and accept it for what it is, it would save their time, and save the clients' time and money and spare giving the alcohol, drug addict the 'third degree' as to why they are drinking/doping(...)
Belated congratulations on the publication of your astonishing book, which I have recently read.
On reading the opening pages, I felt a bit apprehensive, not knowing quite what to make of the tetchy c ab driver and the tension thus created - finding it 'funny' in a strange way and not sure that I should be amused either. The methodallogy is clever, though, in the manner in which you have selected a cohort of the public - old ladies/grannies etc. a fraction of the whole community, and stereotyped them in the form of the old lady who confuses Chopin with shopping.
The clipped/economic condensed style of writing is apparent from the onset and consistent throughout the narrative, and it is a very positive feature - you 'cut to the chase' and do not waffle or protract.
You have captured the essence of what chasing the euro/Celtic Tiger was all about in terms of competition, envy, greed, sense of lonleness, the rat-race and dog-eats-dog syndrome, resulting in anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, destruction of body and soul and culminating ultimately in 'burn-out syndrome which you saw refected in your own mirror-image, (page 43). This is a sad,and poignant and also a beautiful; piece of writing.
Your description of heavy drinking/binge drinking as a means of obliterating the past and future and all that matters in the present and to hang on to oblivion and keep the dopamine rush to the brain kindled.
If only psychologists, therapists, etc. could just get a grasp of this fact and accept it for what it is, it would save their time, and save the clients' time and money and spare giving the alcohol, drug addict the 'third degree' as to why they are drinking/doping.
I think the description on page 202/3 regarding the alcohlic/heroine addict is a masterful and powerful piece of composition. On re-reading this I cried as was writing this draft, I do not cry easily and did not expect this to happen but it did.
Actions speak louder than words, and you have the power to reduce me. the reader to tears. That speaks volumes as to how power of your writing is and how it can permiate on the readers feelings, emotions. and consicousness.
Your 'take' on the history of Ireland/Britain in comparison to their counterparts Poland/Russia is informative, extreme and, hillariuos too, I loved it. I love the way you connect with the reader and use a theatrical; ploy by speaking directly to the reader "How is that possible?" - you feel you are in the company of the author and engaging in the polemic. It is rare that the reader would feel 'close' to the writer, but in this case the reader often feels close and connected to the author.
When the anger subsides, there is a shift in language to m atch and it becomes kind and compassionate
I shall not continue to regurgitate what you write and cramp your style.
I will sum up by saying it's a great book, a masterpiece. It's a book of knowledge and enlightenment too, encompassing history, psychology, ideology and 'life'. What more could any reader want from a book? - it's all there.
Best Regards.