David Copperfield (34) - not so humble!

It may have taken me a while, but I have now finished another epic from "the list" - David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, which I read in an audio format. This is the tale of a small boy, who loses his father at a very young age. He adores his mother and his nurse, Peggarty, but his life is really turned upside down when his mother remarries. His new step father is a nasty man, but his step aunt is even worse. David is sent away to school - a formative year where he meets James Steerforth (the charismatic head boy who takes a shine to David) and Tommy Traddles, who is a fellow outcast. But then his mother dies. Now at the mercy of his step father and aunt, David is sent to a new school ... a very different place altogether. All does not go well and he runs away, eventually heading to his real Aunt - Mrs Trottwood - who becomes his guardian and is an all round good egg. Young Davey's life is now much improved, and he forms strong bonds with Mr Peggarty, the brother of his old nurse, and Agnes, the daughter of the lawyer he boards with while at school in London. Time moves on and David becomes a young man, falls in love and marries the pretty, and, quite frankly, pretty vacant, Dora - what an irritatingly silly character! There are times of tragedy, times of joy and times of poverty. Really strong characters abound in this entertaining story - Uriah Heap (ever so humble) and Mr Micawber to name but two - but Mrs Trottwood was my absolute favourite. There is so much going on in this semi-autobiographical book that you do have to pay attention, but that is no bad thing. I felt that there could have been a bit of judicious editing towards the end of the book, which had a bit of a "strung out" feel to me. However, I would have no hesitation in recommending this tome - just make sure you give yourself the time it needs to get the most out of it.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 768 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.99
Formats available: print, audio CD abridged, audio download unabridged, ebook.

Noughts & Crosses (61) - pacey thriller but no laughs

In this fictional, yet familiar world created by Malorie Blackman, the Crosses have everything .... the money, the power, the educational opportunities and the jobs. The Noughts, on the other hand, are only 50 years down the line from being enslaved - but for them, not much seems to have changed. Equality is simply a dream. Most Noughts just keep their heads down and try to stay out of trouble, out of prison and, if they are lucky, well away from the hangman's noose. Within this atmosphere, two youngsters become friends - Callum (a Nought), and Sephy (a Cross). As they get older, the friendship has a chance of developing into something beautiful ... if it wasn't for everyone else trying to force them apart. Noughts and Crosses cannot be friends, let alone lovers. Callum's life changes for good when his sister commits suicide, which pushes his father and older brother to join the Liberation Movement, leading to a bomb blast which very nearly kills Sephy. Can Callum and Sephy ever be together in this world of hate and mistrust? This is a story that pulls no punches, with violence, racism, unhappy marriages, despair, love and joy in equal measures. The author pushes all your emotional buttons, and leaves you begging for someone to tell a joke just to relieve the tension. But there are no jokes. This is a book that exposes the utter ridiculousness of racism, but in a very accessible way (the book being written for young adults). It's gripping and you do root for the characters despite you having a nagging feeling that they are doomed! Noughts & Crosses, which I read in print is a very modern Romeo and Juliet and I can understand why this has become a very popular book and is now studied in British schools.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 443 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (borrowed from my local library)
Formats available: print; audio CD; audio download; ebook.
     

On the road (90) - a novel of its time?

I found myself having enormous deja vu after the first few chapters of On the road, by Jack Kerouac (print). I am convinced that I have actually read this book before ... but as I couldn't be 100% sure, I ploughed on.  Set in the late 40s and early 50s, it's really a bromance between Sal Paradise, the narrator, and Dean Moriarty - a man totally wrapped up in himself who is hooked on drugs, booze, women and jazz. Although, the bromance is very much one-sided - Sal is totally in awe of Dean, and despite the amount of times Dean lets him down, always wants to experience more of what Dean does and says. The book follows Sal as he crosses America on various road trips over several years - trying to hook up with old friends and places that have a resonance to him, or places he wants to "experience". Sal is a writer, so feeds off the odd, the mad and the just plain bad people he meets along the way. Money is always a problem, but invariably, there always seems to be enough to find weed or alcohol. This is supposed to be a seminal work of the "beat" generation. It is a hedonistic, roller coaster ride, that you feel is only going to end in disaster. Not my type of people, not my type of book. I felt no empathy or understanding for the characters - but that's probably because I am a "square". However, there are sporadic passages of pure beauty - like an occasional oasis in a bleak desert. Depressing if this is how people think that this is the only way to get the most out of life. I first thought that this was a book very much of its own time, but when I think about it - this is still going on now, maybe not the big road trips, but just check out any town centre on a Saturday night! Seriously, we, as a species, just don't learn!

All in all, I'd rather listen to Donkey from Shrek singing "On the road again ..."

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 291 print pages.
Price I paid: free (borrowed from my husband)
Formats available: print, audio CD; audio download; ebook