Amsterdam

Sorry for my silence - it has been a crazy few months with work and moving house such that there just hasn't been much time to do anything else. However, in all of this, I did manage to read 'Amsterdam' by Ian McEwan. I was definitely intrigued by the title, living in NL, and was curious to see how Amsterdam would be incorporated into the story. Unfortunately, that seemed to be where the intrigue stopped.

I must be honest and say that I didn't get the story - did I miss something? From the first chapter, I did not feel any empathy towards the characters. They were not interesting, they were not people I think I would relate to, they certainly didn't make me want to find out what happened to them. And although I persisted, my feelings didn't change.

So when it came to the turn of events in Amsterdam, I was somewhat relieved. They were put out of their misery, and I felt relieved. And yet, I had a hard time believing that two 'friends' would go to such lengths? I can understand that the book was meant to be satirical, but a satire about what? Is this were I missed the point?

I would be very interested to know what others thought of the book, and perhaps to explain where I lost the plot (so to speak). Sadly, 'Amsterdam' has not intrigued me enough to want to read another McEwan novel.

i read a girl's book

Brainspiked from too much young adult fiction, i went in search of something new to read... no wonder guys don't read. Apparently this is a widely acknowledged issue - guys don't read so nobody publishes stories that guys might like. No surprise then that the entire best sellers list on Amazon looks like some kind of Oprah book club nightmare designed to send male audiences straight back to their day jobs.

Anyway, limiting my time investment, i picked four books and placed an order. I knew "Bertie" would be a bit soft, but i wanted something for light reading on a plane. It's safe to say that it did discuss love and happiness far too much for my liking, but there were also some gems of literary construct to be found. The writing style deliberately adapting itself to suit the characters, but not in an obvious or patronising way. The emergence of a modern saint at a point coincident with the lament of their passing was possibly my favourite part of this story - that and the evil little girl Olive who dropped a line that still makes me laugh to think of it.

So yes i read a girl's book and i survived the journey. Please don't tell anybody i did it though. I promise you that i drank a lot of beer, went surfing twice, lifted a couple of heavy objects, changed the oil in my car and wrestled a bear whilst reading it.

Still i'd rather do that than read what passes for male fiction these days - apparently we are supposed to like murder mysteries with crass innuendo (plot optional). Whatever.

One final piece of small advice for the male reader (apparently there are three left in the southern hemisphere) - do not succumb to exhaustion and google "adult male fiction" - a lurid error to be made only once.

I suggest... "literature -young -adult -Oprah -Jane -Austen +please +anything +really? "

Currently Reading . . .

The book for September is POSSESSION, by A.S.Byatt. Winner of 1990 Man Booker Prize.

If you haven't already started, get reading now, because it's >500 pages long!!