Reading in Reykjavík

I was already familiar with Emma Donoghue's writing through her thoroughly wicked, twisted and delightful take on fairy tales, Kissing the Witch . (As a matter of fact, I think I should reread it and write a review.) It was with some trepidation that I approached this book, k nowing Donoghue can write well, and write well about dark subject matter , and the concept of this book is nothing if not dark, and unlike the fantasy of fairy tales in Kissing the Witch, Room is grounded in realism, which I have always found much chillier and more frightening than any fantasy. I had heard it variously described as horrible, fascinating, harrowing but inspirational, and several reviewers called it exploitative of the suffering of real world victims of crimes such as the one that forms the background of the story. I knew, almost from the moment I heard of Room , that I would want to read it - not quite enough to go out and buy it, but if I came across it cheaply or for free I wo...

Translated from the French by Alison Anderson. Original title: L'Élégance du hérisson.   I needed to figure out what my feelings were about this book, so I decided to write a review, the first I have written in ages. Don't expect it to be completely conclusive or deep, because even after writing it, my feelings are still somewhat mixed. I really should have done a reading journal of it. This story of a crusty, cranky Parisian concierge harbouring a secret, and a depressed young girl with a diabolical plan, is told in first-person journal entry chapters that alternate between the two.  Renée is the concierge, who has been trying all her life to hide her intelligence and enjoyment of culture by outwardly conforming to the stereotype of a person of her class and occupation by presenting herself to the world as uncouth, stupid, and uncultured, and Paloma is the troubled and intelligent 12-year old daughter of one of the upper-crust families that employ Renée. The arrival...

This is the sixth and final challenge book, the type of house. The choice was limited - there were very few books in my TBR+1 pile that had any kind of abode in the title, let alone a type of house, so I ended up choosing the common, generic word. This literary novel, shortlisted for the Booker the year after it was published, is the story of two cousins, one French, the other half-English, half-French, who grow up in a big house in a small village in France in the 1950s. One of them returns to the house after 20 years in a convent and family secrets and lies are uncovered and events in the village explained as the story plunges back into their childhoods. This is a beautifully written little book, full of descriptions of everyday things loaded with symbolism and metaphor. The story it tells is that of a typical love-hate relationship between two cousins, one who is special and another who longs to be. The narrative is full of twists and hints about dark deeds and while some plot p...