Carnegie Reading: The Story So Far...

I’m getting near the end of my Carnegie reading journey, with only one and a half books left to read.  Thought it might be time to share my thoughts on what I’ve read so far. 

The Ask and The Answer

It’s quite hard to explain quite how much I love this book.  The writing is superb, and the voices of the narrating characters so clear and unique.  It’s original, exciting, and very clever.  So why don’t I thnk it’ll win?  I can’t separate my reactions to this book from my reactions to The Knife of Never Letting Go or Monsters of Men.  In my mind they are all integral to each other, the story of Viola and Todd though told through three volumes, is one story and I don’t have any sense of The Ask and the Answer as a stand alone book.  I don’t think this is to its detriment at all – to have a story maintain its momentum so perfectly, to never loose sight of its true core, to continue and carry us with it through so many pages and then not to leave us feeling short changed through its ending is a massive and unusual achievement. 

The Graveyard Book

I really enjoyed this book when I first read it and was happy to re-read it when the shortlist was announced.  The graveyard setting and Bod’s interactions with its inhabitants are absolutely wonderful, and the contrast between the light and freely given love that the graveyard folk offer Bod and the seam of darkness that runs through his life with the presence of the Jacks works so well, almost in a (dare I say it?) Harry Potter way.  There are areas of grey in this novel though, with characters who you might expect to be evil proving to be champions.  The criticism that I’ve heard of this book is also my own; that in many ways it is episodic and this made it (though I love Neil Gaiman dearly) at times easy to put down.  This must be quite a common response though, as I found a chapter lifted entirely from it and published under the guise of a stand alone story in Dark Alchemy, edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois.

Chains

I really enjoyed this historical novel and learned a lot about American history!  Much of the subject matter was very challenging and the sheer powerlessness suffered by those in slavery is never far from a reader’s consciousness.  The tyranny of those who felt that they owned them was sometimes difficult to read about.  Isabel was easy to identify with and her inner strength and love for her sister was both touching and heartbreaking as the events of the novel unfolded.  Her sense of determination was tinged with the apparent futility of her struggle, though the reader is always aware that slavery was in the end abolished, and the hope that she would have a chance at freedom.

Revolver

The sense of intense cold and danger lace through this book like taut, thin wires that could trip and cut if you fell.  Though I have two books to finish, this is my favourite to win.  The apparent simplicity of the main narrative is set against flashbacks to the protagonist’s father’s experiences and the events that set the current situation in motion.  What I really enjoyed was the complex weaving of the types of danger faced by the man character, Sig.  There’s the danger of the situation: the stranger who arrives at the cabin.  There’s the danger of the climate: the intense cold of the winter and the very real possibility of freezing to death. There’s the psychological danger of loss and disintegration, symbolised by the presence of his father’s corpse on the table, and there’s the personal danger, the choice that Sig has to make: the tension between the fascination of an object, the revolver, and the horror of what it can do if used for its sole purpose.  Love it.

Fever Crumb

This was my first foray into Reeve’s writing, and the world of Mortal Engines.  I’m always a little cautious about entering a world that’s already long established, but it wasn’t long before the narrative had me rattling along with full acceptance of Scriven and land ships!  I grew quiclly attached to the characters and know that I’ll return to read about them again, and have added the original Mortal Engines books to my TBR pile.  What I particularly loved about this novel was the humour in the names of things, the way that Reeve played with words was lovely, for example the Orbital Moat Way, and the way that he integrated elements of our everyday technology into this possible future.  A lovely book on which to base discussions about fantasy vs science fiction!

Nation

I must confess that I’m not a Terry Pratchett fan at all.  Though I grew up in a family of Pratites, there’s always been something about his writing that just didn’t agree with me.  Book blogger friends who read Nation swore that I would love it, then students who started it declared that they hated it.  I was all set to smugly plough through it and revel in my inevitable dislike, but alas, I loved it.  I do fear though that it’s a little complex for the majority of its target audience.  The narrative appeals to younger readers, while the style suits older ones.  I have constructed a Venn diagram to illustrate the problem.

[caption id="attachment_56" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Nation enjoyment diagram"][/caption]

 See, I'm a technical wizard.  Ahem.

 I'm three quarters of the way through The Vanishing of Katherina Linden and enjoying it, but have been told I have to wait for the wonderful ending!  Rowan the Strange  has been largely left behind so far, but I'm really looking forward to it.  From what I've read so far, I'd love it if The Ask and the Answer won, I'd be almost equally happy with Revolver.  Though Nation may do well, I doubt it will be the Shadowers' choice.  What do you think?

News of our competition winning were very well received by the Shadowing group!  There were squeals, jumps and quite a lot of 'OMG OMG!'s.  Very gratifying.  Usually to arrange a school trip, we have to give six weeks notice, so I was a little wary when I took the pieces of paper over to the Bursar's office to start trying to make arrangments.  The lovely lovely trips organiser is being an absolute star and helping me to get everything sorted, so we will go to the ball! Phew.  Gold stars and thumbs up to school support staff everywhere (but particularly here).