Monthly reads: May 2022

 

Not many books this month. I'm wondering how I actually managed to finish those four books...

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol. 1 (Mo Xiang Tong Xiu)

I watched the donghua. I watched the drama adaption called 'The Untamed'. As of yet I even listened to a few audio drama episodes and I'm planning to finish this version, too. And yet I apparently never quite understood or noticed many smaller aspects of the story. Like the fact that Lan Zhan noticed pretty much immediately that the young man he was dealing with was in fact not some random weak lunatic from the Mo family, but rather no other than Wei Wuxian. (That's not the only thing I never quite got in the adaptions, but probably the biggest one.) Also, it's probably due to Chinese censorship laws, but even just this first volume of the story already advanced their relationship so much more than the complete drama and donghua. So that's why I'm especially happy about us Westerners being able to enjoy the original work now. It's just that good. Well, at least if you ask me and the many other fans of the series and the author's other works! Oh, and I also do like the translation. I heard that there were quite a few complaints about some things not being accurate, but...I couldn't really agree with some of the 'translation errors' others were pointing out. Those scenes made perfect sense to me.

Der begrabene Riese (Kazuo Ishiguro)

I enjoyed this a lot, which surprised me a bit. Then again, it's the book I actually wanted to read first when I started looking out for Ishiguro's works in bookshops and bargain bins etc. So I guess we've come full circle now! Anyway, I liked how the book was partially an entertaining historical fantasy story (with dragons, knights and people going on a journey – whee!), but it was also very obviously an Ishiguro book. It was a bit like 'The Unconsoled', but way less confusing. Well, the ending was a bit confusing, and I'm still not sure about Axl's role in his earlier life. Honestly, at one point I expected him to actually be the aged King Arthur, haha. Anyway, I guess that one's one of my favourite books from the author, too. Although nothing beats his first two Japanese-set books in my opinion!

Waffenschmuggel (Eric Ambler)

This one was a bit of a bore at times (the entire part about the annoying woman and the tourist couple...frankly, I expected the woman to pop up later again and ruin things or something!) and the way some characters are portrayed are pretty outdated. Still, it was a quick read and some parts were actually a lot of fun. Not my favourite from this author though.

Das Santa-Lucia-Rätsel (C.H. Guenter)

Well, I guess this book could be considered something like a penny dreadful. Cheap, but fun entertainment – if you're ready to enjoy stuff like that and switch off your brain for a moment while reading, that is. Some plot elements probably wouldn't make any sense if your thought about them for too long and yet I really enjoyed reading the book. I was also quite surprised that issues like global warming and the lack of food and water for millions of people especially in Africa were brought up here. And not in a derisive way, but shown as actual issues humanity has to deal with at some point. That's another thing I really liked about the book!

Monthly reads: February 2022

 

Not many books, but I did read a lot of manga this month. These don't count here though, so...the little pile looks a bit sad. At least I also read two ebooks.

The Four Just Men (Edgar Wallace)

I don't know if that is just a German thing, but when I heard the name Edgar Wallace, I always thought of a series of film adaptions from the sixties. I never even really watched those films, but from what I know they have a pretty unique feel to them...I don't like to say cheap, but that is actually what I thought, so... So I never came around to read one of his books, but I picked up The Four Just Men for the Guardian 1000 list. And while it wasn't my new favourite crime novel, it was a pretty unique and interesting read. I liked how it felt like the book (or rather the author) clearly wanted the reader to feel sympathy for the dashing criminals called the Four Just Men...and it wasn't like I didn't understand their motivations. Yet I found myself rooting for the politician they were targetting. I'm sure I would absolutely disagree with the man on every single part of his political stance, but I came to admire his inner strenght and determination for his cause. Also, killing someone to stop a bill passing into law...that just doesn't work anymore. If it ever did, that is. That just isn't a legit option in politics, even if I might be hard to remember that in the current political climate.

Piccadilly Jim (PG Wodehouse)

I absolutely did not like this book, even when I was about halfway through. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore other Wodehouse stuff (mainly the Jeeves and Wooster books), but this one was just too much at times. Too much confusion, too many fake identities, too much scheming...I had a hard time keeping up with all this stuff and I didn't even really want to put in the effort because I couldn't really give a toss about most characters. However, I sort of liked the ending. It was funny and not overly complicated. Other than that, I think it shows that this was a pretty early work from Wodehouse because it's just not as polished as his later works. Also, this might work better as a film, and I rarely ever think that.

Das Versprechen (Friedrich Dürrenmatt)

I wouldn't have read this if it weren't for the Guardian 1000 list and frankly, I was glad that it was really short because I didn't like it at all. Of course it is hard to enjoy reading a book about children getting murdered, but even putting that aside...I didn't really see the appeal. It's meant to be a 'requiem on the crime novel', because crime novels with their detectives and lots of evidence left behind and perfect solutions for every case are so bad if we believe one of the characters in the book itself. Well, they might be, but it's frankly weird to compare a novel to a real criminal case, I think. Also, the book does just the very thing it was supposed to criticise: we get a pretty much asspull solution in the end. The difference is that there is no hero left to solve the case and no one ends up happy. Sure, life is like that...but I fear it doesn't make for a very good novel plot. Maybe it's just me though...there must be something about Friedrich Dürrenmatt's novels and plays that I just can't seem to see, or else he wouldn't be that well-known, right?

Sherlock Holmes oder Das Geheimnis der schwarzen Kutsche (Robert Newman)

Well, it's a children's book and I didn't know this at first...so I was seriously tempted to drop it after just a few pages. I don't like stories with children as main characters, I just don't know... However, this turned out to be a lot less annoying than expected and I liked the end, even though it was slightly cheesy. It was weird to read a Holmes story with a third-person narration. Not having Watson as the narrator just makes things feel very odd!

Die Ungetrösteten (Kazuo Ishiguro)

Ooof, what a weird book. But also a strangely compelling one. Frankly, I did expect the protagonist to wake up in the end, finding out that all of the stuff he just went through was nothing but a dream. But that moment never came, and so I'm left confused, but really intrigued. I can't really say much else about this book, only that I liked it in a really special way. I don't want to read it again, though. Oh, but I should add one thing: I never read a book before that recreated the feeling of my own bad dreams this well. This thing about entering a place which seems totally normal, just to leave it through another door and finding yourself in an entirely different and/or really weird place where nothing seems to make sense? Yeah...seems very familiar. Reading this book even induced the same odd, unpleasant feeling I have after waking from such a dream. But because it wasn't about me I also felt disconnected from that feeling, so it wasn't actually that bad and I just wanted to read on. Well, definitely an unique experience, to say the least.

Monthly reads: January 2022

 

Looking at the books I read this month, I think 2022 will be a great year. There wasn't a single bad book this month, and there even were quite a few ones I really loved! Really nice...but on the other hand, things could only get worse from here on, haha.

The Sacred Book of the Werewolf (Victor Pelevin)

I mostly picked this up because I was going through the Guardian's 1000 books list and the title sounded sort of intriguing. Also, I haven't read that many books by Russian authors yet, so...I bought it, decided to take a short peek into it...and finished it a few days later because it was just so good. I'm not sure what kind of book I expected, but anyway, it defied my expectations. I don't know if that makes any sense, haha. Well, but...first off, I liked the main character A Hu-Li's way of telling us her story, I liked the (pop)cultural references and I also really enjoyed the often lenghty philosophical discussions between the characters. I'm not sure if I really understood everything our werefox storyteller tried to explain to her lover Alexander and thus also to us readers, but nevertheless, it was extremely intriguing! Also, I really couldn't predict where this would be going, but the end was really satisfactory, if a bit sad. Anyway, I really recommend this. I'm not sure if it's a book everyone should read, because I've got a slight problem with saying things like that, but I'll say that much: it's definitely a book worth reading.

Bei Anbruch der Nacht (Kazuo Ishiguro)

Looking back I definitely should have picked another book to start this month's Ishiguro reading spree because it's probably not his best work. On the other hand, it still motivated me to start reading one of his novels right afterwards, so it wasn't actually that bad. Eh, but whatever. This book is a collection of short stories, each one of them being centered around a musician or having some other connection to the theme of music in general. I admit that I didn't really like the stories in the beginning – the first one was alright, but there were some parts in the translation which struck me as odd (yeah, well, I know I'm not the one to complain, looking at how much my English sucks...and yet I'm writing an english blog, oh the irony) and the second story was outright stupid. Wanting to slap all three protagonists throughout the entire story isn't very enjoyable, thank you very much. Well, but it got a lot better after that. My favourite was the title story (I think the original title of both was Nocturnes, which fits a lot better than the german one because of the double meaning), though all but the second one had their strong moments. Not something I will necessarily read again anytime soon, but still better than expected.

Damals in Nagasaki (Kazuo Ishiguro)

Onwards to his first novel...was what I thought after finishing the short stories. And whoa, this was really good, especially since this was his first novel! I have to admit that I knew beforehand that the narrator of the story, Etsuko, wouldn't be a 100% reliable narrator. But I'm sure I would've noticed it at some point. I absolutely don't understand how people could take her narration at face value! First off, the story is set right after WWII in Nagasaki, and I don't think we could expect the memories of a most likely traumatised woman to be entirely accurate. Especially not if she recalls those memories many years later. Second, there were some scenes where the narration was clearly odd – like when Mariko, the daughter of her friend Sachiko, kept mentioning a piece of string Etsuko had on her person and that reference seemed to make no sense at all! There were multiple scenes like that, but what really gave it away was one scene near the end, where Etsuko suddenly mentioned that 'we could come back' instead of 'you could come back', supposedly referring to Mariko and her mother. Granted, it was just a small fleeting moment, a small error...but at that very moment everything fell into place and made so much more sense. Other details about some characters like Etsuko's husband Jiro aren't mentioned again, so I'm not entirely sure about them, but...at this point there couldn't really be any doubt about who Sachiko and especially Mariko really were. Phew. I really loved this one and I just have to re-read it at some point.

Der Maler der fließenden Welt (Kazuo Ishiguro)

I went on to his next novel right away (maybe I should just keep on reading them in order of publishing, even though there isn't a connection between any of them), and I enjoyed this one just as much as the previous one. The unreliable narrator seems to be a recurring theme in the author's works, and at least this one isn't an exception. Saying the most important things through omissions is a common theme of Japanese literature (and possibly even a defining Japanese characteristic in general), and so this fits the theme and setting of the novel very well. I feel like the narrator does actually want to come to terms with his problematic past – he worked for the government during the war, e.g. creating propagandistic art to support the war effort – but he also can't quite let go of the old times. His struggle was obvious throughout the book. And yes, I think the things he didn't say were the ones that told the most. I also liked how some scenes mirrored each other, like the recurring theme of the narrator noticing a burning smell at especially crucial points of the story – and mostly the thing about his father and later his arts sensei trying to take away his most prized paintings. There is just one thing I never quite understood, and that's the question whether the narrator really believed in the politics of wartime Japan or if he just went along with everything. Seeing how quickly he was ready to let go of some points I would be inclined to believe he wasn't really into it after all. But maybe that's just what he wanted us readers to believe. However, I don't think not knowing a final answer doesn't take anything away from the experience of reading this book.

Was vom Tage übrigblieb (Kazuo Ishiguro)

(Just a little warning right at the beginning, this will be pretty incoherent because I'm still not even sure what I think about this book. Which is – I guess – a good sign in itself?)

Uh, well. I sort of expected it, but...this is probably Ishiguro's most famous and critically acclaimed book, and yet... Yet I could bring myself to like or enjoy it as much as the former two books. Let's start with the good things though: the setting was a nice change of scenery, and the writing style evoked a vivid picture of Britain in the 50s before my inner eye just as well as the other books did for post-war Japan. I also didn't mind the slow way of storytelling, and the fact that nothing much happened but I still wanted to read on and on. However, there was one big problem...which would be the main character. I just couldn't bring myself to like Stevens. He's just not someone I would like to know, and at times it was also pretty difficult to acknowledge his view on some things. Maybe that's the point, though – I have to admit that it was pretty intriguing to listen to this guy's story and clearly seeing all those things he never even considered to be true. Ultimately, he deceived himself thoughout his entire life, staying away from anything he considered unneccessary for his job as a butler. My main problem was his ignorance of his master's antisemitic beliefs and collaboration with the Nazis. He just pretended not to care – I wonder if that was just what he told himself, because a few chapters earlier he went on about how a butler can only be truly considered a great butler if he chooses a truly great master to serve. Well, and if by chance he picked the wrong master, then he basically had to pretend not to care, or else he would have to admit that he too failed to become truly great.

Only near the very end of the book he suddenly felt human to me. And that was when he was talking to another guy, suddenly realising that he gave everything to others (well, he did give up the years of his life to serve an ultimately probably unworthy master, and he also missed the opportunity to get the woman he loved, so that's about right) so that nothing is left to him in the end. Honestly, I think that other guy never existed though and the other man was just a part of himself, because I just can't see him admitting failure to anyone else. I might be wrong, though. (I'm also pretty sure that the passage about 'the rest of life being empty', which was supposedly from Miss Kenton's letter was in fact a figment of Stevens' inner thoughts. She didn't seem to recognise that passage at all, so I'd say this was rather his subconscious talking there.)

As a final thought, I don't think this book could be considered a love story at all. (The german publisher marketed it as such, I don't know if it was the same for English editions.) To me it felt like a pretty sad story of an ultimately failed life without much meaning, and the story of a man desperately trying to fill that void while with his own convictions without realising that life pretty much passed him by. So, not exactly a pleasant read, but I think I know why it is considered a good book after all.

The Day That Never Comes (Caimh McDonnell)

I wasn't too sure whether I'd like this as much as the first book. But in the end, it was of course just as awesome. I liked the fact how both threads of the story – the disappearance of Bunny and the gruesome murder cases plus the connected public uprising – were connected in the end. And it was also pretty evil how we were almost lead to believe that Bunny was indeed connected to the killings in some way. Well, so the thrilling part was great already, but that's not all there is to this book series. There's also lots of funny stuff and the very lovable weirdo characters. Seriously, during this book I got to love Phil even more and that's why I also really enjoyed the ending. Guess I'm off to the next book right away. Maybe I should take a break and read the prequel first, though. Quite the hard decision, but I'm sure I'll enjoy both books anyway.

Loch Down Abbey (Beth Cowan-Erskine)

What an odd yet endearing book. I expected it to be a classical crime novel with lots of rich people becoming suspects in a murder case while being confined to their villa for whatever reason. Well, and confined they were, due to a mysterious illness spreading around like wildfire. Hmm, I think I heard of something similar in real life not too long ago... But anyway, even though there was a murder it wasn't an actual crime novel. It was more of a cross between a character study of rich and very, very idle people...and a comedy story a la PG Wodehouse. Some scenes were downright funny and even though most of the protagonists were actually right pricks it was a great experience to read about their misadventures. They had to learn to live without their servants because almost all of them fell ill after a while – can you even imagine that? The absolutele horror! My favourite scene was the one where all the family member had to look for hidden doors in the whole manor because the children were missing and giggling could be heard from behind the walls. I also tremendously enjoyed some of the revelations near the end. And, well, the very end came as a surprise too. I liked the part after the final chapter where we learned about the further lives of our protagonists. I assume that most of them might be happier than they were during their time as rich idlers, I guess. Anyway, a nice read, even though it wasn't quite what it said on the package. That's not the book's fault, though.

Wanderungen durch Thüringen (Ludwig Bechstein)

I mostly read this right before bedtime because it was so relaxing, haha. Oh, and because it's about the region where I was born, so it was quite fun. Though I have to admit that I've never even heard of some of the places they visited during their hike. But the chapter about my hometown was pretty funny, mainly so because they apparently couldn't visit most of its many attractions because of the bad weather. Well, that's a way to cop out of having to write stuff too, I guess. Definitely something I need to take note of for my own writings, I'd say. ;)

Heaven Official's Blessing vol. 1 (Mo Xiang Tong Xiu)

I don't know if I should put this rather on my anime blog, but it is a novel and I'm counting it towards my annual reading goals, so... Anyway, I watched the donghua adaptation last year and enjoyed it quite a bit – just like it was with the other works of the author. So it's not surprising that the announcement of English-language releases of her novels made me really happy – I'd always wanted to read the originals! Heaven Official's Blessing aka Tian Guan Ci Fu was the first one I picked up because I wanted to refresh my memory of that story first. And it was totally worth it, because it's highly enjoyable read. If it weren't for the nice visuals of the donghua, I would definitely prefer the written version anyway. By the way, this volume covers the first series of the donghua, so there wasn't actually any new content. But like I said, it was about time to refresh my memory. I can never quite remember the details of most shows I watched...