So, I finished this quite a while ago and have only now got around to reviewing it. Sorry all.
I really enjoyed this book, it was what it said it would be. A collection of short stories about 'love' bound together by a train journey from Edinburgh to London where the four main characters happen to be sitting around the same table.
I don't want to give the game away by discussing the plot too much, or even reveal some of the beautiful lines McCall Smith has written so I'll just say if you're looking for a quick, easy yet beautiful and touching read this is the one for you.
9/10
Monday 31 December 2012
Tuesday 4 December 2012
STARTING: Trains and Lovers by Alexander McCall Smith
Recommended by the lovely KayleyReads and as someone in a long distance relationship I do spend a long time on trains travelling to see DB. This seemed as if it would be relevant to me!
Monday 3 December 2012
FINISHED: Wolf of the Plains (minor stories but nothing you can't find out from googling Genghis Khan)
I rather liked this book, I've always been intrigued by family hierarchies and clan leaders and leadership passing from father to son, even though I don't agree with it as a political idea. The idea that some families are born to rule others is a seducing idea, especially in fiction.
Although this isn't strictly fiction, put together from the Chinese(?) translation of Genghis Khan's diaries.
I enjoyed the main thread of the story, that of Temujin (soon to be Genghis Khan) and his family's displacement after the death of his father and their fight for survival and then recognition. I was intrigued by their way of living, their skill with archery and swords, even if the fight scenes left me longing for more internal dialogue which I thought was far more interestingly written than anything else in the book. To be able to see inside each character, even those of the 'enemies' and see what drove them, their pride and their insecurities, I thought it was brilliantly done.
I'm not usually one for the historical fiction, I usually find it to.. romanticised, but this was enjoyable and well written. Whether I read the next few will depend on the story arc, I have little interest about any clashes with the 'civilised', I just want careering about on horses and firing arrows and stuff.
7/10
Although this isn't strictly fiction, put together from the Chinese(?) translation of Genghis Khan's diaries.
I enjoyed the main thread of the story, that of Temujin (soon to be Genghis Khan) and his family's displacement after the death of his father and their fight for survival and then recognition. I was intrigued by their way of living, their skill with archery and swords, even if the fight scenes left me longing for more internal dialogue which I thought was far more interestingly written than anything else in the book. To be able to see inside each character, even those of the 'enemies' and see what drove them, their pride and their insecurities, I thought it was brilliantly done.
I'm not usually one for the historical fiction, I usually find it to.. romanticised, but this was enjoyable and well written. Whether I read the next few will depend on the story arc, I have little interest about any clashes with the 'civilised', I just want careering about on horses and firing arrows and stuff.
7/10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)