Pat Barker - Union Street

Union Street - (9/10)

I was introduced to Pat Barker about 3 years ago when I read Regeneration, and could never get over the idea that that book was written by a woman - I have the same issue with Shelley's Frankenstein; it's definitely my inner-judgmentaloldwoman poking out her little head... To me, war stories are always very 'male', and I think that has something to do with the fact that war - particularly when we're talking about the World Wars - were a very male experience.

That's not to say that the Wars never affected the female population, because we know that to be absolutely not true and Barker's hideously unflattering, real portrayal of her women is one of the things that really grips me, but nevertheless 'war' in the sense that Regeneration presents it is, and has always been, predominantly and indefatigably male.

Regardless though, her writing is always so realistic and absorbing.

I remember first researching for an essay I wrote on Regeneration. There was an article from the New York Times - or something like that - that recounted how Barker hadn't had a lot of luck in the literary world until the likes of Union Street and Regeneration because she was trying to write to suit her fellow prim and proper authors who all wrote about ladies' days and tea parties...something she knew nothing about!!

Despite Regeneration being written by a woman then, what makes it so powerful, and 100% believable and realistic is that Barker has done what all writers start by doing: she's written what she knows.

As her first novel, you can see 'Barker' in the undeniable passion towards Union Street's Northern working-class women and their hardships. The novel isn't written patronisingly, as another writer might create it, but with fierce experience and empathy which seep through the lines of the page, through Barker's characters and their stories.

As a woman though, I think there is one other thing that Pat Barker is absolutely fabulous at: putting us off pregnancy for life!! Seriously! Forget about sex ed. Just give every 15 year old a Pat Barker novel to read - they'll sew their clothes to their flesh out of sheer terror!!

Not that that should put you off reading it, you should! If only out of curiosity... There is way more to this book than back-ally abortions, and I was surprised at just how much it did engross me - though I was sat at King's Cross, with my legs tightly crossed, cringing through quite a few chapters...

These women tell stories that shock and disgust, but nevertheless are utterly consuming and passionate...

Rox
xx

'Amazon' it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Virago-Modern-Classics-Paperback/dp/0860682838/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407528474&sr=1-1&keywords=union+street

Caitlin Moran - How To Be a Woman

How To Be a Woman - (10/10)

People think that "feminism" means renouncing men, adopting 6 cats, or throwing yourself in front of horses, but I much prefer Moran's no-nonsense take on the term...

Team V

A couple of years ago I was given a reading list as a guide for my A Level coursework. The list had 210 titles on it and came with a warning against trying to read them all over the one summer we had to find inspiration... 

So, naturally, I tried...

How To Be a Woman, though, was probably the best book I read that summer and I've bombarded everyone I meet with recommendations ever since. I think I wrote in my John Green blog about dreaming about books...This is another one that I could not get out of my head!

IT'S A GOOD TIME TO BE A WOMAN:

WE HAVE THE VOTE AND THE PILL, 

AND WE HAVEN'T BEEN BURNT AS WITCHES SINCE 1727... 

As a very sarcastic person myself, her witty-yet-never-quite-patronising tone just makes me howl! She somehow manages to combine passion and intellect on a pretty serious topic, with her addictive and hilariously sarcastic style, making every reader sit up and take note. Even as someone who loves feminist literature, reading criticism on the subject can bore me to tears. But Moran is so honest and forceful in her writing - yet always in the most conversational manner - that reading How To Be a Woman never feels serious...until you put it away, think about it, and have to get it out again just to make sure.

Although her chapters on body hair would make some people I know heave, I think every girl should read this book before she looks in the mirror, or lets anything other than her own mind define her...

This is the book I come back to summer after summer purely for its entertainment value and the powerful voice that it gives to women - go read and be empowered!

Rox 

xx
 

'Amazon' it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Be-Woman-Caitlin-Moran/dp/0091940745/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407528561&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+be+a+woman

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

The Book Thief - (7/10)

Right now I'm waiting to find a book that I can pick up and be totally possessed by. After all the - albeit subdued - hype around this one (following the film release...again...surprise...), I really thought Zusak might do that for me, but I can't say he did... I'm not saying that The Book Thief is a bad story! Quite the opposite - it's an incredibly touching tale, showing some strong perspective (I was particularly entranced by the idea of having Death as the narrator! It definitely brings an inevitable sense of catastrophe and doom to the plot...) but I was just looking for something a little bit more gripping!

I'm being picky...so very picky!!!

Looking past my own preconceptions though, Zusak creates some really lovely things in The Book Thief. Like I said with the narration by Death, we see some moments and meet some characters which really strike us and challenge our sympathies. Usually, with novels based around the First World War, or the Second World War, we (or certainly I - as a Brit!) assume that the Germans are the bad guys, whilst the English are the heros, and the Jews the victims - that's the stereotype, right? So it's easy to forget and be startled by the realisation that this novel - this beautifully written, sympathetic novel - is set in Munich, at the heart of the Hitler's reign, and that, in fact, the novel's victims are also Germans, and Nazi's... Or that was the aspect of this book that struck me the most anyway - the way we can forget and then suddenly remember who these people really are, and then feel guilty for having damned them so ignorantly!!

There are many such sweet themes and moments throughout The Book Thief which make it impossible to disregard it as anything other than a brilliant story. The faith which Zusak's savvy little hero puts in mere words and their power is something that I - as a book hoarder myself - found strangely relate-able and comforting, especially in our modern world of computer games and technology. One of the novel's most touching moments though comes towards the end, and truly this is what separates it from other typically 'sad' novels. When the bombs hit and the narrator goes about his work, Zusak's attention to every individual character at that moment is undeniably beautiful, and shows a journey that I have never seen in other novels...

Personally, I would have ended the tale there and left my readers sobbing in a corner...but evidently Zusak isn't so cold-hearted...

It's definitely not the gripping novel I'm searching for, but it's 500 pages that are definitely worth a read!!

Rox
xx

'Amazon' it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Thief-Markus-Zusak/dp/0552773891/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407528631&sr=1-1&keywords=the+book+thief