Bucklesman's reading log

Bucklesman

Reading log? Why did I never think of this before? Great idea. I've slackened off on reading books in recent months, and I'm getting concerned that my brain will disintegrate if I don't get back into it. Anyway, I'll give this 50 books in a year scheme a try. Here goes...

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I read this in one sitting, as suggested by some critic or other. I have to say that it was the most terrifying book I have read in a while. It isn't an easy feeling to explain. Nothing made me jump out of my seat; it's more of an atmosphere thing. You just feel a rising tide of dread at the state of an apocalyptic world; a feeling compounded by the fact that you see it from the point of view of view of the father and son travelling alone.

I thought the stream-of-consciousness style (and missing apostrophes) would bother me, but it didn't at all. It's emotionally draining, but not depressing.

9.5/10, because nothing is perfect.

Bucklesman

Columbine by Dave Cullen. Some critics likened it to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood when it was released last April, and that's one reason I bought it. It was so gripping that I stayed up reading it until four in the morning the other night.

Cullen manages to interweave the horror of the shootings with a deep look into the psyches of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. I put Columbine down with a totally new perspective on the tragedy and feeling sorry for both the victims and the shooters.

8/10

Bucklesman

The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat

Exactly what it says on the cover, really. The great novel of the Battle of the Atlantic during WW2 leaves the reader in no doubt as to the cruelty of war. And I mean no doubt.

Everyone except the old Captain dies or dies inside. Simple as.

Monsarrat expresses some interesting opinions about Irish neutrality in the book. I don't want to give away too much, but the word "smug" comes into things.

The Cruel Sea was engrossing, however, and waaaay better than the film.


6.5/10. I recommend an open mind.