I signed up for the Eason Book review and they send me this novel. Having pasted it on their page, I decided to share the review here too as I enjoyed the book.

‎’Benny & Shrimp’ by Katarina Mazetti

I would never have picked up this book – partly because of the cover and partly because of the title and I was delighted to have received it for that reason – a chance to read something I wouldn’t necessarily normally read. I had just finished a tome of a book – The Children’s Book b…y AS Byatt and this was like a breath of fresh air.
It is an easy read, Benny and Shrimp/Desiree tell the narrative in alternate short chapters. It definitely isn’t chick lit but for those who do like chick lit, I would recommend it as a refreshing change – it comes across as honest, ‘out there’, slightly outlandish and very readable.
It tells the story of a childless widow aged 35 who has had a less than satisfactory sex life and her ovaries are buzzing, and a bachelor farmer who spends most of his time working hard on his farm and doesn’t want to end up as an old frustrated bachelor. They meet at a graveyard, as she sits and observes her husband’s plain headstone and he plants his parents ostentatious one. This unlikely couple couldn’t be more different – she reads Lacan and Kristeva, lives in a minimalist apartment and workds in the children’s dept of a library. His house is decorated in his mother’s style, strewn with embroidered tapestries and the only things he has time to read is ‘The Farmer’, overworked and underresourced with his 24 cows not to mention the followers.
They are incredibly honest with each other to start with but increasingly become more and more aware of the differences between their lifestyles and their likes and dislikes and as her ovaries are hopping around waiting to be fertilised, the future is uncertain.  Both seem determined to stick to their own likes and dislikes.
The only aspect of the novel that grated slightly with me was the fact Benny was so busy with just 24 cows and the fact he is so intelligent (as his reports prove), am surprised he wasn’t more revolutionary in terms of developing the farm.  While the author had obviously researched dairy farming (hoofcare, cows in heat, antibiotics in milk etc) I thought that Benny seemed excessively busy with just 24 cows, almost seemed like it was set in the 50s in terms of the farming aspect.
I won’t give away the ending! A good book, an enjoyable light read.

Well, despite having an extra week to finish it, I still haven’t managed to finish The Children’s Book – partly due to decorating and being busy but also because it is an extremely hard book to read a lot of for some reason.  I can remember reading one of her other books Possession one summer when I was a student and working in the brass rubbing centre of Salisbury Cathedral and it took me a whole summer of lunchtimes!

So what do I think of it?  Well, I am enjoying it but it isn’t gripping.  It is a long 600 pages though. Telling the lives of a number of families who are connected thru marriage, work and/or sex as they move from the Victorian era through the Edwardian and into the First World War and how their society and indeed, themselves changes.  Byatt comes across as being extremely learned with lots of references to writers, matters with sexuality, the suffrage movement, prostitution, homosexuality, the intricate details of the times in both England and Germany and I’m sure there are lots more that didn’t register with me or I glossed over. I almost felt I was running through the entire reading list of my English degree again, not to mention  many of the references I had researched in my dissertation on women and sexuality in Edwardian times!!

Wonderfully imaginative as she includes the fairy tale stories Olive writes for each of her children.  Surprisingly ‘free love’ as it is revealed that the main characters of Humprey and Olive have an open relationship.  I thought Byatt was revealing and criticising the sexual double standards of the time as Humphrey has a child by another woman and continues seeing her, yet it is Olive who has to accept it and make the money to support this woman and her child.  Olive’s sister Violet lives with them and while Olive writes to earn money, Violet looks after the children but her voice is never heard, we never find out what she feels about the situation.  Then, we discover she is in fact the mother of 2 of the younger children and  in fact, the father of Dorothy is a German puppeteer.  So free love is very much a theme.

The characters ‘meet’ such people as Oscar Wilde, Marie Stopes, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, yet there is still a sense of the fairy tale about the whole book. I am only about two thirds the way through it and I am wondering will there me a harsh sense of reality in the tone when it deals with the Great War or will it be the fairy tales that brings them through.

One part that really resonated though was when Elsie when attending a meeting on women’s rights, reflects that for all women who are hungry-minded female thinkers, they all need someone to cook and clean for them and for every scullery-maid who is liberated to become educated etc, there would have to be another scullery maid to take her place (p297).  This is something that continues today – for women who work and have successful careers, they are still expected to keep the house clean and looking beautiful, look beautiful and fit themselves and ensure their children are happy, healthy and educated and have a perfect family life.  Yet, is it possible to do all that?  Many women who work and play tennis or go to the gym have a cleaner – usually female.  It still continues that for women to ‘have it all’ it usually requires the ‘help’ or sacrifice in Byattian terms, of another female.  (By the way, I don’t have a cleaner but neither am I fit nor do I get to go to spas!! but neither is my home that tidy!!)

I am enjoying the book but yet I’m not so sure I would recommend it.  Part of me wonders is Byatt name-dropping as she seems to incorporate her immense knowledge into the book in one way or another.  It is only now (two thirds of the way through) that I am coming to grips with who is who – an immense number of characters and she tries to reveal the feelings and thoughts of each one – apart from the quiet Violet who may yet be revealed as the Mad Woman in the attic!!

To read other reviews (of people who will have finished the book!) do check out Lily’s blog  and the other reviewers are: Marian, Treasa, Cathy, Marie, Val, Jenn, Edie, Catherine, Jenny, Kirsty, Steph, Una, Susan, Winifred, Ann and lastofthemojitos.  I hope I haven’t left out anyone.

Lorna x

Update:

Well, I have finished the book now so here’s my final review of the whole book.

I was irritated with it by the time I was finished – we get entire history lectures in the middle of the whole saga to fill us in on what is happening in Europe in the pre-War years.  Is Byatt trying to prove she can master being a historian as well as writing 19th century fairy tales on top of being a novelist.

I could see Tom’s suicide coming for at least 50 pages previously and by that stage, I was so irritated by him and his relationship with his mother, that I almost cheered. I would have thought it would have been more imaginative to let him kill himself by a different means though, rather than the same method as Fludd.  I thought it was strange and rather unrealistic that a young man in his early 20s was permitted to fail exams again and again and generally do nothing with his life beyond go for long walks.  Surely parents would have insisted on him getting a position in some employment and using contacts to get him in there. The contrast is emphasised with his diligent and studious sister Dorothy who is steadfast in her desire to become a doctor.  It is interesting to read of the female college life, having to be locked in at early hours, needing a chaperone to go to lectures, not being awarded degrees even though they pass the same exams as the men.

I enjoyed the account of the suffragists – Byatt included lots of description of the crimes committed by the suffragists, their arrests and what they went through in the prisons – middle class women undergoing force feeding and worse.  However, I felt that beyond mentioning that women didn’t receive equal treatment at university, Byatt didn’t show the inequalities that made women go to such lengths for enfranchisement.  Indeed, the inclusion of long descriptions of women who clearly didn’t want equality made the suffragists seem somewhat extreme and almost ridiculous which I suspect was not her intention.  Women lost their lives and their health suffered because of their beliefs and I thought the reasons for their beliefs could have been more apparent – instead it came across as a popular and fashionable cause to be involved in.  Yet, in reality, would I leave my children and willingly go to jail to be force-fed – it would have to be a jolly good reason behind it!

And what about Violet’s sudden death, as she topples to her death doing what she always does – playing servant to her sister.  The only person who comments on the fact that no one ever asked Violet how she felt is her daughter Phyllis.  I wonder is this Byatt’s way of emphasising the silence of governesses, scullery maids, spinster sisters etc in 19th and early 20th century Britain – that it is only by their silence and their work that other women (Olive in this case) and men can be successful in the public eye.  The contrast is very much with Elsie who is vociferous in her desire to become educated and move out of her social sphere.  Violet’s silence throughout the whole book is very apparent as she cleans, sews and does all the mothering that Olive doesn’t have time to do yet she cannot be called ‘Mother’.

The suggestion of abuse in the Fludd household is brought up again and again particularly with the references to the pottery sculptures in the secret room which are eventually buried in the garden by Pomona and Philip after Fludd’s death.  This is certainly disturbing throughout the book and it is never dealt with as such but buried as the sculptures are.

Byatt’s writing does bring home the horror of war and I’m sure everyone who reads this book is familiar with or has heard of Rupert Brooke’s WW1 poetry.  Despite all the deaths during the war that affect these families, the end of the novel is positive but a bit sugary with the line ‘all their faces seemed softer in their (the candles) quavering light’.  Class was a prevalent issue before the war, now it isn’t as  Elsie and Charles/Karl ’s marriage is accepted.  There is a suggestion that Dorothy and Philip might have a relationship.  Religion is also put aside as Griselda (whose mother is German) is in love with Wolfgang (Dorothy’s half brother who Dorothy has just realised is Jewish).  All differences put aside to live happy ever after.

The book covers about 50 years from the heydays of the Victorian times to the frivolous Edwardian (at least for the gentry) with reminders of working class poverty and unrest to the reality of WW1 and the uncertain future they face.

I’m glad I stuck with it and finished it and yes, I largely enjoyed it but I did skim read quite a bit of it. Plus, I read it quite late at night and probably missed lots of inferences thru tiredness.  Would I recommend it? – only if you have lots of time and patience

I was quite excited about reading Let the Great World Spin by Colm McCann – numerous glowing reviews all over the book sleeve as well as a few I had read in various weekend newspaper supplements.  I started it six weeks ago and only finished it during the week which is a huge clue as to what I thought of it.  If I find a book is good, I am almost unable to put it down until it is finished.  If it is not so good, it gets abandoned and may never be finished.  Would I have finished this book if it wasn’t for the book club? I’m not sure but I ended up carrying it everywhere with me so I could read a few pages while waiting for the children at Beavers or when watching them having a swimming lesson …..

The descriptive language in the book is beautiful.  The opening chapter describes the man about to traverse what is essentially a tight rope between the two Twin towers and how people are almost united in their awe, their fear, their excitement, their holding of breath as they crane their necks from the streets, from trains, from offices to watch the tightrope walker in 1974.

Then the book devotes a different section of the book to different characters and as is suggested by the opening chapter, all of their lives are touched in some way by that day in 1974 when the man walked through the air, many of the characters viewing the scene and many of them getting to know each other through the course of time.

However, despite the descriptive qualities of the writing, I found most of the characters irritating and even for those I did like, there wasn’t enough pages devoted to them to get to know them properly. I felt I was only ‘getting into them’ when the book moved onto another character but that might have been a fault of my own, taking 6 weeks to read a book that would normally take 2 or 3 days.

Corrigan, the Irish priest, was the most irriating in my opinion.  He seemed to me to be a ‘Jesus’ character – understood by his mother, seemingly bizarre to everyone else, helping the homeless from a young age to the extent he gave away his blankets, staying single, giving his life to God, helping prostitutes, turning the other cheek and letting pimps beat him up and eventually dying at a young age.

His brother Ciaran was equally irritating!  I think Gloria was my favourite character, perhaps because there was more humour included in her section.  Like many of the other characters, her sons had been killed in Vietnam – another occurance that bound the characters together.  However, as a character, she seems more real in her memories of ancestors in slavery, her parents, her reactions to Claire’s wealth.

Is it a 9-11 novel?  Yes, I believe so.  Based on a true occurance in 1974 when Philippe Petit walked the tightrope, there are plenty of historial references too through the Vietnam war and now that the Twin Towers are gone, the book is particularly resonant.  Grief and coping with grief and the harshness of life is a constant theme through the book but the theme of grasping at happiness and chance is also there, epitomised most strongly by the tightrope walker.

Part Four of the book deals with the ‘present’ in 2006, 32 years on and we find out what has happened to all of the characters, if they are dead, when they died, what they are doing now etc.  Why do writers feel that they have to fill in the gaps, to give us a happy ending, to satisfy our curiousities about what happens to characters.  Personally, I would have preferred to have simply worked out in my own mind what might have happened to them but I guess I was so disinterested I didn’t really care!  I found the inclusion of Part Four somewhat irritating and unnecessary to the novel but am looking forward to seeing what others have thought.

(My apologies for not including quotes from the book but am blaming lack of time)

I look forward to reading the other reviews particularly those who found they enjoyed it as I feel I missed something given all the glowing testimonials and reviews I have seen.

For other reviews, do check out Lily’s blog  and the other reviewers are: Marian, Treasa, Cathy, Marie, Val, Jenn, Edie, Catherine, Jenny, Kirsty, Steph, Una, Susan, Winifred, Ann and lastofthemojitos.  I hope I haven’t left out anyone.

Rating: I feel I am being generous giving it 3 out of 5 and that is for the wonderful descriptions and for the characterisation of Gloria, and Soderburg (during the trial).

And don’t forget to check out our Freebie Friday giveaway in the blog post below – the draw will be made on Monday morning.

Update – sorry, my mistake – the book club review is for 5th June so we have an extra week. Not sure why I confused it!!

Lily’s blog is down at the moment so just a reminder that the bloggers Book Club will be posting our reviews this Sunday at 12. Lily will be guest-posting over at Cathy’s blog.

And put 3rd July in your diary  for a bloggers’ meet up at Jim’s Kitchen in Portlaoise for lunch – the only criteria is that you write/read blogs , looking forward to meeting loads of bloggers in person.

I love reading and joined a book club in Castlecomer a couple of years ago but I generally find I only make it to about four meetings in the year. I was delighted when Lily suggested creating an online ‘bloggers book club’ some time ago and  some other bloggers eagerly joined in too. The idea is that we read a book each month and write and schedule our book review for the first Sunday of the month at no0n! 

The book for review this month is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, a book I read about 18 months ago and loved and I was very happy to have an excuse to read it again.

Summary: Set in Afghanistan, we meet Mariam at five years old, born out of wedlock to a rich man and a servant girl and who is forced to live in exile with her embittered mother.  Her mother commits suicide when she is fifteen and Mariam is married off to a widower many years her senior and moved to Kabul.  Mariam endures many miscarriages and remains childless and has to endure the physical and emotional abuse heaped upon her by her husband.  We also learn that her husband, Rasheed, is very traditional and insists that Mariam wears the traditional burqa.

We also meet Laila, an intelligent young lady, who also lives in Kabul and is very emotionally attached to her father.  A friendship with a neighbouring boy  Tariq becomes a crush which develops into a short relationship. They make love the evening before Tariq flees the country with his parents and Laila’s parents are killed in an attack a few days later. Laila survives and is rescued by Rasheed and Mariam.  Realising she is pregnant, she agrees to marry Rasheed.  Mariam is initially hostile to Laila, feeling threatened by this new woman in their home but months later, they become allies and are very close.  A few years later, Laila gives birth to Rasheed’s son, Zalmui. 

The situation becomes desperate as the Taliban gain more and more control and war has broken out: danger from attacks, women beaten if found walking on their own, little money and little food.  Tariq turns up (Laila had thought he was dead) and once Rasheed hears this, he beats Laila and Mariam. In retaliation and in order to save Laila’s life, Mariam kills him.  Mariam admits her crime and is executed. Laila and Tariq escape with the children but return to Kabul some months later.  Having discovered that Mariam had an inheritence from her deceased father, Laila puts the money to good use in an orphanage and the novel ends with the news that she is pregnant, planning to call her baby after Mariam if it is a girl.

Review:  As I said above, I really enjoyed this novel, on both first and second readings.  We have sympathy for Mariam when we first meet her, this little girl living in virtual isolation with her bitter mother and looking forward to her weekly visits from her father. Her mother tells her there is only one skill that women need and that is tahamul – to endure. And this seems to be an accurate premonition as indeed this is what Mariam has to do for many years – endure beatings, emotional abuse, miscarriages, a loveless marriage, loneliness as we don’t read about any female friendships – that is until she and Laila become firm friends.

Mariam resents Laila becoming Rasheed’s second wife, she speaks fiercely to Laila and does not want to become the servant.  However, once Laila stops Rasheed beating Mariam by agreeing to have sex with him, Mariam is touched as this is one of the first times someone has done something like this for her.  Laila has determination in her character, partly due to her father’s upbringing of her as he repeatedly told her “You’re a very, very bright girl. Truly you are. You can be anything that you want.”  Laila does not want to remain in this situation and over months, steals coins and notes from Rasheed. She eventually tells Mariam of her plans and asks her to escape with her. Masquerading as mother and daughter, they are caught and returned to receive a harsh beating each and are tortured in the heat with water denied to them.  The cruelty within this marriage as well as within society in general where beatings by husbands seem to be commonplace is shocking.  As readers, we are aware of what the Taliban are capable of and know worse is to come.  We witness two women with very different upbringings, very different familial relationships, having to succumb to beatings and humiliation.   I enjoyed the characterisations of these two women – both had very different qualities and it was very easy to like and respect both of them.

The cruelty of the Taliban and their attitude to women is most apparent in the scene where Laila gives birth to Zalmui.  Not able to go to the ‘male’ hospital, they find the hospital for women has little medicine and no anaesthetic for the Caesarean section that Laila requires. In order to save her life, the female doctor has to operate and even though the conditions are primitive, it is apparent that she is glad she is still able to work, indeed it is evident that without that, Laila and her baby would have died.

What is heartrending to read is Mariam’s reaction to Laila’s daughter Aziza. ‘Mariam had never been wanted like this. Love had never been declared to her so guilelessly, so unreservedly. Aziza made Mariam want to weep.’  She eventually found the bonding she had never experienced before. When she kills Rasheed, Mariam becomes the decisive one, her plans are for Tariq and Laila to leave the country with the children while she turns herself in.  ‘Think like a mother, Laila, I am’.  She had, for many years, been a second mother to the children and also to Laila. For me, this is the most poignant line in the whole book – ‘Everything I’ve ever wished for as a little girl, you’ve already given me. You and your children have made me so very happy.’

During Mariam’s very short trial that lasted all of fifteen minutes, the young Talib asserts that ‘Our brains are different. You are not able to think like we can. Western doctors and their science have proved this. This is why we require only male male witness but two female ones.’  It is extremely ironic that he refers to Western science to support the Talibans’ claim.

The only weak part in the book for me was the ending.  I was comforted by the relatively happy ending the first time I read it, Laila and Tariq were together with the 2 children, back in Kabul and using Mariam’s inheritence from her father to repair and fund the orphanage. Laila’s father had always predicted she could be anything she wanted and here she is, teaching.  Pregnant too and we are told that if it is a girl, she will be called Mariam.  Yes, there is reminders of the harsh realities – of orphans, of repairs being needed, of Mariam’s execution, of the warlords having returned.  However, on the second reading, I felt that this happy ending for Laila and Tariq was a bit fairytaleish, of a happy ever after that didn’t quite ring true.

If you would like to read the other bloggers’ reviews, click on the links to access their blogs – Lily of Lily’s Blog, Marion at Made Marion, Treasa at Irish Mammy on the Run, Kathy at Rumble Strips, Marie of Diary of a country Wife, Kirsty at A Road Less Travelled, Val at MagnumLady,  Jenn at SmurfetteJenn’s blog, Edie at Munchies and Musings, and last but not least Catherine of Dispatches from the Deise.  If you would like to join the book club, I suggest you contact Lily at her blog.