Ways To Live Forever

My next choice for my list of 1001 Books And Authors has to be (8) Sally Nicholl's debut novel, Ways To Live Forever! A right proper weepy, it tells the tale of 11 year old Sam who has an obsession with random facts, believes in UFOs and ghosts and has never kissed a girl. Oh yes, and he has Leukaemia! His parents and Doctors won't talk to him about dying, and often go out of their way to avoid talking about it, so Sam becomes determined to seek out the honest answers for himself along with his best friend on the Cancer Ward. At times highly emotional but always uplifting, honest and funny the book is nowhere near as depressing as it sounds and concentrates in the main on the positive attitude of Sam as he copes with his illness in his own very special way! Totally recommended, this is another book that moved me in ways I cannot even describe. Even writing about this novel now reminds me how important and special a read this is and anyone who hasn't read it is missing out a treat! This book really goes a long way to showing just how fragile our life is and how important it is to live each day like it is our last and makes a person appreciate what they have in life rather than wishing it away for something they might never achieve!! Truly a classic read that deserves all the praise and more that I can heap upon it!!! Just remember to pack a box of tissues when you read it! You have been warned!!!

Yes I AM still here....

Just to let you all know that I haven't abandoned you, just not really had a lot to Blog about lately that is in any way, shape or form interesting. Nothing new there, I hear you say, but hey, you are sooo gonna regret that next week because I have a weeks holiday and I intend to write a Blog-post EVERY SINGLE DAY to make up for all those I've missed these last few weeks!

Actually, I really need to get a move on with my list of 1001 Books And Authors You Need to Read Before You Die!! Especially as we are only up to no 7 right now and we have a loooong way to go! Other things I intend to do next week include doing some proper writing (I have a couple of short stories logged in a word document that I really ought to be finishing!!), finishing my Dark Tower painting (and showing you guys my autistic...I mean ARTISTIC....talent) and spending lots of quality time with my daughter of course. I would include my wife there but she is going to have to work for most of my week as normal as that is just the way things have worked out this year!

And the beat goes on....

The next book in my list has to be Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay (7) which looks at a forgoten period in World history when French Gendarmes were responsible for rounding up large numbers of Jews under the orders of the Nazi German High Command in Occupied France. The book is split into two perspectives; one based at the time of the events in question and one several decades later as a Journalist uncovers Sarah's story.....

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.

Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

Whilst the segments of the novel that tell the story from a modern perspective are slightly less engaging, and Julia is a difficult character to like for a number of different reasons, the historical chapters really sweep you up in the story and emotionally destroy you. These are real events that being recounted here, even though the story and characters are fictional, and for many years France has tried to deny they existed and had much mention of them censored in the history books. As Tatiana herself says at the close of this novel, there are many people in France itself who are not aware that these atrocities happened as thousands of native Jews were shipped out to Aschwitz or other Concentration Camps simply to fill a quota. One of De Rosnay's few books that has been translated into english, this is another compelling read that sits right up there with The Diary Of Anne Frank though of course here, none of the characters are real.

more 1001 books and authors....

So not been about for a few weeks, and there is no proper excuse for that ~ it's just that life has gotten in the way, but thought it was about time I Blogged again and, more specifically, presented you with more of the 1001 books and authors that make up my list of those that you really deserve to read before you die.....

Number Six on my list of 1001 books and authors you really need to read before you die is A Thousand Splendid Suns by the highly acclaimed author, Khaled Hosseini who was also responsible for The Kite Runner. Whilst The Kite Runner is an equally good read, and was made into a successful movie last year, it kind of lacks the depth and intensity of Splendid Suns which is far superior in scope and deliverance and is an exceptional book to pick up that will change your life and the way you percieve the world around you!

Splendid Suns tells the story of two very different women whose lives become intertwined when they both become wives to a shoe maker from Kabul. It is a story of the jealousy that initially surrounds these two women, the harsh regime they are both obliged to live under, the personal circumstances that are thrown their way that complicate their lives and, ultimately, how the two women form a bond and unite together to try and escape the oppression they are forced to endure on a daily basis. It is a strong novel, an uncompromising read and often a very hard book to pick up ~ not because it is hard-going but because it is difficult to read what these two women are forced to go through even when they become determined to change their lives for the better. As well as providing a valuable insight into the lives of women in Afghanistan, it is also a highly addictive story that sweeps you up and refuses to let you go until its final climax. One book I would reccommend to anyone they should certainly most definitely read! As Jonathan Yardley said in the Washington Post "Book World": "Just in case you're wondering whether Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns is as good as The Kite Runner, here's the answer: No. It's better."