We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (or the book that never ends)

We Need To Talk About Kevin
By Lionel Shriver
Text Publishing,  2006
pg. 468  

About the Book
Kevin Katchadourian killed seven of his fellow high-school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher shortly before his sixteenth birthday. He is visited in prison by his mother, Eva, who narrates in a series of letters to her estranged husband Franklin the story of Kevin's upbringing. A successful career woman, Eva had been reluctant to forgo her independence and the life she shared with Franklin to become a mother. Once Kevin was born, she experienced extreme alienation and dislike of Kevin as he grew up to become a spiteful and cruel child. After Kevin committed murder, Eva fears that her own shortcomings may have shaped what her son has become. But how much is she to blame? And if it isn't her fault, why did he do it?

My Thoughts
What a slog!

I think this was my pick for the 1st Wednesday Book Group to read for our August meeting. (But please don't tell them!) It aligns with the National Year of Reading 2012 monthly theme of question. I think it was the only time the book really closely aligned with the theme!!

One of the group didn't finish it because she found it a bit too distressing. So it's just as well she didn't make it to the twist! The other 2 did but expressed a dislike for the book. Everyone said they definitely wouldn't watch the movie but wondered how it would be done. While I can't say I liked the book - as I couldn't really warm to any of the characters,  I can say that I like the way it made me question what was happening in the book and how it applies to real life. Can babies be born nasty? Or are they shaped by how they are treated by their parents? Did the way Eva feel about her pregnancy shape Kevin's personality before he was born?

The first time I tried to read the book I really didn't get very far. I didn't warm to Eva at all and found she was being a bit whiny or cold or something... and the book was moving so slowly. Actually I don't think I made it to the end of the first letter. Because it was a book club book and I was on a bit of a roll with finishing them, I persevered. I'm glad I did but towards the end I just wanted it over with... the last 100 pages took forever to read and for more than half the book I was reading to find out where the twist comes into it. Then in the last 20 pages, there always seemed to be more no matter how much I read.

The characters were almost caricatures who seemed to be the most extreme of the type they represented. The way that it was written meant that we only saw the other characters through Eva's eyes... and I think I would have liked to have known more about Kevin. I liked how we got glimpses of the boy he could have been - when he was sick and towards the end when he was facing the prospect of adult jail. The way Franklin tried to restrict what Eva could do when she was pregnant with Kevin really annoyed me. No wonder she felt like being a parent was such a drag... it took all the fun out of her life!

I particularly liked this scene where Eva has gone to visit Kevin in prison:

The guard with the mud-splatter of facial moles had called time; for once we had used up the full hour without spending most of it staring at the clock. We were standing on either side of the table, and I was about to mumble some filler line like "I'll see you in two weeks," when I realized Kevin had been staring straight at me, whereas his every other glance had been sidelong. That stopped me, unnerved me, and made me wonder why I had ever wanted him to look me in the eye.
     Once I was no longer fussing with my coat, he said, "You may be fooling the neighbours and the guards and Jesus and your gaga mother with these goody-goody visits of yours, but you're not fooling me. Keep it up if you want a gold star. But don't be dragging your ass back here on my account." Then he added, "Because I hate you."
     I know that children say that all the time, in fits:I hate you, I hate you! eyes squeezed with tears. But Kevin is approaching eighteen, and his delivery was flat.
     I had some idea of what I was supposed to say back: Now, I know you don't mean that, when I knew that he did. Or, I love you anyway, young man, like it or not. But I had an inkling that it was following these pat scripts that had helped me land in a garish overheated room that smelld like a bus toilet on an otherwise lovely, unusually clement December afternoon. So I said instead, in the same informational tone, "I often  hate you too,  Kevin," and turned heel. (p51)

I guess I am still thinking about the book and the issues raised... I want to talk about someone else who had read it to see what they thought... but I'm not sure I would actually recommend it to anyone.

The Amazing Spiderman

The Amazing Spider-Man
Directed By Marc Webb

About the Movie
The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker, an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May . Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance - leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors, his father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero. -- (C) Sony

My Thoughts
I'd never been won over by the whole Spider-man thing. The most recent movies just didn't do anything for me... and I'm not a particular fan of Tobey McGuire. I am a fan however of Martin Sheen, Dennis Leary and Emma Stone apparently and as they are all in this movie how could it go wrong? Besides Andrew Garfield who plays Peter Parker has a funny fake grin, who can resist that?

The friend who I saw it with didn't like it as much as the Tobey Maguire Spider-man. She said that the previous trilogy was lighter and focussed more on romance. Now I don't remember if I've seen it all the way through but there are some things in this Spider-man that I really don't remember seeing in the previous one, which I don't want to give away for anyone who hasn't seen it yet... My friend also missed MJ... and felt Spiderman was cheating on her! Erm that's MJ not my friend... Anyhoo... I didn't mind that it was dark, and disputed that the previous ones weren't. I quite enjoyed the quirky humour and the relationship that developed between Peter and Gwen.



Looking forward to the next one!

Craft Display at the Library

A couple of months ago we had a craft display at the library. Some of my crochet toys were included! So here is a picture of it. It's not a great picture as the display was in a glass cabinet and I was having trouble with reflections.

The two yellow chickens, the owl, the red egg and the cat were all crochet by me.

The jumper and the scarf were done by another talented staff member.

Blog Revamp 2012

I started this blog in 2010 to document the reading I was doing for some reading challenges I'd signed up for... For the first year it worked ok... and the second year started well but then it and my reading just went by the wayside. I've been celebrating the National Year of Reading 2012 by ... not reading *sigh*

Instead I've been crafting... it started with crochet cats and via owls and rabbits I'm back to knitting again. I've been told I should blog about my crafty things. I thought there a lots more challenges that I set myself that perhaps the blog could be revamped to include everything that I do.

So I decided I would revamp the blog to be about well life really and all sorts of challenges I face whether voluntarily or involuntarily... Posting regularly for this blog is definitely a challenge I face. To be precise a lack of motivation is a challenge that I need to overcome.

Welcome to the first post of my revamped blog! Hopefully it will be the first of many. I hope you enjoy.

Jason Akermanis: Open Season - Jason Akermanis with Gary Smart

Jason Akermanis: Open Season
By Jason Akermanis with Gary Smart
Hardie Grant 2010
pg 338
About the bookNo longer restrained by contractual obligations and free to speak at last, Aker reveals a no-holds-barred look at a stellar sporting career, including behind-the-scenes details of Aker's falling out with Leigh Matthews, his move to the Western Bulldogs, run ins with fellow players, and his thoughts on the game. Interwoven throughout is the personal story of finding and reconciling with his biological father - a married man with a family of his own who lived next door. Told with trademark honesty and passion, this
tell-all memoir is a must-have for all footy fans.

My ThoughtsI never liked Jason Akermanis as an AFL player. He was one of those characters of the game who fans love to hate and as a Sydney Swans fan I loved to hate him... well not hate really, but I did think he was a bit of
a tosser. I think he did bring something to the game that wasn't there before. He brought excitement and wasn't afraid to be an individual. His handstands after a win became a trademark move, and apparently fans loved it! But he also brought controversy.

Most of us only got one side of the story when he was release from both the Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs. Me even less so because I didn't pay that much attention to what was being reported in the media. I remember in 2006 when it was rumoured the Swans were interested in him, I was becoming interested in not being a Swans fan if he joined them. Never did I think I would ever read, let alone buy and enjoy a memoir/biography of him.

I think what I liked most about the book was that it was so easy to read. I sat down on Sunday morning and surfaced only for food and natural breaks and had it read by early evening. It was so nice to be able to do that. It was interesting to read about the behind the scenes politics that go on at a football club, and the jealousy between players. Sometimes you can tell when a team member is on the outer - they don't tend to get the ball - but most of the time spectators don't get to see it.

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Rockdale Reader Book Group selection for July 2011

About the Book
The Life of Pi is about Piscine Molitor Patel. An Indian boy who grows up in a zoo in the town of  Pondicherry. When he is 16 his parents decide to give up the zoo and move to Canada. The animals are sold to other zoos around the world and Pi's family travel on the cargo ship with some of them. One night there is an explosion and the ship sinks. Pi gets thrown into a life boat and is followed soon after by a zebra, Richard Parker, a spotted hyena and an orangatan. Soon there is only Pi & Richard Parker.
They spend 227 days at sea before reaching Mexico. While at sea, Pi struggles to maintain dominence to stay alive. Once they reach Mexico, Pi is interrogated by 2 men sent by the Japanese owners of the ship company seeking answers as to why the ship sank.

My ThoughtsIt is very hard to read a book that is so well know. The story everyone knows about The Life of Pi doesn't really start until a third of the way through and so I was reading about the zoo thinking where is the boat?
Where is the tiger? Also, I find it hard to read for a purpose. So although I really enjoy the book when I sit down to read, it is the making time to sit down and read that is the problem! Enough gripes about my laziness onto a review.

I really enjoyed reading The Life of Pi. Pi is an engaging character with a bit of a quirky sense of humour. The story of how Richard Parker gets his name made me giggle and I had to close the book and find a quiet corner so I could calm down. I enjoyed the first section that was about Pi's early life in Pondicherry at the zoo. His interest in becoming a Christian, a Muslim and a Hindi at the same time created an interesting conundrum. I loved the scene where all three of the religious elders came along to say why he couldn't join the others. And I don't think it was properly explained why he couldn't! This started the religious theme that continued through out the book... apparently... according to some reviews... I don't read to actively deconstruct books and pick out these kinds of themes. I read to escape.

My favourite character was Richard Parker. Despite Pi's father's warning he is anthropomorphised... and yet still remains a menace through the book. I enjoyed the scene where the boat has just sunk and Pi sees Richard Parker swimming. He decides to rescue him and calls him to the boat. We don't know
who Richard Parker is (or at least if I did, I had forgotten)

"I threw the lifebuoy mightily. It fell in the water right in front of him.
With his last energies he stretched forward and took hold of it.
'hold on tight, I'll pull you in. Don't let go. Pull with your eyes while I
pull with my hands. In a few seconds you'll be aboard and we'll be
together. Wait a second. Together? We'll be together Have I gone
mad?'
I woke up to what I was doing. I yanked on the rope.
'Let go of that lifebuoy, Richard Parker! Let go, I said. I don't want you
here, do you understand? Go somewhere else. Leave me alone. Get lost!..." p99

There is a twist in the last section of the book, which I would really like to talk about. However I don't want to give it away to people who haven't read it yet...

When God was a Rabbit - Sarah Winman

About the Book
Spanning four decades, from 1968 onwards, this is the story of a fabulous but flawed family and the slew of ordinary and extraordinary incidents that shape their everyday lives. It is a story about childhood and growing up, loss of innocence, eccentricity, familial ties and friendships, love and life. Stripped down to its bare bones, it's about the unbreakable bond between a brother and sister.

My Thoughts
I love this book! This is my favourite of 2011 so far, by far. I feel like Elly has become a close friend over the course of the novel and I really didn't want to finish the book because it means that the friendship has moved on. This, I think is one of the main ideas that moves through the book. The idea that you can be close friends with someone for a period of time and then it moves on. You can come back to friendships and pick up
from where you left off... or work through the pain of losing the friend for a while.

I missed her. I would always miss her. I often wondered how it would
have been if we could have experienced the coming years together.
What would have been different? could I have changed what happened to
her? We were the guardians of a secret world; a lonely world without
the other. For years i would flounder without her. (p162)

It also examines the close relationship between Elly and her brother and how they knew each others secrets. That even though friends come and go, family is always there and how noone knows all your secrets like family.

You see, you were the only person who knew everything.
Because you were there. And you were my witness. And you
made sense of the fed-up mess I become every now and then. And I
could at least look at you and think, at least he knows why I am the
way I am. There were reasons... (p308)

The book covers a lot of major events of the 70's, 90s and 2000's. Most of them I don't remember where I was or what I was doing. The main exception being 9/11 when I was somewhere between Heathrow and my cousin's apartment in Dublin when the North Tower came down, and watching in a haze of jet lag as the 2nd tower came down. When I read her description of her morning in London, I remembered that I was in London too, although just passing through. I think this part was the most moving of the whole book. I'm not
going to go into details because I don't want to spoil your reading experience of it.