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My new work colleague (and actually already friend for a few years) has started the new phase of our relationship by lending me a pretty good book. The Secret History by Donna Tartt tells the story of a group of incredibly pretentious college students who descend into murder and madness after trying to stage an authentic bacchanal.
I think the book would have had more impact on me ten or twelve years ago when I was still a pretentious college student myself. I like to think I have a bit more sense and a bit more of a grasp of reality now, so I wasn't seduced by their mysterious powers of attraction. I actually didn't like any of the characters much at all, but that didn't stop the book from being well written, interesting and gripping right to the end. The denouement actually shocked me - about 150 pages from the end, I really couldn't see where the plot could possibly be going, and I didn't guess even later.
It's not exactly a jolly book, all in all, but it's a good exploration of the dangers of wanting to fit in, and the potential doom associated with trying too hard to make life meaningful.
Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium, on the other hand, is all about believing in magic and in yourself, so that you can make incredible things happen. It was very slight, and wholly predictable, but good fun nonetheless, with lots of fun visuals, and an excellent child actor in the role of Eric, the boy who finds it difficult to make friends his own age. "Life is an occasion," Mr Magorium says at one point. "Rise to it." This is always good advice, and reminds me that I now have four months without OU as an excuse not to write anything.
I think the book would have had more impact on me ten or twelve years ago when I was still a pretentious college student myself. I like to think I have a bit more sense and a bit more of a grasp of reality now, so I wasn't seduced by their mysterious powers of attraction. I actually didn't like any of the characters much at all, but that didn't stop the book from being well written, interesting and gripping right to the end. The denouement actually shocked me - about 150 pages from the end, I really couldn't see where the plot could possibly be going, and I didn't guess even later.
It's not exactly a jolly book, all in all, but it's a good exploration of the dangers of wanting to fit in, and the potential doom associated with trying too hard to make life meaningful.
Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium, on the other hand, is all about believing in magic and in yourself, so that you can make incredible things happen. It was very slight, and wholly predictable, but good fun nonetheless, with lots of fun visuals, and an excellent child actor in the role of Eric, the boy who finds it difficult to make friends his own age. "Life is an occasion," Mr Magorium says at one point. "Rise to it." This is always good advice, and reminds me that I now have four months without OU as an excuse not to write anything.
