Reading Challenge 2024
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threespires
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Notes on an Execution
I actually finished this a couple of weeks ago, but then re read some chapters to see if they still resonated with the thoughts I'd formed about the characters and the questions the book posed.
Per others, I'll hold off my comments until everyone has read.
Onto the Satsuma Complex now.
I actually finished this a couple of weeks ago, but then re read some chapters to see if they still resonated with the thoughts I'd formed about the characters and the questions the book posed.
Per others, I'll hold off my comments until everyone has read.
Onto the Satsuma Complex now.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
- Cunning Folk – Adam L.G. Nevill - 8/10
- Bad Apples – Will Dean – 7/10
- The Winter Road – Adrian Selby – 6/10
- The Dark Place – Damian Vargas – 9/10
- Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris – 7/10
- The Tyranny of Faith – Richard Swan – 7/10
- The Game – Micah Richards – 8/10
- The Ticket Collector from Belarus – Mike Anderson and Neil Hanson – 8/10
- The Satsuma Complex – Bob Mortimer – 6/10
- Notes on an Execution – Danya Kukafka – 9/10
I finished Notes on an Execution last week and my 9/10 should tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I don't know how many are still reading it so I'll hold off with my full thoughts for a while.
stoneblue
Well-Known Member
I've compiled some observations on both books and will post on here in the next couple of days, under a spoiler button, whilst they are still relatively fresh in my mind.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Go on then, I'll start the ball rolling:-
I think that it was @threespires who nominated this one for the group read. Hats off for a fantastic choice because this was an excellent read, and I doubt that I’d have been aware of it had it not been brought to my attention on here.
The author must be doing something right when they start with a character on death row, there’s no mystery to solve, and they can’t put “Sensational novel with a shocking twist” in the sub-title on Amazon. Can I just say how I hate that?
But you don’t need a “shocking twist” when the characters are so well written, and the author writes in a way that makes you feel something for most of them – whether it’s the guy on death row or the people that he has interacted without throughout his life.
As somebody who has self-published a trilogy, it can be something of a curse that whenever I read a book now, I am looking at the technical aspects as I read as opposed to simply letting the story flow. In this respect, it’s an interesting choice to present Ansel Packer’s character in the second person (first person is “I went to the shops”, third person is “He went to the shops”, the little-used second person is “You went to the shops”). I don’t think it affected the character one way or the other, but I suppose that it gave him a different voice amongst the others.
Ansel’s story was the most compelling – there’s a small part of you that thinks “did he do those things?”, but part of the fascination in reading this story is finding out what he did, when he did it, why he did it and what is the significance of “the Blue House”. Then of course there’s the question of what will happen to his “theory”?
It’s a compelling read not because the author is building up to a shocking twist or some jaw-dropping revelation, but because Ansel’s thoughts are presented in an utterly realistic way that makes you feel everything he is going through. Whilst it’s impossible to truly sympathise with a cold-blooded killer, the screaming he hears in his head almost makes you feel that way and is far more believable that some of the evil schemes and justifications presented by cardboard cut-out serial killers.
Did anybody else get the impression that the author was building in the – admittedly very slight – possibility that there would be some kind of redemption at the end? The failed rescue attempt happened early but there was always the small possibility of a successful appeal. The fact that it didn’t happen was another strength of the book.
Whilst the other characters are not quite up to the level of Ansel Packer, they are well written and do make for a good supporting cast. The structure of the book works really well, with the significant parts of the story being spread over 40-odd years between multiple characters. The only negative that I could find was that Saffy did overdo the “all men are evil” narrative, but given her job and what she’d seen, it’s an understandable character trait.
All in all, an excellent book that I think most readers would get a lot out of. It feels a lot more rounded than other serial killer books and films, and it has a lot of interesting things to say about justice, vengeance and guilt and there’s more than one character in this book who feels a different type of guilt.
But you don’t need a “shocking twist” when the characters are so well written, and the author writes in a way that makes you feel something for most of them – whether it’s the guy on death row or the people that he has interacted without throughout his life.
As somebody who has self-published a trilogy, it can be something of a curse that whenever I read a book now, I am looking at the technical aspects as I read as opposed to simply letting the story flow. In this respect, it’s an interesting choice to present Ansel Packer’s character in the second person (first person is “I went to the shops”, third person is “He went to the shops”, the little-used second person is “You went to the shops”). I don’t think it affected the character one way or the other, but I suppose that it gave him a different voice amongst the others.
Ansel’s story was the most compelling – there’s a small part of you that thinks “did he do those things?”, but part of the fascination in reading this story is finding out what he did, when he did it, why he did it and what is the significance of “the Blue House”. Then of course there’s the question of what will happen to his “theory”?
It’s a compelling read not because the author is building up to a shocking twist or some jaw-dropping revelation, but because Ansel’s thoughts are presented in an utterly realistic way that makes you feel everything he is going through. Whilst it’s impossible to truly sympathise with a cold-blooded killer, the screaming he hears in his head almost makes you feel that way and is far more believable that some of the evil schemes and justifications presented by cardboard cut-out serial killers.
Did anybody else get the impression that the author was building in the – admittedly very slight – possibility that there would be some kind of redemption at the end? The failed rescue attempt happened early but there was always the small possibility of a successful appeal. The fact that it didn’t happen was another strength of the book.
Whilst the other characters are not quite up to the level of Ansel Packer, they are well written and do make for a good supporting cast. The structure of the book works really well, with the significant parts of the story being spread over 40-odd years between multiple characters. The only negative that I could find was that Saffy did overdo the “all men are evil” narrative, but given her job and what she’d seen, it’s an understandable character trait.
All in all, an excellent book that I think most readers would get a lot out of. It feels a lot more rounded than other serial killer books and films, and it has a lot of interesting things to say about justice, vengeance and guilt and there’s more than one character in this book who feels a different type of guilt.
threespires
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Not finished the Satsuma Complex yet but here's my thoughts on Notes on an Execution
This is an ambitious book in its attempt to tie together several different themes and narratives and it gets a decent amount of the way to doing so, certainly enough to make it an enjoyable and interesting read. It pulled off its goal of creating a very different type of novel from the usual serial killer fare.
The general structure I liked and thought it worked well. The goal of moving the spotlight from the killer and giving the voice to the women in the story worked well both in terms of flipping the narrative and giving them a voice but also in making Ansel Packer less of a cliché. Movement back and forth or jumping around a timeline can often get messy especially when doing it from multiple character perspectives but it held together well. I also liked Jenny’s story being seen from multiple perspectives in Ansel’s, Hazel’s and Saffy’s narratives.
When the writing was good it was very good. There were passages or whole chapters that really grabbed me. The opening bleakness of Lavender’s life and Ansel’s initial upbringing was horribly gripping as well as setting the foundations for the subsequent story.
Though there was limited suspense in the conventional sense, the escape being a damp squib quite early on and no real sense that a reprieve was forthcoming, the tension was instead delivered by gradual filling in of the gaps or peeling the onion, such as events at The Blue House, as things rolled inexorably to their grisly conclusion.
I particularly liked that the author didn’t try to over explain or provide an answer, there was lots of space left for the reader to determine their own opinions about the themes being explored, particularly the choices made by characters and the interconnectedness of those choices. It didn’t moralise but also didn’t duck the questions of morality that the characters actions and the narrative posed. The fact that I’m still unsure or could argue either way about certain questions the book posed means to me it was successful.
If I was being picky, I thought very occasionally the prose went a bit wonky with the odd strangled metaphor or simile slightly undermining a passage. In fairness I read this coming off the back of reading some Margaret Atwood so it might be that it suffers in comparison.
Similarly, though generally the book did a good job of swerving cliches, and the pivotal Saffy story/character was generally well drawn, sometimes her storyline lapsed a bit into detective novel 101 style.
I would ideally have liked to have seen more exploration of Shawna’s choices and the general underdevelopment of her character bugged me a little bit. That said she was a bit part player and it might have been deliberate to show from Ansel’s perspective how little he really understood of people compared to his self-perception and the consequences for him of this mismatch.
However, these are minor quibbles. Overall though I very much enjoyed it. It took a different approach to the normal serial killer tropes, replacing clichéd certainty with ambiguity and replacing a straight-line narrative centred around the killer with a series of interconnections centred around the women whose lives he impacted. As a read it was imo all the better for this different approach.
Gets a very solid 4/5 from me.
The general structure I liked and thought it worked well. The goal of moving the spotlight from the killer and giving the voice to the women in the story worked well both in terms of flipping the narrative and giving them a voice but also in making Ansel Packer less of a cliché. Movement back and forth or jumping around a timeline can often get messy especially when doing it from multiple character perspectives but it held together well. I also liked Jenny’s story being seen from multiple perspectives in Ansel’s, Hazel’s and Saffy’s narratives.
When the writing was good it was very good. There were passages or whole chapters that really grabbed me. The opening bleakness of Lavender’s life and Ansel’s initial upbringing was horribly gripping as well as setting the foundations for the subsequent story.
Though there was limited suspense in the conventional sense, the escape being a damp squib quite early on and no real sense that a reprieve was forthcoming, the tension was instead delivered by gradual filling in of the gaps or peeling the onion, such as events at The Blue House, as things rolled inexorably to their grisly conclusion.
I particularly liked that the author didn’t try to over explain or provide an answer, there was lots of space left for the reader to determine their own opinions about the themes being explored, particularly the choices made by characters and the interconnectedness of those choices. It didn’t moralise but also didn’t duck the questions of morality that the characters actions and the narrative posed. The fact that I’m still unsure or could argue either way about certain questions the book posed means to me it was successful.
If I was being picky, I thought very occasionally the prose went a bit wonky with the odd strangled metaphor or simile slightly undermining a passage. In fairness I read this coming off the back of reading some Margaret Atwood so it might be that it suffers in comparison.
Similarly, though generally the book did a good job of swerving cliches, and the pivotal Saffy story/character was generally well drawn, sometimes her storyline lapsed a bit into detective novel 101 style.
I would ideally have liked to have seen more exploration of Shawna’s choices and the general underdevelopment of her character bugged me a little bit. That said she was a bit part player and it might have been deliberate to show from Ansel’s perspective how little he really understood of people compared to his self-perception and the consequences for him of this mismatch.
However, these are minor quibbles. Overall though I very much enjoyed it. It took a different approach to the normal serial killer tropes, replacing clichéd certainty with ambiguity and replacing a straight-line narrative centred around the killer with a series of interconnections centred around the women whose lives he impacted. As a read it was imo all the better for this different approach.
Gets a very solid 4/5 from me.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
- Cunning Folk – Adam L.G. Nevill - 8/10
- Bad Apples – Will Dean – 7/10
- The Winter Road – Adrian Selby – 6/10
- The Dark Place – Damian Vargas – 9/10
- Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris – 7/10
- The Tyranny of Faith – Richard Swan – 7/10
- The Game – Micah Richards – 8/10
- The Ticket Collector from Belarus – Mike Anderson and Neil Hanson – 8/10
- The Satsuma Complex – Bob Mortimer – 6/10
- Notes on an Execution – Danya Kukafka – 9/10
- And Away … – Bob Mortimer – 7/10
Two Bob Mortimer books in a few weeks! This paperback has been sitting on my shelf for a few months, on loan from a friend. After recently completing The Satsuma Complex, now seemed a good time to read it. In truth, I was always waiting for the summer to read it because reading a paperback at night is not easy when you’re past 50: unless you have bright light on the page, it’s a real strain on the eyes. One of the reasons why a Kindle is so marvellous.
Anyway, this is an enjoyable read through Bob’s life taking in his childhood, his university days, his work as a solicitor, meeting Vic/Jim and everything that followed. It’s all framed around his heart operation in 2015, which gave him a chance to reassess his life so far.
I didn’t think that it was “like an eight-hour episode of Would I Lie To You?”, as it claims on the cover, but it was gently amusing with a good level of poignancy. What comes across most is how humble Bob is. He is part of a great double act, yet he points out that he was very lucky to meet Jim Moir (aka Vic Reeves) and always gives Jim credit for being the comic mastermind.
- Fire and Fury – Michael Wolff - 8/10
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – John le Carre – 8/10
- Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris – 2/10
- East West Street – Phillipe Sands – 9/10 - Clever, fascinating and desperately sad - as Rob mentions war crimes..
- The Book Thief – Markus Zusak - 9/10 - Lovely book, also desperately sad, for light relief..
stoneblue
Well-Known Member
Apologies, behind with my contributions
15/23 Wake - Shelley Burr
Back to the outback for more Aussie noir. Saw this advertised as for “…fans of Jane Harper” and as for sale at 99p took a punt.
This is the debut novel by this author and it’s a good but not great read. The story centres around the mysterious disappearance of a 9 yo girl, some twenty years previously. Her twin sister is still haunted by her disappearance and a private investigator arrives, ostensibly to investigate but he has issues of his own to deal with.
If you’re a fan of the genre you will like this, but I think there’s better out there.
16/23 The Angel’s Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
This is an excellent book. I borrowed it from my local library after reading the testimonials on the back cover and inside. I was vaguely aware of this author but didn’t know much about him - but a reference in one of the testimonials to Wilkie Collins was what swung it for me. Wilkie Collins is one of my favourite authors. I didn’t realise at first that this was part (2nd ) of a series so I will complete these over the next few months. The first , “The Shadow of the Wind” is currently available for Kindle at 99p.
15/23 Wake - Shelley Burr
Back to the outback for more Aussie noir. Saw this advertised as for “…fans of Jane Harper” and as for sale at 99p took a punt.
This is the debut novel by this author and it’s a good but not great read. The story centres around the mysterious disappearance of a 9 yo girl, some twenty years previously. Her twin sister is still haunted by her disappearance and a private investigator arrives, ostensibly to investigate but he has issues of his own to deal with.
If you’re a fan of the genre you will like this, but I think there’s better out there.
16/23 The Angel’s Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
This is an excellent book. I borrowed it from my local library after reading the testimonials on the back cover and inside. I was vaguely aware of this author but didn’t know much about him - but a reference in one of the testimonials to Wilkie Collins was what swung it for me. Wilkie Collins is one of my favourite authors. I didn’t realise at first that this was part (2nd ) of a series so I will complete these over the next few months. The first , “The Shadow of the Wind” is currently available for Kindle at 99p.