the god of small things and others

I like to read, and I have just finished reading Arundhati Roy's (I like her name. Ah-run -dah-ti. It has a good sound about it). The God of Small Things (for a complete spoiler go here). Like the other novels I have read that are set in India ( the epic A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth and The Life of Pi by fellow Booker Prize winner Yan Martell) the story centres around an endearingly eccentric Indian family and the tradgedy that soon engulfs them. What I like about this book is Roy's linguistic quirks she gives her characters- a chip/chop- mish/mash- kind of feel.

Meanwhile I'm chewing through my stack of books- of course borrowed and not owned! I am now reading Incidents on the Rue Laugier by Anita Brookner. It is taking me a little while to get used to the sparseness of her prose- especially in comparision to Roy. I have read a couple of her books before, and am now starting to see a common theme to her writing- usually dealing with female characters who somehow end up breaking away from dependency on others, inheiriting a property, and generally spending a lot of time thinking about their lives (in a clean, calm and rational manner).

After that I have a couple of Richard Ford's to read through.... I keep reminding myself that I must get a diary to keep track of all the books I read. Sometimes I wonder how many I read in a year...

coming up roses

I'm one of those people who like a good book. I cannot go to sleep without reading at least a couple of pages (If not a whole chapter or two. Or three). Somehow I also have the habit of borrowing other people's books, and have read through a good portion of books in my sister's bookcase, my mother's bookcase, and my flat's shared bookcase. I do admire those houses that have floor to ceiling bookcases (complete with librarian's ladder). I think that it would be wonderful to have a little library in the house- with a fire, a cozy chair and endless cups of tea.
I also love art books- there is this oversized book on Leonardo da Vinci that I would love to own (alongside various fashion volumes and anything else that takes my fancy). I have an overriding tendency to buy non-fiction coffee- table books, despite the fact that I read a lot of fiction...

...So of course I was delighted to hear that we have a writer in the family (alongside a scattering of artists, designers and musicians). My clever cousin Sarah Laing, who is not only a mum and a graphic designer, but now a writer too! Sarah won the open section of the Sunday Star Times Short Story competition last year (I entered this when I was 13... I think I wanted to win the computer), and has now released a compilation of short stories, titled Coming Up Roses. Coming Up Roses is a beautifully written collection of short stories that follow a range of characters through brief, but important moments in their lives. Sarah not only wrote the book, but designed the cover (if you are a designer, this is of course, very important!), full of reds and pinks- the rose thorns on the side hint that there is a darker side to this compilation.

Like roses, a good start to grow a fiction collection...