The Netherlands

Although I am visiting the Netherlands for a very specific reason I am also really excited that I am visiting a new country, somewhere that I have never been but that I have wanted to go. It's a shame that I won't get to look around more but there's always time!

My mother visited the Netherlands with her parents when she was a bit younger than I am now and has always wanted to take me there. From what I can gather her main memories come from the red light district and the bulb fields which probably says something about my mother! Mind you, she did end up getting stuck in a strip club in Yugoslavia when she visited there with her parents but I digress...

Obvious touristy desires aside, what is it that makes me want to visit the Netherlands?

Well, I guess the main reason has got to be the people. I have a few friends who are Dutch and it would be lovely to see them. Of course, this trip I've not really got time to do this but next time! I've also spent quite a bit of time with Dutch people as whenever I've been doing my international stuff I always seem to gravitate towards the Dutch groups. They're probably the only people who don't hate the English. Anyway, although I'm not stupid enough to judge people in general by my limited experience I have wanted to visit their country too. The cultural behaviours have always seemed quite comfortable for me.

The language. I really like the sound of Dutch. Call me crazy but I like it. For the last few years I have been saying that I would learn Dutch when I had a free moment because with my English and German background it seemed more than possible. Going to Castlefest I decided to try Dutch and see if I couldn't speak it a bit out there. I think I was overly optimistic because the 'g' sound has scared me a bit as I can't replicate it quite right and nor can I hear how I am going wrong. I'm not giving up though. I will learn Dutch.

And, strange as it may sound, performing arts. A lot of the musical theatre actresses I admire are Dutch and, for some reason, they have a really strong female performing artist output. I actually looked at studying musical theatre in the Netherlands (and at doing a course in circus performance but my mother would have killed me) and that thought has never really left my mind.

I also really rather like tulips...

I am speaking to you from the past...

So, hopefully, when this blog post, well, posts I will be on the bus to Amsterdam. I say hopefully because I don't trust my blog to work properly, not because I want to be on the bus. My previous experience with Megabus has not been good and, as I type, about a week ago, I am dreading it.

Oh, I am loving playing with tenses in this post. Okay, I'll speak in normal English from now on.

So, as you've probably guessed, if you've been reading my blog or speaking to me recently, I am currently on my way to Castlefest in Lisse, the Netherlands. This is a festival that I have wanted to go to for some time now and I am really excited to get the chance to go this year. I am going with Aimee, the best friend and Annoying One, and my mother who I invited to join us because it's her fault I'm the way I am and like this kind of stuff.

Although I plan on blogging when I come back, and also posting a lot of photos on Facebook, I have also scheduled posts relating to the festival, to my journey, etc. to appear during my absence. I will not be logging onto the internet after tomorrow night (if I log in tomorrow night) and will not answer my phone or texts until I am back in England, next Tuesday, but will probably read texts if you really need to contact me. 

I didn't want to sleep tonight anyway.

I'm going to the Netherlands today. I didn't plan on saying this because I planned on being in bed. I planned on posting a blog talking about how I was setting off tomorrow but the fact is that it's now after midnight and therefore I cannot do that.

So, I mentioned that it's after midnight but do you think we're ready?

Of course, the answer is a resounding no. As I glance around the Travelodge room I see chaos. Pure chaos. Piles of clothes, piles of bunting, food that I can't eat even though I'm hungry, oh and my mother hurriedly trying to finish a report for the court that we have to format and send tonight before we can even think about condensing this mess into a case and a rucksack. On the plus side, now that we're getting a taxi and not a tram, a subway, and two trains (and then a walk) to get to the hotel my mother has decided to take a bigger case which means that muggins isn't having to lug quite as much in her rucksack.... when she packs the rucksack.

This isn't even half the room and that case needs to be unpacked before we
can even think about packing it for the trip. No wonder my teddy is hiding!

It's also amusing how much my mother and I manage to pack between us. I mean, yes, there is a tent and the associated paraphernalia this time but I can honestly say that about 50% of the things we have ready to pack are toiletries. These are not toiletries in the feminine make-up and hairspray ways, oh no. This is a survival pack for in case we somehow get lost and stuck in the North Pole for six months without a penguin for company (think about it... there wouldn't be one!). Neither of us seem to be able to pack to go away without taking a full medicine chest. My mother even takes dental kits...

All this said, it simply wouldn't be a holiday without all this. Every time we go away we plan to go to sleep early with everything sorted. Every time my mother is franticly trying to finish some work as I rush around trying to get things in some kind of order so that we can pack once she's finished (usually at about 2 a.m.). Often this means that we don't actually go to sleep the night before a trip. It's part of the tradition now.

Anyway, I don't think I could sleep even if everything was done... I'm simply too excited!

Four days to go!!!!

Please, don't expect anything remotely coherent from this post. I'm getting really excited. The problem is, when I'm excited I need some way to channel that excitement and I've done everything. 

For those of you who are a little confused about what I'm going on about: On Tuesday I will be on my way to the Netherlands for my little adventure.

Of course, there's always stuff left to do. I'm going shopping with my mother tomorrow to get her some new clothes and I can't even think about packing until I go up to Birmingham as my rucksack, and camping gear, is all up there. I also could do with buying myself a new hand fan or three as I broke my old one the other day.

That said, none of that can be done until tomorrow, or Sunday, or even, goodness me, Monday. Tuesday I plan to sleep in to make up for the fact that I won't be sleeping on that darned bus Tuesday night but that's another story.

Anyway, the point of this post is that you should not leave me to my own devices when excited. I tend to find things to occupy myself. Yes, writing boring blog posts full of self importance is one of those things. However, I also tend to put this energy into more creative channels like this:

I simply had to decorate the lock because the old one
 just wouldn't go with my banner. Note sarcasm.

I've also started to write emails to Aimee quite often, and she is actually replying, and with excitement. I think we're winding each other up.

So, I'll go now because I can't imagine reading my hyperactive excited rant was high on your plans for the evening.

Book Review - 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' by Lisa See

Rating: 5/5 stars (and then some!)

Plot:

"Lily is haunted by memories-of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness.
In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu ("women's writing"). Some girls were paired with laotongs, "old sames," in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.

With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become "old sames" at the tender age of seven. As the years pass, through famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. With the period detail and deep resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship."

-from 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' on Goodreads

Review:

A few years ago Aimee told me to read this book, having read the first few chapters herself and really enjoyed it. She took it out of the library at this time to finish it and I took out another of Lisa See's books 'Peony in Love'. As soon as I finished 'Peony in Love' I went out and bought 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' but the book remained on my shelf, unread for a long time.

I suppose the reason I wasn't driven to dive straight into 'Snow Flower', was the same thing that I have seen people complain about with regard to Lisa See, her writing style. These are not heavily plot driven books. Their story simply exists and is beautiful in the telling but without the suspense and drive that we are used to from other books. Personally, I think it is this style that makes both 'Peony in Love' and 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' so exquisite. No, you might not feel compelled to pick up the book at once because the ending is not the important thing, it's the getting there that is the focus.

To say that there is no driving plot is not to say that nothing happens because a lot does happen. There are dramatic moments, times of extreme emotion, all told with the most excruciating poignancy. There are happy times and times of pain as there are in life. This novel is, after all, the story of one woman's life.

Something else I have heard people say about 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' is that the female characters, the main characters, are annoying, frustrating, weak and therefore the readers come up with a million complaints. I do disagree with this. The female characters are women in a society where women have very set roles. They are strong within these roles and they strive to change their lives, and live their lives happily, within the boundaries that are set. To do your duty while keeping sight of who you are, in my opinion, makes you stronger than those who can simply live as they like and do as they please. I therefore have no problems with the characterisation.

One of the most interesting, and I use that word loosely, sections for me was the section describing the process of foot binding. This was the only point at which I wished that Lisa See's writing was worse. The vivid combination of physical description, descriptions of physical and emotional pain, and the overriding sense of necessity was too much for me and I found myself actually feeling a bit queasy at this point. However, this powerful section is also probably one of the most important sections of the novel too as within the events and emotions of the foot binding one learns the personalities of the characters as well as the morality and aims they will have throughout their life.

Overall, I think this is one of the best books I have ever read. It's brutal. It's sad. I was in floods of tears at the end. There is, however, a beauty, and a hope, and a longing, that also runs through this novel. It's quite simply stunning.

To buy a physical copy of this novel on amazon click here. I can't find a kindle version so I don't think it's been converted.

Book Review - 'Freeglader' by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Rating: 4/5 stars

Plot:

"Fleeing from the ruins of New Undertown, Rook Barkwater and his colleagues — the librarian knights, Felix Lodd and his banderbear friends — must lead the escaping population to a new life in the Free Glades. But perils aplenty are ahead for the crowd — not to mention some goblins with plans of their own. This is the dramatic and exciting conclusion to the Rook Barkwater sequence that takes the reader on a thrilling journey across the Edgeworld."

-from 'Freeglader' on Goodreads

Review:

This book is the ninth book in the Edge Chronicles, the third and final book of the Rook Trilogy, and as such this review may contain spoilers for earlier books.

This was an interesting book for me to read. I found it in an impromptu visit to a charity shop. Bought it and, to my utter delight, found it signed by the author and illustrator. If you've read any of my reviews of previous books in this series then you'll know how fantastic a moment that was for me. As such, I have really looked forward to reading the 'special book', at least since I managed to get into the Rook Trilogy. However, I'm not sure whether I really enjoyed this book as a book.

Okay, that was a weird thing to say, I know. The problem is, I did enjoy this book but I feel this was more because I enjoyed the references the other books. The chapter entitled 'Cocoon Dreams' was undoubtedly my favourite part of the novel because I enjoyed looking back, with fresh eyes, over the previous trilogies' plot lines. Nothing happened to the plot of 'Freeglader' in this chapter, it was just incredibly nostalgic.

See, that was the problem for me... the plot. Yes, there was a clear plot. Undertowners must get to the Free Glades safely and then defend their new home. There were sub-plots with Xanth and Magda, Rook and the sepia-storm, the different goblins. Everything was there. However, when I reached the end of the book I couldn't help but look back and feel that I'd read a lot of shapeless stuff. Sure, stuff had happened but it didn't seem to tell a story quite like the other novels. Major happenings occurred towards the end that seemed to be a little too sudden to be believable or enjoyable and others felt really rather unresolved. As I said, all the building blocks were there but it just seemed that there was something missing that I can't quite put my finger on.

Actually, I would also say that there seemed to be a few too many main characters in this novel at times. Whereas in previous books there has always been one main protagonist with a large cast of important supporting characters, I couldn't really work out who this book was following. It made it harder to actually emotionally connect with any of the characters, and therefore difficult to appreciate the events, because of this fragmentation.

That said, I would probably have given this book five stars, personally, simply because of the nostalgia. It gets five and a half because of the family tree at the back, lets be honest! The reason I have given this book four stars is because I feel that this is a fairer representation of the quality of the writing and story telling itself. 

To buy a physical copy of this novel on amazon click here and for the kindle version here.

Introducing Aimee

At Aimee's Grandparents' anniversary party

Aimee is someone who has got a fair few mentions in this blog so far, and will get a lot more mentions over the next few days/weeks, so I thought it only right that she get a bit of an introduction for those of you who don't know her.

Aimee is, in simple terms, my best friend. She is annoying, puts no effort into our relationship, is unreliable, but I love her. We've been through so much together that, no matter what I might say at times, I would always be there for her. She's a sister to me and so much more.

Soppiness aside, I met Aimee when I was eleven and we sat next to each other in science. She will tell you the story of how I sat down beside her, held out my right hand and said, in my private-school-educated voice, "Hello, my name is ___________(*), I do not believe we have met." Yep, I've always been pompous but apparently I terrified her.

At Prom, aged 16. Aimee's on the right looking like she's about
to eat the camera man while I die of laughter.

I believe that our friendship was sealed when we both sneaked out of school without our parents permission before the summer fête. Naturally, we got completely lost and had to phone a friend for help. After this 'friend' telling us that we had "gone off the edge of the map" we were left to find our own way back. Did I mention we were both in full Victorian dress at the time?

She's gonna kill me for putting this one online but eh, 
we both look ready to drop!

A million sleepovers later and there is nothing we don't know about each other. No, I'm not going to tell you! Lets just say that she has to get used to the fact that I get really cold at night and I have to get used to the fact that she seems dead when she's asleep, is impossible to wake up in the morning, and steals the duvet. 

She's also met my family (and I hers) which is saying something for sure. We shared our eighteenth birthdays together both at family meals and going out. To be honest, I hope we share our eightieth, cliché as that is. As far as I'm concerned, she is family. She is family that I have chosen, and that is something very special indeed.

We took Aimee to an Indian restaurant in Birmingham that I went to as a child.
It was the first time she tried Indian food.

(*) I introduced myself by my full name which is something I only use in certain situations. Names, and their uses are important to me... eh, I won't go into it here.

Fighting with Dutch

About a month ago I said that I was going to learn (some) Dutch in time for Castlefest. I had wanted to learn Dutch for quite some time and it seemed a great excuse to attempt it. Dutch also seemed possible to attempt as I'd been able to understand bits through my previous German and English knowledge, and with practice, I'd learned to understand even more.

The second part of a medley from '3 Musketiers', the first song in it being the 

first thing I ever heard in Dutch. See, musicals do really run my life.

However, when attempting to speak the language I quickly became disheartened. This is the worst thing that can happen with a language. I am a big believer in the fact that, if you want to learn a language because you love it then it will happen. If you don't love that language then you are going to be hitting your head against a brick wall.

My main problem came from the fact that the 'different' sounds in Dutch were sounds that I hadn't really encountered before and, learning alone, it's hard to work out if you are doing it right or even good enough. The main problem I had was with the 'g' sound, and I don't think I'm alone with this. I can listen to it a million times but, when trying to say it, I sound like either a furious cat or a slowly deflating balloon. Neither sound is particularly conducive to making friends in the language! 

It didn't take me too long to realise that I was probably just rushing myself. By using my trip as an excuse I had also given myself a deadline and this is not the way I work. The deadline made it even worse when I encountered an issue and made everything a lot harder. Suddenly, learning Dutch, something I had wanted to do, turned into a chore that I simply wanted to avoid. Whoops.

So now I'm going to focus on doing what I do best... I'm going to watch musicals (in Dutch) and maybe try and pick up some words. I'm going to re-find my enjoyment, keep going, and see what I can do.

On the bright side, it gives me an excuse to go to the Netherlands again next year to practice.

And because you can never have too much Pia in one post!

Mijn leven is van mij (Ich gehör nur mir), from Elisabeth.

Making a tent into a home

Okay, my tent has florescent orange guy-lines;
it couldn't be accused of being boring

As I've said previously, I have a new tent to take with me to Castlefest, my old tent being lost in The Flood. I've had a couple of attempts at putting it up and I'm quite pleased with it. It's cosy. That said, it's not me and, as a creative person, I have to turn it into my own!

So, it made perfect sense, for me, to make some bunting, and a flag to make it mine. Of course, I'm not ever content with doing things the easy way, I mean, have you ever hand stitched seven metres of bunting? Yep, I don't own a sewing machine... or an embroidery loop for that matter. Today, I decided, would be the day I finished my sewing, come hell or high water, so here it is!

This photo was taken on the second day of bunting making.
It was chaos by the end!

As I said, we have seven metres of bunting, all hand sewn, with bad hemming and metallic thread. The metallic thread makes up for the shoddy hems in my mind.

The original 'butterfly girl' with a delightful reflection from the camera flash.

It's the flag that I'm really pleased with. This is based on a painting of mine that I did a few years ago as I couldn't really think of what to do. My mother, and her friend, is convinced that it's going to get nicked but I guess I'll have to take that risk. Anyway, I think butterfly girl would curse any thieves hehe (*)

This was harder to get a decent photograph of than it was to make!

This was my first attempt at anything like this so I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. Let me tell you, hemming the material for the girl was pure hell on earth. I'm also really happy to transfer the design from my painting, the painting being one of my complete favourites.

Annoyingly, I can't work out how to decorate the inside of the tent, other than getting my acrylic paints out, and I don't think that'll go down well with my father, so I'll have to work with a dull inside. Oh well!

(*) the original painting was based on my own silhouette, with some tweaks to the nose because I'm not keen on my nose shape, so I think I'm more than qualified to guess what she'd do!

"You need to write a list"

If I had a pound for every time my mother said this to me then I would be a very rich woman.

During exam revision mother would constantly say that I needed to write a list of the things I still needed to revise. The fact that I had made a revision timetable back in January was beside the point. It wasn't in list form.

So you can guess my horror when today I suggested that I needed to write a list. I think I'm turning into my mother who, darling as she is, does have a minor list obsession.

The problem is, I am good enough at procrastinating on my own and I don't need the help of lists. Heck I am procrastinating writing the list by writing this blog about writing the list. On the plus side, since I am a nomad at the moment, I can probably classify the list as necessary for me to be able to get things organised in time for The Festival at the end of the month.

Of course, me being me, packing is the least of my worries. I'm busy thinking about embroidery and scrap-booking and the like. My red and purple bunting is finished now and I just have the same length of green and cream bunting to do. The flag is nearly finished and I just need to sew on one bead because it fell off and finish embroidering about an inch.

As for the scrap-book, I need to make some paper to take with me because I am not taking the scrap-book itself for all the tea in China. Actually, I adore tea so that might be an incentive... 

The long and short of this post being that I am not going to be online much at the moment as I have a tonne to do. Of course, that could mean that I'll be online all the time because we've already ascertained that I'm a major procrastinator!

Oh, and I'm meant to be learning Dtuch. Yeah.

Painting: Stonehenge

Stonehenge in Wiltshire is a tourist hotspot. Commercial and overpriced I hate it. However, spiritually, and generally, it’s a place very close to my heart.

A couple of years ago, I believe it was 2009, I was lucky enough to be there the night of the summer solstice.  Like everything about the monument, this was commercialised (there were burger vans, for goodness sake) and drew a mixed crowd but it was also one of the most amazing nights. Being able to walk by the stones, touch them, and be there with so many other people, there was undoubtedly an energy.  Of course, it’s hard to tell how much of that energy was because of the smog of marijuana smoke sitting over the place!

When I got home, at some time in the early morning the first thing I did was painted a picture of the stones themselves. It’s a sloppy painting, done in an hour or two, carried by the energy I was feeling, and, if you listen to my parents’ views, painted while the marijuana was still having an effect(*)! It’s probably one of the worst technical paintings I have ever done yet it remains my favourite and also was probably the first painting I painted in what has now become my style.

My parents have always tried to talk me into doing more paintings of Stonehenge and I have always shied away from it because I wouldn’t be able to replicate that one painting and nor would I want to try. However, today, I sat down and decided to have a go at painting Stonehenge again.

Usually, when painting I will draw out my sketch onto printer paper because I find it difficult to draw on the slightly more textured paper intended for sketching (and canvas/board is just ick to draw on!) I wanted to do this sketch very quickly to try and capture some kind of energy as opposed to replicating it perfectly. I also used the only source pictures I have, photos taken at sunrise on a camera phone in circa 2009. They aren’t the highest quality in the world but that was not the point, as far as I was concerned.

The original sketch, pre-editing. I actually really like this sketch and might end up keeping
it in my art folder. It's rare I let myself do something with sloppy lines but it works here!

Once I transferred it to my heavy duty paper I had a fiddle with my original sketch, shading it in, to work on the aesthetic of the silhouette and decided that I would work with two tones of black so I could keep some of the depth aspects and also to cut out one of the stones because it made the whole thing look wrong.  A couple of stones also changed shape for aesthetic purposes.

At this point a coke bottle exploded everywhere and I lost my rubber so things got a bit delayed. This is also the point at which I turned off Dickinson’s Real Deal and put on some music to work to instead. Things were getting serious.

I then started to paint the sky of my painting. Although I had planned to work with reds I experimented a bit with some blue hues that I don’t normally use, fell in love with Phthalocyanine Blue. It’s one of those useless shades (in my opinion) and therefore I’ve never really used it. That said, it gave just the otherworldly tone I was looking for here. I can see myself using it more in the future.

The main problems occurred in this stage. Even with the fan turned off, which was agony for me, my paints were drying way too quickly. I guess it’s the heat. Anyway, to get a smooth layer of a single colour was basically impossible and a gradient… lets just say my nerves are in tatters. I guess it developed a lot more organically than I planned and that’s not always a bad thing.

Adding modelling paste onto the stones... and onto my hands, of course!

Ultimately, I made the decision to paint a smaller gradient and to add some modelling paste which was interesting. I’ve only started messing around with this medium recently but this was the first time I applied it with a paintbrush. My least favourite paintbrush. I didn’t rate its survival rate.

Anyway… a long wait for the slow modelling paste to dry (why can’t paint be like that?) a bit more painting and it was done!

A bad photo taken while paint's still wet and with a flash on (silly Havanah)
but I'm not disappointed with the outcome overall.

(*) I have never smoked or taken an illicit drug in my life. Heck, my parents had to fight with me to get me to take painkillers when I had pneumonia! The point being, we always joked that there was so much smoking going on everyone must have been passively high.

Names: to translate or not to translate?

Every now and then, translation can pose some problems. Do you translate something literally or change the literal meaning to get more of the implication and flavour? What do you do when there is an obvious rhythm, rhyme, plosive structure that matters but can’t be carried across into English? How do you translate it when someone has been playing with their words? What do you do with names?

Usually, when translating into English I choose to keep the original name. I think that most of the people who are reading my subtitles could work out that, Zsuzsanna, for example, is the Hungarian spelling of Susanna. However, even if this is not the case I think that everyone could learn that when I write Zsuzsanna I am referring to a certain character or person.

However, with the musicals that I translate there are sometimes some additional difficulties with characters being well known or having more unusual character names. Der Tod, for example, is often used by English speaking fans of the musical Elisabeth to refer to the character himself. In Japanese the character is actually called "トート", "Toto", which is derived from his German character name. However, I hardly think that Der Tod’s mother named him that when he was born, and somewhere he probably has a perfectly ordinary name (like Brian), so it’s probably good practice to translate this to Death, in the musical. It’s more a descriptive title than a name.

So what about historical characters? Franz Joseph, for example, seems to appear in most English history books, that I have seen, as Francis Joseph. How should this be written? Quite frankly, it really annoys me to see him referred to as Francis so my choice here was selfish rather than based purely on logic. That said, it’s probably right to keep it in the original German, which is sometimes used in English anyway, especially when Franz Joseph is the name that was used by the Emperor and in the musical. He’s also not the most famous ruler in history – I was a history student and most of my classes hadn’t heard of him - so people are less likely to need to know who he is to enjoy the musical anyway.

However, it’s not always that simple. If I were to ask you to tell me about King Ludwig XVI you are unlikely to be able to tell me much about the gentleman I’m referring to. If I were to ask you about King Louis XVI you will probably be able to tell me a bit more, especially if I also said he was the husband of Marie Antoinette. It seems sensible, therefore, for me to choose to translate Ludwig back to its original French and away from the German version used in the musical of Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette herself is known by her French name (which is bizarre considering that, as an Austrian by birth, Maria Antonia’s original name was German anyway) so I also feel there should be some continuity. All the same, I feel really bad deviating from my usual ‘use the name used in the play/musical/text’ resolution.

So here’s the question: Does the translation, or lack of translation, of names into English matter to you? Which do you prefer?

Louis or Ludwig, Marie Antoinette or Maria Antonia, and does it really matter?

Book Review: "The Reluctant Empress" by Brigitte Hamann

Rating: 5/5 stars

Blurb:

“Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known to her family as Sisi, belongs to a famous love story of European royalty. In 1853, the Emperor Franz Josef, the most eligible bachelor in Europe, fell in love with her at first sight when she was fifteen; they were married the next year. On the surface, it was a fairytale marriage, all the more poignant, with hindsight, because her death signalled the twilight years of the Habsburg Empire.

At the time of its first publication in 1988, Brigitte Hamann's biography, which tells Elisabeth's story from her birth as a member of the Bavarian nobility to her assassination at the hands of an Italian anarchist, led to a revised and deeper understanding of Elisabeth. During her lifetime she was idolised solely for her grace and beauty; now, for the first time, the Empress was portrayed as a stronger character, bitter at her marriage, seeking independence, and struggling against the powerful influence of her mother-in-law, the Archduchess Sophie. Researched by a respected historian, this is the definitive account of Elisabeth's life, death and legacy.”

-from 'TheReluctant Empress' on Goodreads

Review:

There are some people in history, and indeed in modern life, whose stories beg to be told, and to be read. They led such interesting lives, had such trials and tribulations that their lives could almost be a work of fiction. Elisabeth, Sisi, is probably one of those people.

Married to an Emperor at a young age, famous for her beauty, notorious for her whims, it would be easy to turn Elisabeth into a real life Disney princess. Indeed, when Sisi’s own poetry, one of the only surviving sources into the Empress’ real mind, compares her world to mythology and fantasy it’s not easy to construct a ‘real’ view of the woman.

Brigitte Hamann attempts to do just this, however. I say “attempts” because I question how possible it is for any person to give a full account of another rather than because Hamann falls short. Indeed, Hamann is quite clearly a skilled historian and biographer, balancing sources from various people, times, and political leanings, combining this with Elisabeth’s own poetry to try and form a picture of the Empress’ life, how she preserved her life, and her mental state generally. Hamann herself does not romanticise the story and nor does she emphasise the tragedy of the Empress’ life but she does include quotes from those close to Elisabeth that do just that. Indeed, the inclusion of such quotes strengthen the biography greatly as they are often highly emotive and add a human aspect as well as helping to provide a more rounded view.

The structure of this book also worked well for me. It’s split into themed sections around different aspects of her life. These sections are arranged as to be vaguely chronological but this order is not strict by any stretch of the imagination. I do feel that the ‘sectioning’ approach works well as it means that one can get a deeper insight into themes within the Empress’ life without losing track. However, it is quite easy to get lost as to when things are happening which can lead to some confusion, if you’re not careful. This layout could also mean that there are possible difficulties in forming a causal view of Sisi’s life as one cannot easily look at it as a developing sequence of events. This is the only possible complaint I have of the novel, personally, and it is very minor.

As for the writing style itself, I read this book in the English translation by Ruth Hein. Although I haven’t read the original German (choosing to take the easy route for once!), and therefore am unable to compare for exact accuracy and for tone, it is clear that this is a fantastic translation. There are no awkward moments where language jars and there are no moments where it’s obvious that the concept has been lost between English and German, something that can often happen with translations. Hein’s translation is clear and enjoyable therefore I feel she deserves as much praise for the work as its original author!

Overall, I think that this biography could be enjoyed by almost anyone due to the unusual nature of Sisi’s life and temperament making it an interesting read even if one had no real prior interest in the Empress. This, combined with the easy to read style, makes it a highly accessible biography which can serve as an introduction to the woman or as a more in depth study, depending upon the reader’s interests and knowledge.

To buy a physical copy of this novel from the official ‘Sisi shop’, which is cheaper than elsewhere even with shipping, click here and for the kindle version on amazon here.

Book Review: "Vox" by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Rating: 5/5 stars

Plot:

"In the second novel in the Rook Barkwater sequence, the young knight librarian attempts to stop the dark might of the Most High Academe. High in the crumbling Palace of Statues, oily Vox Verlix is brewing a terrible plot to take over power in Edgeworld once again. Can Rook foil Vox's plan and save the lives of his librarian colleagues?"

-from 'Vox' on Goodreads

Review:

As a child there was one series of books, above all others, that caught my imagination: The Edge Chronicles. I used to prance around my garden pretending to be a sky pirate and you can’t imagine the excitement when I first went on a boat, the closest thing to a sky pirate ship that I could access. Okay, in my defense I was about six at the time, not that I’m saying I have grown out of the feeling!

However, there was one of the trilogies that I couldn’t get into… Rook’s. I guess the lack of proper sky craft was too much for me! A few weeks ago I managed to read ‘The Last of the Sky Pirates’ all the way through for the first time which left me ready to tackle the second book ‘Vox’…

Naturally, I loved it!

There is something quite fantastic about the way in which these books conjure up a whole new world that is quite amazing yet somehow believable.  From the characters to the places to the creatures, Paul Stewart’s writing, reinforced by Chris Riddell’s illustrations, creates vivid concepts that are exciting in their own right!

In ‘Vox’ we get to discover more vividly what has become of the world beyond the Deepwoods as Rook returns from his time training and writing. This is what sets the book apart from the others in the series, I feel. There has always been a contrast between good and evil but it’s always been on a small scale. In this instalment we see just how deep reaching the corruption truly is and we also come to appreciate how impossible it is for the ‘good forces’ to possibly win out. This made the book a lot darker than its earlier counterparts. Another aspect that I felt made ‘Vox’ more disturbing was the interaction between the people in Vox’s household. Their behaviours be they threatening or loving were tainted by an implication of obsession that made them seem exceptionally dark. I couldn’t help but feel that, although younger readers wouldn’t notice these overtones to the same degree therefore the book is perfectly suitable for them , this book is really a lot more adult that earlier instalments.

Something I also really appreciated was the way in which this book, perhaps more so than the previous novel, was obviously set later than the Quint and Twig trilogies. There was a real feeling of a progression of time and this added to the entire atmosphere. I also love the small ties to the past and to previous novels. I worked out the setting of Felix’s house before it was revealed so that wasn’t too much of a shock but then they had to go and uncover the mural.

I don’t really know if I can go into any more detail without giving major plot points away or going over aspects of previous books so I’ll leave this one here. Will certainly be reading “Freeglader” when I can to my book collection again!

To buy a physical copy of this novel on amazon click here and for the kindle version here.

The Impending Move

Well, I guess I knew that it was going to come up eventually. Mother was booking our hotel rooms for the week and basically said how it wasn’t affordable and we were going to have to move to Birmingham soon.

For those of you who don’t know, I have been living in cheap hotels (which aren’t actually cheap at all) since January as my family and I had to move out of our house of six years due to flooding and a moody landlord who decided he didn’t want us to stay after the floods. Long story. My father moved to the house that we own in Birmingham. We hadn’t managed to sell it because of the market crash and also due to a builder doing work on it, basically trash it, and then disappear, presumed dead. Yep, my life does really sound like a soap opera.

It looks like it’s my turn to move to the house in Birmingham and I really do not want to. Not only is it still a construction site but I am leaving everything I know and love. Yes, my friends are moving away to go to university but Exeter still remains my home. I know where the good places are, I know where the not so safe places are, I know where to go to get a really good cup of coffee.

I guess a move is difficult at the best of times but when it’s not something that you actually want then it’s exceptionally difficult.  However, I’m a big believer that a person can be happy in almost any situation as long as they keep the right frame of mind and I know that this is an exceptionally minor thing compared to things that other people go through and compared to things that I have experienced. Sure, I can’t change the physical - the move will happen – but I am in control of my life, my happiness, my future. Let’s see how life develops!

Book Review: "The Fallen Star" by Jessica Sorensen

Rating: 2/5 stars

Plot:

"Up until recently, she has been incapable of feeling emotion. And when she's around Alex, the gorgeous new guy at school, she can feel electricity that makes her skin buzz. Not to mention the monsters that haunt her nightmares have crossed over into real-life. But with Alex seeming to hate her and secrets popping up everywhere, Gemma's life is turning into a chaotic mess. Things that shouldn't be real suddenly seem to exist. And as her world falls apart, figuring out the secrets of her past becomes a matter of life and death."

-from 'The Fallen Star' on Goodreads

Review:

Having read a lot of fantasy/romance novels in the past few weeks I was really tired of the genre and really didn’t feel like another one. Sadly, finding that my wallet can’t keep up with my reading speed, I had to make do with what was on my Kindle, i.e. this. Although my mood might have influenced my enjoyment of the novel a little, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it even if it was exactly what I fancied.

A quarter of the way through I really wanted to drop the book but, having dropped another book recently, I couldn’t face doing it again so soon and ploughed on. The problems with the book seemed numerous so I’ll brush upon a few key points, for me.

• It’s so cliché as to be unreal. Not only is the genre saturated at the moment (which doesn’t mean a good author can’t do well within it) but this novel seemed to mirror multiple other books. When I say mirror I kinda mean copy. From the first appearance of the male lead so many things about the story screamed “Twilight!!” but this was not the only thing it reminded me of.
• The characters are annoying. Gemma is, well, really annoying. Yep, I know I repeated myself but I can’t think of any other way to describe her right now. I found it impossible to empathise with her, to relate to her, to understand her because nothing she does or says makes sense. The fact that she is experiencing new emotions  at the start of the novel does separate her out from ‘normal’ but this would have been okay if her awakening was handled with some insight. Instead, I felt that her reactions were childlike and unbelievable.
• “How was it that three people wouldn’t be answering their phones at the same time? It couldn’t just be coincidental.” and other comments. Well, actually, that probably could be a coincidence, especially as two of those three live together and therefore could just have the television on or something. Okay, in context, this might not have been such a stupid comment but it still came across as overly melodramatic. It’s not just this sentence sounds a bit juvenile or over-the-top and this makes the happenings seem rather laughable as opposed to dramatic.

All that said, by the time I got to half way some kind of plot had started to develop and, despite it being predictable, and a bit random at times, it was relatively enjoyable. Yes, the characters were, for the most part, still insufferable but it got a bit better hence why it's been given two stars as opposed to just one. The ending was, in my opinion, silly. It was a huge build up for a huge anti-climax. Yes, I know that there’s a sequel but I don’t think I could face another book that drags by, even if it’s only the first part that does so, just to find out what happens next.

As I write, this novel is free on amazon. For a UK download link click here.

Book Review: "Golden Blood" by Melissa Pearl

Rating: 4/5 stars

Plot:

"Gemma Hart never knows when her father is going to whisk her back in time. Her toes start tingling and she has a few minutes to find a secret haven where she can disintegrate and appear in another time and place. While “across the line,” her training and skills are put to the test as she completes a mission that will change history for the lucky few her father has selected.

Gemma's parents are adamant that secrecy is paramount to her family’s safety. If people knew what they were capable of, they could be "used and abused", as her mother always says. Afraid she might accidentally utter the truth and break the ancient oath of her people, Gemma spends her school days as a loner. Only one thing can throw her sheltered life askew... Harrison Granger.

Harrison never expected to talk to the strange Hart girl, but after a brief encounter he can't stop thinking about her. He begins a campaign to chisel away her icy veneer and is met with unexpected consequences. As he slowly wins this girl over, he enters a surreal world that has him fighting to keep his newfound love and his life."

-from  Golden Blood on Goodreads

Review:

I started this book this morning and finished it just now, at about seven thirty.  A lot of this timing was down to having time to kill but the fact remains that it was a very easy book to get into.

It’s a bit of an ‘overdone’ concept with a fantastical girl/boy meeting someone who they’re meant to be with and fate draws them together. That said, every now and then you get a book that follows this formula and still manages to be fresh.

Quite frankly, the strength of this book was the time traveling aspect. Gemma was a likable character. She’s moral put without being a push-over. She’s special yet she’s unwillingly forced into this role yet her sense of duty means that she does it almost willingly. The fact is that no matter what happened with the plot, Gemma’s sheer likability factor would have made it worthwhile reading. Admittedly, I had some problem with her parents during the novel and found them very difficult to empathise with (etc.) but this, I think, was rather the point, and I therefore have no major complaints about this.

The small interludes in which the family go back in time are really interesting. Other than the fact that the new settings break up the monotony of the other repeated settings (meaning that the limited settings don’t actually detract) they also allow the humanity of the characters to really show through. Yes, they are all highly trained fighters but this is no gratuitous martial arts themed book as the emphasis always seems focused on why they are doing this, to save a life, to change the future. Of course, the question is always there: why are they really there?

This is a question that grows in importance as the novel continues and as other questions arise. By the ending I felt that this novel, in its entirety, was really an introduction and that the real action will happen in the rest of the series. Yep, in the last chapter or two, I started to feel a bit cheated and, to be honest, this is why ‘Golden Blood’ lost a star. Call me fickle but, although a series needs some unanswered questions, I much prefer some kind of partial conclusion! Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to read the next book!

As I write, this novel is free on amazon. For a UK download link click here.

Book Review: "I'll Never Be Young Again" by Daphne du Maurier

Rating: 2/5 stars

Review:

It is with great sorrow that I am putting this book ‘on-hold’. I detest not finishing a book and therefore can’t bear to drop it completely but I can’t say that I am going to rush to finish it so it felt right to review it now.

Some of my favourite stories (novels and shorts) have been told by Daphne du Maurier. She has a writing style that is both elegant and engrossing and so the reader cannot help but engage with her stories. This style is present, to a degree, in “I’ll Never Be Young Again” and, to be fair, that’s probably the only reason why I managed to read it for so long.

I’m afraid that the rest of this review is not going to be so positive.

My major criticism is the narrator. He is impossibly whiney, childlike, and annoying. This may be exactly what du Maurier wanted but in making this character the narrator she has also made the book an incredibly difficult read. I also feel that it is this narrative voice that limits her other characterisation. It seems that Richard doesn’t really have an interest in anything outside of himself and his own tumultuous emotions (again, this could work if he wasn’t the narrator) which means that we don’t really get an insight into any other characters. By the end of the first part “Jake” I was left feeling as though I knew nothing about Jake, other than a few facts, and certainly couldn’t see any signs of a “passionate friendship”. Richard and Jake seem like strangers to each other throughout and, instead of their relationship growing in familiarity, it seems to develop in contempt.

The plot itself should have worked really well, and I think that it probably did. That said, it seemed overly episodic, flashing from one thing to another. The narrator seems emotionally detatched, and disinterested generally, and this transfers to the reader and stops the reader from being sucked into the events themselves. Never was this more true than in the Swedish pub (I don’t really know quite how any of that happened!) or on the boat at the end of the part “Jake”.  These are key scenes and yet they happen in a flash which lessens their effect.

I tried to read on after “Jake” but stopped about a chapter into the next part because I simply couldn’t face it. It seemed like we were flung back to the beginning of the novel and would have to live through it all again.

Overall, I wouldn’t waste your time with this one unless you’re a huge du Maurier fan. Despite the fact I couldn’t finish it, I couldn’t give this book one star as it has a glint of better things in the basics of the plot and in the writing style (sans characterisation) but it’s a low two.