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Book Review: The Novel Cure by Ella Berthoud & Susan Elderkin

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Once in awhile a book comes along that’s impractical to read cover-to-cover over the course of a few sittings but serves as the perfect reference guide.

The Novel Cure is like those medical dictionaries mum used to have before WebMD came along. It’s a lovingly compiled reference guide of maladies – and the perfect novels with which to cure them.

I was lucky enough to meet the incredibly well-read co-author Ella Berthoud at Canongate’s 40th birthday party last week (which was a blast – see #theotherside.). She brought the Novel Cure Surgery to the party (literally!) and provided prescriptions in person.

I requested a book to get over my Great Expectations hump, for which she made 2 stellar suggestions in the form of Mister Pip by Lloyd James and Jack Maggs by Peter Carey. She also recommended Half Asleep in Frog Pyjamas by Tom Robbins for a bout of job anxiety.

The book has also come in incredibly handy already. It’s been of great practical use for getting over my common cold this weekend, diagnosing and prescribing a friend’s man flu, and good comic relief for a mild but potentially chronic case of “married, being”.

The authors’ suggestions range from the irreverent to the downright literary, providing useful, funny, and interesting suggestions to any issues which may ail you. Although I suffer a chronic case of out-of-control to-read pile, it’s a brilliant book to have around – and it’d make a fantastic stocking-stuffer.

If you want to give it a go for yourself, you can visit the surgery online via The Novel Cure website. You can also follow them on Twitter @TheNovelCure.

The Novel Cure is published by Canongate in the UK and Penguin in the USA. You can buy it on The Book Despository here (UK) or here (US).

Book Review: Cybersexism by Laurie Penny

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Recently I downloaded my first Kindle Single: Laurie Penny’s Cybersexism: Sex, Gender and Power on the Internet.

It was an interesting experience. I read this on my e-ink Kindle and, being more accustomed to reading Penny’s columns, it immediately felt like I ought to be reading it longform on an endless scrolling page. Clicking from page to page but never clicking between Twitter and the article was a new way of reading this type of content for me – and one which quickly reveals the fragmented way in which we tend to read about politics and issues of sex.

Reading experience aside, Penny gives a fantastic overview of typical experiences for women on the Internet. She draws comparison between sci-fi dreams of being free of our bodies to being a woman online: one can become an amorphous, sexless being – or be considered male – until one chooses to “out” oneself as a woman.

Attitudes to women are mirrored online from real life, and the author provides a number of examples that make this so. Everything from men as pioneers, ensuring everything is safe for female consumption to patriarchal watching behaviours to holding nudity as power are explored here.

Penny’s examples are quite broad, citing sources like Everyday Sexism, the stereotypical geek boy story a la The Social Network, women’s opinion as the short skirt of the Internet, and the bad science stories society tells us about women’s worth (we’re smart, but “different” smart – which brought to mind this recent article).

She also advocates for the Internet as a place to create deep, long-term relationships and the interaction between Internet and IRL. It’s clear that she took refuge in the Internet growing up, and is at times lyrical (and perhaps melodramatic) in evoking the personal importance of these experiences.

For those who are accustomed to reading about sexism and the Internet – through Penny’s columns or any of the examples above – there isn’t much new to learn here. I found myself therefore taking apart the construction of her arguments – where often evocative and at times crude language is employed to contrast her views with the unsophisticated and vile misogynist ideals.

That being said, Cybersexism certainly holds plenty of new perspectives for those less literate on the subject, men, and anyone who wishes to read about the Internet in a new way.

Cybersexism is published by Bloomsbury Publishing and is available to buy on Kindle Single.

August Reads | 52 Books 2013

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#42. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
★★★★★  – I like this book less the more I think about it. It’s well written and argued, and will inevitably be read by mostly women even though men need it just as much. Sandberg identifies a huge number of problems, cultural and societal inconsistencies, and expectations for women – and men. The problem for me is that, while interesting and relevant subject matter, it’s very much couched in terms of the type of high power, ultra corporate lifestyle that 90% of women neither have nor necessarily aspire to. There are examples of women making a difference in other ways, and a lot about expectations about mothers (which again wasn’t particularly my speed), but ultimately it came back to corporate, office-based leadership. I’d love to see someone take these leanings and apply them to something more universal.

 

43. The Wild Things by Dave Eggers
★★★★★ – I was pretty disappointed by this one, sadly. It began with promise; a rambunctious kid with emotional issues, sense of adventure and fun. Where it went from there was dark and violent but without the emotional depth to make it stand up on its own. A couple of the plot movements seemed forced and really quite vague, even for a kids book, and it just felt like a series of scenes in which nothing changes. Give this one a miss.

 

#44. The Crash of Hennington by Patrick Ness
★★★★★ – A debut novel, and Ness’ only adult novel before The Crane Wife. I had this signed at the book festival and he commented that, being his first novel, there are things he wouldn’t do now, but that he thinks it holds up. I have to agree with that. I enjoyed the rawness of his style, the dirtier elements like sex and drugs, and the setting that was very North American yet utterly invented. It’s about a town called Hennington in which there lives a roving crash of rhinoceros, a town crazy, a Mayor, a jilted lover, a man of God, a businessman-pimp, some of his workers, and so on. Each chapter shifts to a different character’s point of view – and a few too many at that – inspiring some nice cross-cutting as events escalate. An entertaining read with Ness’ signature dialogue and some snippy satire.

 

#45. Gem Squash Tokoloshe by Rachel Zadok
★★★★★ – This was a messy one. A nice premise but poorly executed. The prose actually got worse as the book went along. Some real cheesy lines in here. I wouldn’t have reached for this, never mind finished it, if it wasn’t a book club pick.

#46. Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together (Scott Piglrim #4)
★★★★★ – This was my favourite in the series so far. It’s just so vibrant: great illustrations, funny dialogue, fun characters. What more do you want from a graphic novel series?

 

#47. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
★★★★★ – I must admit I struggled with these somewhat. They’re great stories as part of the oral tradition, but reading them alone on the subway didn’t really capture that mood. I did love The Cat That Walked By Himself, though. It’s worth the price of admission alone.

 

48. The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry
★★★★★ – This is an impressive read. A 90-page, virtually stream of consciousness monologue tackling the complexities of the Dewey Decimal System, French history, patriarchy, and loneliness. Full review here.

 

49. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
★★★★★ – Simply put, this is one of those novels that sticks with you. A stellar narrator equalled by an engaging story, razor-sharp prose, and plenty of mystery with a few genre-mashing threads thrown in for good measure. Read it.

 

50. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
★★★★★ – An accomplished first novel. Set in Iceland and based on true events, the author is perhaps a little bit too careful in presenting this alternate view of a murderer, but acquits herself well. This features some interesting narration techniques along with great suspense and drama and characters that dragged me in. Well worth a read.

 

#51. How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
★★★★★ – I both liked and hated this and there is most definitely something psychosomatic going on with that. One minute relatable, boring the next, I’m still not sure what I got out of this. So probably not much. Give this one a miss.