'The Sisters Brothers' by Patrick deWitt

'The Sisters Brothers' by Patrick deWitt will now forever make me think of the tiny island of Sipan, a short ferry ride off the coast of Dubrovnik, Croatia, as I read the majority of this book in the two days we were there, back in June this year (I've written previously about an art gallery in Split from the same holiday), lazing happily in the sun. Croatia is not the most intuitive partner for this book, however, seeing as it is actually set in the US during the 1850s Gold Rush. It's also really good.

The story is that Eli and Charlie, the two Sisters brothers of the title, are hitmen on the trail of notorious prospector Hermann Kermit Warm (what a name!) through California, under the orders of the mercurial and untrustworthy Commodore. It's a classic Don Quixote/Odyssey type caper, with the inner journey at odds with the outer one and a whole load of unusual, charming and downright threatening characters  who you don't know whether to trust from one moment to the next. Eli is our narrator, and we find him increasingly sickened and disillusioned with the life he leads and the work that he does.

The humour of this book as a black as a pit of tar and in moments it's incredibly surreal and bemusing, but I felt that it veritably pulsed with verve and life. It's like not much else I've ever read either, which either means its rather original, or that my reading tastes have become too limited. Either way, this book was a refreshing break during my refreshing break, and I'd wholeheartedly recommend it.

Not that it's light reading though. The style is realist-surrealist-historical maybe (?), in that it has a historical setting, but is realist in a very modern way, whilst using the vernacular appropriate for the time, and is quite surreal, if that makes sense? Maybe if the Coen Brothers did a funny, free-wheeling, literary Western with a lot of dark humour, it might be a bit like this. There are a few particular instances of tooth-ache or horse illness or old crones casting spells that are downright disgusting, described with almost unbearable realist gore, that are also hugely compelling and memorable in a way that I almost wish they weren't, whilst the characters are complexly drawn and completely of their time. You just feel so bad for Eli, and confused about everyone else. I would never expect to find a noir Western so emotionally involving or so wholly creepy.

'Charlie's face had grown hard. 'This isn't your cabin, is it?'

At this she stiffened, and did not look to be breathing. She pulled back her rags, and in the firelight and lamplight I saw that she had almost no hair on her head, only white tufts here and there, and her skull was dented, appearing soft in places, pushed in like a piece of old fruit. 'Every heart has a tone,' she said to Charlie, 'just as every bell has one. Your heart's tone is most oppressive to hear, young man. It is hurtful to my ears, and your eyes hurt my eyes to look at them.'

A long silence followed with Charlie and the old witch simply staring at each other. I could not, from either of their expressions, understand what they were thinking. Eventually the woman rewrapped her skull and resumed her work, and Charlie lay down on the floor. I did not climb onto the bed, but lay down beside him, because I was frightened by the woman and thought it safest for us to sleep close together. I was so weak that despite my uneasiness I soon fell away into a dream state wherein I envisaged the room just as it was, thought I was standing by, watching my own sleeping body.'

This is a fab book and I kinda regret taking so long to read it after receiving it from the More4 TV Book Club at the beginning of the year. Here's Patrick deWitt himself talking about it to round things off, plus an excerpt from the show: 

Title: The Sisters Brothers

Author: Patrick deWitt

Publisher: Granta Books

Date: 2011

Format: Paperback, 325 pages, and I was sent it by Cactus TV/More4 TV Book Club.   





'A Suitable Boy' Readathon, No. 2

So, I'm a little behind on where I should be at this point in the 'A Suitable Boy' readathon (I've read 265 pages of the target 495) but I thought I'd sum up anyway at this one month point as I'm far enough through to have a good grasp on what it's about. There maybe a few spoilers in this review, FYI.

This book is a sweeping saga in the finest tradition, which is expressed not only in its length and revered reputation, but also in the fact that a wholly necessary set of four family trees sits at the beginning of the book to give you hope of keeping track of who everyone is. 

The book, as far as I've read anyway, centres around Lata Mehra, a Brahmpur student who is of marriageable age, which means her mother, the classic busybody martyr Mrs Rupa Mehra, is on a quest for find her that elusive 'suitable boy' of the title. Lata's not so keen and has other ideas anyway, which so far have included Kabir Durrani, a unacceptable Muslim boy who her mother packs her off to Calcutta to keep her from seeing. This central theme of suitable marriage is then extended out using vast tentacles through the book to reach all corners of the Mehra's extended family and circle of acquaintances: each section centres on a different branch of the family, or a different protagonist. Some of the marriages are presented as 'suitable', some are not; the epic scope of this novel seems to include types of metaphorical marriage in the definition, such as work relations, political relationships and the living 'marriage' of different religious and caste types that all seem to meet and clash in Brahmpur. I have a feeling that the conclusion we will come to is that no 'marriage' is perfect and that people must just learn to live together as best they can considering their circumstances, but there are a fair few pages to go (a meagre 1084) before we come to that point!

This novel is beautifully atmospheric and hugely evocative of India, which acts as both the platform and as an integral character of the novel. The characters are wonderfully drawn - Lata and Mahati are particular favourites of mine already, as is cheeky Maan - and I am already so involved with the majority of them and their own particular predicaments.

I'm enjoying it slightly less generally when it moves from the personal, e.g. Lata and the families, to the political: I am currently smack bang in the middle of the repercussions of the Misri Mandi riot, and although I can see how their discussion is integral to expressing the religious and caste tensions inherent in the story, I'm finding the characters and situations associated with this slightly less compelling. The writing throughout is excellent though - it's impressive how the quality is so consistent when there's just so much of it - and I feel in very safe hands. The pacing is also much quicker than you might expect for a novel of this size.

So, onwards! I'll report back next month, by which time I'll hopefully be around page 947... :)

Thoughts thus far from other Readathon participants:

Tiny Library

JoV's Book Pyramid

(I'll add the others as they publish)

Title: 'A Suitable Boy'

Author: Vikram Seth

Publisher: Phoenix House

Date: 1993

Format: Hardback, 1349 pages, and my copy is a library book.







Blogaversary Giveaway Winner!

To celebrate my two-year blogaversary last week , I announced a free giveaway of Ned Beauman's 'The Teleportation Accident', which I'm not ashamed to say I bought for the cover rather than any of the reviews or the Man Booker Prize long-listing.

I had lots of lovely entries and I'm pleased to announce that the winner is *drumroll please*:

Misha Mary!

(I used this random integer generator to pick the winner.)

Thanks to everyone who entered and look out for more giveaways on Tolstoy is my Cat soon!








Blogaversary Series: Day Five

So, here we are on the final day of Tolstoy is my Cat's two-year blogaversary week, and thanks to everyone who's stopped by! I've had lots of new readers pop in, especially from Stumbleupon (hi guys!), which has been fab; who knows, maybe if people continue to stop by, there'll be a third anniversary and a fourth etc. :)

Anyway, don't forget to enter yesterday's giveaway of 'The Teleportation Accident' by Ned Beauman; here are my last two links from the archive:

1.  'Show Me Something New' is one of my more craft-of-writing earlier posts, which discusses the issue of originality and expressed my frustration at the time about finding out that my novel, when described in brief, sounded like lots of books that people had read before.

Reason: Originality is obviously an on-going concern, for others as well as myself, and I find it telling that my thoughts on this haven't really changed since writing this post 18 months ago and, rather exasperatingly, that the same novel isn't finished yet either! I must get and finish it, mustn't I? Ah, well. Until then, I'll entertain myself by watching hilarious word sketches like the one included within it.

2. My final blogaversary link is to a piece of flash fiction called 'Früh', which is one of the first pieces I ever wrote, sometime before I even started this blog.

Reason: It's not perfect - far from it - but is so full of the optimism and fun I felt, and still feel, when I get down to writing that it's the highest note I could possibly end on, and it's a delight for me to go back and read it once more. I hope you like it too.

Thanks for everything guys, and don't forget to click back and enter the contest!







Blogaversary Series: Day Four

Howdy campers, and welcome back to day four of my little blogaversary! It was two years ago today that this little blog sprung into existence :) As promised in the week's previous posts, today we have another post from the archive and my very first giveaway!

The link first:

1. Today's choice is the, I'll admit, rather idiosyncratically named Lyndsay, Put the Pen Down..., in which I explore the notion that I've been trying too hard, to my detriment.

It's a timely piece, seeing as the Elle UK Talent Competition is now open til the 17th Sept, and is about how I over-wrote and over-wrote until I just hated entry from last year, finally coming to the realisation that my grip was way too tight on the pieces I really cared about.

So,  I reworked it for another magazine (Side B Magazine), deliberately letting the wheels run whilst writing it and, lo and behold, it worked! It was an important lesson for me, and one I'd never read about elsewhere, although I can't believe I'm the only one who's made this same mistake. So, care less: it might do you good :)

2. Now, giveaway time! I have one copy of Ned Beauman's 'The Teleportation Accident' to give away, and all you need to do to enter is either share this link on Twitter (tagging me at @lyndsay_wheble so I see it), or sign up for my email subscription list (the box above on the right).

 So, easy! This book was recently long-listed for the Man Booker Prize 2012, which speaks very highly of it, especially as the short list has yet to be announced. The tag-line seems to be

'History happened while you were hungover...let's hope the party was worth it.'

which is a good 'un, but I really  chose it for the breath-takingly beautiful cover that had me swoooonniing in the store. I love it, so judging it by its cover, I'll love the book too, which hopefully means you will too.

I'll leave this open for a week, so tweet this link or sign up above by midnight GMT next Thursday, the 23rd August, to be in with a chance of winning. I'll chose the winner at random, of course, and am already excited at the thought of passing this lovely cover on! International entries are fine, FYI.

So, the final day of my blogaversary series will be published tomorrow - see you there! :)








Blogaversary Series: Day Three

So, my blogaversary series continues apace, and today I have two more links for you from the archive:

1. The first is my review of Wilkie Collins' 'The Woman in White', entitled, quite dramatically, 'I am a Literary Sensationalist!' , from October last year.

Reason: I think 'The Woman in White' was the first book that I read purely because it had been so highly recommended in the book blogs I read. Before I started blogging about books a lot myself, my reading choices were based on things that caught my eye in the library or store, things by authors I already knew, and the classics that you hear so much about and feel you should get on and read. This book fell into none of those camps, as, to be honest, it was never a book I'd really heard of and there is no reason nowadays to place it at the front of the library or store. It was pure book blogger love that did it, and it was pure love that I felt for this book. Also, my review got a bit feminist-political at the end, which is always nice. A complete win all round. 

2. Link two today is a post called 'This is Why Writing is Awesome', which describes a realisation I had at a career mentoring day for teenagers, where I was the writing representative.

Reason: Well, obviously I knew before the day I wrote this post that writing is awesome, but it was so nice to see that reinforced back to me on the faces of kids that I really wanted to write about it. A lot of Twitter discussion followed this post and it was nice to see that other writers felt the same way. And it's good to do something for the kids, of course *air grab* and nice to feel that you can be a role model of sorts.

Check back tomorrow for another look and a sneaky giveaway...







Blogaversary Series: Day Two

So, following on from yesterday's post, which kicked off this blog's two-year-anniversary celebrations (aah!), I have two more links for you that you might not have seen unless you've been reading this blog since way back when...

1. First of all, we have the rather narcissistically named post Tolstoy is my Cat?, one of my first ever posts, in which I explain why my blog has the name that it does.

Reason: It's quite interesting for me to chart my blog's progress, re-reading posts like this, as it started out very much as a showcase blog for the writing I was doing and to chart this writing journey as I progressed down its rocky and confusing pathway. Gradually over the last two years, it has become more book-based, which I think happened because my writing progress began to happen elsewhere - professionally, in short stories sat on my hard-drive and, more recently, in other publications - and I became irritated with the notion of pretending I had real writing advice when I was just a newbie myself. 

I still quite like this post though - such optimism! and it's true that my cat Tolstoy - who has little idea of his internet presence - is still my biggest fan, and no matter what happens, that will probably never change! Such are pets and owners, I guess.

2. Today's second link is far, far more recent, and features a review of both the book and the play of Mikhail Bulgakov's 'The Master and Margarita', which has been causing mini explosions in my head whenever I've thought of it since.

Reason: I've chosen to highlight this post particularly as I am proud of the two-handed review, but mainly because this books screams to the world that BOOKS. ARE. SO. IMPORTANT.

I am never happier than when I'm being schooled in the ways of life and literature by a book that I know I do not fully understand, but know that maybe if I read it over and over and over again as I get older, maybe I will. Or I won't, which almost doesn't matter, as I will gain so much more each time. It gives me optimism for my own personal and spiritual development, and a great amount of faith that these fabulous, wonderful, life-changing books might remain my constant, life-long friends.

Also, BEHEMOTH (yes, I'm capitalising again.) Oh my goodness. Did ever an animal have more personality than the lowly cat?

Check back tomorrow for my third blogaversary retrospective post! (I'm having such fun:)