bits and pieces

I decided to read through some of the newest books published by Bloomsbury Group, and A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz was one I was able to get from the library firsts. Unfortunately, it was probably the one I liked least, but so it goes.

The story focuses on a kid growing up in a rough part of London, where he makes friends with a tailor and other businesspeople in the neighborhood. His father is posted to Africa, and he wants to find a way to bring him home. When the tailor tells him stories about unicorns making wishes comes true, he figures this is his chance, and when he finds a one-horned goat in the market, he thinks he’s found a real unicorn.

There’s a sub-plot about the tailor’s assistant boxing to win some money, and between the two, I just sort of got bored with the story. I finished the book, but I sort of wish I’d quit earlier. Ok, but not really a book I’d recommend.

★★★★★

In his novel Supermarket, Satoshi Azuchi shares a glimpse of the inner workings of a Japanese business, in particular, that of a growing supermarket in Japan in the late 1960s/early 1970s, when the notion of supermarkets were still new in that country. The company portrayed seems to be doing quite well on the surface, but when a newly hired executive digs a bit further, he realizes there are many problems being overlooked or even hidden.

This book might not sound like an interesting story, but perhaps after having seen some unpleasant behaviors within large corporations, I found the psychological aspect of this a bit interesting. And the idea of supermarkets being new and exciting, and also interpreted differently for the Japanese market, was kind of neat. It did drag a bit later on though, and some of the company secrets were a bit much, but it was a decent read.

★★★★★

I heard about the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser while watching a British show, in which various TV personalities shared some of the books that had made an impact on them in their lives. I can’t remember who had mentioned Flashman, but it sounded interesting, despite his disclaimer about some of the main character’s behavior.

I started with the first book in the series, presently titled as just Flashman, which introduces you to the character of the same name through papers supposedly found among his belongings after he died. He chronicles part of his childhood and experiences in a private school, and then jumps to the beginning of his military career, starting with training and then in traveling to the British colonies of India and Afghanistan.

You soon realize that Flashman is not as great a hero as others have found him to be. He is rather cowardly and is only interested in his own well-being, even causing another man’s death by running away from danger instead of fighting. He also does some pretty awful things, like raping a woman he meets while traveling; some people may have considered this acceptable at the time, but it’s hard to read about it in today’s times, even with that context.

Initially, I thought this book was interesting, but as Flashman’s true character became revealed, I had a harder time reading on. I tried to take him for what he was and read with that in mind, but eventually, I just had to skim to finish, and decided not to read further books in the series. The books aren’t badly written, but without anyone to cheer for, I just didn’t enjoy reading about Flashman.

★★★★★

I came across The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas while browsing Shelfari for historical fiction, and I thought it would be a nice change from my usual choices.

The story takes place in the late 1800s, when the Ottoman Empire was still in existence, and we learn of a prophesy about someone who will have great impact. The main character Eleonora, a young girl from Romania, seems like she might be that someone, especially as she stows away on a ship carrying her father to Stamboul to do business.

I don’t want to reveal further events in the book, as they might spoil it for other readers, but it did keep my interest for a bit. However, toward the end of the book, it just sort of fell away, and I was left thinking “that’s it?!” at the very end of the book. It was like the story kept building and building, and then it didn’t go anywhere interesting. It left me wondering if the writer just didn’t know what to do after all this, or if he did this intentionally, with plans to follow up with a sequel.

It could have been so much better than it was, but it was all right for what it was, I guess. You just may feel disappointed at the end.

★★★★★

I’ve had Be With You by Takuji Ichikawa on my wishlist for awhile, having found it on Amazon and thinking it seemed interesting at the time. I’m not sure what caught my eye, but it didn’t really meet my expectations.

We meet Takumi Aio, a young man in his late 20s and single father to 6-year-old Yuji. They’re both still adjusting to the death of Mio, Takumi’s wife and Yuji’s mother, although they don’t realize just how poorly they’ve adjusted. This changes when they go for a walk and see a woman who looks awfully like Mio, just a bit younger and appearing to have lost her memory.

The writing style is fairly simple and straightforward, which I liked, but the story started to drag a bit for me, as Takumi starts describing how he and Mio met. He goes all the way back to their school days, and it crawled along slowly after that, to get to the present day. I just didn’t feel like I cared as much about this lengthy history as I did about what was happening, though it did loop back eventually.

There’s a bit of vaguely supernatural tone to the story, which is ok, but I just didn’t feel attached to the story after the first few chapters. Apparently, this book was so popular in Japan that it was followed up by a manga version and later made into a TV series. Just not my thing, I guess.

★★★★★