Books I Read In April
Oops, a week late this time. But here are the books I read in April:
#12 | Life, Interrupted by James McConnel
#13 | Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
#14 | Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi
Again, I’ve not read as many as I should have done this month, but I am also half way through Orlando by Virginia Woolf, and this week I got distracted by One Day by David Nicholls, which I can’t put down.
But back to April’s books. Life, Interrupted is the story of an undiagnosed tourettes sufferer. It tells the story of not only the twitches so commonly associated with the illness but the compulsions and obsessions that go with them. It documents the ups and downs that come with such a life, as a promising musician James attends the Royal College of Music but after realising that alcohol quietens the ‘commander’ in his head, spirals into alcoholism and depression. The book is written in much the same way that James must think, the story is interrupted and we jump around in time. This lack of flow did make it difficult to stick at at times, but overall I enjoyed it.
I love Evelyn Waugh. He is a satirical genius and Decline and Fall is no exception. It tells the story of poor Paul Pennyfeather who is struck by bad luck at every turn. Expelled from Oxford he ends up teaching, where he falls for the mother of one of his students, who is not all she seems. Poor naive Paul. Brilliantly written characters and a plot thick with coincidences and conspiracies, it’s a very funny read.
Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi left me raging. It was an intriguing book about a man deciding to leave his wife and children. I have never read a book before where I hated the lead character so vehemently. He was selfish and self-important, and the entire book is him justifying his actions, knowing full well that leaving will destroy the lives of his wife and children, but he needs to do it because he’s bored and is really into this girl he’s shagging on the side and just doesn’t feel that he should be held back by the mundanity of domestic life anymore. Oh it absolutely infuriated me. But it’s a testament to the quality of the writing that I kept reading, and despite hating the plot and the characters, I will still look out for more Kureishi to read in future!
